Um, excuse me, but I take great umbrage to red wine being called a junk food?! Red wine is basically fermented grape juice. And grape juice is good for you 🙂 And don’t Italians live on that stuff (wine I mean)?
PROKOFIEV AND CLASSICAL BALLET ON SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!
Well, I am sad and surprised that Nigel Lythgoe did not give any kind of tribute to Pina Bausch last night, the way he did Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon last week. Pina Bausch is a legend in the dance world; how can you have a serious show about dance and not mention something as huge as her passing?
I did of course love that the show had its first ever classical ballet routine– performed by ballerina Melissa and her partner Ade to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, a version of the famous balcony scene choreographed by Thordal Christensen. It was more Peter Martins than Kenneth MacMillan, but I mean, come on! Am I complaining 🙂 I keep forgetting what Ade’s dance style is, which is perhaps a testament to how well he excels at everything. But I do know it’s not classical ballet! She was beautiful it goes without saying. Those overhead lifts were difficult-looking and perfectly executed, the slide (that NYCB’s Robert Fairchild and Sterling Hyltin admitted they could never get down and so took it out when they performed 😉 ) was likewise perfect, beautiful continuous super-charged chaine turns for her, really gorgeous lines and pointe work. She was really lovely. And Ade did quite well too. I mean, I don’t think he landed the jumps in perfect position and he wasn’t turned out, but come on, he’s not a ballet dancer and I don’t know if he even has any ballet training. He did miraculously well with all of those jetes and twisty turning jumps. And he was the perfect partner with those lifts. As Mia Michaels pronounced, “GORGEOIS!”
I also of course love the newly-established Dizzy Feet Foundation scholarship for dance training for underprivileged kids. Can’t wait to see Katie Holmes dance on July 23rd. Love how Judith Jamison appeared in an interview to talk about the scholarship. Just like her to be involved in something like this!
Okay, the other couples:
Janette and Brandon’s Cha Cha choreographed by Jean Marc and France Genereux was excellent, I thought. Particularly Janette. That one can do anything. Like Mary said, she’s a salsa dancer and, though people may not realize it, salsa technique is far different from cha cha. Salsa’s much more bent-kneed and free-form, less stylized. Cha Cha has to have the straight knees and the super quick leg action, the quick hip shifting. She did so well with it; I really thought she was a competitive ballroom dancer. I actually didn’t like Brandon as well as I liked her or as well as the judges did. He looked a bit robotic, he didn’t have enough hip action. It looked to me more like a hip hop version of cha cha.
Kayla and Kupono’s contemporary Sonya Tayeh routine: so, they said up front she’s supposed to be trying to escape death and he’s trying to draw her to it? Wouldn’t it work better the other way? Like she’s attracted to the dark and he’s trying to help her out? Anyway, I thought it was so so. I thought she had very good lines and very good form. I don’t like Kupono though; I just don’t. I thought his lines in his jumps were clumsy, his form wasn’t good — especially compared to hers. They partnered well though, seemed comfortable together. And good in sync dancing.
I actually really liked Randi and Evan’s Broadway routine, choreographed by Joey Dowling. They danced to Rich Man’s Frug from Sweet Charity, which I love. I thought they did really well getting the character down, both of them. I thought the bent wrists were sufficiently pronounced; I thought the lines were all there; the character, the sexiness, the attitude, the sharpness — it was great fun. I don’t know what the judges were on about. Then again, I don’t see a lot of Broadway. Oh, my favorite part was when he lifted himself out of the chair. How did he do that like that? It looked like he used no leg muscles at all to get up! Like he raised himself straight from his center. Amazing!
I wasn’t into Jason and Caitlin’s Brian Friedman jazz routine. She was supposed to be an alien who’d blown up earth and destroyed all of humanity and was coming back to use him, the last remaining man alive, to impregnate her? Sounds fun! She was sufficiently robotic, great isolations for the both of them. I love when she was smacking him about, and his face reacted to her imaginary slaps of the hand. He had a good jump and she an astounding gymnastic flip. Not sure what the flip was doing there though. Like the judges, I wasn’t so into the choreography — sounded a lot more fun than it was. But the dancing was good.
