All – Tagged "REVIEWS" – Page 57

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REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

Seasons Change

Since the middle of March, when St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater closed its doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 85 million people from all around the world have accessed a variety of high-quality streaming performances—symphonies, choral works, operas, ballets and ballet classes—which the company has offered on various online platforms, including Mariinsky.TV. This staggering number of viewers speaks for itself. In such unprecedented times for performing arts, Mariinsky Theater has demonstrated an exemplar way of outreach and engagement with their audiences.

REVIEWS | By Gracia Haby

Taking Shelter

All around me, things are beginning to ‘return to normal’ which is misleading in both meaning and reality for things cannot return to normal; what was normal—what was before—was precisely the problem. In our separation from nature, and a balanced system of replenishment, driven by our greed and need for super-sized efficiency, our grand-scale consumerism, as Arundhati Roy writes, “another world . . . . She is on her way.” And how she forms, it is up to us all. “As the ice caps melt, as oceans heat up, and water tables plunge, as we rip through the delicate web...

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

Dance ’til the Death

Royal New Zealand Ballet finished their “Live in Your Living Room” series with a tribute to old and new; their penultimate episode honoured the romantic roots of classical ballet whilst the season ended with a sweet and delicious encore of an audience favourite.

REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

Elegance & Exuberance

Mariinsky Ballet’s spectacular production of “Raymonda,” presented on Mariinsky.TV as part of the company’s online season, is a real treat. Rarely seen in the West in its entirety, it’s a jewel of a ballet—the last great creation of Marius Petipa for the Imperial Russian Ballet.

REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

Stories from Soviet Ballet

St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater offers an exceptional online season during the time of Covid-19, streaming from its website, Mariinsky.TV, a wide selection of performances—ballets, operas, and classical music concerts—from its illustrious repertory, all impeccably recorded and presented.

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

Edge of a Wild Sea

The next episode from Royal New Zealand Ballet’s “Live in Your Living Room” series diverges from their previous content. Up until now, the company has broadcast filmed productions such as “Romeo and Juliet,” or dress rehearsal recordings, “Cinderella” from their archives. This time, however, they decided to share something completely different. Instead of presenting a finished product—a performance with everything perfectly rehearsed and every detail finalised—RNZB chose to broadcast a documentary that focuses upon the rehearsal process. This episode shows how complicated and turbulent the creative process can be.

REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

A New Firebird

As the coronavirus pandemic brought live performances to a halt, many ballet companies around the world turned to online platforms to present their work and to engage with their audiences, bringing dance performances straight into our living rooms. In fact, these trying times created an unprecedented opportunity for people all over the world to enjoy a wealth of ballet productions, new and old, which the majority of viewers would never be able to see otherwise.

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

Violent Delights, Violent Ends

When it comes to restaging canonical works, the process is extraordinarily complex. A myriad of difficulties can emerge depending on how much or how little a new work differs from the original ballet. Every aspect of the restaging—from form to characterisation and plot—does not exist in isolation; the theatrical elements are irrevocably tied to and haunted by the canonical predecessor. How a choreographer, then, approaches a restaging is uniquely singular them and their creative practice.

REVIEWS | By Gracia Haby

Love is Not Blind

Memory is not linear. Have I told you this before? I saw this production of see Graeme Murphy’s “Romeo & Juliet,” filmed on Wednesday 21st September, 2011 at Arts Centre Melbourne with Orchestra Victoria, before I wrote my first piece for Fjord Review.

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

For the Fallen

The 25th of April is an important day for Australia and New Zealand—it is Anzac Day. It is a day where two countries come together and acknowledge the suffering that our servicemen and women have endured. This year, however, Anzac Day was quite different. There were not the usual migrations, no congregations and even the shores of Gallipoli—normally filled with thousands of visitors—were bare. Instead, people decided to commemorate at home. They lined their driveways at dawn and waited for the Reveille to play through the radio.

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

Mischief at Midnight

There is something inherently mysterious about the midnight hour; it has an otherworldly power that can be both alluring yet also sinister. Curses can be sworn, spells can be broken, and even the most beautiful things (including carriages) can be returned to mundane, everyday objects. Midnight is cloaked in mystery because it is a liminal space—a threshold of time. It signifies the moment when one day turns into the next, and it is within this transition that it holds its power. As time suspends between the days, so too does rational thought. Because midnight is the hour that gives voice...

REVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

Lived Experience

Glasgow's Barrowland Ballet have long explored the nuances of human interaction with style, grace and humour. The company often work with those from different backgrounds and age groups, and their own professional dancers are absolutely superb. Whiteout is definitely one of artistic director Natasha Gilmore's most intimate projects, as she was inspired by creating a humane piece which speaks to her own inter-racial marriage. Speaking in an interview in The List in 2015, she said to writer Kelly Apter, “This is one of those pieces I felt compelled to make . . . So I started to identify the common...

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.