World-class review of ballet and dance.
Touted as a “Halloween destination for ballet and horror fans alike,” American Contemporary Ballet, now in its thirteenth season—a feat in and of itself for any dance company—is presenting, “LA’s Fatal Attraction: “Inferno” (2017), “Burlesque” (2018), and “The Rite” (2023), in repertory throughout October.
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To children or the young at heart, it’s pure magic. “Mermaid,” the beloved Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, reworked and dazzling to behold, is a new original production from K-Ballet Tokyo.
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After joining American Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in 2013, and becoming a member of the corps de ballet in January 2014, where his roles included Wilfred in “Giselle,” and Notary’s Clerk in “La Fille mal gardée,” Patrick Frenette, at 29, was finally promoted to soloist in July of this year.
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There are certain elements you can expect to find in any piece by Hofesh Shechter: a deafening, grungy, and distorted score composed by the choreographer himself; dim lighting and smoke enveloping the stage to create a nostalgic yet unsettling atmosphere; and a signature hunch-shouldered, gestural movement language referencing various forms of folk dance.
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A colourful, decorative rug is positioned centre stage. “It lasted pretty well,” a disembodied voice comments through the speaker system, explaining how it was chosen for its pattern, which is ideal for concealing dirt.
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This is decidedly not your mother’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Indeed, Benjamin Millepied’s “Romeo & Juliet Suite,” choreographed for the superb members of his L.A. Dance Project, featured a female duo (Daphne Fernberger and Nayomi Van Brunt) in the titular roles at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday.
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This October, the Canada National Ballet returned to London for the first time since 2013 with a series of performances at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
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Seated on the floor before an overhead projector, Arabella Frahn-Starkie could be in her studio, working, sifting, collaging, thinking.
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Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in New York’s Hudson River Valley presented a program of new works over the final weekend in September as part of its 2024 Annual Festival.
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This year’s Biennale Danza Venezia Silver Lion award went to Zurich-based choreographer Trajal Harrell. A house director at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, and the founding director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich Dance Ensemble, he brought the Ensemble to FringeArts Festival for the Philadelphia premiere of his 2022 “The Köln Concert” last month.
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What's your poison? Tom of Finland, or Boy George? Madonna, or Marilyn? Top, or bottom? There have been so many recent dramas of late, focussing on eighties' queer culture: The Line of Beauty, Pride, Love Song to Lavender Menace, and It's A Sin, among others.
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The New York City Ballet’s 2024 Fall Fashion Gala was once again a smashing fundraising success, pulling in 3.2 million dollars and packing the house with slew of well-dressed celebrities and socialites.
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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