Ian Macmillan Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 (edited) Each day we add the latest links to reviews and interviews that we find on the major newspaper web sites around the world. If you find a link that we have missed do please post it up, preferably as a URL link. Last week's thread: See last weeks and earlier links here: http://www.ballet.co...ry/todayslinks/ Bookmarking this page: Click on the following link and then bookmark the links page that comes back - it's a special URL that will always bring you to the thread with the latest reviews: http://www.ballet.co.uk/todayslinks Reviews Database The review links we find go in a database - we have many thousands of entries and you can search it on company, dance, dancer, reviewer, publication, theatre, city or a combination of all of them! Just fill-in the boxes here: http://www.ballet.co...h/db_search.cgi Non Working Links: Some papers move pieces on their websites so it is impossible to guarantee links. If you find a recent link that does not work and you have found a working version by all means post it up. And thank you! Registering with papers: It's an increasing fact of life that papers ask readers to register before letting them have free access to pieces. Usually registration is a one off process and then, providing you've ticked any obvious boxes, you should be remembered as a registered reader and the links we give should take you straight to the pieces. In registering for papers many people get themselves a Yahoo or Hotmail email account and thus protect their main email from any inadvertent problems. Seeing Pieces Behind a Pay-wall Some papers have introduced a pay-wall. We don't generally list pieces we can't freely see. However some of the papers will show the article for free if the reader visits the page by way of a Google search. If we can do this then we list, but alas cannot give a 2 stage link - only the link that works if you are a subscriber. If you are interested but not a subscriber then use the details we give to search Google and take it from there. And Finally... We should not need to state this but these links are for our readers' use and not for other websites to take and pass off as their own. We ask all visitors to respect Ballet.co's site and the way it operates. Edited January 14, 2012 by Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 (edited) Saturday Links - 14 January 2012 Washington DC Preview: Mariinsky Ballet’s Fokine works History revisited by Sarah Kaufman "We may think of these works, well-known as they are, as omnipresent in the ballet world. But it has been nearly a quarter-century since “Chopiniana” was danced at the Kennedy Center, and more than 30 years since the Fokine “Firebird” (many others came after him) or “Scheherazade.”" Washington Post When will David Cameron make a song and dance about song and dance? The Week in Arts by David Lister "This isn't a little niche area. Dance is massively popular. But can you imagine the astonishment if Mr Cameron were to follow up his visit to Pinewood and his film speech with a visit to a Royal Ballet class at Covent Garden to hold forth on extending the repertoire?" Independent REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter An army of drummers cannot save this experiment between the choreographer-composer and the artist, which is let down by Shechter's score Survivor UK, London, Barbican by Judith Mackrell "It was the music critics, in the end, who were asked to write the official reviews of Survivor, Hofesh Shechter's collaboration with the artist Antony Gormley.....But Shechter's music, however powerfully intrinsic to his dance works, isn't strong enough to carry the full 75 minutes of the work. Nor does it impose a sufficiently taut structure.......Survivor does feel like a true and interesting experiment, one from which both its creators are likely to profit in subsequent work. But in its current form it's just a pot boiler – certainly not a reason for Shechter to give up the day job as one of his generation's most interesting creators of dance." Guardian REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter 3 stars Survivor UK, London, Barbican by Mark Monahan "What follows is a grand, sprawling, chaotic piece with some truly stunning sequences, a fair old bit of padding and a drizzle of pretension. ......In fairness to Shechter, he always insisted that Survivor would be more a beefed-up concert than a dance show. " Daily Telegraph REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter 2 stars Survivor UK, London, Barbican by John L Walters "His