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DEC 2003
holiday page
There are more goodies on our Holidays Page, including reviews
of holiday performances, a feature on "The Nutcracker Nation",
editors' picks, and a holiday gift guide. read
more...
interviews
Nederlands Dans Theater: Miguel Oliveira and Parvaneh
Sharafali
by Jules Houben
"If in ‘Bebob’ you
use a more rational approach, in the new ballet of Jiri
Kylián, 27’52”, you do everything emotionally,
and your heart and soul give you the direction and strength to
progress a little further each time’, say the two young
dancers from NDT II.
read more...
At Home with Ballet: Cynthia Harvey former Principal Dancer,
American Ballet Theater
by Dean
Speer and Francis Timlin
I first became interested in ballet by watching
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev on the Ed Sullivan show!
According to my mother, I could not reach the TV, but begged to
dance as I tip-toed about trying to emulate Margot in "Corsaire."
read more...
in our
forums
focus
The Place
One of Europe's leading
contemporary dance centres
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Danser en français
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l'Opéra National de Paris -
'Clavigo'
par Laure-Myriam Jouilli et Ondine
27 octobre 2003 - Palais Garnier, Paris
Je m’en suis d’ailleurs
beaucoup voulu de ne pas avoir écrit le post que
j’avais prévu d’écrire, après la
représentation du 23 octobre (soir de la première),
mais j’ai été prise d’une certaine
nonchalance, m’empêchant de m’atteler à
cette tâche.
read
more...
Ballet de Marseille - 'Don Quichotte'
par Haruyo Yokota
8 novembre 2003 -- Opéra de Marseille
Marie-Claude Pietragalla nous
présentait sa version de "Don Quichotte" en alliant la
traditionnelle partition de Minkus mais également celle de
Manuel de Falla.
read more...
Saburo Teshigawara - 'Bones in Pages'
par Haruyo Yokota
21 Novembre 2003, Paris
Dans un style proche du ballet
créé pour l'Opéra de Paris, Saburo Teshigawara
ainsi que Kei Miyata et Rihoko Sato nous offraient une
merveilleuse version de "Bones in Pages", déjà
dansée en 1991.
read more...
Gala des Etoiles du Prix de Lausanne
by Marc
7 novembre 2003 - Grand Opéra de Genève
Le prix de Lausanne aide des jeunes
danseurs de talent à devenir de très bons
professionnels en leur offrant la possibilité de terminer
leur formation dans des écoles ou des compagnies de ballet
de premier ordre.
read more..
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features
 Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre: Ignis et fides
by Julija
Kalpokiene
This summer the series of events that were held
all over Lithuania to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the
coronation of King Mindaugas was crowned by the premiere of
Bronius Kutavicius’ opera-ballet "Ignis et fides" in the
courtyard of Trakai Castle.
read more...
 'NO FIXED POINTS: Dance in the Twentieth Century'
by Nancy Reynolds and Malcolm
McCormick
Book Review by Leland
Windreich
November 2003
A remarkable, generously illustrated survey of
theatrical dance, which covers a century that began with Loie
Fuller and ended with Billy Elliot.
read more...
Pacific Northwest Ballet - Panel Discussion -
'Artifact II' and 'Mercury'
by Francis Timlin
October 28, 2003 -- Phelps Center, Seattle
William Forsythe stager Glenn Tuggle was on hand
to lead off the discussion of "Artifact II" with an introductory
explanation of some of the unique aspects of Forsythe's
choreography.
read more...
Pacific Northwest Ballet - 'Ballet Now' Preview
Rehearsal
- 'Artifact II,' 'Mercury,' 'Palacios
Dances'
by Dean Speer
Forsythe's "Artifact II," I found to have a
modern dance sensibility to it and one that really uses and
pushes the ballet vocabulary, particularly in its
duets.
read more...
Latest Developments at Ballett Frankfurt
by Petra Tschiene - November, 2003
The basic idea was to found the new
company as Ballett GmbH with four stakeholders contributing: the
Bundeslaender Hessen and Sachsen, the City of Dresden and the
City of Frankfurt.
read more...
