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REVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

Drag Me To Hell

At once of the earth, and completely otherworldly, Akram Khan's apocalyptic last-ever solo piece as a performer (or so he has stated) grips from the outset, and never lets go. From the minute he is spat out onto the stage, tied to a rope which renders him as vulnerable as a newborn tied to the umbilical cord, or prisoner yearning to break free, this piece of choreography is a snarling beast. It is a nightmarish vision of a state of being in limbo, inspired by Prometheus. “Xenos,” which translates as 'foreigner' or 'stranger,' stands for anyone ostracised, othered, or incarcerated...

REVIEWS | By Claudia Lawson

Split

Lucy Guerin is known for her left of field works, and “Split” is no different. The scene of the performance is the Sydney Opera House’s Studio. As far as the Sydney Opera House goes, it is not a common setting for a dance performance. Rather than a large performance space, it is an intimate theatre space; dimly lit, roughly the size of a community hall. The stage is just an open space in the middle of the seats—no curtains, no props, but cordoned off with masking tape to mark the boundaries. Our bags have been security checked and we've been...

DANCE FILM | By Rachel Stone

First Impressions

In a hot spring in the Netherlands, steam rising from the water, a man begins to dance. It’s night, and the sky and water are dark. The man, rugged and fortyish, swims towards the filmmaker recording him on a mobile phone. The man unfolds his arms in mock-grace, spinning with arms raised above him in a rounded fifth position. Swimmers shout over the warm roar of the waves. Muffled classical music plays from what sounds like a gramophone. The man spins and springs out of the water belly-first—a hairy, barrel-chested merman surfacing from the sea.

REVIEWS | By Penelope Ford

Stars in Sun Valley

Sun Valley, ski-resort and playground for the rich and famous, is nestled by the picturesque Sawtooth mountains, Idaho. The (Western) history of Sun Valley begins in 1936 when Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman decided to build America's first destination ski-resort. Count Felix Schaffgotsch went in search of the perfect locale, and three days after his arrival in Sun Valley, he wired Harriman: “Among the many attractive spots I have visited, this combines the more delightful features of any place I have seen in the United States, Switzerland, or Austria for a winter ski resort.”

REVIEWS | By Merilyn Jackson

Summertime

BalletX’s Summer Series 2018 programmed three easygoing world premieres at the Wilma Theater last week. With comic moves here and there to classical music, and gestures at more serious themes, except for Penny Saunders' “Rock-a-Bye,” there was not much to overheat the packed audience during these sultry dog days.

REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Spiritual Shades

Those feet! Those hands! Those insanely flat stomachs! This is American Ballet Theatre’s “La Bayadère,” Marius Petipa’s iconic 1877 ballet restaged in the West by Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova for ABT in 1980 and seen over the weekend with three different casts. (It’s also the 200-year anniversary of the birth of Petipa, a giant in the ballet world whose some 150 choreographies include his 1862 opus, “The Pharaoh’s Daughter,” his 1869 “Don Quixote” and “The Sleeping Beauty,” from 1890).

REVIEWS | By Rebecca Ritzel

Summer Storm

Watching Sasha Janes’ “The Four Seasons” is like reliving the best year of your life, if your life was a ballet.

REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Venice Dance Biennale

Ah, Venice—one of the world’s most gorgeous cities. Known for its spectacular art, music and architecture, the town with its famed Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge, also plays host to an edgy international dance festival. The terpsichorean portion of the Venice Biennale—the doyenne of contemporary art exhibitions founded in 1895, one that has also included a film sector since 1932 (cue A-list movie stars each August)—is now celebrating its 12th edition. Currently under the auspices of the eminent Canadian-born dancer/choreographer Marie Chouinard, whose troupe Compagnie Marie Chouinard, was founded in 1990, the festival proved a worthy showcase for performers and...

REVIEWS | By Rachel Stone

Under the Sea

An octopus named Octavia learns how to communicate with a human, and begins to blush in her presence. Certain fish like to be petted like housecats. Moray eels enjoy being cuddled, and manta rays can recognize their reflections in the mirror.

REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Since She

For the 71st edition of the prestigious Holland Festival, which took place at various venues around Amsterdam for three weeks last month, artistic director Ruth Mackenzie chose the theme, “Borders and Boundaries,” one that is especially relevant today. In addition to music (with the focus on European composer George Benjamin), film, multimedia, theater, workshops and master classes, modern dance has also been a vital element of the Netherlands’ oldest and largest performing arts festival.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Neue Suite

Any performance of a work by William Forsythe comes with a certain degree of technical expectation—an all-Forsythe triple bill is, in this respect, a bold statement of confidence.

REVIEWS | By Gracia Haby

Golden Threads

Like Leonard Cohen’s lamentation, “Anthem.” Like the Japanese art of repair, ‘kintsugi.’ Like you and me, the human condition. Like all of these things, Alice Topp’s brand new work, “Aurum” was presented as part of the Australian Ballet’s “Verve” program.

Featured Reads

REVIEWS | Lorna Irvine

Teenage Angst and Institutions

Watching 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,...

INTERVIEWS | Marina Harss

The Me of Today

The choreographer Alexei Ratmansky reflects on the war in Ukraine, the connection between geopolitics and ballet, and joining the house of Balanchine.

REVIEWS | Rachel Howard

Starry Nights

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.

REVIEWS | Faye Arthurs

America, F**K Yeah

After 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.

REVIEWS | Emily May

Acosta Danza’s Choreographic Soup

An “Ajiaco” is a type of soup common to Colombia, Cuba, and Peru that combines a variety of different vegetables, spices, and meats.