<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>Jorma Elo Archives - Dance Informa Magazine</title> <atom:link href="https://www.danceinforma.com/tag/jorma-elo/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/tag/jorma-elo/</link> <description>digital dance magazine</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:20:51 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">87994637</site> <item> <title>Dancing duality: Boston Ballet’s Fall Experience 2024</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/11/18/dancing-duality-boston-ballets-fall-experience-2024/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/11/18/dancing-duality-boston-ballets-fall-experience-2024/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:20:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alex Foaksman]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Choreographer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chyrstyn Fentroy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Citizens Bank Opera House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Crystal Pite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[female choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jay Gower Taylor]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Farrell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lera Auerbach]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Marija Djordjevic]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Paul Craig]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sabrina Matthews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Soon Woo Lee]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tom Visser]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Yue Shi]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=36605</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.November 3, 2024. I took my seat at the Boston Opera House for Boston Ballet’s Fall Experience, got out pen and notebook to be ready to take notes for my review…and, I realized, I’d done the exact same more than once before. In recent years, Boston Ballet has structured its […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/11/18/dancing-duality-boston-ballets-fall-experience-2024/">Dancing duality: Boston Ballet’s Fall Experience 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.<br>November 3, 2024.</p> <p>I took my seat at the Boston Opera House for <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Ballet’s</a> <em>Fall Experience</em>, got out pen and notebook to be ready to take notes for my review…and, I realized, I’d done the e<em>xact</em> same more than once before. In recent years, Boston Ballet has structured its seasons partly by the seasons: with <em>Fall Experience</em>, <em>Winter Experience</em> and <em>Spring Experience</em> on the docket. I’ve felt blessed to take in many of these programs. </p> <p>At the same time, none of these programs have ever felt quite the same. That reflects the duality of novelty and tradition within artmaking; we draw upon what has come before to make something <em>not exactly</em> <em>like anything that has ever come before</em>. There were many such intriguing dualities in this program – leaving me both intellectually stimulated and aesthetically satisfied long after I left the theater. </p> <p>The world premiere of Boston Ballet Principal Lia Cirio’s <em>After</em> kicked off the program. Her being a seasoned performer and <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/07/20/jeffrey-and-lia-cirios-cirio-collective-strives-for-exploration-through-collaboration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rising choreographer</a>, Cirio’s work here demonstrated singularity of voice and the potential for a vibrant choreographic career ahead of her. It teased at dualities and tensions in ways that tickled the mind, but also settled the soul. </p> <p>The work began humming with calm and introspection – yet also touches of uncertainty and unease. The latter grew to more than just a touch as the work progressed: the ensemble growing, the score (from Lera Auerbach) escalating in intensity, and movement accordingly accruing vigor.</p> <p>A variety of qualities remained at hand, however – such as hip rolls and popped heels offering just a dash of spirit and sass. Strong poses melted, spines fully softening. Bent limbs with flexed feet lengthened into expansive lines, partners supporting ballerinas en pointe through the shift.</p> <p>Speaking of pas de deux<em> </em>partners, keeping the same pairs throughout the work allowed unique and compelling relationships to grow between each. In particular, Paul Craig and Chyrstyn Fentroy brought their contrasting movement signatures together into something harmonious.</p> <p>Pleats in the costumes (by Marija Djordjevic), and a large sculpture both circular and striated (by John Farrell), felt aligned with all of these dualities. On multiple levels, the work built a dynamic exchange between sharp angularity and curvaceous flow. It also underscored how through intelligent shaping of aesthetic theme, a non-narrative work can indeed speak – clearly, and in volumes…speak through how it can make us feel.</p> <p>Next came <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/10/02/a-night-at-fall-for-dance-festival-is-an-evening-of-world-class-dance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sabrina Matthews’ fresh, evocative <em>Ein von Viel</em></a><em> </em>(2001). It began with an onstage pianist (Alex Foaksman) offering an ebullient Bach prelude. Then lights came up on two duet partners, Soon Woo Lee and Yue Shi. The energy gradually rose as they added layers of supple yet staccato movement. </p> <p>Their limbs circled and swept like propeller blades, quick and sure. Commanding space and standing ground, they reached up to make an “X” shape: living Vetruvian men before us. As in Cirio’s work, their angles offset serpentine spinal exploration – even more so as the work progressed. </p> <p>Matthews also keenly staged them to have their shapes converge and diverge as they danced in non-unison, even when they were apart onstage – and the duet partners delivered those choices with effective precision. That quality built a dynamic and deepened a connection between them. </p> <p>All of the above was possible through two bodies, a piano and a pianist to play it; as the cliché goes, less is more…less can <em>create </em>more. To end the work, they held arms out at shoulder height, palms and gaze up, directly facing the audience: an embodiment of the openness to joyful possibility that permeated the work. </p> <p>Coming third, before an intermission, was Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo’s elegantly high-octane and muscular <em>Plan to B</em> (2004). I first experienced the work virtually, <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 2020</a>. The work’s play with physical proximity, finding and losing tangible touch, hit me differently now that we’ve come out on the other side of lockdowns (although not past COVID as a whole, to be clear). It reminded me how works like these can resonate differently, perhaps no more or less deeply, depending on what <em>we </em>bring to <em>them</em>. </p> <p>Crystal Pite’s raw and earthy <em>The Seasons’ Canon</em> (2016) closed the program. A “four seasons” conceit has certainly been done – many times – but Pite brought a singular, and enticingly modern, sensibility to it here. To open the work, a mesmerizing pattern that reminisced dancing tree branches came up on the backdrop (by Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser). </p> <p>Then lights came up on the dancers, clumped and rippling in turn to create a wave effect – echoing the fluidity in the backdrop behind them. Throughout the work, the backdrop and dancers seemed to move in parallel — amoeba-like organisms of their own nevertheless in conversation. </p> <p>The ensemble’s movement quality drastically shifted, however, as they began executing almost bird-like twitches. The group then dispersed to dance vivacious allegro movement, at times reminiscing soft opening and closing of flower petals – as if in time lapse. </p> <p>As these stellar artists executed such kinetic nuances, both viscous and serpentine qualities shone through: mingling, toggling, interchanging. All of this may sound a bit abrupt and disjointed, yet Pite and the ensemble brought all of these layers of natural imagery together into something cohesive – and quite satisfying. </p> <p>As further sections progressed, seamless shifts in staging echoed the continuous growth and erosion within the natural world. Just as in nature, as well, there was also no escaping an inherent interconnection. The dancers appeared to be independent agents <em>within</em> a collective; relationships evolved with telling actions such as dancers rising to stand above others. </p> <p>Impressively, all of this action – from an ensemble of 54 dancers – stayed clean and digestible (very much no easy feat). In fact, Pite’s choice of such a large ensemble seemed to make possible many of the effects on offer (such as the large clump rippling like a wave in the work’s opening and, bringing it full-circle, in its closing). </p> <p>Dancers fully blanketing the stage, erupting in explosive unison movement, could induce chills – simply from the unified physical power at hand. There was also a softer rising of hope to the surface: warmer, brighter days, firefly-like flashes dancing across the backdrop throughout. </p> <p>Yes, there were those evident signifiers – yet, interestingly, not a conventional seasonal structuring (at least not one that stood out to me). The feeling here was more cyclical, more continuous – even, I daresay, eternal. Perhaps there <em>is </em>a kind of hope in that sense of perpetuity. </p> <p>All considered, the work did the farthest thing from falling back on what’s already been done. Rather, it was one of those works that makes me ponder on those flashes of creative vision that – if followed and intentionally shaped – can make something daring and unparalleled like this. I’d argue that the same was true of each of the works in the program, each in their own way. </p> <p>That could resonate from the holding container of another <em>Fall Experience</em> from this stalwart company. I look forward to coming back to experience that free ingenuity within rigorous, intentional structure – again…and again. If you can, I hope that you will too! </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://dancemagazine.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/11/18/dancing-duality-boston-ballets-fall-experience-2024/">Dancing duality: Boston Ballet’s Fall Experience 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/11/18/dancing-duality-boston-ballets-fall-experience-2024/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Lia-Cirios-After.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Boston Ballet in Lia Cirio's 'After.' Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Lia-Cirios-After.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Lia-Cirios-After.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">36605</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Past and present in dynamic conversation: Boston Ballet’s ‘Carmen’</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 00:15:58 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Benjamin Phillips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chisako Oga]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Choreographer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Citizens Bank Opera House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[classical ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[contemporary ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Contemporary dance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Florence Clerc]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Georges Bizet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ji Young Chae]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Joke Visser]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ludwig Minkus]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Marius Petipa]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mikki Kunttu]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rodion Schedrin]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roland Petit]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tyson Ali Clark]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Viktorina Kapitonova]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Yue Shi]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=35907</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.March 28, 2024. I’ve noticed something intriguing in ballet programs presented in recent years: two hours or so of dance including both classical and more contemporary works, sometimes works uniquely blending the two modes. That allows audience members with varied tastes to get something that appeals to them most. In […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/">Past and present in dynamic conversation: Boston Ballet’s ‘Carmen’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.<br>March 28, 2024.</p> <p>I’ve noticed something intriguing in ballet programs presented in recent years: two hours or so of dance including both classical and more contemporary works, sometimes works uniquely blending the two modes. That allows audience members with varied tastes to get something that appeals to them most. In a wider, perhaps more consequential sense, such assorted programs both preserve the art form’s tradition <em>and </em>offer a platform for work that pushes it forward into a more vibrant future. </p> <p><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/11/24/john-lam-20-years-at-boston-ballet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Ballet</a> consistently, and thoughtfully, presents such a spectrum of work. Each of the company’s programs offers a new way in which the past and present of concert dance are in dynamic conversation. <em>Carmen </em>did so in a way that reminded us of the art form’s treasures that we may have left behind, and subsequently the way that such treasures can be reshaped and repurposed to keep shining all the brighter. </p> <p>The two-act program began with <em>Kingdom of the Shades</em>, an excerpt of <em>La Bayadère </em>(1877), with choreography from Florence Clerc (after Marius Petipa). The work was atmospheric, soothing and even meditative. Its beginning set the tone, with a long line of dancers repeating the same traveling movement phrase – until they filled the stage with three diagonal lines of dancers. Benjamin Phillips’ sleek, utilitarian design set them at various levels in space (highest, higher and on the stage itself). Their unassuming white tutus and ethereal drapery infused a sense of purity and poise. </p> <p>Their movement matched those qualities; even through executing the same movement over and over, they never signaled fatigue. Their tastefully low arabesques and restrained penchés weren’t exactly the height of kinetic virtuosity – but that only served the serene sense here. </p> <p>I reflected on how the values and standards of performance have shifted over the years. As the technology of the body that is ballet has evolved over the centuries, we’ve upped the ante on athleticism. Yet, perhaps we’ve lost some of that satisfying understatement, the kind on offer with this work. Harmony was the name of the game. </p> <p>Other sections in the work, if for not as long, employed the same movement mantra approach – with dancers settling into repeated vocabulary. Moving in vertical lines (downstage to upstage), they extended their body’s shapes and pathways through their veils. En pointe with arms in fifth en haut (raised overhead), their lifted sense had them feeling like a chorus of otherworldly beings – very classical in quality, indeed. </p> <p>A pas de deux and three solos also graced us. Yue Shi, supporting his partner Viktorina Kapitonova, beautifully embodied the score’s crescendo and decrescendo. Kapitonova’s quality, like a feather floating in a soft breeze, also made Ludwig Minkus’ soft, dreamy score wonderfully tangible. </p> <p>The three soloists (<a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/09/01/dance-life-in-quarantine-lia-cirio-affirms-we-can-rise-above-together/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lia Cirio</a>, Chisako Oga, and Ji Young Chae) danced fully in the spirit of the work. They performed with all the requisite technical strength, of course. Yet, more so, they let the movement itself and the atmosphere at hand do the work. “Pushing it” would only feel out of place in this work. At points, I could even feel a sense of delightful <em>play</em> in their performance. </p> <p>For audience members who would walk out of the theater to a million notifications, signaling who knows what kind of personal life craziness or unbelievable world news, such ease and calm can be the soul balm that we didn’t even know we needed. Something dazzling, something pure, something soothing — a balm indeed, and a gift in its own way. That’s not something to be fully forgotten as we bring the art form forward.</p> <p>The second act brought a new something, quite different in both tone and style: <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jorma Elo</a>’s 2006 contemporary reimagining of <em>Carmen </em>(from Roland Petit’s 1949 premiere). Aesthetically inventive and kinetically bold, it’s an exemplary reshaping and re-envisioning of a classical story ballet for the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Rather than the gritty streets of 19<sup>th</sup> century Seville, the story played out on a modern fashion runway. Carmen (Ji Young Chae) was a model rather than a factory worker. Don José (Jeffrey Cirio) was a business mogul rather than rogue soldier, and Escamillo (Tyson Ali Clark) a Formula 1 driver rather than bullfighter. </p> <p>Production design brought us right into this world of fame and fortune, of magazine centerfolds and flashing cameras. The red color palette in Joke Visser’s costumes paid homage to the iconic imagery of matadors and flamenco. Yet, infusions of purples, golds, and even earth tones widened our lens and playfully challenged our mental images. Bright lights, hung low and shone right into the audience, mirrored the blinding illumination of the runway – and even evoked the sense of being under a critical public gaze (lighting design by Mikki Kunttu). </p> <p>Elo’s movement innovations – at both the ensemble and singular body level – also shone through. Dancers moving in and out of spotlight, coming into and out of shadow, felt both visually and thematically rich. Vivacious ensemble sections had a crowd moving around Carmen: giving the feel of flattering, yet also <em>unrelenting</em>, attention from fans. </p> <p>The dancers stayed notably tenacious through long sections of highly fast, athletic vocabulary. Crisp accent gave the feeling of sharp castanet claps. The movement vocabulary, as a whole, rode the resonances and the lively power in Rodion Schedrin’s score (after Georges Bizet). </p> <p>Part of me did crave more rooting into the stage, movement of a more raw and earthy level. Perhaps the high energy at hand, and the feeling of fame’s freneticism, required a more elevated bearing through the body. Elo called upon the dancer’s voices at one point, having the ensemble joyfully exclaim together. That was also something that I wanted more of; I wondered what it could have contributed as a motif rather than a one-off. </p> <p>Elo’s building of the three main characters, and how the dancers portrayed them, felt more solidified. Separate sections offered a wide spectrum of qualities and emotional resonances. I thought of the phrase “we contain multitudes” – and these three did indeed. Chae, in particular, brought those varied textures to full life – with equal parts spunk and grace. </p> <p>Such complex emotional life defies the sometimes reductive labels of hero, villian…and less savory ones slapped on women who dare to follow their own passions. <em>Carmen, </em>as a narrative, has boatloads of raw potential to illustrate that complexity in being human – an illustration perhaps more aligned with modern sensibilities than those of Petit’s time (and certainly Bizet’s). Elo’s version, and how Boston Ballet brought it to the stage, commendably capitalized on that potential. At the same time, it built upon the <em>tradition</em> of this story played out on stages – indispensably so, one could argue. </p> <p>We can build upon such foundation of the past – with what we’ve learned, with what we’ve changed for the better. To reject either tradition or modernity outright only denies us the magic that can happen when we bring their treasures <em>together</em>. Thank you to <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/03/24/boston-ballets-choreographer-steps-toward-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Ballet</a>, and all dance companies out there, who continue to do just that. </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/">Past and present in dynamic conversation: Boston Ballet’s ‘Carmen’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2024/05/09/past-and-present-in-dynamic-conversation-boston-ballets-carmen/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Tyson-Clark-and-artists-of-Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Carmen.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston.-Ballet-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Tyson Clark and artists of Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo's 'Carmen'. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Tyson-Clark-and-artists-of-Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Carmen.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston.-Ballet-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Tyson-Clark-and-artists-of-Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Carmen.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston.-Ballet-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35907</post-id> </item> <item> <title>A broad and vibrant palate of dance: Boston Ballet’s ‘Fall Experience’</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/10/24/a-broad-and-vibrant-palate-of-dance-boston-ballets-fall-experience/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/10/24/a-broad-and-vibrant-palate-of-dance-boston-ballets-fall-experience/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 24 Oct 2023 02:20:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Akram Khan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Brandon Stirling Baker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chisako Oga]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Erik Satie]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ezra Loveky]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hans van Manen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jesper Kongshaug]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[MyKal Stromile]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Richard Fagan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sergey Antonov]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tigran Mkrtchyan]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=35223</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>CitiBank Opera House, Boston, MA.October 8, 2023. As a critic, my late summer comes with investigating and anticipating my favorite companies’ imminent seasons. What works, themes and choreographers will they spotlight? What energies and ideas will emanate from their programming?  Boston Ballet’s 2023-2024 Season opener Fall Experience signaled a season full of vibrant and multifaceted […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/10/24/a-broad-and-vibrant-palate-of-dance-boston-ballets-fall-experience/">A broad and vibrant palate of dance: Boston Ballet’s ‘Fall Experience’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>CitiBank Opera House, Boston, MA.<br>October 8, 2023.</p> <p>As a critic, my late summer comes with investigating and anticipating my favorite companies’ imminent seasons. What works, themes and choreographers will they spotlight? What energies and ideas will emanate from their programming? </p> <p>Boston Ballet’s 2023-2024 Season opener <em>Fall Experience</em> signaled a season full of vibrant and multifaceted works. From the staunchly neoclassical to the deeply abstract and mysterious, the program offered a wide palate of choreographic approaches and interests. With intentionality and aesthetic cohesion, each work was satisfying in its own right. </p> <p>Kicking off the afternoon was Jorma Elo’s <em>Bach Cello Suites </em>(2015). It’s a work <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I’ve enjoyed before</a> but with some notable edits this time. The work’s neo-neoclassical atmosphere remained the same, with spare design elements and centering of where music and movement meet. Kinetic pathways felt as resonant as the cello’s long notes, as soft but as full and rich (with Sergey Antonov on cello). </p> <p>The work ended with ballerinas lifted and holding wing-like shapes – offering a sense of taking flight into the future and beyond the proscenium’s confines. That’s a lovely feeling for a program opener’s ending; there’s a lot more to come. Indeed there would be!</p> <p>Coming second was Hans van Manen’s <em>Trois Gnossiennes</em> (1982), a stirring duet danced by <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chisako Oga and Tigran Mkrtchyan</a>. The score (Erik Satie’s <em>Gnossiennes </em>Nos. 1-3) was central to this work, as well; with the piano right onstage and in different spots as the piece progressed, music itself was arguably a character. Oga and Mkrtchyan’s stellar musicality tied this work’s joining of music and movement off in a neat little bow. </p> <p>Much else in the work wasn’t as resolved and assured. The partners at first danced apart – a physical distance that surfaced an emotional distance. When they bridged it later in the work, they softly melted into each other’s weight. As partners, they were both solid and soft: as steady as stone, but as malleable as clay slip. What had been lost as they stayed separated in space? </p> <p>Repeated phrases brought to my mind cycles of behavior and interaction; had they been through this before? To end the work, they walked off together. Had they found what they needed to break that cycle and remain connected? The fun part can actually be not knowing for sure. </p> <p>The world premiere of Boston Ballet Artist My’Kal Stromile’s <em>Form and Gesture </em>followed. Bold, fresh and highly memorable, the work made me excited to see what singular choreographic visions Stromile will bring to life next. It seems to me that if he wants it, he has a dynamic choreographic career in store. </p> <p>The work opened with dancers in silhouette, moving through basic balletic shapes – a very <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/03/01/boston-ballet-presents-william-forsythes-artifact-beyond-binary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forsythian aesthetic</a>. This first section of the work, the first of four, reminisced technique class: a dancer’s daily ritual. Repeated, angular movements built a sense of working to refine artistry, peppering tradition with a more personal voice. </p> <p>The second section – “Exhibit: chord progressions”, voiceover told us – pulsed with more color, a faster tempo, and a more modern sensibility. Those classroom exercises were beginning to mold and morph into something of their own, something new to grace a stage. Here, with a spare aesthetic and music and movement (again) closely tied, that something new felt quite neoclassical. </p> <p>The third section – “Exhibit C: apparatus augmentation”, according to voiceover – made me feel like the creative process at hand had moved far, far along on that path toward burgeoning something of its own. With silvery pancake tutus and smoke rising through red lighting (costume design by Ezra Lovesky and lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker), I felt like we might have been teleported into a science fiction universe. Form had become gesture: shape and kinetic pathway fully infused with intention and atmosphere, a vision fully realized.