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ALVIN AILEY DANCERS TO PERFORM ON SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE THIS THURSDAY

I’ve just received word that Alvin Ailey dancers Jamar Roberts and Rachael McLaren (photos above by Andrew Eccles) will be appearing on this Thursday’s results show of So You Think You Can Dance. They’ll be performing an excerpt from Ulysses Dove’s Bad Blood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that dance but have always found Dove’s work very captivating. Plus, Jamar’s one of my favorites. Exciting!

Also, for New York audiences, Alvin Ailey will be performing in Central Park’s free SummerStage series on July 23rd and 24th, both nights at 8pm. By the way, this year marks the 25th anniversary of SummerStage.

Also for NYers, the Ailey Extension is offering a buy five get one free deal on classes through the end of July in celebration of the school’s 5th anniversary. Go here for more info.

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OSIPOVA AND HALLBERG IN ROMEO AND JULIET

Here are a couple of photos of Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg at curtain call yesterday after her debut as Juliet, taken by Len Zernov from The Faster Times. I’m hoping to receive more photos soon and will post them asap! Read Marina Harss’s review of Osipova (she compares Osipova with Paloma Herrera) here.

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THE DUELING JULIETS: NATALIA OSIPOVA VERSUS DIANA VISHNEVA

 

So Saturday was another double feature for me, as for many ABT fans. And it was a fun double-header with the Russian women – the Bolshoi versus the Kirov, if you will – kind of going at each other 🙂  Natalia Osipova (top photo) made her debut as Juliet, opposite David Hallberg’s Romeo during the matinee, and in the evening, Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes took the leads.

I can’t say I liked one over the other, though they were very very different. It was Osipova’s debut and Vishneva has performed it many times so the evening Juliet was a bit more sophisticated. But Osipova will grow into it and eventually make it her own. I think Osipova’s Juliet was much more girlish, cuter, particularly at the beginning, than I’ve seen her danced before. She practically ran from Paris when her parents first introduced them. Vishneva was girlish too but not as much; she knew it was time for her to be married and she was trying to be mature and ready herself.

Osipova tried hard to act the part well though, and I love that about her. She always does that. It’s not just about the dancing; she’s an actress too. And one huge thing I love about her is how well she works with David Hallberg.

Continue reading “THE DUELING JULIETS: NATALIA OSIPOVA VERSUS DIANA VISHNEVA”

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SWALLOW RECEIVES A VERY GOOD REVIEW IN THE EXAMINER!

By Maureen Linehan:

“Tonya Plank’s debut novel, Swallow, is as engaging as any book I have read. Although it does seem to be a little long at first (just over 400 pages), the character development is so appealing that once you start reading you find yourself eagerly anticipating what will come next, as you will undoubtedly sympathize with Sophie, and hope that she finds peace.”

Read the rest here!

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 4

Ugh, how heartbroken am I that Alex Wong is injured and may have torn his Achilles tendon. If he’s out permanently I’m going to be so upset; he was the main reason I’m so into the show this season. I guess we’ll find out tonight…

I also can’t believe Nigel basically chastised audiences for putting Robert in the bottom three last week. I understand Nigel was only trying to tell people Robert’s not arrogant, as his internet research has led him to believe is why people aren’t voting for him. I’ve never thought he was arrogant but more that he just doesn’t have the expansiveness and breadth of other contemporary dancers. But people don’t like being told what to think and I think Nigel may have just made it more difficult for Robert.

Continue reading “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 4”

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ABT TO MAKE HISTORIC CUBA VISIT

According to this online newspaper, ABT is to perform in the Havana Festival in October. And according to this blog post, some members of New York City Ballet will join them. I can’t remember if I’ve heard this news before, but it sounds familiar.  It doesn’t seem to be posted on ABT’s website though. Anyway, ABT hasn’t toured Cuba since 1960. It’s all part of the 90th birthday of Alicia Alonso celebrations. Wow. Lucky dancers – I’m so jealous! I’ve wanted to go to Cuba for a long, long time.

