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APRIL 2004
in this issue
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Click to jump to a section:
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interviews
 Paul
Gibson on the New York Choreographic Institute
by Dean Speer and Francis Timlin
This was the very first time I went into
rehearsal not having pre-choreographed. I just worked with the dancers
in the studio, and so it was more of a collaborative effort and very satisfying.
read
more...
An Interview with Andrei Uvarov
by Cassandra
The Bolshoi is changing all the time, and a chief concern is that tickets there are now so expensive that they have become unaffordable for many Russian ballet lovers. What the dancers do is to get complimentary tickets in order help the ballet fans to get in.
read more...
 An
Interview with Artur Sultanov: Getting to "Da" with OBT's
White Knight
by Dean Speer and Francis Timlin
One of the major contrasts between companies
in Russia and the West, is that companies at home are like a dictatorship
-- no relationship between directors and dancers. We receive directives
only, never a professional level of interaction.
read
more...
kirov
ballet
Image Gallery
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Features
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Kirov Ballet in London, 2003
Kirov Ballet Tours the US, 2003
Irma Nioradze and 'Ballet Stars of St. Petersburg'
by Emma Pegler - May 5, 2003, London
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Interviews
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Irma Nioradze
by Patrizia Vallone - Sep 6, 2003
Nikolai Zubkovsky
by Cassandra - Aug 6, 2003
Igor Kolb
by Cassandra - Aug 4, 2003
Yulia Makhalina
by Petra Tschiene - May 10, 2003
Ilya Kuznetsov
by Joanne Brack - May 5, 2003
Igor Zelensky
by Emma Pegler - May 5, 2003
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Reviews
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'The Nutcracker'
by Dani Crawford - Dec 24, 2003, Washington DC
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by SE Arnold - Nov 14-15, 2003, Boston
'La Bayadere'
by Victor Lucas and Elsa Johnson - Nov 9, 2003, Cleveland
'La Bayadere'
by Julie Gervais - Nov 1, 2003, Detroit
'La Bayadere'
by Julie Gervais - Oct 30, 2003, Detroit
'Jewels'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 24-25, 2003, Costa Mesa, California
'Jewels'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 23, 2003, Costa Mesa, California
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 23, 2003, Costa Mesa, California
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 21, 2003, Costa Mesa, California
'La Bayadere'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 17, 2003, Hollywood
'La Bayadere'
by Jeffrey Kuo - Oct 15-19, 2003, Hollywood
'La Bayadere'
by Art Priromprintr - Oct 15, 2003, Hollywood
'Jewels'
by Catherine Pawlick - Oct 10, 2003, Berkeley, California
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Lisa Claybaugh - Oct 7, 2003, Berkeley, California
'Le Corsaire'
by Cassandra - Aug 9, 2003, London
'Swan Lake'
by Cassandra - Aug 7-8, 2003, London
'La Bayadere'
by Thea Nerissa Barnes - Aug 2, 2003, London
'La Bayadere'
by Cassandra - Aug 2, 2003, London
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Stuart Sweeney - Jul 30, 2003, London
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Lyndsey Winship - Jul 29, 2003, London
'Chopiniana,' 'Les Noces,' 'Scheherazade'
by Cassandra - Jul 28, 2003, London
'Swan Lake'
by Emma Pegler - Jul 25, 2003, London
'Swan Lake'
by Art Priromprintr - Jul 25, 2003, London
'Le Corsaire'
by Stuart Sweeney - Jul 23, 2003, London
'Le Corsaire'
by Art Priromprintr - Jul 23, 2003, London
'Le Corsaire'
by Rosie - Jul 21-23, London
'Le Corsaire'
by Joanne Brack - Jul 22, 2003, London
Civitanova Gala
by Rosella Simonari - Jul 18, 2003, Civitanova, Italy
'Jewels'
by Nancy Dow - Jul 20, 2002, New York
'Jewels'
by Kevin Ng - Jun 25, 2000, London
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in our forums
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features
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Oakland
Ballet Faces Struggle to Survive
by Mary Ellen Hunt
In a bid to put itself
on even footing, erase debts and get a jump on the 2005-06 season,
the company has launched a “Keep Us Dancing” campaign
with the goal of raising $500,000 by May 31.
read
more...
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Poison
Pens and Pirouettes
by Lewis Whittington
I
certainly don't blame anybody being suspicious of journalists today.