</p> <p>That wasn’t the end, however; “Exhibit D” presented “sketches, graphs, and parabolas” of the work within-a-work that was evolving before us – if one were to stay with that metaphor (in no way required to find something pleasing in the work). The atmosphere at hand was wholly different than that of the prior section, less gripping to the senses in its pure aesthetic daring. Yet it too had an “it” factor of its own. The movement felt even more musical than prior sections, becoming more high-energy and athletic as the score picked up. </p> <p>I mused that these last two sections were the results of taking one path or another at a fork in the road of creative process. Stromile’s vision could be something completely different. Audience members to each side of me could have interpreted something completely different. That can be the fun part indeed. </p> <p>Speaking of compelling mystery, intention and cohesion, the world premiere of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/12/english-national-ballet-in-akram-khans-giselle-an-epic-and-contemporary-take-on-the-classic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Akram Khan</a>’s <em>Vertical Road (Reimagined)</em> closed the program. The work took its time to ramp up: the movement of a soloist gradually building while the sound of desert wind slowly built. A thoughtfully gradual opening felt only fitting for a work that would rise to such grandeur.</p> <p>Virtuosic intensity filled the stage before too long, however. An ensemble section reflected Maori men presenting a haka: moving warriors, united and resolute. Movement softened later on – yet, at whatever intensity, Khan’s vocabulary was sinuous and continuous. Strength did not negate receptivity and pliability. </p> <p>If any narrative hummed through the work, it stayed shrouded in mystery. Whatever it might have been, whatever it’s been to Khan, the ensemble danced with commanding presence and pure commitment – and that held me. I didn’t need certainty to be spellbound. </p> <p>I became <em>truly </em>spellbound toward the work’s end. These later sections stood as an Exhibit A of design acumen and dance artistry together realizing a quite singular vision. A lone dancer (Jeffrey Cirio) stood before a veil, behind it the pristine light of a magical celestial body. The otherworldly sheen of light from behind the veil (original lighting design by Jesper Kongshaug, readapted by Richard Fagan) enhanced the sense of something supernatural at work. </p> <p>Cirio appeared reticent to touch the veil, yet undeniably drawn to it. Soon, another dancer moved within it, and Cirio looked on in amazement. Was this a mere mortal before the divine? The narrative remained mysterious, yet spiritual undertones flowed clear and strong. Further ensemble sections progressed; life goes on, through and around our questions of life, death, the divine, and the profane. </p> <p>When Cirio again stood alone before the veil, he finally touched it. It fell, rippling towards the stage, and the theater went dark. My mind whizzed with a million questions, ideas, and resonances of intellectual legacies (from the yogic belief of the divine being inside us to Nietzsche’s “God is dead”). </p> <p>Undoubtedly, that mind chatter would be different for each audience member. What mattered was something resonating from the stage capable of drawing each audience member to feel or think <em>something </em>(or, even better, some<em> things). </em>Whatever approach or “style” – from Elo’s modernized neoclassical explorationsto Khan’s impressionist movement painting – such impact is what matters. </p> <p>That’s a post-postmodern ethos Boston Ballet seems to fully embrace. What results is artistic multiplicity. If <em>Fall Experience </em>is any indication, that kind of multiplicity will infuse Boston Ballet’s 2023-2024 season. I can’t wait to experience it all. </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/10/24/a-broad-and-vibrant-palate-of-dance-boston-ballets-fall-experience/">A broad and vibrant palate of dance: Boston Ballet’s ‘Fall Experience’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2023/10/24/a-broad-and-vibrant-palate-of-dance-boston-ballets-fall-experience/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Boston-Ballet-in-MyKal-Stromiles-Form-and-Gesture.-Photo-by-Theik-Smith-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Boston Ballet in My'Kal Stromile's 'Form and Gesture'. Photo by Theik Smith, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Boston-Ballet-in-MyKal-Stromiles-Form-and-Gesture.-Photo-by-Theik-Smith-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Boston-Ballet-in-MyKal-Stromiles-Form-and-Gesture.-Photo-by-Theik-Smith-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35223</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Boston Ballet’s ‘MINDscape’: Beyond outside the lines</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/02/boston-ballets-mindscape-beyond-outside-the-lines/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/02/boston-ballets-mindscape-beyond-outside-the-lines/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jun 2022 18:21:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Brandon Stirling Baker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Citizens Bank Opera House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ezra Lovesky]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Howard Merlin]]></category> <category><![CDATA[James Blake]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tiler Peck]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tiler Peck Designs]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=33287</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.May 15, 2022. “Draw outside the lines,” they tell aspiring artists: an encouragement to find a unique voice and push existing boundaries. Yet what if we could go even further than that – what if we could be even more bold and imaginative, while retaining principles of aesthetic and form that serve the […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/02/boston-ballets-mindscape-beyond-outside-the-lines/">Boston Ballet’s ‘MINDscape’: Beyond outside the lines</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.<br>May 15, 2022.</p> <p>“Draw outside the lines,” they tell aspiring artists: an encouragement to find a unique voice and push existing boundaries. Yet what if we could go even further than that – what if we could be even <em>more </em>bold and<em> </em>imaginative, while retaining principles of aesthetic and form that serve the work at hand? Boston Ballet’s <em>MINDscape </em>boldly ventured into answering those questions. </p> <p>The program offered a restaging of William Forsythe’s <em>Blake Works I</em>, and a world premiere from Forsythe and another from Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo. These works not only drew outside the lines but also looked in a new direction and began to draw completely new lines there – and invited audience members to come along with them to that wholly new territory. </p> <p><em>Blake Works I </em>(2016)<em> </em>was just as pleasing as <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/03/22/creating-moods-boston-ballet-dancing-full-on-forsythe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">when I saw it in 2019</a>. Yet, this time, I could even more so appreciate the complexity of how timing, formations, and structure intersect in this work – how port de bras and other physical shaping shifted amongst groups and through that brought the soulful vocals and beats of James Blake’s music to kinetic life.</p> <p>The daring and vigor of using contemporary R&B as a driving force of concert ballet work, presented by a major U.S. company, also struck me even more this time. The work’s atmosphere was one of harmony and soulfulness – pleasing, in an uncomplicated way, but also intriguing. The movement, clearly deeply thoughtful and brought to life onstage by Boston Ballet’s outstanding artists, was just as layered and satisfying. All of that would defy anyone to say that Forsythe’s creative risks here didn’t pan out. </p> <p>Seeing such a thoughtful and dynamic work again, and noticing how I personally was experiencing it in a more profound way, also made me ponder on how where we are in ourselves can impact how we experience such a work of art: how much we can take away from it and appreciate it. </p> <p>Granted, whenever I take in Forsythe’s work, I do wonder if more temporal variance would make the movement vocabulary even more thrilling; much of his work goes like a high-speed train – certainly an exhilarating ride! Yet, people can appreciate certain qualities through difference and change. It would take creative experimentation to know for sure. Maybe that wouldn’t serve what Forsythe is trying to create. </p> <p>The world premiere of Jorma Elo’s<em> </em><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Ruth’s Dance</em></a><em> </em>followed. The work struck me as a 21<sup>st</sup> century re-imagining of Balanchinian neo-classical ballets: bringing a dynamic classical score (from Bach) to life, and with much classical movement vocabulary but also a new brightness and fresh, fully original ways of shaping and moving the body. </p> <p>Structurally, much of the work centered on three pas de deux partner pairs, each easily identifiable and clearly delineated by the color of their costume: blue, plum, and an orangey-red. Accompanying them was a large corps wearing blue. Each of these colors faded from yellow into white: an inventive and pleasing design from Costume Designer Ezra Lovesky. </p> <p>The trusty corps entered and exited while the three pairs did the same: an excitingly mercurial structure of varied little chapters to enjoy. The corps, creating a moving wall of shifting shapes, counterbalanced short solos and duets that moved effervescently all across the stage. Jeffrey Cirio, a Guest Artist who will join the company for the 2022-2023 Season, acted as a sort of mysterious intermediary amongst all of these separate groups – and was explosive in his energy, technical prowess, and pure commitment. </p> <p>Like Forsythe, Elo demonstrated a skill at creating an enticing moving picture through a corps executing port de bras in various timings and shapings. The corps offered something visually separate from the work of the soloists, but supported their full vibrancy. The movement overall was elegantly statuesque, but also softened and curvilinear – at times even serpentine. </p> <p>One beautiful spinal release that stood out to me, in particular, made me crave even more surrendering to gravity. Yet it could be that such surrendering wouldn’t work with the energy and atmosphere of the piece – again, it would take creative iterating to know for sure.</p> <p>The work ended with a vivavious ensemble section, and the group then formed a classically stately tableau. Their smiles and total presence, not to mention some of the shaping in the tableau itself, spoke to something more modern and light-hearted. It was if the ensemble knew that they were offering something ceremonial and grand, but didn’t take themselves too seriously while doing it. A more modern ethos has showed us that we can have other values, and none of it has to be so precious. </p> <p>The ballet world sometimes draws lines between very classical work and very and very modern – but Elo charted a third path and joyfully waved us along to join him on it. Interestingly, this third path held qualities and values of the neoclassical model of the past. We can learn from many different sources, and travel in many different directions. It’s all on the table, and works like<em> Ruth’s Dance</em> remind us of that. On another level, the work was satisfying and beautiful, plain and simple – and that could be just what we all need right now. </p> <p>Closing out the program was the world premiere of Forsythe’s <em>Blake Works III (The Barre Project)</em>. Just as with his 2017 third act of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/03/01/boston-ballet-presents-william-forsythes-artifact-beyond-binary/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Artifact</em></a>, this continuation of his <em>Blake Works </em>series brought concept and aesthetic to entirely new territory. Talk about going beyond drawing outside the lines; Forsythe was definitely drawing a whole new shape with all new lines, and – just as Elo had – invited us over to this new space. </p> <p>Dancers moved at a long barre upstage (hence, the “Barre Project”) – finding impressive ease of transitioning and expansiveness of movement considering that stricture of physical confinement. When it comes to creating and to artistry, limitations can liberate. Their movement also had lovely qualities of release and softening into gravity’s pull – even, at points, a sense of undercurve and overcurve – while still maintaining clear classical form. </p> <p>At other points, dancers moved away from the barre, farther upstage: in <em>pas de deux</em>, solos, or trios. This movement had Forsythe’s typical ingenuity of movement shaping, initiations, and use of momentum through the body – all of which is unmatched, and simply thrilling to experience. His boldness of concept is just as unmatched and thrilling.</p> <p>Dark colors in costuming (from Forsythe, Howard Merlin and Tiler Peck Designs), low lighting (from Brandon Stirling Baker) and Blake’s soulful vocalizations all built a full atmosphere. It was an air of a dancer being alone in the studio at night — tired but 150 percent committed, giving more than they have to give until the work is done. </p> <p>That’s certainly something relatable to dancers in the audience, and also to others who’ve worked hard in similar ways in their own endeavors. On the other hand, the work could also be understood and fully appreciated as an aesthetic experience, without narrative or layers of meaning. </p> <p>Then came something even farther outside of the proverbial box (we were way too far away too draw outside of any lines, we were in another place entirely) – at least for ballet! Video was projected on a gargantuan screen, as wide and as tall as the Opera House stage space – video of dancers’ hands at the barre. These hands crossed and uncrossed wrists, placed themselves on the barre and then drew away, slid and settled. </p> <p>Combined with that evocative low lighting, and the artistry within basic hand motions, here something relatively simple was indescribably beautiful. Just as with the prior section, something about this spoke to the soul of a dancer: hungry to express, doggedly committed (to a fault? – perhaps a whole other conversation). If the artistic departure of this section was a risk, this writer thinks that it was one well worth taking – because it brought us somewhere striking and memorable. </p> <p>After the film, we were back to the barre and in “center” (downstage of the barre). Dancers demonstrated even more technical command here. It seemed clear, especially in this section, that Forsythe is also gifted at truly capitalizing on dancers’ strengths. Choreographers are leaders, and the best leaders make those who they lead better. </p> <p>The ending brought all six ensemble members back onstage, for a big exciting bang of a final section. The dark, if soulful, atmosphere, persisted – but the energy was elevated. Dancers might sometimes struggle as artists do – diligently working until they nail it – but they (most often) don’t do it alone. Each artist has their own lonely journey of their own growth, but they can at least travel it along with others traveling a similar path. </p> <p>It can be scary to take things to a whole new territory, nevermind “draw outside the lines” – but at least we have others to do it with. That can make the journey, however long and winding, a little easier. Nothing groundbreaking or truly meaningful was ever achieved without risk. Artists like William Forsythe, Jorma Elo and the stellar performers of Boston Ballet remind us of that with programs like <em>Mindscape</em>. I’m feeling inspired to take deeper plunges myself – how about you? </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/02/boston-ballets-mindscape-beyond-outside-the-lines/">Boston Ballet’s ‘MINDscape’: Beyond outside the lines</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/06/02/boston-ballets-mindscape-beyond-outside-the-lines/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chyrstyn-Fentroy-and-Roddy-Doble-in-William-Forsythes-Blake-Works-1.-Photo-by-Angela-Sterling-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Chyrstyn Fentroy and Roddy Doble in William Forsythe's 'Blake Works 1'. Photo by Angela Sterling, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chyrstyn-Fentroy-and-Roddy-Doble-in-William-Forsythes-Blake-Works-1.-Photo-by-Angela-Sterling-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chyrstyn-Fentroy-and-Roddy-Doble-in-William-Forsythes-Blake-Works-1.-Photo-by-Angela-Sterling-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">33287</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Canada’s Ballet BC returns to The Soraya as resident ballet company</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/02/17/%ef%bf%bccanadas-ballet-bc-returns-to-the-soraya-as-resident-ballet-company/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/02/17/%ef%bf%bccanadas-ballet-bc-returns-to-the-soraya-as-resident-ballet-company/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:31:29 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ballet BC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Camille Saint-Saens]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cayetano Soto]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Company 605]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Crystal Pite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance performances]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Emanual Gat]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Emily Molnar]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Gai Behar]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Itzik Galili]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Johan Inger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jonathon Young]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[José Navas]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kennedy Center]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Medhi Walerski]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NDT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nederlands Dans Theater]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ohad Naharin]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Olivier Award]]></category> <category><![CDATA[paris opera ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Serge Bennathan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sharon Eyal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Soraya]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Walter Matteini]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wen Wei Wang]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=32905</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>On Saturday, February 26, The Soraya presents its resident ballet company, Ballet BC, in a program from new Artistic Director Medhi Walerski of unusual depth with two works: GARDEN by Walerski and The Statement from Crystal Pite, both originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). The program also includes a pas de deux from Walerski’s Romeo + Juliet; the full-length […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/02/17/%ef%bf%bccanadas-ballet-bc-returns-to-the-soraya-as-resident-ballet-company/">Canada’s Ballet BC returns to The Soraya as resident ballet company</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>On Saturday, February 26, The Soraya presents its resident ballet company, Ballet BC, in a program from new Artistic Director Medhi Walerski of unusual depth with two works: <em>GARDEN</em> by Walerski and <em>The Statement</em> from Crystal Pite, both originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). The program also includes a pas de deux from Walerski’s <em>Romeo + Juliet; </em>the full-length ballet was performed at The Soraya just prior to the pandemic shut down in March 2020.</p> <p>Walerski danced at the Paris Opera Ballet before joining NDT in 2001. For more than a decade, he was an integral part of the company, contributing to the creative, innovative style it is famed for. Pite is NDT’s associate choreographer. </p> <p>Walerski’s <em>GARDEN</em> is inspired by his admiration for the intricate and emotional interplay between strings and piano in Camille Saint-Saëns’s exquisite “Piano Quintet in A minor”. <em>GARDEN</em> was nominated by Dance Europe for Best Production.</p> <p><em>GARDEN </em>is a very special work to Walerski. In a <em>Vancouver</em> <em>Stir Arts and Culture</em> interview, he said, “It was challenging, when you <em>love</em> a piece of music so much, to find a way to relate to it — especially because it’s abstract. The piece marked a transition in my career when I stopped being a full-time dancer and there was a lot happening in my life. I wanted to connect to, I would say, the <em>nectar</em> of the movement…something more pure and more profound, and not be guided by a story…to extract or to filter all that is not necessary and really get back to the essence of movement.”</p> <p>He added, “The pandemic has elevated the dancer’s relationship to their artistry. I think everyone is grateful for what we do, how precious our time in the studio is and how special our art form is in relation to everything else that is surrounding us. It created a bond and allowed them to have different conversations around what we do and what is the message we want to bring into the world and why is it important. And, what is art? And so I think that has made the group very strong this season, like a unified voice.” </p> <p>In <em>The Statement</em>, Pite explores conflict of power through her distinctive and wildly inventive choreographic style. Originally created in 2016, four dancers move to a recorded script by Canadian playwright and close collaborator Jonathon Young. Locked in a battle for control, the characters have been tasked with fueling a conflict in a distant country. Tensions rise when they are asked to take responsibility for their actions. </p> <p>Pite said in a Kennedy Center interview, “<em>The Statement</em> is a one-act play, with four characters locked in their own battle for control, with the morality of their actions: they have been tasked with fueling a conflict in a distant country. Character ‘A’ declares, ‘For generations they’ve been fighting. All we did was use it. We used it as an opportunity — the attacks — the — for investment.’ Now, being asked to take responsibility for their actions in order to exonerate their superiors, a conflict is rising within their department. The translation from verbal language into a physical language is direct and quite accessible. Using the rhythm of the text gives us structure in time. The dancers have to nail it, or the viewer gets split into seeing and hearing, the same way they would if a film is slightly out of sync with its sound.”</p> <p>Founded in 1986, Ballet BC is The Soraya’s current resident ballet company. The collaborative and creation-based company based in Vancouver, Canada, has made a unique and valuable contribution to the development of contemporary dance both at home and around the world. In 2019, the company was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production for their tour to Sadler’s Wells in London.</p> <p>Ballet BC presents a diverse repertoire of Canadian and international work from the late 20<sup>th</sup> and early 21<sup>st</sup> centuries, including choreography by William Forsythe, Cayetano Soto, Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Company 605, Jorma Elo, Wen Wei Wang, Itzik Galili, Serge Bennathan, Walter Matteini, José Navas, Emanual Gat, Emily Molnar and more, and is deeply committed to the creation and performance of new works. The company actively fosters collaborations that support artists, choreographers and audiences alike, furthering the boundaries of contemporary dance.</p> <p><em>Tickets for Ballet BC start at $41 and are available at <a href="https://thesoraya.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">thesoraya.org</a> and by calling 818-677-3000. The Soraya is located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330. </em></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/02/17/%ef%bf%bccanadas-ballet-bc-returns-to-the-soraya-as-resident-ballet-company/">Canada’s Ballet BC returns to The Soraya as resident ballet company</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/02/17/%ef%bf%bccanadas-ballet-bc-returns-to-the-soraya-as-resident-ballet-company/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Artists-of-Ballet-BC-in-GARDEN-by-Medhi-Walerski.-Photo-by-Four-Eyes-Portraits-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Artists of Ballet BC in 'GARDEN' by Medhi Walerski. Photo by Four Eyes Portraits." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Artists-of-Ballet-BC-in-GARDEN-by-Medhi-Walerski.-Photo-by-Four-Eyes-Portraits-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Artists-of-Ballet-BC-in-GARDEN-by-Medhi-Walerski.-Photo-by-Four-Eyes-Portraits-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">32905</post-id> </item> <item> <title>New York City Ballet Principal Teresa Reichlen to retire</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/01/28/new-york-city-ballet-principal-teresa-reichlen-to-retire/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/01/28/new-york-city-ballet-principal-teresa-reichlen-to-retire/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 28 Jan 2022 02:59:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alexei Ratmansky]]></category> <category><![CDATA[August Bournonville]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballerina]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet dancer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet dancers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Benjamin Millepied]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Christopher Wheeldon]]></category> <category><![CDATA[George Balanchine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Illona Russell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[interviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jerome Robbins]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Justin Peck]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Margaret McGarry]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mary Rogers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Matthew Neenan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mauro Bigonzetti]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New York City Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NYCB]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Peter Martins]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Principal Dancer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Russell School of Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[SAB]]></category> <category><![CDATA[School of American Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Scott Ogden]]></category> <category><![CDATA[SHRINE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sidra Bell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Swan Lake]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Teresa Reichlen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Russell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Troy Schumacher]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ulysses Dove]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=32827</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>New York City Ballet (NYCB) has announced that Principal Dancer Teresa Reichlen will give her final performance with the Company on February 19, during the 8pm performance, dancing the role of Odette in George Balanchine’s one-act Swan Lake.  