Tina Brown’s new online magazine, The Daily Beast, launched today (via Maud, who’s an “insider”). I wonder if she can employ one of those newly out-of-work dance critics? It doesn’t look huge on the arts, but then again it just launched.
Praise the Lord For Antony Tudor!!!
Last night I went to one of the best Works & Process events at the Guggenheim that I’ve been to in a long time. (By the way, I spent practically all weekend, despite a severe cold turned into sinusitis turned into a migraine episode, at City Center watching Morphoses, and despite said sickness had a pretty good time — promise to write all about that very soon!) Anyway, this Works & Process event, about American Ballet Theater’s upcoming City Center season honoring choreographer Antony Tudor, was so excellent because:
1) three of my favorite dancers (excepting Marcelo that is — he never does Guggenheim sadly) were onstage working their magic only feet away from me. This included Jose Carreno (headshot above), Julie Kent and Veronika Part, the first and third of whom I’ve never seen at Guggenheim. And it was the best dancing I’ve seen there. Usually, with the space being so intimate, the stage so close and the dancers in workout clothes rather than actual costumes, everything just seems scratchy, like you notice all the little foibles the distance of the stage at the Met or City Center prevents you from seeing. But with these three: looked just like it does in the big opera house, completely smooth and polished and dramatic and intense and perfectly in character and just miraculous movement altogether.
Veronika I must say almost made me cry with her Leaves are Fading character, and she and her partner, Alexandre Hammoudi, only performed a short excerpt from the 4th pas de deux of that ballet. She’s probably ABT’s most dramatic ballerina; her mission is always to make you feel exactly what her character is feeling, to bring you to that same place and make you a part of that world. To do so she puts everything she has into a role and the results are always so rich. There are other wonderful actress dancers in ABT, but there’s just no one on her exact level.
And the second reason I loved last night’s program was that I found it really informative. I didn’t know much about Tudor and I learned a great deal. Kevin McKenzie (ABT’s artistic director) spoke, and he talked about him not so much as a director trying to sell people on his company’s upcoming season but more as a former student reminiscing on how wonderful it was to be taught and coached by a genius.
Tudor created character-driven story ballets, and he gave his characters great psychological depth, as expressed, of course through movement. He’d develop a character through the walk, the way hands are held, through specific repeated gestures, spending hours and hours going over these things with his dancers, McKenzie said. Which is why I titled this post as I did. I’m just getting so tired of all these abstract story-less ballets with movement that doesn’t seem to have any meaning (at least not literal) or where the point is to make beautiful music visible. If I want to bask in the beauty of music, frankly, I’d rather go to a symphony and close my eyes and drink it all in. Movement should be more; it should be something beyond music. I like dances that are more like plays with movement substituting for words. I want characters with real lives and issues and emotions and depth, that I can latch onto and feel for. I want to get caught up in their stories, and cry for them; I want their predicaments to make me think about the state of things.
We saw some little film excerpts of Tudor speaking. “Dance must change to stay alive. Life is change,” he said. He wanted to modernize ballet, which is interesting because Christopher Wheeldon (Morphoses man who I’ll get to soon) says the same. But Tudor’s way of doing so (and most of his ballets were created from the 1930s through 70s; he died in 1987) was to make it more people-oriented, enable viewers to see the characters onstage as real people with genuine emotions, allow them to identify with those characters.
We saw excerpts of several of his ballets: his sweet Little Improvisations, a duet between a boy and girl; Judgment of Paris, a rather funny re-telling of three goddesses vying for the attention of one god but re-set in a bar with prostitute / ‘dancers’ subbing for the goddesses and a drunk patron for Paris; Pillar of Fire, a tragic portrait of three sisters, their relationships with each other, and their men; and The Leaves Are Fading, a sadly beautiful story of the life of one relationship.
Anyway, I’m now very excited for ABT’s Tudor season, upcoming at City Center at the end of October. Even if some of the ballets are a bit dated now (which we’ll have to determine when we see them), they’ll still be a welcome break from all the abstract shapes and movements that are supposed to evoke something … or not, and sometimes do, sometimes don’t, and sometimes do but I don’t care… I feel that the way to modernize ballet again today is to give us more, new, updated stories, but more on that later.
