Folk Tales from Abroad
Two productions in one, “World Tales in Dance,” was a charming, crowd-pleasing afternoon of dance theatre.
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World-class review of ballet and dance.
Two productions in one, “World Tales in Dance,” was a charming, crowd-pleasing afternoon of dance theatre.
Continue ReadingIn Jo Warren’s “All Mouth,” five dancers perform what could be an action scene from a movie with the playback speed slowed down and sound turned off. The expressions on their faces are exaggerated, their eyes eloquent. One shields her face from an attacker; another holds her throat with one hand while reaching out with the other in an imploring gesture; one throws back their head to laugh, mouth opened wide; hands squeeze into fists and punch the air, or cup around the mouth to whisper into another’s ear—all conducted in delicious, thick-as-molasses slow motion.
Continue ReadingThe Pioneers Go East Collective's Out Front! Festival highlights “radical queer art + dance,” making it a perfect resident festival for the historic Judson Memorial Church. At Judson—the art, social justice, and spiritual venue where Judson Dance Theater and numerous other artists got their start—“radical queer” artists and thinkers are not only celebrated but canonized: stained glass portraits of James Baldwin, bell hooks, Bayard Rustin, and others don the church's walls, each one labeled “saint.”
Continue Reading“Profanations,” created by choreographer Faustin Linyekula and music artist Franck Moka, is not a “just” dance piece: it’s a live concert, a cinematic séance.
Continue ReadingMarie Antoinette is not an entirely sympathetic character. Her penchant for luxury and extravagance—and the degree to which she was out of touch with the lives of the majority— made her a symbol of the wealth disparity that prompted the French Revolution.
Continue ReadingAscending the Guggenheim Museum's rings through Rashid Johnson's retrospective, “A Poem for Deep Thinkers,” is a dance in of itself.
Continue ReadingA lone musician stands at the corner of the darkened stage. His shakuhachi (bamboo flute) echoes, melancholy, as the sound of an ominous wind rises.
Continue Reading“Birth + Carnage” is a fantastic title. The premise behind this show, which premiered at LaMama Experimental Theater Club at the end of December, was exciting too.
Continue ReadingIn 2017, David Bintley—Birmingham Royal Ballet’s then-director—adapted Sir Peter Wright’s much-loved 1990 production of “The Nutcracker” for London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Continue ReadingThis program of three works by William Forsythe set to the music of James Blake has special meaning for La Scala Ballet.
FREE ARTICLEWill Tuckett’s new production of the “The Nutcracker” for the National Ballet of Japan serves up a holiday feast for the senses. Sweetly invigorating, it’s also a warm toddy for the soul. From start to finish, Tuckett’s “The Nutcracker” is truly a dream.
Continue ReadingBetween New York City Ballet’s “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®” and “The Magic Flute” at the Metropolitan Opera, it’s hard to compete with the Upper West Side’s holiday kid offerings.
Continue ReadingWatching Matthew Bourne's reworked version of the “star-cross'd lovers,” I was briefly reminded of Veronica, played by Winona Ryder, in the dark 1988 comedy by Daniel Waters and Michael Lehmann, Heathers, and her line, “my teen angst bullshit has a body count.” Yes, this is the darker side of Bourne's repertoire,...
Continue ReadingThe choreographer Alexei Ratmansky reflects on the war in Ukraine, the connection between geopolitics and ballet, and joining the house of Balanchine.
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Beneath blue California skies, manicured trees, and the occasional hum of an overhead airplane, Tamara Rojo took the Frost Amphitheater stage at Stanford University to introduce herself as the new artistic director of San Francisco Ballet.
Continue ReadingAfter a week of the well-balanced meal that is “Jewels”—the nutritive, potentially tedious, leafy greens of “Emeralds,” the gamy, carnivorous “Rubies,” and the decadent, shiny white mountains of meringue in “Diamonds”—the New York City Ballet continued its 75th Anniversary All-Balanchine Fall Season with rather more dyspeptic fare.
Continue ReadingAn “Ajiaco” is a type of soup common to Colombia, Cuba, and Peru that combines a variety of different vegetables, spices, and meats.
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