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Wednesday Links - 11 January 2012
OBITUARY: Miguel Terekhov, Dancer With Ballets Russes, Dies at 83
New York
By Jack Anderson
“Miguel Terekhov, a dancer with the two leading Ballets Russes troupes of the 1940s and ’50s and a co-founder, with his wife, of the School of Dance at the University of Oklahoma, one of America’s leading university dance programs, died on Jan. 3 at the home of a daughter in Richardson, Tex. He was 83 and lived in Oklahoma City.”
INTERVIEW: Nikolay Tsiskaridze (Bolshoi?)
The Bolshoi’s act of revenge?
Moscow
by staff
“Tsiskaridze, who is one of Russia’s most celebrated artists, has received official notice that his contract as a ballet teacher at the Bolshoi will be cut short.
“The theater maintains that it needs a ballet teacher who, unlike the eminent soloist, could work full-time.
REVIEW: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Riot of music and movement
Babel (words)
Australia, Sydney, Sydney Theatre
by Jill Sykes
“BABEL is an astonishing piece: an inventive hybrid of movement from East and West; dance and acrobatics; music sourced from Japan, Turkey and places in between… and powerful performers who bring a wide range of individual qualities to an epic presentation.”
REVIEW: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Babel (words)
Australia, Sydney, Sydney Theatre
Dancers: Chaudary, Fahlstrom, Fournier, Fury, Jalet, Kozuki, Leach, Leboutte, O’Hara, Porcel, Seabra, Svensson, Woods
by Augusta Supple
“But, this is a technically impressive piece of work – which has already delighted Sydney by its message of inclusivity and unity. And what’s not to love about that?”
REVIEW: Taiwan International Ballet Star Gala
Contemporary works outdo classics at ballet gala
6th International Ballet Star Gala: Come Neve al Sole, Mona Lisa, Adam, Don Quixote pdd, Le Cosaire pdd, Por Ti, Le Rendez-vous and others
Taiwan, Taipei, National Theater
Dancers: Amatriain, Ciaravola, Jelinek, Kochetkova, Kolb, Reilly, Rodriquez, Saiz, Semionov, Semionova, Simkin
by Diane Baker
“The Sixth International Ballet Star Gala on Saturday night at the National Theater was a delight from start to finish, but it was the contemporary pieces, more than the usual gala virtuoso works that really made the event special.”
INTERVIEW: Scottish Dance Theatre – Janet Smith (Who is leaving SDT) and Pathways to the Profession event – about dance being a profession for disabled people
Access all areas: The politics of dance
Janet Smith leaves Scottish Dance Theatre with a lasting legacy of her work, says Mary Brennan
Glasgow
by Mary Brennan
“For Smith, the Pathways to the Profession Symposium encapsulates what she and SDT have been putting into practice. Chaired by multi-disciplinary performing artist and writer Mat Fraser, who vividly lives up to his description as “the Jack of all disability performance trades”, the high-profile guest speakers from all sectors – education, professional training, arts industry employers and artists…”
REVIEW: Paul White and Martin del AmoDance piece Anatomy of an Afternoon a test of nerveAnatomy of an AfternoonAustralia, Sydney, Opera HouseDancers: Whiteby Deborah Jones“This piece is beyond austere, it is strange, and I will add it doesn’t hurt to know your dance history. …White is extraordinary…”REVIEW: CircaDance piece Anatomy of an Afternoon a test of nerveWunderkammerAustralia, Sydney, Opera Houseby Deborah Jones“The fun is diluted only when the company tries, well, to be more fun. I found the attempts at comedy far less compelling than the physical work; irritating even. No one else seemed to mind.”REVIEW: Molissa Fenley
Whimsy and Tenderness in Motion: Frying Pans and Gentle Touches
Credo in Us, The Vessel Stories
USA, New York, Judson Memorial Church
Dancers: Fenley, Kao
by Claudia La Rocco
“But the choreographer has her madcap and her romantic sides as well. Both of these were on display Monday night…”
REVIEW: Michael Klien
Doodles, Puddles, Responses and Chalk
Choreography for Blackboards
USA, New York, Invisible Dog Art Center
Dancers: Klien
by Claudia La Rocco
“It happened. I watched it. And then I had lunch.”
REVIEW: Kyle AbrahamDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: Live! The Realest MCUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Robert Johnson“Abraham has issues with hip-hop and the blustering cool of gangsta rap. For him, the loose knees, splayed hands and cheerfully self-hugging attitude of boyz-in-the-hood is the masculine alternative to voguing.”REVIEW: Kate WeareDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: GardenUSA, New York, Joyce TheaterDancers: Gillespie, Kraus, Murphyby Robert Johnson“The men swing their arms and exhale sharply; the women prowl like caged tigers.”REVIEW: Joe GoodeDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: The RamblerUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Robert Johnson“‘The Rambler’ has the theatrical know-how other Focus Dance participants need to acquire. It deserves a longer run.”REVIEW: Jason Samuels SmithDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: Anybody Can Get ItUSA, New York, Joyce TheaterDancers: Arnold, Dorrance, Sumbry-Edwards, Smithby Robert Johnson“For those who love technique…”REVIEW: Larry KeigwinDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: Triptych, Mattress Suite, RunawayUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Robert Johnson“knows how to put a dance together, but doesn’t always have a reason to do so.”REVIEW: Monica Bill BarnesDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: Mostly FanfareUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Robert Johnson“…repeats herself.”REVIEW: Trey McIntyre ProjectDance showcase puts the ‘Focus’ on new movesFocus Dance: The Sweeter EndUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Robert Johnson“…singularly shallow…”REVIEW: AD Dance Company
2 stars
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Fisher, Wraith
by Clifford Bishop
“…Noble brought out a tenderness between Emma Fisher and Oliver Wraith, a solicitous shepherding of each other through this overwhelming piece of music that was a quantum leap from anything else in the whole evening.”
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
2 stars
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Clifford Bishop
“Choreographer Lexi Bradburn seems to have the attention span of a cat in a zoetrope.”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
2 stars
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Clifford Bishop
“Chocolate was the definition of a show that was more fun to perform than to watch…”
INTERVIEW: Kate Champion
Slap bang in middle of search for balance
Sydney
by Wendy Frew
“IN KATE Champion’s new work, Never Did Me Any Harm, seven dancers and actors bump, glide, roll and collide in an archetypal Aussie backyard, lit with a grid pattern of strobe light. With the help of verbatim dialogue…”
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Tuesday Links - 10 January 2012
REVIEW: Mikhailovsky Ballet
Duato Experiments With Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty
Russia, St Petersburg, Mikhailovsky Theatre
Dancers: Osipova, Vasilyev
by Raymond Stults
“Despite my reservations about its choreographic setting, the Mikhailovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” does add up to a pretty good show, one likely to give much pleasure to the relatively undemanding viewers who probably form the majority among most ballet audiences.”
