Ballet Biarritz

shag · **Posted:** Wed Dec 27, 2000 6:44 am

Having just returned to the warmth of South Florida from the Christmas pilgrimage to the frozen tundra of Ottawa, I cannot vouch for this review. I do wish I had attended from the sounds of it, though.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/daily/detail/0,1136,36000000000146733,00.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/daily/detail/0,1136,36000000000146733,00.html</A>

Misa_danseuse · **Posted:** Fri Nov 08, 2002 12:46 am

In the NY Times:

Quote:

The urge to remake famous ballets of the past is not unknown in the United States, but in Europe it has become something of a mania. The latest manifestation comes from Ballet Biarritz, a four-year-old French company that made its New York debut on Tuesday night at the Joyce Theater with a program erroneously titled "Homage to `Les Ballets Russes.' "

Thierry Malandain, the company's director and choreographer, has 14 terrific dancers that give his quirky mix of idiomatic movement and ballet technique a sharp, clean edge.

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Stuart Sweeney · **Posted:** Sat Nov 30, 2002 10:20 am

Ballet Biarritz finds fresh approach to well-known works
Troupe blends old, new. By MARGARET PUTNAM / The Dallas Morning News

Nary a toe shoe appeared in the TITAS premiere of Ballet Biarritz on Friday at McFarlin Auditorium. Not that they were missed. The French company bounded through playful retakes of three famous ballets, before ending with a riveting new work. Ballet never looked so silky smooth. Artistic director Thierry Malandain was responsible for all.

The old works came from the era of Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev. Mr. Malandain explained, "I sort of play around with them." That he did.

All three offered bare, white sets, everyday dress and ballet slippers, for a very contemporary feel. While originally created in 1920 by Léonide Massine with sets by Picasso, Pulcinella still relied on the commedia dell'arte atmosphere. Episodic and scattered, it was charming in a naughty way. There was much jostling, flirting, groping, fighting, a fake death, and at the end, a happy romp with all the characters coupled.

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:11 am

Quote:

Muscling In on Monty Python, R. Crumb and Beethoven
by JOHN ROCKWELL for the New York Times

Mr. Malandain, to judge from his willing dancers (16 listed in the program, seemingly no more than 13 onstage at any time), likes his men and women to have enormously muscled thighs and, to put it bluntly, big rear ends. In short, they are the very image of the cartoonist R. Crumb's ideal women, so perhaps it is no accident that Mr. Crumb lives in the south of France, too.

published: February 2, 2006

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Andre Yew · **Posted:** Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:25 am

Quote:

Going back to the future, one movement at a time
Lewis Segal, LA Times

Although Thierry Malandain makes dances as idiosyncratic — indeed, even eccentric — as other French modernists, he's chosen dance history as his personal playground. So his accomplished, alluring Ballet Biarritz, which performed Friday as part of the UCLA Live series, was a simultaneous vision of past and present — and maybe the future as well.
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Andre Yew · **Posted:** Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:27 am

Quote:

Ballet Biarritz: Thierry Malandain’s Les Petits Riens and Don Juan
Allan Ullrich, Voice of Dance

So, too have the dances of Thierry Malandain, the artistic director of Ballet Biarritz since its founding in 1998, deep in the heart of Basque country on France’s West coast. Biarritz is one of the 19 Centres Choréographiques Nationaux that the French government has set up across the country to advance the cause of dance, dancers and dance audiences. The company made its California debut last Friday (March 24) at Royce Hall, UCLA, a presentation of UCLA Live. Regrettably, no Northern California performances were planned for this season. Too bad; the Bay Area infrequently experiences chamber-sized ballet troupes from abroad and Malandain’s 16-member company was never less than provocative.
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Andre Yew · **Posted:** Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:33 am

I saw this company in their Saturday night performance at UCLA. It's a technically very strong company, with an interesting range of body types. I like what they're doing with their productions for a small (16 dancers) company: simple costumes and sets that show off the dancers, and evocative, witty choreography that takes advantage of the visual simplicity. I'd describe the choreographic style as happy Kylian, except with more interest in large, architectural groups and movements. I found Les Petit Riens more successful than Don Juan because it didn't really have to adhere to some story with fairly earthbound themes, and you could really see the range of Malandain's creativity as he bent ballet steps to suit the characters of the story.

--Andre


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