A Journey of Healing
Across North Africa, the all-night music-dance-trance ritual called lila (pronounced lee-lah) is celebrated as a means for spiritual healing.
FREE ARTICLEWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
Sacramento Ballet executive and artistic director Anthony Krutzkamp dresses sharp and gives a memorable pre-curtain speech. The way he tells it, the Central California company was in rehearsals for “Swan Lake” last year when he realized he faced an enviable problem: the dancers were too good for the ballets he’d programmed under a five-year plan. So Krutzkamp scrapped that plan and got on the phone, securing a commission from the internationally rising South African choreographer Andrea Schermoly. He then asked San Francisco-based Val Caniparoli for the rights to his widely performed “Ibsen’s House,” and decided to round the program out with Balanchine’s “Apollo.” That last ballet, from 1928, was arguably the only really innovative work on a mixed-rep bill titled “Innovations”—but I’m not complaining. The best thing about this slate was that it proved Krutzkamp right about the dancers. They look like they can take on anything.
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Across North Africa, the all-night music-dance-trance ritual called lila (pronounced lee-lah) is celebrated as a means for spiritual healing.
FREE ARTICLEThe Fall for Dance Festival programming formula runs roughly thus: feature a new troupe, include a pet (or vanity) project of a big NYC star, and end with a feel-good group showcase.
Continue ReadingAs the fight for greater visibility for women choreographers continues, it was encouraging to see Carlos Acosta, director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, commission an all-female creative team for “Luna,” the final piece in his trilogy celebrating the company’s hometown.
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That’s the beauty of Balanchine, isn’t it? The works can withstand almost any casting with their essences intact, but every dancer who passes through them alters the tenor of each piece too. As do the stagers. Wish I could’ve seen this group, but thank you Rachel for the lovely reporting!