REVIEW: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
The honesty of gesture
Babel (words)
Australia, Sydney, Sydney Theatre
by Deborah Jones
“But at almost every point there is something fascinating to experience and ponder…”
BOOK FEATURE: Australian Ballet History
A memento of youth and aching beauty
Book: Luminous: Celebrating 50 years of the Australian Ballet, $99
Emily Dunn looks behind the scenes at the Australian Ballet.
Sydney
by Emily Dunn
“The collection of photographs, accompanied by a series of essays by prominent Australian arts writers, is the result of more than a year of researching and gathering images from the archives of the company, media outlets and ballet enthusiasts.”
REVIEW: China Jinling Dance Company
From Controversial Epic to a Generic Flower
The Peony Pavilion
USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater
Dancers: Bo, Xinyu, Du, Yanfeng
by Robert Greskovic
“This government-sanctioned, two-hour “Peony Pavilion” proved colorful and accomplished in surface effects but sorely lacking in action, drama and stage theatrics.”
REVIEW: China Jinling Dance Company
Dancing ‘The Peony Pavilion’ with garish effects
The Peony Pavilion
USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater
Dancers: Bo, Xinyu
by Robert Johnson
“Dancers Xu Xinyu and Han Bo are adequate, but not compelling, and the duet in which Han travels around Xu’s body in angled lifts, while couched in a giant lotus leaf, is the closest this production comes to inspiration.”
REVIEW: China Jinling Dance Company
Chinese troupe brings vibrant life to tragic tale
The Peony Pavilion
USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater
Dancers: Bo, Xinyu
by Jocelyn Noveck
“…an entertaining evening, full of vibrant colors, lush costumes, and traditional Chinese dance: Highly stylized, full of flexed feet and striking poses, with a healthy dose of acrobatics thrown in.”
REVIEW: Taylor 2
Spotlighting a Choreographer Through Some Classic Works
Images, Oracle, Funny Papers, Esplanade
USA, New York, Pace University Schimmel Center
Dancers: Ho, Kahan, Markham, Sanchez
by Brian Seibert
“Mr. Taylor’s compositions are solid enough to handle some roughness of execution, but the mixing of light and serious is what makes Taylor Taylor. Even with reduced numbers, a Taylor company has to get that right for the work to convince.”
INTERVIEW: UK Arts – Dan Jarvis, Labour party Arts Minister
Dan Jarvis: a very unlikely arts minister
He has served with the Special Forces in Afghanistan. But is Dan Jarvis facing his toughest challenge yet – as shadow arts minister?
London
by Charlotte Higgins
“As Jarvis himself says: “I have never tried to pretend I was in and out of the ballet every night of the week prior to getting this job, because I wasn’t.” His personal circumstances have also militated against a committed cultural life…”
NEWS: DiverseWorks – Elizabeth Dunbar
DiverseWorks names new executive director
Houston
by Molly Glentzer
“We caught Dunbar during her first hour on the job.
“Fresh beginnings,” she said.
Place Resolution!
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Zoe Anderson
“Lexi Bradburn has fun with the panic of getting a show on, the performers making the best of it as the situation slides out of control…”
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Jenny Gilbert
“…aimed for comedy and missed by a mile.”
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Neil Norman
“The fact that it coheres at all is a tribute to the company’s commitment.”
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Donald Hutera
“Just the ticket? Alas, no.”
REVIEW: The Ticket Theatre Dance
Resolution! 2012: Scratched
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Bradburn
by Misa Brzezicki
“…and the combination of average dancing with sub-standard slapstick meant it simply meandered along to an inconsequential end.”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Zoe Anderson
“The humour in Eleanor Sikorski’s Chocolate gets darker as the piece goes on…”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Jenny Gilbert
“The evening’s singular treat.”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Neil Norman
“The use of gaudily wrapped chocolates as a kind of treasure and later as an image of fertility offers an impressionistic study of body image, pregnancy and addiction to sweeties.”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Donald Hutera
“Perhaps the work’s implications could’ve been more deeply plumbed, and the result more profoundly bittersweet, but it showed originality.”
REVIEW: Eleanor Sikorski
Resolution! 2012: Chocolate
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Sikorski
by Misa Brzezicki
“Additional kudos is also due for putting that post- Christmas excess of Quality Street to good use.”
REVIEW: AD Dance Company
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
by Zoe Anderson
“The young company give a polished performance.”
REVIEW: AD Dance Company
3 stars
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
by Jenny Gilbert
“The polish in Holly Noble’s FAWN was welcome.”
REVIEW: AD Dance Company
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
by Neil Norman
“…four couples in black performing a series of neo-classical pas de deux with tremendous flexibility and muscle-cracking poise.”
REVIEW: AD Dance Company
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Noble
by Donald Hutera
“She and her dancers tried hard – maybe too hard – but to little avail. I don’t know who was more trapped – them, or us?”
REVIEW: AD Dance Company
Resolution! 2012: FAWN
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Noble
by Misa Brzezicki
“Credit must go to the dancers however, for their complete lack of irony in performing those seemingly random incidences of pelvic thrusting…”
REVIEW: Tony Fitzgibbons and Matthew Robinson
Resolution! 2012: (why wait for what for wait for when)
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Fitzgibbons, Robinson
by Sanjoy Roy
“All it needs is more narrative coherence. Or less narrative.”
REVIEW: Tony Fitzgibbons and Matthew Robinson
Resolution! 2012: (why wait for what for wait for when)
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Fitzgibbons, Robinson
by Lucy Jarvis
“With no programme note and an ambiguous title, at times this confusion left me wondering what I was even waiting for.”
REVIEW: Daniel Walters
Resolution! 2012: BooJack
UK, London, The Place
by Sanjoy Roy
“The imagery is striking, but the piece doesn’t get into gear until the women start floundering in paper flotsam.”
REVIEW: Daniel Walters
Resolution! 2012: BooJack
UK, London, The Place
by Lucy Jarvis
“Furthermore, with such a strong focus on newspapers I am left pondering its relevance in today’s internet culture.”
