Coup Versus Calamity
Of the many stylish touches in Scottish Ballet’s “Mary, Queen of Scots,” the titular Tudor’s black pointe shoes are my favourite.
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World-class review of ballet and dance.
Of the many stylish touches in Scottish Ballet’s “Mary, Queen of Scots,” the titular Tudor’s black pointe shoes are my favourite.
PlusThe Australian Ballet’s “Signature Works,” as a whole, is a compact and varied celebration of dance in the moment.
PlusThe Joffrey Ballet’s lithe and strong dancers take on four historic works in this mixed-bill “American Icons” programme.
PlusIn Trisha Brown's 1983 “Set and Reset,” dancers float in and out of the wings like bubbles.
PlusTalk about perfection! While the countdown is on, as Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the world-class Los Angeles Philharmonic, prepares to exit the stage for the New York Philharmonic (a big boohoo), his presence last weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall further cemented his status as musical genius, tastemaker and catalyst for good.
PlusWhether it resembles the slow, building roll of distant thunder or the immediacy of an overhead lightning storm, flamenco is electric. This energy, however, is an intimate one, and one that benefits greatly from proximity.
PlusBased in Tokyo, Condors is an all-male contemporary dance troupe founded by director and choreographer Ryohei Kondo in 1996. In their 30th year, the company retains all their original members with a few new additions.
PlusLiv Lorent MBE is a gal I relate to, a choreographer with a penchant for the gothic, drawing upon the duality of traditions within narrative dance: the grand guignol and the sentimental.
PlusBeneath my feet, thousands upon thousands of tiny threads in the soil transmit messages and nutrients, actions and behaviours.
PlusLights go up on three dancers who sit side by side on the floor in a far corner of the stage, legs outstretched, soles of their bare feet delightfully exposed. Siblings posing for a photo in the backyard? It’s a brief look, like a flashback.
PlusMesmerizing to watch? Or commentary on life versus machine? The program performed by Lyon Opera Ballet at New York’s City Center is both. Merce Cunningham’s “Biped” (1999) features a double cast—one of human dancers, and another of computer generated figures.
PlusCompany Grande, a new dance theater project from the Saitama Arts Foundation triumphed in their recent production, “The Rite of Spring.”
PlusLong before the dancers take the stage, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s season at New York City Center feels like one of the most energizing cultural events of the spring.
PlusIt is rare for George Balanchine’s grand, bedazzled “Symphony in C” to open a program. Its champagne-popping finale for 52 dancers tends to be a nightcap.
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The Spring is Blooming festival, by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, now in its fifth year, has become a highlight of the spring dance circuit.
PlusAs the audience come to their feet at the end of this ballet there is a noted difference to be seen on stage. Three women stand with joined hands, taking their call as the romantic leads of a loud and proud lesbian ballet.
PlusOne of San Francisco Ballet’s greatest assets is its home venue, the Beaux-Arts style War Memorial Opera House, with four rings of seating that require performers to project their energies practically to the exosphere.
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