News
"The Devil Ties My Tongue" SKETCH Series 2013 | photo: David DeSilva
Up to date announcements of company seasons, featured artists and special programming as well as grant of awards such as Princess Grace, or artistic appointments
The Guardian: The Cellist review – a joyfully giddy tribute to Jacqueline du Pré
By Lyndsey Winship
18 February 2020
Jacqueline du Pré danced with her cello. In concert footage, her body sighs and sways as her music soars. But it’s a leap from lyrical presence on the podium to transposing Du Pré’s tragically short life into dance, a challenge taken up by choreographer Cathy Marston in her first main stage commission for the Royal Ballet.
The Cellist comes in a double bill with Jerome Robbins’ 1969 Dances at a Gathering – Chopin piano, dreamy pastels, choreography of conversational nuance and lovely, subtle dancing – but it’s Marston’s ingenuity we’re all here to see. She is bold in having a dancer (Marcelino Sambé) embody the cello itself, kneeling in front of Du Pré (a radiant Lauren Cuthbertson), arm raised like the neck of the instrument as the cellist draws her hand across the air holding an invisible bow.
This picture spirals off into something more expansive, but they return to the motif. Mostly it seems to work, although there are cumbersome moments of pas de deux, not least due to the awkwardness of the cellist’s wide-legged stance. But there’s also the easy flow of bodies entwined, the way artist, instrument and music become one.
Composer Philip Feeney weaves extracts from Du Pré’s rep into his score and Marston has Du Pré and conductor Daniel Barenboim (Matthew Ball) fall in love on the concert stage, locking eyes over Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Aware of the music’s importance, Marston crowds the scene, with the imperious Ball dancing off the podium, an orchestra of dancers rising and falling and Cuthbertson changing from bright innocent girl to woman in love as we watch. It’s arguably an overload, although more generally the whirlwind of motion evokes exactly the giddy joy and genius shown in Christopher Nupen’s film The Trout, featuring Du Pré and Barenboim in their youthful prime.
Read the full review in The Guardian.
Chicago Tribune: Review: The Joffrey’s new ‘Times Are Racing’ is great, except for the fluff piece ‘Commedia’
By Lauren Warnecke
Remember that scene in the movie “Footloose?” The one where Kevin Bacon drives into a warehouse in his VW bug, pulls a cassette tape out of the glove box, drinks a beer and dances like heck? I don’t know if Justin Peck was thinking about Kevin Bacon when he made “The Times Are Racing” for the New York City Ballet — after all, he wasn’t even born when that movie came out — but Peck, NYCB’s resident choreographer, captured something similar to that pent-up anger that drove Bacon to dance.
“The Times Are Racing” saw its Joffrey premiere on a mixed-rep program of the same name, through Feb. 23 at the Auditorium Theatre.
Dancer Edson Barbosa bounded across the stage — airborne more frequently than his feet, shod with white high-top sneakers, were on the ground — in tank top and jeans, sweat flying from his brow. But unlike Kevin Bacon in that warehouse, Barbosa isn’t alone. “The Times Are Racing” isn’t about getting out personal frustration; rather, it’s about how a collective of people can band together to create change in the world.
“The Times Are Racing” opens with a single dancer huddled by the company. Barbosa’s solo becomes a tap-dance inspired duet with Greig Matthews. A stunning pas de deux for Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez (who gives the best performance of his career) repeats pretzel-like intricacies, mimicking the cumulative rise in energy that builds within selections from Dan Deacon’s iterative electronic score called “America.”
Dancing in sneakers affords these dancers the freedom to execute Peck’s larger-than-life choreography with reckless abandon, jumping higher and reaching farther than they could in their ballet slippers. They’re dressed in street clothes which give off an early 1990s vibe (styled by Humberto Leon of Opening Ceremony), but this is not a Gen X ballet. There’s an underbelly to “The Times Are Racing” that speaks directly to today’s deeply divided political landscape. That’s not to say millennials and Gen Z-ers are the only ones to experience political division. But Peck choreographed the piece during the 2016 presidential election — which is why it’s important to point out that this piece is actually not at all like “Footloose.” It’s not just virtuosic; it’s deeply personal to those dancers on stage. Of course, no Peck ballet is without commitment to technique and form, so any sense of cacophony is tempered by clean, crisp lighting by Peck’s frequent collaborator Brandon Sterling Baker, tightly organized formations and a blending of grounded pedestrianism from the waist down with perfectly balletic upper bodies.
Read the full review online here.
Pointe: Onstage This Week: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Frida” at Dutch National Ballet, Atlanta Ballet Gets Jazzy, and More!
By Chava Lansky
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve rounded up some highlights.
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Explores the Life of Frida Kahlo for Dutch National Ballet
In 2016, prolific choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa created Broken Wings for English National Ballet, a short piece diving into the life of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Soon after, Dutch National Ballet artistic director Ted Brandsen offered her the chance to expand that work into a full-length ballet. The result, simply titled Frida, makes its premiere February 6-25 in Amsterdam.
