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Here/Now, No. 7
REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

Here/Now, No. 7

Remarkable in its size, range, and variety, New York City Ballet’s Here/Now festival presented ten separate programs. The first three were dedicated to works by Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, and Justin Peck, one choreographer at a time, in the format usually used for the company’s luminaries, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. The remaining seven programs were packaged as collections of stylistically and musically diverse pieces, all created specifically for the company in the past thirty or so years. Over the course of four weeks, the festival afforded audiences the unique opportunity to see a great variety of works—a one-of-a-kind retrospective...

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Toronto Dance Theatre
REVIEWS | By Penelope Ford

Room to Dream

Themes were choice, play, youth, and freedom at Toronto Dance Theatre's Emerging Voices program, premiering work by Alicia Grant and Emily Law. Both choreographers had the opportunity to develop their work within TDT's choreographic incubator facilitated by TDT Artistic Director Christopher House, and set their work on company dancers.

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Here/Now
REVIEWS | By Oksana Khadarina

Here/Now

New York City Ballet’s Here/Now festival proved an epic undertaking. Over the course of four weeks, the company presented 43 ballets created by 22 choreographers, all works made during the past four decades—a celebration of contemporary choreography, unprecedented in its size, depth, scope, and richness.

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Decadence and Desire
REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Decadence and Desire

Cloaked, hooded figures process ceremoniously across the stage. They cross themselves before an unseen altar and disappear into the darkness between towering pillars. Dramatic, stately chimes enhance the pious atmosphere. Kneeling at their pews the company begin a sequence of precise and ordered movement, the angular isolations of their arms and upper body suggesting a ritual of prayer.

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Signature Graham
REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Signature Graham

On the eve of Mother’s Day, it is altogether possible that the mother of modern dance, Martha Graham, would be looking down and beaming at the latest incarnation of Martha Graham Dance Company, originally founded in—gasp—1926. To say that the 16-member troupe looked and moved beautifully is almost an understatement. Their very beings seemed infused with the spirit—and essence—of Martha herself.

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Mayerling
REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Mayerling

In January 1889, at the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary committed suicide with his 17 year old lover, Mary Vetsera. The tragedy was quickly covered up to protect the Habsburg dynasty and, as such, the ambiguous events of that night have become as much speculation as fact; the inspiration for several screen adaptations and, of course, Kenneth MacMillan's ballet.

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In Phase
REVIEWS | By Claudia Lawson

In Phase

Opening nights at Sydney Dance Company have become the place to see and be seen. The troupe's charismatic artistic director, Spaniard Rafael Bonachela, has transformed SDC into a chic contemporary outfit, at the heart of Sydney's hip art scene. The company's recent premiere of “Orb,” a double bill featuring “Full Moon” by Taiwanese choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung and “Ocho,” Bonachela's latest, was no exception, drawing the glitterati to the Roslyn Packer Theatre in Sydney's Walsh Bay.

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Loosening the Corset Strings
REVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

Loosening the Corset Strings

Wilful, bold Rosalind—the heroine of Shakespeare's As You Like It—who dressed as Ganymede the man, always eschewed traditional tropes of female behaviour in literature, so James Cousins Company's re-imagining of her in this incredible piece seems timely, as gendered issues—whether of feminist or transgender visibility—are increasingly pushed into the mainstream media and news. His company, featuring British and Korean dancers, are effectively loosening the corset strings of Shakespeare for a new generation. And how!

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Johan Greben
REVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

Of Human Bondage

It is no coincidence that the huge unruly piles of trainers and pumps littering the stage are mostly the Adidas brand, as Uri Ivgi and Johan Greben's new piece for Scottish Ballet casts an unblinking eye over exploitation, and such global brands have faced accusations in recent years of forced labour and poor working conditions, often involving young children. These symbolically also serve as borders, partitioning some of the dancers off against the others, as they scrabble piecemeal for survival.

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Betroffenheit
REVIEWS | By Sara Veale

A poignant portrait of grief

Hot on the heels of a widely acclaimed premiere with the Royal Ballet, Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite is back in the laudatory limelight, this time with an Olivier Award, won for her 2015 dance theatre work “Betroffenheit,” co-created with Jonathon Young of Electric Company Theatre.

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