Even if he gives the regular stable of
dance writers the thumbs down, that is not what is objectionable; rather,
it is the way in which he does it. The festival program is not the professional
forum in which to attack critics.
read
more...
 Sreyashi
Dey: Hindu Goddess in Human Form
by Gina Mazza
Hiller
It’s easy to imagine divine sculptures springing to
life while in the presence of classical Indian dancer Sreyashi Dey.
read
more...
Dancing
Modern / Dancing Indian / Dancing …. In America: The myths of cultural
‘purity’
by Priya Srinivasan
American audiences perceived Nautch dancers in contradictory
ways, with both desire and loathing.
read
more...
'Stars of the 21st Century' Ballet Gala Returns to Toronto
by Denise Sum
Gone are the days when international ballet companies would include Toronto in their touring schedules. It is for this reason that the Stars of the 21st Century gala is such a rare treat.
read more...
Nanine
Linning - Warp/Marble Retrospective: Looking into the Darkness
by Maria Technosux
"Warp/Marble" was rather theatrical
compared to the toned-down "Solo v. 5.0" and "Karpp...?" Certainly it
was the most humorous Linning piece I have seen so far.
read
more...
Symposium
- 'Text/Tans' in Tallinn, Estonia
by Franz Anton Cramer
The participants -- dance artists, scholars,
and students -- were to discuss in various formats just what the relationship
between the spoken word, the grammatical language, and the body’s
communicational means might be...
read more...
Dance
UK Choreoforum 2004
by Yael Loewenstein
A rich day of panel discussions and networking
opportunities, ‘Exploring the choreographic sensibility’
was the theme for Choreoforum 2004. Delegates gathered at Laban in London
to listen to and share choreographic experiences with a range of practicing
artists.
read more...
A
Visit with
the Royal Danish Ballet
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'Napoli'
by Kate Snedeker
March 27, 2004 --
The Royal Theatre - Gamle Scene,
Copenhagen
In one of the most dramatic balletic
entrances, he leaps out towards the audience from the crowd
of fishermen in the classic Bournonville grand jete croisé en
avant.
read
more...
 'A
Folk Tale'
by Kate Snedeker
March 20, 2004 --
The Royal Theatre - Gamle Scene,
Copenhagen
Not many ballets have survived for
150 years, and only a very few have been performed continually by
the same company in the same theater, on the same stage, with virtually
the same choreography. Thus, this was truly a remarkable event,
and one clearly treasured by all involved.
read
more...
'A Folk Tale'
by Kate Snedeker
March 19 and 24, 2004 --
The Royal Theatre - Gamle Scene,
Copenhagen
For one raised on the North American
dance diet, ranging from Petipa and Ashton to Robbins and Balanchine,
a first encounter with the choreography of August Bournonville
is an eye opening experience.
read
more...
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a
l'Opera de Paris
Gala
Claude Bessy
par Catherine Schemm
29 mars 2004
La générale
du Gala en hommage à Claude Bessy faisait office de vraie représentation
artistique, d’ailleurs Claude Bessy arborait la robe qu’elle
avait le soir du Gala.
read
more...
'Signes'
par Valerie Beck
27 mars 2004
Signes est un ballet vivant; sept
tableaux qui m'ont un peu rappelé le film " hero" que j'ai beaucoup
aimé.
read
more...
'Giselle'
par Catherine Schemm
2 mars 2004
Svetlana Zakharova touche par sa
fraicheur, sa simplicité et sa grâce au premier acte.
read
more...
'Giselle'
par Jean-Luc Donay
2 mars 2004
Soit, c'est une Giselle
de conception traditionnelle, mais qui reste un peu "à côté
du rôle" pour moi.
read
more...
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editors' picks
Los Angeles
·
Parsons
Dance Company -
Repertory
April 14, 2004 - Mandeville Center, University of California, San Diego,
San Diego, California
Parson's wit and invention make a one night appearance in the San Diego
area.
·
13th
Annual Lester Horton Dance Awards
April 18, 2004, The George & Sakaye Aratani Japan America Theatre,
Los Angeles, California
Designed to recognize excellence in concert dance in Los Angeles, the
awards ceremony is named after modern dance innovator and west coast
pioneer Lester Horton, who taught and collaborated with such notables
as Bella Lewitzky, Alvin Ailey and Rudi Gernreich.
