Dance Floor Liberation
Los Angeles–based dance artist Jay Carlon knew that the proscenium stage couldn’t house his 2024 work, “Wake,” in its fullness. So he moved it elsewhere: to a rave.
Continue ReadingWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
Wings have long held a special significance in ballet. In “Swan Lake,” Odette’s feathery port de bras become a devastating symbol of her captivity; in “La Sylphide” the titular sylph loses her wings, and her life, in an ill-fated embrace. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Broken Wings” is one of the latest ballets to harness this freighted imagery, albeit more loosely. Created in 2016 for English National Ballet and reprised as part of ENB’s new “She Persisted” bill, the production is a vibrant tribute to the painter Frida Kahlo, capturing the existential heartbreak she suffered when a bus crash at the age of 18 decimated her health, and along with it her dream of becoming a doctor. Over the course of Ochoa’s half-hour piece, Frida finds new ways into identity, femininity, love and art, eventually recovering the wings she thought had been clipped forever.
Performance
Place
Words
Katja Khaniukova as Frida with English National Ballet in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's “Broken Wings.” Photograph by Laurent Liotardo
“Uncommonly intelligent, substantial coverage.”
Your weekly source for world-class dance reviews, interviews, articles, and more.
Already a paid subscriber? Login
Los Angeles–based dance artist Jay Carlon knew that the proscenium stage couldn’t house his 2024 work, “Wake,” in its fullness. So he moved it elsewhere: to a rave.
Continue ReadingChoreography wasn’t on Lia Cirio’s radar when artistic director Mikko Nissinen asked her to participate in Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER initiative in 2018. The principal dancer had always thought, “Oh, that's not something for me. I just like being in the room and helping people and being choreographed on.” But her good friend and colleague at the time, Kathleen Breen Combes, gave her a nudge.
Continue ReadingIngrid Silva’s expression is calm, the side of her mouth upturned a few degrees, as if she’s delighting in the reception of her own joke.
Continue ReadingFrench choreographer Lea Tirabasso makes dense, intricate work which explores existential concerns connected with science, nature and morality. Witty, vivid and visceral, her work pushes beyond simple genres or choreographic language, creating something far richer and more complex. Her most recent piece, “In the Bushes” is part of the Edinburgh Festival this year. Fjord Review caught up with Léa Tirabasso ahead of the Summerhall run.
Continue Reading
comments