newest piece, Survivor, a 75-minute audiovisual work, is a collaboration with Antony Gormley, and is not so much dance as live art or minimalist "opera"." Guardian REVIEW: Royal Ballet 4 stars Romeo and Juliet UK, London, Covent Garden Dancers: Acosta, Avis, McGorian, Rojo, Stepanek by Louise Levene "Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta have been cast together as Shakespeare’s lovers for six years now, and while the fit is as perfect as ever, there’s something slightly ‘‘married’’ about the great pas de deux, which offered none of the grabby desperation one sees in the thrilling early days of a partnership." Sunday Telegraph REVIEW: English National Ballet Derek Deane and the ENB bring the swing to the London Coliseum very successfully Strictly Gershwin UK, London, Coliseum Dancers: Berlanga, Cao, Chalendard, Glurdjidze, Konvalina, Muntagirov, Streeter by Louise Levene "Deane’s routines may not be the ideal showcase for Zdenek Konvalina and Vadim Muntagirov, but these pedigree princes give a thoroughbred classical gloss to their material, and the jazz idiom obliges them to dance brighter, louder and sexier. Who really could ask for any more?" Sunday Telegraph Bolshoi administration steps into dancer scandal The Bolshoi’s director general refutes Tsiskaridze’s dismissal claim by Alina Lobzina "“No one is going to fire Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who was, and is, to remain Bolshoi Theatre’s soloist,” Iksanov told the news agency Itar-Tass. The discharge of Tsiskaridze’s pedagogical part-time contract was in order to give a full-time job to an instructor, he added." Moscow News REVIEW: Scottish Ballet The Sleeping Beauty UK, Edinburgh, Festival Theatre Dancers: Robertson by Josie Balfour "Bringing a meditative quality to the classic work, choreographer Ashley Page has focussed on melding a number of different tellings of the work into one evolving piece..... Thus the dancers take centre stage rather than Tchaikovsky’s often eccentric narrative." Scotsman REVIEW: Kate Weare In the Garden Focus Dance: Garden USA, New York, Joyce Theater Dancers: Gillespie, Kraus, Murphy, Wheeler by Deborah Jowitt "The dancing in Garden creates terrifyingly expressive, yet elusive images. Trying to interpret them is less important than soaking them up." Arts Journal REVIEW: Anneke Hansen Three Women Dancing youandyouandyou USA, New York, University Settlement Dancers: Hansen, Pierce, McAtamney by Deborah Jowitt "The three women move sensitively together, despite their individual qualities. Pierce, like Hansen, worked with Rudner at Sarah Lawrence, and is only slightly tauter than Hansen, while Irish, ballet-trained McAtamney is more introverted—a bit less at ease than the other two. I like watching all three." Arts Journal REVIEW: Ann Liv Young A Fairy Tale Princess Who Takes Bathroom Breaks Sleeping Beauty Part 1 USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center Dancers: Guerrero, Young, Van Dusen by Brian Seibert "....and after rising, sitting on the toilet again and drinking more water, Ms. Young went into a fervent lap dance for a blow-up Prince Charming doll tied to a seat in the front row.......And that was the show, followed by an opportunity to have your photograph taken with Sleeping Beauty for two bucks." New York Times REVIEW: Meg Stuart Forget About a Paper Moon: This Swan’s Cardboard Blessed USA, New York, New York Live Arts Dancers: Camacho, Hurtado, Nishiwaki by Claudia La Rocco "Ms. Stuart frequently plays with the oblique and the tedious, often with thoughtful results. But at a certain point on Thursday my experience shifted from feeling caught up within the poetic vagaries of a live work to constructing, from a remove, intellectual hypotheses about it." New York Times REVIEW: Contingency Plan The Contingency Plan's latest program shows off the troupe's versatility Las Tres Marias, Adhere Canada, Vancouver, Firehall Arts Centre Dancers: Goodman, Osborne, Fitzner by Janet Smith "And in the end, Adhere felt like a series of studies, an experiment in moods that was stronger in its lone bits than its final section of group work when it began to lose its simple, clear focus." Straight.com Preview: 7th Prague Ballet Gala Internationally renowned dancers pirouette into Prague by Johana Muckova "But Valdés is only one performer on the star-studded program; it is certain that the seventh annual Prague Ballet Gala will offer dance fans a great evening's entertainment." Prague Post Edited January 14, 2012 by Ian Macmillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Am surprised to see Louise Levene in the Telegraph state that Lauren Cuthbertson will make her debut as Juliet in the spring. Lauren has been dancing this role for years, and as a matter of fact she and Rupert Pennefather were promoted to Principals after a performance of R&J in June 2008! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Since 2004, in fact! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Sunday Links - 15 January 2012 Dennis Nahat removed as AD at Ballet San Jose A graceful transition still eludes the embattled company by Mary Ellen Hunt "Now, founder Dennis Nahat, whose future with the company had been in question, confirmed this week that he has received a letter from Executive Director Stephanie Ziesel removing him as artistic director." SF Chronicle REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter The spaciousness and daring are wonderful Survivor UK, London, Barbican by Kate Kellaway "It was for this reason alone that I tried not to lean too heavily on the title as a guide. Yet I was struck by one thing: Survivor is in the singular in what is an overpoweringly plural piece." Observer REVIEW: Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet UK, London, Covent Garden Dancers: Acosta, Rojo by Jenny Gilbert "....Carlos Acosta (40 next birthday) and Tamara Rojo (known to be planning her next move), who together set the bar for later casts. Both are at their stupendous peak as the teenage lovers – no suspension of disbelief required." Independent REVIEW: Replica Dance Company Resolution! 2012: 414 UK, London, The Place Dancers: Bendell, Pickard by Luke Jennings ".... reworking of Brief Encounter covering ground that has long been trodden flat." Observer REVIEW: Ffin 2 Resolution! 2012: The Art of Riot UK, London, The Place by Luke Jennings "..... promised to say something about last year's disturbances, and then didn't. " Observer REVIEW: Eithne Kane and Dominick Mitchell Bennett Resolution! 2012: When Kane Met Conspicuous UK, London, The Place Dancers: Bennett, Kane by Luke Jennings "....won its audience over by dint of sheer gutsiness." Observer REVIEW: Twyla Tharp ‘Come Fly Away’ too over-the-top Come Fly Away USA, Chicago, Bank of America Theatre Dancers: Dibble, Esquibel, Miles, Molina, Selya, Todorowski, Burrell, Fitzgerald by Hedy Weiss ".... a revue masquerading as dance theater. Its greatest sin is that it wastes the talents of dancers with Olympian bodies and technique to spare, showcasing them only as fabulous but soulless machines." Chicago Sun-Times REVIEW: San Diego Dance Theater Intrepid San Diego Dance Theater kicks off 40th season Ruby Red Cabaret Dances Mixed Nuts, I Don't Want To Be There, One Among Many, By George/By Jean USA, San Diego, Neurosciences Institute Dancers: Barton, Burree, Carney, Diaz A, Isaacs-Nollet, McPherson by Kris Eitland "It is a sexy, intelligent, and darkly humorous production...." sandiego.com Alabama Preview: Dance Theatre of Harlem Program to welcome the curious by Lawrence F. Specker "Tuesday evening the ensemble will take a different approach for a show that is open to the public. But even though the balance of this later show puts more emphasis on performance, it’s still designed specifically to help newcomers appreciate what they’re seeing." Mobile Press-Register Film Review: "Pina" 3-D takes ‘Pina’ to perfection by Hedy Weiss "…Wenders has made what might very well be the most extraordinary dance film created to date. It is an astonishing, altogether masterful 3-D documentary…." Chicago Sun-Times Dancers improvise to survive in L.A. The area may not be the easiest place for professional artists to make a living, but the determined often work multiple jobs to make it happen. by Laura Bleiberg "So what makes a dancer come to and stay in L.A.? And what are their lives like? The dancers interviewed for this story moved here for various reasons. But they have stayed, quite simply, because they have found artistically stimulating opportunities here." LA Times Book Review: Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina by Brenda Dixon Gottschild A Biohistory of American Performance by Lewis Whittington "…about the visionary founder and artistic director of Philadanco, the internationally renowned dance troupe that is still going strong after 40 years and that embodies the spirit of Philadelphia." Philly.com Edited January 15, 2012 by Ian Macmillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Monday Links - 16 January 2012 REVIEW: Royal Ballet A couple off-stage bring Latin blood and smells to the evergreen ballet classic Romeo and Juliet UK, London, Covent