Category: Dance Previews / Upcoming Dance Events

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Excited for ABT’s Nutcracker at Segerstrom!

 

I was so excited when it was announced a while back that my favorite ballet company, American Ballet Theater, will be performing its Nutcracker season at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, in Orange County. I’ve so missed ABT since moving out of NY, and now I’ll get them for a whole two weeks! Alexei Ratmansky’s version of the classic is one of the best. And of course ABT has the greatest dancers around, in my admittedly very biased opinion 🙂

My faves, Marcelo Gomes and Veronika Part, will be opening the season. I’m also excited to see Misty Copeland in the lead, and Hee Seo.

If you’re in O.C., I hope to see you there!

Below is the just-announced casting:

Thursday, December 10, 7:30 p.m.
Veronika Part
Marcelo Gomes

Friday, December 11, 7:30 p.m.
Gillian Murphy
James Whiteside

Saturday, December 12, 2 p.m.
Isabella Boylston
Alban Lendorf

Saturday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.
Veronika Part
Marcelo Gomes

Sunday, December 13, 1 p.m.
Stella Abrera
Alexandre Hammoudi

Sunday, December 13, 6:30 p.m.
Gillian Murphy
James Whiteside

Tuesday, December 15, 7:30 p.m.
Hee Seo
Cory Stearns

Wednesday, December 16, 7:30 p.m.
Misty Copeland
Herman Cornejo

Thursday, December 17, 7:30 p.m.
Isabella Boylston
Alban Lendorf

Friday, December 18, 7:30 p.m.
Sarah Lane
Joseph Gorak

Saturday, December 19, 2 p.m.
Stella Abrera
Alexandre Hammoudi

Saturday, December 19, 7:30 p.m.
Misty Copeland
Herman Cornejo

Sunday, December 20, 1 p.m.
Hee Seo
Cory Stearns

Sunday, December 20, 6:30 p.m.
Sarah Lane
Joseph Gorak

Photo of Hee Seo and Cory Stearns by Gene Schiavone, courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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Marcelo Gomes Documentary on Kickstarter!

I meant to post about this much, much earlier but… what can I say; I’m a lawyer working for a big firm right now. So that’s that – things just don’t get posted in a timely manner…

Anyway, of course I want badly to see this particular campaign meet its goal, and it looks like it has! If you want to be a contributor, you have til the end of the month. Can’t wait for the movie!!!

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A CHANCE TO DANCE Premieres on Ovation August 17

A few weekends ago, I was invited to participate (via Skype) on a Dance Critics Association panel about dance on television (read a detailed write-up in Dance Magazine). Moderator Lisa Traiger mentioned this new show, A Chance to Dance, produced by the Lythgoes (Nigel, and son Simon) that was set to premiere soon. So I was really excited when Ovation network sent me more info. It’s going to premiere August 17th on Ovation (an arts and culture cable channel), and appears to be a more arty version of the popular shows like So You Think You Can Dance, or perhaps a kind of combination of that show and Breaking Pointe.

It will follow the formation of a dance company, helmed by Michael Nunn and Billy  Trevitt, the duo behind the well-respected U.K.-based Ballet Boyz. In the first few episodes, they will choose their dancers – and this will be the dance competition aspect of the show. Then, once the company is formed, they’ll begin choreographing and preparing for their first performance. This will take place at the esteemed Jacob’s Pillow, which, if you’ve ever been there, you know it’s the complete antithesis of Vegas, or Hollywood. I love it! The company will then tour with the SYTYCD tour.

Below is the flyer:

I have high hopes for this one; I like the Ballet Boyz. So, mark your calendars. More reminders as the date approaches…

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Body Traffic in L.A.

On Thursday night I was invited to an L.A. preview of Body Traffic‘s upcoming New York premiere. They’ll be performing in N.Y. at the Joyce (Chelsea) June 6th and 7th (they just received a $25,000 grant from the Joyce) as part of the Gotham Dance Festival, and I very highly recommend them.

Being new to L.A., this was my first experience with the four-year-old company (which is co-founded and directed by Tina Finkelman Berkett and Lillian Barbeito) and they weren’t at all what I was expecting. (I guess in L.A. I tend to expect to be surrounded by popular entertainment dance – hip-hop, the kind of contemporary modern showcased on So You Think You Can Dance, etc.) This company is more Batsheva, and the work is very intelligently choreographed and intelligently danced.