Reichlen became an apprentice with NYCB in October 2000, and joined the Company as a member of the corps de […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/01/28/new-york-city-ballet-principal-teresa-reichlen-to-retire/">New York City Ballet Principal Teresa Reichlen to retire</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>New York City Ballet (NYCB) has announced that Principal Dancer <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/05/03/dance-life-in-quarantine-teresa-reichlen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Teresa Reichlen</a> will give her final performance with the Company on February 19, during the 8pm performance, dancing the role of Odette in George Balanchine’s one-act <em>Swan Lake</em>. </p> <p>Reichlen became an apprentice with NYCB in October 2000, and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in October 2001. She was promoted to soloist in January 2005, and to principal dancer in October 2009. In her more than 20-year career with NYCB, Reichlen has performed featured roles in some of the Company’s most iconic works, including ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck and Christopher Wheeldon, among others. Following her retirement from NYCB, Reichlen will assume the role of Gallery Director at SHRINE, the downtown NYC art gallery launched in 2016 by her husband, Scott Ogden. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2.jpg"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-1024x1024.jpg" alt="Teresa Reichlen in George Balanchine's 'Swan Lake'. Photo by Paul Kolnik." class="wp-image-32829" width="250" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-2-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption>Teresa Reichlen in George Balanchine’s ‘Swan Lake’. Photo by Paul Kolnik.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>“Ballet has been the center of my life and world since I was a little girl. Equal measures of luck and steady determination have allowed me to achieve more in dance than I ever dreamed possible during my time with New York City Ballet,” said Reichlen. “It has been the honor of my life to dance Balanchine’s choreography within the company he built; it’s felt like a gift.” </p> <p>She continued, “Living through the pandemic has provided me the first opportunity since I joined the Company at the age of 16 to see how life outside of ‘ballet’ might look. It was living without the ability to perform with others and for others that opened my eyes to other opportunities in the arts. I was able to watch my husband’s art gallery SHRINE blossom and grow during such an uncertain time, and when the opportunity presented itself to help him and the artists he champions on a full-time basis, it felt like the right next step. In addition, becoming a mother last year has moved and opened me in ways I never expected. It’s made me hungry for a more predictable work schedule so I can maximize my time with my son, Ozzie. <em>Swan Lake </em>has always been one of my favorite ballets, and it feels like a fitting role to close the door on this part of my life in order to open another.” </p> <p>Born in Clifton, Virginia, Reichlen started dancing at age three, and began studying at the Russell School of Ballet with Thomas and Illona Russell, Mary Rogers and Margaret McGarry at the age of 10. In 1999, Reichlen studied at the summer program of the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of NYCB, and she entered SAB full-time in the fall of the same year. Since joining NYCB, Reichlen has performed featured roles in a diverse variety of works by George Balanchine, Mauro Bigonzetti, August Bournonville, Ulysses Dove, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Peter Martins, Matthew Neenan, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon. Reichlen has also originated featured roles in works by Sidra Bell, Bigonzetti, Martins, Benjamin Millepied, Justin Peck and Troy Schumacher. During the 2004-2005 season, Reichlen was the recipient of the Janice Levin Award, given to one of NYCB’s most promising corps de ballet members each year.</p> <p><em>For complete programming information for New York City Ballet’s 2021-22 repertory season, visit <a href="http://nycballet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nycballet.com</a>. </em></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/01/28/new-york-city-ballet-principal-teresa-reichlen-to-retire/">New York City Ballet Principal Teresa Reichlen to retire</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2022/01/28/new-york-city-ballet-principal-teresa-reichlen-to-retire/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Teresa Reichlen in George Balanchine's 'Swan Lake'. Photo by Paul Kolnik." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Teresa-Reichlen-in-George-Balanchines-Swan-Lake.-Photo-by-Paul-Kolnik-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">32827</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Boston Ballet’s ‘reSTART’: Pleasant dance for tough times</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:19:53 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Addie Tapp]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chrystyn Fentroy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chyrstyn Fentroy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ernesto Galan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[George Balanchine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jens Jacob Worsaae]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jon Gonda]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Judanna Lynn]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lasha Khozashvili]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Paulo Arrais]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Romeo and Juliet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Seokjoo Kim]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Soo-Bin Lee]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Viktorina Kapitonova]]></category> <category><![CDATA[virtual dance performances]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Yin Yue]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=32622</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>October 28-November 7, 2021.Available through BB at Home.  For not the first time since March 2020, I logged on to watch a Boston Ballet program — for a review — from home. Each time I’ve done so, one little voice in the back of my head wishes I was experiencing the company’s work in the […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/">Boston Ballet’s ‘reSTART’: Pleasant dance for tough times</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>October 28-November 7, 2021.<br>Available through BB at Home. </p> <p>For not the first time since March 2020, I logged on to watch a Boston Ballet program — for a review — from home. Each time I’ve done so, one little voice in the back of my head wishes I was experiencing the company’s work in the beautiful CitiBank Opera House, while another is grateful to be experiencing it in any form (and to be healthy enough to do so!). </p> <p>This time it was <em>reSTART</em>, the digital opening of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Ballet</a>‘s 2021-2022 Season. The program offered the company’s typical commitment to excellence in works spanning the stylistic spectrum. Yet, also, this program — while not without its weighty, important meanings to be found in its work — just felt <em>good</em>: overall cheerful, hopeful and aesthetically bright. </p> <p>Dance has incredible power to hold a mirror up to ourselves — and what we see isn’t always to our liking. Yet at other times, it can just feel pleasant. It’s been a long, hard pandemic, and programs like RestART can be just the right thing for audiences needing a little relief from it all.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Haley-Schwan-and-MyKal-Stromile-in-Yin-Yues-A-Common-Movement.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Haley-Schwan-and-MyKal-Stromile-in-Yin-Yues-A-Common-Movement.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Haley Schwan and My'Kal Stromile in Yin Yue's 'A Common Movement'. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-32625"/></a><figcaption>Haley Schwan and My’Kal Stromile in Yin Yue’s ‘A Common Movement’. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Yin Yue’s layered, yet wholly accessible<em> A Common Movement</em> kicked off the program. The work put a pedestrian touch to concert dance formalism — demonstrating that dance can (and <em>should</em>) be something for<em> all </em>to experience with confidence and joy. The work’s title seems like a triple-entendre, with arguably even more reference points. For one, the work was filmed in Boston Common, a large and lush public park in bustling downtown Boston. </p> <p>For two, the dancers moved out in a common space, in everyday clothing as costumes (although somewhat stylized and uniform among the dancers, designed by Yue in collaboration with the Boston Ballet Costume Shop). For three, the ease, joy and approachability of the work underscored that dance can and should be a “common” thing, as extraordinary as it is; no one should feel like it is not for them. </p> <p>Fittingly, the movement oozed jazzy suave and cool. Layered on a steady classical ballet foundation were jazzy touches such as shoulder shimmies and hips pops. Unified structure undergirded release and individuality for each dancer. The ensemble seemed to be having, simply put, a ton of fun — their smiles easy and the feeling in their bodies light and joyful. </p> <p>Vibrant jazz scores supported all of these elements. I thought about the discipline and structure yet also space for improvisation and freedom within jazz as a musical form; it all just aligned beautifully. </p> <p>A middle section to the work brought a contrasting reflective, even somber, quality — yet also a hopefulness, musical notes hitting high and low and movement finding such possibilities in space as well. Partnering was predominant, as camera angles faded in and out of different partners working together (photography direction and editing from Ernesto Galan) — each pair with their own unique feel. </p> <p>Their lines were expansive, reaching out past flesh and bones to the open outdoor space surrounding them — yet the connection of their bodies remained close. This middle section added another layer of quality and feeling to an otherwise high-energy, carefree tone in the work. Some degree of contrast can be not only effective, but essential. </p> <p>The ending section brought that high-energy vibe back. A smorgasbord of groupings, formations and camera angles complemented all of this entertaining dynamism. To end, the dancers lay back on their forearms, finding gentle, pedestrian movement — as if lounging in the park on a pleasant Sunday, unhurried and unworried. Dance can be something that’s just as common and accepted. What could it bring to our lives if it was? </p> <p>The Balcony Pas De Deux from Act I of <em>Romeo and Juliet </em>followed. It’s an iconic image of young, forbidden love painted in classical ballet. Boston Ballet’s rendition offered the intriguing creative choice of a sparse aesthetic: no balcony, just a wide spotlight and a backdrop abstractedly portraying what looked like a forest. With such design, the movement and expression must speak loudly and deeply enough to tell the story, and here it certainly did.</p> <p>Juliet (Soo-Bin Lee) beautifully brought across the startling coexistence within the character of girlish innocence and the weight of experiences beyond her years — with ethereal softness to her port de bras yet also a rock-solid stability and groundedness through her footwork. Romeo (Seokjoo Kim) remained consistent in his own character’s inner contrasts: the precision and exactitude of a young man from a “good family” yet also the boldness and rebellious streak within him. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Addie-Tapp-and-Lasha-Khozashvili-in-Jorma-Elos-Ruths-Dance.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Addie-Tapp-and-Lasha-Khozashvili-in-Jorma-Elos-Ruths-Dance.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Addie Tapp and Lasha Khozashvili in Jorma Elo's 'Ruth’s Dance'. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-32626"/></a><figcaption>Addie Tapp and Lasha Khozashvili in Jorma Elo’s ‘Ruth’s Dance’. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>An excerpt from <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jorma Elo</a>‘s <em>Ruth’s Dance</em> stripped a pas de deux down to its essence, the connection and energies of two bodies dancing together through space — to quite pleasing and moving effect. Costumes were simply cut, in earth tones. Lighting (by Jon Gonda) and the backdrop was in the same elemental color scheme. The score (from Bach) was for a single piano, allegro but also with a softness and a grounding to it.</p> <p>The dancers (Addie Tapp and Lasha Khozashvili) brought those qualities across in their performance; their footwork moved faster or slower than piano notes at times, in a way that was both playful and thrilling. It would seem to be incredibly challenging to keep count and tempo with such contrasts, but Tapp and Khozashvili succeeded in that.</p> <p>At the same time, the work had an ease and a calm in the air — partly from the dancers’ assuredness and command, it felt like. Tapp knows how to use her long lines to bring some truly beautiful shaping and energy to her movement. The effect of that ability in this work was to enhance its playful, thrilling feeling. Khozashvili, steady and exacting as a partner, similarly offered something thrilling but also calm and grounding. </p> <p>George Balanchine’s <em>Apollo</em> (1928) came next, an adept illustration of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/06/02/boston-ballets-classic-balanchine-seeing-the-classics-with-clear-eyes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Balanchinian formalism yet ingenuity of shape and musicality</a>. Balanchine was never afraid to take a risk, and even sometimes get a little quirky — and Boston Ballet delivered that ethos here. </p> <p>The company’s rendition also stayed true to the iconic choreographer’s design aesthetic: a simple blue backdrop, standard bright stage lighting of a yellow hue, pure white costumes with cuts elegantly reminiscing ancient Greek togas.</p> <p>In movement, the uniqueness of Balanchine’s vocabulary successfully built this ballet’s melange of classical grandiosity but also the mystery of Greek mythology. The ensemble brought all of those qualities across to the letter.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Chyrstyn-Fentroy-in-George-Balanchines-Apollo-©The-George-Balanchine-Trust.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Chyrstyn-Fentroy-in-George-Balanchines-Apollo-©The-George-Balanchine-Trust.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Chyrstyn Fentroy in George Balanchine's 'Apollo', ©The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-32627"/></a><figcaption>Chyrstyn Fentroy in George Balanchine’s ‘Apollo’, ©The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Paulo Arrais, as Apollo, conveyed the confidence and larger-than-life personality that one might imagine of a Greek god. The three muses were harmonious in unison, but and delivered their own qualities to very different choreography and music in their solo sections: the staid, grounded, and reflective qualities of Calliope (Viktorina Kapitonova); the lofty and enticing drama of Polyhymnia (Chyrstyn Fentroy); the gracefulness but daring and suave of Terpsichore (Lia Cirio).</p> <p>A pas de deux with <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/07/20/jeffrey-and-lia-cirios-cirio-collective-strives-for-exploration-through-collaboration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cirio</a> and Arrais toward the end of the work was pure magic; they seemed to have the trust and wordless understanding that makes a pas de deux truly come alive. To conclude the work, the lights darkened and the quartet posed in tableau — embodying the grandness, poise and drama of mythology. </p> <p><em>Grand Défilé</em> closed out the program, a short but grand chance for the whole company to step, stand and bow proudly. In fact, it felt like an extended bow befitting the program as a whole. Dancers walked forward in lines of various numbers. Grandiose music (from Tchaikovsky) and bright costumes in sparkling gold and white (by Jens Jacob Worsaae and Judanna Lynn) supported an overall feeling of pride and opulence. </p> <p>The movement was simple, yet the company made it exciting with their presence, precision, and confident ease. With the pageantry and atmosphere of a royal court, it felt almost like a tipping of a hat to ballet’s very roots. </p> <p>It was simply pleasant, no deep reflection or intellectualizing required. Boston Ballet’s <em>reSTART</em> as a whole demonstrated that sometimes, that’s more than enough for dance to offer — particularly in turbulent times, when hearts need soothing and minds need rest.</p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/">Boston Ballet’s ‘reSTART’: Pleasant dance for tough times</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/12/09/boston-ballets-restart-pleasant-dance-for-tough-times/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Paulo-Arrais-in-George-Balanchines-Apollo-©The-George-Balanchine-Trust.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Paulo Arrais in George Balanchine's 'Apollo', ©The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Paulo-Arrais-in-George-Balanchines-Apollo-©The-George-Balanchine-Trust.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Paulo-Arrais-in-George-Balanchines-Apollo-©The-George-Balanchine-Trust.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">32622</post-id> </item> <item> <title>What we created, how we’ll go forward: 5 trends of COVID dance</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/07/03/what-we-created-how-well-go-forward-5-trends-of-covid-dance/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/07/03/what-we-created-how-well-go-forward-5-trends-of-covid-dance/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 03 Jul 2021 08:47:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreographers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Complexions Contemporary Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19 pandemic]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hive Creative Company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homepage Top Heading]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Justin Peck]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lincoln Center]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Melissa DeFriesse]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nathan Hirschaut]]></category> <category><![CDATA[New York City Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Paulo Arrais]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sandra O’Donnell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tigran Mkrtchyan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Viktorina Kapitonova]]></category> <category><![CDATA[virtual dance performances]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Zoe Hollinshead]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=31841</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>I love reviewing dance. Since 2015, I’ve reviewed — on average — about one performance a week, for this very publication. In mid-March of 2020, right before the country fully shut down, I was scheduled to see two shows in one weekend. Rather than see those shows, I headed to where I’d quarantine (and am […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/07/03/what-we-created-how-well-go-forward-5-trends-of-covid-dance/">What we created, how we’ll go forward: 5 trends of COVID dance</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>I love reviewing dance. Since 2015, I’ve reviewed — on average — about one performance a week, for this very publication. In mid-March of 2020, right before the country fully shut down, I was scheduled to see two shows in one weekend. Rather than see those shows, I headed to where I’d quarantine (and am still living). Like just about everyone, <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/04/05/is-covid-killing-the-arts-part-i-emerging-companies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I had no idea what would happen with my reviewing work</a>. (Admittedly, I was focused on staying safe and healthy, and in utter shock at what was happening.) </p> <p>Well, it being a year and four months later, what <em>did </em>happen? With some short slower periods, I’ve reviewed just as much work as I always have — livestreamed performances, dance films, a few outdoor shows and other creative iterations of those formats. I also began to notice certain trends in COVID dance, some resulting from practical necessity and others coming from choreographers’ creative interest in the context of inherent constraints — or, in some cases, some amalgamation of both those forces. This article describes notable trends I saw (with memorable examples) and — from my position as a reviewer — why I think they’re notable. </p> <p>As the world begins to open back up and live performances are taking stages once again, I wonder what we’ll keep of what we discovered in COVID dance and what we’ll leave behind. Have we learned things or gained new interests that could benefit the art and field of dance going forward? Have we learned about what doesn’t work and what we don’t want to do again? </p> <p>Whatever happens, over the course of COVID I’ve been taken aback by the <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/05/03/is-covid-killing-the-arts-part-ii-nationally-known-companies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adaptability, creativity and resiliency of the dance field</a> — and proud to be part of it. Never have I been more confident that whatever we face, we’ll dance on. It is who we are, and there’s no changing that. </p> <p><strong>#1. More theatricality, less virtuosity</strong></p> <p>In the confines of screen dance, there may not be a significant amount of space — in three dimensions — to move. Spaces to leap, turn, and reach fully and expansively might not be there. Two-dimensional film can also take away some of the magic of intricate, dynamic movement vocabulary. What, then, might choreographers call upon to draw audience members in and elicit a response in them? Theatricality, including storyline and emotional execution, is one key answer there. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="139" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/From-Nathan-Hirschauts-Seek.-Photo-courtesy-of-Hirschaut-2..jpeg" alt="From Nathan Hirschaut's 'Seek'. Photo courtesy of Hirschaut." class="wp-image-31844"/><figcaption>From Nathan Hirschaut’s ‘Seek’.<br>Photo courtesy of Hirschaut.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>I’ve seen this sort of emphasis on theatricality over virtuosity through COVID as more and more choreographers, mainly out of necessity, have dove right into the deep end of film dance. <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/02/16/art-as-a-mirror-hive-creative-companys-seek/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nathan Hirschaut’s <em>Seek</em></a>, from Hive Creative Company and with a memorable performance from Zoe Hollinshead, is an evocative example of this trend. The work brings us inside one person’s experience — with compelling abstraction but also illumination of the experience at hand through supportive elements such as text, score and props. </p> <p>Hollinshead’s movement throughout the short film is mostly pedestrian, yet notably intentional and chalk full of meaning to be found. Works like these throughout COVID have demonstrated that sometimes a reach, gesture or simple locomotive movement can support the telling of story or building of meaning more than the most virtuosic, technical movement ever could — something to keep in mind as the dance world moves forward from here. </p> <p><strong>#2. Expanded creative thinking with site-based or site-specific work</strong></p> <p>One of the things that scientists discovered about COVID in the early stages of the pandemic was that gathering indoors made spreading the virus more likely than gathering outdoors. Being sufficiently responsible and caring about the well-being of all involved (notwithstanding theaters being closed), choreographers took performances outdoors. One could understand how that could lead them to wonder how they could make the best of site-based work, how they could explore location in support of concept, aesthetics and more. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="141" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Taylor-Stanley-of-NYCB-in-Justin-Pecks-Thank-You-New-York.-Photo-by-Jody-Lee-Lipes..jpg" alt="Taylor Stanley of NYCB in Justin Peck's 'Thank You, New York'. Photo by Jody Lee Lipes." class="wp-image-30521"/><figcaption>Taylor Stanley of NYCB in Justin Peck’s<br>‘Thank You, New York’.<br>Photo by Jody Lee Lipes.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>New York City Ballet’s <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/11/17/new-york-city-ballets-new-works-festival-the-energy-of-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>New Works Festival</em></a>, for example, made use of NYC locations — Lincoln Center and beyond — to deepen meaning and clarify the execution of concept within each work. The closing work and its score, Justin Peck’s <em>Thank You, New York</em>, truly brought this theme of place and space home. Four soloists danced in four separate locations in New York City — from the green to the ultra urban — engaging with each space in their own ways. </p> <p>Throughout COVID, many of us spent more time within the four walls of our home than we ever have before. One result of that could be seeing various spaces, in our nation and beyond, with new eyes — something that dance art could perhaps reinforce with continued creativity with setting, place and space. </p> <p><strong>#3. Fresh approaches to partnering</strong></p> <p>After companies and studios shut down for a few months, many states’s guidelines relaxed to the point that dancers <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/02/01/making-contact-covid-dance-bubbles-across-the-concert-scene/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">could train, rehearse and perform (in films and in other COVID-safe contexts</a>) again — masked and physically-distanced, that is. Partnering is a fundamental tool in choreography, for building both aesthetic and meaning. Once they could create again, would choreographers abstain from this choreographic tool? Partnering as usual could endanger dancers and those with whom they interact. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="175" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballets-Whitney-Jensen-Jeffrey-Cirio-and-Bo-Busby-in-Jorma-Elos-Plan-to-B.-Photo-by-Gene-Schiavone-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.jpg" alt="Boston Ballet's Whitney Jensen, Jeffrey Cirio and Bo Busby in Jorma Elo's 'Plan to B'. Photo by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31845"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet’s Whitney Jensen,<br>Jeffrey Cirio and Bo Busby in Jorma Elo’s<br>‘Plan to B’. Photo by Gene Schiavone,<br>courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>As a reviewer, I saw that some choreographers didn’t give it up — while shaping that partnering in a way that would keep dancers safe. How? Choreographers made intriguing use of negative space between partnering dancers. How Boston Ballet Principal Dancers Paulo Arrais and Lia Cirio would just short of embrace in Jorma Elo’s <em>Bach Cello Suites</em>, within <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the company’s virtual program <em>Celebrating Norma Elo</em></a>, was a vivid example of that approach in partnering. </p> <p>Sometimes that negative space went outside of dancers’ kinespheres, working toward the fruits of connection between two bodies and two souls that partnering brings without “partnering” per-se. In that same virtual Boston Ballet program, Soloists Viktorina Kapitonova and Tigran Mkrtchyan maintained a visceral connection even as they were separated through space by a huge black box, for example. How wonderful to discover new ways of two humans moving together and closely connected in space! </p> <p><strong>#4. Reduced numbers of dancers in each work</strong></p> <p>Just as being indoors and being in close proximity were risk factors for spreading COVID, so was being in large groups. Choreographers, with safety and responsibility in mind, have known that solos, duets and trios were safer bets than large group numbers. As such, much of what I’ve reviewed in the past year and four months have been in solo, duet, trio and other smaller groups of dancers. </p> <p>The final result, in many cases, were memorable illustrations of individual and interpersonal experience portrayed in dance art. Large group choreography can be hard pressed to get as personal and as intimate. As the dance world moves forward, we’d do well to consider that as we create new work. