Jose carreno is dancing again!

Originally uploaded by swan lake samba girl via mobile.

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Although hopefully with all this drunken choreography he won’t reinjure himself.

Update: So, this week’s ballet at ABT is “The Merry Widow,” created in the 1970s and originally an opera. When I first read the synopsis I thought, this plot is so intricate, like an Oscar Wilde-ish comedy of manners, how are they ever going to pull it off without words. They didn’t really — and so you need to read that synopsis — but it’s still a lot of fun to watch the dancers try to mime everything.

(Jose headshot from ABT website)

I love Jose Carreno with all my heart. Every little emotion, no matter how subtle, registers thoroughly on his face, every perceived rejection, every memory. When he wrapped his hands around Julie Kent’s waist, finger by finger, before lifting her, when he traced his hand from her wrist to her shoulder, when he looked as if he was biting at her neck — just sends chills!

Julie was beautiful, Xiomara Reyes did a great acting job, the whole cast was excellent. I thought the very modern choreography had great humor and was a lot of fun, but I must warn you, this is this season’s Cinderella, so purists are likely not going to be too happy.

Oh and the sets and costumes on this one — extremely lavish. Don’t think I’ve ever seen such elaborate sets for an ABT production; they put a lot of money into this one.

Photo by Fabrizio Ferri, of Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky dancing “Merry Widow” leads, from ABT website.

The Ballroom Dance Channel (a social networking site for ballroom enthusiasts founded by Dancing With the Stars’ Maks Chmerkovskiy and Tony Dovolani) is doing a series of podcasts. In their upcoming one, they’re going to be interviewing Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith, who choreograph for So You Think You Can Dance. Here’s a little preview, where they talk a bit about what it’s like to work on the show.

I was sitting in front of my air conditioner engrossed in an essay by Edwin Denby called “Dancers, Buildings, and People in the Streets” — I know, brilliant Saturday night — when my cell phone did the little chirp it does when I have a text message. I wondered who could be calling at midnight. Thinking it may be an emergency I jumped up and ran to my dresser to see it was my friend, Parker Sanchez, telling me she was just crowned Mrs. New Jersey!!! I’m so excited! I’ve never known a real beauty queen before! Go Parker! I think she’s now going to go on to Mrs. America or Mrs. USA. Yay

More reviews up: here is my SYTYCD piece on HuffPost, and here is my review of the Christopher Caines Dance Company performance I saw recently at the Rose Hall in Jazz at Lincoln Center. Many people were lukewarm about it, and most hated the venue (see here, here, here, and here), but I thought the ballet was really quite charming and the venue was nice and intimate and made me see ballet in a new way. The whole thing REALLY made me want to take up dance again myself, especially the last waltzy section…

Also went to NYCB last night for their Dancers’ Choice Program (a variety of excerpts from favorite ballets all selected by the dancers, and including a little video footage), which was excellent. Sat next to Mr. Artiste And LOVED Flit of Fury — the Monarch, the new ballet by NYCB dancers Adam Hendrickson and Aaron Severini. One of the best new ballets I’ve seen in a while. Review coming soon!

I have been getting a good number of visitors to my blog through Google searches from this little ole mobile post I did when I was in Blackpool. I’ve also gotten several comments. Damn, I wish we could see the show here! Perhaps American networks should take notice of its popularity… sounds much more interesting than that “Who’s the Biggest Loser” we have now.

(photo by Paul Kolnick)

I’m behind on my dance writing again. Here is my piece on V&M’s Bayadere in HuffPost, and several reviews are upcoming on Explore Dance. Just so people know, since I’m so backed up on my writing, it’s very difficult for me to get to emails right now.

On Tuesday I went to see Joaquin De Luz’s Prodigal Son debut. His was the most passionate, most intense, most pathos-driven prodigal son I’ve seen yet. He had all the high jumps in the beginning, but they weren’t about the acrobatics; he used them to show his character’s pent-up frustration with his parents, his youthful angst, his need to leave home and go out and explore the world. You could see that both on his face and with his body. Later, when encountering the Siren, danced fine by Kaitlyn Gilliland (Mr. Martins, could you please show me Georgina Pazcoguin in that role!), you could really see his seduction, his becoming completely entranced by her. After their sex scene, he runs up this ladder (which later becomes a cross to which he is tied) with such speed and in such a burst of fervor, it’s as if he’s simultaneously still in the throes of rapture and beginning to realize how dangerous she is.

(photo by Paul Kolnick, of Damian Woetzel in the lead role, from the New York Times)

I noticed that De Luz also, just like a very skilled actor, brought you into the world he created by making you “see” props and scenery that the stage simply can’t hold. The way he crawled about the stage after being beaten, the way he looked around and suddenly shielded eyes when glancing upward, the way he scooped his hands along the ground then brushed his body with them, it all made you feel like you were in a vast desert with him, blinded by the sun, blinded by your own shame, and looking desperately for whatever small pools of water you could find, to splash over yourself, washing off your sins. I haven’t seen any of the other dancers be that specific. And then at the end the way he crawled after his mother and sister, grasping at their skirt tails, then, on first seeing him, shielding his face from his father, as he did from the sun, it drove home the drama and pathos of it all so profoundly.

Nearly equalling Joaquin in intensity, albeit with a much smaller role, was Antonio Carmena, who danced one of the son’s servants. At one point he gets into a fight with the other servant, Kyle Froman, and while his jumps over and leaps at Froman are astonishing in their power and precision, they’re almost animalistic. He uses them to show how vulgar and inhuman and corrupting this world of the Siren, which they’ve entered into, really is.

Also on the program was Peter Martins’ Thou Swell, a modernist ballroom-style dance that takes place in a dance hall replete with crazy cool Art Deco mirrors and flashy, sharp-patterened Twenties-style ballgowns. I was excited to learn, via a Joseph Carman article in the Playbill, that Mr. Martins (also Director of the company) was once a champion ballroom dancer in Denmark! No wonder I like this ballet so — it’s not just ballroom through the eyes of a ballet maker, but an authentic combination of the two. Denmark has really produced a lot of ballroom champs throughout the years.

And the program ended with this sweet little late-eighteenth-century-French-styled ballet, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, by Balanchine, replete with ballerinas in decadent, cotton-candy-colored multi-layered tutus, plush, champagne-colored curtains, and a backdrop featuring the palace and gardens at Versailles, one of my favorite places.

“Shortly after the article [in the New York Times, about murder convict Gary Gilmore] caught his eye, almost immediately in fact, Susskind’s old friend and associate Stanley Greenberg called, and they had a good conversation. Stanley had written a TV story fifteen years ago about a man awaiting execution. The man had been so long on Death Row that he changed in character, and the question became, “Who was being executed?” Metamorphosis the play had been called, and Susskind always felt that it had had some effect on the end of capital punishment in New York State, and maybe even a little to do with the Supreme Court decision that saved a lot of men’s lives on Death Row.”

From The Executioner’s Song, by Norman Mailer.

Intelligent lawyers leave the law because they know art produces social change, not legal arguments.

Last night’s La Bayadere was ABT’s best night at the Met yet. They had the largest, most enthusiastic audience, many of whom seemed to be Marcelo fans! He got lots of ‘bravos’ and huge applause throughout, and he sensed early on the crowd was really with him so he kind of took it over the top with the enormous jetes and those interesting running-in-the-air jumps, whatever they’re called. I thought he may throw his back out after he landed a tour jete on one knee and dramatically arched back, his fingers gracing the ground behind him. And when he lands a jete it’s almost earth-shattering because of his size. But of course those huge leaps fit in with the role too since his character here is a warrior. It’s funny; it was like he was on a mission to really deliver – -it seemed his dancing was even fuller-bodied and more theatrical than usual. He’s always my favorite no matter

Dancers are definitely very sensitive to how the crowd is reacting to what they’re doing — or at least Marcelo and Angel are, which is probably why I like them so. You can read their feelings all over their faces. Or at least you can if you kind of “know” them from seeing them so many times.

