A Montreal Troupe Kicks Off Its Dusty Toe Shoes
by JENNIFER DUNNING for the New York Times

"The way they use technique is nothing unknown, but it is contemporary and very energetic," Mr. Pankov said of Mr. Celis and Ms. Veldman in a recent interview. "The dynamic is very strong."

published: August 14, 2005

Re-creations With Classical Past and Revolutionary Present
by JOHN ROCKWELL for the New York Times

"TooT" lasts a slightly protracted 45 minutes and supposedly represents "identity, individuality and the relationship of the individual to society," according to Ms. Veldman's program note. That dichotomy called for two kinds of music: Shostakovich's brightly popsy Jazz Suite No. 2 (also known as Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1) for the outer, overtly circusy parts, and more haunting, soulful music from the Balanescu Quartet, whose repertory consists of its own music and its radical "cover versions" of other composers, popular and classical, for the inward-looking bits.

published: August 19, 2005