is available for pre-order on Amazon. Good lord, look at those tag categories down below…
DAVID HALLBERG AND ASHLEY BOUDER AT VAIL
Our David Hallberg (with flying blonde mane and miraculous feet!) rehearses the Black Swan pas de deux with Ashley Bouder, which they’re currently performing at the Vail International Dance Festival. Great Paloma Herrera-esque fouettes, Ms. Bouder (with the multiple pirouettes thrown in; I haven’t really seen the NYCBallet ballerina in a dramatic part yet; she and David look good together!)
Bouder’s also performing Balanchine’s Who Cares with SLSG favorite Robert Fairchild, and David’s dancing Apollo with Pacific Northwest’s Carla Korbes. So wish I could be there…
BERTRAND NORMAND’S "BALLERINA" AT WALTER READE AGAIN
If you’re in New York and you missed it last winter, Bertrand Normand’s 2006 documentary, Ballerina, will show at the Walter Reade again on Monday, August 31 at 1:30 p.m. The doc follows five Kirov ballerinas — Alina Somova, Svetlana Zakharova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Evgenia Obraztsova, and our Diana Vishneva.
If you don’t live in New York (or are one of the lucky who have a job and can’t make the daytime showing), it’s apparently now out on DVD as well (the trailer is here).
Also at the Walter Reade this month, as part of a Natalie Wood retrospective, is Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ 1961 film West Side Story. It shows on August 19 at 6:15 p.m., August 21 at 8:50 p.m., and August 23 at 1:00 p.m. Eliot Feld will introduce the August 23rd showing. Go here for more info.
UPDATE: The August 31st screening of Ballerina has been cancelled; the new screening time for that film is Thursday, September 3rd at 9:00 p.m.
ROBERTO BOLLE IN SALVATORE FERRAGAMO FALL WINTER COLLECTION
MAO'S LAST DANCER
Looks like one of the better dance films of late. In cinemas this October.
CONGRATS TO JEANINE MASON, "AMERICA’S FAVORITE DANCER"!
I’m happy for her — she definitely had her moments of brilliance, and I do think overall she did the best, most original solos of the season.
The rest of the So You Think You Can Dance results were: 4th Kayla, 3rd Evan, and 2nd Brandon.
Seeing Janette dance that Doriana Sanchez disco with Brandon made me want to see her again. I do hope we see some of these dancers again, and not just on the show but out in the world. As Jonathan commented on my Pasha & Anya Burn the Floor post, it seems like season three contestants have done well on Broadway, happily. I really liked Janette and Evan, so I hope I will see the latter on Broadway as well, and perhaps the former in a travelling ballroom show?… I will try to find out what’s going on with Sabra and Cedar Lake.
I think the other star of tonight was Louis van Amstel, with all of those routines he choreographed throughout the season — the waltz, the samba, the paso — being chosen by the judges for encore perfs. And yeah, they were all really memorable, now that I see them again. Let’s see him do a Broadway / travelling ballroom show in the near future! C’mon Louis.
I really wish they would have had other dancers / dance companies perform tonight rather than have so many encore performances. How about some Alvin Ailey, ABT or San Fran Ballet, and maybe some fun small modern dance companies like Keigwin + Company? And maybe some top ballroom dancers as well, or some more America’s Best Dance Crew winners? I loved seeing Desmond Richardson perform earlier in the season and then, bam, that was it — no more outside dance. I would think audiences would really want the chance to see what else is out there rather than see so many repeat routines, flashbacks to the dancers’ auditions and interviews, and previews of next season, right?
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEASON FIVE FINALE
I know this will come as a surprise to everyone (not!), but I really agree with Mary when she commended Evan for having introduced young audiences to a dance style that was in danger of dying: good old fashion Broadway / classic MGM — Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and all that. To me that has been the highlight of the season. To me, none of the dancers really had the sort of overall star power that Danny Tidwell, for example, had a couple of seasons ago, but Evan shone for what he excelled at. And I really believe audiences went for that — not for his cute face, as Nigel put it, or his good guy-ness, but for the way he brought that classic Broadway / Hollywood style of the ’40s and ’50s charmingly to life with character and intelligence — and with very good technique.