And Veronika Part really owns this role. Her expressive wrists, those luscious developes of which she is the queen (lift of the leg at the knee, then slowly unfolding to a full extension), and her gorgeously almost tragically poetic arabesques (back leg lifted). Oh, by the way, Bayadere is set in ancient India, and tells the story of Solor the warrior who falls in love with a temple dancer, Nikiya, but is betrothed to the princess Gamzatti. Veronika (as Nikiya) got loads of applause during her solo curtain calls at the very end of course. This is how the ballet should always be; the crowd going nuts like that.

But Marcelo and Veronika weren’t just great on their own; they were a perfect partnership as well, which to me is really everything, more important than the solo dancing. I really believed they were hopelessly, tragically in love. She was so forlorn, I wanted to cry for her when it was clear she wasn’t going to get her love. And Marcelo as always was the perfect actor, making perfectly clear how truly torn he was between his beloved and his betrothed, especially after the latter’s sexy, seductive whipping fouette sequence, and then how distraught he was on realizing he was in love with Nikiya but had to marry the princess.

Of course this ballet is so beautiful, many come regardless of who’s dancing, just for the story and the poetry of the choreography, particularly the breathtaking Kingdom of the Shades scene (which at first I have to admit I wasn’t so fond of because it’s so slow and there are few men ) but has really grown on me with its beauty. This is the part of the ballet where Solor sleeps and dreams of his Nikiya, whose image floods his subconsious by suddenly duplicating itself many many times over, as illustrated by a series of ballerinas all in white, emanating from the mountainside traveling forward in a pattern of lovely arabesques, then taking center stage and bourreeing in place, all in perfect sync, in perfect harmony, reminiscient of a spirit-world, and foreshadowing that this is the only place Solor and Nikiya will be together.

(all photos by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of ABT)

Finally, Michele Wiles was PERFECT as the princess Gamzatti. Throughout the first two acts she was icy cold bitchiness, which to me, she’s thus far excelled at. Critic Joan Acocella once referred to her as a sunny cheerleader type, but I’ve never seen that in her. I see her more as the spoiled rich girl who will have her way at all costs. She was pure golden-dressed evil when she puts the snake in Nikiya’s bouquet, basically casting a spell on her. Yet, when it’s clear Marcelo’s Solor is in love with Nikiya and is only going through the marriage because he must, you really start to feel sorry for Michele’s princess. She tries hard to maintain her power, but she can’t. She found the vulnerability in the character and made her sympathetic and that’s what makes this a true tragedy — for all.

It was also just such a great night because there were so many people there. I finally got to meet James Wolcott from Vanity Fair, and his wife Laura Jacobs who writes about dance for the New Criterion (and whose book I keep going on about — she writes so beautifully about dance)! I suspected they’d be there because they love Veronika so. I’m so shy, I always feel like such an oaf meeting famous people But they’re really nice and it was so cool to finally meet them!

Philip was there too and we hung out during first intermission, with friends and blog readers Susan and Philip’s opera buddy (whose name I keep forgetting…)

Great ballet, favorite dancers, very fun audience, meeting famous writers you admire, chatting with old friends — excellent night all around! I am happy.

I’ve had another full weekend of dance and am quite exhausted. Saturday and Sunday days I went to New York City Ballet for, sadly, my last of their programs celebrating Jerome Robbins. Until this season I’d only seen the very major works by Robbins, so it’s been really educational to see the others, although this season made clear why some of his ballets survived better than others.

Yesterday’s program was all set to Chopin (much of it to piano music) and included the famous DANCES AT A GATHERING, which I thought too slow-moving and long (the man needed an editor, big time!) to sustain my attention and one of my favorites OTHER DANCES, similar to GATHERING but much shorter and to the point. Julie Kent from American Ballet Theater, a favorite of mine, guest-starred in this one, with the very handsome Gonzalo Garcia. They were lovely together, and you can see why Julie is the star she is with the little things she does like holding her hands to her heart while regarding the onstage pianist, indicating hearing a beloved tune she just MUST dance to. And third was the comical, slapsticky THE CONCERT in which Sterling Hyltin and Andrew Veyette (fast becoming a favorite of mine) cracked me up so I nearly laughed out loud (naughty in such quiet atmosphere!!!)

Today’s matinee was the long, but far better (imo) THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS set to Bach. It was long and similar to GATHERING in that it involved many couples, a combination of solos, duets and ensemble work in which the dancers interracted with each other, but there was so much more variation in the choreography, so many surprises — Andrew Veyette and Amar Ramasar doing handstands-cum-somersaults over each other, Andrew lying down and balancing Amar in the air only by his feet, Amar floating bird like above, boys exiting stage together disregarding girls, girls doing the same, playful wiggles of the behind for Andrew and Wendy Whelan, an astonishing series of turning leaps for Gonzalo and Jared Angle — a lot of great, fast, fun, original choreography during both allegro and slower adagio sections that made you keep your eyes peeled for what was coming next. Even costume changes from 18th Century to contemporary workout ballet garb helped keep your attention.

The second one on for today, entitled BRAHMS/HANDEL I didn’t like so much. It was co-choreographed with Twyla Tharp and it just didn’t seem to go anywhere. It made full use of the company and there was a lot of playfulness, mainly by, again, Andrew Veyette, who at times looked like a frog bouncing from one lillypad to another. He’s so cute. I really like him and I’m realizing it’s only partly because he’s such a great dancer who brings so much to the stage. I think it’s also that he reminds me of my cousin who died a couple of years ago. Just in his lightness of spirit, his ability to be funny, and his youthful enthusiasm and boundless energy, the way he throws himself so into everything he does.

Anyway, I have reviews of some of these programs upcoming, so won’t go on anymore here.

On Saturday night, I saw a small ballet company, Christopher Caines Dance Company, at the Rose Theater in the Jazz At Lincoln Center area of the Time Warner building. It was my first time both seeing this company and in that theater, and, man is that space small! It’s a tiny room, almost a studio, and they had little cocktail tables set up surrounded by chairs, for the audience to sit at. I’d sat in that kind of space for a Flamenco production at Baryshnikov’s Performing Arts Center, but never for a ballet performance. When they first began I thought, oh no, this is far too intimate for ballet, but then, when the program got underway, I began to forget my surroundings and became mesmerized by the dancing in a way I don’t think I’ve ever been before with ballet. It was really cool. Anyway, review coming up!

Michelle Vargo, my favorite dancer in the ballet, in a photo by Chris Woltmann, courtesy of Christopher Caines Dance Co.

Finally, I ‘ve managed to upload my pictures of Damian Woetzel’s farewell performance on Wednesday night. I liked best the picture I posted up top because it looks like he and Ethan Stiefel are about to have an intimate moment Anyway, here’s the rest of the album. Click on thumbnails for captions. Ethan Stiefel, Paloma Herrera, Gillian Murphy, and Angel Corella were there from American Ballet Theater, and they all, along with all of NYCB went up onstage at the end to join in the confetti storm. Angel and pals sat in the row in front of us (I sat next to Philip and in front of Evan) and I of course I couldn’t stop fixating. I was really nervous and I think it’s because I had just turned in my Angel write-up to HuffPost and then there he was right in front of me. Of course I only said glowing things about him, but it still made me nervous being around him like that. The man is like a human-sized doll, I swear. His skin is like milk, not a single flaw, his hair was gelled up into this almost Elvis-esque do, not a single strand out of place, and his long-lashed eyes, the way they blink open and shut and open and shut … just like a walking baby doll.

Anyway, I feel like everyone’s already said everything about Damian’s farewell, but it was a wonderful show. First on was FANCY FREE, Robbins’s character-driven classic about three sailors on shore leave trying hilariously unsuccessfully to pick up some girls in a bar. Damian danced the cocky one (also known as the Latin, or Rhumba sailor, but I call him the cocky shithead); Tyler Angle was the romantic, and Joaquin De Luz the short, high-jumping guy who tried to impress with his bag of tricks.