Sorry if this post is a bit loopy and rambling … I’m still suffering the after-effects of a week of Sudafed intake (and am kind of realizing the reason they put the drug behind the counter :S)
Alexei Ratmansky Talks With Joan Acocella Tomorrow at New Yorker Festival
For some reason, The New Yorker didn’t much publicize this year’s festival, but thankfully I sat next to Brian Siebert, who writes about dance for that magazine, last night at Morphoses (more on that soon!) and he alerted me that the festival is this weekend, and that as part of it, Joan Acocella (the NYer’s main dance critic) is to interview the man of the moment, Alexei Ratmansky, tomorrow, Saturday, at 1 p.m. at Cedar Lake studios. It appears they are no longer selling tickets on their website, but you can apparently go to the headquarters at 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues or else purchase tix at the event venue itself one hour before.
It appears that some of their writers are also live blogging and /or videotaping at least some of the events, so if you can’t be there, you can perhaps see / read about them online.
Go here to see other festival events.
Dance Times Square Showcase to Star SYTYCD’s Sabra and Neil and Honor Breast Cancer Survivors
Dance Times Square (my former studio) is having their biannual professional / student showcase on October 25 at the Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. This one will feature and honor a group of breast cancer survivors from the Helen Sawaya Compassionate Care Fund. The show begins at 7:30, and from 6-7 in the Kaye theater lobby there will be a reception and pre-show silent auction to raise money for the Fund. Part of the ticket proceeds will also be donated to it.
Pro dancers this year will include Sabra Johnson and Neil Haskell, former SYTYCD winner and finalist respectively, along with Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova, a pair of excellent Latin dancers who usually place in the finals in the national competitions. Additionally, Aprile Millo, a star with the Met Opera, will perform (singing I suppose!). Hmmm, it’s usually only Latin / Ballroom dancers who’ve performed in the professional portion of the show, so this should be very exciting. As usual, there’s an after-party as well at the studio.
Tickets range from $25 to $75 and can be purchased here.
Cynthia Gregory at Barnes & Noble
On October 17, at 7:30 p.m., legendary ballerina Cynthia Gregory will speak to Joel Lobenthal (dance critic of the now sadly defunct NY Sun) at the Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center. She’ll be promoting a new DVD, Together, of her work with Fernando Bujones.
Let's Just Do Away With Words
we don’t really need them to, like, communicate intelligently or anything…
(Steve, a ballroom friend of mine, showing me his favorite newspaper for arts coverage last October, during our studio’s “field trip” to see Pasha and Anya on the SYTYCD tour)
For those who haven’t already heard, that paper, The NY Sun, folded the other day (leaving Joel Lobenthal — one of the better dance critics imo — presumably out of a job) along with two other arts-heavy alternative weeklies, The Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper (via Galley Cat).
Another unfolding drama in the literary arts world is that the Nobel prizes winners are scheduled to be announced soon, but the Swedish head of the literature committee has apparently told Americans we’re being left out of the running; we’re too insular, uninvolved in the world, we “don’t translate enough and don’t participate in the world’s great dialog of literature.” Of course this has angered many, including David Remnick, EIC of The New Yorker; here is Galley Cat’s snarling response.
I seem to buy a lot of translations so it would be nice if Mr. Engdahl was more specific on what is not being translated here, and I don’t know what he means by our failure to participate in the world’s great literary dialog, but I disagree with him that all of our writers are insular, though the ones who come to mind first who are not (Junot Diaz, Colson Whitehead, David Foster Wallace, etc.) are probably too young in their literary careers (tragically of course in Wallace’s case) to be considered for this “body of work” award. Still, this line of his resonates: “U.S. writers are ‘too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture,’ dragging down the quality of their work.” I’m not sure if it’s the writers or the publishers, but I do think we’re far too concerned here with how much money the work will make, which in large part depends on how “trendy” is its topic or author. I do think we’d be hard-pressed to argue with him that a work’s artistic merit is generally more important in Europe, its dollar ‘value’ more so here. And where has this fixation on money gotten us?…
Juliette Binoche and Akram Khan in London
Oh, I am so jealous of anyone who’s in London right now. I went to the bookstore yesterday in search of the new issue of Movmnt magazine. Couldn’t find it but found an article in Dance International magazine about a new performance at the National in London, a collaboration between my favorite actress and Akram Khan, an intriguing dancer and choreographer whom I’d seen here last year and who I wrote about here.
