Latest News - - Page 76

January 25, 2009

Facebook Causes Self-Reflection

By posing questions like, “how old am I?” And, “who am I?”

Regarding the first: apparently 10 years old, as I just became ridiculously giddy on Facebook’s pronouncement: “Tonya is now friends with Karina Smirnoff.” My longtime Latin ballroom IDOL 🙂

Regarding second question: one of my new FB friends asked me, “Hey, what’s up with all this Miami City Ballet stuff? Are you a dance critic?” (My status updates lately have been about going to see Miami City Ballet, where I spent the past two days).

So, hmmm. I honestly don’t know. Do bloggers = amateur (or in some cases pro) critics in this new media world? I guess it depends on the blogger and how s/he defines him/herself. I guess I want to be taken seriously as someone who gives her honest opinions and assessments of things and certainly don’t want to be seen as a lackey to any dance company, but I also try to make my connection with dance personal in a way that a newspaper critic really can’t. Ie: writing in a bit of a persona, calling dancers I really like by their first names, etc. Makes it more interesting albeit less “objective” I think.

I also want to try to avoid being too hard on an artist. I have been and it’s really upset a couple of them. As someone who’s really trying to segue from a career in law to a career as a writer — and especially a writer of fiction — I can relate to and have a deep respect for how difficult the artistic process is and how much you are really putting yourself out there when you subject yourself to public scrutiny. But then again, we all need to have thick skin if we are doing that. And writers do have to keep in mind that our readers are relying on us for our honest opinions; we’re not writing for the artists but for other dance-goers. I do make a distinction between creators who it seems are primarily interested in entertaining and maximizing profit above all else. That’s why I don’t feel badly about being harsh on the TV show producers 🙂

Oscar Wilde says a critic is a kind of artist.

So, I basically didn’t answer my the second question at all… Anyway, any other thoughts on the roles of blogger vs. critic in the age of new media, or on critic as artist?

January 23, 2009

U.K. Championship Results are In!

Results from the UK National Championships, held this week in Bournemouth (and one of the most prestigious in the world) are now up.

Sergey and Melia take third in Latin!!! Woo hoo! They must have been so happy! And I’m so happy for them!

Slavik and Hanna didn’t do so hot though — they received a disappointing 6th place. Oh well, better next time.

Other placements were predictable:

Continue reading “U.K. Championship Results are In!”

January 22, 2009

Two Big Ballet Companies Begin Their Winter Seasons

Last night marked the start of Miami City Ballet‘s New York City Center season, which is very exciting because, not only is this that company’s Manhattan debut, but it marks the return of the company’s director, the famous Edward Villella, to the stage on which he began his career as a ballet dancer, in 1957, with Balanchine’s company — New York City Ballet. NYCB’s current home, the State Theater (now known, after recent renovations, as the David H. Koch Theater) wasn’t yet built then so City Center was the company’s main stage. I’ll be going to a couple of their performances later in the week and can’t wait. I especially can’t wait for Tharp’s In the Upper Room, one of my favorites. So psyched they’re doing it!

Last night was also San Francisco Ballet’s opening night gala. The co-founder of Twitter was there and he mobile tweeted that the event was like an unofficial Twitter headquarters. Most cool! Hopefully, we’ll be getting a full report of the evening from Jolene.

January 20, 2009September 22, 2022

Today is Here!

As one of my Twitter friends said, “Feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. When I wake up, the world will be glorious, full of hope & promise & wonderous things to discover! Obama!”

It’s actually very early in the morning (like, still last night), but when I get up, I’ll probably be adding to this post, live-blogging the events throughout the day as I watch them (sadly, only on TV)

Happy happy day, everyone!

So, I’m watching on TV now but am thinking of going to one of the common areas in NY to watch on a big screen TV. I know I’ll be cold (I think the Apollo theater is the only inside venue and I’m sure it’s full by now) and probably won’t see as much, but sometimes it’s just fun for a sense of community.