Next on was the Rubies section from Balanchine’s JEWELS, the Russian choreographer’s tribute to American jazz and sass. This one was fun because in this ballet there’s a main couple with lots of virtuosic partnering and alternating solos and the program had listed Ashley Bouder and Joaquin De Luz as that couple. But it was actually danced by three different couples, including, in the middle, Damian, partnering sweet Yvonne Borree. It was a nice surprise, and man, did he give his section some real gusto. At one point he went spinning off into the wings, like, in Sir Alastair’s nice simile (in his wonderfully-descriptive and informative review), “an accelerating tornado.”

And third on, was PRODIGAL SON, based on the Biblical story of a boy who tries to go out into the world on his own, only to return to his loving father beaten and nearly destroyed. So much pathos for his very final performance! I think the whole audience was in tears.

Four dance-dazed and star-struck bloggers during intermission! Thanks to Sarah (second from right) for the photo. Also, there’s an event tomorrow night (Monday) at the Jewish Community Center about Robbins. Some NYCB dancers will be performing and there’s a lecture. I can’t go unfortunately, it sounds really interesting. See Sarah’s post for deets or go here.

My article on the Blackpool Dance Festival is now up on Explore Dance, as Robert said in a comment on my DCA post! In his comment he also talks a bit about joining DCA, which I intend to do. See his comment here. And see my write-up on Blackpool here.

My write-up on SYTYCD’s Week 2 elimination round is up on HuffPost. Can’t believe Marquis is gone …

My little piece on Angel Corella is up on HuffPost where I appear to have one anti-ballet comment already…

I am having yet more ridiculous internet problems, which makes uploading pictures particularly problematic, but I took a bunch at Damian Woetzel’s farewell performance last night at New York City Ballet. It was a blast hanging out with Philip, Evan, and Sarah, all of whom wrote about the event on their respective blogs. I will try to have my pictures and a review of the night up as soon as possible, but for now please visit their posts (by clicking on their names above).

You guys, I’m wondering if people can answer a question for me. I guess this applies mainly to my readers who are not located in NY and who have never before seen American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, or any of the companies I write about. But it also applies to anyone who has an answer really.

Do you think if a writer is really good and can convey the beauty of a dancer or of a dance, that pictures are unnecessary? Are there any such writers? Joan Acocella, Arlene Croce, Edwin Denby, Julie Kavanagh, Laura Jacobs? (I use those examples because those writers have published books, in which there are few if any visuals). Is it even possible to convey the beauty of an inherently visual art form in words? Do pictures even do justice since dance is not just visual, but inherently movement-oriented?

Do you need a combination of writing and visuals? Is there a difference between blogs, books, magazines, and newspapers in terms of what you expect?

Do you care more about the dancers the writer is talking about if the writer posts a picture of them? Do you have more of a human connection to them that way? If so, is a full-body picture of them in a dance pose better than a headshot? Do you connect more to the face or body form? Or do you honestly just not care about them at all if there’s no chance you’ll ever see them perform?

I ask mainly because bloggers are beginning to run into copyright violation issues with videos and photos.

(photo of Paloma Herrera by Rosalie O’Connor, from ABT website)

Fuller review coming soon so I won’t say a whole lot here, but I saw ABT’s new version of Sleeping Beauty tonight and loved it — actually, they premiered it last year but made a few changes and updates for this season. I think they shaved a bit off the top (which is good; it was top heavy, as I think all classical story ballets tend to be); so now we get to the action sooner — it’s only a few minutes to the point when the fairies are doing their variations and then the Lilac Fairy is being presented with the infant Princess Aurora. And they shortened the Prince’s hunting scene at the beginning of Act II, taking out some of the more awkward movements (like when the huntsmen carry the Prince all around the forest in that group lift).

I feel like they also spiced things up in various parts, the most notable to me when evil fairy Carabosse catches the Prince in her web and he struggles to break free. The lights suddenly shine on Lilac Fairy (who now is right beside the prince instead of somewhere up above him as I think she was before), she waves her wand, Carabosse starts to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Prince is free from the web only to be attacked by Carabosse’s minions (whom I enjoy calling the big bug-men). But then the fairies begin jete-ing across the stage working their magic and destroying the bugs, and the bugs begin to fall to the ground and “melt” as well. I don’t know, maybe it was the same before, but it seemed better, more dramatic, and faster-moving this way. And putting Lilac beside Carabosse and her web made it more clear she was saving the Prince and destroying Carabosse and her cohorts.

(All headshots from ABT website)

Anyway, tonight’s Prince and Princess were danced by my favorite couple, Marcelo and Julie Marcelo as always was perfect, brought you into his character’s world, into the world of the ballet through his immense acting skills, his groundedness (if that’s a word?…), and his empathetic humanity. He always finds the vulnerable points in his characters and highlights them, which in the lighter ballets like Don Quixote and Rabbit and Rogue means bringing out the humor of those characters, making them sweetly, comically lovable, and in the more serious ballets like Othello means driving home the ballet’s pathos and tragedy. In a ballet like this that is a bit of both, it just means making the Prince real, contemporary, someone whose needs and desires you can relate to and sympathize with.

Julie seemed a bit off through about the first half though. Her balances during the Rose Adagio were shaky (she didn’t even let go of one suitor’s hand and the rest she only let go of for a split second), and I think it really messed her up mentally. I kind of hate the Rose Adagio for that reason; if a ballerina has trouble, she gets flustered and is upset for the rest of the ballet. Julie didn’t come to herself until the wedding celebration when she danced with Marcelo, who it seemed calmed her down and made her feel safe again, and eventually let her shine (like Marcelo always does!). But the wedding celebration pas de deux were beautiful, the fish dives breathtaking — everything ended well.

Michele Wiles was tonight’s Lilac Fairy and while she hasn’t been a favorite of mine, I really loved her in this role. She wasn’t a syrupy sweet Glinda the Good Witch-style L.F.; she was more of a matronly, all-powerful one who made clear with one swift strike of the wand that she was in control and she meant business, Carabosse was going down. It worked well. I think it was part of what sped the ballet along. And she was really radiant.

And the big news tonight, which I saved for last, was that Blaine Hoven (my favorite not-yet-famous dancer at ABT) had his debut as Bluebird. He did very well! He was really lovely. The last person I saw dance the part was the sky-high jumping Herman Cornejo. Blaine’s leaps were nowhere near as high — they couldn’t be; he is a much larger person than Herman (except his tour jetes — those were grand; I think they’re Blaine’s strongest jump). But that didn’t matter because he was so brilliantly expressive. His arms were so fluid, they really looked like a bird’s wings, like he was about to fly away. And the way he did his forward and backward series of assemble jumps with a few beats thrown in, he looked kind of like a hummingbird, like he was beating his wings while floating in mid-air. It was so much more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it done before. The dancer usually just focuses on the bravura elements — mainly getting that height on the jumps in order to wow the crowd — but birds don’t jump, they fly. Blaine’s bluebird flew.

The annual DCA conference happened last weekend in Washington DC. I had really wanted to go but there was so much going on here and I kind of exhausted my travel budget last month between England and the Caribbean :S

Speakers and panelists included Laura Jacobs (a critic and novelist who writes beautifully lyrically about dance), Doug Fox of Great Dance (who spoke about using the internet to promote dance, his specialty), my friend Apollinaire Scherr (it was her first time speaking there!), and of course Alastair Macaulay (chief critic of NYTimes), among others. Presiding over the event was Robert Abrams, the Association’s President and the founder of Explore Dance (and my editor there — which is probably why my Blackpool review isn’t yet up )

Anyway, thankfully Taylor went and she will be writing about it in her next few posts. It appears from Taylor’s first post that it was a fascinating and inspiring weekend and now I’m all the more sad I didn’t go…

I spent all day at a literary magazine fair downtown (and bought 27 lit magazines — all at $2 a piece, which is a huge discount from their normal prices). So lots of reading to do! They have this fair every year and it’s a great opportunity to get acquainted with some of the new little magazines, and re-acquainted with the old. It’s organized by CLMP. Saturday they had a series of readings, which I had wanted to go to, but I really wanted to see the New York City Ballet program and then my plans afterward were thwarted by the crazy storm.

