American Ballet Theatre – A Month in the Country premiere and bill – New York
Has there ever been a more sensitive, sympathetic chronicler of that inner flutter brought on by the onset of love than Frederick Ashton? It seems unlikely, on the evidence of ABT’s premiere of A Month in the Country…
Eifman Ballet – Rodin – San Francisco
The choreography looks like a steroid-fueled hybrid of Graham-based agony and the precision and fluidity of classical ballet. …nothing succeeds like excess…
International Ballet Festival 2013 – Dance Open – St Petersburg
The 12th International Ballet Festival – Dance Open – was held over 4 days in St Petersburg. Margaret Willis (our Ms Expressivity) was there to report on much ballet and not a little award giving…
American Ballet Theatre – Spring Gala – New York
Symphony in C, a luminous outpouring of legs and arms, crisp geometries, bobbing rhythms, and articulate patter-like conversations for the feet, is a vivid reminder of why one goes to the ballet at all. Luminosity and classical logic, laced with wit and intelligence.
Boston Ballet – Chroma, Serenade, Symphony in C – Boston
Chroma: Perhaps it’s meant as a kind of sherbet to clear the palate between the Balanchine pieces… In short, I found the ballet dazzling but soulless.
Christopher Wheeldon – Choreographer
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon is currently at the San Francisco Ballet preparing for the American premiere of his Cinderella. He has a rehearsal in forty-five minutes so we quickly set off to discuss his latest full-length ballet and many other things…
American Ballet Theatre – Symphony in C, Moor’s Pavane, Symphony #9 – Washington
…with choreographic masterpieces by George Balanchine and José Limón and a Washington D.C. premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s new work, this ABT program was in every way a balletomane’s dream come true.
American Ballet Theatre – Hong Kong Arts Festival Season – Hong Kong
The season began with a high-energy mixed bill which showed the company on sparkling form.
New York City Ballet – Swan Lake, Allegro Brillante, Tsch Suite No. 3 – Washington
The revitalizing impact of Balanchine’s choreography on Tchaikovsky’s music was particularly evident in the all-Tchaikovsky, all-Balanchine program presented by New York City Ballet at the Kennedy Center Opera House during the last week of March.
Mikhailovsky Ballet – Without Words, Nunc Dimittis, Prelude – London
There were wonderful performances by Ekaterina Borchenko and Leonid Sarafanov – dancers you would like to see a lot more of. But three works by the same choreographer was too much of the same dish on the menu.
San Francisco Ballet – Onegin (3 casts) – San Francisco
I first saw Onegin with Marcia Haydée and Richard Cragun when the Stuttgart Ballett made its New York debut in 1969. So when San Francisco Ballet premiered it in the 2011-12 season I was happy to meet an old acquaintance again.
Toba Singer, writer, on Fernando Alonso – The Father Of Cuban Ballet
Alonso trained the first generation of Cuban dancers, among who there were many standouts, but the most well-known in Cuba were the “Four Jewels” of Cuban ballet: Josefina Méndez, Mirta Pla, Aurora Bosch, and Loipa Araújo (now Associate Artistic Director of English National Ballet)
Royal Ballet – Apollo, 24 Preludes, Aeternum – London
This triple bill, with two world premieres, shows how ably choreographers 85 years apart can refresh the language of classical ballet without distorting it beyond recognition.
Jose Manuel Carreno – former American Ballet Theatre Principal and freelance dancer
Toba Singer talks to José Manuel Carreño: “Coming from Cuba, with the Cuban school you end up with a very strong foundation because you train so much in technique and partnering. These are two things that were very strong from the Cuban school, but on top of that, there was a lot of attention paid to the theatrical elements…”
Ballet San Jose – Don Quixote – San Jose
The overall spirit is vivacious, the ensemble committed, on task and fully present. As this company moves along its new trajectory… there is every reason to believe that its partnership with ABT will be celebrated…
The Joffrey Ballet – Age of Innocence, After the Rain, The Green Table – San Francisco
Closing the program is Kurt Jooss’s anti-war ballet from 1932,The Green Table, one of the greatest pieces of choreography ever created and still relevant after more than 80 years.
Nancy Reynolds – George Balanchine Foundation – Director of Research
An in-depth interview with the lady who helps bring Balanchine back…
Mikhail Baryshnikov – the Art Collector
What one does not see much of, at least at first glance, is nostalgia for the motherland. “I never had nostalgia about anything,” Baryshnikov says.
23rd International Ballet Festival of Havana, 2012
The festival was as intensive as ever, with three performances running on seven days, four on one day, some concurrently. The range and quality of dance overall was impressive.
Interview: Herman Cornejo – American Ballet Theatre – Principal
Well, performing for me is really about that experience of giving to the audience. In the studio you work and perfect things, you collaborate with your partner, but for me it’s about what happens on the stage, the ability to give something, to your partner, to the audience.