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="117" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Larissa-Gerszke-and-Brandon-Gray-in-Complexions-Contemporary-Ballets-Black-is-Beautiful.-Photo-courtesy-of-Complexions..jpg" alt="Larissa Gerszke and Brandon Gray in Complexions Contemporary Ballet's 'Black is Beautiful'. Photo courtesy of Complexions." class="wp-image-31846"/><figcaption>Larissa Gerszke and Brandon Gray<br>in Complexions Contemporary<br>Ballet’s ‘Black is Beautiful’.<br>Photo courtesy of Complexions.</figcaption></figure></div> <p><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/04/07/art-for-the-times-complexions-contemporary-ballets-black-is-beautiful-part-i/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s <em>Black is Beautiful</em></a>, for example, presents solos, duets and small groups edited together. A large group could have powerfully reinforced the work’s message of the <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/07/03/the-importance-of-groove-black-art-as-the-pillars-of-american-dance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beautiful creativity and resilience of people of color</a>. Yet, those small groups were powerful in another way — by illustrating the beauty in each of the Black dancers just as they are, in their unparalleled individuality. </p> <p><strong>#5. Through film editing making formations without having dancers together in space</strong></p> <p>We’ve all become quite familiar with those Zoom screen boxes over the past year and change. Having groups of dancers together in space is essential for creating formations — or so we thought before COVID led dancemakers to find another way. Without being able to create formations in the usual way, by assembling bodies in space and seeing what happens, thankfully they’ve had film editing tools. </p> <p>Those boxes that house our faces in Zoom or other videoconferencing tools? They can be assembled in various ways just as various dancers in space can, each screen containing one dancer to a few dancers. In this approach, the film screen becomes the new stage space in which formations form, dissolve and form again. This is a dancemaking tool that can only be used in the context of filmed or livestreamed dance, with the exception of images projected on a cyc or other backdrop. Yet, it can be something that we beneficially carry forward into future film dance in certain cases.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="141" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/OnStage-Dance-Companys-Season-20..jpeg" alt="OnStage Dance Company's 'Season 20'." class="wp-image-31847"/><figcaption>OnStage Dance Company’s ‘Season 20’.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Several pieces within <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/04/28/onstage-dance-companys-season-20-not-on-stage-but-still-dancing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OnStage Dance Company’s Season 20 virtual program</a> demonstrate the use of this choreographic tool, in pieces of very varied aesthetics and dance styles. As one example, Melissa DeFriesse’s <em>What’s Up </em>makes and shifts Zoom screen formations in grunge-styled contemporary dance as an illustration of the raw frustration that COVID has created. </p> <p>As another, Sandra O’Donnell’s <em>Together, Apart </em>is a pleasing portrayal of taking time to join together (even if virtually) and do something for your soul — even if it feels like there’s a lot of work to be done. In an aesthetically satisfying and memorable way, the piece presents moving videoconferencing screens of dancers doing simple ballet exercises as they take that time away from work and for themselves — together yet apart. </p> <p>Like all of the COVID-era dance tools and trends discussed here, it’s something that could enliven and strengthen dance art in the post-COVID world — or it could be something that we choose not to take with us out of COVID, yet perhaps we’ve still learned something. Dark times have lessons to teach us, if we’re open to receiving them. Let’s keep creating, and never forget what a gift it is to come together and do just that. </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/07/03/what-we-created-how-well-go-forward-5-trends-of-covid-dance/">What we created, how we’ll go forward: 5 trends of COVID dance</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/07/03/what-we-created-how-well-go-forward-5-trends-of-covid-dance/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Boston Ballet's Paulo Arrais and Lia Cirio in Jorma Elo's 'Bach Cello Suites'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">31841</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Boston Ballet’s ‘Process and Progress’: A capstone program</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/06/06/boston-ballets-process-and-progress-a-capstone-program/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/06/06/boston-ballets-process-and-progress-a-capstone-program/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 06 Jun 2021 11:50:59 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Arvo Pärt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Brandon Stirling Baker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Daniel Goncalves]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Daniel Latimer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Erica Desautels]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ernesto Galan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Francis Poulenc]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ji Young Chae]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Lam]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jon Gonda]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ken Ossola]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kurtis Sprung]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lex Ishimoto]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mischa Santora]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nanine Linning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ronald Lowry]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Shane Maxwell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=31754</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Available through www.bostonballet.org.May 12-26, 2021. The 2020-21 season has been anything but easy for dance companies. Yet, in their own ways, they’ve found innovative ways to keep the mission alive and still keep all involved safe: livestreamed and video performances, outdoor and virtual community events, and other ways to safely connect with audiences and communities. Boston […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/06/06/boston-ballets-process-and-progress-a-capstone-program/">Boston Ballet’s ‘Process and Progress’: A capstone program</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Available through <a href="https://www.bostonballet.org/home.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.bostonballet.org</a>.<br>May 12-26, 2021.</p> <p>The 2020-21 season has been anything but easy for dance companies. Yet, in their own ways, they’ve found innovative ways to keep the mission alive and still keep all involved safe: livestreamed and video performances, outdoor and virtual community events, and other ways to safely connect with audiences and communities. Boston Ballet has presented its inaugural digital season, with both new and archival works — some honoring choreographers (such as William Forsythe and <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jorma Elo</a>), celebrating the holidays, and revisiting <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/10/01/classical-simplicity-boston-ballets-giselle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iconic programs that the company has presented</a>. <em>Process and Progress </em>topped off the season, presenting a variety of compelling concepts and memorable aesthetics, thus reflecting the multiplicity and dynamism of the overall season. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballet-in-Ken-Ossolas-Zoom-In.-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Ken Ossola's 'Zoom In'. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31757"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet in Ken Ossola’s ‘Zoom In’. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Ken Ossola’s <em>Zoom In</em> opens the program, a work that’s memorable on multiple levels — movement, meaning, and overall aesthetic effect. It begins with lights slowly coming up on a dancer in the foreground, lit from behind, wiggling in an improvisationally serpentine way. Meanwhile, dancers in the background slowly shift from shape to shape. That moves into a pas de deux and a solo, shifting tempo to something slower and more contemplative. </p> <p>In the following section, each dancer comes to and away from the camera. Then dancers move together in a line, in unison. A following solo has another dancer simply observing the soloist move. All of these choices, and the dynamics they create, bring to mind the individual within the group — “zoom[ing] in” on different individuals in turn. At times, as feels inevitable within human experience, individual experience and action is in tension with that of the group. </p> <p>Throughout these and various other groupings, abstraction and curvilinear qualities characterize the movement — which also aligns with the expressiveness and dynamism of the music. The choreography also underscores classical line and length, yet also has no fear of releasing energy downward and moving the spine and limbs in ways not commonly seen — exploring and arriving at ingenuity of shape. Through all of this captivating movement, lighting (by Brandon Stirling Baker) and the dynamic instrumental score (“Fratres” by Arvo Pärt) adds aesthetic layers onto it. These elements also add various other potential interpretations for different viewers to find in the work. </p> <p>As another reference to the title, the camera zooms in on particular body parts — a hand to a knee, a chest leading a spinal twist or undulation. The work seems to center a certain aesthetic effect, through a constellation of sensory inputs. Yet, the ways in which dancers interact and don’t interact, follow and lead, conform to the group and separate from it all speak to social dynamics and truths within human interactions. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="141" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ji-Young-Chae-in-Nanine-Linnings-La-Voix-Humaine.-Photo-by-Ernesto-Galan-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Ji Young Chae in Nanine Linning's 'La Voix Humaine'. Photo by Ernesto Galan, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31758"/><figcaption>Ji Young Chae in Nanine Linning’s ‘La Voix Humaine’. Photo by Ernesto Galan, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Nanine Linning’s <em>La Voix Humaine</em> feels like a surrealistic <em>film noire </em>dance for the twenty-first century — speaking to contemporary issues and experiences. It begins with a woman (Ji Young Chae) — the work’s protagonist — dropping a phone from lying down, leaving it off the hook. She rises and turns away, and then dances alone. Her body and soul are seemingly fully absorbed in movement and feeling. She gestures abstractly but also turns and extends — reaching out parts of herself for connection and attempting to find new vantage points. Accompanying her throughout is an instrumental score with a woman singing in French (“<em>La Voix Humaine</em>” by Francis Poulenc), contributing to the mystery and theatricality. </p> <p>Meeting the abstraction in her movement, abstract images emerge from time to time: a wall that looks like a gigantic cobweb, chocolate pouring over her head, fingers behind her head closing in (film editing by Ernesto Galan). Chillingly strange beings dressed fully in gray, including their faces, dance with her at one point (costume design by Shane Maxwell and Erica Desautels). There’s something eerie about anything faceless; perhaps we look to facial expression for understanding, and therefore a feeling of safety from increased certainty. </p> <p>In a sort of inverse of those beings, creatures dressed all in white with faces on front and back come to surround her — speaking to extremes and uncertainty within them. The black and white coloring through it all connects with that surrealism, building a Hitchkockian film noir<em> </em>feel and supporting the overall tone at hand. </p> <p>Soon, even though alone, she turns and extends limbs frantically, as if having to fend off nefarious beings. Throughout the work, but particularly in this section, Chae shows both breathtaking technical facility and theatrical chops to pull me right into her emotional world. In that Hitchcockian-sense, it feels hard to know what’s reality and what’s the protagonist’s experience alone. Perhaps that’s the exciting part! </p> <p>If there are delusions at hand, perhaps brought on by trauma or even the emotional weight of isolation, the work does not comment or condemn — it only illustrates. To end, strands that seem like long locks of hair slowly wrap around the protagonist. Has her inner turmoil overcome her? We can’t know, we can only question and conjecture for ourselves. Again, maybe that’s the exciting part!</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballet-in-Lex-Ishimotos-What-Happens-If....-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-2.jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Lex Ishimoto's 'What Happens If...'. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31759"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet in Lex Ishimoto’s ‘What Happens If…’. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Lex Ishimoto’s <em>What Happens If… </em>exudes a modernist sense of suave, something cohesive built through experimentation and exploration. Dancers in unassuming, loose-fitting grey costumes move amidst purple lighting and against a black backdrop (lighting design by Jon Gonda). Their movement of dynamically shifting shapes moves with the beats, trills, and clicks of the electronica music (by Kurtis Sprung). The aesthetic at first seems simple, yet also has pleasing layers to peel back. </p> <p>With a jazz saxophone coming in, something smoother emerges, if at times still with accented counts. The movement somehow smoothly blends contemporary styling — released movement on the floor and parallel, flexed-feet attitude shapes — with arabesques and petit allegro; one might think this would be discordant, but it’s somehow just exploratory and boundary-pushing — as well as quite aesthetically satisfying. It feels like the product of an open, harmonious creative environment and overall process. </p> <p>In a true abstract sense, the dancers don’t interact as individuals or build overtly unique personalities through theatricality. Yet towards the end one dancer, <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/09/01/dance-life-in-quarantine-lia-cirio-affirms-we-can-rise-above-together/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lia Cirio</a>, breaks from the group, looking out and down — as if apprehensive or uncertain. She then looks back toward the group and reaches toward them, not only with her arms but with the energy of her whole body. Feeling like things just go on alright while we lack connection, while also desperately craving that connection, is something that many can identify with nowadays.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Boston-Ballet-in-John-Lams-moving-pARTS.-Photo-by-Bearwalk-Productions-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in John Lam's 'moving pARTS'. Photo by Bearwalk Productions, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31760"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet in John Lam’s ‘moving pARTS’. Photo by Bearwalk Productions, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/05/09/boston-ballets-john-lam-tries-on-a-newdress/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Lam</a>‘s <em>moving pARTS </em>is an intriguing exploration of the movement of transportation, inflected with the weight of the COVID-19 global trauma. Daniela Goncalves wrote and directed the work while Daniel Latimer contributed film editing. In subway stations and subway cars, dancers embody the directional energies of city transit through moving in angular, direct ways. Occasional curves and gestures do reflect the curveballs that transit issues can throw in our days — something that urban commuters know well! Intentional gaze and touch underscore the humanity at hand, a reminder that real humans underlie it all. </p> <p>Black costumes and a somber, resonant score (based on the Catalan folk song “El cant dels ocells” with cello and composition from Ronald Lowry) — and of course, the dancers’ masks — don’t let the reality of COVID stray too far from viewers’ minds. The score only comes in when the dancers begin to move together, when before and after that dancers were traveling on their own ways in separate subway cars — and the typical announcer and rumbling track sounds of the subway were the only score to be heard (soundscapes, editing and mastering by Mischa Santora). In a heartwarming way, everyday people look to the dancing with curiosity. Those who know Boston will also recognize the stations and the cars — I myself, having lived there for almost seven years, feel a pang of nostalgia from these scenes.</p> <p>Just as the characters in the film find connection through the art of dance, a film like this can connect us with parts of our pasts as well as with each other through common experience. COVID can certainly be a big damper on such connection, but it has never <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/12/04/dance-life-in-quarantine-madelyn-ho-on-serving-moving-and-connecting-through-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">had to completely stop us</a>. Thank you to Boston Ballet for being part of that connection with this program and all programs in your first ever virtual season — brava and congratulations! </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa.</a> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/06/06/boston-ballets-process-and-progress-a-capstone-program/">Boston Ballet’s ‘Process and Progress’: A capstone program</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/06/06/boston-ballets-process-and-progress-a-capstone-program/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Emily-Hoff-and-Boston-Ballet-in-Lex-Ishimotos-What-Happens-If....-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Emily Hoff and Boston Ballet in Lex Ishimoto's 'What Happens If...'. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Emily-Hoff-and-Boston-Ballet-in-Lex-Ishimotos-What-Happens-If....-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Emily-Hoff-and-Boston-Ballet-in-Lex-Ishimotos-What-Happens-If....-Photo-by-Brooke-Trisolini-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">31754</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Now and then: Boston Ballet’s ‘Celebrating Jorma Elo’</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:23:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[American Ballet Theatre]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Opera House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[choreography]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Festival Ballet Providence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[James Whiteside]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ji Young Chae]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Lam]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kathleen Breen Combes]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Lia Cirio]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance performance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance performances]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[online dance reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Paulo Arrais]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=31194</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>February 25-March 7.Through bostonballet.org/bbatyourhome. Dance doesn’t exist in a vacuum, evidently enough; what came before is either a foundation or something to diverge from. A choreographer’s voice evolves over time, yet certain interests and inclinations may remain. In both a particular choreographer’s body of work and in the evolution of dance more broadly, it can […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/">Now and then: Boston Ballet’s ‘Celebrating Jorma Elo’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>February 25-March 7.<br>Through <a href="https://www.bostonballet.org/Home/Tickets-Performances/Performances/BB-at-your-home.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bostonballet.org/bbatyourhome</a>.</p> <p>Dance doesn’t exist in a vacuum, evidently enough; what came before is either a foundation or something to diverge from. A choreographer’s voice evolves over time, yet certain interests and inclinations may remain. In both a particular choreographer’s body of work and in the evolution of dance more broadly, it can be interesting and informative to view older works and put them in conversation with newer works. </p> <p>This COVID age has many companies doing that out of practicality and necessity, pairing new works filmed in ways that are safe for this time and archival works in virtual programs. <em>Celebrating Jorma Elo, </em>within <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/09/30/boston-ballet-reimagines-2020-21-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boston Ballet’s “BB@yourhome”</a> program, did just that — honoring the 15-year Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer through works safely filmed in-studio and older works performed on the grand Boston Opera House stage. Both kinds of works made clear the uniqueness of Elo’s vision, voice and resulting body of work through the years. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="175" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Whitney-Jensen-Bo-Busby-and-Jeffrey-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Plan-to-B.-Photo-by-Gene-Shiavone-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Whitney Jensen, Bo Busby and Jeffrey Cirio in Jorma Elo's 'Plan to B'. Photo by Gene Shiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31199"/><figcaption>Whitney Jensen, Bo Busby and Jeffrey Cirio in Jorma Elo’s ‘Plan to B’. Photo by Gene Shiavone, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Part I, featuring <em>Plan 2 B</em>, opened with one dancer soon joined by another. They moved with a freneticism, yet one that was grounded in assurance. The overall aesthetic was uncomplicated: costumes in basic cuts and solid colors, lighting reminiscing midnight and a glass panel seemingly lit from behind with a yellow-orange hue (costuming and lighting design also by Elo). Masks signaled that the work was created in COVID times, as an opening to the program had also clarified. </p> <p>The dancers seamlessly toggled between movement that was gestural and unconventional, and that which was more technical and traditional; Ji Young Chae grounded in a deep lunge and then swiftly circled her arms, like propeller blades and then smoothly rose to a pirouette turn. That aligned with the quality of the instrumental music, with a quick and fiery boldness but also a classical sophistication. </p> <p>The pair of dancers did partner, yet in ways that didn’t have their faces close. When not in a lift, they swerved in and out of each other’s negative space in a beautifully curvilinear fashion. On a metaphorical level, this lack of physical space can hit home to viewers nowadays. On a practical level, those choreographic choices were a way for the dancers to share energy in close proximity with less risk of harm to either of them. </p> <p>Those swerving angles remained an evident part of the movement as more dancers entered; the group grew from two to one (with a quick and memorable solo from <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/05/09/boston-ballets-john-lam-tries-on-a-newdress/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Lam</a>) to six. How dancers executed those curvilinear shapes from formations — such as a shallow diagonal wherein dancers posed for a moment, low in space and with arms held to the side in a wing-like shape — was another layer of visual and energetic interest here. Also intriguing were the tempo and tonal changes in the music, and how movement played off them — sometimes shifting accordingly, sometimes progressing in tension with them. </p> <p>The energy peaked toward the end, the dancers briskly moving through more curvilinear shapes and finding quick interactions with one another through the space. The music came to a staccato end, and the dancers hit a final pose that seemed to convey continuance, of moving forward from there — two dancers facing the side in a lunged position and behind them, dancers standing with their feet together and looking straight forward. The lights faded downward. I’d be curious to see what effect might have come from the different choice of dancers continuing to move as the lights came down. As it was, the ending was satisfying. </p> <p>Part II, <em>Bach Cello Suites</em>, also cleverly used negative space. The dancers (Paulo Arrais and <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2020/09/01/dance-life-in-quarantine-lia-cirio-affirms-we-can-rise-above-together/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lia Cirio</a>) would just short of embrace — arms held out in a hug shape and brushed away, gazes to the side with arms remaining extended sideways. Whether or not a commentary on the lack of physical contact through this time, it was compelling movement vocabulary in its own right. </p> <p>Along with the music’s yearning tone, it built a feeling of sadness and loss that resonated deeply for me as a viewer. Also resonating for me was how I could see Arrais and Cirio’s quickened, deepened breathing through their masks — sucking in and expanding out in steady rhythm. It hit home for me how dancers like them are facing immense challenges right now, physical and mental, and fully rising to those challenges. </p> <p>Part III, <em>Story of a Memory</em>, spoke to some of those same themes, of loss and yearning, in a <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/02/01/derek-mitchell-teaches-hamilton-rep-at-steps-on-broadway/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">theatrically</a> and technologically adept way. Interspersed between their dancing, mostly apart in space, were frames of the dancers laughing and smiling. They sat up against different sides on an enormous black block, speaking poetic lines — somewhat ambiguous but seemingly about each other, as they also sat and spoke in each other’s direction (how one might try to speak to someone on the other side of a thin wall).</p> <p>Part IV included excerpts from various Elo works through the years. Each excerpt gave a taste of certain notable Elo works — all unique in aesthetic and concept but with the common thread of a signature Elo movement style: dynamic, bursting with energy and reflective of various movement influences (both technical and pedestrian) resting upon a classical base. </p> <p><em>C. to C. (Close to Chuck) Reborn</em> had an edgy, mysteriously nightmarish vibe. <em>Sharp(er) Side of Dark</em> brought something pared-down and elegant, almost Balanchinian in aesthetic but very Elo in movement quality. <em>The Elo Experience </em>brought a mysterious elegance. Light and dark were in tension in different ways throughout the work. Theatricality and large formations built an energy that supported that feeling. