Cue the dancing elephants
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and actor John Lithgow team up for 'Carnival of the Animals'
By Iris Fanger | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK – As a child attending the Royal Ballet School in England, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon went on a class trip to the British Museum of Natural History.
After returning to school, "all the other kids wrote about what they had seen," recalls Mr. Wheeldon. "[That] didn't appeal to me much, [so] I wrote a fantasy about being locked in after hours and wandering around on my own in this cavernous building."

The image stuck.

Last week, New York City Ballet presented the world première of his new work, "Carnival of the Animals" (music by Camille Saint-Saëns), at Lincoln Center.

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Yeah I really no longer have questions. It just seems I disagree with most of the dance world. I made a comment to a friend the other day that I would never watch another Wheeldon ballet. Now that probably wont be the case. But all I can say is I am unimpressed.

I saw a small bit of Carnival of the Animals on the Today show and I would give anything to be able to see the whole ballet. The dancers looked so good doing his movements from the piece I saw.

bgbunhead, it's clearly fair and reasonable to be unimpressed by Wheeldon's output. Do any of today's ballet choreographers hit the spot for you?

<small>[ 26 May 2003, 07:08 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Well Stuart...thats tough...as I said in the ABT thread I thoroughly enjoy Stanton Welchs work although his Carmina Burana fell flat...as for other choreographers working today...god i will be horrified if I cant think of one whose work I enjoy...Jean Christophe Maillot of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo springs to mind...I fell in love with his work after seeing his Cendrillon. I cant really think of any others whose ballets I would rush to see. I just havent seen anything recently that can stand up in dramatic intensity to Anthony Tudor, or structurally to Balanchine...As for creativity I would go with Maillot, he is the only choreographer working right now that I would call an originator.

Christopher Wheeldon's 'Carnival': Step Right Up!
By Terry Teachout
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, June 1, 2003; Page N09
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I definitely forgot Lila York...Her Celts at Boston when Patrick Armand danced the lead was not to be missed.

BGBunhead said:

Now you see, a perfect example of how we all have different tastes in ballets/choregraphers. Celts at San Francisco Ballet when danced by any of one their fabulous dancers was definitely a TO BE MISSED event(in a choreographic sense.)

Just goes to show ya..........

Trixie I would be curious to hear your views on Chris Wheeldon to see if our views differ their too.

bgbunhead said:

After rereading this thread I can assure you we are on opposite sides of the spectrum concerning Wheeldon. I am a fan, and from what I've read in this thread, it appears to me that a bit of an agenda is somewhat hidden in all of the Wheeldon discussion.

What agenda would that be?

I have also reread all of the postings in this thread and it seems to me that opinions on Mr. Wheeldon's work are many and varied which seems to be reflective of his very eclectic oeuvre to date. There is certainly no agenda -- hidden or overt -- on the part of this board regarding Mr. Wheeldon's work.

Well as the old saying goes " Posession is 9/10ths of the law."

Perhaps in the case the word interpretation should replace "possession."

Hugs,
TGS

CriticalDance has few, if any, "agendas". We don't seek to promote any particualar dance form or particular choreographers. The Moderators have a wide range of interests and if there is an agenda, it is to celebrate dance in all its forms and the combination of those forms. While readers can espouse a "box for every dance style and every style in its box" model of development , I suspect that it will gain few supporters from the CD team.

Regarding Christopher Wheeldon, I kicked off this topic three years ago and wrote, "I've only seen a couple of Wheeldon's pieces, one for the Royal Ballet and perhaps another for the NYCB dancers when they were in London. I have to say that my impression was more 'nice' than 'absolutely wonderful'."

Time moves on and perhaps I have. Christopher Wheeldon certainly has, in my view. Following my words above, the tide turned with "There Where She Loves" to songs by Chopin and Kurt Weill for a small scale RB programme in the Linbury theatre - an appealing, romantic work. In the past year we have seen the Royal Ballet's"Tryst" and NYCB dancers in "Polyphonia". Both works, and especially the latter, show a maturity and creativity which I did not see in the earlier works. The short piece made for the Ballet Boyz (Trevitt and Nunn) company was a strong and distinctive work.

As a result, of the US choreographers working in ballet that I have seen over the past few years, Wheeldon and Mark Morris stand out some way ahead of the rest.

<small>[ 04 June 2003, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

This is absolutely why I love this site. Because for the most part (we all know there are always exceptions)the discussions are very intelligent and everyone can make clear there points without diparaging anyone else. I had to smile though when I read the last part of your post Stuart, because out of all the choreographers working today, Wheeldon and Morris are my least favorite. As they say everyone has an opinion, and once again I say that its great that we can discuss them.