I don’t understand why all the judges kept harping on him. I actually thought he outshone Brandon in the Laurieann Gibson routine (at the beginning, they both jumped and his was sky high, with better lines than Brandon’s). I thought both he and Brandon did well at the more hip hop-y parts, but Evan outshone Brandon with the jumps and turns. But people will probably disagree with me on that…
And I thought he was technically better than Kayla in Tony and Melanie’s Jive. I thought her arms were way too busy. In jive your arms aren’t supposed to be swinging about wildly; your legs and mid-section are supposed to be doing the work. I feel that if you use your arms too much, it’s like your center and legs are weak — it’s like using your arms to haul your body up during sit ups or something. Outwardly you’re doing the movement pattern, but you’re not using the proper muscles. Anyway, I thought his legs were fantastic — those jive kicks had so much strength. And the lifts were spectacular — I love how they slowed them down mid-air to keep in time with the music. They almost looked like they were in slow motion. Difficult! I honestly thought that jive — and Evan’s performance in particular — was one of the best I’ve seen on the show. And how much do I love the audience chanting for him when the judges were being harsh 😀
I do think overall, though, my favorite dance of the night was Jeanine and Brandon’s Paso Doble. What a triumph for Louis van Amstel — holy cow! Normally I don’t like non-traditional Paso music, but this (from The Matrix) worked well — can you say intense?! Great razor sharp movement for both of them, he had some gorgeous turning jumps, and what a beautiful jete into an assisted slide for her. I totally agree with Adam Shankman’s comment that the reason this worked so well is because they focused on the transitions — the movement between the tricks — and not only the flashy things. As my former teacher, Luis, always used to say to me, the actual dancing takes place between the tricks. Nowhere was that better demonstrated than with this Paso. Kudos to everyone involved.
My other favorite moment of the night was Jeanine’s solo — by far the best of the night, I thought. That modern-y tango was so original — part Latin, part American Modern with the staccato, angular movement, the sharp stops, the isolations. And, contrary to Adam, I loved the rose stem held between her teeth. I thought it gave the dance character, and was a bit humorous to boot. And those pirouettes — totally agree with Adam there — WTF! Those were incredible! She began with a group of fouettes to give herself speed, then wound down into a combination of pirouettes that she somehow slowed to a perfect stop at the end, holding her balance after the last one ended, in perfect form. Astonishing — that was like something you’d see from Gillian Murphy and it made me think she’s been holding back all season…
But then … when she danced the Mia Michaels routine side-by-side with Kayla, I thought Kayla outshone her. I thought Kayla had greater height on her kicks and jumps, and overall more precision in her body. I think Kayla has the best modern dance technique of anyone on the show, and it really shows in the way she is able to dance with so much expansiveness, so much breadth, yet still keep such a tight form. In the group routine I found her to be the most expressive, to have the greatest range of movement in her head, neck and torso. And she’s got such stunning leg extensions. That Tyce DiOrio routine she did with Brandon — she really blew me away when she swung her right leg up, held it nearly to her ear, and then he threw her over his head in a split.
I wasn’t as in love with Brandon’s solo this week as I was last (and as the judges were), but I did love how he ended in that sudden straddle split. That is kind of his thing — making these sudden and intense lines. And his solo last week was to die for — so he’s definitely had his moments on the show.
Again, I have no idea who will win tonight. I feel that everyone has something: Kayla’s a great mover, Brandon has strength and intensity and can really blow you away at times, Jeanine excels with original solos and really brought it on this week and did something astounding, and Evan I love for bringing back Gene Kelly. Maybe Evan’s popularity on the show will lead to increased appreciation of Jerome Robbins?… Okay, I can dream 🙂
PASHA KOVALEV AND ANYA GARNIS BURN THE FLOOR
It’s just been announced that Pasha & Anya (from So You Think You Can Dance of course!) will join the Burn the Floor Broadway cast as the star dancers, replacing Maks Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, who depart the show August 16th. Pasha & Anya will begin August 18th.
Woo hoo! So excited for them!
I really think they’re going to make this show. (My review of the Maks / Karina cast is coming very soon — likely later today). I think Pasha and Anya are the quintessential Latin ballroom performers. Karina’s technically probably the best female Latin dancer in the world right now (imo, with the arguable exception of Joanna Leunis, or Yulia Zagoruychenko) and Karina & Maks are worth seeing in the show for that reason alone. But Anya’s a true diva like no other and she and Pasha really know how to melt you into a giant puddle, right there on your seat… I’m not kidding, they are to die for.
I don’t know which cast to recommend now… I recommend them both!
(Full disclosure of course: for newish readers to this blog, I am friends with Pasha; he is my former instructor).
ALEX WONG AND MIAMI CITY BALLET IN VAIL
The company’s currently at the Vail International Dance Festival, performing a Balanchine spectacular, which includes, along with Tarantella, The Four Temperaments and Serenade. Visit Vail’s website to watch a video of the two talking with Erik Williams of Plum Vail in the beautiful Colorado mountains. They talk about the program, about their dancing lives, and about Miami City Ballet. So You Think You Can Dance watchers will of course remember Alex from earlier this season.