New
York
·
Richard
Alston Dance Company of London - 'Overdrive'
May 11-16, 2004, The Joyce
British choreographer Richard Alston creates dances flowing in lyrical
and richly sculpted movement, graced with a distinct English accent.
·
New
York City Ballet Spring Season
Apr 27-Jun 27, 2004, Lincoln Center
All Balanchine programs and German, Austrian, French and Italian tributes.
San Francisco Bay Area
·
Garth
Fagan - 'Griot New York'
April 24, 2004, Stanford Lively Arts, Stanford University
Jazz great Wycliffe Gordon teams up with Fagan's dance company.
· San
Francisco Ballet - 'Sylvia'
April 30- May 9, 2004, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Sublime humor is almost guaranteed as Mark Morris creates a his first
full-length work for SFB.
Philadelphia
·
Pennsylvania Ballet
- Rhythm and Blues
April 14-18, 2004, Merriam Theater, Philadelphia
Peter Martins' "Fearful Symmetries," Trey McIntyre's "Blue
Until June," and the world premiere of company member Matthew Neenan's
"The Crossed Line" round out the sizzling spring program..
·
Pilobolus
April 15-17, 2004, Zellerbach Theatre, Philadelphia
The next installment of PennPresents Dance Celebration Series features
the unique company that began as a college dance class.
France
·
Opéra
de Paris - Spectacle de l’Ecole de danse
1-8 avril 2004, Palais Garnier
Dernier programme concocté par Claude Bessy qui nous propose
deux de ses chorégraphies à savoir Concerto en Ré
et Play Bach et Daphnis et Chloé qui fut une de ses grandes créations
en tant que danseuse étoile.
·
Sidi
Larbi Cherkaoui
21-29 avril 2004 - Théâtre de la Ville
La reprise de Foi au Théâtre de la ville est l’événement
attendu du printemps, après le succès fulgurant qu’a
connu la pièce l’an dernier en ce lieu.
London
·
Henri
Oguike Dance Company - 'Front Line'/'White Space'/'F.P.S. Parts 1 and
2'/'Finale'
April 21-22, 2004, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Dramatic and powerfully virtuosic dancing accompanied by live music.
Henri Oguike makes his South Bank Centre debut.
·
Royal
Ballet - 'Anastasia'
Various dates, 21st April 2004 to 12th May 2004
A woman in a Berlin mental institution claimed that she was the Grand
Duchess Anastasia. A rare chance to see this full-length Kenneth MacMillan
ballet.
Tallinn, Estonia
·
BALLET
GALA for International Dance Day
April 29, Estonian National Opera
Including principal dancers from famous companies.
Letter from the Editors
Even
as we look at the explosion of dance around the world, it's sobering
to remember how fragile arts institutions can be. In early April, the
debt-plagued Oakland Ballet announced that they would be forced to cancel
their 2004-05 season and would not be renewing any contracts, calling
to mind the question what is a dance company without dancers?
But then, in the larger picture, what are we as humans without the arts?
In the context of world events, with wars and unrest unfolding everywhere,
one might question why we should turn off the 24-hour news and get to
the theater. But it is the arts that remind us of what makes us
human. From the the Royal Danish Ballet's Bournonville classics
to the controversial and sometimes in-your-face ballets of Nederlands
Dans Theater, the performing arts give us a chance to step back and
enlarge our picture of human nature. Perhaps now is the best time to
take a few moments from watching CNN and stop to think about who we
are, where we are going, and what value we place on our ability to reflect
via our arts.
As always, we love to hear what you think. Please post your comments
in our
Magazine Feedback Discussion Topic in the CriticalDance forum. And,
if you want the magazine delivered right to your inbox, subscribe!
The
Editors of Ballet-Dance Monthly
P.S.
If you're enjoying this issue of Ballet-Dance Monthly, please forward
it to a friend!
| Coming
up...
· The Royal Ballet previewed
· Interview
with Otto Neubert
· A look at the Royal Swedish Ballet
· Kenneth Kvarnstrom
· Dance Theatre of Harlem in London
· More reviews
· More interviews
· More features |
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reviews
 San
Francisco Ballet - 'Square Dance,' 'Stravinsky Violin Concerto,' 'Who
Cares?'
by Toba Singer
April 3, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
"Who Cares?" gives us Gershwin on pointe,
which can be tons of fun, if you haven't been dancing the fast-footed,
crossword puzzle-like choreography in the previous two works to the point
of total body dehydration...
read
more...
