World-class review of ballet and dance.
After the pandemic shutdown, it felt so good to be back in REDCAT’s beautiful black box space for its annual three-week New Original Works Festival (NOW). Currently in its 19th edition—a feat in and of itself, the theater having opened in 2003—the celebrated series features nine premieres by some of Los Angeles’ foremost dance, theater, music and multimedia artists.
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I am sitting at a bar with a glass of wine waiting to watch Danish choreographer Mette Ingvarsten’s “The Dancing Public” as part of Tanz im August festival. Part dance party, part spoken word concert, the piece, according to press materials, aims to consider the 14th-17th century phenomenon of dancing plagues in our current post-pandemic context. “I hope there’s not going to be audience participation,” says one of the friends I’m attending with. Of course, from that moment, our fates were sealed.
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Today I am speaking with the Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company, Rafael Bonachela. Rafael grew up in the small town of La Garriga near Barcelona in Spain, the eldest of 4 brothers. With no dance school in the town, the young Rafael would instead create dances for himself and his classmates, before at 15, being allowed to take the train to Barcelona to take his first dance class. It was a pivotal moment—both a star and a passion was born. By 17 he was offered a professional contract and was travelling Europe as a contemporary dancer. But rather than continue...
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Today I am speaking with the incredible Deborah Brown. Deborah is a descendant of the Wakaid Clan of Badu Island, the Meriam people of Murray Island, and also has Scottish heritage. Deborah grew up in Brisbane, learning jazz, ballet and tap at her local dance school, while also dancing around the family home learning cultural dance. It was an eye opener to a world she never dreamt could be her career. But after finishing school, Deborah moved to Sydney, and while working as an usher at the Lyric Theatre she auditioned for Bangarra Dance Theatre and was accepted. It was a love...
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Akram Khan’s newest production “Jungle Book reimagined” is a spellbinding work of dance theatre that retells Rudyard Kipling’s original tale through dance, animation, text and music. At its core is a group of fantastically talented dancers, who ably take on their animal characters with a commitment that doesn’t rely on lazy mannerisms.
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Talking Pointes Podcast is back for another season: another 10 beautiful conversations about life in dance with your host Claudia Lawson.
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Today we're speaking with the magnificent Amy Harris, principal dancer with the Australian Ballet. Amy, grew up in the small town of Ararat in rural Victoria, and along with her two sisters, learnt tap, ballet and jazz at her local hall. From there it was the dream run—at 15, Amy was accepted into the Australian Ballet School, before being offered a contract with the Australian Ballet Company on graduation—by the newly appointed director David McAllister no less. For many aspiring dancers, it was the dream run. But from here, Amy’s journey changed speeds. In this beautifully candid interview Amy talks about...
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Battery Dance Festival's closing night of outdoor performances harmonized perfectly with the sky. The festival celebrated its 41st anniversary at home in Battery Park City's breathtaking Robert F. Wagner Park, and as the sun set, the sky turned from baby blue to pinks, oranges, and navy. Like the New York harbor which glistened from below, the five performing companies of the evening reflected this changing background remarkably, with costumes which coordinated with the natural color palette and movement that complimented the shifting backdrop of sailboats and seagulls.
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In summarizing Sir Frederick Ashton’s oeuvre in 1961, celebrated critic Clive Barnes writes, “For all this his ballets are best seen from above.” In Covent Garden, Barnes continues, his favorite seat from which to view Ashton’s work is “from gallery right at the top of the house.” Although New York City audiences had the chance to catch a rare glimpse of Ashton’s choreography last week, thanks to Sarasota Ballet, the venue—the Joyce Theater—lacked the depth and perspective to really do his ballets justice. With its unadulterated sight lines, the intimacy of the Joyce is usually a joy for viewers. But...
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For the second year in a row, Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theater of Harlem came together for a week of free performances at the Damrosch Park Bandshell. There were way too many titles and slogans involved: it was officially the BAAND Together Dance Festival within Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Festival, for which the tagline was: Remember, Reclaim, Rejoice. These phrases were plastered around the stage and surrounding areas. More simply, these shows are Lincoln Center’s attempt to create a summertime version of City Center’s successful Fall...
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Squeezing in as much time as possible together in the dance studio, Mythili Prakash and her collaborating musicians are rehearsing their new work “Poo | Poo” for the Erasing Borders Dance Festival. Presented annually in New York City by the Indo-American Arts Council, the festival, this year, is celebrating India’s 75th anniversary of independence. Four days away from the premiere, Prakash and her musicians are still figuring out the ending. But that may be because of the collaborative nature of this endeavor (as well as the fact that half of them were stricken with Covid during one of their dedicated...
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Some might consider that a circus tent deep in the Berkshire mountains, with a full moon rising, might prove adequate to evoke a gathering of witches. With the tent sides propped open to frame glowing sections of the woods outside, it was as if we had indeed joined a witches celebration in the forest. Despite this setting for her sold-out premiere of a long anticipated “Wicked Bodies,” Liz Lerman wasn’t taking any chances of leaving her audience in the dark. The evening began as an interactive experience to prepare us. Approaching the performance tent, we first encountered an altar designed...
Continue ReadingWatching 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,...
Continue ReadingThe choreographer Alexei Ratmansky reflects on the war in Ukraine, the connection between geopolitics and ballet, and joining the house of Balanchine.
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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.
Continue ReadingAfter 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.
Continue ReadingAn “Ajiaco” is a type of soup common to Colombia, Cuba, and Peru that combines a variety of different vegetables, spices, and meats.
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