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The Bolshoi Ballet finds a new Spartacus.

"Spartacus"
Bolshoi Ballet
Royal Theatre Carré
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
25 July 2008

by Marc Haegeman
copyright 2008 by Marc Haegeman

By chance audiences in Amsterdam's Royal Carré Theater were able to attend two debuts in one of the Bolshoi Ballet's most legendary roles, Yuri Grigorovich's “Spartacus.” First came Ivan Vasiliev, the company's 19-year old wunderkind, who had so far only danced the 1st Act in a special performance in Moscow a few weeks earlier, followed the next day by the much lesser known corps de ballet artist Egor Khromushin, whose debut had to be advanced because of an injured Dmitry Belogolovtsev.

Mikhailovsky Ballet

"The Cavalry Halt," "Paquita" and divertissements
Mikhailovsky Ballet
London Coliseum
July 27, 2008

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2008 by Judith Cruickshank

If you have never heard of St Petersburg's  MikhailovskyTheatre, or its opera and ballet companies, don't worry. It used to be known as the Maly, but reverted to its original name when Vladimir Kekhman took over as general director investing millions of dollars of his own money and donations raised from friends and business contacts into the  building and the companies it houses.

Neumeier total

34th Hamburg Ballet Days
Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier
Hamburg State Opera
June 11-13, 2008

by Horst Koegler
copyright @2008 by Horast Koegler

They have become a sort of ritual, the Hamburg Ballet Days, held every year at the end of June, beginning of July, to close the opera and ballet season at the Hamburg State Opera, a house with a capacity of 1674.  During the fortnight, the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier – as it is officially called – presents a survey of the works it has performed during the season plus a couple of specially invited guests and the Nijinsky Gala on the last night, with most of the performances completely sold out.  Held this year for the 34th  time, they have become a phenomenon, not matched by any other of our big opera-ballet companies in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

Re-Visitation

“Impressing the Czar”
Royal Ballet of Flanders
Rose Theater
New York, NY
July 19, 2008

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel

William Forsythe’s “Impressing the Czar” is really two ballets created like a pearl. The familiar “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” is the central core; the lesser-known, theatrical sections of the ballet were deposited around it like nacreous layers.  Nureyev commissioned “In the Middle” for his “children” at the Paris Opera Ballet; it had its premiere in May of 1987 and the original cast included Sylvie Guillem, Isabelle Guérin, Manuel Legris and Laurent Hilaire.  Forsythe added the other sections of “Czar” for his own company; Ballett Frankfurt first performed it at the beginning of the following year.  Paris brought “In the Middle” to New York during their visit to the Met a few months later and gave the first performance at a gala in Nureyev’s honor.  The audience booed. Frankfurt danced the full “Czar” at SUNY Purchase the next summer; it returned this time performed by the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

A Letter in Summer 2008 from Bytom's Festival and Copenhagen's Tivoli

by George Jackson
copyright 2008 by George Jackson

Construction-site fencing surrounds what used to be a dusty market square, scaffolding and netting cling to the walls of several once handsome houses and some lawns look trimmed.  Is the old coal mining town of Bytom pulling itself up by the bootstraps? Renovation of this Polish, then Bohemian, Austrian, Prussian, German and again Polish place was stalled for a long time. Perhaps it is happening at last. Not in doubt is the vigor of the Silesian Dance Workshop & Festival that has blossomed here each summer for 15 years. For two weeks, June 29 to July 12 in 2008, it sprouted all sorts of classes – diverse dance techniques, a history-criticism-journalism curriculum and a community outreach program  - during its weekday morning and afternoon hours. There was also a week of arts management training. Performances daily and on weekends began in the late afternoon usually with a student showing, continued with a major presentation in the evening and concluded with something experimental at night. Repeats were rare with almost every showing different. The contrast between Bytom and Copenhagen was considerable - particularly prices, the population mix and the type of dance. Bytom continues to be a bargain. Moreover, its rather homogenously Polish residents still can’t help taking long looks at African or Asian festival participants. And the festival favors contemporary movement theater although other dance forms – even ballet - aren’t excluded. Copenhagen costs can be astronomical, yet in this formerly blond-on-blonde city, the sight of dark locks and other than pale skin on a sprinkling of kids is now considered the norm. Regular theaters were on summer holiday in Denmark’s capital but the Tivoli Garden was having its high season and both the pantomime and ballet there were staunchly traditionalist.