Anyway, my busy day is one of the reasons I’m behind on my dance writing. I don’t know how Philip keeps up so well, but damn am I jealous!

Friday night I went to Cedar Lake, finally, to see their spring season. I was invited to their opening night, along with all the other dance bloggers, but couldn’t go. So, they nicely extended their invitation for later in the season, which is, unfortunately, now over. But they’re having another installation coming up soon…

Anyway, I brought a friend with me (for once; I usually go alone, feeling the need to be alone with the art, to have my own personal connection with it — I know, I’m weird…), and maybe it’s because I was so worried about her not liking it (since she doesn’t often see dance) or maybe it’s just all the excellent reviews the bloggers gave the program (which I linked to here) that completely skyrocketed my expectations, but I have to be honest and say I was a bit underwhelmed.

(go here for some really good photos of the program taken by Alison at the DANCING PERFECTLY FREE blog)

First on was LASTING IMPRINT by Nicolo Fonte. This was one of my favorites of the night. There wasn’t a clear linear narrative here, but I still felt like there was something intense going on. At first the dancers thrashed about the stage making angular poses in pure silence. Suddenly, the lights went blood red and music began, a striking score by Steve Reich, and the ensemble dancing became more angular, more fierce, bursting into various patterns. Soon Jason Kittelberger (a striking dancer who sometimes has a rather sinister look to him) began a duet with Jessica Coleman Scott. The duet isn’t romantic, but is gentle at points, then turns a bit more fierce. At one point, Kittelberger appears to be dripping with sweat. I thought, poor guy, he’s really working hard, sweating up a storm. Then, I realized it was white paint he’d somehow covertly splashed on himself. When he returns to her and they dance more together, she eventually becomes covered with the paint as well. It ends on a more gentle but unsettled note, as far as I can remember. It was emotionally compelling and visually striking at points, but I’m not sure I found it very memorable.

The second piece was ANNONCIATION which all of my fellow bloggers went so nuts over I kept telling my friend, don’t worry, you’ll like the second one; everyone so far has LOVED it. Of course you should never say that to anyone, including yourself. It was a duet for two women by Angelin Preljocaj, supposedly a hot trendy Euro choreographer. Apparently it’s supposed to depict the Virgin Mary being consumed by the Holy Spirit, but I found it rather more violent than that. Jessica Lee Keller danced the part of Mary, and Acacia Schachte the Spirit. This couldn’t have been more perfectly cast: Keller has the most innocent-looking face; she looks a lot like a young Audrey Hepburn. Schachte on the other hand looks like the actress who played Nurse Ratchett in the film version of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. You take one look at these two and you just know something untoward is about to happen. Keller sat on a bench enjoying her sunny day; soon Schachte appeared, approached her, Keller unable to see her but sensing a presence. The women dance together, at times the duet taking on what appear to be sexual overtones (at one point, Schachte even lodges her thumb forcefully into Keller’s mouth), and at the end, Schachte leaves and Keller looks up to the light, a blessed smile covering her face. I thought it was all too one note, and to be honest, found it a bit pretentious choreography-wise. But I thought the women were breathtakingly amazing dancers. Schachte has a very powerful angularity that can send chills down your spine and Keller has so much strength and energy in that tiny body. She makes beautiful shapes and she really knows how to use her innocent-looking face to full effect.

One thing about Cedar Lake is that they have a great group of dancers who all have different dance strengths and looks, that can be played off of each other to compelling effect. I would kind of liked to have seen Keller dance the duet from the first piece with Kittelberger.

The third piece was SUNDAY, AGAIN by Norwegian choreographer Jo Stromgren. I liked but didn’t love this one. Like the first, I thought it had bits that were really funny and mesmerizingly danced, but as a whole I felt it didn’t gel. The women are dressed in short white dresses that look like tennis garb and the men in preppy white pants and t-shirts. This piece makes full use of the ensemble, which, with this company I think I prefer to duets. The score is upbeat and fast and the dancers keep pace; every once in a while they break into a brisk walk and simply stomp across stage, and at points a man drags a badmitton net along the back of the stage, back and forth. Soon, the theme becomes the finding of badmitton balls in unusual places. A woman sits on a chair, looking like she is shyly trying to avoid attention. Men playfully tease her, trying to get her to dance. But she steadfastly remains seated. Soon, the sound of popping bubbles overtake the stage, as dancers click their tongues against the sides of their mouths. Soon, she begins to blow a bubble, very slowly. When she spits out an entire badmitton ball, it’s hilarious. I couldn’t figure out where that whole ball, its wings and all, were hiding in her tiny mouth. Later, another woman sits on the ground and another female dancer approaches her and tries to make friends. At first it’s playful, then turns more violent as the one woman forcefully begins grabbing into the sitting woman’s crotch. It’s kind of upsetting and you don’t really know what to make of it. When woman 2 eventually finds a badmitton ball tucked deep inside woman 1’s underwear, you’re relieved it was something so innocent after all. Later, the female dancers leap at the men, jumping on them as the men yell back like referees judging their efforts. I’m not entirely sure what to make of this but it kind of reminded me of the way that partner dancing can be like a sport, the way the woman sometimes uses the man as a kind of human jungle gym, the athletics involved in getting into a difficult lift. It made me laugh. But these moments didn’t really congeal into a compelling whole, to me… I dunno, maybe I just needed to see it again…

(photo of SUNDAY, AGAIN, by Carina Musk-Anderson, copied from Dancing Perfectly Free)

My friend was grateful that I asked her to go, said she was always happy to know what’s out there and always has a good time viewing art, but said she thought she just had too short of an attention span for things like this. I began wondering if I suffered from the same short attention span, since I had the same general reaction as she, far from that of my fellow bloggers.

But then I went to New York City Ballet on Saturday afternoon and realized I don’t have a short attention span at all; there’s just a real difference between the choreographers of the past and present. The program was one of the all-Robbins ones they’re showing as part of their Jerome Robbins celebration. Three of the four ballets on the program were pretty simple lacking a really dramatic plot line or huge virtuostic dancing, but were somehow nevertheless mesmerizing.

The first, 2&3 PART INVENTIONS, which Robbins choreographed for students, and set to Bach, was story-less but kept your attention with its variety of movement in which nothing becomes repetitive, original steps and partnering, and a structure with a discernable theme (though one about nothing more than young dance students playing around). The girls sometimes look like they’re running in slow motion across the floor, away from the boys; later they appear to tiptoe across. The boys humorously jump up and down smacking their thighs. A boy carries a girl off, her arms hugging her legs as she folds herself up into a little ball, about to roll over his forearm. Two boys walking parallel to each other pick up a girl and carry her between them, her legs continuing to move in the air, like she is playfully fighting them.

(photo of A SUITE OF DANCES by Paul Kolnick, from NYCB website)

The second piece, SUITE OF DANCES is a four-part solo Robbins originally made for Baryshnikov (it was danced here by a guest dancer from the Paris Opera Ballet, Nicolas le Riche) meant simply to convey one dancer’s interaction with music. A cellist (Ann Kim) sets up her instrument onstage and the ballet consists of a kind of dialog she has with le Riche. He takes position on the floor, her eyes follow him, he nods for her to begin, every so often each looking at the other, eyes making contact, smiling, like they have a silent pact. The four music pieces vary in speed and style, from soft and lyrical to fast paced with lots of staccato notes and accompanying intricate footwork and quick, nimble jumps, and in the end, le Riche nearly collapses at the cellist’s ridiculously speedy tempo. He tries to keep up, but finally, he shrugs at the audience, and does his own thing, at his own pace. I liked le Riche but don’t know if he had the charisma to pull off such a solo; I would really like to see Baryshnikov on tape dancing the ballet.

