Martha Graham Dance Company – Graham Deconstructed: El Penitente, Hérodiade – New York
★★★✰✰ Both El Penitente and Hérodiade are from the 40’s, a period when Graham was transitioning from exploration of American and Native-American themes to a more mythical mode.
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.
Martha Graham Dance Company – Gala + Cave of the Heart, Inner Resources, Rust and Chronicle bills – New York
★★★✰✰ The gala was a well-put-together, briskly-paced affair, a sampler of Graham excerpts dating back to her very first recital, in 1926.
Juilliard Dance – Roses, Moves, Symphony of Psalms – New York
★★★✰✰ The dancers are young, but already skilled. They’re well trained, well-rounded. But they don’t yet have strong artistic personalities. That can be a good thing…
Michael Flatley – Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games – New York
Somewhere between Liberace and James Brown, there exists an entity otherwise known as Michael Flatley. His flamboyance – the blousy, satin shirts, the glittering jackets – knows no bounds, nor does his insistent, swaggering virility.
Northern Ballet – Angels in the Architecture, Perpetuum Mobile, Little Monsters, Northern Trilogy, The Architect – London
Good to see Northern Ballet back at the Royal Opera House with a mixed bill of 5 new and old works, rather different to the full evening dramatic ballets with which they tour the nation.
Constella Ballet and Orchestra – Ballet For Nancy, Adagio, Four On The Floor – London
George Williamson’s storming rise to the position of English National Ballet associate artist at just 23 suggests a lot of people see much promise in the young choreographer….
Jessica Lang Dance – Program 3, National Symphony Orchestra: NEW MOVES: symphony + dance season – Washington
JLD is a relatively young troupe, but it consists of nine experienced and established dancers, some of them well-known and admired in Washington. Take for example, Clifton Brown…
Juilliard Dances Repertory – works by Limon, Duato, Naharin – New York
Gnawa, on the other hand, is one of Duato’s best, though Duato does not have Limón’s depth. Duato is a master of atmosphere, a stylist with an eye for off-kilter, emotionally-tinged, virtuosic movement. His musical choices are sophisticated and theatrical. He sometimes tries too hard to be profound…