Whimsy Meets Formality

Ballet Boyz
“Broken Fall,” “Edox,” “Propeller,” ”Yumba vs. Nonino”
T.P.O. (Teatro di Piazza o d'Occasione)
“The Painted Garden,” “The Japanese Garden”
Jacobs Pillow
Becket, MA
July19, 2008

By Rita Felciano
Copyright © by Rita Felciano

The Berkshire summer people who go to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance festival expect both high art and high entertainment. This past weekend they got a little of both by companies who couldn’t be more different from each other. Whether the Ballet Boyz’ attempt to demystify ballet through introductory videos about the blokes who do the hijinks on stage actually fools people into thinking that dancers are just ordinary folk has to remain unanswered. And the fact that T.P.O. invites audiences to join its two dancers into exploring their “gardens” could not hide the sophistication and elegance of this Italian dance theatre company’s approach to expression through movement—both virtual and physical.

Young Love

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 10, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

Herman Cornejo made his official debut as Count Albrecht on Thursday night, though David Hallberg's injury meant that it was actually his second performance.  Cornejo is one of ABT's best technicians, but his comparatively slight physique has so far put him in the peasant pas de duex type roles, and he hasn't had much chance to develop a commanding stage presence.  In addition, several of ABT's reworkings of 19th century ballets have substituted the poetic nobility of the ballet prince for acrobatic skills, and so the ability to dominate a stage and create a mood in a few concise gestures has been given short shrift.  "Giselle", though, has been generally spared these "improvements", and Albrecht does have to dominate the stage with his personality and not his jumps, especially in the first act. 

Welcome to the New, Farewell to the Old

Scott Wells & Dancers
“The Gym Mystics,” “West Side (story) Dances,” “Home Again”
Theater Artaud
San Francisco, CA
July 9, 2008   

by Rita Felciano
copyright © by Rita Felciano   

Watching Scott Wells’ dancers take to the air and throw each other and assorted pieces of furniture around fulfills secret childhood dreams. They get to do everything you were told not to. They knock each other down, jump on the sofa and interrupt up conversations. They also engage in these acts of defiance  with the greatest of good cheer. Their goofy risk taking becomes infectious even as the border between play and fight often blurs. Two partners rolling on the floor, limbs tightly interlocked, are they embracing or trying to kill each other? Isn’t there a whiff of self-destructiveness about dancers’ hurling themselves like missiles, or are they simply engaging in playful gravity-defying maneuvers?   

Love Means Having to Say You Are Sorry

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera
New York, NY
July 9, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

One of the signs of a truly great work of art is that over time various artists can find new ways to portray the characters and new angles to find.  I expect the original librettists of "Giselle" would be quite surprised at Albrecht's current characterizations, since they felt he could repent and end up happily with Bathilde.  But the story is so strong and so true that Albrecht can be interpreted different ways and be equally moving.  I have seen him as a jaded cad, as an innocent, as a playful boy, and all varieties in between.  Marcelo Gomes, in his moving portrayal, was deeply, truly in love with his buoyant Giselle (Paloma Herrera), a true romantic who could not control his feelings.  He was trapped, in a sense, by his most honest emotions.  His loving concern when Giselle hinted at her heart problems, his protective gesture when she was warned about the Willis, and his rapture when dancing with her were all so believable.  This was the happiest day of his life, too. His one moment of weakness, when he could not bring himself to reject Mathilde in front of the nobility, was his real undoing (and poor Giselle's too of course).  The opening walk to Giselle's grave was staggering in its moving simplicity, with Gomes pausing to cling to his flowers, as if that were all he had left.  His grief on her grave was so painful, it was almost like spying on a private sorrow.  Few performers could make such paroxysms seem real, but Gomes had built such a believable character in the first act, so romantic and so genuinely likable, that I suspect many in the audience were sobbing themselves.

Verona Without Bombast

"Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare"
Choreography by Mark Morris
Mark Morris Dance Group
Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
July 4, 2008

by Susan Reiter
copyright © 2008 Susan Reiter

It was certainly not the most likely venture for Mark Morris to undertake. A complete "Romeo and Juliet" set to the Prokofiev score is generally found in the repertory of large ballet companies, served up to audiences eager for drama and three-act lavishness. But Morris has certainly provided us with vivid dance-dramas in the past, and with "The Hard Nut" proved he could meet a beloved ballet score on his own vivid terms. He has always gone in the directions where his musical interests lead him, and the recently recovered 1935 version of Prokofiev's score -- the composer's original conception, before political censors, recalcitrant dancers and presumptuous ballet company functionaries imposed changes on it -- captured Morris' interest. With the admirable support of Bard Summerscape (the annual summer festival held at this enlightened, arts-oriented campus), he was able deliver a "Romeo and Juliet" free of bombast and excess. This is a more intimate Verona where we can sense the full fabric of the society, one where robust earthiness prevails and the family feuds are embedded in the genes and surface with instinctual spontaneity, not just on musical cues.