Neue Suite
Any performance of a work by William Forsythe comes with a certain degree of technical expectation—an all-Forsythe triple bill is, in this respect, a bold statement of confidence.
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Golden Threads
Like Leonard Cohen’s lamentation, “Anthem.” Like the Japanese art of repair, ‘kintsugi.’ Like you and me, the human condition. Like all of these things, Alice Topp’s brand new work, “Aurum” was presented as part of the Australian Ballet’s “Verve” program.
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Local Gods
From the first few minutes of the show, I knew Clare Barron’s new play “Dance Nation” deserved its hype. In an opening scene, a group of dancers stands at attention at the center of their small studio in Liverpool, Ohio; arms straight at their sides, faces frozen in abject terror, waiting for Dance Teacher Pat to tell them to move their bodies. This is a team of 13-year-old competition dancers heading to the Star Power USA competition, vying for a chance to make it to nationals in Tampa, Florida. (Along their way are stops in Akron, Ohio, and the “Boogie...
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A Sweet Treat
Ballets don’t come much sweeter than “The Sleeping Beauty.” The Petipa classic is a sparkling confection of sequins and tulle, its three acts fizzing with dulcet duets and variations. Kenneth MacMillan’s 1987 version, staged here by English National Ballet, cuts through some of the fluff but is honeyed all the same, with plenty of sugary frolics swirled in. And the cherry on top? A guest turn from former Bolshoi Ballet prima Maria Alexandrova, whose perky expressiveness and top-notch technique impress mightily.
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A Giddy Delight
At the Paris Universal Exhibition at the turn of the twentieth century, where it was said Debussy first heard Javanese gamelan music, near everything newly discovered or newly made could be found. The Eiffel Tower, now synonymous with Paris, for one; the world-encompassing scale of the Galerie des machines where visitors could delight in discovering such things as atmospheric hammers, cigarette makers, phonographs, and telephones. Add to this a colonial exhibition of the ‘other’ from across land and sea masses; the Imperial, the largest diamond in the world; and a giant wooden and stucco elephant, which was later purchased and...
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Royal Treatment
American Ballet Theatre unveiled world premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s “Harlequinade”—an opulent reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s “Les Millions d’Arlequin”—at the Metropolitan Opera House on Monday, June 4. This is yet another large-scale production by Ratmansky for ABT, where he is artist in residence. Last year, the company premiered his evening-long take on Richard Strauss' ballet “Whipped Cream,” which was part of ABT’s Ratmansky Project: “a five-year, $15 million fund-raising drive to support the creation of at least one new work a year by Mr. Ratmansky,” according to the New York Times.
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Dancing with Distinction
Recently retired San Francisco Ballet soloist James Sofranko, who built his leadership chops co-organizing the city’s annual Dance for a Reason cancer benefit gala, is soon off to take charge at Michigan’s Grand Rapids Ballet. SFDanceworks will continue with direction from Sofranko, and with associate direction by former Australian Ballet principal Danielle Rowe. Judging from Rowe’s new work, “The Old Child,” this is good news. Next to a passionately danced staging of Nacho Duato’s career-making masterpiece, “Jardi Tancat,” Rowe’s was the most memorable choreography of this program, and one hopes she’ll keep making dances.
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Army Dreamers
Tonight's gripping episode sees Matthew Bourne, with a restaging by Etta Murfitt, channeling all of the very best 1940's cinema classics, from Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death, via Hitchcock, David Lean and American silent movie iconography; as well as the more knockabout elements of vaudeville and slapstick. This is no twee fairytale, but rather, a meshing of historical fact steeped in survival as much as lyrical romanticism. For context, the production is bookended by plummy, RP voiced Pathe newsreels showing the devastation of war.
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Living Doll
There is no other ballet quite like “Coppélia.” A romantic comedy spiced with elements of an action-thriller and accompanied by one of the most joyful ballet scores ever written, “Coppélia” never fails to delight and entertain.
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Widening the Landscape
This new programme from Akram Khan—one of the UK’s foremost contemporary choreographers—is a look into both the past and future. Khan and Farooq Chaudry, producer at Akram Khan Company, have invited four young dancers of colour to present self-choreographed solos that reflect on their heritage and explore the evolving language of contemporary dance. Drawing on genres as diverse as hip-hop and folk dance, their work forms a ‘portrait of otherness’ that encourages innovation of form and promotes visibility of lesser-heard perspectives—something Khan has strived to champion with his own company over the years.
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Dancing in the Dark
Overall it must be questioned whether ballet is the right medium for a biographical tribute. Ballet by the limits of its nature is only able to give a broad brushstroke, a stylized impression of what a person stood for. Details of historical context, complex personal stories and exploration of inner drive fall by the wayside; all questions you seek in a biographical treatment remain opaque. In “Frame by Frame” a new ballet for the National Ballet of Canada directed by Robert LePage and choreographed Guillaume Côté, ballet was interspersed with film and overlaid with interactive effects by Ex Machina, yet...
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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,...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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