ROBERTO BOLLE INTERVIEW IN BALLETCO
Here.
Oooh, he says he’s doing a modern version of Giselle (by Mats Ek), in February. Something worth going to Naples for…
REPEAT OF VERONIKA PART ON LETTERMAN
tonight (Monday, August 3rd), late night on CBS.
via James Wolcott.
Here’s a nice, detailed overview of Part from those wonderful “Bag Ladies” across the pond.
Also on TV, showing on local public-access stations across the country now and in the near future, is the rock opera, Remember Me, a collaboration between the East Village Opera Company and choreographer David Parsons, with dance performed by Parsons Dance. I haven’t seen it but it’s been called “a high energy mix of contemporary dance, opera, and rock music” and was popular when it premiered live here back in January. Here are the broadcast times:
KQED, San Francisco, CA – 8/2 at 8pm (also on KTEH/San Jose and KQET/Monterey), 8/3 at 2pm
WGBH, Boston, MA (presenting station) – 8/2 at 8pm, 8/5 at 3am and 3pm, 8/6 at 7:30pm
KCET, Los Angeles, CA – 8/7 at 3:30pm
AETN, Conway, AR – 8/9 at 8pm
WUSF, Tampa, FL – 8/9 at 8pm and 8/15 at 3:30pm
KLRU, Austin, TX – 8/10 at 8pm
WMHT, Albany, NY – 8/10 at 8pm
WLIW, New York – 8/13 at 7:30 pm
Photo of Remember Me by Yi-Chun Wu, taken from Explore Dance.
TAKE DANCE PREMIERES FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW
TAKE Dance Company began its season at Dance Theater Workshop on Thursday night. There were four dances on the program — all choreographed by artistic director Takehiro Ueyama: two pieces from last year (the upbeat Linked, and Love Stories, a haunting duet about three stages in the life of a relationship that was inspired by a Magritte painting); the New York premiere of Shabon; and the world premiere of Footsteps in the Snow, both rather abstract pieces that I found a bit unsettling.
Shabon, set to Steve Reich music, is bookended by a solitary woman walking across the stage blowing bubbles. Bubbles are blown onstage throughout the dance, by bubble machines, which would seem to make the mood of the piece playful. But there’s a lot of intense partnering and the dancers seem to be characters who struggle somewhat with each other. During the climax of the piece, a small woman walks atop the shoulders of the other dancers, who together make a kind of human pyramid. She does this twice, then falls backward, hoping the others will catch her, which they do. But it still made me jump, because it doesn’t seem like she’s really trusting them so much as that she doesn’t care about her own well-being any more, like she’s given up. Then, in the end, when the solitary woman is walking across stage blowing her bubbles again, it’s like she’s in her own world. To me, it was about the solitariness of human existence or the fragility of connection.
The last piece, Footsteps, seemed to echo those themes as well as hint at the impermanence of human existence. Set to the rain-drop-like music of Arvo Part (the same used by Christopher Wheeldon in his famous After the Rain pas de deux), the stage was covered with fake snow (confetti) and there were some “snow-blowing” machines used from time to time to cover the dancers’ tracks, which made me think of the way it’s impossible to leave a lasting footprint in the snow. The dancers danced by turns in solo, in pairs, and in ensemble, the mood shifting between violent, tender and pensive. In one part, Francisco Gracinao (who regularly dances with Paul Taylor and was guesting with TAKE) throws himself violently to the floor, ending in a balance on the side of his neck, his legs in the air. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone throw himself down that way and then basically land on his neck. It made me jump. In other places, the men dangle the women upside down. In one moment — my favorite – -a man and woman, both crawling on the floor, find each other, and rub necks, entwining them and kind of locking them into place, fitting together perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle. It’s a beautiful image and at first I was hoping the piece would end there, but no, the pause in the music and the dimmed lights were only a pause; there was another, more disconcerting section that followed. I guess, thinking it over, I’m glad it didn’t end there — it would probably have been too pat, too happy, and I don’t think Take does happy endings!
I really like TAKE’s dancers. Ueyama has a good, diverse group — about half of them are kind of “all American” in a Paul Taylorish way (Ueyema danced with Paul Taylor before forming his own group) — kind of carefree and sunny and spacious in their use of the floor, and then the other half are these really intense Asian women who captivate you with the depth of their gaze and the small details in their movement. They’re kind of opposites in a way but both are equally compelling and together I think make for a really unique company.
This is a good, varied program. It runs at DTW through this Sunday afternoon.Visit the DTW website for details and video excerpts, and see Philip’s blog for more pictures by his friend Kokyat.