In collaboration with British composer Peter Salem and Dutch designer Dieuweke van Reij, Ochoa’s ballet explores Kahlo’s fraught relationship with artist Diego Rivera, her bisexuality, the physical and emotional pain she endured and the way that she crafted her own image through her paintings. Dutch National Ballet has put out a series of YouTube videos exploring the creation of the piece; catch the first one above.
Atlanta Ballet Presents Three Jazzy Company Premieres
Atlanta Ballet celebrates the rhythms and energy of jazz music this week in Heart/Beat: Gospel, Brubeck & Rhythms of the City, a triple bill of company premieres. The program, running February 7-15, includes Lar Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck to the music of Dave Brubeck, Alexander Ekman’s Tuplet to compositions by Mikael Karlsson and Victor Feldman, and Dwight Rhoden’s Sunrise Divine to an original score by Kevin Johnson.
Read the full article here.
Broadway World: Boston Ballet Announces 2020–2021 Season
11 February 2020
Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announces programming for the 2020-2021 season. The season opens with a world premiere as part of a three-ballet program of William Forsythe‘s works. Nissinen’s The Nutcracker returns to capture the imagination of audiences of all ages. The spring season includes a second world premiere by William Forsythe, Alexei Ratmansky’s Symphony No. 9, and George Balanchine‘s Ballo della Regina, plus the Company premiere of Christopher Wheeldon‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the return of Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty. The season concludes with a female-led program, part of Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER Initiative. The Company’s 57th season runs November 5, 2020 through May 30, 2021 at the Citizens Bank Opera House.
“Our upcoming season is a dream come true with many new works by today’s greatest living choreographers paired with beloved classics,” said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen.
The season opens with Triple Bill (November 5-15), featuring three works by creative powerhouse and internationally-acclaimed choreographer William “Bill” Forsythe. Just prior to the season opening, Boston Ballet will return to New York City to present this program at The Shed in October, which features a world premiere by Forsythe, co-commissioned by The Shed and Boston Ballet. Blake Works I returns by popular demand, transforming James Blake‘s “The Colour in Anything” into “sheer joy” (The New York Times). The international sensation Playlist (EP) returns after a record-breaking world premiere in Boston in March 2019 followed by the Company’s successful Paris debut in June. Playlist (EP) pulls pop and R&B music from Forsythe’s personal playlist to fuel the piece’s “high-kicking exuberance” (The Boston Globe). The program continues Forsythe and Boston Ballet’s long-term partnership formed in 2016.
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The final program of the season is ChoreograpHER (May 20-30). The female-led program celebrates innovative voices across the art world with four new works. Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning will create her first work for a major ballet company in North America, pairing vivid imagery with strong physical movement. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Tiler Peck will create a world premiere. She recently received accolades for her work at Vail International Dance Festival and directed movement for the film John Wick 3: Parabellum. Choreographer and Norwegian National Ballet Principal Dancer Melissa Hough, formerly a Boston Ballet Principal Dancer, returns to create a world premiere on the company where she got her start. Visual artist Shantell Martin-internationally-acclaimed for her landscape of lines and existential questions-will create a work in collaboration with Boston Ballet Principal Dancer and choreographer Lia Cirio. The program will also feature conceptual art by writer, researcher, and artist Emma McCormick-Goodhart. This program is part of Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER Initiative, a multi-year commitment in support of emerging female choreographers. It was established in 2018 to give female dance students and professional dancers an opportunity to develop choreographic skills.
Read the full article on Broadway World.
Broadway World: Nashville Ballet’s 35th Season Revealed
10 February 2020
Dubbed “a Nashville miracle” by the New York Times, Tennessee’s premiere ballet company returns for the 2020-2021 season with a spectacular repertoire of fantastic favorites and electrifying new works. With a continued commitment to presenting powerful and transformative art, Nashville Ballet’s next season is meant to uplift, inspire, and engage audiences with impeccable storytelling, athleticism, and artistry.
Season highlights include the return of Vasterling’s celebrated blockbuster adaptation of Peter Pan, a reimagined and expanded take on the gothic tale of Dracula, and a series of works created exclusively by female choreographers and composers. Additionally, the season will feature a choreographic workshop offering audiences a first look at Vasterling’s next major project, new additions to the holiday classic, Nashville’s Nutcracker, and much more.
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Attitude: New Works by Women
February 12-14, 2021
TPAC’s Polk Theater
Orange choreography by Gabrielle Lamb
Music composed by Caleb Burhans
NEW! Choreography by Mollie Sansone
Music composed by Larissa Maestro
Live music performed by Lockeland Strings
NEW! Choreography by Suzanne Haag
Music composed by Fanny Mendelssohn
Superstitions choreography by Jennifer Archibald
Music composed by Cristina Spinei
This popular series known for unique musical collaborations and shedding light on important cultural themes brings female perspectives to the forefront this season with a production featuring new works exclusively from women!