Phillip and Jeanine’s hip hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. So, they’re supposed to be chained together by the ankles and said chain is to show how on the show you’re locked into a partnership — for better or for worse. I thought they had some great isolations — especially with the shoulders and chests, which I think the judges pointed out. I thought the chain could have been used to better effect, actually. It was so long, they really didn’t seem chained together. I just remember a ballroom routine — I think it was performed by Max Kozhevnikov and Yulia Zagoruychenko way back when and they were connected by their costumes, which wrapped around each other. They could unwrap themselves to an extent, but the fabric was connected, so they could only unwrap so far. It was mesmerizing watching how they worked that fabric, doing lifts even, connected the way they were. This was just not at that level, in terms of the prop.
And Karla and Vitolio’s Quickstep, choreographed by Jean Marc and France. I agree with the judges on this — one of Jean Marc and France’s best pieces on the show ever. Wow! That had everything — a couple of balletic jumps performed side-by-side with the batting of the feet (one of my favorite jumps in ballet), beautiful lifts, traditional Quickstep with all its fast, super-charged footwork with some fun social Charleston thrown in, excellent concept of him being a statue at a museum, she bringing him to life, and he placing her on the pedestal at the end. And of course excellent costume trick with one dress changing into another with the simple pull of a spaghetti strap. I thought they did very well with it too.
Except for the lack of a Pina Bausch tribute, I really enjoyed the show this week.
AVI SCHER & DANCERS
Photo by Matthew Murphy, of Avi Scher & Dancers when they performed recently up at Jacob’s Pillow. Choreographer and artistic director Scher is at the front of the group. All photos are taken by Matt Murphy and used with his permission. See more of his photos of Avi’s company here and here.
On Sunday, I went to Studio 5 in City Center to see the first full program by young choreographer Avichai Scher. I’d seen Scher’s work before, at one of the 92 Street Y’s Friday dance hours, and was very impressed, so I was excited to attend this program in the intimate Studio 5 space. I love the small space — you’re so close to the dancers, you can really see every little detail. I was also excited because Scher, who studied at the School of American Ballet (the school associated with New York City Ballet), uses a lot of NYCB dancers, and I’m still kind of missing them from the season ending two weeks ago!
I really loved the program. There were five pieces, four of which were choreographed by Scher, who I think is a very talented up and coming choreographer. His work is playful, humorous, lyrical, touching, and always meaningful and evocative.
First on the program was Last Dance, a ballet he choreographed in memory of Jenn Jansma, a 21-year-old ballerina with the Carolina Ballet who passed away of cancer. So horribly sad. The dance was really beautiful, very lyrical, with lots of wispy, flying, birdlike movements. There were eight dancers altogether here but Abi Stafford danced the lead, who I imagined to be Jansma, young and innocent, at the end, heavenbound. Abi, is, if you don’t know, a principal dancer with NYCB, and she gave such a touching performance. She is really such a compelling dancer, especially when you see her up close like this. She makes everything so real and personal.
I mean, you feel like you’re going through everything with her, if that makes sense. She is really starting to impress me lately. I’ve always noticed her superior dance ability, but I think she is beginning to come into her own artistically as well. There was also a really sweet duet between her and David Prottas in this piece. He is also a standout dancer with NYCB.
Second on the program was Aquilarco, a duet from 1999, choreographed by Val Caniparoli, danced by Scher himself and Racheal Prince. Originally danced by San Francisco Ballet, this was a really cute piece — like a balletic Flamenco, very flirty and playful with lots of original movement and intricate partnering.
