World-class review of ballet and dance.
Why does “Giselle,” a ballet that premiered in 1841, still captivate audiences today? At first glance, the story feels outdated: a peasant girl, Giselle, is deceived by the nobleman Albrecht and dies of heartbreak.
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Time to step on the moving staircase once more—“Escalator,” an evening showcasing new choreographic work curated by the Stephanie Lake Company, in association with the Abbotsford Convent, is back.
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The BAAND Together Dance Festival was created in 2021 to reintroduce dance to New York City after the pandemic.
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Ballet Asteras, the National Ballet of Japan’s annual summer gala launched in 2009 as an opportunity for Japanese dancers working overseas to perform for their home audience.
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“Vástádus Eana—The Answer is Land” opens outdoors, where the audience has gathered around a grassy area. Seven women in black skirts, ankle boots, red capes, and bonnets approach toting megaphones above their heads.
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Inspired by her fascination with microphotography, Noelle Kayser’s “Scales on the Wings of a Butterfly” at BalletX’s midsummer series opened with a pyramid of 16 bodies under Drew Billiau’s shadowed lighting.
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“I have nowhere to go, and I’m going there,” has been attributed to such disparate writers as Charles Bukowski, Carl Sandburg and Charles Simic, though this reviewer thinks the existential phrase sounds more like Cunningham or Cage.
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For twenty-five years, Roberto Bolle has brought together a constellation of celebrated stars and rising talent to share the stage with him.
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The curtain rises on Prince Siegfried, asleep and slumped in an armchair. We enter his dream: a mysterious woman dances in the shadows, only to be abruptly seized by a somber, bird-like figure.
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In this summer of torrential rains and torrid heat, dance, indoor and outside, hasn’t skipped a beat.
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American Ballet Theatre’s annual summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House centers around long-form storytelling.
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Long 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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