Garden Dancers: Cervera, Hamilton, Hristov, McGorian, McNally, Mendizabal, Nunez, Soares, Whitehead by Ismene Brown "While Nuñez is the finer stylist of the two, Soares is one of the most talented stage creatures the Royal Ballet has had for years, and the two of them danced it as if for the last time." The Arts Desk Ballet's men step out of the shadows No pointe shoes, more freedom and very big leaps… why men are having a moment by Judith Mackrell ""Over the last 100 years, there has been a transformation. Men are no longer just princes – they can be anything."" Guardian REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter 2 stars Survivor UK, London, Barbican by Richard Fairman "Given the combined talents of its two creators ...... Survivor offers thin pickings for a show that lasts almost an hour and a half." Financial Times San Francisco Ballet plays to its strengths in 2012 season Interview with Director, Helgi Tomasson by Mary Ellen Hunt ""There is no formula," he says tilting his head back after thinking for a moment, "there is really only gut instinct. I like taking chances on people, on new choreography and choreographers."" SF Chronicle Companion piece: San Francisco Ballet 2012 season at a glance Programs 1 - 8 SF Chronicle REVIEW: Parsons Dance Choreographer Parsons tames his wild impulses Round My World, Swing Shift, A Stray's Lullaby, Caught USA, New York, Joyce Theater Dancers: Bourne, D'Amario, MacDonald, Bloom, Ilisije by Robert Johnson "How wild is choreographer David Parsons? When his dancers leap onto the stage of the Joyce Theater, they have a breezy air." Newark Star Ledger REVIEW: Jennifer Lacey Trying to Divine the Future Despite a Few Limitations American Realness Festival: Gattica USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center Dancers: Lacey by Brian Seibert "Ms. Lacey created it for a festival in Vienna in 2008, but this version seemed perfectly matched to the family reunion, artists-performing-for-artists atmosphere of American Realness." New York Times Sydney Preview: "Beautiful Burnout" A melding of dance and drama reveals the beauty and brutality of a much-maligned sport by Elissa Blake "…Frantic Assembly's fighting-fit actors punch, skip, jump and dance through a fiercely aggressive show that lays out the beauty and the horrors of the sport." Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Preview: "Beautiful Burnout" Dance to music of boxing by Tim Douglas "Directors and choreographers Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett bring Lavery's work to life in a production that blurs the line between movement and method." The Australian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsomerset Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I was surprised to see Ismene Brown describe Nunez and Soares as 'engaged'. I believe they have been married for a year or so now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Thianela were married in July 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Tuesday Links - 17 January 2012 The Boss: Personal Indulgences No. 21 A career in dance criticism by Tobi Tobias "Bill Como, Dance magazine’s editor in chief….rescued my maiden efforts from the pile of unsolicited manuscripts about to be returned to sender and said, “Have this girl come in and see me.”" Arts Journal NYCB Preview: Revisiting Romeo + Juliet Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild return to the roles they originated in Peter Martins’ production by Terry Trucco "Looking back, Hytin and Fairchild marvel at the freedom Martins gave them in shaping their characters." Playbill REVIEW: Hofesh Shechter Survivor UK, London, Barbican by Sarah Frater "Survivor is not as theatrically coherent, and it often rambles, but it is surely a think-piece that will fuel further stage creations." Stage REVIEW: Twyla Tharp Sin City-charged revue 'Come Fly Away' does right by Ol' Blue Eyes Come Fly Away USA, Chicago, Bank of America Theatre Dancers: Dibble, Esquibel, Miles, Selya, Todorowski by Chris Jones "But for all the show's contrasts, there are few moments when the bodies of the dancers relax. There is nary a second when anyone admits defeat or even the chance to let down their guard." Chicago Tribune REVIEW: Ishmael Houston-Jones Wayward Children Of the ’80s American Realness Festival: Knife/Tape/Rope USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center Dancers: Pheiffer, Walsh by Brian Seibert "Yet the tongue-in-cheek framing of the work as a cautionary tale about the dangers of drugs and heavy metal only underlined the age of the material." New