Third was IN MEMORY OF…, a very sad ballet to music by Alban Berg, dealing with Berg’s misery on learning of the death of his friend’s daughter. The dance conveys first a portrait of the girl, then her illness and death, and finally her transportation into the spirit world. The first section was bittersweet as Jared Angle picked up tiny Wendy Whelan (with her vulnerability, the perfect ballerina to dance the part of the girl) and cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth in a fish position. The most emotionally jarring section for me, though, was the second, when large Charles Askegard becomes aggressive and somewhat violent, stepping back and forth over Wendy as she lay on the ground, scooping her up and trying to shake her out of something, later lifting her in a t-position, so she almost looks like she is on a cross. In the end the two men carry her off in a poetic, heaven-bound lift.

(photo of IN MEMORY OF… by Paul Kolnick, from NYCB website)

My favorite of the night was the last, GLASS PIECES, full of energy, very urban and contemporary, and set to fun, variegated Philip Glass music, always a feast for the ears. Completely story-less (making it an odd favorite for me), this ballet is all about using dance to make music visual. The dancers run, walk, stomp, strut, jog in slow motion, jog in place somehow making slowly advancing progress, back and forth across the stage in brightly colored dance wear that somehow looks like it could be street wear as well.

(photo of Tyler Angle and Wendy Whelan rehearsing a Christopher Wheeldon ballet by Paul Kolnick, from New York Times)

I noticed when sets of dancers jogged in place that Tyler Angle, about whom I just waxed poetic (or maybe not so poetic ) was one of them. As he did so, he looked at his partner, the female dancer jogging next to him. He regarded her not as if he was in competition with her, but more like he was trying to figure out what she was going to do, where she wanted to go, so he could perhaps follow. Whatever his intentions toward her were, they were there and he pulled me into the ballet with them, made me want to watch him. There were three sets of dancers and he was the only one who did anything other than look blankly forward. This is why I like Tyler Angle. I remember now I noticed he did something similar in THE FOUR SEASONS when he and a couple of other men were doing jumps in place. He looked at them, each one in turn, smiling. But they stared straight forward, refusing to have an exchange with him — or not so much refusing as not even acknowledging his effort. Tyler brings character to the dance, so that he and the dancers around him aren’t merely inanimate brush strokes on a still painting, or simple musical notes come to life, but actual characters. He brings life, the human element, to the dance, in other words. And it’s kind of funny that everyone around him resists taking his cue. Stop resisting, people!

Salsa in times square

Originally uploaded by swan lake samba girl via mobile.

T-Mobile

On my way through Times Square subway station I noticed a Salsa competition video showing in the window of one of the shops. Organizer Billy Fajardo was then shown giving an interview, followed by more dancing. His Salsa competition in Miami several years ago was the first one I ever did, so it brought back nice memories. Also nice to see people stopping in the subway to watch dance.

Rained out at the ballet.

Originally uploaded by swan lake samba girl via mobile.

T-Mobile

Failing to consult weather forecast means having to wait out thuderstorm with ridiculously overpriced meal at lincoln center cafe.

Update: Okay, don’t EVER go to the Lincoln Center Restaurant on the ground floor of Avery Fisher Hall (Panevino is it’s name, just to make clear it’s not the Grand Tier Restaurant in the Met I’m talking about). If it’s thunderstorming, just run across the street with your Playbill on top of your head to Fiorello’s or Josephine’s or, like Barbara did (in comments below), Starbucks. I had to run to Magnolia’s afterward to get the taste of desiccated Orta out of my mouth. (Menu said it — ‘it’ being a type of fish I can’t seem to find any mention of anywhere on the internet — was supposed to be pan seared but I know pan seared — not from cooking myself lord forbid but from dining out — and this was not it. It was dried straight through; pan seared is seared on the top and bottom leaving the moisture and flavor inside.) The ladies beside me (who’d just enjoyed ABT’s Don Quixote) were having equally desiccated chicken. They had never heard of orta either. And my fava bean puree was not a puree; it had the consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes, and was completely flavorless to boot. The Chianti was okay but I could have done without the dishwater soap-stained glass. When I finally got home (ended up getting wet anyway), I had a very upset stomach for the rest of the night. Always say no to Panevino, even in an emergency!

(photo by Paul Kolnick, from NYCB website)

I’m in the midst of another crazy busy dance weekend (well, dance and books), but wanted to say two things. First, here’s my latest HuffPost piece, on SYTYCD’s first round of eliminations.

Second, I went to NYCB’s “Here and Now” program again I’d loved it so much the first time, and, between OLTREMARE and Ratmansky’s new CONCERTO DSCH, have completely fallen for Tyler Angle. I’ve definitely noticed him before, of course (and have to laugh now at my shock on seeing him cast as Tybalt in Martins’ Romeo + Juliet last year; how he’s grown in that time — I can’t imagine him having any problem dancing that character now). But for some reason just Thursday I realized how much he really brings to a ballet. I’d always been in such sugar shock after Andrew Veyette’s incredible bravura solos in OLTREMARE that I don’t think I paid much attention to what followed shortly thereafter (Maria Kowroski’s and Tyler’s softer, slower duet, where husband tries desperately to have an intimate moment with his wife who’s still too shocked and beleagered for such things) but the way he lifts his hands in the air and pulls in his rib cage just as her foot meets his chest in an effort to keep him off of her, and his expression of utter dismay, shows how it feels to be so shunned by her, and it’s heartbreaking. You feel such sorrow for this poor, gentle pilgrim man who’s trying so hard in vain to bring peace to his wife.

Then, he took over for Benjamin Millepied (who appears to be injured) in the new Ratmansky, dancing the part of Wendy Whelan’s lover. For me, he became, with Wendy, the centerpiece of that ballet, whereas before it was the rollicking threesome in blue and their playful bravura-heavy pas de trois. The way he loved her, the way he just floated with her around stage in elation when they were together, the way he turned back longingly toward her as his friends pulled him away — it was like Romeo and Juliet and you didn’t know what was coming next; you just wanted to know what was going to happen with the lovers while Joaquin and Ashley and Gonzalo were jesting about. I thought he brought out more emotion in Wendy as well.

Also, quickly, because I have to get going (back to NYCB!) but there was a new cast for Martins’s RIVER OF LIGHT, and they were brilliant. In particular tiny Erica Pereira and the much larger Jonathan Stafford were stunning. He’d pick her up and raise her above his head and off to the side, alternating sides, a few times in each direction, and every time, he’d let go with the farthest arm, only holding her up in the air by the waist with one palm. There were audible gasps in the audience and they got huge applause at the end. Amar Ramasar was a man in black this time and he looked just like a panther the way he’d slide sideways, eating up the stage. This ballet in general really grew on me. I love the music — all that percussion that at times is so sharp and a bit foreboding but it kind of goes along with the off-kilter, geometrics of the piece, and, striking as it is, the music never overpowers the dancing.

Also, I finally saw Cedar Lake last night. Review to come…

I was recently interviewed for an article (by commenter Sharon!) in a new newspaper put out by THE BALLROOM DANCE CHANNEL on this topic. Apparently it is controversial and the issue is becoming more pressing with the success of DANCING WITH THE STARS and SYTYCD. I gave my opinion here. I go into it in more detail (not necessarily the Olympics specifically, but the issue of whether Ballroom Dancing is more of an art or sport) in my article on Blackpool, which will hopefully be posted soon on EXPLORE DANCE.

Sorry I’m late, had to go to a publishing event last night, then get something out early this morning.

My favorites so far are Mark (because he’s so original, although I don’t know how he’s going to be able to keep his unique style throughout; Mia really seems to have geared her Tim Burton-ish choreography this week specifically for him), Katee, Will, and Marquis. Marquis has beautiful lines and gorgeous extensions, but he doesn’t seem to have the greatest balance and I’m always a bit worried he’s throwing himself into a kick too hard and is going to topple over.