Next was a fun piece, just recently created by Scher, called Our Love’s Defense. It’s a duet, performed by Melissa Hough (a new principal at Boston Ballet) and NYCB’s Christian Tworzyanski. The music, by Jason Mraz, reminded me of ragtime, and the dance was about two lovers fighting and making up. They wore wrist supports that kind of resembled wrestling gloves and the movement in places looked a bit boxing-like, but playfully so. Toward the end, the dance became seductive, and they eventually ripped off their outer clothing, stripping down to their underwear, before embracing. Very sweet dance!
Next was a world premiere, No Matter What, for six dancers. The music, by Aphex Twin and Adam Lewis, was kind of new-agey and reminiscient of waves, as was the movement. It was interesting — it looked at times like the dancers were inside of invisible boxes, trying to work their way out. But the movement was more fluid than robot-like. At times, the dancers looked like creatures, with very fluid, waving limbs. This was the only dance that wasn’t on pointe. There were lots of interesting, Balanchine-like pattern changes among the dancers; at the end, they all stood in a huddle, looking up toward the light, as if they’d finally found their way out of whatever might have been imprisoning them.
Finally, we saw Mirrors, a work still in progress. It was my favorite! It involved seven dancers, and they were all mesmerizing. They would by turns, dance freely, playfully, then look as if they were catching themselves in a mirror, checking themselves, sometimes pleased but often not. Dena Abergel from NYCB did a tremendous acting job with this. She really blew me away. As did Abi again. At the end, it seems like the two are two sides of the same person. They turn in a circle, each her back toward the other, one seemingly content, the other not, one with her hands to her face, covering her eyes, the other her arms spread out.
My favorite part of this piece though was a gorgeous duet between NYCB principal Jared Angle and the wonderfully willowy, rather bewitching at times, Alexsandra Meijer, a principal with San Jose Ballet. There were some lovely lifts, beautiful partnering, and one movement theme was his repeatedly covering her eyes with his hands, preventing her from looking, presumably at herself in a mirror. She reminded me a bit of Janie Taylor, really mesmerizing with loose, sometimes spidery limbs. And Jared is so gallant and such the perfect male partner, and such an excellent dancer. You can really see that up close. You can tell why he’s a principal; everything he does is perfection.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see more of this dance; I can’t wait until it’s finished. And I can’t wait to see more of Avi’s work in general.
NINA ANANIASHVILI'S FAREWELL PERFORMANCE WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATER
The widely beloved ballerina from the Republic of Georgia gave her farewell performance, of Swan Lake, with ABT to a completely packed house on Saturday night. Angel Corella danced Siegfried and Marcelo Gomes von Rothbart.
Of course it was a wonderful performance, one her bizillions of adoring fans will never forget. It was my first time seeing her in this role and she was gorgeous. One thing that really struck me was how she’d wave her hands while in the guise of a swan. Not only her arms, like the other ballerinas do, but actually her hands. They looked like feathers they were so light and delicate and fluttering. I’d never seen anyone do that. She also did the rapidly fluttering foot during the White Swan pas de deux better than any ballerina I’ve seen. She is splendid at small details like that that make all the difference in a performance.
Unlike the others, she faced the audience, instead of the back of the stage, as she bourreed offstage after the end of the White Swan pas. I’m not sure if she always does that or if it was only this time since it was her last and she wanted to see the audience. Her face was full of sorrow but there was also this kind of “that’s life, that’s that, this is my fate” subtext behind her eyes — a thought Odette might have as well as a retiring ballerina. At the end, during bows, she bourreed offstage again, this time with her back to the audience, her face toward her pile of bouquets and the many dancers and former partners lined up onstage who’d come out to issue her her farewell. (Shown in pic below)
Of course Angel was his usual passionate Siegfried self, and Marcelo was a mouth-wateringly sexy von Rothbart. I liked the way he picked one court lady up (I think it was Misty Copeland) and tossed her aside, so he could flirt with another. Marcelo’s ultimately too sweet though and his sweetness shines through — I don’t see how anyone’s actually ever completely believed his performances as the quintessential bad guy 🙂 I also like how he jumped up to the throne, taking Siegfried’s princely place next to his mother, in one flying leap. It was acrobatic and eye-catching, and very presumptuous, as von Rothbart is. Actually, watching Marcelo made me like David Hallberg better — David was much like him. They both did the part very well. There were a few more giggles during David’s turn as von Roth, but that could have been because he’s usually “the nice guy.”