REVIEW: The Maxwell Dance Project
Resolution! 2012: The B-Sides
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Lowe
by Sanjoy Roy
“The B-Sides is sharp, smart entertainment.”
REVIEW: The Maxwell Dance Project
Resolution! 2012: The B-Sides
UK, London, The Place
by Lucy Jarvis
“B-Sides is at its best during playful duets and when the energy is at its height.”
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Monday Links - 9 January 2012
Links today were actually done by Anna Merrick
REVIEW: Miami City Ballet
Viscera, In the Night, Ballet Imperial
USA, Miami, Arsht Center
Dancers: Catoya, Delgado P, Guerra, Kronenberg
by Jeff Haller
“Viscera will not disappoint lovers of ballet athleticism; romance is not much in evidence, even in the glorious second movement pas de deux powerfully interpreted by the company’s love couple, Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg and Carlos Miguel Guerra. ”
REVIEW: Nichole Canuso
Takes
USA, New York, 3LD Art & Technology Center
Dancers: Canuso, Van Reigersberg
by Brian Seibert
“The technology of “Takes” effectively delivers Ms. Canuso’s message, but the content doesn’t communicate enough to make us care. ”
Ballet San Jose: Big Next Steps
by Janice Berman
“The plan for Ballet San Jose to link up with the American Ballet Theatre began last August, said BSJ Executive Director Stephanie Ziesel as “a very simple lamenting between sisters. I was saying, ‘I don’t know what to do for this company.’” ”
Changes at West Australian & Queensland Ballet
by Deborah Jones
“West Australian Ballet’s Ivan Cavallari will leave Perth in December. Queensland Ballet’s artistic director, Francois Klaus, departs at the end of 2013. ”
WA Ballet Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari is calling it quits
by William Yeoman
“WA Ballet Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari is calling it quits at the end of 2012 after overseeing five highly successful seasons which have seen Australia’s oldest ballet company reach unprecedented artistic heights. In 2013 he will take up the position of Artistic Director with Ballet du Rhin in Alcase, France.”
Feature: Terence Kohler dancer and choreographer
by Deborah Jones
“”I want to shape where classical ballet is going,” he says. “It’s beautiful to be able to speculate and to dream.”"
Preview:Proximity Australian Dance Theatre
by Verity Edwards
“Inspired by two of his previous works which used live photography and focused on philosophical, poetic and physical contact, Stewart said he wanted to explore the perception of reality.”
Preview:Misters and Sisters
by Valerie Gladstone
“Parker, 52, often uses his own experience as inspiration for his works, but “Misters and Sisters’’ is the most autobiographical show he has ever choreographed. ”
Preview/feature:Liz Casebolt and Joel Smith
by Susan Josephs
“”What people respond to in our work is the reveal of our neuroses and process of working,” Smith says. “We also don’t take ourselves too seriously, but when people see our work, I think they realize that we’re serious about our craft and that we have a clear idea of what we want to achieve.”"
Preview:Babel Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet
by Joyce Morgan
“When the pair began working on the piece, two words came to mind: language and territory, says Jalet”
Feature: Shen Yun
by Epoch Times Staff
“On its website, Shen Yun tells about their creative backdrop: “Animated backdrops transport the audience to another world. Projected behind the dancers, the hi-tech images lift the stage and set it amidst blossoming landscapes, deep forests, Mongolian prairies, or celestial paradises.””
Feature: Korea National Ballet
by Park Min-young
“KNB celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and is planning unprecedented shows. It is to meet the heightened expectations of local ballet fans, said Choi. ”
Feature: Scottish Ballet dancer enjoys playing wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty
by Steve Hendry
““I just love the fact you can get such a reaction from the audience. You can really bounce off it.””
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Sunday Links - 8 January 2012
Links today were actually done by Anna Merrick
REVIEW: Miami City Ballet
Viscera, In the Night, Ballet Imperial
USA, Miami, Arsht Center
Dancers: Albertson, Catoya, Delgado J, Esty S, Guerra, Kronenberg, Manning, Penteado, Rebello
by Jordan Levin
“an urgent, intricately structured piece (Viscera) set to a driving contemporary score by American composer Lowell Lieberman, Scarlett built on the attack, musicality and intensity that Villella has honed…”
REVIEW: Mariinsky Ballet
The Little Humpbacked Horse
Russia, St Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre
Dancers: Ivanov, Matvienko A, Popov, Sergeyev
by Luke Jennings
“Ratmansky’s emotional touch is sure. He sends you out into the icy St Petersburg winter with a warm heart and the memory of two hours of glorious dance.”
Feature: Hofesh Shechter
by Luke Jennings
“Shechter’s work succeeds because it bypasses the cerebral, analytical place where most contemporary dance finds a lodging, and strikes directly at our buried fears and longings.”
Feature: ENB at the Coliseum
by Genevieve Roberts
“As they go out to perform the pas de deux in Summertime, and lose themselves in their dance, I see Vadim smile at Daria, everyone in the Coliseum enchanted by the magic between them. In a few steps they are a world away from tracksuit tops and woolllen, stripy leggings.”
Preview/Feature: Meg Stuart Blessed
by Gia Kourlas
““Blessed,” Ms. Stuart said, explores how circumstances can change from one minute to the next. “What does it mean to survive?” she asked. ”
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Saturday Links - 7 January 2012
Links today were actually done by Anna Merrick
Interview: Hofesh Shechter and Antony Gormley: love of bodies
by Mark Monahan
“A monster pendulum and 100 drummers, pastoral strings and moments of ‘madness’. ”
REVIEW: Paris Opera Ballet
La Source
France, Paris, Palais Garnier
Dancers: Heymann
by Michael Church
“But the chief pleasure lies where it should, in the dance itself. In Mathias Heymann the Paris Opera has a dancer with the effortless charisma and exquisite line of the young Nureyev….”
REVIEW: Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Park Avenue Armory Event
USA, New York, Park Avenue Armory
by Charles Isherwood
“Its vitality, mystery and humanity are as clear to the innocent eye as they are, I expect, clarifying to the jaded. ”
REVIEW: Merce Cunningham Dance CompanyPark Avenue Armory EventUSA, New York, Park Avenue Armoryby Susan Yung“an up-close view of the effortful ease of the style, of the underlying tension within the body that is essential to the great dynamism expressed in Cunningham’s work, giving it so much internal life. ”REVIEW: Elizabeth StrebKiss the Air!USA, New York, Park Avenue Armoryby Susan Yung“truly like a three-ring circus, complete with a barking ringmaster.”REVIEW: English National Ballet
Strictly Gershwin
UK, London, Coliseum
Dancers: Chalendard, Glurdjidze, Klimentova, Konvalina, Muntagirov, Streeter, Scott
by Clement Crisp
“Deane has re-organised it with skill and an unfailing sense of popular theatre…”
REVIEW: Scottish Ballet
4 stars
The Sleeping Beauty
UK, Glasgow, Theatre Royal
by Kelly Apter
“As with all Page/McDonald creations, however, what’s most interesting is the narrative route they take to tell the story.”