Viewing the program for the second time now, I liked Rayven and Jaime’s routine, on first, and think they both did really well with Hip Hop for a ballerina and a West Coast Swing dancer. I agree with Nigel that the choreography was not interesting enough movement-wise to be memorable (though the story was cute, the pulling-down-the-pants thing was funny), but that’s not the dancers’ faults.

On the other hand, I LOVED Tabitha and Napolean’s second piece of the night, danced by Katee and Joshua. It was my favorite of the night. I don’t care whether Katee was doing rib slides or popping at the beginning (Nigel’s criticism); her movement conveyed the sorrow she felt on his leaving for the war. What great movement language — not just the big things like falls to the ground or lifts, but every subtle twitch, every bend of the leg or reach of the arm conveyed such emotion, added a necessary element to the story. That’s what dance is about, to me.

My second favorite of the night was Susie and Marquis’s Waltz. Breathtaking! But Nigel, yes, we noticed the second lift problem! We’re not blind! First lift was gorgeous though. Lovely fish dive! You can tell Marquis has ballet background, which translates very well into Standard Ballroom where you need an elegant carriage, a straight upper body, and good lyrical quality. Susie really surprised me. Her Salsa is fun but not tremendously precise, which is fine since Salsa is a social dance and doesn’t require precision and clarity. But her Waltz was another story entirely. She had wonderful control and beautiful lines. So far a couple of my favorite dancers.

Are Tony and Melanie not the sexiest choreographers?! How hot was that Cha Cha! My third favorite of the night. The dancers — Chelsea and Thayne, really came through, especially Thayne. I couldn’t believe he’s a contemporary dancer; he looked like the quintessential Latin ballroom man. He has the perfect body — small, compact, allowing for great speed. Perfect hip movement. I think he should consider changing dance styles.

I didn’t like the Jive as well; I think the dancers were a little less sophisticated. Both Comfort and Chris (what a great partnership name!) have great personalities but I felt, especially in the case of Comfort, that she doesn’t yet have the versatility necessary to do well in styles other than Hip Hop, though her Hip Hop rocks.

I thought Kourtni and Matt were okay. Matt looked like a cat burglar snooping around in that jazz routine, and he’s got great David Hallberg feet. He’s so tall and thin he seemed a bit wiry. But I think if he works on that, on being more solid and controlled, he could be really good. Couldn’t disagree more with Nigel’s you’ve got a pole up your butt criticism. I thought exactly the opposite!

Mia’s routine was interesting. At first I thought it started out way too clownish and silly but then I realized it’s telling a story, kind of developing a relationship throughout time, starting with the awkwardness of youth growing into a more mature romance. I’ve already talked about Mark. I thought Chelsie was good, but I couldn’t see her lines very well in that dress. Great costuming though — she looked, like Mary said, like a little powder puff, which went with the theme.

I wasn’t in love with the choreography for Twitch and Kherrington (there were places in the music where they could have done a fast fun Charleston, but instead he had them just kind of standing in place wiggling their hips a bit. And the rest of it was kind of all over the place.) But I thought the dancers did well, gave it an understated jazzy twist.

I wasn’t anywhere near in love with Hunter’s Tango as I was his Waltz. Except for that gorgeous ending lift with her legs wrapped around his neck and her body reaching to the ground. Will was astounding; just like Marquis, but his kicks were swifter. Great carriage, perfect ballroom posture. I liked Jessica less well. I thought she smiled too much for a tango and her movement wasn’t quite as sharp as his; she looked a bit unbalanced at points, likely because she’s not used to those blasted stilettos.

I loved the disco at the end. I thought Courtney particularly did well, and I realized I’ve seen her before — in “Gotta Dance” — the movie; she was a New Jersey Nets. That was a very hard routine, very fast-paced with lots of lifts and I thought the judges were really unfair with their comments.

What did you all think?

I posted about the new SYTYCD season on HuffPost. There’s a somewhat lively discussion going on there if anyone wants to join in! (you have to create an account, but I don’t think it’s too much of a hassle).

Also, I’ve just submitted my first ballet post (on NYCB’s “Here and Now” program) and will definitely let everyone know when it’s up.

Update: it’s up! It’s similar to my earlier post here on that program, but I’d really really love it if ballet people could comment there so that it looks like there are ballet fans in the world

My review of the Performance Rampage event in the Judson Movement Research Festival is up on Critical Correspondence. I really had a ridiculous amount of fun. I couldn’t participate in the entire festival since I was in Blackpool for much of it but I think I’m going to check out some of the regular Judson Movement Research events that they hold in the church every so often that Gia Kourlas of Time Out is always recommending.

Yesterday I finally had the chance to check out the new Twyla Tharp ballet at ABT. Overall, I thought there were exciting parts, and I recognized a lot of elements from her other work, but the sum of the parts didn’t really add up to a compelling whole. I also thought it was very well acted and danced by my favorite But more on that in a minute. First, let me talk a bit about “Etudes,” which I LOVED, and which was on first.

“Etudes,” by Harald Lander of the Royal Danish Ballet, made in 1948, was a radiant celebration of ballet. It started with very young dancers likely from the Jacqueline Kennedy School of Ballet associated with ABT, then curtains went down and rose again to reveal a set of older dancers warming up at the barre. There were three barres set up in a kind of half-pentagon that opened out toward the audience. The lighting was dark except for a white light shined on their legs. They simply did warm up tendus (points of the toe) to front, out to side, then rondes (circlings of the floor with the leg), then swinging kicks, etc. Basic warm-up vocabulary. But they were all in perfect unison and each set of several dancers pointed, swung, rondeed, etc. in a different direction, making for a mesmerizing effect. At times it looked like a Rockettes routine.

Later, tutued ballerinas, more advanced and ready to learn performance technique, came out and did their own warm-up, the lights making their black puffed-skirts looking almost like upside-down ladies’ wigs from afar. It made for a really cool visual effect. Soon, the barres were taken away and, like in a real class, the floor work began. One set of dancers performed a series of high jumps in place, then began flying across the stage in a diagonal line, doing grand jetes, the men eventually doing barrel turns around its perimeter (my favorite ).

(Irina headshot from ABT website)

A prima ballerina, in my version, Irina Dvorovenko — a role perfect for her- emerged in splendid white tutu accompanied by two men, one (Cory Stearns) her princely danseur noble, the other (Jared Matthews) a more bravura type (who performs high, thrilling jumps, fast turns, etc.) — all three the main ingredients of classical ballet. They danced a perfect pas de trois, and at times from my vantage point in the middle orchestra, Irina looked like a tiny china doll atop a child’s music box. She was sheer perfection and the quintessential classical prima ballerina. I like Cory and Jared but don’t think either has the star power, at least at this point (they are both still young) to be her equal.

At first I thought how much more thrilling the ballet would have been with someone like David Hallberg in the princely role and Angel Corella or Herman Cornejo as the virtouso. And then I realized they all would have completely stolen the show. The focus, in this man-centric company, should be on the ballerina for a change! And Irina is the perfect ballerina for that focus.

Anyway, who ever knew simple classical ballet vocabulary, a celebration of the dance from class to performance, could be so captivating? But it was. And the audience ate it up right along with me and went nuts with applause, so I know it wasn’t just me. A great introduction to the thrill and beauty of the art form for people new to ballet, IMO.

(top photo Marcelo, bottom Jose, both from ABT website)

Now, onto the new Tharp. First, I must say I am beyond overjoyed whenever I get to see either Marcelo Gomes or Jose Carreno onstage, and both had major parts in this ballet, so I was basically on ecstasy And of course they both danced marvelously, Marcelo, I think, to an extent saving the ballet with his dramatic skills.

