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The White Mughal

“La Bayadère”
Royal Danish Ballet
Gamle Scene
Copenhagen, Denmark
November 21, 2012

by Alexander Meinertz
copyright 2012 by Alexander Meinertz

Solor as Sir William? Nikolaj Hübbe’s recent staging of “La Bayadère” in Copenhagen reinterprets the original Petipa libretto casting the ballet’s aristocratic warrior as an English colonel, setting the drama of love and betrayal during the British Raj. Judging by the Edwardian party dresses and military uniforms, sometime in the early 20th Century: think Downton Abbey meets Bollywood and, thanks to set designer Richard Hudson, with an element of Bakst thrown in for good measure. 

Danes sweep Erik Bruhn Prize

The Tenth International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 28, 2012

by Denise Sum
copyright 2012 by Denise Sum

While the number of international ballet competitions continues to grow, the Erik Bruhn Prize sets itself apart. With only five pairs of dancers participating, it can feel more like a gala when compared to large competitions with multiple rounds. During a Ballet Talk with the artistic directors who would be judging the competition, almost all spoke of the process of being chosen and preparing the pas de deux for the competition as being more important than winning or losing. To make a point, Guillaume Côté, who hosted the talk, joked that he and David Hallberg (both participants in 2002) refer to themselves as "losers" -- Stuttgart Ballet's Friedemann Vogel won that year. The idea is comical given the many accomplishments both have had since then.

Bharatanatyam at BAC

“Yatra-Seeking”
Malavika Sarukkai
Baryshnikov Arts Center
New York, NY 
November 15, 2012

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

Classical Indian dance is both showy and pious, and so Malavika Sarukkai’s concert began with a flourish and ended with devotion.

A small, powerful woman wrapped in green silk, Sarukkai trained in her native India. “Yatra,” Sanskrit for seeking or pilgrimage, was 70 minutes of concentrated solo bharatanatyam dance in four sections. One of several styles of classical Indian dance, bharatanatyam is intricate and percussive. Arms slice and curve outwards and return to the center of the torso. The feet drive down, ever downward into the floor.

Triple Tribute

“Concerto”, “Las Hermanas”, “Requiem”
The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London UK
17 November 2012

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2012 by Judith Cruickshank

One great virtue of Kevin O’Hare’s choice of ballets for this tribute to Kenneth MacMillan, marking the twentieth anniversary of his death, is that it focuses attention on an aspect of the choreographer’s output that tends to disappear under the weight of his full evening works. MacMillan could and did make successful shorter ballets, and it could even be argued that some of his full-evening ballets would benefit from pruning in order to run for about an hour -- the duration of "Requiem" and one with which MacMillan appeared to be really comfortable. But in the context of an Opera House, this would present considerable difficulties and is another story anyway.

Diversity Out of Tune

"Lento a Tempo e Appassionato," "The Moor's Pavane," "A Swingin' Holiday"
Diablo Ballet
November 17, 2012
Lesher Center for the Arts
Walnut Creek, CA
by Rita Felciano

Copyright@ Rita Felciano, 2012

Diablo Ballet, now in its 19th year, has been remarkably successful in creating a space for itself among the medium-sized ballet companies that call the Bay Area home. Starting out with a full-orchestra, which disappeared with the funding, Diablo has never given up live music in one form or another. In the last couple of years, the company has worked with Greg Sudmeier and his small combo; Sudmeier is also a capable arranger so there is rarely a Diablo concert without at least some live music. Most importantly, Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lauren Jonas has a knack for intelligent programming, some of it commissioned, some of it from the rep. It may be one of the reasons that Diablo is anything but a pick-up group. Her dancers stay around because she challenges them. For this year's opening concert, however, the only one presented this season in the elegant 785 seats Hoffman Theater, Jonas' touch missed its mark. 

Sketch Book

“The Daedalus Effect and other dilemmas”
Arturo Vidich
Museum of Arts and Design
New York, NY
November 9, 2012

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

Risk + Reward. The name itself sets up expectations. The risk is the experiment, the elusive reward a work of genius. But in this performance series, now in its second season at the Museum of Arts and Design, it’s more realistic to hope for a fascinating attempt or a noble failure – yet both can pay off later. Arturo Vidich’s “The Daedalus Effect,” by a comfortable margin, was a fascinating attempt. It’s not – and wasn’t meant to be – a finished product, but you knew it would lead to one. In fact, Vidich used the opportunity as a sketch pad for performances to come in January at the Invisible Dog Art Center.

The Lure of Tango

"GlamourTango"
Society for Ethical Culture
New York, NY
November 9, 2012

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2012 by Carol Pardo

The seventh annual Latin American Cultural Week got under way with "GlamourTango", a revue incorporating film, music, song, and dance. Its fifteen numbers, lasting less an hour and a half (not counting the speechifying endemic to opening nights), performed entirely by women from around the globe (Israel, Germany, the U.S. as well Latin America), as salute to the role of women in tango.

The first number earned that salute. Singer Roxana Fontan emerged, dressed from the waist up like a lady who lunches in a beautifully cut suit jacket with her hair sprayed into submission, but from the waist down, like that lady with her hair down and wild, in a calf-length black skirt slit as high as it could go. Her rendition of "Maria de Buenos Aires" (excerpted) got toes tapping and blood flowing, proof that the music of tango itself just makes you feel like dancing. And Fontan made every gesture count; a simple flicking of the lower leg, a move repeated often during the evening, registered like the lash of a whip.

Ballet in Wonderland

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
10 November 2012

by Denise Sum
copyright 2012 by Denise Sum

It is an admirable skill of great choroegraphers to give the audience something it did not know it wanted. However, in times when the fiscal viability and cultural relevance of ballet is often called into question, one cannot be faulted for simply giving the audience what it knows it wants. Christopher Wheeldon does just that with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".

 Wheeldon's full-length creation premiered in Toronto just over a year ago in June 2011 with sold-out shows. It speaks to the success of the new work that it has been brought back so quickly. In addition, Wheeldon's ballet has renewed the NBoC's international profile. The company took the production on tour to Los Angeles in October and will bring it to Washington, DC in January.

A Chorus of Arms

"Rian"
Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre
Lincoln Center: White Light Festival
Gerald W. Lynch Theater
New York, NY
November 9, 2012

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2012 by Martha Sherman

Fabulous Beast Theatre claimed the luck of the Irish in bringing “Rian” to Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, as the ship bearing their production was diverted to Philadelphia by Hurricane Sandy. Despite their troubles, the troupe had improvised a simple set of raised upstage platforms, and had recovered their costumes. Director/choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan  described the challenge of the weather and made a simple appeal for forbearance in a sweetly humorous curtain speech. That opening was smoothly integrated into a performance that was long on charm and cultural infusion, but short on creative choreography or the re-imagination of familiar Irish forms.

New Team in Town

“Viscera”, “Infra”, Fool’s Paradise”
The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House
London UK
3 November 2012

by Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2012 by Judith Cruikshank

Three ballets, all created within the past four years and all by choreographers with links to the Royal Ballet.  It’s a long time since that has happened on the main stage of the Royal Opera House and congratulations to Kevin O’Hare for his courage in the programming of the first mixed bill of his regime.  Whether this is a sign for the future only time will tell and it has to be remembered that the season opened with a long run of Anthony Dowell’s ill-conceived production of “Swan Lake”.

On the other hand all the "Swan Lake" performances were effectively sold out, even at the high prices charged and although this mixed bill appears to be proving popular with audiences, the ticket prices have been reduced significantly; roughly speaking £120 ($192) top price for “Swan Lake” as against £37.50 ($60) for the mixed bill.  So, you have to wonder.