Here is critic Judith Mackrell’s review of the evening (she thought Khan brilliant and lauds Binoche for continual self-reinvention but found her dance range too limited to sustain an entire performance, which, as much as I love Binoche as an actor, is unsurprising to me given the difficulty of learning to dance in adulthood). I’d still love to see it though. Here are some photos, and here’s an interview with Binoche. If anyone is in London and sees this, please do let me know.
DWTS: Brooke, Toni, Warren & Cody R My Faves This Wk
Okay, I almost just spit out my wine when Cody looked all innocently at the camera and said of the Rhumba, “This dance is about sensuality, sex, passion, and to be honest,” cute shrug and conscious laugh here, “I don’t have all that much life experience.” He’s too funny! He did really well — the attitude was there, he supported her very well in all of those rather complicated (for a beginner) tricks, and his hips while not completely correct were a good try. Cute cucharachas 😀
Haha –Maks did not look so happy about being in the middle… That was actually rather funny; wonder if he knew the camera was on him…
Other favorites this week: Warren. I’d like to see someone other than a footballer win it again, but I have to say, big guy though he is, he is really good. That Paso was right on. And Toni and Brooke are damn good. Brooke: whoa! Perfect lines, perfect shaping, gorgeous ronde, great arms, steps completely polished. Holy crap! At this point I’m rooting for Brooke because she’s kind of the underdog, is probably the least well known, yet she’s very, very, surprisingly good. I’d like to see the person who no one knows take the trophy, if she continues to deserve it that is…
My little foodie man didn’t do so hot this week 🙁 I did love his comparison of risotto with rhumba (both the basics of their respective disciplines, romantic and seductive, like “cashmere on the lips” — mmmm) and his whipping up that dish for Karina, who finally seemed to appreciate it. I do hope he’s given another chance to improve next week.
Poor Cloris. She behaves this week and the judges are all confused, tell her they miss the wackiness. What’s a girl to do?
Fall For Dance Finale
So, Fall For Dance wrapped up nicely; there were really no pieces on the last night’s program that I didn’t like. First on was the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s production of a Twyla Tharp dance I’d never seen, SWEET FIELDS, from 1996, which seemed to me a bit unlike her usual fare. It was joyous, spiritual, very lyrical, with dancers dressed in white flowing cloth, moving to Shaker hymnals. The one section that was very ‘Tharp-y’ was filled with breathtaking group lifts: at one point a group of men held one man up high above their heads, they suddenly released him and he rolled down, falling almost bungie-jump-like nearly to the floor, until they caught him at the very last second. The audience collectively gasped then applauded wildly.
Second on was San Francisco Ballet dancing Jerome Robbins’ lovely, ballroom-y IN THE NIGHT set to melodious Chopin played by an onstage pianist. The dance consists of three duets performed by three different couples — one the wondrous Yuan Yuan Tan (whom I’ve heard so much about; and she definitely lived up to her reputation!) with Ruben Martin; the second by Sofiane Sylve (who used to dance with New York City Ballet) and Tiit Helimets; and the third by the celebrated Cuban dancer Lorena Feijoo and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba. Tan and Martin represented a more mature, in love couple, their dancing very flowing and elegant, Sylve and Helimets I wasn’t sure about because to be honest I didn’t feel all that much from their dancing, and Feijoo (who’s a real firecracker) and Vilanoba (who kind of played her straight man, appearing humorously unable to figure her out, to foresee her antics, her wild jumps into his arms) the fun, young couple whose relationship centered around rather cutely played out sexual angst. The audience had a lot of fun, giggling throughout, particularly at Feijoo and Vilanoba.
I have to say, San Francisco Ballet, who are currently celebrating their 75th Anniversary, was a lovely company; they brought Robbins to life for me in a way I’ve seldom seen, and I look forward to seeing more of them at City Center later in the season.
