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He's Got Game

"feedforward"
David Neumann/ advanced beginner group
Dance Theater Workshop
New York, NY
Oct. 23-27, Oct. 30- Nov. 3

by Lisa Rinehart
copyright 2007 by Lisa Rinehart

David Neumann's "feedforward" is a super smart, sideways look at the high church of American sport, and his crackling wit is the best in the biz. Eleven dancers and four willing trombonists unite in this danced collision between the inner struggle of the athlete, and the flash and trash of televised sports hyperbole. There's plenty of action, comically obtuse text delivered commentator style, and some fine moves for referees of all stripes. Neumann, who admits to being "not really a sports person," compacts the agony and ecstasy of competition into a neat little movement poem about where passions truly burn in American culture.

Waiting for a Voice

“Clear,” “C. to C. (Close to Chuck),” “From Here on Out”
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 27, 2007

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2007 by Leigh Witchel

American Ballet Theatre took a gamble and put on an entire evening of commissioned works – two new and one that has been in repertory.  The world premiere, Jorma Elo’s “C. to C. (Close to Chuck),” was the big production of the City Center season.  “C. to C.,” for three couples, celebrates the American portraitist Chuck Close with backdrops by Close, a 2005 score by Philip Glass dedicated to Close and high fashion costumes by Ralph Rucci.  If nothing else, the work was fully dressed.

October 29 Update

Several new articles this week in our "Sunday Section":

Eva Kistrup reviews the new Jiri Kylian program for the Royal Danish Ballet:

Over the top - and then some; Kylian in Copenhagen

Paul Parish reviews the return of the Oakland Ballet:

How Good do they Have to be? Oakland Ballet Comes Back

Lisa Traiger has a report on the politics of arts funding:

Maryland Arts Funding Under Fire

(and check Lisa's blog every Friday for her weekend picks, if you live in or are traveling to, D.C.)
 

Butoh America

"Butoh America"
Akira Kasai
With Sara Baird, Alissa Cardone, Erin Dudley, Celeste Hastings, and Stephanie Lanckton
Japan Society, New York
October 25, 2007

by Tom Phillips
copyright 2007 by Tom Phillips

“What is butoh?” Yoko Shioya, the director of Japan Society’s performing arts program, asked us all to consider that question during her 3-week Butoh Parade, part of the society’s centennial festivities. To give us something new to discuss, she commissioned a piece by Japanese butoh master Akira Kasai, who chose to create it with American dancers, saying he hoped to introduce a new butoh to New York that could not have been created in Japan or Europe. “Butoh America” is a showcase for five powerful young American women, and one androgynous Japanese corpse. Don’t worry, he comes to life.

Accents - A new cast in "Ballo"

"Clear," “Meadow,'” "Ballo della Regina"
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 25, 2007

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2007 by Leigh Witchel

Tall and long-legged, Michele Wiles is similar physically to Merrill Ashley, but the resemblance ends there.  Ashley taught Wiles her signature role in “Ballo della Regina,” newly set on American Ballet Theatre and crowded onto City Center’s stage Thursday night. Ashley was a tall, Amazonian dancer who could blister the floor from her speed.  Wiles, who made her debut at this performance, is a calm, stable dancer with extraordinary balance.  None of those virtues assist her in a role that requires speed and brilliant footwork; her performance was low-wattage.  By the end of the ballet she had reached the energy level she needed to start with.