I don’t want to write much about the program right now; I’m just anxious for New Yorkers to see it and it’s work I think the New York critics will actually like, for a change!

The highlight, for me, was Israeli choreographer Barak Marshall’s And At Midnight, the Green Bride Floated Through the Village Square… which was kind of a cross between a dance and a play with multiple speaking parts (very funny, clever repartee) interspersed with ensemble dance. I loved it. Marshall gave an onstage interview during intermission. He has an endearing personality, as well as a beautiful voice. He sang a lovely, haunting-sounding song for us, in I think he said Yemeni, at the request of the interviewer.

Also on the program was Dutch choreographer Stijn Celis’s Fragile Dwellings, a poignant piece with four dancers dedicated to the homeless people of Los Angeles, and O2Joy by Richard Siegal set to music by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, and the Oscar Peterson Trio and just about the best homage to the pure joy of dance I’ve seen.

If you’re in New York, please do not miss them at the Joyce (June 6 & 7)!

To give you an idea, here are excerpts from an earlier Barak Marshall work:

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ABT is Coming to Orange County with Ratmansky’s New FIREBIRD

How excited am I! This Thursday through Sunday, my beloved ABT will be performing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County. They’re premiering Ratmansky’s new Firebird – and none other than SLSG faves Marcelo Gomes and Natalia Osipova are scheduled to star! (David Hallberg and Simone Messmer are co-starring.) The two other dances on the bill are Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions (photo above, by Rosalie O’Connor, of Marcelo with Isabella Boylston) and Merce Cunningham’s Duets. The latter two I haven’t seen yet since I missed the company’s City Center season last year.

Read a preview of Firebird by Joseph Carman here.

This will be my first time at Segerstrom / Orange County. If any of my Angeleno or former Angeleno readers would like to give me advice on the best way to get down there from Century City on a weeknight, I’d be most thankful 🙂 I will most definitely report back, particularly on the new Firebird!

 

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Marcelo Gomes to Dance with Cisne Negro

Although we’re on late-summer hiatus from ballet season here in NYC, SLSG favorite Marcelo Gomes will be performing at the Joyce Theater on August 15th, with the Brazilian modern dance company, Cisne Negro (which means Black Swan in Portuguese). I’ve never seen this company before, but of course am now intrigued. They’re at the Joyce from August 15-20, but Marcelo is only dancing on opening night. He’s to dance a solo, called Paganini, which he choreographed himself but on a female dancer from La Scala Ballet. He’s now re-set the piece on himself. It’s set to violin music, which will be played live by Charles Yang. Go here for more info on the rest of the program.

Here’s a short video clip of the company:

Photos above by Reginaldo Azevedo.

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Bolshoi’s SWAN LAKE Upcoming in Cinemas Nationwide

The Bolshoi’s version of Swan Lake is about to hit movie houses nationwide as part of Emerging Pictures’ Ballet in Cinema series. This broadcast stars Mariya Aleksandrova and Ruslan Skvortsov. Haven’t ever seen either dancer so I’m excited. Plus, the versions all have their subtle differences, particularly in the various endings, so I find them all interesting to watch. This is a high definition broadcast but it’s recorded (performance was September 2010), not live. So the showtimes and dates vary. In Manhattan, the showing is taking place this Sunday, the 19th, at the Manhattan Big Cinemas. Visit the Emerging Pictures website to find a location near you.

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Exit 12 Dance Company to Perform HOMECOMING This Saturday Aboard the Intrepid

This Saturday, May 28th, in honor of Memorial Day and Fleet Week, Roman Baca’s dance company, Exit 12, will perform his work, Homecoming, aboard the Intrepid. Homecoming depicts an officer’s return home after fighting in the Iraq war. Baca, a former U.S. Marine, based the choreography on his own experiences.

I know Baca through the internet but have never seen his work performed before – his company is based in Connecticut and I haven’t been able to make it up there. So this is pretty exciting. Also, famous freelance ballerina (and my friend 🙂 ) Taylor Gordon, will be dancing. The performance, which begins at 11:30 a.m., costs nothing, but you must buy a ticket to the Intrepid museum to be admitted. Click on the link below for the full press release, containing all the deets.