Sweeping changes at Ballet San Jose
by Richard Scheinin
“the company is struggling to complete the lineup for its truncated 2011-12 season, which so far has featured only longtime artistic director Dennis Nahat’s popular “Nutcracker.” But the future of Nahat — who, for many ballet patrons, is Ballet San Jose — has been a subject of intense speculation in recent days. ”
Touchdown Dances
by Gia Kourlas
“Suddenly, the back bump, in which players fling themselves against one another in the air, is everywhere: it’s a slam dance turned pas de deux.”
REVIEW: China Jinling Dance Company
The Peony Pavilion
USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater
Dancers: Bo, Liang, Xinyu
by Gia Kourlas
“what holds the greatest enchantment … is not a secret springtime romance, but Wang Ruiguo’s trippy lighting, especially when paired with Mo Xiaomin’s costumes for the ensemble…”
REVIEW: Abraham-In-MotionFocus Dance: Live The Realest MCUSA, New York, Joyce TheaterDancers: Abrahamby Leigh Witchel“You don’t know what to feel — and that’s intriguing.”REVIEW: Kate WeareFocus Dance: GardenUSA, New York, Joyce Theaterby Leigh Witchel“There’s a beautiful 10-minute dance somewhere in “Garden,” but it’s 32 minutes long.”REVIEW: Laura Arrington Dance
Hot Wings
USA, New York, Abrons Arts Center
Dancers: Babaoff, Dichter, Sigourney, Tenuto
by Claudia La Rocco
“there is little impetus to work hard when it seems that the people you’re watching haven’t worked nearly hard enough. ”
REVIEW: Helix Dance
UnEarth
Canada, Toronto, Betty Oliphant Theatre
Dancers: Keeling
by Paula Citron
“As always, Garneau’s dance language is highly controlled, filled with off-balances, high kicks and lunges. But there is a fluidity here as the dancers give themselves over to the emotion of the work. ”
Will Signature’s ‘Hairspray’ lead to a permanent wave of dance on D.C. stages?
by Sarah Kaufman
“Technology has played a crucial role in moving dancing ahead in the theater world, says Hope, the association executive. What cheap flights did for travel, video has done for the visual arts. “Being able to do video inexpensively, it’s sort of like the jet plane here,” he says.”
This week’s new theatre and dance
by Judith Mackrell
“The Royal Ballet: Romeo And Juliet, London, Hofesh Schechter & Antony Gormley: Survivor, London”
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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.
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Friday Links - 6 January 2012
Links today were actually done by Anna Merrick
Reflecting On Wheeldon
by Wendy Whelan
“I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t put much stock in his dream, though I found it endearing that he wanted to grow up to be a choreographer one day. ”
Why should we fund the arts?
by David Edgar
“Publicly funded arts institutions are under more pressure than ever to quantify the social benefits they bring, as would be done for schools and hospitals. But isn’t the crucial role of art to challenge the way society is run?”
REVIEW: English National Ballet
Strictly Gershwin
UK, London, Coliseum
Dancers: Cao, Gruzdyev, Klimentova, Muntagirov, Robinson
by Ismene Brown
“shows are not conceived with dancers in mind but with box office, and box office this is, with costumes and lighting of high glitz and elegant cut,….”
REVIEW: English National Ballet
3 stars
Strictly Gershwin
UK, London, Coliseum
Dancers: Birkett, Cao, Glurdjidze, Konvalina, Mills, Takahashi
by Clifford Bishop
“The best numbers feel like ballet daydreaming that it might be something else. ”
REVIEW: English National Ballet
3 stars
Strictly Gershwin
UK, London, Coliseum
Dancers: Birkett, Mills, Robinson
by Patrick Marmion
“The big problem really is that Strictly Gershwin feels like one of those K-tel greatest hits albums. The ecstatic pitch of the sound and spectacle grows more and more wearying…”
REVIEW: Scottish Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty
UK, Glasgow, Theatre Royal
Dancers: Ahmet, Blyde, Cavallari, Harrison, Hersh, Jeffs, Laplane, Martin, Mutso, Robertson, Sato, Zarallo, Kingsley-Garner, Kinross
by Mary Brennan
“the romantic vision at the heart of Ashley Page’s choreography is fully realised in performances that sparkle with beguiling personality as well as thrillingly assured technique.”
Feature: Ballet San Jose
by REYHAN HARMANCI
“Like a dancer careening wildly to the edge of the stage, Ballet San Jose, one of the most respected arts institutions in Silicon Valley, was on the brink of chaos last year.”
2012 DANCE HIGHLIGHTS – PUTTING SPRING IN THE STEP
by Neil Norman
“The lingering chill of February will be chased away by the Spanish heat of the Flamenco Festival.The performers include Carmen Cortés and her husband, guitar virtuoso Gerardo Núñez. February 7 to 19, 0844 412 4300/ www.sadlerswells.com ”
Dominion Post pick of Dance performances 2011
by Not named
“2011 will also be remembered for Pina, the astonishing documentary by Wim Wenders of Pina Bausch, the seminal figure in 20th-century European dance-theatre. ”
Fire poi dancing classes
by STACEY ANDERSON
“Taking turns, each student swung two blazing poi in circular patterns, with varying degrees of grace and proximity to their panicked expressions. ”
Cultural Life : Melissa Hamilton
by Charlotte Cripps
“YouTube is one of my greatest means of seeing other companies and dancers. I think it can be very detrimental for dancers only ever to see their own company. ”
From Brisbane to the Bolshoi
by Jennifer Ennion
“Dancing in Russia has always been Chloe Dean’s goal, so being accepted into the acclaimed Bolshoi Ballet Academy is the ultimate dream come true.”
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For the context of this post see here:
http://www.balletcof...discuss-future/
The committee that is going to look into how the community might go forward is now formed I'm pleased to say. And they are:
Lee McLernon (Chair)
Simonetta Dixon
Ian Macmillan
John Mallinson
Anna Merrick
Dave Morgan
Under my sig I include some Terms of Reference and background/context around all this and which has been agreed with Lee. So the starting position is clear to all.