Third was popular Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato’s Compania Nacional De Danza performing his COR PERDUT, a Gypsy-esque male / female duet between two likely lovers, each often running after the other playfully, then turning more serious, the man eventually picking up the woman, sweeping her off the ground, twirling her about. Very sweet theme, and the music — Turkish and sung in Catalan — was gorgeous.
And closing out the festival was Paul Taylor Dance Company’s popular ESPLANADE, set to Bach and choreographed by Taylor in 1975. This was a lot of fun; as dancers ran around stage, whizzing about narrowly missing each other, played hopscotch with each other’s bodies laid out on the floor log-like, and finally flew across stage taking a flying leap into each other’s arms, the crowd went nuts with applause, giving a standing ovation.
Fun, but very tiring, 10 days…
Here is Claudia La Rocco’s review of the last program in the Times.
Last night of fall for dance
Originally uploaded by swan lake samba girl via mobile.
T-Mobile
Having last cup of $2 wine in the lounge with Ariel sitting on these orange pillowy things that actually turned out to be rather comfy.
Intriguing Work at Joyce SoHo That Perhaps Tests One’s Ability to Sense and Intellectualize Simultaneously
Last week I was invited along with a couple other bloggers to a rehearsal of an upcoming modern dance piece at the Joyce SoHo, called A LIGHT CONVERSATION, a collaboration between dance artists Wally Cardona (from the US) and Rahel Vonmoos (from the UK).
What was interesting and original about this is that the dancers moved not to music but to spoken word — and not poetry or a rhythmic kind of spoken word, but to a BBC radio-show discussion of Existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, mainly his work and his thought and how it differed or took from Hegel, Socrates, and Kant, and a small bit up front on his personal life.
Well, I had the absolute hardest time focusing both on the visual movement and the words playing over the speakers. I realized about myself that when I concentrate hard on an idea, perhaps when I really use my intellect over my more physical senses (are they two different things?), or my left brain over right (to the extent they don’t work in tandem?), my eyes just naturally veer up and to the right. I guess many people’s do — maybe to varying sides depending on whether one is right- or left-handed. So, I caught myself several times looking up and off and not at the dancers! And, unless someone made a big, sweeping movement (Cardona did a few times, more often than Vonmoos, whose actions were generally much smaller), I had a really hard time focusing on the stage. And then when I tried to concentrate more on the movement, or when I tried to determine whether the movement informed the words or vice versa, I lost the intricacies of thought being spoken about.
At times they, smartly, either turned off the sound, interrupted it with silences so that you couldn’t hear a large part of the text, or placed another sound over the words, such as loud, booming drums. Then, I concentrated more on the dancers, and when I did noticed that Vonmoos’s actions, small as they often were, were rather mesmerizing in their detail.
But then at points, I’d still find myself trying to concentrate on what words were being left out or negated by the drums, whether that had any meaning in itself, whether I could fill in the blanks myself, etc., rather than the movement.
Perhaps part of my problem was that I took a lot of political philosophy in college and law school and I think I got carried away with trying to remember things, getting angry at myself for forgetting, etc. In any event, I found the whole concept intriguing and original.
Afterward the dancers talked a bit, and Cardona said they were really moving to the rhythms of the words; that he sometimes had a harder time hearing the rhythm of the woman commentator’s voice because it was softer and made such a marked tonal difference between the mens’. Vonmoos was less talkative but seemed to say the ideas expressed were important as well, not only the rhythms. I feel like this is a piece I’d need to see many times to more fully comprehend.
I’d love to hear what others think if anyone is able to go. Performances are next week, September 30-October 5. Tickets are $20. Read Philip’s review here, Taylor’s here (both concentrated more on the movement, so didn’t seem to have the same problems as I), and go here for more info. on the show.
DWTS HuffPo Piece Up
Here.
Hehehe, I already “tweeted” Sharon, who runs the BDC discussion of the show that I was kidding about the little remark at the beginning of my Cloris Leachman assessment. I’d gone to bed Wednesday night, only to have my cell phone start beeping off the hook with angry tweets from West Coast BDCers annoyed about McGinley getting the boot over Leachman. Very 21st Century 🙂
Anyway, happy Friday everyone!