Returning to Troy
Only three years after its premiere at Cork’s Midsummer Festival, Philip Connaughton finds his work of epic proportions, “Trojans,” in the hands of Luail.
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World-class review of ballet and dance.
Only three years after its premiere at Cork’s Midsummer Festival, Philip Connaughton finds his work of epic proportions, “Trojans,” in the hands of Luail.
Continue ReadingFrom charming stagings for children to edgy dance theater, Un Yamada Company, a creative collective based in Tokyo, has built a reputation for consistently innovative productions.
Continue ReadingFor much of “Romeo & Juliet Suite,” Benjamin Millepied’s stripped-down take on the Sergei Prokofiev ballet—billed as a gender-bent, “contemporary, site-specific” version of Shakespeare’s classic—I find myself thinking of a different play by the bard. Specifically, the direction in The Winter’s Tale: “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Most of the drama here, after all, happens offstage.
Continue ReadingMontreal based choreographer and artistic director, Virginie Brunelle’s eponymously named company performed its 2022 “Fables” at Penn Live Arts Zellerbach Theatre series on the brink of Women’s History month.
Continue ReadingWhat distinguishes a dancer from a choreographer? This is, in the end, an empirical question, one that can only be answered in the theatre.
Continue ReadingThere is something charmingly didactic and intellectually generous about American dance companies touring Europe. At the start of a performance, it is not unusual for a director to step forward and offer a brief introduction, explaining the reasons for the tour and sketching the wider context of the programme. Paris audiences experienced this with the Martha Graham Dance Company last autumn, and now again with Dance Theatre of Harlem. Robert Garland, at the helm of the ensemble, took a moment to anchor the performance in lineage, recalling the company’s origins and its illustrious founder, Arthur Mitchell. As Garland recounted, Mitchell...
Continue ReadingHubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Winter Series takes its audience on a journey back through time.
Continue ReadingWhat are you looking for in a night out in the theatre? Do you seek beauty? The ethereal? That may be the case for most at a ballet, but CCN Ballet de Lorraine’s double bill at the Southbank Centre wants to bring us on a whole trip.
Continue ReadingDresses, domestic chores, grief. A community of women more feral than feminine. Five performers wear a changing selection of 40 dresses that serve as both costume and prop.
Continue ReadingPossibly one of Los Angeles’ best kept terpsichorean secrets, artistic director, choreographer, and teacher Josie Walsh has decidedly forged a path unlike any other.
Continue ReadingThe legacy of George Balanchine will be forever entwined with the enduring fiefdoms he established, the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet.
Continue ReadingOf the many stylish touches in Scottish Ballet’s “Mary, Queen of Scots,” the titular Tudor’s black pointe shoes are my favourite.
Continue ReadingLong before the dancers take the stage, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s season at New York City Center feels like one of the most energizing cultural events of the spring.
Continue ReadingIt is rare for George Balanchine’s grand, bedazzled “Symphony in C” to open a program. Its champagne-popping finale for 52 dancers tends to be a nightcap.
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The Spring is Blooming festival, by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, now in its fifth year, has become a highlight of the spring dance circuit.
Continue ReadingAs the audience come to their feet at the end of this ballet there is a noted difference to be seen on stage. Three women stand with joined hands, taking their call as the romantic leads of a loud and proud lesbian ballet.
Continue ReadingOne of San Francisco Ballet’s greatest assets is its home venue, the Beaux-Arts style War Memorial Opera House, with four rings of seating that require performers to project their energies practically to the exosphere.
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