The committee has only just been formed so it will take a while to get their modus operandi sorted I'd have thought and then I suspect they will make an announcement here about how they will prooceed. Further than that it's not really for me to say.
I'll shamelessly end with the words I used before: I think there is much good will and there is a very real opportunity for the community to pull together and create something unique, better and more responsive than before - I most sincerely hope something comes out of it.
Best wishes and great thanks is due to all involved.
Bruce Marriott
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BALLETCO COMMUNITY COMMITTEE TO REVIEW A FUTURE WAY FORWARD FOR THE COMMUNITY
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Background
Balletco is going into archive from the end of January 2012. The TodaysLinks service is currently scheduled to close on 21 January 2012.
The aim in going into archive is to present all the old forum discussions (which can't currently be seen but will be), the Reviews Database and its search, all the old magazines going back to 1997 together with other standing information. We plan to lose nothing, though it may take a few weeks to sort out.
This initiative is to see how the community, in the spirit of Balletco, might go forward for itself and follows the regrets of many that Balletco is closing - most particularly the forum area, it has to be said.
To facilitate discussion amongst the community and to enable existing forum use to continue a new forum has been set up at:
Bruce Marriott is paying the hosting costs of the new forum for 3 months - until 20 March 2012. By this date the committee has to have decided what is the best way forward.
This is about a fresh start for the community. www.ballet.co.uk as an address will be retained for the archive and generally the existing content will not be duplicated elsewhere - the archive is the long-term repository of all that has been achieved. The archive will however actively push people towards community initiatives that follow in the spirit of what we have been about.
Work to be done
It's for the committee to consult with the community, co-opt other members if helpful, sift ideas with a business sense and put in place the governance and financial aspects of a community driven future. Assuming a forum is involved, part of governance will be appointing moderators and agreeing the forum acceptable use policy.
Worse case the committee may concludes that there is not an easy way forward for the numbers involved and users will each find a variety of other ways of interacting and reading up on dance.
The committee will cease to exist on 20 March 2012, or before if something else is put in place. Assuming that something goes forward, some on the committee may wish to be involved but it is not mandatory.
A number of people have offered to help - either technically or generally - and these names are being passed on to the committee (together with the brief context of the approach) for their consideration.
Open Advice From Bruce Marriott
Relying on one person has taken the community a long way. On the other hand it can be a difficulty too and I can't help but think a focused community-driven approach might flex better and the community also feel more involved. So I think the prize is to set up something that is run by community representatives.
I would suggest that initially at least this is about putting in place a strong forum for the community. There is an opportunity to change the forum rules significantly so people & institutions can promote/inform of what they are doing perhaps, and for there to be a good number of moderators to encourage discussion and apply whatever the house rules might be.
I personally think it's for the community to decide what it wants to do and for those with technical abilities to help support that rather than lead the way forward. Those with technical abilities can also inform of the possibilities, of course.
There would seem to be a lot of sense in looking to build on the temporary forum at:
It is run on servers provided by the software makers and support should be good. It seems to have dimensions besides the forum in terms of Blogs and Gallery functionality but I have not looked at the capabilities. The servers can scale automatically to cope with growth and you can see costs here:
http://www.invisionp...ect_package.php
A number of members have said they would willingly contribute to the costs, though it's not clear if enough would do so and that needs to be evaluated. It may be that a few bear all the costs of providing a reliable forum in year one while a broader scheme is put in place. Advertising may also help cover costs - but will need active management.
It's certainly possible to run forums in very cheap web-space using free software. However if things go wrong it's not always easy to resolve with a mix of responsibilities, holidays and the real-life work commitment of people. Having lived with the stressful realities of nominally having complete control of one's own server space I'm now very much attracted to those who provide a dedicated service such as the new forum. Nothing will ever be perfect in IT but it strikes me as a more perfect way forward particularly re the forum solution.
None of this is prescriptive - the committee need to bring new eyes to how the community can go forward. My pledge (which involves some time and money) is to look after the past properly and ensure that the support and inputs of many towards Balletco continues to be freely available.
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Birmingham Royal Ballet
The Nutcracker
London, O2 Arena
27 December 2011
We are at the stage in arena ballet where nobody knows exactly what may work or not. The Royal Ballet did well at the O2 with MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, presented on an open stage, but The Nutcracker always has some transformation scene and that’s hard without a proscenium arch to present it properly. And Birmingham Royal Ballet’s transformation scene is a particularly wonderful one too – not the type of thing to sacrifice: indeed the whole production is thought by many to be the best in the land, so tamper at your peril. Word was that BRB were going to put in a false proscenium, but surely then people at the sides would not see so much of the action (it’s the horseshoe theatre problem writ large) with difficult sight lines for many. “I find the whole thing a very exciting challenge” said Peter Wright, the much loved and respected creator of it all.
Aside from the huge artistic and technical aspects of bringing off a success, it all has to be financed and sold to what is a new, or at best occasional, audience and with big numbers needed too, orders of magnitude ahead of what a normal theatre takes. Enter Victor Hochhauser, the O2 and Universal Music Arts and Entertainment. And what they contrive to bring to the party is a billing of:
The Nutcracker introduced by Joe McElderryX Factor and Popstar to Opera Star winner Joe McElderry will be taking to the stage at The O2 this Christmas when he introduces the celebrated family Christmas ballet The Nutcracker.From 27 to 30 December 2011 Victor Hochhauser and The O2 in association with Universal Music Arts and Entertainment will present six magical performances of Sir Peter Wright’s world acclaimed interpretation of the Christmas classic, with Joe McElderry performing a selection of festive songs prior to the curtain rising.The purist in me objects, but ballet needs to get out and boogie with new folks and so why not I suppose, though again it gave more pause for thought about if it would work or come over as a weird hotchpotch.
True to their word, BRB had put in a vast proscenium arch but the stage bursts forward by 20 yards in front and there are doors to either side of the arch so entrances can be made to the front easily. In front of the stage is the orchestra, on the same level as those sitting in the flat stalls area – not good sight lines, I think, even if you could see through the orchestra, with the stage placed higher and so chopped off feet. You do though see all the set. I had a seat near the stage but to the side and to say that much of the scenery couldn’t be seen is a huge understatement. You can move back, as I did, and you see a bit more of the stage behind the proscenium but then the dancers are more distant. To try to help us all see better, high above the proscenium arch was a huge video screen homing in on the action, or the director’s cut of the action. I have to say that the Royal Ballet had more screens and angled at the audiences on the side, which was more effective.