 San
Francisco Ballet - 'Square Dance,' 'Stravinsky Violin Concerto,' 'Who
Cares?'
by Rebecca Hirschman
April 3, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Program 6 opened with Balanchine’s
"Square Dance" set to music by Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo
Corelli, and as the curtain opened on the corps de ballet, true dance
ignited on stage...
read
more...
 San
Francisco Ballet - 'Square Dance,' 'Stravinsky Violin Concerto,' 'Who
Cares?'
by Jeff Kuo
April 3, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
At times ticking over like the finely tuned
engine of a Ferrari and at other times barging at us like a coal fired
locomotive, "Square Dance" is one of those ballets that rockets along
at about a million miles per hour leaving nothing but dust devils and
flying gravel in its wake...
read
more...
 San
Francisco Ballet - 'Serenade,' 'Apollo,' The Four Temperaments': The many
faces of Balanchine
by Jeff Kuo
April 2, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
For this company which has so many wonderful
Balanchine ballets in its repertoire, a Balanchine Festival seems almost
redundant...
read
more...
Boston
Ballet - Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes'
by S.E. Arnold
March 27, 2004 -- Wang Center, Boston
No time. Late. Hurry.
Go. Missed & Gone went the dance.
read
more...
 Compañia
Tango Por Dos- 'Tangos - A Legend': What's New, Buenos Aires
by Patrizia Vallone
March
26, 2004 -- Rome
After appearing with success in some tango shows, in 1988
Zotto got together with Milena Plebs and founded the company, with which
he has since toured the entire world.
read
more...
Nederlands Dans Theater I- 'Symphony of Psalms,' 'Click-Pause-Silence,'
'Walking Mad': Ahead of the Curve
by Mary Ellen Hunt
March 25, 2004 -- Cal Performances, Berkeley, CA
I have a hunch that maybe, just maybe, the
introspective and quietly shrewd Jiri Kylian is always just a few small
steps ahead of the avant-garde of dance and, for that matter, us.
read
more...
 George
Piper Dances - 'Mesmerics,' 'Broken Fall,' 'Approximate Sonata, I, V'
by Lyndsey Winship
March 23-27, 2004 -- Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
...There are some delicious moments -- a
lingering horizontal leg on a pirouette, the impeccably controlled tempo
of a yo-yo-ing string of chainees -- they don't need to shout about their
technique, they just use it...
read
more...
 Diablo
Ballet - 'Le Corsaire' Suite, Excerpt from 'The Petites,' 'Tarantella'
Pas de Deux, 'Lady of the Camellias' Pas de Deux, and 'Olbaid'
by Mary Ellen Hunt
March 20, 2004 -- Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek,
California
The company, which is in the midst of celebrating
its 10th anniversary season this year, has a habit of setting up high
expectations and then meeting them...
read
more...
Cincinnati
Ballet - Come Together Festival - 'Rainbow Round My Shoulder,' 'Amazed
in Burning Dreams,' 'Nosotros'
by S.E. Arnold
March 19-24, 2004 -- Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, Cincinnati,
Ohio
To say that Donald MacKayle's "Rainbow Round
My Shoulder" powerfully speaks, or more importantly, shows "man's inhumanity
to man" simply acknowledges the obvious...
read
more...
 Shen
Wei Dance Arts - 'The Rite of Spring,' 'Folding': Austerity and Exoticism
at the Music Center
by Jeff Kuo
March 19, 2004 -- Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles
By using the four hand piano version of Fazil Say rather
than a full orchestra and bypassing the Stravinsky-Roerich libretto for
a direct response to the score, Shen Wei has stripped “Sacre”
of much of its historical baggage and made it possible for audiences to
really feel Stravinsky’s genius.
read
more...
 Northern
Ballet Theatre - 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
by Cassandra
March 17, 2004 -- Sadler's Wells, London
The sheer originality and vigour of this
production gives a real "feel good" quality to the work from beginning
to end.
read
more...