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Sept 28 -
Nov 8, 2003
in the UK
click above to go to our Dance Umbrella 2003
Forum
 Inbal
Pinto Dance Company - 'Boobies'
by Lyndsey Winship
November 5, 2003 -- Brighton Dome, Brighton
In her past works, Israeli choreographer Inbal
Pinto has shown a natural flair for comic dance theatre. Hearing
the title of her third show to tour the UK, "Boobies," you might
have assumed that she was continuing in the same vein. But it
isn't what you think.
read more...
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - 2 Reviews of Event at
Tate Modern
by Katherine Phillips and by
Lyndsey Winship
November 2003 -- Tate Modern, London
The installation art work is an ideal setting for
this all-encompassing dance piece, where the surroundings, the
audience and the dancers all become equal components of the
performance environment.
read more...
 Vincent Mantsoe - 'Bupiro-Mukiti' 'Ndaa' - Laurie Booth -
'Ice/Dreams/Fire'
by Thea Nerissa Barnes
October 2003 -- London
With Booth and Mantsoe the manipulation of the
performative act itself is at the crux of their work; how the
performer negotiates the terrain between himself that is the art
and the audience who witnesses his negotiation.
read more...
Russell Maliphant Company - 'One Part II', 'Two',
'Choice'
by Lyndsey Winship
25 October 2003 -- Queen Elizabeth Hall/London
Russell Maliphant understands that
creating a performance means much more than raising the curtain
and letting your dancers do their thing. He chooses to explore
the breadth of possibilities in bringing movement to the
stage.
read more...
 Dance
Umbrella - Silver Celebration
by Petra Tschiene
October 23, 2003 -- Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
The evening started with UK premiere of Akram
Khan 's film "If Not, Why Not" accompanied live by Cellist
Philippe Sheppard.
read more...
Rosas - 'Once'
by Jurate Terleckaite
October 23, 2003 -- Robin Howard Theatre, The Place,
London
Appreciations and views: that I heard about Anne
Teresa de Keersmaeker's eccentricity, strict approach and
self-centredness awakened my curiosity and I have decided to come
to London to see her dancing.
read
more...
 Ballett
Frankfurt - 'Kammer/Kammer'
by Ramsay Burt
October 22-25, 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
For me the most immediate and exciting
things about “Kammer/Kammer” were, first, the
performances by Dana Caspersen and Anthony Rizzi, and second, the
sheer craftsmanship with which this otherwise highly fragmented
multimedia production was put together.
read more..
Weather or Not - Val Bourne and Daniel Roberts on
Merce Cunningham at Tate Modern
by Donald Hutera
September, 2003
Dancing for Merce has taught me how to adapt, and
mostly, how to problem-solve. I believe this comes from the
process of him making movement from a perspective that anything
could happen at anytime, and that the dancer should train for
that preparedness.
read more...
 Deep Freeze -
Interview with Laurie Booth
by Donald Hutera
September, 2003
Veteran British dance artist Laurie
Booth's new solo Ice/Dreams/Fire can lay claim to one of the
festival's most original settings ... an elaborate yet simple
mobile of ice sculptures.
read
more...
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For Critical Dance's complete
coverage of the Kirov's Tour, visit our KIROV USA
TOUR page.
US tour
reviews
Kirov Ballet - 'Chopiniana', 'Scheherezade',
'Firebird'
by SE
Arnold
November 14-15, 2003 -- Wang Center for the Performing Arts,
Boston, MA
"a montage on the subject
of paradise lost and regained"
read more...
'La
Bayadere'
by Victor Lucas and Elsa Johnson
November 6 and 8, 2003 -- Playhouse Center Square, Cleveland,
OH
"This is the Kirov, everyone is beautiful,
and even an off night is pretty amazing..."
read
more...
'La
Bayadere'
by Julie Gervais
November 1, 2003 -- Detroit Opera House, Detroit, MI
"[Kolb's] energy was determined and focused
– intent on pulling out the maximum intensity from each
bravura step..."
read more...