The evening duly started with the diminutive Joe McElderry, who did OK with 2 festive numbers and one from his new album. It didn’t do much for my spirits however and I just thought that the ‘cost’ at the other end of the evening would be in missing a nice train home from what is already a tedious place to get to. I hope somebody is doing market research on whether McElderry helped sell the show or hinder ticket sales. Nothing against him, but I do hope he didn’t sell seats and dance can present itself for itself in future.
The handover from McElderry to Nutcracker ballet was well done – Wright had the Magician’s Assistant (James Barton), caper on, bow to him and go into furious applause to encourage us all in a another clap of thanks, before extravagantly scooping up the music-stand and guiding the lad off, all in excited character. It was very much a feeling of ballet reclaiming the night. And then we were off, with the overture, brief plot of act 1 rolling up the video screen, and the curtain raising to show the standard Stahlbaum home in all its richness. Wright usefully draws out the party to the front stage which means you see more than you might have. The RB Sinfonia sounded in fine fettle too, though rather quiet, and in act 2 they dialled up the amplifiers. The party itself was hard to track from so far away but the video showed some great bits of action… if with the downside that you missed lots of other action. Drosselmeyer was the great Robert Parker, but the magic bits, always a challenge anyway, just looked very unspecial and small in a place used to very, very, slick shows. The transformation all happened as it should, apart from an over-abundance of smoke for a while, and, on our side, we couldn’t see the fireplace and the Rats entrance from it – a highlight that always brings a lump to my throat. Enough could see it and there was applause for the effect. But all up I felt rather dispirited that an old friend of a work seemed to be struggling.
But then things got better as the corps snowflakes did their thing, which you could see without video, but which video enhanced with little closeups. Clara was also free to dance with her Nutcracker prince – again well captured on the screen if a little distorted from our side view. Act 2 was the same, ballet in its classical element and the audience able to see its cleverness and beauty. John Macfarlane’s designs continue to hold up well I think and I can never see the Mirlitons without hoping that when I get to the pearly gates they are all there, doing their thing to greet me and raise my spirits on what would otherwise be a bit of a downer of a day. The Peter Wright production just seems naturally and effortlessly to do all the National and solo dances just right and the dancers looked in good form.
The opening night Sugar Plum was Nao Sakuma. On Christmas TV we saw Miyako Yoshida dancing the role with the Royal Ballet back in 2000 and Nao has much of that quality – a smile that says it’s all wonderful, effortless and gorgeous. I’d like it that she is at the pearly gates along with the Mirlitons please. I wouldn’t be so keen on having Cesar Morales (her Prince) along though. He is a wonderful dancer, technically he doesn’t do a thing wrong and his landings are so silent. But that’s all you get – no winning personality bursts out and one thing arenas need is larger-than-life personality.
So… dump the singer, dial up the orchestra, install some more video screens pointed at where people sit and I’d be happy. I think though I’d be happier seeing this production in a normal theatre still. But as presented it’s no bad night at all and I hope it draws some more people into those theatres. And it does prove a proscenium can be used if really needed. But better to choose pieces that don’t need it. A Swan Lake would go well here – English National Ballet take note.
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Wednesday Links - 28 December 2011
REVIEW: New York City Ballet
Nutcracker
USA, New York, David H. Koch Theater
Dancers: Angle, Fairchild, Hyltin, Marcovici, Mearns, Peck, Reichlen, Somogyi, Stafford, Taylor, Veyette
by Alastair Macaulay
"At the Nov. 27 matinee Sara Mearns was dramatic and compelling in a way that puts her in a league apart from other ballerinas today, but neither her technique nor her physique was remotely near its best..."
REVIEW: Birmingham Royal Ballet
The perfect production is left high and dry with X-Factor pixie Joe McElderry as baffling warm-up
Nutcracker
UK, London, O2 Arena
Dancers: Barton, Morales, Parker, Sakuma
by Ismene Brown
"Fortunately for me, if unfortunately for BRB, there were many unoccupied spaces to enable a quick move to better positions, which rescues my review from a wholesale protest to a half-cheer."
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: New York
Oh, Those Dancing Feet: The best of dance in 2011
New York
by Susan Reiter
"Orbs by Paul Taylor
"He made us wait 29 years to see this work again, and it was worth the wait."
REVIEW: Bavarian State Ballet
Bayerisches Staatsballett, Nationaltheater Munich - Company proves more than equal to the challenge of MacMillan’s ‘Song of the Earth’ in a quadruple bill of first-class English ballet. 4 stars
Steps and Times: Scenes de ballet, Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, Song of the Earth, Voices of Spring pdd
Germany, Munich, National Theater
Dancers: Dino, Lacarra, Mikayelyan, Slavicky, Hancox, Markowskaja
by Gerald Dowler
"MacMillan’s monumental Song of the Earth is a challenge for any company – to evoke the spirituality and core humanity of this great work is no small task. Here, coached expertly by Donald MacLeary, the entire cast succeed in delivering a performance of rare cohesion and intensity."
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Tuesday Links - 27 December 2011
Birmingham Royal Ballet Nutcracker - preparing to move to O2
How to move a ballet
Birmingham
By Staff
"Birmingham Royal Ballet's principal dancer Robert Parker and technical director Paul Grace spoke to BBC News about the exciting challenge of taking the classic Christmas ballet on the road."
REVIEW: Texas Ballet Theater
Nutty is as Nutty Does - What are Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and the Oz gang doing in The Nutcracker? Welcome to Ben Stevenson's wacky diversion for Texas Ballet Theater.
The Nutty Nutcracker
USA, Fort Worth, Bass Performance Hall
Dancers: Judson, Kotelemets, McBride, Oliveira, Zweifel
by Margaret Putnam
"But if The Nutty Nutcracker has strayed into a totally different fairy tale, it isn't inclined to stop there. Characters from Star Wars and Swan Lake pop up in unexpected scenes, like the shaggy Chewbacca in the Arabian divertissement."
worth a visit for the Swan Lake picture...
Senior Ballet Troupe - Barborka
Ballet keeps Polish seniors on toes
Poland via Beijing
By Maja Czarnecka
"If we stayed at home all the time to do dishes, we'd just be like old grannies," said Ola Szczepanska."