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Creatures-of-Egmont.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo's 'Creatures of Egmont'. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-31198"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo’s ‘Creatures of Egmont’. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p><em>Creatures of Egmont </em>was a bit lighter and brighter, blues and purples supporting movement that was a bit less staccato than that of many other Elo pieces. Yet, that signature dynamism filled the air. From costuming to formations to the dancers’ stage presence, <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius</em></a> had a look and feel of a pastoral ballet revamped for the 21<sup>st</sup> century. </p> <p>It was also heartwarming to see a bit of Boston Ballet history, such as through performances from former company members James Whiteside (now at American Ballet Theater) and <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kathleen Breen Combes (now director of Festival Ballet Providence)</a>. Prior to these excerpts, a few lovely photo stills also represented <em>Carmen</em>, presented just last year (in early 2020) — a stark reminder of how things were just before COVID, and therein how much they’ve changed. </p> <p>This program’s inclusion of both newer, COVID-safe and older works presented before COVID felt bittersweet; it was heartening to see works still being created and filmed through this time, while older works were a reminder of what was possible before — that which we might have sometimes taken for granted. Both types of works, however, made clear the unique creative voice of Elo and the seminal artistry of Boston Ballet now and in the past. The world is in constant, wholly unpredictable flux, but creativity and artistry endure.</p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dance Informa. </a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/">Now and then: Boston Ballet’s ‘Celebrating Jorma Elo’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/03/09/now-and-then-boston-ballets-celebrating-jorma-elo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Boston Ballet's Paulo Arrais and Lia Cirio in Jorma Elo's 'Bach Cello Suites'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Boston-Ballets-Paulo-Arrais-and-Lia-Cirio-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">31194</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Boston Ballet brings on a new roster, a new team</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 02 Sep 2019 10:56:04 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Top Stories]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Armenian School of Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet dancers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[BBII]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chisako Oga]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cincinnati Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jiri Kylian]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mikko Nissinen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Prix de Lausanne]]></category> <category><![CDATA[San Francisco Ballet School]]></category> <category><![CDATA[second company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tigran Mkrtchyan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Zurich Ballet]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=27337</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>In the late spring of 2019, one Boston Ballet dancer after another gave their final bow with the company (some from the stage permanently). Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet’s artistic director, shares that this sort of generational shift does happen from time to time. He notes how fans of the company have shared their sadness to […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/">Boston Ballet brings on a new roster, a new team</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>In the late spring of 2019, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/" target="_blank">one Boston Ballet dancer after another</a> gave their final bow with the company (some from the stage permanently). Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet’s artistic director, shares that this sort of generational shift does happen from time to time. He notes how fans of the company have shared their sadness to see these long-time Boston Ballet dancers go. “But you’ll have a new opportunity to fall in love,” he says that he’s told them. </p> <p>Indeed, Boston Ballet is welcoming 12 new dancers into the main company and 11 dancers into Boston Ballet II (BBII). Nissinen notes how BBII dancers stay in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/02/07/second-companies-boston-ballet-ii-meeting-tomorrows-dancers/" target="_blank">second company</a> for a maximum of two seasons. “I am thrilled to welcome these talented and diverse new dancers to our company,” he says. “There are plenty of opportunities during Boston Ballet’s exciting and versatile 56<sup>th</sup> season, which features an array of classical and contemporary works, for audiences to become enamored with our newest members.”</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="200" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chisako-Oga.-Photo-by-Peter-Mueller..jpg" alt="Chisako Oga. Photo by Peter Mueller." class="wp-image-27339"/><figcaption>Chisako Oga. Photo by Peter Mueller.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Boston Ballet shares that with these new dancers, the company represents 11 nationalities. Dancers hail from Armenia, Australia, Brazil, China, England, France, Georgia, Russia, South Korea, Spain and the United States. Thirty-six percent of company dancers are former BBII dancers, and 25 percent are Boston Ballet School alumni. In addition to Nissinen, Dance Informa<em> </em>speaks with two dancers new to the company this year — Chisako Oga, second soloist; and Tigran Mkrtchyan, soloist — at the beginning of their third week with the company. </p> <p>Oga danced at the San Francisco Ballet School after the Prix de Lausanne granted her a scholarship to study there. She later joined the school’s company and then moved on to dance in Cincinnati Ballet, eventually as a principal. She wanted to keep pushing herself, however, rather than stay stagnant. For her, that meant dancing for a bigger company with a bigger and more diverse repertory. “I really enjoyed my time in Cincinnati, but I had to ask myself, ‘What’s the next step?'” Oga explains. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Lasha-Khozashvili-with-Mikko-Nissinen.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.jpg" alt="Lasha Khozashvili with Mikko Nissinen. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-27341"/><figcaption>Lasha Khozashvili with Mikko Nissinen. Photo by Liza Voll, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>At the recommendation of a few friends and colleagues, she auditioned for Boston Ballet. Nissinen offered her a second soloist position on the spot. “I’d heard stories of [Nissinen] offering principals at other companies spots as artists, so in a way I knew that could happen, but I was still pleasantly shocked,” she says. Nissinen shares that he wishes he could see the full potential of an artist in an audition, but he does his best by following instinct and “hop[ing that] I got it right.” </p> <p>Nissinen says that he looks for a dancer’s “fire”, their drive, as well as an ability to show their humanity in their dancing. He also seeks to have dancers “so strong and balanced that they can be vulnerable,” he explains. It’s also important to him to foster a team atmosphere, right from the start with new dancers. That’s something Oga already noticed — along with professionalism and a rigorous work ethic. “I’ve felt very welcome,” she shares. “No matter how long you’ve been there, everyone is friendly,” she adds. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="312" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tigran-Mkrtchyan.-Photo-by-Jos-Schmid.jpg" alt="Tigran Mkrtchyan. Photo by Jos Schmid." class="wp-image-27344" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tigran-Mkrtchyan.-Photo-by-Jos-Schmid.jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tigran-Mkrtchyan.-Photo-by-Jos-Schmid-240x300.jpg 240w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><figcaption>Tigran Mkrtchyan. Photo by Jos Schmid.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>That’s something that Mkrtchyan also noted, a sincere and evident friendliness amongst the dancers and staff. He grew up dancing ballet and Latin ballroom dance in his native Armenia, before shifting to focus on ballet as a teenager. He studied at the Armenian School of Ballet before joining Zürich Ballet. Like Oga, he looked toward moving on to a bigger company, and at the recommendation of family and friends auditioned for Boston Ballet. He was looking for a blend of professionalism and friendliness, and he saw that in Boston’s ballet company. Thus far, he’s seen a connectedness within that friendliness joined with professionalism. “It can be easy to really focus on your work in this field, but everyone stays connected here,” he says. </p> <p>Similar to Oga, Nissinen offered him a soloist position right at the audition. Mkrtchyan had been an artist at Zürich Ballet, so unlike for Oga, it was a step up the ranks for him. Yet she doesn’t mind, she says; she’s not focusing on that because of the diversity of new opportunities ahead. Both Oga and Mkrtchyan are excited to learn Boston Ballet’s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/alls-fair-in-art-boston-ballets-wings-of-wax/" target="_blank">diverse repertory</a>, including classical works (such as Boston Ballet’s 2019-20 season opener <em>Giselle</em>), neoclassical works, and contemporary works from choreographers such as Jorma Elo (Boston Ballet’s resident choreographer), William Forsythe, and Jiří Kylián. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Artistic-Director-Mikko-Nissinen.-Photo-by-Liza-Voll-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.jpg" alt="Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. Photo by Liza Voll; courtesy of Boston Ballet." class="wp-image-27342"/><figcaption>Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. Photo by Liza Voll; courtesy of Boston Ballet.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>In fact, this diversity of programming is something else Mkrtchyan was looking for in a company. Oga notes that she truly appreciates this diversity of programming as well and says, “I never wanted to be known as a classical ballerina but rather as a dancer who can dance a variety of roles and styles.” </p> <p>Diversity of programming is important to Nissinen because he believes that even though it’s challenging, ballet should grow and change with the society around it. “Ballet shouldn’t be a church but instead a living museum that reflects the current world,” he asserts.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="250" height="368" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/photo-by-Carlos-Quezada-.jpg" alt="Tigran Mkrtchyan. Photo by Carlos Quezada." class="wp-image-27345" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/photo-by-Carlos-Quezada-.jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/photo-by-Carlos-Quezada--204x300.jpg 204w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><figcaption>Tigran Mkrtchyan. Photo by Carlos Quezada.</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Oga and Mkrtchyan recognize the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/05/09/boston-ballets-john-lam-tries-on-a-newdress/" target="_blank">diversity within the company itself,</a> as well — in regards to ethnicity, race, training background and qualitative style as a dancer. It’s all part of what they look forward to engaging with as part of Boston Ballet’s company. When it comes to roles and shows, Oga is looking forward to dancing in <em>Giselle</em>; <em>Swan Lake</em>; <em>In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated</em>; and <em>Serenade</em>. </p> <p>“Jumping into a new company can be nerve-wracking, but overall it’s been such a smooth transition,” she says. Mkrtchyan is also looking forward to <em>Giselle</em>, as well as <em>Bella Figura</em>, in addition to many other works in the repertory. He’s excited to get out there on stage and “give it all back to the audience,” he shares. </p> <p>By Kathryn Boland of<em> </em><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Dance Informa. (opens in a new tab)">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/">Boston Ballet brings on a new roster, a new team</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/09/02/boston-ballet-brings-on-a-new-roster-a-new-team/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chisako-Oga.-Photo-by-Peter-Mueller-2-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Chisako Oga. Photo by Peter Mueller." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chisako-Oga.-Photo-by-Peter-Mueller-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Chisako-Oga.-Photo-by-Peter-Mueller-2-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">27337</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Kathleen Breen Combes bows farewell to Boston Ballet and begins a new act</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Jun 2019 11:11:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[A Midsummer Night’s Dream]]></category> <category><![CDATA[AGMA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[American Guild of Musical Artists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballerina]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet dancer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Benois de la Danse Award]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Bolshoi Theatre]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Festival Ballet Providence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[George Balanchine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Homepage Top Heading]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Cranko]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kathleen Breen Combes]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mikko Nissinen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[retiring dancer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Romeo and Juliet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The HARID Conservatory]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Washington Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Todd Allen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=26787</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>A career in classical ballet can feel incredibly all-encompassing — from rehearsing to class to cross-training and maintenance, the work is constant. Yet Kathleen Breen Combes, to her credit, has managed to maintain other interests and work in the ballet world. As her last bow with Boston Ballet approaches, after 16 years with the company […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/">Kathleen Breen Combes bows farewell to Boston Ballet and begins a new act</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">A career in classical ballet can feel incredibly all-encompassing — from rehearsing to class to cross-training and maintenance, the work is constant. Yet Kathleen Breen Combes, to her credit, has managed to maintain other interests and work in the ballet world. As her last bow with Boston Ballet approaches, after 16 years with the company and 10 years as principal, she looks forward to being able to deepen those things in her next chapter. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_26789" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26789" class="size-full wp-image-26789" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-Breen-Combes.-Photo-by-Igor-Burlak..jpg" alt="Kathleen Breen Combes. Photo by Igor Burlak." width="250" height="350" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-Breen-Combes.-Photo-by-Igor-Burlak..jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-Breen-Combes.-Photo-by-Igor-Burlak.-214x300.jpg 214w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-26789" class="wp-caption-text">Kathleen Breen Combes. Photo by Igor Burlak.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Breen Combes will be stepping into the role of executive director of Festival Ballet Providence, Rhode Island’s premier professional ballet company. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dance Informa </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">speaks with her about her journey as a ballet artist up until now, that next chapter in her professional life and more. She’s had a sincere interest in versatility and diversity in ballet, and programming to achieve those ends. She’s also advocated for dancers’ rights and protections as a dancer representative in the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). She’ll bring all this to bear in her new position, which excites her. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">“I want to be part of pushing the art form forward, something that’s even more important in today’s world,” she says. “How do we make [ballet] truly human and accessible, rather than shut people out?” asks Breen Combes, who believes that “we should pay homage to our past while still pushing the art form forward.” She says that she loves conversations about the art form and where it’s going, which she look forward to engaging in more in this new position. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Even with this clarity of conviction, there’s still uncertainty for her; speaking also of dancers retiring in general, she says that “the scariest part of ending a career is the unknown.” Because professional ballet demands so much and becomes so engrossing in a dancer’s life, not having that can seem incredibly mysterious. “It’s not a normal job,” she asserts. “In what other job do you go home and have two hours of self-maintenance work to do?”</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_26790" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26790" class="size-full wp-image-26790" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-.jpg" alt="Kathleen Breen Combes in Jorma Elo's 'Sacre du Printemps'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." width="250" height="167" /><p id="caption-attachment-26790" class="wp-caption-text">Kathleen Breen Combes in Jorma Elo’s ‘Sacre du Printemps’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">To its credit, Boston Ballet has invested resources in its dancers’ whole-person health. “[The company] has unparalleled health services for dancers, and they treat us like so much more than just machines on stage,” Breen Combes asserts. Dancers might very well then be in a notably better personal place when facing these types of transitions, she agrees. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking back, Breen Combes is “proud of the artist [she’s] become.” She describes having “grown up” at Boston Ballet — having her child and then returning to the stage, and growing as an artist through dancing an incredibly diverse body of work, she shares. She claims to have stayed with Boston Ballet for so long partly because of this “amazing repertoire”, through which it’s been like dancing “in many companies in one.” Her favorite ballets to dance have included </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Diamonds</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Romeo and Juliet</span></i></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #000000;">,</span> </span><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/02/23/william-forsythe-at-boston-ballet-artifact-and-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">William Forsythe works</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;"> and Jorma Elo works.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her connection with the company began young; while growing up in Pensacola, Florida, she trained with former Boston Ballet dancer</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Todd Allen and other Boston Ballet dancers in his network. She was soon training in Boston itself, in the Boston Ballet summer program. In her teens, she also trained at The HARID Conservatory and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Ready for a professional contract at 19 years old, she auditioned in New York City and was hired by The Washington Ballet. </span></span></p> <p><div id="attachment_26791" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26791" class="size-full wp-image-26791" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-2.jpg" alt="Kathleen Breen Combes and Paul Craig in Jerome Robbins' 'Fancy Free'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor." width="250" height="167" /><p id="caption-attachment-26791" class="wp-caption-text">Kathleen Breen Combes and Paul Craig in Jerome Robbins’ ‘Fancy Free’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #000000;">She describes Boston Ballet still being on her radar at this time, however. Three years later, in a stroke of “luck with timing,” she says, Boston Ballet hired her, along with a sizable group of dancers new to the company. The rest, we can say, is the history of her 16 years with the company. For this work, she’s been honored by her</span> </span><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/05/09/boston-ballets-john-lam-tries-on-a-newdress/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">colleagues</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;"> and beyond. “Kathleen has a commanding strength and sparkling presence that has brought brilliance and vitality to a wide range of repertoire,” says <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/02/03/build-it-and-they-will-come-updating-the-nutcracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen</a>. “It has been a pleasure to watch her growth as an artist throughout her extensive dancing career.”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boston Ballet shares that in 2012, Breen Combes was nominated for the prestigious Benois de la Danse Award for her portrayal of Juliet in John Cranko’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Romeo and Juliet</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and Titania in George Balanchine’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. She was invited to dance at the Bolshoi Theatre and has danced in numerous international galas over the course of her career. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The New York Times</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> described her as a “ballerina of colossal scale and boldness.” Scale in her versatility and skillset on and off the stage, boldness in her readiness to step into those challenges — Breen Combes has shown it all. All signs point to that she’ll continue to bring that tenacity and multifaceted-nature after that final bow, in her next act of this dance we call life. </span></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">By Kathryn Boland of </span><a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dance Informa.</span></a></span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/">Kathleen Breen Combes bows farewell to Boston Ballet and begins a new act</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2019/06/04/kathleen-breen-combes-bows-farewell-to-boston-ballet-and-begins-a-new-act/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-3-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kathleen-3-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26787</post-id> </item> <item> <title>BalletX: A small company with a large presence</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/11/30/balletx-a-small-company-with-a-large-presence/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/11/30/balletx-a-small-company-with-a-large-presence/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2018 13:23:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Academy of Dance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[American Academy of Dance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[American Pacific Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Andrea Yorita]]></category> <category><![CDATA[BAE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ballet Academy East]]></category> <category><![CDATA[BalletMet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[BalletX]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Barbara Weissberger]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Bettina Sanzotta]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Caili Quan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Christine Cox]]></category> <category><![CDATA[First State Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Genee International Ballet Competition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hunter College]]></category> <category><![CDATA[interviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Joan Myers Brown]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jodie Gates]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Grensbach]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Matthew Neenan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Merle Sepel]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nicolo Fonte]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Philadanco Dance Company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Royal Academy of Dance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Trey McIntyre]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Vail International Dance Festival]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=25764</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a very culturally aware city. Sandwiched between New York and Washington, D.C., to its credit, it has its own profile. It has major museums, beautiful botanical gardens and a number of prominent wonderful performing companies. It also has a large piece of American history, the Liberty Bell. Among Philadelphia’s treasures is the premier contemporary […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/11/30/balletx-a-small-company-with-a-large-presence/">BalletX: A small company with a large presence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a very culturally aware city. Sandwiched between New York and Washington, D.C., to its credit, it has its own profile. It has major museums, beautiful botanical gardens and a number of prominent wonderful performing companies. It also has a large piece of American history, the Liberty Bell.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25766" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25766" class="size-full wp-image-25766" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Christine-Cox.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev..jpg" alt="Christine Cox. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev." width="250" height="350" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Christine-Cox.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev..jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Christine-Cox.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev.-214x300.jpg 214w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-25766" class="wp-caption-text">Christine Cox. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Among Philadelphia’s treasures is the premier contemporary dance company, BalletX. BalletX may be small in size, but its reputation is growing. It was founded as an experiment in 2005, by two Pennsylvania Ballet principal company dancers, Christine Cox, BalletX’s artistic and executive director, and the choreographer, Matthew Neenan. Its purpose is to launch new works. Using the basics of classical and contemporary styles, it presents innovative pieces performed by world-class dancers with extraordinary techniques. Cox says the company’s name “represents simplicity and the unknown, stressing ‘Ballet’ in the title because the company is based on classical form.” Cox and Neenan were best friends at Pennsylvania Ballet. They wanted to experiment with something new and different, to have an opportunity to create and have fun, and to focus more on a contemporary repertoire. Ballet is still a major concentration within BalletX, and the dancers start each day with a classical ballet class. Some of the works within the repertoire have the women in pointe shoes.