 Sydney
Dance Company - 'Ellipse': Surreal with the Fringe on Top
by Mary Ellen Hunt
March 13, 2004 -- Stanford Lively Arts, Memorial Auditorium, Stanford
University, California
... Clad in Akira Isogawa's geometric thong leotards with
a horsetail of fringe over the backside, the four pony up a frolicsome
gambol -- replete with slaps on the rump and acrobatic square dancing.
And it was at about this point that I suddenly realized that we might
just be headed for a mite bit of trouble...
read
more...
Hip:
A Freedom of Expression
by Lyndsey Winship
March 12, 2004 -- Purcell Room, London
The Hip Festival aims to celebrate diversity in dance,
and this programme was nothing if not diverse. Crossing continents and
styles and subjects, from comedy to politics to pure movement, this was
an entertaining reminder of the breadth of creativity in British dance
read
more...
 Batsheva
Dance Company - 'Deca Dance': The Ministry of Silly Dances
by Mary Ellen Hunt
March 12, 2004 -- San Francisco Performances, Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts, San Francisco
.... strangely enough, whether it was a strutting lounge
singer in pointe shoe stilts, or abstraction to the shimmerings of Arvo
Part, there was always something accessible about Naharin's work. There's
seriousness, and sometimes exquisite silliness, but you can't help thinking
that these are smart dances from a smart man...
read
more...
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - 'Hymn': Why Dance?
by Mary Ellen Hunt
March 11, 2004 -- Cal Performances, Berkeley
"It's the same
steps, but each generation informs it differently, just by the way their
bodies move."
read
more...
Dancers
of the Pennsylvania Ballet - Shut Up and Dance: Benefit Wows Philly Crowd
by Lewis Whittington
March 10, 2004 -- Merriam Theater, Philadelphia
Quite simply, no one was prepared for the
simple beauty of Brian Sanders' piece "Cellophane" (excerpted from his
larger work "Junk," a hit of last year’s Philadelphia Fringe Festival).
With a transcendent performance by Michael Patterson, it was perhaps the
evening emotional highlight judging by the roar of the crowd.
read
more...
Oregon Ballet Theatre - 'White Nights': 'Adin' -- Will there be a 'Dva'?
by Dean Speer
March 6, 2004 -- Keller Auditorium, Portland
... Yes, there is no narrative, but to me there certainly is a story -- and one that never fails to leaves me blurry-eyed every time I see this wonderful ballet. It's one of those works where earth and heaven shift with each telling...
read more...
Dances
from the Garden - Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company,
American Repertory Ballet Company
by Marshall Huntenberger
March 3, 2004 --State Theatre, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Three independent dance troupes performed their individual
brands of dance and performance art. The actual presentation was in a
different order from the program and which ended up being a very smart
change...
read
more...
Nina Ananiashvili and the Moscow Dance Theatre - 'Green', 'Second Before the
Ground', 'Leah'
by Cassandra
March 2, 2004 --Sadler's Wells, London
Nina Ananiashvili is one of that very tiny number of dancers
for whom no superlatives can ever be adequate. She is a goddess of the
dance incarnate, blessed with a beauty of form and perfection of technique
that occurs once in a generation; and her every appearance is an event
to be cherished...
read more...
 Eva
Yerbabuena Flamence: All About Eva
by Mary Ellen Hunt
February 28, 2004 -- Cal Performances, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
The defining quality of Yerbabuena's dancing
is her control, which is impressive, and yet also robs us of the sense
that both she and her audience could be surprised by where the dance takes
us. Even when her hair flies out of its neat chignon, you have the sense
that it does so exactly when she wants it to.
read
more...
DanceBoom!
Festival
by Lewis Whittington
January 21 - February 8, 2004 -- Wilma Theater, Philadelphia
... Once again DanceBoom! occupied
the uptown Wilma Theater on the Avenue of the Arts for 3½ weeks of what
curator Nick Stuccio calls a "snapshot" of the independent, avant-garde,
and cultural dance scene in Philadelphia. This is certainly a modest assessment
by Stuccio, who also steers the dance-heavy Fringe Festival in the summer...
read
more...
Nureyev
Gala: Taking Nureyev's Name in Vain
by Patrizia Vallone
January 22, 2004 -- Teatro Sistina, Rome
... The applause was plentiful. I worry, though, that the
theater and the organizers of the gala are convinced that they're the
cat's pajamas for having put on this event whereas it was the dancers
alone who deserve all the credit for more or less pulling it off.
read
more...
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