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Monday Links - 26 December 2011
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: Toronto
Crabb: Dancing their way into our hearts
Toronto
By Michael Crabb
"Top 10 dance events to hit the GTA in 2011
"1. For theatrical daring and hauntingly poetic imagery it was hard to beat Montreal’s Compagnie Marie Chouinard in Orpheus and Eurydice. Greek mythology was never this much fun.
"2. For high-tech spectacle of the multi-million dollar variety, the National Ballet’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was eye-poppingly awesome."
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: San Franncisco
Dance 2011: Highs, lows and top 10 moments
San Francisco
Mary Ellen Hunt
"High: Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin at San Francisco Ballet. In the greatest partnerships in ballet, the union is greater than the sum of its parts, and so it was with these two dancers throughout the 2011 season."
QUIZ OF YEAR: Black Swan film and Luke Jennings reviews
G2 quiz of the year: culture
Another fine year for the arts, but how much attention were you paying? Test your knowledge with our irreverent quiz on all things cultural
London
by Alex Needham
"In January, the Guardian asked the cream of Britain's ballet to review Black Swan. Spot the quote we've made up..."
Joffrey Ballet Award
Joffrey Ballet in Chicago wins national award for most well-reviewed 'Nutcracker' production
Chicago
By staff
"Chicago's Joffrey Ballet has the country's "Best-Loved 'Nutcracker'" performance.
"That's according to online ticket seller Goldstar, which selects a winner each year based on member reviews and ratings."
American Ballet Theatre & Ballet San Jose
Ballet San Jose, American Ballet Theatre in deal
San Francisco
by Jesse Hamlin
"The deal with New York's ABT, which is not a merger, licenses Ballet San Jose to implement ABT's comprehensive National Training Curriculum for dancers. ABT teachers will train Ballet San Jose School instructors to teach the holistic curriculum, which focuses on the mind and the body."
REVIEW: Ballet Philippines
Ballet Philippines’ lavish ‘Sleeping Beauty’ hurdles the odds
The Sleeping Beauty, Inamorata: Hardin ng Balo, Everywoman
Philippines, Manila, CCP Main Theater
Dancers: Adea, Cordero, Arisola, Bankova, Fujino, Gabriel, Gequinto, Trofeo, Winder, Yadao
by Elka Requinta
"...a feast for the senses, patterned after the original 1890 Russian production in St. Petersburg. Lavish set designs (Ricardo Cruz) and poufy costumes shone and sparkled..."
Strictly Come Dancing - Christmas Special
Strictly Come Dancing, Christmas Special, BBC One, review
Michael Hogan reviews the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC's pro-celebrity dance contest.
London
by Michael Hogan
"This wasn’t classy television but it was extremely Christmassy and enormous fun. A suitably celebratory way to round off a superb year for the ballroom institution. Ho ho quick quick ho."
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Jane Simpson Tests us all again..
http://www.ballet.co.uk/2011/12/the-last-balletco-quiz-of-the-year-2011/
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Sunday Links - 25 December 2011
Merry Christmas Everybody
Message/card link on new forum
Merce Cunningham Company - many quotes from dancers and management on the position
Merce Cunningham company dances to the end
The late choreographer planned his troupe's demise. But the final performances this week may lead to new beginnings.
NY via LA
by Susan Reiter
"We've seen an enormous increase in the number of companies licensing Merce's work," Carlson said. "Repertory companies are stepping forward with interest in making it something regularly programmed."
REVIEW: Scottish Ballet
4 stars
The Sleeping Beauty
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dancers: Blyde, Laplane, Martin, Mutso
by Zoe Anderson
"This Beauty is by far the strongest of Page’s updated classics for Scottish Ballet, with more warmth and sharper invention."
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: Boston
A rich time for Boston
Solid repertoires, wealth of variety
Boston
By Jeffrey Gantz
"This wasn’t a watershed year for dance in Boston. No star choreographers emerged here in 2011. No outstanding new troupes formed. No internationally renowned ballet companies visited.
"And yet it was an almost unimaginably rich year for dance in Boston. From Savion Glover to George Balanchine, we saw every kind of hoofing imaginable.
REVIEW: Birmingham Rep
The Snowman
UK, Birmingham, ICC Theatre
Dancers: Coppen
by Diane Parkes
"This Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company production was a huge hit when it was premiered in the city in 1993 and nearly two decades later it still cannot fail to charm."
REVIEW: Victoria Thierree Chaplin
3 stars
Murmurs
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dancers: Jakobsson, Thierree
by Zoe Anderson
"Murmurs unravels itself on purpose, but sometimes trips over its own trailing threads. The work sags when it takes too long over changing scenery, or pushes too hard into whimsy."
REVIEW: Victoria Thierree Chaplin
A sequence of moments rather than a distinguishable line or body of material that means whatever you want it to mean
Murmurs
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dancers: Jakobsson, Martinez, Thierree
by Ian Shuttleworth
"Personally, I am interested in what the Thiérrées want it to mean, but of that I could glean no clue."
INTERVIEW/PREVIEW: Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre - Jose Mateo
The ‘Nutcracker’ prince
Jose Mateo brings holiday classic to Dorchester stage
Boston
By Keith Powers
"We are looking for more than just audience, we’re looking for participants,” he said. “‘The Nutcracker’ is ideal for initiates."
REVIEW: Peter Schaufuss Ballet
The Nutcracker - A Happy Dream
UK, Brighton, Brighton Dome
Dancers: Bernadet, Christensen, Oki, Wise, Lopez
by Richard Amey
"There is much more to tell, but save me the trouble and see it yourself."
Midhurst and Petworth Observer
Pole Dancing Nutcracker
The Sl*tcracker: Tchaikovsky's timeless Christmas ballet performed by pole dancers
Boston via London
By Daily Mail Reporter
"She told ABC News: 'Slutcracker, the name just kind of popped into my head and my husband was like, you have to do that!'"
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A Very Merry Christmas Everybody
Our card, though currently their server is struggling (it must be catching...)
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Saturday Links - 24 December 2011
INTERVIEW – Peter Wright, Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker: Peter Wright interview
As BRB takes its ‘Nutcracker’ to the O2, Mark Monahan meets the show’s veteran producer, Peter Wright.
London
by Mark Monahan
“I find the whole thing a very exciting challenge,” says Wright, “and we’ve done a lot of planning, particularly with the use of the stage. It’s completely different from Romeo and Juliet. You can’t do Nutcracker, with all its effects and changes of scene, without that arch – you have to have it.”