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Cox is a native of Pennsylvania, and attended a performing arts high school. She began her professional career with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, under the direction of John McFall in 1987, before joining Pennsylvania Ballet in 1993, when Christopher D’Amboise was its director, and she danced with the company under the direction of Roy Kaiser until her retirement from the stage in 2006.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25767" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25767" class="size-full wp-image-25767" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BalletX.jpg" alt="BalletX in Matthew Neenan's 'Credo'. Photo by Bill Hebert." width="250" height="167" /><p id="caption-attachment-25767" class="wp-caption-text">BalletX in Matthew Neenan’s ‘Credo’. Photo by Bill Hebert.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">After the early days of the company, Neenan left to concentrate on choreography, as he is the Choreographer in Residence at Pennsylvania Ballet, leaving the running of BalletX exclusively to Cox. He recently choreographed his first piece for New York City Ballet.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Cox faces challenges as the sole artistic and executive director — bringing forth new ideas and nurturing her goals while keeping the company from “getting stogey and restricted.” Although the company performs mostly to taped music, Cox likes to use live musicians whenever possible, sometimes featuring a string quintet. The company is funded by major gifts from foundations. Cox says she is also “grateful for strong community support.” She keeps the company size small so as to provide 37 weeks of work and health insurance for her dancers.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25768" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25768" class="size-full wp-image-25768" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Andrea.jpg" alt="Andrea Yorita in Matthew Neenan's 'Increasing'. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev." width="250" height="178" /><p id="caption-attachment-25768" class="wp-caption-text">Andrea Yorita in Matthew Neenan’s ‘Increasing’. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">BalletX maintains its varied repertoire by employing 10 dancers with eclectic training. Two among these outstanding members of the company are Caili Quan and Andrea Yorita. Both were initially trained in small ballet schools following the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. Quan is originally from the island of Guam, where she began studying ballet at age six with John Grensbach. When Grensbach left the island to open a school in Oregon, Bettina Sanzotta took over Quan’s classes. Quan says Sanzotta “added a bit of everything” to her training; she especially liked hip hop. To further work on her ballet technique, at age 16, Quan auditioned for and was accepted to Ballet Academy East (BAE) in New York City. Like so many young dancers, she was the best dancer in her class in Guam, only to discover the many talented students at BAE. Completing her high school education and attending Hunter College in New York, Quan attended several intensive summer programs and was a trainee with the Richmond Ballet and an apprentice with First State Ballet in Delaware before joining BalletX. She has an interest in choreography and has produced several works.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25769" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25769" class="size-full wp-image-25769" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BalletX-2.jpg" alt="BalletX dancers Roderick Phifer, Skyler Lubin, Zachary Kapeluck, Chloe Perkes, Francesca Forcella, Richard Villaverde, Andrea Yorita, Caili Quan, Blake Krapels and Stanley Glover." width="250" height="188" /><p id="caption-attachment-25769" class="wp-caption-text">BalletX dancers Roderick Phifer, Skyler Lubin, Zachary Kapeluck, Chloe Perkes, Francesca Forcella, Richard Villaverde, Andrea Yorita, Caili Quan, Blake Krapels and Stanley Glover.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Yorita hails from Irvine, California, where she trained at the Academy of Dance, under Merle Sepel and danced with the school’s company, American Pacific Ballet. Although she could have started a professional dance career at that time, she opted to further her academic education and graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Dance Performance. Yorita is an example that a young dancer does not have to leave home to train at a school connected to a professional company. Having been trained in the RAD syllabus, Yorita passed her exams with distinction and also received the Solo Seal Award. She went on to become a finalist in the Genée International Ballet Competition. In the summers, she attended American Academy of Dance. At the encouragement of her university dance teacher, Jodie Gates, Yorita auditioned for BalletX immediately after graduation and has been with the company since 2012. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">BalletX holds auditions in Philadelphia and New York City. There will be an open audition in New York on February 24, 2019. The selection process is long, as Cox likes to see not only how the dancers work, but she also holds interviews so she can get to know them and see their growth over several showings.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25770" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25770" class="size-full wp-image-25770" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Caili.jpg" alt="Caili Quan's 'Shift' performed in a Pop Up at the Barnes Foundation, featuring BalletX dancers Andrea Yorita and Zachary Kapeluck. Photo by Bill Hebert." width="250" height="182" /><p id="caption-attachment-25770" class="wp-caption-text">Caili Quan’s ‘Shift’ performed in a Pop Up at the Barnes Foundation, featuring BalletX dancers Andrea Yorita and Zachary Kapeluck. Photo by Bill Hebert.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">BalletX is a company where choreographers can work with excellent dancers trained in both ballet and contemporary dance. Many of them have made several works for the company. It offers opportunities to emerging choreographers to hone their skills with a Choreographic Fellowship, where they are mentored by established choreographers. The process begins with submissions of a proposal. Cox also keeps an eye out for new works by choreographers she has seen, as she feels she is “sharing her family with them.” Neenan’s pieces are one of the mainstays of the company’s repertoire. In addition, high-profiled choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, Jorma Elo and Nicolo Fonte have several works in the company. BalletX has enjoyed a residency at the prestigious Vail International Dance Festival seven times in eight years. Quan had the opportunity of presenting one of her works this past summer.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_25771" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25771" class="size-full wp-image-25771" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Andrea-Yorita.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev..jpg" alt="Andrea Yorita. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev." width="250" height="375" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Andrea-Yorita.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev..jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Andrea-Yorita.-Photo-by-Alexander-Iziliaev.-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-25771" class="wp-caption-text">Andrea Yorita. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">There have been many dance companies established and directed by women, some in the Philadelphia area. Barbara Weissberger was the original director of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/06/15/joan-myers-brown-philadanco/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joan Myers </a></span><span style="color: #000000;">Brown established the Philadanco Dance Company. At this time in history, it is not only fitting to have a dance company like BalletX, with some of its repertoire by female choreographers, but also to have a woman with innovative ideas at the helm. Cox and Neenan had a real vision in creating this small but powerful company, and now Cox, as the sole artistic and executive director, has a clear vision for its future.</span></p> <p><em><span style="color: #000000;">BalletX will give performances November 28 through December 9 in Philadelphia, at the Wilma Theater and will be in New York City at the Joyce Theater January 5-6. Check the <a href="https://www.balletx.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company’s website</a> for future 2019 dates and locations.</span></em></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">By Sharon Wagner of</span> <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/11/30/balletx-a-small-company-with-a-large-presence/">BalletX: A small company with a large presence</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/11/30/balletx-a-small-company-with-a-large-presence/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BalletX-3-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Matthew Neenan's 'Sunset, o639 Hours' performed by BalletX. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BalletX-3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BalletX-3-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25764</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Optical illusions and reality in Boston Ballet’s ‘Parts in Suite’</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 17 Mar 2018 23:33:59 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chyrstyn Fentroy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Cuff]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Justin Peck]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mikko Nissinen]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Parts in Suite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William Forsythe]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=23945</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts. March 10, 2018. A striking thing about dance can be how some things are optical illusion, and some things are actually, physically happening with bodies in space. The mind’s eye associates movements and formations with actions and images that we know from life. At other times, we’re struck by how […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/">Optical illusions and reality in Boston Ballet’s ‘Parts in Suite’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts.<br /> March 10, 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A striking thing about dance can be how some things are optical illusion, and some things are actually, physically happening with bodies in space. The mind’s eye associates movements and formations with actions and images that we know from life. At other times, we’re struck by how real – no matter how seemingly difficult – what dancers are doing can be and feel. Along with salient use of sound/music, lighting, costuming, and structure, all of this was present Boston Ballet’s three-part bill </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Parts in Suite. </span></i></span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23946" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23946" class="size-full wp-image-23946" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo's 'Bach Cello Suites'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." width="250" height="167" /><p id="caption-attachment-23946" class="wp-caption-text">Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo’s ‘Bach Cello Suites’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Opening the night was </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bach Cello Suites, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">a world premiere by Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo. A minimalist feel was palpable right away, with a cellist playing upstage left and one large, geometric set piece hanging above. A soloist entered, to be joined steadily by further dancers. Graceful, yet strong, partnering included motifs such as dancers skimming the floor with feet and legs, to then be lifted higher.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Other movement similarly diverted from classical mandate, such as with quirky shakes and twitches. Along with this quality were low extensions and single, rather than multiple, pirouettes. Elo didn’t always push to 100 percent, making 100 percent mean more when it came. All of these choreographic choices seemed to be in service of harmony with the music; if the notes became movement, they would be what was on stage. The dancers fully embodied this metaphoric illusion, that which they also made so tangibly real. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Lighting changes (by Designer John Cuff) and movement of that overhead set piece (intersecting lines of metal, scenic design by Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen) also piqued my visual interest. Ballerinas wore black leotards and white tights, and danseurs wore all black. This aesthetic minimalism offered a structure for the deeper complexity in the movement to be more fully taken in and appreciated. Canon could come to feel overused, but perhaps that frequent use was an intentional reflection of the music’s repetitive, meditative feel. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">To end, two dancers stood perpendicularly from each other – one upstage center, the other downstage right. They looked outward, not at each other. The curtains fell. This ending could be interpreted as existentially somber – a depiction of isolation in our own consciousness. In a more hopeful take, the dancers looked into the future with courage, despite that isolation, in a spirit of rugged individualism. As in both optical illusions and reality, the perception that we bring to the interpretation can make all the difference. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23948" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23948" class="wp-image-23948 size-full" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Lawrence-Rines-and-Boston-Ballet-in-Justin-Pecks-In-Creases.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Lawrence Rines and Boston Ballet in Justin Peck's 'In Creases'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." width="250" height="182" /><p id="caption-attachment-23948" class="wp-caption-text">Lawrence Rines and Boston Ballet in Justin Peck’s ‘In Creases’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">In quite a stylistic shift, the second piece – Justin Peck’s <em>In Creases</em> started with a true bang. Lights were bright and golden, music raced, and the dancers executed zippy choreography. In a similarity to the prior piece, two piano players at a two-sided, gargantuan piano provided a live score. There was quickly a sense of order versus chaos; clear circles dissolved into indefinable shapes, back to a circle and back to dissolving again. Jazzy movement, such as parallel turns, made its appearance. In one phrase, dancers made jazz-style L-shaped arms – accenting one part of the L extending out and then the other – while walking in deep plié, in a sloped line formation. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other phrases were more overtly classical – intersecting lines wherein ballerinas in one line jetéd </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">through a line of danseurs, to have them take traveling </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">petit</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">allegro </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">steps through the ballerinas, to have the ballerinas then </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">sauté </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">and </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">tour jeté </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">through the danseurs. Within this classical vocabulary was less conventional formation-shaping, that which created compelling visual illusions. As one, they joined hands and spinned out of a circle in a line. Simultaneously, a soloist turned solid </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">fouetté</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> turns, creating the illusion that her turns were causing the unraveling of the circle. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">As another, the same soloist was partnered to turn with one leg extended forward, dancers in a circle below her holding hands and lowering their arms to allow her leg to keep spinning without obstruction. The dancers in circle coordinated the timing of this such that it seemed that the turning dancer’s leg naturally propelled the wave-action of lowering arms in the circle, just as naturally as gravity leads an object to fall. In these aspects, the piece was most enjoyable and successful. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">The combination of aesthetic elements was less successful; blue and white costumes and bright lighting offered a peaceful, elegant air that was discordant with the tense, almost aggressive feel of the music and movement. Perhaps this juxtaposition was intentional, as a post-modern defiance of the need to create harmony in such elements. It seems as if Peck can also learn from much Elo about the value of sometimes holding back from full virtuosity, so that it can mean more when present. Nevertheless, the ending brought a hopeful feeling of progression forward; dancers walked off with their chins held high while gazely proudly and intently outward. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23950" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23950" class="size-full wp-image-23950" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/John-Lam-Misa-Kuranaga-and-Isaac-Akiba-in-William-Forsythes-PasParts-2018.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="John Lam Misa Kuranaga and Isaac Akiba in William Forsythe's 'Pas/Parts 2018'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." width="250" height="168" /><p id="caption-attachment-23950" class="wp-caption-text">John Lam Misa Kuranaga and Isaac Akiba in William Forsythe’s ‘Pas/Parts 2018’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">When the curtain rose for the third piece, William Forsythe’s <em>Pas/Parts 2018</em>, I suddenly understood why the intermission was on the longer side. The set was a unique, impressive structure of two almost ceiling-high white walls. A solo from Chyrstyn Fentroy opened the work. She moved with an elastic quality – pliable, yet unshakably strong, and with nuanced stretching out in time of her movement. Another quickly noticeable aesthetic effect was her two-toned leotard – a different color in the back and in the front – so that there was a striking kaleidoscope effect as she turned. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">This effect continued throughout the piece, with every ballerina in a similarly two-toned leotard. Forsythe could have pushed this kaleidoscope effect further with more multiple turns. Yet that might have felt incongruous with the movement of the piece. Although this movement had a technical base, it is best characterized by onamonapeia: pop-pang-pow, swish-swoop-swipe! One movement flowed into the next such that the technical base became less meaningful, a means to a beautiful end. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Other movement was slower and more defined, particularly (and perhaps necessarily) lifts and effects within them. In one particularly memorable lift, two danseurs lifted a ballerina under her armpits as she scissor-action opened and closed her legs, following with smaller switches of her legs, as the trio exited the staged. All of this occurred through various solos, duets, trios, ensemble sections, and various other groupings. I was heartened to see every dancer credited in the program for his/her section (though it could be quite hard to follow along in the dark theater). </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Another memorable moment was the entire ensemble suddenly pausing, as a center downstage soloist turned and oozed through complex footwork. The qualitative shift from the prior ensemble section, of this change from many to one dancing, was truly captivating. Also captivating was the overall futuristic feel of the work. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Along with that, electronic music was the piece’s score, certainly not typical in ballet. Forsythe isn’t afraid to push these boundaries. I’m so very glad that he isn’t. It’s creators like him, in every art form, who push art forward. For that matter, Elo and Peck are with him in that category. More or less successful, they’re not afraid to put forth what they have to put forth – in the artifice and the very real nature of what occurs on stage.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">By Kathryn Boland of</span> <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dance Informa.</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/">Optical illusions and reality in Boston Ballet’s ‘Parts in Suite’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2018/03/17/optical-illusions-and-reality-in-boston-ballets-parts-in-suite/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo's 'Bach Cello Suites'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Bach-Cello-Suites.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23945</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Boston Ballet’s ‘Obsidian Tear’: Dancing away from the pack</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 14 Nov 2017 03:10:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ashley Ellis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Daniel Stewart]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jean Sibelius]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Katie Shillingford]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Obsidian Tear]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wayne McGregor]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Yumiko Takeshima]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=23090</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts. November 3, 2017. The tension between the will of the individual and that of the group is as old as time. In classical dance, there’s the corps de ballet and soloists. Traditionally speaking, corps members must together compose a united whole while soloists are tasked with embodying full and memorable […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/">Boston Ballet’s ‘Obsidian Tear’: Dancing away from the pack</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts. </span><br /> <span style="color: #000000;">November 3, 2017.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The tension between the will of the individual and that of the group is as old as time. In classical dance, there’s the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">corps de ballet</span><i> </i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and soloists. Traditionally speaking, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">corps</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> members must together compose a united whole while soloists are tasked with embodying full and memorable characters, archetypes or ideas. Some works of dance art can utilize this structure to depict united groups and those who diverge from them, those “mavericks” who dare to color outside of the lines. It seems to have been shown possible even in ballet crafted in a more contemporary vein.</span></span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23093" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23093" class="size-full wp-image-23093" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Wayne-McGregors-Obsidian-Tear.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Wayne McGregor's 'Obsidian Tear'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet." width="250" height="173" /><p id="caption-attachment-23093" class="wp-caption-text">Boston Ballet in Wayne McGregor’s ‘Obsidian Tear’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boston Ballet demonstrated such an approach, to great success, in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Obsidian Tear </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">– including the title work from Wayne McGregor and the world premiere of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">from Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo. The general focus, delivered with specificity yet multi-faceted nuance open to interpretation, seems quite apropos in 2017; various socio-political forces lead us to consider how we balance serving the life of the individual and the thriving of the wider collective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">The Oxford Dictionary defines “obsidian” as “a hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization” – a curious word indeed for the title of a ballet. That combined with the grand and dramatic preceding overture (“Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius, led by Guest Conductor Daniel Stewart), and we audience members didn’t know what to expect. Yet we knew we were in for a ride. The first dancers were in black, with one in red – a color that stuck out as vibrant and unique. Other dancers joined, but all in black and none with this eye-catching red (costumes assembled by Fashion Coordinator Katie Shillingford). The sole red had to signify something. Something big had to be coming.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">McGregor’s movement in this piece was like maple syrup – oozing in a sustained way but with a somehow sharp and striking sweetness. A mesh of the classical and more joint-initiated contemporary perhaps built this quality. The music interwove itself through that movement, with a continuously meandering quality. Conversely, as the dancers moved, different groupings seemed to embody different harmonic parts in the music – high and lower, sharp and more </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">adagio</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">The movement was also rather shape-driven – sometimes those more complex and fuzzy to the eye, at other times more geometric and definitive. It became a give-and-take, a balance, between the defined and the somewhat undefinable. One truly memorable shape, visually astounding but also seemingly speaking to the connection between the dancers, was arms forming a loop (dancers holding wrists) and the loop raised to upstage. They released this to re-loop in a different variation. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23094" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23094" class="size-full wp-image-23094" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Wayne-McGregors-Obsidian-Tear.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-Boston-Ballet.jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Wayne McGregor's 'Obsidian Tear'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet." width="250" height="136" /><p id="caption-attachment-23094" class="wp-caption-text">Boston Ballet in Wayne McGregor’s ‘Obsidian Tear’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Later, the same two walked off stage together – two parts of a whole, it appeared. Yet the dancer in red was never engaged in these kind of connections. Moreover, more dancers joined and came to lead him to a ledge – one of black, sharp, thick and strong rock. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Obsidian</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. A tension of battle was rising. One dancer extended his arm as if to gesture “forth, men!” Movement then grew faster, more geometric and more angular – elbow-driven, with gestures in different planes and directions. It all felt quite mechanical. The dancer in red was finally led to the edge of the ledge. Tension hit a peak as he had to stand there as powerful, commanding dancing (in a duet and solo) played out below him. There seemed to be no escape. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">In an oddly sinister way, one dancer walked slowly across the stage. It reminisced the slow march toward mortality. The end seemingly so close for this outsider in red, it was tangible enough to be reflected in physical form. The dancer on the ledge tried to escape but was then pushed off into an unknown abyss. Then another dancer struggled for life – a representation of the one who fell, or one of empathic connection between them as both living, feeling people? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Above this dancer commenced a duet of heavy and grounded movement, of tense yet smoothly executed weight sharing. This section, as well as much else about the piece (such as some in an all-male cast wearing rather feminine costumes) unflinchingly broke through gendered boundaries; all-male partnering included shapes and movement historically danced by women. It all didn’t seem to call attention to itself, as it didn’t seem to be the main focus of the work. Gender just didn’t seem to have to matter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">What seemed to be more the point in question was the treatment of this one dancer in red – ostracized, vilified and finally pushed to his demise. Also significant was how a main leader of this treatment jumped off the ledge himself at the end – lights and music suddenly cutting out, and the curtain quickly dropping, to add to the shock of observing that completely unexpected action. One takeaway – sometimes we are pushed, and sometimes we jump. We are done unto, and we do upon ourselves. Another is that those who bully and ostracize the vulnerable ultimately also hurt themselves in the end. Whatever the case may be, or even with no particular moral message to derive, it was unique and striking art to experience. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23095" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23095" class="size-full wp-image-23095" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Boston-Ballet-in-Jorma-Elos-Fifth-Symphony-of-Jean-Sibelius.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo's 'Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet." width="250" height="135" /><p id="caption-attachment-23095" class="wp-caption-text">Boston Ballet in Jorma Elo’s ‘Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jorma Elo’s <em>Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibeluis</em> was noticeably more traditional but had its own kind of contemporary bent. It truly began with a bang, at the risk of cliché – but one that was in no way cliché. From the start, formations melted into each other in very striking, innovative ways. It was a different kind of continuous motion than was seen in McGregor’s piece; rather than individual groupings continuously moving in specific phrasework, the overall stage picture was constantly morphing, shifting and evolving. With clever phrase-work, various pairs of male and female dancers, in green and maroon (costume design by Yumiko Takeshima)</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">moved within these formations. This phrasework was punctuated by a few particular movement motifs and shapes, including “V” arms, “scissoring” legs with dancers lifted (to almost create a feeling of flying). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">It all felt largely classical, yet lilting extensions and shaping in partnering felt compellingly contemporary. Something significant felt quite divergent from classical plotless ballet pieces, however. One dancer in blue (Ashley Ellis), who didn’t have a partner, danced her own unique movement. At one point, for instance, Ellis sat, spun and pedaled her feet as if riding a bicycle. Did her solitude prevent her from flying, keeping her grounded, while those with the support of others could fly? </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">The unity of the group as a whole wasn’t as settled in the beginning; dancers in clear lines moved limbs every which way – an organized chaos. This all morphed into clearer unison – canon, groupings and the like. Ellis’ character didn’t seem willing, or able, to self-define within that united identity, however. In one beautiful section, for instance, dancers leapt in smoothly intersecting lines. The dancer in blue took her own path, however. </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_23096" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23096" class="size-full wp-image-23096" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Derek-Dunn-and-Hannah-Bettes-in-Jorma-Elos-Fifth-Symphony-of-Jean-Sibelius.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet..jpg" alt="Derek Dunn and Hannah Bettes in Jorma Elo's 'Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." width="250" height="218" /><p id="caption-attachment-23096" class="wp-caption-text">Derek Dunn and Hannah Bettes in Jorma Elo’s ‘Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius’. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Ultimately, the group came to strike a wonderful tableau – yet the dancer in blue sat, peddling her legs. She never did come to truly join the group. Yet a smile was wide across her face. She seemed to be in solitude, but not loneliness. Therein, the work in conjunction with McGregor’s demonstrated a diversity of experience.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">There is ostracization and attack of the outsider, most often borne out of fear – often that of change, of losing what one has had. There is also when the group and the outsider are content in their own identities and present experience. Our world (perhaps more now than in a long while) is presently facing these questions of how we balance the needs of the individual and group, of the welfare of the pack and that of outsiders – perhaps now more than it has in a long time. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Art, at its best, is a multi-paneled mirror to reflect reality as is – or how it could be. Dance, with access to the power of infinite possibilities of bodies in space – joined with those bodies’ minds and spirits – perhaps has a unique ability still among art forms. In </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Obsidian Tear, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boston Ballet tapped into this power with precision and grace. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #000000;">By Kathryn Boland of</span> <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dance Informa.</a> </span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/">Boston Ballet’s ‘Obsidian Tear’: Dancing away from the pack</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/11/14/boston-ballets-obsidian-tear-dancing-away-from-the-pack/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Paulo-Arrais-and-Irlan-Silva-in-Wayne-McGregors-Obsidian-Tear.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Paulo Arrais and Irlan Silva in Wayne McGregor's 'Obsidian Tear'. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Paulo-Arrais-and-Irlan-Silva-in-Wayne-McGregors-Obsidian-Tear.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Paulo-Arrais-and-Irlan-Silva-in-Wayne-McGregors-Obsidian-Tear.-Photo-by-Rosalie-OConnor-courtesy-of-Boston-Ballet.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23090</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Divergence and convergence – Green Street Studios’ Ballet Showcase</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/divergence-and-convergence-green-street-studios-ballet-showcase/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/divergence-and-convergence-green-street-studios-ballet-showcase/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 02 May 2017 13:17:21 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Anthony Randazzo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Beth Mochizuki]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet II]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[David Sun]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Green Street Studios]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Island Moving Company]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kat Nasti]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kevin Jenkins]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ruth Whitney]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Stephen Petrilli]]></category> <category><![CDATA[SunDanceX]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tai Jimenez]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Davidoff]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/?p=21775</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Green Street Studios, Cambridge, Massachusetts. April 22, 2017. On the one hand, there’s diversity – the existence of varied ways to be and act. On the other, there’s unity – separate entities acting and being in cohesion and harmony. The two modes are not mutually exclusive, however, because unity does not necessarily mean conformity. Diverging […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/divergence-and-convergence-green-street-studios-ballet-showcase/">Divergence and convergence – Green Street Studios’ Ballet Showcase</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Green Street Studios, Cambridge, Massachusetts. </span><br /> <span style="color: #000000;"> April 22, 2017.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">On the one hand, there’s diversity – the existence of varied ways to be and act. On the other, there’s unity – separate entities acting and being in cohesion and harmony. The two modes are not mutually exclusive, however, because unity does not necessarily mean conformity. Diverging ways of being and acting can join harmoniously, and thus be unified. We’re now seeing that effect in concert dance, generally speaking, with classical and contemporary elements sometimes blending and sometimes living side by side.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_21779" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21779" class="size-full wp-image-21779" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ruth-Whitney-and-Jacob-Hoover-of-Tony-Williams-Ballet-Company-in-La-Favorita.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg" alt="Ruth Whitney and Jacob Hoover of Tony Williams Ballet Company in 'La Favorita'. Photo by Golden Lion Photography." width="250" height="375" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ruth-Whitney-and-Jacob-Hoover-of-Tony-Williams-Ballet-Company-in-La-Favorita.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ruth-Whitney-and-Jacob-Hoover-of-Tony-Williams-Ballet-Company-in-La-Favorita.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography.-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-21779" class="wp-caption-text">Ruth Whitney and Jacob Hoover of Tony Williams Ballet Company in ‘La Favorita’. Photo by Golden Lion Photography.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Kat Nasti, director of Green Street Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, expressed that point as she introduced the dance collective’s Ballet Showcase. The show is the first of a series of genre-specific concerts that Green Street will present over the coming months. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The show included works in the ballet idiom ranging from classical to neoclassical to postmodern with balletic inspirations. The first of these pieces, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mama Belly </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">choreographed and performed by Tai Jimenez, was a striking exploration of motherhood. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">One could interpret that exploration as largely commentary on sacrifice – perhaps some of that a loss of part of one’s identity – within the motherhood experience. Jimenez moved gracefully and poignantly. She often initiated movement from the hips, elbows and wrists with striking subtlety. Costuming and lighting complemented her body’s building of an almost ominous atmosphere. A floating, yet earth-grounded piqué turn – as one of the few overtly technical movements in the piece – left one craving more fluid blending of balletic movement with that in the postmodern, release-technique idiom. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Similarly postmodern in some qualities was a following piece, an excerpt of Jorma Elo’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Slice to Sharp</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, performed by Boston Ballet II’s Thomas Davidoff and staged by Anthony Randazzo. It had a much more athletic energy, however. The work – and Davidoff’s commanding delivery of it – reminisced that wonderful scene in the ballet film </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Company </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">wherein a male dancer, alone in a Cathedral-like space, moves quickly and powerfully. </span></span></p> <p><div id="attachment_21780" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21780" class="size-full wp-image-21780" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Christian-Pforr-of-Boston-Ballet-II-in-Jorma-Elos-Slice-to-Sharp.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg" alt="Christian Pforr of Boston Ballet II in Jorma Elo's 'Slice to Sharp'. Photo by Golden Lion Photography." width="250" height="262" /><p id="caption-attachment-21780" class="wp-caption-text">Christian Pforr of Boston Ballet II in Jorma Elo’s ‘Slice to Sharp’. Photo by Golden Lion Photography.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">Davidoff danced with an incredibly captivating way of maintaining a spinal snakiness through some very technical and complex movement. This reviewer, as a Boston-based critic, looks forward to see where he will go in the overarching Boston Ballet structure. Yet the movement was so fast, so powerful, so spectacular, that one might crave more leveling of speed and physical energies; when something is constant, from lack of opposition, it comes to mean less. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There we had postmodernism. Jazz dance also made an appearance, with SundanceX’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Caprice</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (from Choreographer and Artistic Director/Founder David Sun). With vocabulary such as parallel passés, layouts, and even a Fosse-style Italian </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">pas de chat</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the piece was certainly full of capricious and jazzy fun. It offered a Balanchine-esque twist on classicism delivered with flair and lots of fast footwork. Bright costume colors, a different one for each dancer’s unitard, added to that sense of fun and flair. The dancers executed those difficult allegro sections, as well as slower sections with sustained extensions and turns, commendably. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">On the other hand, one could wonder what the skillful choreography – and its execution – might look like if the dancers took more risk with it. Releases to the floor felt very controlled and safe, for instance, lacking drama that might have been compelling (with the exception of one dancer in a yellow costume). Perhaps the young dancers, with impressive technique for their apparent ages, are at a stage where it’s either technical command or a daring approach to their dancing. They show much promise and potential. In any case, Sun made good use of levels in space and stage sections, to create a pleasing stage picture.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_21781" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21781" class="size-full wp-image-21781" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Beth-Mochizuki-in-Kevin-Jenkins-Reverie.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg" alt="Beth Mochizuki in Kevin Jenkins' 'Reverie'. Photo by Golden Lion Photography." width="250" height="374" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Beth-Mochizuki-in-Kevin-Jenkins-Reverie.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Beth-Mochizuki-in-Kevin-Jenkins-Reverie.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography.-201x300.jpg 201w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-21781" class="wp-caption-text">Beth Mochizuki in Kevin Jenkins’ ‘Reverie’. Photo by Golden Lion Photography.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The building of atmosphere in </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reverie </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">also significantly contributed to the experience of the piece, along with skillfully designed, tenebristic backlighting (lighting design by Stephen Petrilli). Kevin Jenkins’ choreography offered something smooth and luscious, the two dancers (Beth Mochizuki and Ruth Whitney) rolling wrists and shifting their heads with graceful turns and extensions. Ballet buns, and the long sleeves as well as knee-length flowing skirts of their dark costumes, enhanced this simple yet powerful movement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">There was Mark Morris-like joyful ease echoing through it all. Adding to that quality, the instrumental string music, a solo violin lilted just as did the movement. All in all, all of these elements came together to create an aesthetic experience not to be forgotten. Yet a sole critique is a desire to see the dancers interact more. The soulfulness of their dancing apart, and that of the relatively rare moments when they joined, begged the question of what that would have to contributed to the piece. With that, the piece might have been an even more striking, memorable, and breath-taking experience to take in. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then came the finale work, Island Moving Company’s </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Memoria y</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em> Vidrio</em>, choreographed by Rodney Rivera</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A fully appropriate title, as the emotional content was vivid enough to connect with memories in each audience member. With gaze, facial expression, movement quality and way of interacting with other dancers, the cast created an emotional – yet not melodramatic – experience of dance artistry. Also contributing to this experience was Rivera’s clever, innovative formation-making. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">In one section, for instance, a line of all-male dancers lay on their back far upstage, with one arm extended to the sky. The simplicity effectively contrasted virtuosic movement happening center stage. In a moment more subtle and drama-driven, one (of the three total) ballerinas lay in fetal position. She held two male dancers’ ankles to be slowly, gently moved (it was not as aggressive or violent as “dragging” would imply). </span></p> <p><div id="attachment_21782" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21782" class="size-full wp-image-21782" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Island-Moving-Company-in-Memoria-y-Vidrio.-Photo-by-Golden-Lion-Photography..jpg" alt="Island Moving Company in 'Memoria y Vidrio'. Photo by Golden Lion Photography." width="250" height="167" /><p id="caption-attachment-21782" class="wp-caption-text">Island Moving Company in ‘Memoria y Vidrio’. Photo by Golden Lion Photography.</p></div></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; color: #000000;">The stage picture then spoke many thousands of words; something in it seemed to have connective tissue to the millennia of loss, love, yearning and hope for a better future within collective human experience. She rose, however, as did other dancers executing similar level changes through (and right within) gracefully-constructed phrase-work. It all seemed to echo Maya Angelou’s poetic line, “And still I rise…and still I rise.” To fall, then rise again, is not solely of the past or of the present. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Styles of dance, classical to modern to postmodern, do not have to be either. </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Memoria y Vidrio</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, along with other commendable works in this program, proved that to be true. They can interweave, walk side by side, and be in dialogue. It can all be part of the crucial observation and commentary that art can offer us. In a time when the values diversity and unity sometimes seem at odds, when we sometimes struggle to reconcile divergence and convergence, let us remember – as this program illustrated – that they can indeed be as one. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="color: #000000;">By Kathryn Boland of</span> <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dance Informa.</a> </span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/divergence-and-convergence-green-street-studios-ballet-showcase/">Divergence and convergence – Green Street Studios’ Ballet Showcase</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2017/05/02/divergence-and-convergence-green-street-studios-ballet-showcase/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Island-Moving-Company-in-Memoria-y-Vidrio.-Photo-by-Thomas-Palmer.-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Island Moving Company in 'Memoria y Vidrio'. Photo by Thomas Palmer." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Island-Moving-Company-in-Memoria-y-Vidrio.-Photo-by-Thomas-Palmer.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Island-Moving-Company-in-Memoria-y-Vidrio.-Photo-by-Thomas-Palmer.-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21775</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Atlanta Ballet ends exciting season with ‘MAYhem’</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/05/22/atlanta-ballet-ends-exciting-season-mayhem/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/05/22/atlanta-ballet-ends-exciting-season-mayhem/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 22 May 2014 17:41:35 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[1st Flash]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Abigail Tan-Gamino]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alessa Rogers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alexander Scriabin]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Atlanta Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Christian Clark]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre]]></category> <category><![CDATA[David Lang]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Helen Pickett]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John McFall]]></category> <category><![CDATA[John Welker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Julia Wolfe]]></category> <category><![CDATA[MAYhem]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Michael Gordon]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Nadia Mara]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rachel Van Buskirk]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Radiohead]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Stephanie Hall]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Steve Reich]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Exiled]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Three]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/USA_magazine/?p=12706</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta, GA May 18, 2014 By Chelsea Thomas of Dance Informa. Atlanta Ballet started its 2013-14 Season with a fall tour to China – its first international company tour in more than 10 years – and ended it with a contemporary ballet tour-de-force, featuring two world premieres and the return […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/05/22/atlanta-ballet-ends-exciting-season-mayhem/">Atlanta Ballet ends exciting season with ‘MAYhem’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta, GA</span><br /> <span style="color: #000000;"> May 18, 2014</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">By Chelsea Thomas of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a title="Dance reviews" href="https://www.danceinforma.com/category/dance-reviews/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;">Dance Informa</span></a></span>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Atlanta Ballet started its 2013-14 Season with a fall tour to China – its first international company tour in more than 10 years – and ended it with a contemporary ballet tour-de-force, featuring two world premieres and the return of Jorma Elo’s <i>1st Flash</i>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Atlanta Ballet described the May mixed bill as a “no-holds-barred explosion of creativity and energy” and it didn’t miss the mark. The program was jam-packed with bold, kinetically heightened moments teeming with bright innovation and risk. The main company dancers shined in the program’s diverse choreography as a few select young dancers debuted in feature roles.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The Sunday afternoon matinee started off with Artistic Director John McFall’s first premiere in six years – <i>Three</i>. This ambitious and complex work, which was inspired by the many layers of dreams and the subconscious, featured 14 dancers, six of which were in character roles. Set to music by Alexander Scriabin, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Radiohead and Steve Reich, the work spiraled and swirled between various duets, trios, solos and group scenes, fragmenting more and more into a hazy purgatory-esque reality – stuck between phases and unsure where one ended and another began. This was symbolized by the torn, separated pieces of curtain that lifted individually in order of the three stages of the subconscious.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12714" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12714" class="size-full wp-image-12714" alt="The Exiled" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-dancers-perform-in-The-Exiled-for-Mayhem-program.-Photo-by-Kim-Kenney.jpg" width="250" height="133" /><p id="caption-attachment-12714" class="wp-caption-text">Atlanta Ballet dancers perform in ‘The Exiled.’ Photo by Kim Kenney.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">As the intricate work continued to unravel, <i>Three</i>’s focus seemed to rest on one character played by fellowship dancer Stephanie Hall, identified in the program as the “Dreamer of Mind and Intelligence.” Hall, who stole the spotlight with her odd costume (she was in a unitard while the other “Dreamers” were in more feminine dresses), captivated with her irregular, jerky movements and long, lean limbs. After a memorable performance ending with her full physical transformation, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see her featured in more meaty roles in the future. [Full disclosure: I once danced with her back in high school and can testify that her significant talent and gorgeous balletic lines drew attention and envy even then. She has been a star on the rise for some time.]</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The second work on the program, <i>The Exiled</i>, was a world premiere by the company’s Resident Choreographer Helen Pickett. This work was by far the most intriguing to me, presenting a world where a “pension-stealing coward, a serial cheater and a mindless murderer are chosen by The Reckoners to spend eternity together,” as described by Pickett’s in-program note. Calling into question the basic principles of morality and fairness, The Reckoners, danced by Nadia Mara and Christian Clark, act as two vigilantes who exercise control over the criminals and serve justice as they see fit.