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Jose Carreno and ABT Live-Streamed from the Guggenheim this Sunday and Monday

 

The Guggenheim’s Works and Process event this coming Sunday and Monday nights (May 1st and 2nd) is entitled “ABT: On to Act II” and focuses on what awaits a principal ballet dancer upon retirement from an illustrious career. The focus of course is on Jose Manuel Carreno, who will retire in June during the company’s Met season, and who’s long been one of my personal favorites in ABT and in the world. I remember when Julio Bocca gave his farewell performance I thought how upset I’d be when it was Jose Carreno doing the same. That day in late June is not going to be a happy one for me…

The W&P panel will consist of Carreno, Susan Jaffee, Frederic Franklin, and several ABT administrators, and there will be excerpts from the company’s upcoming Met season performed. (It hasn’t yet been announced who the dancers will be.) There will also be a slide show of the photography of Rosalie O’Connor, who successfully transitioned from ABT dancer to company photographer (and who took the above picture of Carreno in Don Quixote).

As with all of the Guggenheim’s W&P events of late, this one will be live-streamed on the Guggenheim’s ustream channel. So even though the event is sold out, we all get free admission 😀 Just tune in at 7:30 p.m. ET either night, and again, you can also participate in the live-chat which takes place on that channel alongside the live video.

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Don’t Forget Royal Danish’s Live-Stream Via Guggenheim

Hey you guys,

I’m on a legal assignment with some really crazy hours, so sorry I’ve kind of had to drop off the face of the earth for a while! Anyway, just wanted to remind you all that the Guggenheim is live-streaming their Works and Process with the Royal Danish Ballet this Sunday and Monday nights, at 7:30 p.m. I’ll be working and not watching, but the good thing about the live-streams is that they’re archived 🙂 See my prior post for the Guggenheim’s ustream website.

Hope to have time soon to blog and respond to all your excellent comments on my post about NYCB and Twitter!

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Jacques D’Amboise at Barnes & Noble Tonight

 

Former NYCB dancer Jacques d’Amboise (photo above by Eduardo Patino) will read from his new memoir, I Was a Dancer, at the Upper East Side Barnes and Noble (86th and Lex) tonight (March 9th) at 7 p.m.

 

Here’s Macaulay’s review of the book.

I haven’t read it yet, but am adding it to my long list. First, I must finish a YA book by a Canadian author that I agreed to review.

Mr. d’Amboise was also at Symphony Space recently talking about the book (as a Facebook friend pointed out to me), but I appear to have missed it. Did anyone go?

If the Symphony Space d’Amboise event happened last night, I was at Keigwin + Company at the Joyce, for Exit, making its world premiere. Review coming soon!

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Two Live-Streams This Sunday: Natalia Osipova in Bolshoi’s Don Q, and Guggenheim’s YAGP Judging Panel Program

 

Live-streaming, either over the internet or into movie theaters, seems to be the in thing these days, fortunately, for those of us who can’t travel the world to see top companies perform and / or afford to attend all of these panel discussions and performances.

This Sunday, March 6th, there are two live-streamed ballet events. The first, at 11:00 a.m. ET is the Bolshoi’s production of Don Quixote starring Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, which will be live-streamed from Moscow into theaters all over the world. I wrote a little about that at the bottom of this post.

As I said before, if you haven’t seen Osipova, this is your chance. She’s one of the most athletically astounding ballerinas around right now, she’s a huge star in Europe, and this is THE role that she’s most known for (since it really showcases such athletics). In Manhattan, the performance will be shown at the Big Cinema at 59th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, and I think it costs $25. Check the Emerging Pictures’ Ballet in Cinema website to search for showplaces and showtimes in your area.

Above image of Osipova and Vasiliev by Genaro Molina from Danza Ballet.

Then, later in the evening, at 7:30 ET, the Guggenheim will live-stream online via their ustream channel their Works & Process program on judging in the important Youth America Grand Prix. This program is free, and, again, you can participate in the live chat online on that channel.

For more info on the Guggenheim’s program and participants, click below to see the full press release:

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