And of course Marcelo and Angel, both of them full of theatrics, had to pull the stunt of the season: at the end of the Black Swan pas de deux, Marcelo picked up Nina and tossed her high, right into Angel’s arms, and he caugh her in a fish dive. Very dramatic, and of course the audience went completely nuts with applause. They performed said stunt again during the curtain calls. I didn’t get a picture of it, but someone caught in on YouTube!!! Oh how I love illegally enthusiastic fans! Thanks to Haglund for finding it!
Here are a few more of my favorite pics:
What every girl wants — a hug from Marcelo! Even if he is dressed as evil von Rothbart.
Her little girl was brought out onstage and took a bow with her mother 🙂
Receiving a hug from Isaac Stappas, who danced von Rothbart in swamp creature form.
Getting a kiss from handsome Angel.
Giving a dancerly nod to conductor Ormsby Wilkins.
I love the arm in the air!
In front of the curtain with those two stuntsmen, either right before or right after aforementioned three-way-fish-dive.
Those are some of my favorites. See the full album here.
A couple of other hightlights: Blaine Hoven danced one of the Neapolitan high-jumper guys in the court scene. When he did this series of kick jumps, he sent his kicking leg nearly all the way up to his head. Maybe I should begin calling him Blaine Osipova…
And Simone Messmer danced as one of the girls in the Benno pas de trois. Recently I’ve begun to find her very captivating but am not sure why. One of the reasons, I’m now thinking, is that she is so amazingly athletic. She did this series of entrechats (high jumps where the feet change back and forth in front of and behind one another, like a braid) like a man! Seriously — those were damn David Hallberg entrechats! I don’t mean that in a bad way at all — my favorite ballerinas (aside from Janie Taylor 🙂 ) are the most athletic ones.
Trying to think of other things that happened during curtain call. David Hallberg was cute — he bowed down to her several times repeatedly as if to say “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy.” Audience went wild. Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel came out together. Roberto Bolle came out, all dapper, in a shiny black tux. I remember Paloma Herrera, Diana Vishneva, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Kevin McKenzie (who looked like he may cry). I didn’t see Jose Manuel Carreno (unless I missed him. What’s up with him though — he doesn’t seem to be dancing any more this season??) I didn’t spot Julie Kent, although she just had her baby so that’s understandable. Curtain calls lasted for maybe twenty minutes, although I’m not entirely sure since I had to leave to go to a housewarming party. Anyway, wonderful night. It goes without saying Nina has a huge amount of fans and will be badly missed.
ROBERTO BOLLE AND VERONIKA PART IN ABT’S SWAN LAKE
It’s kind of hard for me to be my usual enthusiastic self after hearing about the death of Pina Bausch earlier today, but I’m getting too far behind on blog posts to take the rest of the day off, so I’ll try.
Of course, I should have written about this performance earlier, but I was too busy at the stage door that evening, and then I’ve had a ballet every night since then. Anyway, hope I can make sense of my notes!
Overall impression was that they both — Veronika and Roberto — gave a beautiful, stunning performance, that he did very well when dancing on his own, that she did very well both on her own and when being partnered by him, and that she out-acted him. By a long shot. I have been told that (despite posing for photos like this) he is actually rather shy, though, and it did kind of seem like that at the stage door, so I think maybe he needs to get used to a ballerina for a while, and will do much better the more comfortable he gets. The reason I say that is because I loved him so much in Romeo and Juliet two years ago, and he danced wonderfully and completely comfortably with Alessandra Ferri. I think it’s just a matter of getting used to our ballerinas and perhaps American audiences.