'La
Bayadere'
by Julie Gervais
October 30, 2003-- Detroit Opera House,
Detroit, MI
" The cohesiveness of their port de bras,
the hyper-articulation of their feet, the sets and costumes that
are over the moon -- those things are a given before you even
consider the incredible dancing and dramatic energy."
read more...
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Letter from the
Editors
Mice are scurrying,
snowflakes are flurrying, and the writers at Ballet-Dance Monthly
are predicting visions of sugar plums at just about every ballet
company around. Yes, the holidays are upon us and with them come
not only countless Nutcrackers, but also time for
reflection, giving thanks, and, well, a little
indulgence.
B-Dm has been
reflecting on dance worldwide: Emma Pegler on the legacy of
Martha Graham and the recent historic events of her company,
Holly Messitt on Susan Marshall’s rendering of Sleeping
Beauty, and Jeff Kuo on Nutcracker Nation, a new
book by Jennifer Fisher.
Stuart Sweeney
expresses his appreciation for The Place, this month’s
focus, Cynthia Harvey speaks with gratitude about her life in
ballet thus far, and it is clear that all the participants in the
CriticalDance forum are thankful for the roles that dance plays
in their lives.
And just like sitting
around the Christmas tree with piles of gifts or stuffing
ourselves with turkey and trimmings, Ballet-Dance is heaping it
on. Where else can you get multiple perspectives on the same
performance? Can’t get enough of your favorite company?
Track Rosas, Cloud Gate Theatre of Taiwan, and more as reactions
filter in from every city on their tours.
We are always
thankful for your participation. Please post your comments in our
Magazine Feedback Discussion Topic in the CriticalDance
forum. If dance has inspired you lately, now’s the time to
connect, share, and spread the good energy around. Like what you
see here? Spread that, too – our site makes a great email
stocking stuffer that any friend would love to discover. And, if
you want the magazine delivered right to your inbox, subscribe
!
Happy Holidays,
The
Editors of Ballet-Dance Monthly
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Coming
up...
· Marie Chouinard at
the Joyce
· Dance Theatre of Harlem on
tour
· Parsons Dance Co. in
Philadelphia
· Holiday
roundups
· More reviews
· More
features
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reviews
Philadanco - Fall Concert Series
by Lewis Whittington
November 20-22, 2003 -- Perelman Theater, The Kimmel Center for
the Performing Arts, Philadelphia
Zollar’s trilogy, inspired by
the graceful saunters of Jamaican women, of course, has much more
than just walking. In fact, it has everything from quicksilver
Afro-Caribbean skips to the most salacious pelvic grinds.
read more...
 Rambert Dance Company - 'Six Pack,'
'Living Toys,' 'PreSentient,' 'Elsa Canasta'
by Cassandra
November 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
McGregor’s style is always
rewarding with its pace and seemingly endless flow of inventive
movement, but above all it shows off the dancers to the very best
advantage.
read
more...
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence - 'High Life,' 'Walking
Out the Dark.' For You,' 'Come Ye'
by Holly Messitt
October 25, 2003 -- Joyce Theater, New York
Brenda Dolan’s lighting reflects
the sense of spiritual quest for which Brown’s choreography
has become known.
read more...
 National Ballet of China - 'Raise the Red Lantern'
by Rosella Simonari
November 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
What is flame red against
petrol blue? Definitely a profound contrast, definitely a
powerful contrast. These two colours meet at the beginning of
"Raise the Red Lantern", the rich and innovative National Ballet
of China's latest work.
read more...
National Ballet of China - 'Raise the Red
Lantern'
by Cassandra
November 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
Having seen and admired
the film of the same name, I have to report that the ballet is
entirely different and only the theme of female subjugation
remains.
read more...
Kenneth Kvarnström & Co. -
'Fragile'
by Andre Yew
November 12, 2003 -- Campbell Hall, UC Santa
Barbara
... Cilla Olsen's hands were especially beautiful
and clear even in the fastest parts --- somewhat like those
ballet dancers whose petite allegro is very fast, but somehow all
of the positions of the feet and legs are still very clear
instead of blurred.
read more...
 Rennie Harris Puremovement- 'Students of the Asphalt
Jungle'
by Lyndsey Winship
November 11, 2003 -- Brighton Dome, Brighton,
U.K.