I’m actually liking NBC’s coverage better than CNN’s. NBC has some knowledgeable people on — I liked the presidential historian who talked about the first inauguration (Washington’s of course) and the most difficult transition of power (1953, Eisenhower) — CNN is just interviewing people and the commentators are saying such cliched things: “It’s a new dawn, “it’s a new day,” “this is historical,” etc. What would David Foster Wallace have said…

Continue reading “Today is Here!”

January 19, 2009

Superstars of Dance is Completely Degrading to the Art Form

And you know I haven’t said that about any of the other dance shows. I’ve been very open-minded so far. But the judges tonight seem pretty open about rewarding ass-shaking over artistry, subtlety, dance skill, interpretive skill, ingeniousness of choreography, you name it. What is dance if it is not those things?

That Australian couple performed one of the worst Sambas I think I’ve ever seen. Maybe I’m still coming off of my Alvin Ailey high, or maybe it’s just this show and the horrifying camera work that is completely destroying practically everyone’s dancing, but what I saw from that Australian couple was all flash, no substance.

Continue reading “Superstars of Dance is Completely Degrading to the Art Form”

January 18, 2009September 22, 2022

New York City Ballet: Robbins, Chiaroscuro, and Sebastien Marcovici

Methinks with Seth and Nikolaj now gone, Sebastien Marcovici has kind of taken over as NYCB’s hunky male dancer. He shone in two of my favorite ballets from the past week anyway.

I went to City Ballet’s all Jerome Robbins program mid-week and today’s “Four Voices” — featuring ballets by four different choreographers (Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Peter Martins, Alexei Ratmansky, and Balanchine).

Both programs were excellent. My favorite ballet from today was Chiaroscuro by Taylor-Corbett, whom I’d never heard of before but whom I now won’t be forgetting.

Continue reading “New York City Ballet: Robbins, Chiaroscuro, and Sebastien Marcovici”

January 18, 2009

Recession Diversifies "The Ghetto"

p9281454

Not to sound melodramatic, but it just seems like the recession is really changing the way some people live. My apartment building seems like party central during weekday days now. Halls are filled with the cacophany of TV cartoons, soap operas, talk shows, and blaring stereos, all of which easily penetrate walls, floors, and ceilings. Either a lot of people are out of work or they work at home and enjoy lots of background noise. And people are up all night, blaring stereos, the same noise, till all hours of the morning. You ask someone politely to please turn it down a bit and they mumble and slam the door in your face. And the other day I smelled pot coming from someone’s apartment, again, during a weekday day. This used to be a professional building, with lawyers and journalists and the like as residents. Now everyone’s rude and antisocial. Maybe the middle-classes are starting to get a small sense of what those in poorer communities have had to deal with: hopelessness, frustration, anger, boredom…

January 17, 2009September 22, 2022

Blacks Acting "White" is Hilarious, But What Would the Reverse Be?

…and other questions I had after seeing Young Jean Lee‘s The Shipment, a very compelling off off-Broadway play about Black identity in America by a Korean-American playwright, starring an all-black cast.

Warning: if you’re in NY and you plan to see this, you may not want to read this yet!

I’d been really excited about seeing this play for a while and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Also made me think. A lot. And methinks this “review” may be all over the place because of those thoughts.

The play is divided into three sections, or acts. The first consists of a foul-mouthed Eddie Murphy-type stand-up comedian who says he’d love to spend all his time telling jokes about pooping (his very favorite subject of comedy) but is being forced to talk about race instead (because he’s black, because it unfortunately affects him as a black American). He remarks on some of the differences between whites and blacks: whites obsess about their weight throughout their lives, blacks — once they get married, forget about that shit. Occasionally, he’s confrontational but in a funny way, and, though I think he made many in the mostly white, mostly young, very liberal audience somewhat uncomfortable at points, everyone laughed. This was my least favorite section, mainly because I wish Lee would have been more specific at times and also because she overlooked class differences a bit. For example, the comedian says that whites love to accuse blacks of “whining,” but look at what whites whine about: “Ooh, I just don’t know what to dooo with my life!,” he says in falsetto, or “Ooh, am I too fat?!” It’s funny — because that’s exactly what a lot of whites do whine about — but upper-middle-class whites. Believe me, poor whites are not worried about how they look; they’re worried about putting food on the table, about how far they can stretch their next paycheck. Just visit any small working-class town in the south or the mid-west.