Whenever he was on his own, his dancing and acting were solid. I really felt like I saw Odette flying away after Siegfried’s encounter with her, as Bolle’s sad eyes traced her imaginary path along the ceiling. And his early solo, when Siegfried is at the party, pre-Odette, and he’s feeling alone and ill at ease with his mother’s demands that he choose a wife, Bolle really conveyed that mixed emotion, confusion, loneliness. Later, his jumps were stellar. It just seemed that whenever he partnered Veronika, he was concentrating so hard, he had no time for emotion. So, Angel, Ethan, and Marcelo (when I last saw him as Siegfried, a year ago, anyway), were more passionate. But others think differently. Read Haglund (an excellent newish ballet blog by the way!) for a different take on Bolle’s performance.
Veronika was just gorgeous, and so passionate. She did her usual thing of taking me on her character’s journey with her, of making me feel Odette’s plight and pain, and Odile’s desires as well. She has such sweep and breadth, when he’d take her down into an arabesque penchee on pointe, her arms brushed the floor. And her extensions are always so breathtaking, and the overhead lifts — they are both so tall they were just spectacular, she just touched the sky. In the Black Swan Pas de Deux, she did the straight fouettes, as did Nina Ananiashvili the following night (review coming soon!) She has such height she moves a bit slower than other ballerinas and she didn’t really make the 32 fouettes, but who cares. She really devoured the stage with those fouettes, and when she did her turns around its perimeter. What’s important in that scene is how you eat up all the space around you and command the attention of the audience and poor Siegfried, and you can do that in a variety of ways — a ridiculous number of turns is only one. She had a really wicked smile all throughout that scene! I really love her!
Hehe, one other thing: poor Roberto. No one told him that, thanks to a certain David Hallberg, New York audiences are accustomed to an all-out Olympic gold medal-level Swan Dive off the cliff and into the lake at the end 🙂 Or perhaps he didn’t want to out swan dive his lady, because Veronika just kind of tossed herself off the cliff. Either way, Roberto followed her with a slight jump, not even really a jump — almost like he was falling into the water as well. Of course I’m partly joking about the need for an extravagant suicide jump, but I do have to say, in my quest to see casts other than my regulars this season, I did so miss that Hallberg dive!
A couple of other things: I have a bunch of stars next to Craig Salstein’s name in my Playbill so he must have done something I liked… Oh yes, he was one of the two Neapolitan high-bouncing jumping jack guys in the court scene. I also have written “violins ***” which reminds me that I thought the violinist was very good during von Rothbart’s seduction of the court ladies scene. I always forget about the hard-working orchestra!
PINA BAUSCH DIES OF CANCER
Oh my gosh you guys, I just heard about this on PinballPeople. I’m so shocked. I didn’t even know she was sick (apparently she was only diagnosed with cancer days ago). I’m so upset. We’re never going to have any new work from her again. I didn’t see enough of her. I’m sorry, this is so much more shocking to me than the deaths last week… She was just at BAM a few months ago and she seemed fine.
Here is a good piece on Bausch by Guardian’s Judith Mackrell. Here is the Bausch archive on YouTube.
I was just reading a group of tributes to David Foster Wallace in the Sonora Review last night and now I’m thinking this loss is on that level. This is one of those artists we will all suffer without, whether you’re aware of it or not. This is huge.
DANCE YOUR ASS OFF SERIES PREMIERE
Thanks to a comment from the executive producer on my prior post, I remembered to watch the series premiere last night of the newest TV dance show (Oxygen network).