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12709" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12709" class="size-full wp-image-12709 " title="John McFall's Three" alt="Atlanta Ballet's 'Mayhem'" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem.jpg" width="250" height="322" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem.jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem-233x300.jpg 233w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12709" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="color: #000000;">Atlanta Ballet dancers in ‘Three’. Photo by Charlie McCullers.</span></p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">In addition to gorgeous choreography chockfull with breathtaking leaps and duets, the work utilizes other elements to bring this world to life, including a boxed-in set that confines the three prisoners and spoken narration performed by Clark and Mara. In particular, the use of spoken word was a wonderfully crafted tool in the hands of Pickett, drawing viewers farther into this otherworldly situation that revealed the truly ambiguous nature of good and evil.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">As <i>The Exiled</i> progresses, the three prisoners – played by John Welker, Rachel Van Buskirk and Alessa Rogers – fight, seduce and attempt to escape to no success, ultimately coming to a place of demented acceptance. They shed their clothes like the layers of their pride, eventually exposing their inner natures and selfish motivations. The piece ends with no resolution, no neat wrap-up. And yet, somehow Pickett seems to perfectly achieve what she set out for – a work exposing the intricacies of human existence. If this is a foreshadowing of how she will approach next season’s full-length world premiere of <i>Camino Real</i> then audiences have something to look forward to.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Lastly, <i>MAYhem</i> closed with choreographer Jorma Elo’s non-narrative and abstract work <i>1st Flash</i>. This was certainly a crowd favorite (and therefore, a smart move on McFall’s behalf) since most of the audience seemed to leave the theater impressed.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><i>1st Flash</i> showcased Atlanta Ballet dancers’ athleticism and precision while highlighting the company’s timeless class and sophistication. It was the perfect conclusion to a season demonstrating the company’s forward-thinking nature and simultaneous ability to preserve and protect the past. I’m looking forward to another season of world-class dance. <i> </i></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><i>– Also of special note, this performance was the last for company dancer Abigail Tan-Gamino, who had been with Atlanta Ballet for four seasons. She performed in John McFall’s ‘</i><em>Three</em><i>.’</i></span></p> <p><span style="color: #999999;">Photo (top): Atlanta Ballet dancers perform in John McFall’s <em>Three</em>. Photo by Charlie McCullers.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/05/22/atlanta-ballet-ends-exciting-season-mayhem/">Atlanta Ballet ends exciting season with ‘MAYhem’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/05/22/atlanta-ballet-ends-exciting-season-mayhem/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem11-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem11-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Atlanta-Ballet-Mayhem11-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">12706</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Benjamin Stone flourishing in Atlanta</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/04/02/australian-benjamin-stone-flourishing-atlanta/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/04/02/australian-benjamin-stone-flourishing-atlanta/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2014 19:22:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Feature Articles]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Atlanta Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Benjamin Stone]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Birmingham Royal Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Brian Nolan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Bruce Wells]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Carmina Burana]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dale Baker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[David Bintley]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Don Quixote]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dracula]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hamlet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Helen Pickett]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jean-Christophe Maillot]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jia Hong Wang]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mark Annear]]></category> <category><![CDATA[McDonald’s Sydney Eisteddfod]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Michael Jackson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Michael Pink]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ohad Naharin]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Romeo et Juliette]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Secus]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sharon Story]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Simon Dowe]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Stephen Mills]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sydney Eisteddfod]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tara Lee]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Australian Ballet School]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tim Podesta]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wayne McGregor]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/USA_magazine/?p=12235</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>By Chelsea Thomas of Dance Informa. In his second season dancing with Atlanta Ballet, Australian native Benjamin Stone is truly coming into his own. At only 22 years old, this season he’s had the opportunity to dance soloist roles in numerous productions, having recently completed his role as Benvolio in the company’s production of Jean-Christophe […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/04/02/australian-benjamin-stone-flourishing-atlanta/">Benjamin Stone flourishing in Atlanta</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">By Chelsea Thomas of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a title="Dance Informa dance magazine" href="http://danceinforma.us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;">Dance Informa</span></a></span>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">In his second season dancing with Atlanta Ballet, Australian native Benjamin Stone is truly coming into his own. At only 22 years old, this season he’s had the opportunity to dance soloist roles in numerous productions, having recently completed his role as Benvolio in the company’s production of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s <i>Roméo et Juliette.</i></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">“Sometimes I wake up and pinch myself. I’m performing roles in ballet’s I never dreamed I’d actually get to be a part of. And back to back in one season no less! Here at the Atlanta Ballet it’s all a dream. I can’t even put into words how much of a rockstar I feel like right now!” exclaims Stone before laughing.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Stone, who recently performed in <i>Secus</i> by Ohad Naharin and is now preparing for a role in <i>Hamlet</i> by Stephen Mills, says his love for dance started in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia when he was 10 years old.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12238" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12238" class="size-full wp-image-12238" alt="Atlanta Ballet's Alessa Rogers and Ben Stone" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Atlanta-Ballets-Alessa-Rogers-and-Ben-Stone.jpg" width="250" height="226" /><p id="caption-attachment-12238" class="wp-caption-text">Atlanta Ballet’s Alessa Rogers and Benjamin Stone in a promotional image for the company’s 2014 season. Photo by Charlie McCullers.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">“At an early age I loved Michael Jackson and I wanted to be someone who did all the cool moves and hip-hop tricks like him,” recalls Stone. “I basically wanted to be as ‘badass’ as Michael Jackson. [<i>Laughs</i>.] In order to do that my teacher told me I first had to do classical ballet to get a foundation of technique.”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">In Melbourne, Stone started his training with Brian Nolan [of Brian Nolan Academy of Dance] before training fulltime with Tim Podesta. Unlike most dancers who start fulltime training at 15 or 16 years of age, Stone started at 13.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Stone says, “I was severely bullied at my high school and my mom was scared for my health and safety every day. So it was just a natural thing for me to transition into that training. I just knew by a young age that I wanted to be a professional dancer so I was like, what’s stopping me from going ahead and pursuing it now?”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">So after researching, Stone found Tim Podesta and began taking his classes a few times a week. He says, “I just remember how much I improved in just a small amount of classes.” Soon thereafter he was offered to train at Podesta’s fulltime program at his school, The Regional Academy of Performing Arts.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Only three years later, at age 16, Stone advanced into the prestigious Australian Ballet School after winning the 2008 Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald’s Ballet Scholarship. He studied under Mark Annear, Dale Baker, Simon Dow and Jiahong Wang and graduated in 2011 with an Advanced Diploma of Dance.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12240" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12240" class="size-full wp-image-12240" alt="Atlanta Ballet dancer Benjamin Stone" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-David-Bintleys-Carmina-Burana.-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers.jpg" width="250" height="330" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-David-Bintleys-Carmina-Burana.-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers.jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-David-Bintleys-Carmina-Burana.-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-227x300.jpg 227w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12240" class="wp-caption-text">Benjamin Stone in David Bintley’s ‘Carmina Burana.’ Photo by Charlie McCullers.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">“Going from a small school with very intense training in Albury–Wodonga with hands-on training every day where I was the center of attention to The Australian Ballet School was like going from being a big fish in a small pond to a little fish in a huge pond. It was a real eye-opener. It was quite amazing really,” Stone recalls of his first year at the school.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">He continues, “[The Australian Ballet School] is an amazing environment to be in as a young dancer because you are surrounded by some of the best young dancers in the world, some from New Zealand, Japan and elsewhere… The first year is just spent really getting your body strong and ready. The following years are more focused on the pas de deux, where combinations get more tricky… Then the final year you don’t have to do academics anymore so its mainly focused on your dancing and halfway through the year you tour with The Australian Ballet Company, the dancer’s company.”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Stone says in his four years of training fulltime at the school, living away from his family and friends, he drastically improved in numerous aspects of his dancing. Perhaps most importantly, he learned how to take care of and maintain his own body.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">“I felt like I drastically improved in the knowledge of my own body and what it takes to really care for it,” Stone explains. “When you’re performing and you have such a strenuous schedule as a professional dancer, if you don’t really understand your body you can be detrimental to your own career. I felt like I really learned what it took to be prepared for an intensive performing schedule.”</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12242" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12242" class="size-full wp-image-12242" alt="Atlanta Ballet dancer Benjamin Stone" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Romeo-et-Juliette-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers.jpg" width="250" height="161" /><p id="caption-attachment-12242" class="wp-caption-text">Benjamin Stone, center, in Atlanta Ballet’s recent production of ‘Romeo et Juliette.’ Photo by Charlie McCullers.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Before graduating from The Australian Ballet School, Stone had a chance encounter with Atlanta Ballet’s Ballet Mistress Sharon Story. After chatting with him, she came back the next day and unexpectedly offered him a position at Atlanta Ballet. After touring with The Australian Ballet and appearing as Lead Gypsy in <i>Don Quixote</i>, Stone made the move across the globe to Atlanta, where he made his Atlanta Ballet debut as Prince Charming in Bruce Wells’ <i>Snow White.</i></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">“It was just like a dream come true,” Stone says on the offer to join Atlanta Ballet. “I looked at the repertoire and it was everything I had wished to do in my professional career. It had Wayne McGregor, Jorma Elo, Ohad Naharin and so on. It was amazing! Now, since being here, I’ve gotten to do <i>Carmina Burana</i> by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s David Bintley, Michael Pink’s <i>Dracula</i> and so on. Some of the ballets we do are truly the best in the world and to do this at the start of my career is a dream come true. I didn’t have to think about it very hard at all.”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">For this 2013-14 season, Stone says he was perhaps most thrilled to perform Maillot’s <i>Roméo et Juliette</i>, which came all the way from Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. “I had always wanted to do <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> and this was the exact version that I wanted to do,” Stone says. He was first cast as Benevolio and second cast as Romeo.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_12244" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12244" class="size-full wp-image-12244" alt="Atlanta Ballet dancer Benjamin Stone" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-Secus-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-Atlanta-Ballet.jpg" width="250" height="315" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-Secus-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-Atlanta-Ballet.jpg 250w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-in-Secus-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-Atlanta-Ballet-238x300.jpg 238w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /><p id="caption-attachment-12244" class="wp-caption-text">Benjamin Stone in ‘Secus.’ Photo by Charlie McCullers.</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">He exclaims, “This has been the most, <i>most</i> amazing process of my dancing life thus far – hands down. The way that they worked with us and the feeling, the emotion, the technique and the style of the work was amazing. I feel like through this process I’ve grown as an artist tenfold.”</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">In March, he was a part of a world premiere work by Tara Lee, an accomplished dancer entering her 18th season with Atlanta Ballet. In April, Stone will dance the role of Laertes, one of the six principal characters in <i>Hamlet</i>. Finally, in May, he will work with choreographer Helen Pickett on her new work <i>The Exiled</i> for the MAYhem program.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">One day Stone says he would “love to learn more about acting and possibly more with film.” Already he is a budding cinematographer in his spare time. Meanwhile, he is pushing himself to be the best dancer he can be, one that can use his endless energy to hone his focus and articulation.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">He says he recently realized his dream career starts now. “I don’t have to warm-up for it. It’s already starting,” he declares joyfully. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><i>For more information on Benjamin Stone or Atlanta Ballet, visit <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a title="Atlanta Ballet" href="http://www.atlantaballet.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;">www.atlantaballet.com</span></a></span>. </i></span></p> <p><span style="color: #999999;">Photo (top): Benjamin Stone. Photo by Charlie McCullers.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/04/02/australian-benjamin-stone-flourishing-atlanta/">Benjamin Stone flourishing in Atlanta</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/04/02/australian-benjamin-stone-flourishing-atlanta/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ben-Stone-Photo-by-Charlie-McCullers-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">12235</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Houston Ballet Brings Cutting-Edge Repertoire to NYC’s Joyce Theater</title> <link>https://www.danceinforma.com/2011/10/20/houston-ballet-brings-cutting-edge-repertoire-to-nyc%e2%80%99s-joyce-theater/</link> <comments>https://www.danceinforma.com/2011/10/20/houston-ballet-brings-cutting-edge-repertoire-to-nyc%e2%80%99s-joyce-theater/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:53:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Reviews - USA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ballet review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Boston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Christopher Bruce]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Christopher Bruce’s Hush]]></category> <category><![CDATA[classical ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Connor Walsh]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dance Informa]]></category> <category><![CDATA[dance magazine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Houston Ballet]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ilya Kozadayev]]></category> <category><![CDATA[James Gotesky]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jessica Collado]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jiri Kylian]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jorma Elo’s One/end/One]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Joyce Theater]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Karina Gonzalez]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kelly Myernick]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Kylian's Falling Angels]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Melissa Hough]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Melody Mennite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rhodes Elliott]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Steve Reich’s Drumming]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.danceinforma.com/USA_magazine/?p=6659</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Joyce Theater, New York City October 14, 2011 By Stephanie Wolf. It was a packed house for the Friday evening performance of Houston Ballet at the Joyce Theater. The Texan company brought their ‘A-game’ with an impressive array of repertoire from some of the world’s most sought after choreographers: Jorma Elo, Jiri Kylian, and Christopher […]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2011/10/20/houston-ballet-brings-cutting-edge-repertoire-to-nyc%e2%80%99s-joyce-theater/">Houston Ballet Brings Cutting-Edge Repertoire to NYC’s Joyce Theater</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #000000;">Joyce Theater, New York City</span><br /> <span style="color: #000000;">October 14, 2011</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">By Stephanie Wolf.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">It was a packed house for the Friday evening performance of Houston Ballet at the Joyce Theater. The Texan company brought their ‘A-game’ with an impressive array of repertoire from some of the world’s most sought after choreographers: Jorma Elo, Jiri Kylian, and Christopher Bruce. New Yorkers lusting for great dancing were not disappointed.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">With simple costumes of short black unitards and dramatic stage lighting, the performance opened with Kylian’s all-female ballet <em>Falling Angels</em>, featuring an ensemble of eight dancers and the pulsating rhythm of Steve Reich’s <em>Drumming</em>. Kylian created <em>Falling Angels </em>over ten years ago, but the ballet still feels fresh and innovative.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">No particular dancer stood out because the group as a whole was the ‘star’ of the piece. All of them danced the frenetic, quick movement in excellent unison. Each dancer engaged every muscle of her body; fully committed to the choreography and driving beat. Kylian included moments for each performer to break from the unison work and dance a brief solo, which kept the piece from being too repetitive.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The dancing was aerobic and incorporated the use of exaggerated facial expressions. Sometimes, the dancers tugged back and forth on their unitards to further enhance the movement. Their endurance was impressive, as they maintained the high energy from the moment the curtain went up until the end of the ballet.</span></p> <p><div id="attachment_6662" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><span style="color: #000000;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6662" class="size-full wp-image-6662" title="Houston-Ballet" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ONEendONE_with_Artists_of_Houston_Ballet_by_Amitava_Sarkar-Copy.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="119" /></span><p id="caption-attachment-6662" class="wp-caption-text">ONEendONE with Artists of Houston Ballet. Photo by Amitava Sarkar</p></div></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The second ballet on the program was Jorma Elo’s <em>One/end/One</em>, a display piece for the technical virtuosity of eight Houston Ballet dancers. It contrasted classical attire (the ladies wore tutus and the men were in tunics) with contemporary movement. Elo contorted a leg extended in tendu to an unballetic posture with the swerve of a hip and bend of a knee. Dancers’ arms took a classical form, and then rippled into a more gestural position (if position is even the correct word because it appeared as if the dancers never stopped moving). His choreography was relentless, but the dancing was brilliant.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">In the opening section, Elo played with the idea of tableaux; creating a picture with the dancers in space and then allowing it to quickly dissolve into a series of fast turns or footwork. Despite the speed of the choreography, the dancers executed the movement fully and the men covered the entire length of the stage in just a few jumps. Dancers entered and exited the stage throughout the section, resolving in several different variations of solos, pairings, trios, quartets, etc. A particular stand out in both the first and final section of the ballet was Melissa Hough, who joined the company in 2010 after dancing with Boston Ballet. She attacked every intricate step with an uncanny amount of speed, poise, and confidence.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">There were many moments of creativity and beauty in <em>One/end/One</em>. In the adagio, danced by Soloist Karina Gonzalez and Principal Connor Walsh, Elo produced an unusual yet stunning interpretation of a typical pas de deux. Several lifts had Walsh not only suspending Gonzalez in extended positions, but also required him to lift a leg to arabesque and maintain the ballerina’s placement simultaneously. Another interesting moment in the pas de duex had Walsh lying on his back with his legs stretched up to the ceiling, swaying back and forth like windshield wiper blades at Gonzalez’s command. The two made the difficult partnering work look smooth and delicate.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">It was interesting and intriguing, but asked the question, “What is the point?” This is not to say that a choreographer should ever have to explain his or her work, but the intent behind the ballet was curious. Was Elo mocking ballet with the choreographed quirks and unusual angles or simply further exploring both the formality and litheness of classical form?</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The final ballet of the night was Christopher Bruce’s <em>Hush, </em>a clever vignette of dances for three men and three women. <em>Hush</em> brought to life the unique musical partnership of violinist Yo-Yo Ma and vocalist Bobby McFerrin. The dancers resembled mimes with the ladies dressed in pom-pom adorned muslin dresses, the gentlemen sporting suspenders or old-fashioned suits, and all with white faces. It had the feeling of a 1930s circus.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">From playful, to sentimental, frenzied, and joyous, the ballet ran a gauntlet of emotions. Bruce hoped to tie in the element of everyone’s inner child and did so successfully. It’s a relatable piece, which sparked several bursts of laughter or sighs of pleasure from the audience. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">The opening section had series of twists, turns, and lifts with the dancers often linked by their limbs. From there, each section highlighted a different dancer with original and creative choreography. Jessica Collado danced a fluid, carefree solo exceptionally well. There were several tender moments from Kelly Myernick and James Gotesky, who brought a maternal and paternal aspect to the ballet. And a trio between Melody Mennite, Rhodes Elliott, and Ilya Kozadayev to McFerrin and Ma’s interpretation of “Flight of the Bumble Bee” was particularly fun. The ballet ended with a ‘hoedown’, eventually winding down to a final picture of all six dancers heading upstage, linked arm and arm.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Running a little under two hours, it was a well-balanced program. The evening showed the technical proficiency of the company, as well as original and interesting repertoire. Thank you Houston Ballet for reminding New York how much exciting dance exists outside of the city’s perimeter.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #c0c0c0;">Top photo: ONEendONE with Karina Gonzalez and Connor Walsh. Photo by Amitava Sarkar</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com/2011/10/20/houston-ballet-brings-cutting-edge-repertoire-to-nyc%e2%80%99s-joyce-theater/">Houston Ballet Brings Cutting-Edge Repertoire to NYC’s Joyce Theater</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.danceinforma.com">Dance Informa Magazine</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.danceinforma.com/2011/10/20/houston-ballet-brings-cutting-edge-repertoire-to-nyc%e2%80%99s-joyce-theater/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <featuredImage><img width="150" height="150" src="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Houston-Ballet-dancers-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Houston-Ballet-dancers-150x150.jpg 150w, https://www.danceinforma.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Houston-Ballet-dancers-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></featuredImage> <warez>Tag added</warez> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">6659</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss> <!-- Performance optimized by W3 Total Cache. 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