Fighting Spirit
There’s a distinct warrior theme to the evening shared by Angie Pittman and Kyle Marshall, though the two choreographers are working in very different styles and tone.
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Last year’s School of American Ballet Workshop performances marked two milestones: Suki Schorer’s 50th anniversary as a teacher, and Kay Mazzo’s retirement from the Chair of Faculty position after 40 years. The program was audacious (especially coming out of Covid), with a commissioned world premiere and the staging of the epic finale from Balanchine’s “Symphony in C.” Electricity was in the air. This year, prudently, was about rebuilding. The atmosphere was all gentle breezes. The bill included four excerpts that harked back to the early history of the school, two of which—“Coppélia” and “Napoli”—commemorated the 25th anniversary of the passing of two celebrated teachers appointed by Balanchine, Alexandra Danilova and Stanley Williams. There were reams of tulle, pretty passés, and turns ending in tight fifth positions on display. There was no sight of Balanchine’s abstract, angular side. Though the evening was less zingy than usual, it was smart of Darla Hoover and Aesha Ash, in their freshman year as Chair and Co-Chair of Faculty, respectively, to stress roots and continuity.
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There’s a distinct warrior theme to the evening shared by Angie Pittman and Kyle Marshall, though the two choreographers are working in very different styles and tone.
Continue ReadingIt’s not often these days that aspiring dancers and smaller companies can enjoy the luxury of state-of-the-art facilities to develop their practice and put on a show, especially in a capital city.
Continue ReadingToday I have the privilege of speaking with the divine Juliet Doherty. Juliet was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is slightly more Breaking Bad than “Swan Lake,” but Juliet's grandparents owned a ballet studio which passed to Juliet's mother, and so the artistic genes ran deep.
FREE ARTICLEOne of the gems of New York City’s dance landscape is the Graham Studio Series, a programming cycle that offers behind-the-scenes interaction with the work of the Graham Company in their studio space. In early January, the series presented a Graham Deconstructed event exploring Martha Graham’s modernist masterwork “Cave of the Heart.”
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Oh yes, you are correct Carole! It is a small but impressive list. Peter Boal too, right? But I’ve never seen two Wien Award winners that have been there that long, in the same year no less!
Another confusing topic: the program said that the Coppelia Waltz was a “solo that Mr. Balanchine made for [Ware] in 1974.” But others have told me that it was originally choreographed on Carol Sumner. I generally take program facts at face value, apologies if there are issues. And if anyone can enlighten, please do! Thank you, Faye
Some of us did go all the way through the school. Lauren Hauser, Julie Michael, me, just to name a few. We are not many but it does exist.