Breakdance and ballet, they're not
that different, really. Whether it's 32 fouettés or a
20-second headspin, we all know when to applaud.
read
more...
American Ballet Theatre - 'Contemporary Works'
by Lori Ibay
November 8, 2003 -- City Center,
New York
In contrast to ABT’s "Family Friendly"
program, "Contemporary Works" explores deeper themes -- "a world
where nothing is sacred, where brutality and arbitrariness are
commonplace."
read
more...
Teatro Kismet OperA - 'Gilgamesh
'
by Rosella Simonari
November 7, 2003 -- Kismet Theatre, Bari, Italy
In a time outside of time, a man translucent in
his raw skin attempts to fly ... he looks for immortality and the
pair of silverlike, small wings he holds and shakes do not seem
to be able to help him ...
read more...
California Contemporary Dancers - IT'S A
SIGN
by Toba Singer
November 7, 2003 -- ODC Theater, San Francisco
"Chicks" is a signature piece that lampoons the
feminist outcry of the Second Wave, Women are not
chicks! Here, women are chicks ...
read more...
Pacific Northwest Ballet - Ballet Now! Program -
'Mercury,' 'Artifact II,' 'Palacios Dances,' 'Torque'
by Dean Speer
November 6-9, 2003 -- McGraw Hall, Seattle
Melanie Skinner and Paul Gibson were just right
as a sunny couple, playfully dancing and interacting in the
second movement duet. I found myself smiling and being uplifted
right along with them.
read more...
Rambert Dance Company - '21,' 'Visions Fugitives,'
' Elsa Canasta'
by Kate Snedeker
November 5, 2003 -- Edinburgh Festival Theater,
Edinburgh
The company combined impressive talent and its
tradition of innovation to put on a performance that neither
fireworks nor MTV could match...
read more...
Boston Ballet - 'Don Quixote'
by S.E. Arnold
November 1, 2003 -- Wang Theater, Boston
From a reflective distance, however, one finds in
the crowd of Romantic-era references of his "Don Quixote" clues
to the enduring appeal of this transfiguring as well as
melancholy Knight.
read more...
 Pennsylvania Ballet -
'Dracula'
by Lewis Whittington
October 30 - November 8, 2003 -- Academy of Music,
Philadelphia Conceived in 1997 by
Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of Bram Stoker's psychosexual thriller that not only
scandalized London society, but created one of the most evil and
campy characters in literature and film, if not dance-theater.
read more...
 Pennsylvania
Ballet - 'Dracula'
by Lori Ibay
October 30, 2003 -- Academy of Music,
Philadelphia
For me, the most intriguing aspect of Dracula is
his eerie aura -- his sleek, black cape contrasting his pale,
long face; his mysterious seductiveness contrasting with his
horrific rituals...
read more...
Kenneth Kvarnström - 'Fragile'
by Toba Singer
October 30, 2003 -- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San
Francisco
Kenneth Kvarnström brings us superbly
trained, nubile dancers, who work through this hour-long piece
with an earnest concentration that does not obstruct feelings of
genuine enjoyment of each other or the choreography.
read more...
Paris
Opera Ballet -
'Clavigo'
by
Cassandra
October 27-28, 2003 -- Palais Garnier, Paris
Clairemarie Osta looked
just about ideal ... Osta is the newest of the Paris
etoiles and this was the first time I had seen her in a
major role. I was impressed..
read more...
Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group,
Noble Douglas Dance Company, Black Umfolosi - 'Black Burlesque
(revisited)'
by Holly Messitt
October 24, 2003 -- Dance Theater Workshop, New
York
...these companies created a production layered
with traditional dance, spirituals, pop, and hip-hop. In the
process they create a community not only among the dancers
themselves, but also between the dancers and the audience.
read more...
'Elements' - Koromanti Arts and
Noyam
by Thea Nerissa Barnes
October 23, 2003 -- Lilian Bayliss Theatre,
London.
Contemporary Africanist dance expression that
merges the sacred with the secular drawing on African and
Caribbean dance aesthetics.
read more...
