Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (choreography by Justin Peck) – New York
★★★★✰ One of the most attractive things about the production is the way it brings together various worlds: ballet, Broadway, and opera.
Carmen de Lavallade Honoured at The 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honours
Dancer, choreographer, actress, teacher, director, writer, and mentor, Carmen de Lavallade is a true artist in every sense of the word – and a true legend.
Royal Ballet – The Illustrated ‘Farewell’, The Wind, Untouchable – London
★★★✰✰ Kevin O’Hare is commissioning choreographers who want to make use of what the Opera House can offer; he’s not setting out to declare where ballet ought to be heading and he’s not playing safe.
Pacific Northwest Ballet – Her Story: Her Door to the Sky, Afternoon Ball, Plot Point – Seattle
★★★★✰ Suspense be damned. I’m just going to give away the ending of this review: Crystal Pite’s Plot Point, which closes Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Her Story triple bill, is a terrific piece of dance-theater.
Ballet Nice Mediterranee – Grand Pas Classique from Raymonda, Gnawa, L’Arlesienne – Nice
★★★✰✰ The most interesting item of the programme was definitely the revival of Roland Petit’s L’Arlésienne, created in 1974 when he was director of the National Ballet of Marseille.
Queensland Ballet – Lest We Forget: We who are left, Company B, In the Best Moments – Brisbane
★★★★✰ Natalie Weir’s “We who are left” is nothing less than a knockout.
New York City Ballet – Serenade, Hallelujah Junction, Duo Concertant, Western Symphony – New York
★★★★✰ Balanchine himself once said that Serenade is “many things to many people.” If it is one thing to City Ballet, it is the single ballet which they are expected to do perfectly every time.
Fall For Dance Festival at City Center – Programs 1 and 2 – New York
For twelve years, the Fall for Dance festival has been going strong, and one can see why. No other dance series offer such an expansive, egalitarian and uncomplicated glimpse of what’s going on in dance…
New York Theatre Ballet – Capriol Suite, Two Timing, Cat’s Cradle, Such Longing, Dark Elegies – New York
The program presented at St. Mark’s this past week reflects all of these positive developments; even more, it seemed infused with a new sense of assurance and identity.
American Ballet Theatre – Romeo and Juliet (Copeland/Hammoudi) – New York
The million-dollar question for any dancer on the cusp is this: can they carry an evening-length story ballet? The answer, on the evidence of Copeland’s début in Romeo and Juliet, is yes.
American Ballet Theatre – 75th Anniversary Gala – New York
American Ballet Theatre know how to do a Gala and this was their 75th Anniversary as well – Everybody seemed to have a good time says Marina Harss…
Washington Ballet – Swan Lake – Washington
This handsomely-crafted and well-danced Swan Lake marked an important milestone for the Washington Ballet and proved a huge achievement for its artistic director Septime Webre.
American Ballet Theatre – Theme and Variations, Pillar of Fire, Rodeo – Washington
Nothing can ignite a cowboy’s imagination better than the fluttery ruffles of a voluminous skirt…
New York City Ballet – Pictures at an Exhibition, ‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes, Mercurial Maoeucres – New York
‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes premiere: It turns out that this combination of male vigor, Copland, and Peck is a felicitous one.
American Ballet Theatre – Coppélia – New York
The three dancers who took their leave this week – Sascha Radetsky, Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews – are all soloists. Each led a different cast of the company’s 1997 production of Coppélia.
Paris Opera Ballet – Fall River Legend, Miss Julie – Paris
…an unusual choice of bill. Unusual firstly as the work of two women choreographers, and secondly in that it gives audiences a rare chance to see ballets from the extremely interesting and creative period of the 1940’s and 1950’s, now sadly neglected.
Susan Jones – Ballet Mistress, American Ballet Theatre
My father asked my original teacher in Rockville, Ms. Hood, whether it was viable for me to become a dancer, and she said she thought I could, even though I wasn’t blessed with beautiful legs and feet. But I had a lot of other assets…
Virginia Johnson – Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Wherever Virginia Johnson goes, she seems to travel on a cloud, with a kind of regal composure few possess in our day. She appears imperturbable…
Book – Fernando Alonso, The Father of Cuban Ballet by Toba Singer
This book serves as a timely tribute to an incredible man whose vision and dedication to his art has established one of the world’s finest classical ballet systems.
American Ballet Theatre – New Ratmansky, Symphony #9 – New York
Tonight’s premiere of Ratmansky’s newest work for American Ballet Theatre, Symphony #9, was cause for celebration. In fact, it left me feeling almost lightheaded, and terribly eager to see it again, as soon as possible.