Tharp named it “Rabbit and Rogue,” but it could have been named Everything Tharp But the Kitchen Sink. As in her “In the Upper Room,” at times the dancers appeared to emerge right out of the woodwork, the dark back lighting making the back seem wall-less. There was the pretend playful boxing from that ballet, the poor little fellow who humorously gets beat up by his girl from “Baker’s Dozen,” the balletic vocabulary fighting for space with social dance from “Deuce Coupe.” It’s like she just combined several of her ballets into one.

Anyway, from what I can make of the story-line, it’s something like this: Rogue (Marcelo) and Rabbit (Sascha Radetsky) play-fight with each other, over what I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s who has the better dance style. Rogue is more modern, moves with more angularity, virility, and solid form; Rabbit is more soft and wiggly, moves in more of a jazzy, not-a-care-in-the-world manner. Rogue as danced by Marcelo seemed more competitive (but in a cutely jocular way) with Rabbit than Rabbit did with Rogue; Rabbit seemed to care less about Rogue’s little jabs and taunts. But this could have been because Marcelo is more of an actor than Sascha…

Anyway, a pair called The Rag Couple (the excellent Kristi Boone, and Cory Stearns again — he must have been tired at the end of the day!) dressed in snazzy black, dance a sexy little number composed of swingy, jazzy elements and a little ballet. I guess they are supposed to represent sinners or denizens of the underworld. The corps emerge dressed in black. Marcelo returns (he and Sascha are also dressed in black unitards with a silver stripe down the side) and dances alone but seems to compete with the corps for attention. At one point, he shuffles off the stage into the wings shrugging and extending a hand outward toward the corps as if indicating he’s given up trying to compete with them and they can have our full attention. Of course the way Marcelo does this is hilarious.

There was a group of four women, probably aged between about 45 and 80 — perhaps a group of sisters taking their mother to the ballet– sitting behind me and the three younger women loved Etudes but the older woman complained it wasn’t her thing; she liked more of a story. When Marcelo made this action, she laughed and shouted I think a little louder than she meant to, “now, this is more my thing!” Her “daughters” giggled and shushed her.

Later, the corps disappear during one of Marcelo’s and Sasha’s alternating solos, only to emerge (again from the wall-less back, as if straight out of the air) now dressed in shiny silvery white. This entourage is led by Jose Carreno (:)) and Maria Riccetto, dancing a pair of characters the program notes call The Gamelan Couple, who dance beautifully together, their vocabularly all ballet. Except it’s not classical ballet. He keeps doing fish dives with her, but with his butt to the audience so you can only see her legs peeking out from behind him. So it’s backwards. (In a way, perhaps Etudes was an ideal ballet to show before this one, since one esteems the classical, the other questions it a bit). This couple represents to me a heavenly ideal, which reminded me again of “Deuce Coupe,” as if it’s the ballet couple who are pure and the social dancers who are cool and fun but a little wild and perhaps bastardize the form a bit. Maybe. Anyway, eventually a group of four — two women, two men — emerge and try to partner each other, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

(Craig photo from ABT)

Poor Craig Salstein, reprising his “Baker’s Dozen” role as the hapless little fellow, who tries to dance with his partner, the normally sweet Sarah Lane. He’d rather tango, but she’d rather ballet (if I can use that as a verb), and they fight and the poor little guy ends up getting beat up a bit by his lady. Eventually, he gives in and dances a very off pas de deux with her, throwing her up in the air like a rag doll. It’s hilarious the way Craig does it; only he can pull it off.

Later, Marcelo returns doing his competitive thing, Sascha comes back, does his dance, more ensemble work,, etc. At one point, Craig holds his hands up in the air looking toward the heavens and mimics, “why me, God, why me?” then shakes his head, helplessly. It’s now apparent he’s the angel sent down to earth to teach Marcelo and Sascha how to behave like proper dancers and stop the ridiculous bickering. Apparently part of their coming together is to learn to partner women because they’ve both been dancing alone throughout and suddenly Craig throws Misty Copeland at them, they throw her around a bit between each other, partnering her weirdly, but I guess not dropping her on her head or anything hugely untoward. Eventually, everyone is happy. They have proven they are good partners who can share the spotlight with a woman, like the perfect Jose can with Maria. (I am probably projecting all manner of my own crap into this, but I don’t know what else to make of this ballet, although I have to say, I’m liking it more the more I’m trying to interpret it). In the end, Marcelo and Sascha shake hands and wave to the audience and all is well; angel Craig has saved the day. The score, by Danny Elfman, was riveting; at times I kind of felt like I was in a Danny Elfman movie, the way the ballet created kind of an over-the-top alternative universe / fantasy world.

By the way, on my way to the store for ice cream afterward, I overheard a young woman talking on her cell phone pronounce Misty “kick ass,” which she was, as always.

(Andrea Mohin photo of Herman Cornejo, in black, dancing the part of Rabbit opening night, from New York Times).

(photo by Rosalie O’Connor, of Craig in white, Ethan Steifel on top and Herman on bottom, from ABT website)

Reviews have really been mixed. My “colleague” at HuffPost, Patricia Zohn, liked it, Sir Alastair did not, Philip found both good and bad in it. Anyone else?

Very interesting article. Via Mr. Elegant, whose novel I’m reading right now.

If you’re in New York and you haven’t already read about it on the other dance blogs, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet is offering a steep 50% discount to blog readers for the rest of their season. Their unique studio, built out of a former warehouse and artist’s studio, is located in west Chelsea, in the gallery district, and I highly recommend checking them out; they’re a very original contemporary ballet company. And, I mean, $15 is basically the price of a movie ticket these days! They are really very cool for doing this. I haven’t seen their most recent season but hope to make it over there sometime this week if I can fit it into my INSANE schedule. To take advantage of their offer, go here and use code “blog15″. The deal is only on through June 15th. To read other bloggers’ accounts of opening night go here, here, here, and here.

More experimental weirdness

Originally uploaded by swan lake samba girl via mobile.

Performance- rampage event in the Movement Research festival. We met at Dance Theater Workshop in Chelsea and were led through the streets down to the Village by two people on stilts, who stopped at various points to play wind instruments and show us site-specific dance performances by various dancers participating in the festival, my favorite of which was Luciana Achugar, who pretended to go spelunking in a white lacey thong, knee-high sweater tights and ski mask along the ramp railing at St. Vincent’s hospital. They had us chanting at points, “We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going shopping!”

It was too funny watching passersby try to figure out what to make of us. At one point the leaders asked us to give ourselves a round of applause as we passed by a busy restaurant, patrons staring out the window open-mouthed. There must have been nearly 100 of us. The festival curators hadn’t expected such a large turnout and we held up a lot of traffic walking through the streets. We ended up at the Judson Memorial Church (where the original Judson movement began in the 60s, which many consider to mark the beginning of post-modern dance) and had a dance party.

(photo of Cody Green taken from Bravo TV website)

I’m shocked. I really didn’t think he would win. I’m thrilled though. He was by far the best; the only one who seemed to have significant dance training and technique. I thought Miguel simply made sex poses and can’t understand how he even made it to the finals, Michelle was fine but nowhere near as advanced as Cody, and Nick was cute but I didn’t see any Gene Kelly in him like one of the judges said. Gene Kelly was fun in a masculine way but he had form; Nick was just kind of jumping about. I didn’t care for the group dance at all. Again, I couldn’t really see the dancers since the camera was panning around so much and they were hidden by props like those huge clotheslines. What’s the point of having them dance? The ending solos were what the show should have been about all along: we finally got to see who the dancers really were. We finally got to see them actually dance.

Hopefully, in the future, more dancers of Cody’s caliber will audition so they can have an overall better show.

As far as SYTYCD, eh. Boring. So far at least. I don’t recognize any of the ballroom dancers. Does anyone else? No one stood out to me in contemporary either. I actually liked best the poppers and tappers who were all eliminated before the top 20 were chosen. The one popper, Robert I think, was like a rubber band. I can see how those types of dancers might have problems with the other kinds of choreography but then why allow them to try out in those categories? I wish the show was more a celebration of the diversity of dance rather than a competition to see who can prevail at the most different styles. I guess no one can think outside of the competition format for a dance show. Anyway, the one who most caught my eye of the top 20 is Mark. He’s seems to be the only true original. We’ll see…

I know I will be bored out of my mind come August, but right now with ABT and NYCB in season, the Judson Movement Research Festival underway, Alvin Ailey’s decision to have a week at Brooklyn Academy of Music in celebration of their 50th anniversary year, and the start of So You Think You Can Dance, I’m throughly exhausted! Why does everything have to happen at once?