York Times REVIEW: Yvonne Meier Wayward Children Of the ’80s American Realness Festival: Mad Heidi USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center Dancers: Wexler by Brian Seibert "But each section was slack internally, one underdeveloped idea strung onto the next." New York Times REVIEW: Joseph Mills Brief flight before the fall of ‘Angels’ Questions About Angels USA, New York, Theater for the New City Dancers: Mills by Leigh Witchel "“Angels” has a few simple, lovely effects ......But there’s a lot of padding and the choreography is in one gear...." New York Post English National Ballet takes steps to help sufferers of Parkinson's by Rob Parsons "ENB hopes its Dance for Parkinson's scheme will improve patients' quality of life….The scheme has now been backed with £97,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation which will see it expand from London to four satellite programmes across Britain." Companion video clip: BBC News And, for my last and final link, try this for a Firebird: NZ Herald Edited January 17, 2012 by Ian Macmillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Wednesday's Links - 18 January 2012 Obituary: Niles Ford, Dancer and Choreographer by Jennifer Dunning "With a long-boned body seemingly as pliant as warm taffy, Mr. Ford was a dancer of quiet intelligence, understated sweetness and intense focus." New York Times NYCB's Megan Fairchild overcomes her reservations Blooming in the Bright Lights by Pia Catton "I lost myself completely - getting promoted and feeling not ready, wishing I had more time behind the scenes, then being shot out in front and being critiqued while I'm figuring it out." Wall Street Journal REVIEW: Hiroaki Umeda 2 stars Haptic, Holistic Strata UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre Dancers: Umeda by Judith Mackrell "One man, a few wonderful lighting ideas and some very brutal noise can make for a very long evening." Guardian REVIEW: Hiroaki Umeda 3 stars Haptic, Holistic Strata UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre Dancers: Umeda by Zoe Anderson "Mixing dance, computer imagery and video projection, Umeda surrounds and transforms himself with shifting light, then stops. He refuses to develop the images or ideas: there they are, take it or leave it." Independent REVIEW: Young Jean Lee 4 stars Untitled Feminist Show USA, New York, Baryshnikov Arts Center Dancers: BOB, Zirin-Brown by Apollinaire Scherr "Young Jean Lee has a reputation for sending issues that any self-respecting liberal assumes he has a handle on in squirm-inducing directions. But Untitled Feminist Show is less a thought-provoking trap than a taste of utopia." Financial Times REVIEW: Young Jean Lee Live, nude, funny women Untitled Feminist Show USA, New York, Baryshnikov Arts Center Dancers: Zirin-Brown, Clark by Elisabeth Vincentelli "The six women in Untitled Feminist Show are stark naked for the entire hour, during which they perform swoony pas de deux, energetic aerobics, comic pantomimes and assorted calisthenics in their birthday suits." New York Post REVIEW: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Up, Down and Sideways Arden Court USA, New York, City Center by Joel Lobenthal "It wasn’t always easy or comfortable for them to recreate Taylor’s overarching and paradoxical tone of balletic burliness, but they pulled it off - and with panache, I almost don’t have to add." City Arts REVIEW: Merce Cunningham Dance Company Up, Down and Sideways Park Avenue Armory Event USA, New York, Park Avenue Armory by Joel Lobenthal "There was a certain poignancy in not being able to totally apprehend all of the movement information being transmitted, particularly since this was our final opportunity to see this company." City Arts REVIEW: Daniel Linehan Zombies and Blackboards Zombie Aphoria USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center Dancers: Lac, Linehan, Rosengren by Susan Yung "Working with spoken and sung words as much as dance, at times they took directives from a laptop, or one another; recombining verses, moving in a naively appealing style." SundayArts REVIEW: Michael Klien Zombies and Blackboards Choreography for Blackboards USA, New York, Invisible Dog Art Center Dancers: Manwelyan by Susan Yung "The concept held far more potential than the experience, at least for the viewer." SundayArts REVIEW: Meg Stuart Surviving the Flood Blessed USA, New York, New York Live Arts Dancers: Camacho by Deborah Jowitt "Camacho, who had a hand in the creation of BLESSED, enacts this harrowing scenario magnificently. At times, you can hardly bear to