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SELECTIVE MUTISM AND GLOBUS HYSTERICUS

I just saw this review of my novel. It was posted a month ago, but somehow I’d missed it.

It’s interesting because Rae says she can identify with my protagonist, Sophie, because she had something similar called selective mutism. I hadn’t heard of that before and so looked it up. It’s where a child doesn’t speak in certain situations, although the child can speak and does so at other times. It’s an anxiety disorder, as is Globus. Interesting because I remember having something similar when I was a child. I remember my father thinking I had a speech impediment and having me enrolled in a speech class in … I think it was either kindergarten or first grade. I was in a special ed class with kids who had severe lisps and couldn’t pronounce groups of words properly. The teacher told my parents that wasn’t what was wrong with me and the class wasn’t helping me. I don’t remember what happened, but eventually it must have gone away. I’m just now remembering it.

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WHAT INSPIRES YOU? DANCERS AND CONVICTS OF COURSE!

There’s a short interview with me, about my book, up on Kipp Poe’s blog.

I met Mr. Poe, an author, on the Kindleboards, which I’ve just recently found. If you have a Kindle, or have downloaded a Kindle app onto another kind of e-reader, it’s an excellent message board where you can chat with other Kindle owners and readers, as well as authors of Kindle books. If you don’t have some kind of e-reader – I can’t believe I’m saying this – but I highly recommend one. A lot of e-books are really low-priced compared to physical books (owing to the comparatively low production and distribution costs), and I’ve found reading books digitally surprisingly enjoyable, which I never thought I’d say. They’re easy to fit in your bag, you can read anywhere because of the internal light, and, like I said, you can buy books for a small fraction of the regular price.

About a year and a half ago, when I needed a new cell phone, I bought  an iPhone and downloaded the various e-reader apps to test how I’d like reading books digitally. I didn’t think I would but I needed a new phone and was sick of T-Mobile so I figured what the hell. Now I read so much on my iPhone – not everything but a great deal. You can buy Kindle books (if you have an Amazon account) directly through the phone without having to be connected to a computer. And of course they download right away; no waiting for delivery. Only real drawback of the iPhone is the short battery life… I’ve heard the Kindle and iPad don’t have those problems though.

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LAST WEEK AT ABT: ROMEO AND JULIET

 

So, this is the last week of ABT’s Met season, and they are closing out with my favorite, Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. My recommended casts are both performances on Saturday – Natalia Osipova is debuting as Juliet in the matinee, dancing opposite David Hallberg, and that evening is the lovely Diana Vishneva (who has really been blowing me away this season), with Marcelo Gomes as her Romeo. (Angel Corella was originally scheduled to be Vishneva’s Romeo but he is injured). Also, the Wednesday afternoon cast is good — Hee Seo, who is one of my current favorite Juliets, dances with Corey Stearns. Tonight is your only chance to see Herman Cornejo as Mercutio — he’s my favorite for that part. The leads are Marcelo and Juliet Kent. Go here for the full schedule.

Here is a recently-added YouTube of various clips of La Scala’s production of the same ballet, starring Corella and Alessandra Ferri (my favorite ballerina ever in that role).

Photo at top of David Hallberg as Romeo and Herman Cornejo as Mercutio, by Fabrizio Ferri.

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MEDALISTS ANNOUNCED IN USA INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION

 

Medalists in this year’s USA International Ballet Competition, held in June in Jackson, Mississippi, have recently been announced. This is one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. People from all over the world compete, as you can see by this list of winners and their home countries. It has launched the careers of many current greats, including, probably most famously, Jose Carreno, whom I just blogged about in my last post.

So, congrats to these winners, many of whom I’m sure we’ll be seeing in the future.

Photo above of Cao Shuci, from China, gold medalist in women’s senior division, by Richard Finkelstein.