After the fiasco of Tuesday afternoon, I spent a wonderful night at NYCBallet — one of the best I’ve had. The program was “Here and Now” and centered on the newest works on the company’s rep, a kind of celebration of the 21st Century in ballet thus far. My main reason for going was the premier of a new ballet by Alexei Ratmansky, but the whole evening was magical, likely in part because I sat up front, very close to the stage, my favorite little perch

(photo by Paul Kolnick, from NYTimes)

I really liked the new Ratmansky, titled “Concerto DSCH,” and set to music by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, whose scores Ratmansky often uses. To be honest, I wish I could see a new work, especially an abstract one, a few times before writing about it, because, as I realized upon re-viewing “Oltremare” here and “Unfold” at Alvin Ailey, you miss so much the first time around just trying to take it all in. You need repeated viewings to get things right and to get a fuller sense of the work. That’s why film critics see the films they review three, four, and five times. But that’s not possible with dance because each performance is so expensive to produce. Anyway, as I feel like I should always say upon seeing a new piece, these are my first impressions but they may well change completely or become more nuanced on repeated viewings.

The musical score Ratmansky used here was very upbeat and lively and, made in 1957 for Shostakovich’s young son, Maxim, “displays the composer’s optimist energy after the repressions of the Stalinist era,” as the program notes say. The optimism and lightness was very evident, as there didn’t seem to be a downbeat turn the whole way through — either in the dance or the music. The dancers are all dressed in what appear to be 19th Century-style bathing suits, and they kind of frolic with each other on what I imagine to be a beach. There’s a corps who kind of chooses a main dancer to follow, cutely mimicking his or her every move. One threesome — danced by the always brimming over with virtuosity Ashley Bouder, one of my NYCB favorites Joaquin De Luz (one of the few who manages to combine spectacular athleticism with artistry), and the charismatic Gonzalo Garcia — is particularly playful as the dancers literally bounce off of each other, each lifting and tossing one another — including Ashley who did quite well getting the much larger and muscly Garcia off the ground. Soon, a slightly softer, slower section ensues, including a sweet duet by the in-love Wendy Whelan and Benjamin Millepied. The threesome return, each trying to outdo the other in a competition-like series of bravura, jump- and turn-heavy solos. And, after another couple of duets by the lovers, the whole thing, all characters included, comes to a happy climax, ending with this crazy, hilarious, almost statue-like lift by the threesome at the front of the stage, Joaquin on top of the other two, holding a finger up in the air, as if to say either “wait a minute” or, as Philip interpreted, “I’m number one.” In all, the ballet’s not tremendously profound but it is great fun and brings home how exciting sheer kinetic energy and virtuosity can be. It kind of reminded me of Jorma Elo’s “Slice to Sharp” made on the company earlier, but with more of a story-line. I definitely want to see it again.

Also on the program was Peter Martins’s “River of Light,” 10 years old and the oldest of these ballets, which I’d never seen before. I found it fantastically weird, with three pairs of dancers, each pair comprised of one male one female, all in simple solid-colored unitards, one couple in red, one in white, and one in black. The dancers made various geometric-looking shapes with each other, performing very difficult-looking lifts (one of the dancers fell at one point, but didn’t seem to be hurt). The dancers put so much energy into the piece, regardless of the geometric focus, there was a kind of passionate abandon to it as well. The score was composed by Charles Wuorinen (who was the youngest composer to have won the Pulitzer), and Martins choreographed the ballet for him 10 years ago as a 60th birthday present. Wuorinen returned this year, now his 70th birthday, to conduct the piece, which was really cool. Sweet tribute.

(photo by Paul Kolnick, from NYCB website)

I realized throughout the night I am really beginning to like Sterling Hyltin. She was in the Martins as well as Wheeldon’s “Rococo Variations,” which I’d seen before and wrote about earlier, here. Sitting so up close you can really focus on the dancers, and I realized how perfect her form always is. Even if her back leg isn’t up as high in an arabesque as the other dancer who often shared the stage with her Tuesday night (Sara Mearns), her lines are perfectly clear, and she has so much energy combined with fluidity. Her arms are so graceful. It’s not always about who can lift their leg the highest. And her feet are really beautiful — I forgot what it’s called (but know it has a name; one of my teachers told me), but she has turned-out ankles that give her legs so much gorgeous shaping. What is that called?…

Anyway, I also appreciated this time around the intricate patterned footwork in “Rococo Variations,” which I think I’d overlooked the first time I saw it. It’s a sweet ballet for two couples but it has a lot of variation in the steps that is, as the woman sitting next to me remarked, dizzyingly engrossing.

Finally, Oltremare, which premiered last season and which I wrote about here grew on me. This modern-style ballet contains some of the most difficult lifts I think I’ve ever seen, and the dancers perform them brilliantly. And talk about raw emotion and angst. The dancers perfectly convey the experience of leaving one’s country and becoming an immigrant in another. It makes me think of the beginning of Middlesex, when all the main characters are boarding the ship to flee the burning of Smyrna and come to the new world, with all of the horror of what they’d just experienced, sadness and anger at being displaced, and fear and trepidation for what the future will bring. I still think Oltremare is a tiny bit too one-note, and the mid-section still stood out to me as awkward and somewhat cartoonish where they’re all folk dancing, but so fast and furiously that it looks like they’re on Speed. But I also realized on this viewing that Bigonzetti may have wanted it this way; that he was trying to convey that they’re all trying so very hard to keep their pasts, their culture, that they’re trying so hard to be happy about this new life, that they’re on overdrive. I liked Maria Kowroski much better this time. I love the way she used her legs like tentacles to keep her partner at bay. Those legs never end — she’s like a spider!

(Paul Kolnick picture taken from Oberon’s Grove)

(photo by Paul Kolnick, from Dance View Times. How perfect a modern ballet dancer is Andrew Veyette, in center?!)

And last night I went to see Alvin Ailey at BAM. They’re not normally in season — and it was really odd seeing them in the midst of all the ballets! — but they’re having a special week in Brooklyn in honor of their 50th Anniversary celebrations going on all throughout the year.

(photo of Golden Section by Paul Kolnick)

I’d seen all the works on the program before: Twyla Tharp’s very 80’s hugely energetic, crazy lift-heavy “Golden Section”; Robert Battle’s beautifully haunting, otherworldly “Unfold” which, as I said, really grew on me even more (here’s a short video excerpt); Camille A. Brown’s cute, humorous “The Groove to Nobody’s Business” which makes me giggle (and whose first part reminds me of Fat Albert) more each time I see it; and of course the classic “Revelations” which I can’t count how many times I’ve seen but seem to see something new every time.

(photo of Revelations, by Paul Kolnick)

I also love listening to the audience react, and, as I said in a comment on my previous post about audience interactions, the audience here was vocal throughout the entire thing. They clapped and shouted “yeah!” not only during moments when dancers performed an amazing feat — like the jetes in Sinner Man and Alicia Graf’s beautiful turning develope in Fix Me Jesus — but just at the start of a section with which they were familiar, when the dancers at times hadn’t even appeared on stage yet. They were just cheering because they knew what was coming and had seen it before and been moved. The audience overall seemed so into the dancing. They cheered and hooted wildly after every piece and gave a standing ovation at the end. The company is only in NY through the end of the week, so if you’re here and want to see this or the other program — which includes a revival of “Masekela Language,” Mr. Ailey’s work about apartheid, go here for tickets. Or, for more info about the dances, call 212-514-0010 and press the appropriate buttons.