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INTERVIEWS | By Veronica Posth

More to the Story

Writer, director, and choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen grew up with the theatre in his blood. As the son of a dresser, Øyen’s second home was a small theatre, Den Nationale Scene, established by Ibsen himself, in the town of Bergen, Norway. From age 17, Alan studied ballet and went on to dance with Norwegian national contemporary dance company Carte Blanche, and Pretty Ugly, Amanda Miller’s Cologne-based company. In 2006 Øyen founded his own touring company, winter guests, a multidisciplinary company bringing together actors, dancers, writers, set designers and technicians, where his uniquely emotional and dramatic dance-theatre could come to life.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Howard

Dancing in Eden

San Francisco Ballet topped international dance news lately with the announcement that Tamara Rojo will take over as artistic director next year, succeeding New York City Ballet star Helgi Tomasson after his 37-year tenure. What has San Francisco Ballet, once a second-tier West Coast company, become under Tomasson’s leadership? Well, in institutional size SFB is now second only to New York City Ballet among US companies, with an annual budget of $52 million. In repertory, it counts ballets by most of the major international talents, many of these commissioned in massive new works festivals.

REVIEWS | By Marina Harss

Entrances and Exits

This was supposed to be the week New York City Ballet was to dance Peter Martins’s full-length version of “Swan Lake.” Because the rapid spread of Omicron forced the company to shorten its rehearsal period, that production was replaced with George Balanchine’s one-act version, which has been combined with other repertory ballets. No regrets—Martins’ “Swan” is a cold, bleak affair—but some of the resulting programs have been a bit of a grab-bag. Consider the one on February 15th, which included the high-modernist 1946 work “The Four Temperaments,” combined with the breezy pas de deux “Sonatine,” followed by a stand-alone “Black...

INTERVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

A Northern Star

Federico Bonelli's award-winning career is a long and illustrious one, scanning many decades. The multi-faceted dancer, who was born in Genoa, Italy has performed with Zurich Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet and, since 2003, the Royal Ballet. Bonelli has brought his extraordinary, gravity defying frame to such celebrated works as “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Nutcracker,” “La Sylphide,” “Pierrot Lunaire,” “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” “The Dante Project,” “Giselle,” “Frankenstein,” “Manon,” and “Woolf Works.” He has garnered many awards, notably first prize at the Rieti International Ballet Competition, and a Prix de Lausanne scholarship.

REVIEWS | By Marina Harss

Pyotr Ilych in the House

Thankfully, no further Covid disruptions have marred the company’s winter season, though fear-of-Omicron has kept the houses less than full. A shame, since the company is dancing so well. This week and next, Balanchine’s one-act “Swan Lake” has been added to the mix, in place of the originally-scheduled full evening production by Peter Martins. Even “Swan Lake” has not been enough to fill the house, though it was noticeably more populated on the evening of February 11 than it had been a few days earlier.

REVIEWS | By Faye Arthurs

Visionary Voices

New York City Ballet’s Visionary Voices program featured one world premiere, Jamar Roberts’s “Emanon—In Two Movements,” and two recent additions to the repertory: Pam Tanowitz’s “Bartók Ballet” from 2019 and Kyle Abraham’s “The Runaway” from 2018. It was a surprise that the newest piece felt like it was the oldest, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Rather, it was delightfully unexpected that the most overt Balanchine ode I’ve seen in a while came from the resident choreographer of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

REVIEWS | By Merilyn Jackson

New Works for a New World

Philadelphia Ballet premiered three commissions in a program called New Works for a New World last weekend in the intimate Perelman Theater. Also part of the Kimmel Cultural Campus, the company will continue to mount its large classical ballets at the Academy of Music, including artistic director Ángel Corella’s choreographed “Swan Lake” in March. The Perelman is now the designated venue for contemporary works.

REVIEWS | By Marina Harss

There is a Time

It’s been a busy week of débuts at New York City Ballet. With several departures last season, and more to come (including Teresa Reichlen in less than two weeks, and Gonzalo García at the end of the month), the company is going through something of a generational shift. The impression is magnified by the fact that some of the principal dancers are out with injuries, leaving the lion’s share of performances to younger principals or rising soloists, dancers like Indiana Woodward, Unity Phelan, Mira Nadon, Jovani Furlan, Roman Mejía, Chun Wai Chan (making a major mark after just a season...

REVIEWS | By Madelyn Coupe

Not All that Glitters is Solid Gold

At last, the highly anticipated Ballet International Gala (BIG) premiered to a very eager audience. Organised by Queensport Arts—a newly formed promotional company, headed by dancer/actor Joel Burke, and associates Beck Phillips, and Kahlid Tarabay—it showcased some of the most in-demand talent from across the globe live on the mainstage. Seeing the list of dancers slated to perform was quite astounding; not least because covid travel restrictions have, up until this point, have limited international access to the state. Skylar Brandt and Aran Bell from American Ballet Theatre; Shugyla Adepkhan and Bakhtiyar Adamzhan from Astana Opera; Alexander Campbell from the...

REVIEWS | By Lorna Irvine

For the Joy of It

There is a lovely egalitarian spirit in Go Dance, the mini-festival at Theatre Royal. It features dancers of all abilities, age groups, backgrounds and body types. Tonight though, it's mainly focused on emerging dancers, with the exception of established company Inspire (more of whom, later.) Rescheduled due to the pandemic, it's great to see its return. With family members cheering on their offspring, and dance fans also in attendance, it's hard not to get swept up in the obvious bonhomie.

REVIEWS | By Candice Thompson

Regeneration

The curtain rose on New York City Ballet’s winter season on January 27, 2022, to a delightful showpiece of a set, designed by Eva LeWitt. Made for “Partita,” Justin Peck’s latest premiere, LeWitt’s colorful ribbons of fabric floated down from overhead, spanning wing to wing, the vibrant color palette creating circles of varying sizes. The dancers appeared in a tight clump center stage under these floating orbs, which hovered over their dance like so many moons.

FEATURES | By Cecilia Whalen

From East to West

Nai-Ni Chen's first experience in the United States was as a cultural ambassador. A teenage dancer from Taiwan, she was invited to be a youth representative from China to the U.S. and traveled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to speak with students. At MIT, her group was welcomed by a student-led club, headed by Andy Chiang, who was also Taiwanese and studying computer science. Andy had lived in the U.S. since he was in high school, but was deeply connected to and influenced by his Chinese heritage. He met Nai-Ni, and the two instantly bonded over their mutual...

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.