It was sweet. All of the contestants are “real people,” some with dance background, most with none, and all of whom are overweight, some severely and life-threateningly so. They each work with a professional dance partner, a nutritionist, a doctor, and a fitness coach to learn to eat right, maintain physical fitness, and of course dance. For many of these contestants, success on the show is a matter of life and death — no exaggeration. That’s what morbidly obese means — it’s not just a loose term that means “gross” or something; it means the obesity could have morbid results. The doctor was very interesting. He talked about how for many of the contestants, fat had leaked into their liver, their pancreas, and their diaphragm, making it harder for those organs to function, harder for the contestants to breathe. I knew it could cause diabetes but I didn’t know fat could do that – could spread to other organs, like cancer, and overtake them.
Anyway, it’s a competition of course, like almost all reality TV these days, so a person is eliminated each week. The dancing is all fast-paced and aerobic, which makes sense. The dances last night were chosen by the contestant — hip hop, disco, swing or jive. Next week everyone is supposed to compete in disco.
There are three judges and each contestant receives a score, based on the quality of their dancing. They then weigh themselves, and the percentage of their total body weight that they lost that week is added onto their dance score for a total score. The person with the lowest score leaves. There seems to be no audience vote.
Which is fine, because it’s completely impossible to root for one person at the expense of the rest. Of course you want them all to do well. And it’s kind of sad that it has to be a competition anyway, given the goal of the show (which is of course to lose weight but there’s also an incentive in the form of a $100,000 prize). But competitions are what audiences seem to want these days. As it was, the first person to leave last night was the person who probably had the least to lose: she’s an attractive young woman, a former model, and had only recently begun to put on the pounds. But she wasn’t anywhere near as heavy as the rest. Hopefully, she had enough time on the show (meaning, the weeks — I assume it was weeks — spent preparing), to change her lifestyle.
I think the show is a very good idea, but I do hope its important message is able to rub off on the general public and it doesn’t just become a spectacle like so much reality TV. The reason many thin people are thin is that they have happy, fulfilling, active lifestyles. They appreciate the taste of food and so seek well-made, quality food (ie: eat canned asparagus with dinner and you’re probably going to have to get rid of the horrendous aftertaste with a monster bag of Oreos or whatnot; eat asparagus vinegarette with a nice glass of wine and no need for dessert), in moderation and without gorging (you can’t appreciate the taste if you’re only going to gobble it right down) and without ever depriving themselves of their favorites. (ie: eat chocolate and be happy, but buy a quality bar and you’ll be much more fulfilled than if you eat crap from a vending machine, in which case you’re probably going to have to eat a few bars to be likewise sated).
I know it sounds funny for a blogger with the words “skinny white girl” in her tag line to be lecturing on weight loss, but honestly my mother is the same size as many of the contestants on the show — actually bigger; she’s really too big to dance — and she has a whole host of health problems and I worry about her daily. The only difference between us is lifestyle (city versus small town) and our approach to food.
Of course another reason thin people are thin is that they don’t have time to eat so much because they’re out being active, and being active is fun, not a chore. You don’t have to go to the gym, you don’t have to run laps. You can lose weight and become fit by learning to dance, so long as you’re learning proper technique and learning to use proper muscle groups. And then you’re not just losing weight but getting sculpted as well 🙂
I think this show is a great idea. It’s on every Monday night from 10-11:30 EST, 9 pm Central. Visit their website to learn some of the dance moves on the show, watch episodes, and submit your own videos. You can also join their Facebook page to discuss. For weight loss, I recommend your local dance studio — preferably ballet (I’m not kidding; just because barre work is slow doesn’t mean you’re not getting an intense workout, avec the body sculpting I was talking about!) If you’re in NY, the Harkness Center at the 92 Street Y is a very good dance studio with a very non-intimidating atmosphere. If you’re braver, try Steps on the west side (be warned, famous dancers take class there). If you want to work at home, I highly highly HIGHLY recommend this.
CORY STEARNS AND ISABELLA BOYLSTON IN DESIR
This was the couple I was going on about so in James Kudelka’s Desir; a photo wasn’t available earlier. I found it in Tobi Tobias’s just-posted blog entry, summing up ABT’s eventful season, which is definitely read-worthy. She talks about the two above (like me, she loved Boylston); Alexei Ratmansky’s On the Dneiper; Natalia Osipova guesting (she felt just about the same as I about the Bolshoi ballerina); and Nina Ananiashvili’s farewell performance. I am working on my review of that; in the meantime, see my album. And do read Tobias!