REVIEW: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater demonstrates its ever-expanding range
Home, Streams, Journey, Minus 16
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Green, Harder, Rushing
by Robert Johnson
“Created by trailblazing individuals, modern dance can only survive through solidarity. Could Ailey be the model, and the base?”
REVIEW: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
Dancing in Character: Pina Recalled, Gelsey Returns
Dancing Dreams (documentary on Kontakthof)
Anywhere, Anywhere, Cinema screening
by Joel Lobenthal
“Pina gives us lengthy and representative samplings of her “dance-theater” pieces, but only by the most oblique means does the movie attempt to provide an interpretative handle on her life or work.”
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: San Francisco
Top flight
YEAR IN DANCE 2011: Dancers excelled with exciting new work (and vintage classics), and redefined the concept of “performance space”
San Francisco
by Rita Felciano
“YEAR IN DANCE If you are a trend spotter, you will have noticed two changes within the local dance ecology that probably will influence how we see dance in the foreseeable future…”
REVIEW OF THE YEAR: Boston
A whirlwind year of dance
From Fela! to Merce
By Marcia B. SiegeL
“ive dance, especially ballet and contemporary dance, is still resistant to decent filming, though when Fela got the audience up on its feet to try some pelvic gyrations, I wanted to join in.”
Australian Ballet in Images
Celebrating the Australian Ballet
Melbourne
by staff
“Photographs from the book “Luminous: Celebrating 50 years of the Australian Ballet”
INTERVIEW: Oakland Ballet – Graham Lustig
Oakland Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ breaks ice with kids
San Francisco
by Sara Hayden
“I don’t want anybody to feel that what we’re doing is something elitist, that you have to have a degree to understand it,” Lustig says. “I think that that’s the greatest power of this art form – you don’t have to be verbally proficient to understand ‘The Nutcracker.’”
American Ballet Theatre & Ballet San Jose
Ballet San Jose teams with NY’s American Ballet Theatre
San Jose
By staff
“Under the partnership, Ballet San Jose is expected to be able to have access to the New York-based American Ballet Theatre or ABT’s resources, staff and implement its curriculum.”
REVIEW: New Jersey Ballet
New Jersey Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ feels like several holidays packed into one
The Nutcracker
USA, Morristown, Mayo Performing Arts Center
Dancers: Davydov, Kojima-Noa, Noa-Pierson, Roje, Ryu, Sugawa, Verterich, Rubel, Yamamoto
by Robert Johnson
“A simple frolic when it starts, the “Nutcracker” ends as a feast for ballet lovers.”
REVIEW: Momix
MOMIX in ‘Botanica’: a kinky frolic through the natural world
Botanica
USA, New York, Joyce Theater
by Robert Johnson
“…Pendleton does not extract a moral or a philosophical point of view from his startling, visual effects. In “Botanica” the flora and the fauna are decorative, whimsical and occasionally titillating—nothing more.”
REVIEW: Victoria Thierree Chaplin
3 stars
Murmurs
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dancers: Thierree
by Lyn Gardner
“Murmurs is a little too long, spread a little too thin, and is inclined towards whimsy, but at best it is mysteriously enchanting.”
REVIEW: Texas Ballet Theater
‘Nutty Nutcracker’ is over the top
The Nutty Nutcracker
USA, Fort Worth, Bass Performance Hall
Dancers: Judson, Kilps, Priolo, Zweifel
by Mark Lowry
“In short, TBT’s Nutty Nutcracker is the Stahl-bomb. Let’s have more than one performance next year.”
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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.uk/category/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.uk/cgi/reviews_database_search/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.
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Many people have said how much they appreciated the forums and hoped something could continue. Ditto for other things Balletco do. The problems with the old forum have robbed people of a place to talk about things and for the community to see how it might go forward with Balletco itself going into archive.
What I have done is set up a forum with a specialist provider (I have nothing to do with the technology you will be pleased to hear!) and I will pay for the service for 3 months - until 20 March 2012
You can see the new forum here:
The prize is that the community draws together and creates something enduring in the spirit of Balletco's forums or more.
There needs to be some overall direction and sifting of ideas in the discussions and I am forming a committee of established forum/Balletco users who will ultimately take a decision within the 3 months available about taking a community-driven intuitive forward or, in the worst case, not. I will give the benefit of my views/experience to the committee but ultimately it will their decision on how things proceed. They may decide that this forum at this new address is great or they may decide some other way forward is better - we will see. A number of people with technical ability have also indicated that they could help and it will be for the committee to review what's possible with what would be desirable and make decisions on who might do what to run it all effectively in the future. The committee will be announced early in January - in the meantime, all Balletco regulars do say what you feel about all this.
I think there is much good will and there is a very real opportunity for the community to pull together and create something unique, better and more responsive than before - I most sincerely hope something comes out of it.
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Besides creating a space for people to talk about a better future there are the realities of today and the new forum has the following areas for people to use:
Ticket Exchange - always been popular and trusted because of the need to register.
Doing Dance - has been a very active community and very UK focused with much self help etc.
News - for people to put news items
What's Happening - for people to talk about performances and for now, everything else.
I could add in all the other forums we have had but I think initially at least that gets people going and provides a tight focus.
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Forum Acceptable Use Policy etc.
This will be initially as for the old forum. The committee will be able to change the policy as it sees fit and things unfold. I will moderate initially but over time the committee, or moderators appointed by them, will need to take over.
Balletco Community Committee Formed
in Archived discussions
Posted
Bangorballetboy and All
I think you are on a hiding to nothing trying to arrange things so that only one thread of many in each section is seen on the forum home page.
I've not looked to do much with the forum because I only have some responsibility for a few weeks and it may just change. There is much else to do as well! And of course people need to come forward, investigate and help eachother etc. (and thank you for your support in this Janet).
However 2 things I notice that I think all registered users could usefully know and actively use.
When you are logged in then at the top right of the page is a 'View New Content' button. Click on that to see all the threads/conversations that have changed recently.
When you have seen them all, or decided they are not for you, click the 'Mark Community Read' link right at the bottom of the page, and select 'Mark all as read' on the dropdown menu. As a check then go and click on the 'View new content' button again - and you will get a blank page with the text "Sorry, no new content found." - because there hasn't been any since you did the Mark. Come back in a few hours though and do the 'View New Content' and hopefully a thread or two will be shown as changed.
So the general way of operating is to do the View and then do a Mark at the end of looking aorund.
So that's a way of seeing all the action on the forum - good stuff.
I'm sure there is lots of useful things like this and when decisions are made on the way forward those who look after the forum can find the goodies people need and figure how to convey to all.