George Piper Dances - 'Steptext,' 'Mesmerics,'
'Torsion'
by Carol Herron
October 21 2003 -- Lisner Auditorium, Washington,
D.C.
The dance is beautiful and yet often disturbing,
the single woman is sometimes strong and other times is dragged
around by one of the men.
read more...
Peeter Jalakas and Sasha Pepelyaev - 'Swan
Lake’
by Tiit Tumalu
January - February 2003 -- Kanuti Gildi Saal, Talinn (revived
November 2003)
The fact that those who attempted the
coup d'état in August 1991, when the tanks rolled in the
streets of Moscow, decided to broadcast “The Swan
Lake” was not by chance.
read more...
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Martha Graham
Dance Company
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 Martha Graham: A Legacy of Dance
by Francis Timlin
October 2003 -- Kane Hall, Seattle
Capucilli recalled that Martha Graham wanted to
be known and remembered only as a dancer. She read the full text
of Graham's testament, "I Am A Dancer." Paraphrasing from that
testament, she stated that Graham spent eight decades "choosing
not to fall."
read more...
Martha Graham Dance Company - 'Night Journey,'
'Satyric Festival Song,' 'Diversion of Angels,' 'Sketches From
Chronicle'
by Emma Pegler
November 18, 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
It is hardly surprising that on the
way to Sadler’s Wells Theatre for the Company’s first
London appearance since the court ruling, I felt a strong sense
of occasion and, indeed, of history. It was a night worthy of
wearing a good suit and high heels.
read more...
Martha Graham Dance Company - 'Appalachian
Spring,' 'Satyric Festival Song,' 'Lamentation,' 'Errand into the
Maze,' 'Maple Leaf Rag'
by Cassandra
November 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
The Martha Graham Dance Company has
had to survive a conflict as traumatic as anything the great lady
of modern dance ever choreographed in one of her ballets, and
after what seemed an eternity of legal wrangling that ended only
last year, the company is now able to perform her works in the
manner it deems fit.
read more...
Martha Graham Dance Company - 'Satyric Festival
Song'
by Rosella Simonari
November 2003 -- Sadler's Wells, London
The costume, an elastic tube of stripy
textures sewed together, pieces of the self, pieces of movements
intertwined with the woman's body, be her the blond or the dark
one. Shoulders left exposed to the hair's whipping and
beating.
read more...
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Suzanne Farrell
Ballet
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 Suzanne Farrell Ballet - 'Divertimento No. 15,' 'Tempo
di Valse' from 'Nutcracker, 'Tschaikovsky Pas De Deux,' 'Serenade'
by Toba Singer
November 15, 2003 -- Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley,
CA
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is not yet a company;
it is a company in embryo. Ms. Farrell has assembled some fine
principals and soloists, who dance and partner, each according to
his or her training and performance history...
read more...
 Suzanne Farrell Ballet - 'Divertimento No. 15,' 'Variations for Orchestra,'
'Tzigane,' 'Apollo '
by Jeff Kuo
November 8, 2003 -- Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles
Local ballet goers recently reeling from hammer
blows of balletic pyrotechnics, ballerina glam, and Big Ballet
with capital “Bs” must find the quiet and restraint
of “Divertimento No. 15” a positive relief.
read more...
 Suzanne Farrell Ballet - 'Divertimento No. 15,' 'Variations for Orchestra,'
'Tzigane,' 'Apollo '
by Andre Yew
November 7, 2003 -- Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles
The evening started with the eponymous
"Divertimento No. 15," one of those Balanchine ballets that seems
to be a distillation of a Petipa ballet with all the story
stripped out and only the pretty dancing bits left over.
read more...
 Suzanne Farrell Ballet - 'Divertimento
No. 15,' 'Variations for Orchestra,' 'Tzigane,' 'Apollo '
by Art Priromprintr
November 7, 2003 -- Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles
... as the Balanchine repertory argues, it can
bring out all that is breathtaking and emotional about classical
music.
read more...
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Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker/ROSAS
- 'Rain'
Susan Marshall & Company - 'Sleeping Beauty' 'Other
Stories'