THIS WEEK: BALLET AND BALLROOM EXTRAVAGANZA
My main recommendations for the week are American Ballet Theater’s Sylvia at the Met Opera House, beginning tonight and running through Saturday afternoon; and the Manhattan Dancesport Championships at the Marriott in Brooklyn Heights. MDC begins tomorrow night and runs through Sunday.
Sylvia is choreographed by Englishman Frederick Ashton. I haven’t yet seen it, but have heard it’s a wonderful ballet, and have heard Michele Wiles basically owns the lead. She is dancing Wednesday night with none other than that Italian superstar Roberto Bolle! The amazing Daniil Simkin and my new favorite Cory Stearns are also in that cast.
Again, though, I’m sure all casts are good. Gillian Murphy dances the lead tonight and Thursday, Diana Vishneva dances with Ethan Stiefel Wednesday matinee and Friday night, and Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes are on Tuesday night and the Saturday matinee. (No performance Saturday night because of the holiday). Read more about the ballet here.
And if you’re a fan of ballroom — or even if you’re not, it’s ridiculous fun — the MDC, the most prestigious comp in the mid-Atlantic region, begins Tuesday and runs through Sunday at the Marriott Hotel at the Brooklyn Bridge. The best nights to go are Friday and Saturday night. Friday night are Professional Latin and American Smooth, and Saturday night is Professional Standard and American Rhythm. Also on Saturday night are the Professional Exhibitions. The other nights are fun too — the consist of all the pro/amateur comps, the seniors and the juniors, etc. (and are cheaper than the Pro comps) but if you really want to see great ballroom by the country’s top pros, Friday and Saturday nights are the sessions to attend. Tickets for those two nights are $55 (and between $25 and $45 for other sessions). Night sessions will last from 7pm until about 1 or 2 in the morning. Go here for the schedule and more info.
HEDWIG DANCES, AUDIENCE MEMBERS SIT BACK AND ENJOY
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Reviewed by Christopher Atamian
Jan Bartoszek’s Hedwig Dances arrived in New York this week via Chicago, where the company is based, and Havana, where four of the six dancers apparently hail from. We’re happy they did. Friday night at the Joyce Soho Hedwig presented three relatively short, lovely dances from three different choreographers: Bartoszek, Andrea Miller and Marianela Boan. If you know nothing about contemporary dance, this trio-and the dancers performing them-provides a good sampler mixing styles and rhythms while demonstrating a deep seriousness of purpose, a hieratic, almost devotional aura and an evident passion for their work throughout.
In Bartoszek’s Night Blooming Jasmine, the six Hedwig dancers (Victor Alexander, Alitra Cartman, Justin Deschamps, Maray Gutierrez, Jessie Gutierrez and Michel Rodriguez) perform in summery cotton pants and shirts, moving around the stage with a lovely lightness of being reminiscent at times of Buddhist monks praying, at others of Christ-like crucifixions, as they recreate the movements and activities of the night (nb:the jasmine releases its scent after dusk…) One wouldn’t necessarily know that this is what the dance represents and it doesn’t matter: the movement vocabulary is original, varied and simply elegant.
Andrea Miller’s Dust, dedicated to her departed stepfather Jack, is ostensibly about mortality, loss and perhaps even trust. Michel “Chino” Rodriguez and Deschamps run in a circle, push and pull off and onto each other, sometimes covering each others’ eyes as they bound forward, for the better part of eleven minutes. It’s an abstract piece, reminiscent of early modern improvisational work. Set to Arvo Pärt’s lovely and sad Fratres it hits just the right note. I have been watching Miller’s work since her student days at Juilliard and at her own company Gallim Dance, and this is perhaps my favorite piece of hers to date: simple, unpretentious, and level-in a word, mature.