watch him labor at constructing something out of total ruin." Arts Journal REVIEW: Cardell Dance Theater Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge dance festival Falls Bridge dance festival: NOW! USA, Philadelphia, Mt Vernon Dance Space Dancers: Cardell by Merilyn Jackson "She and her five dancers blocked and challenged, held and climbed over one another, as artist Jennifer Baker drew life-size impressions of them ..." Philadelphia Inquirer REVIEW: Green Chair Dance Group Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge dance festival Falls Bridge dance festival: Unnamed USA, Philadelphia, Mt Vernon Dance Space Dancers: Holt, Camp by Merilyn Jackson "Another wonderfully playful improvisation ..." Philadelphia Inquirer REVIEW: Michelle Stortz Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge dance festival Falls Bridge dance festival: Open Wide USA, Philadelphia, Mt Vernon Dance Space Dancers: Stein, Stortz by Merilyn Jackson "a witty improvisation ..." Philadelphia Inquirer REVIEW: Lela Aisha Jones Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge dance festival Falls Bridge dance festival: Street Grace USA, Philadelphia, Mt Vernon Dance Space Dancers: Jones by Merilyn Jackson "Often just standing in place, she languidly led us through an evocation of many emotions, from hunger for beauty to acceptance of self." Philadelphia Inquirer REVIEW: Merian Soto Dance and Performance Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge dance festival Falls Bridge dance festival: Circulations USA, Philadelphia, Mt Vernon Dance Space Dancers: Ramirez, Soto by Merilyn Jackson "In total silence, Ramirez, a beautiful mover, paced the space with increasing speed, spiraling her circles smaller until she reached center." Philadelphia Inquirer Tsiskaridze reprieved Bolshoi Star Keeps Teacher Job "I never requested anything from Bolshoi Theater management. I just explained my point-of-view and said I would be complaining to appropriate authorities in case the contract’s terminated." RIA Novosti Necessarily So: Porgy and Bess May Not Be Known as a Dance Show but Its Choreography Can Make a Difference by Robert Gottlieb "Porgy and Bess has never been thought of as a dance show, and yet it’s filled with dance. It uses dance to punctuate the action, or as background, or as atmosphere; even when it’s front and center it isn’t crucial." New York Observer Film review: Crazy Horse by Frederick Wiseman The Agony Behind an Erotic Club’s Ecstasy by A.O. Scott "Ali Mahdavi ... declares that the French government should make attendance at Crazy Horse mandatory for all citizens as an educational experience and an acknowledgment of the institution’s place in the nation’s cultural patrimony." New York Times Film review: Butt Seriously - Life is an Erotic Cabaret in Crazy Horse by Melissa Anderson "the filmmaker's exceptional artistry restores the faith of those wearied by the glut of cruddy-looking and poorly structured documentaries from the past decade - vapid celebrity profiles, "journeys" of one kind or another, half-thought-out polemics." Village Voice Preview: Keely Garfield brings her surreal autobiography style to Twin Pines by Susan Reiter "A highly regarded, thoughtful and instinctive choreographer whose pieces delve deeply while integrating flashes of wit, she notes that her ongoing work with yoga and Zen practices is closely connected to her work in dance." City Arts The RA's David Hockney exhibition with a little tap at the end by Richard Godwin "A group of dancers choreographed by Hockney's old friend Wayne Sleep move around to a piano. In the penultimate dance, the Royal Ballet dancer Steven McRae steps onto a blue rectangle and begins to tap dance. Hockney and Sleep watched the performance together, both rhapsodising the particular shade of blue." Evening Standard Book review: The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca by John Fraser "Amongst those who knew her well enough, the book will arouse both remembered dread and renewed respect." Macleans.ca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Thursday's Links - 19 January 2012 REVIEW: New York City Ballet Curtain Rises on a Season Aloft The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Who Cares, Le Tombeau de Couperin USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater Dancers: Bouder, Fairchild M, Peck, Ulbricht, Veyette by Claudia La Rocco "opening night ... was an oddly low-energy and at times ragged affair. It had its highlights, to be sure, but the overall feel was dispiriting, in stark contrast to the generally marvelous onstage