Champagne and Sweat

“Ballo della Regina”, “The Leaves are Fading”, “From Here on Out”
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 26, 2007

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2007 by Mary Cargill 

Effervescent, frivolous charm is a rare commodity in any art, and the most successful attempts tend to be underrated, since part of their success is the lighthearted ease they must present.  Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina is usually viewed as a female dancer’s technical tour de force, which of course it is.  But it is also choreographic champagne, made from delicious music and bubbling little surprises.  Gillian Murphy, though she doesn’t quite have the fearless daredevil attack that Merrill Ashley did, negotiated the challenges, and most of the slight fuzziness seen at the gala was gone.  But the pure joy remained.  David Hallberg proved once again that he has one of the cleanest jumps on record.  Some I spoke to were a little taken aback by his un-NYCB approach, but for me, the hints that the steps might actually mean something, that the man was seeking someone and was genuinely happy when he found her is a logical development of the choreography and of the hint of a story (Verdi’s music was set to a libretto of a man looking for a pearl in the ocean).  It certainly seems that Balanchine knew the libretto, since he had his corps move with delicate underwater tints; it is a fine acquisition for ABT, and would look even better on the Met stage.

 

A Tudor Masterwork Returns

"Clear," "The Leaves are Fading," "Fancy Free"
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 24, 2007

By Susan Reiter
Copyright ©2007 by Susan Reiter

Among the many pleasures of ABT’s autumn City Center seasons, now marking their tenth anniversary, is the opportunity to view Antony Tudor’s ballets, with their refinement of detail and dramatic shading, in a setting less vast than the Metropolitan Opera House -- which was the only option New Yorkers had for many years. His autumnal gem, “The Leaves are Fading,” was in the repertory for the 1997 City Center season, and it is now making a most welcome, and overdue, return. 

Gala Program

“Ballo della Regina”, “Clear pas de deux”, “The Leaves are Fading pas de deux”, “Don Quixote pas de deux”, “Fancy Free”
American Ballet Theatre
New York City Center
New York, New York
October 23, 2007

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2007 by Mary Cargill

The very brief gala program opened with the first performance by ABT of Balanchine’s sparkling exploration of female allegro, Ballo della Regina. It was staged by its originator Merrill Ashley, who got a curtain call and her own bouquet of flowers, in addition to the bouquet generously given to her by Gillian Murphy; a truly lovely gesture of gratitude and respect. And a well-deserved one, since the performance was beautifully rehearsed and, given the limitations of the smaller stage, exuberantly danced. The corps gave the charming, musical little accents the proper swing, and they all looked thrilled to be on stage, without an ounce of plastic in their smiles. The four demis were properly varied in their brief solos. Hee Seo stood out for her luxurious musicality in the soaring third variation, and Jacquelyn Reyes was a miniature dynamo with her cascading steps.

Pretty Package

"Morphoses," "Vicissitude," "Propeller," "Satie Stud," "Slingerland Pas de Deux," "Mesmerics"
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 21, 2007

By Lisa Rinehart
copyright 2007 by Lisa Rinehart

Christopher Wheeldon is keen on the glossy package, and Program Two of his highly anticipated Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company is no exception. The dancers are gorgeous -- otherworldly specimens borrowed from New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, Ballet Boyz and National Ballet of Canada. The music is choice, ranging from Vivaldi and Schubert to Ligeti and Glass. I Pod-esque graphics portentously announce each piece on a large film screen. Indeed, the offerings in the program's middle section are proceeded by a lushly filmed preview of coming attractions, but more about that later. The lighting is beautiful, the stage design is elegant -- sometimes even breathtaking, as when the curtain rises on eight cello players spanning the back of the stage on a raised platform; their instruments aglow. And Wheeldon's cleverly symmetrical choreography is as inventive and athletic as ever, with the gleam and liquidity of a late Henry Moore. So what's the problem?

Memories—Delicately Recalled

“Mei Lanfang”
Guangzhou Ballet
Cal Performances/Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley, CA
October 19, 2007

by Rita Felciano
copyright © 2007 by Rita Felciano

The American premiere of the three-act “Mei Lanfang” by Guangzhou Ballet raised a number of intriguing questions, particularly about how an outsider looks at work that is so deeply imbedded in a particular culture. Using movement language that included Chinese opera and Western style ballet and a non-dramatic approach to narrative, the piece told the story of Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), a legendary performer with Peking Opera who became best known for interpreting female characters.