Marianela Boan who choreographed the final piece, Stampede, with original score by Christian Cherry also works with improvisation, letting her dancers innovate as they go. They negotiate space in and around yellow and black slashed crowd control ropes, moving them around the stage and changing their geometric configurations. The piece begins with Maray Gutierrez slipping in and out, under and over the ropes that are arranged in a boxing ring formation, until the robust and very macho Victor Alexander picks her up and literally sweeps her off her feet. Some of the rope work is reminiscent of (rhythmic) gymnastics. As the dancers negotiate each other, the ropes and imaginary crowd members, the dance becomes a metaphor for negotiating and overcoming life’s abstract obstacles as well. It’s a lovely piece and a lovely dance company.
Bartoszek held a Q & A after the Friday performance with her dancers. Both choreographer and performers displayed an infectious charm and good humor which counts for something, as well. We hope to see them at the Joyce again soon, next time in Chelsea…
Nota bene: Night Blooming Jasmine received its New York Premiere on Friday, Stampede and Dust their World Premieres. Victor Alexander technically hails from Pinar del Rio, not La Havana. Marianela Boan is also Cubana!
THE POPULARITY OF KEIGWIN + COMPANY
During ballet season my time is so limited and I just can’t attend everything I want to. And so, regrettably, I had to miss Keigwin + Company at the Joyce last week. But my friend, writer Christopher Atamian, agreed to attend for me and write a review here. I’m a big fan of Larry Keigwin, but unfortunately my friend didn’t like the performance very much! Oh well, such is life… Anyway, I’m very thankful and flattered that professional writers want to write for my blog. I do want to make clear, though, the views expressed herein are Mr. Atamian’s and not my own. I’ve seen all of the pieces reviewed here except Triptych, which is new, and I’ve really liked all of them. I also think diversity of opinion and the dialog it can engender is very important to the arts. Here is Mr. Atamian’s review.
ROBERTO BOLLE AND VERONIKA PART AT THE MET STAGE DOOR FOLLOWING SWAN LAKE
Review of the performance coming soon, but in the meantime, here are some photos I took at the Opera House stage door last night. First time I’ve ever been there and I mainly wanted to go to see the hysteria I’ve been told happens there whenever Roberto Bolle performs 🙂
Here with Ariel.
Love these girls’ expressions 🙂 So many really beautiful people — mainly Italians — there!
Was told to take a picture of his jeans label. Can’t completely see it though — it’s the brand he models for, right? I love his turned-out feet 🙂
He was mobbed by both men and women. He seemed a bit shy but maybe he just didn’t speak English that well. I was told he was shy though, interestingly.
And a couple of Veronika Part. She was really sweet, and very outgoing!
These people were so cute. I think they come every single night, whether they actually attend the performance or not. They set up a veritable candy stand atop a garbage can at the end of the hall so dancers can have a candy on the way out. “Gemma, Simone (fill in dancer name), will you be enticed tonight?” they call out all night. Simone Messmer has the most athletic female body I’ve ever seen, by the way.
Conductor Ormsby Wilkins showing off his conducting skills to some fans. Just kidding – -he’s just a very demonstrative talker 🙂
That was fun! Made for a loooong evening though. We didn’t get out of there till well after midnight.
Oh and a young ballet dancer and her mother approached me and told me they read my blog! They know Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky, so Ariel and I were treated to some cute stories about the couple and their little girl, Emma! They also went to the Rizzoli book signing that Roberto gave last week. Said they knew about it from my blog 😀 I wasn’t able to go since I was giving my own reading, but they filled me in. Said there were lots of people there, expectedly — but lots of older people, not a lot of young women, weirdly. We surmised not enough people knew about it. They showed me some pictures of him – – he was very dapper, dressed in a black suit! He said he liked to dress up.
Fun evening! Review coming soon.