spirits that the dancers have exhibited in recent seasons." New York Times REVIEW: Mariinsky Ballet Mariinsky Ballet shines in Fokine program Russian Seasons: Chopiniana, The Firebird, Scheherazade USA, Washington, Kennedy Center Dancers: Kondaurova, Korsuntsev, Lopatkina, Ostreikovskaya by Sarah Kaufman "several of the performances were quite wonderful, particularly Xenia Ostreykovskaya in the tender Prelude role in Chopiniana. There was suppleness and breath in her dancing, and great delicacy. And, a sense of the body harmonizing with the Chopin, and with its candlelight mood." Washington Post REVIEW: Russian State Ballet of Siberia Giselle UK, Oxford, New Theatre Dancers: Kuimova, Litvinenko by David Bellan "I have admired Maria Kuimova ... for some years now, but had never seen her Giselle. She did not disappoint." Oxford Times Preview: Story/Time, Jones channels Cage? Bill T. Jones Takes a Turn on the Stage in New Work by Felicia R. Lee "Story/Time, a co-commission of Peak Performances and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis was inspired by the composer John Cage’s Indeterminacy, first performed in 1958, a series of one-minute spoken-word stories that was different each time it was performed and was eventually recorded as an album." New York Times Preview: Stanton Welch's Cinderella for Houston Ballet Cinderella: She’s No Disney Princess, But She’s a Real Role Model by Marene Gustin "It’s a very feminist ballet," Welch says. "What do you want to tell your daughter today? That someday someone will come along and save you, or that someday you’ll have a wonderful life of your own?" Playbill Arts Company C Contemporary Ballet turns 10, flying high by Claudia Bauer "First there were the all-ballerina shows, because Company C didn't have any male dancers yet. Then came the all-leotard performances, because that's what the costume budget allowed. And always, there was the multitasking." San Francisco Chronicle Tony Nominee Adam Cooper on His Leap from Ballet to Musicals in London's Singin' in the Rain by Matt Wolf "Cooper is set to returen to the West End’s Palace Theatre on February 4 as the above-the-title star of the latest stage production of Singin’ in the Rain, first seen last summer at the Chichester Festival Theatre." Broadway.com Preview: Edouard Lock's New Work La La La Hman Steps embarks on a labyrinth of memory and myth by Kevin Griffin "Ballet technique is amply able to carry contemporary themes. If the technique is to survive, it has to be a living technique. It has to somehow correspond to the contemporary world and not just reference older work." Vancouver Sun Wim Wenders films Pina Bausch by Marcia B. Siegel "Shot in breathtaking 3D, Pina treats dance with an expansiveness never seen before on screen." Boston Phoenix. Also reviewed in Bay Area Reporter and Huffington Post DVD review: Three Ballets by Kenneth MacMillan by Steven Ritter "The Royal Ballet, with its close association with Macmillan, renders a superb tribute to its former director on a highly-desirable disc recorded wonderfully and in resplendent high-def video, nicely captured by sensitive and appropriate camerawork." Audiophile Audition ABT dancers talk about dancing, what they wear - stuff like that (Video) Stylelikeu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 End of TodaysLinks - 21 Jan 2012 Hate to say this but tomorrow will be the last day of such links - 21 Jan 2012. Anna, Ian and I have all done our final stints and John Mallinson is our last man standing - fitting because although we are all brilliant at doing links, John is a tiny bit more brilliant at producing rabbits from the net hat! I'll do a totting up for a final magazine piece about the service and all who have helped over the years. Many will miss TodaysLinks - not just the daily presentation of the great and the obscure but the fact that you could look up the past. A shame it takes so much energy to do at the scale we do and it can't continue. More later, but in the meantime enjoy the last 2 days.