Read the full article on Broadway World.
Pointe Magazine – Onstage this Week: A Lot of Women
By Chava Lansky
4 February 2020
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve rounded up some highlights.
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Explores the Life of Frida Kahlo for Dutch National Ballet
In 2016, prolific choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa created Broken Wings for English National Ballet, a short piece diving into the life of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Soon after, Dutch National Ballet artistic director Ted Brandsen offered her the chance to expand that work into a full-length ballet. The result, simply titled Frida, makes its premiere February 6-25 in Amsterdam.
In collaboration with British composer Peter Salem and Dutch designer Dieuweke van Reij, Ochoa’s ballet explores Kahlo’s fraught relationship with artist Diego Rivera, her bisexuality, the physical and emotional pain she endured and the way that she crafted her own image through her paintings. Dutch National Ballet has put out a series of YouTube videos exploring the creation of the piece; catch the first one above.
Read the full article on Pointe.
Broadway World: 50 FORWARD: Dance Theatre Of Harlem Announces Annual NYC Season
29 January 2020
The celebration continues this spring for the illustrious Dance Theatre of Harlem, following over a year of performances that both commemorated its 50th anniversary and paid tribute to its late, legendary co-founder, Arthur Mitchell. A former New York City Ballet dancer and the first black dancer to be elevated to Principal, Mr. Mitchell’s extraordinary, trailblazing vision for ballet thrives well into the 21st century through DTH’s performances across the country and around the world. Along with master teacher Karel Shook, Arthur Mitchell challenged perceptions of what classical ballet could be and created new opportunities for artists to join him in changing the landscape of the arts. Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 2020 season builds on this monumental legacy while looking to the future of ballet.
Dance Theatre of Harlem will kick off its New York City Center homecoming season with its annual Vision Gala on April 15 with an evening titled 50 Forward, setting a vision for DTH’s next 50 years. Bringing together the company’s past and future, the evening will feature the New York premieres of both a richly expanded version of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s recent hit Balamouk, featuring a live performance by Grammy-winning klezmer band The Klezmatics, and excerpts from Resident Choreographer Robert Garland‘s soon-to-be-titled new ballet. Company member Dylan Santos stages Odalisques Variations from Petipa’s Le Corsaire, and the company pays tribute to late Grammy-winning operatic star and DTH Board of Directors member Jessye Norman with Arthur Mitchell‘s Balm in Gilead.
Read the full article on Broadway World.
Verb Ballets: Meet choreographer Stephanie Martinez
3 February 2020
Verb Ballets was thrilled to welcome sought after choreographer Stephanie Martinez to studio last week. Her versatility expands the boundaries of contemporary ballet movement language with original creations for Charlotte Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Sacramento Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Kansas City Ballet, Dance Kaleidoscope, Kansas City Dance Festival, Moving Arts Cincinnati, and National Choreographers Initiative among others, . In 2014, Martinez received a “Winning Works: Choreographers of Color” award from The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Stephanie Martinez mounted Wandering On, originally commissioned by Eugene Ballet in 2017 on the company. The work is inspired by the Sanskrit word Samsara that translates as “wandering through the constant cycle”.This work will make its Cleveland premiere on February 8, 2020 at The Breen Center on a program of all female choreographers.
Read the full blog on Verb Ballets’ website.
Sacramento Bee: Pints and plies: A pairing that brings opportunity to ballet and the uninitiated
By Mitchel Bobo
29 January 2020
Artistic Director Amy Seiwert recalled debuting a piece during the Sacramento Ballet company’s inaugural Beer and Ballet event in 1994. The event was a chance for the troupe’s dancers a rare opportunity to step from the back of the class to the front of the room.
“It’s an incredibly vulnerable place to put yourself in. You make a ballet, you put it out there and you have no control how people see it, what they experience when they see it or what they take away from it. And that’s hard because you have to just put it out there and hope it reaches an audience in the way you intended,” Seiwert said.
Beer and Ballet’s choreographic workshops give nine members of the local ensemble the opportunity to create and perform their own pieces, which will debut Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and run through Feb. 16. Each performance is followed by a Q&A session where dancers field questions from attendees.
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Previous reporting by The Bee highlighted Seiwert’s initiatives to create channels for women to step into leadership roles in ballet. According to the Dance Data Project, Seiwert and Sacramento Ballet’s commission of The Nutcracker was the only female-choreographed, full-length world premiere during the 2018-19 season.
“Amy is passionate about making sure there is equal representation of male and female representation in choreography. It’s vital that there are more female voices represented in the ballet world,” Feldman said.
Read the full article in the Sacramento Bee.