But also, I don’t really know what whites accuse blacks of whining about. Historical oppression? The disproportionate rates of incarceration? Racial targeting by the police? I’ve never heard any whites accuse blacks of whining about any of these things. Most whites don’t even want to think about those things.

Continue reading “Blacks Acting "White" is Hilarious, But What Would the Reverse Be?”

January 14, 2009September 22, 2022

Champions of the Dance

I am really excited about this! It’s for one night only, Friday, January 23 at 8 pm, at Town Hall in midtown, and it’s starring a couple of my favorite pairs: Delyan Terziev and Boriana Deltcheva (in the above pic, far left) and Iveta Lukosiute and Gherman Mustuc (far right). Delyan & Boriana are a tall, thin, dramatic Latin couple I really like (she has these really gorgeous spidery limbs); they usually place in the finals in national competitions (and used to be competitive for top awards with Pasha and Anya when they were still competing). Iveta and Gherman are ten-dance champs (meaning, they compete in all ten dances, both Latin and Standard). They also do wonderful ballroom showcases.

Also performing are some dancers who were featured on the PBS show America’s Ballroom Challenge (which should be airing again soon, in early February): Evgeny Dyanchenko and Inna Ivanenko (above pic, in the middle), Tony Scheppler and Erin Bomboy, and Mayo Alanen and Lisa Vogel.

Tix are $45-$50. If you’re in New York, go here for more info. There isn’t a lot of Latin / Ballroom concert dance in New York so I’m very happy about this!

January 13, 2009

Superstars of Dance, Semis Part I

I’m loving Maria Kochetkova! (She’s the ballerina dancing for Russia). I love how polished and perfect she was — all those turns! And her technique and precision were incredible. But I also love her personality — that she said she wanted to be on the program to show people who may not have seen ballet before what it’s like. I love how fascinated she is with everyone else’s dancing — like how she remarked that it was so wonderful to see so many forms of dance from around the world. Honestly, a lot of ballet dancers turn their noses up at other forms of dance, mainly because, having spent so much time in ballet school, they lack exposure to much else. So, it’s so reassuring to see a young ballerina who is not like that at all. And who’s a brilliant dancer!

Continue reading “Superstars of Dance, Semis Part I”

January 12, 2009

Is Slumdog Millionaire Really All That?

So, if you watched the Golden Globes last night, you know that the Danny Boyle movie Slumdog Millionaire took home just about all the top awards. Did you guys see it? I did, and I generally liked it, was on the edge of seat throughout (which doesn’t often happen at the movies for me), liked Boyle’s signature fast paced cinematography, the scenery of Mumbai, etc. But I also had some problems with the unreality of it all and am kind of dumbfounded that it got so much blind praise.

For one thing, I found the romance so over-the-top and unbelievable, it really kind of ruined the whole for me. We’re not really supposed to believe that he could have found his girl, and she’d still be there for him, after all those years, right? And if it is supposed to be a bit of magical realism, then I think it kind of undercuts the rest, which is supposed to be brutally realistic, right? Or is it? Do the police in Mumbai really torture a suspect like that, and over whether he cheated on a game show? I thought initially his torturers were mafia, but, according to the story, they were just plain old police, who became his friends later on. And there was so much suffering — the Christian mobs brutally murdering the Muslims, the gangs of organized kidnappers gouging out the eyes of the children before using them to make money, the selling into slavery. It was all so horrid. But then given the outrageous love-story plot and then

Continue reading “Is Slumdog Millionaire Really All That?”

January 12, 2009

Shorty Awards Finalists Are Up And Voting Begins Today

So Twitter’s Shorty Award finalist nominees are up. They deleted the Dance category, as I kind of expected they would, for, I assume, not enough nominations. Typical. Though they also deleted the Books category, so I’m not taking it personally 🙂 Anyway, if you want to check out the finalist Tweets and vote, go here.