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Friday's Links - 20 January, 2012 In Memoriam Rudi van Dantzig 1933-2012 No English-language obituaries yet of the great Dutch dancer, director, choreographer who died yesterday. REVIEW: New York City Ballet Elegant, fascinatin’ dancing starts with Mr. B The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Who Cares, Le Tombeau de Couperin USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater Dancers: Bouder, Fairchild R, Mearns, Peck, Veyette by Leigh Witchel "Once upon a time, Ashley Bouder was Tiler Peck. Now in her late 20s, she makes Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux a star vehicle with her sophisticated accenting, vivid personality and bravura technique." New York Post REVIEW: New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, Beginning with Balanchine The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Who Cares, Le Tombeau de Couperin USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater Dancers: Bouder, Fairchild M, Fairchild R, Mearns, Peck, Pollack, Reichlen, Stanley, Ulbricht by Margaret Fuhrer "Then she fell during her variation, and lost a bit of her swagger. There it was, suddenly: vulnerability. Bouder is so much more appealing as a human than a superhuman. When she stops pointing out her own strengths, they become more impressive." Huffington Post REVIEW: Meg Stuart Meg Stuart’s BLESSED: Channelling Beckett Blessed USA, New York, New York Live Arts Dancers: Camacho, Hurtado, Nishiwaki by Susan Yung "we empathize with Camacho’s sorry state - getting soaked to the bone literally and metaphorically, with nowhere to hide, watching his entire world dissolve into ephemera. And yet, like Beckett’s finest, he survives, for better or worse." SundayArts REVIEW: Young Jean Lee Untitled Feminist Show USA, New York, Baryshnikov Arts Center Dancers: BOB, Clark, Zirin-Brown, Blackwell, Pyle, Rocke by Hilton Als "Young Jean Lee’s Untitled Feminist Show is one of the more moving and imaginative works I have ever seen on the American stage. Its gravity is spiritual and not entirely intellectual ..." New Yorker REVIEW: Molissa Fenley Covering Ground with Cage and Glass Credo in Us, The Vessel Stories USA, New York, Judson Memorial Church Dancers: Fenley, Kao, Neville, Small, Wilson by Deborah Jowitt "The whole of The Vessel Stories is imbued with Fenley’s spare elegance in terms of form, the tensile strength of her movements, and an almost joyous, relieving attack on space, as if she had acres she could cover if she had a mind to." Arts Journal Flash moves: the 360 degree dance project by Judith Mackrell "Hughes places his dancer inside a circle of 48 cameras, which are networked up to take a simultaneous image of what he calls a 'peak' moment of action - a jump, an arabesque, a slide." The Guardian Another American Dancer Joins a Russian Ballet Company by Daniel J. Wakin "Keenan Kampa, a member of the Boston Ballet and a rare American to attend the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, is joining the Mariinsky Ballet." New York Times La La La Human Steps's New Work moves at the speed of light by Janet Smith "The choreographer ... now shifts his interest to two iconic operas: Henry Purcell’s 17th-century Dido and Aeneas and Cristoph Gluck’s 18th-century Orfeo ed Euridice. Like most of the company’s pieces since the late 1990s, New Work will be performed en pointe." Vancouver Straight Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet go to China this year by Chen Jie "This time, Hamburg Ballet brings to Beijing and Shanghai, Neumeier's signature works Nijinsky and Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler." China Daily Cranko’s Onegin opens SF Ballet season by Janos Gereben "Opera audiences in The City have seen and heard Tchaikovsky’s 1879 Eugene Onegin dozens of blissful times, but John Cranko’s 1965 Onegin, opening next week, is a San Francisco Ballet premiere." San Francisco Examiner Ashley Page's Sleeping Beauty for Scottish Ballet Dark beauty of a treasured fairytale Uncredited "Principal dancer Claire Robertson has been with the company for 18 years, and says that Sleeping Beauty holds special meaning for her as it was one of the first ballets that Ashley created for her." Aberdeen Press and Journal Atlanta dance scene to take big leap Off the EDGE with weeklong festival by Chelsea Thomas "The inaugural edition of Off the EDGE, a weeklong contemporary dance festival, is gaining momentum daily as participating dance companies and artists feed off of mounting enthusiasm." ArtsCriticATL Fancy frocks in the rain San Francisco Ballet Opening Night Gala Photos by Laura Morton San Francisco Chronicle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'm always tickled by the annual coverage of SFB's neo-baroque Opening Gala - and I can only add that, this year, the Chairwoman's dress looks well worth its own airline seat all the way from Barcelona, Spain! (Photo No 11.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 But only if she used Easyjet or Ryanair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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