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Maryinsky Mix / Mystery Solo

"Giselle"
Maryinsky Ballet
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
February 8, 2011 & afternoon February 12, 2011

by George Jackson
copyright 2011 by George Jackson

It was a mixed bag of an opening night! The first of the Russian company's seven "Giselle" performances had some inspired dancing and apt acting in a rather routine production that was drably lit.  Diana Vishneva, Maryinsky trained but now an international star, was cast in the title role of the village girl whose love lasts beyond the grave. Andrian Fadeyev as Albrecht, instigator of Giselle's love and death, had been the company's outstanding classicist. Last night he made his Washington return after injuring himself seriously two years ago on this very stage. Ekaterina Kondaurova, a dancer of commanding proportions, embodied Myrtha, the spirit of revenge whom Giselle disobeys in order to save Albrecht. The ballet "Giselle", though, ought to be more than the sum of star turns. 

Sweet & Tangy

"voix de ville"
Cori Olinghouse
Danspace Project
New York, NY
February 3, 2011

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2010 by Martha Sherman

An evening of opposites, the two acts of “voix de ville” pair a gentle landscape of American dance nostalgia with two jolting slaps of jagged individuality. This performance was the opening of Danspace’s multi-part PLATFORM 2011: Body Madness. Judy Hussie-Taylor, the curator of Part 1 of PLATFORM, entitles it Absurdity & Wit. The first of four programs with this theme, Cori Olinghouse paired a first act of her own gentle ensemble piece, “The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting” with a surprising pair of performances, one by Kota Yamazaki and the second by the voguing duo, Archie Burnett and Javier Ninja.

Audacity, Adventure

"Excursions", "Petrichor", "Silhouettes", "Going Away Party"
Mark Morris Dance Group
Center for the Arts, George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
February 4, 2011

by Jean Battey Lewis
copyright 2011 by Jean Battey Lewis

The Mark Morris Dance Group made what has become its annual trek here this past weekend, performing before a full and enthusiastic house on Friday evening. The company is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year - hard to believe such longevity for an enterprise and choreographer that began in a free-wheeling, in-your-face way and never lost that audacity and marvellous spirit of adventure. The group has over the years become more virtuosic without loosing the dynamic energy and daring that are part of the choreographer's way of looking at the world. Sometimes his world view is of a simplicity that has the cast tramping around the stage with casual determination. At other times his perspective is of great sophistication. This evening began with a zesty performance of "Excursions". 

Style as Content

"Symphonic Variations", "RAkU", "Symphony in C"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
February 3, 2011

By Rita Felciano
Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2011

San Francisco Ballet's second program offered two masterpieces of high style and a premiere that aimed for such but came up short. Much anticipated as Yuri Possokhov's "RAkU" was, the thirty-five minute dance drama ultimately tumbled into histrionics though it provided a thankful vehicle for dancer actress Yuan Yuan Tan. What elicited admiration was Possokhov's dramatic movement language that is strongly expressionistic yet embedded within constraints similar to those seen in Japanese No and Kabuki Theater. He seemed to be pushing against classical demands quite unlike Ballet's but just as stringent. I just wish that the piece had convinced more.

Balé Folclórico da Bahia

“Sacred Heritage”
Balé Folclórico da Bahia
Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
New York
January 30, 2011

by Kathleen O’Connell
copyright © 2011 by Kathleen O’Connell



Like Wallace Stevens’ snow man, one must have a mind of winter not to succumb to the white-hot exuberance of “Sacred Heritage,“ Balé Folclórico da Bahia’s latest program of Afro-Brazilian showstoppers. By the end of Sunday’s performance, the company’s 24 virtuosic dancers, drummers, and singers—now in the early weeks of a North American tour that runs through mid-March—had the Skirball Center audience on its feet and dancing in the aisles.

Learning the Ropes

“Mozartiana,” “Concerto DSCH,” “Cortège Hongrois”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 20, 2011

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2011 by Carol Pardo

 
Every dancer, no matter how experienced now, was once a debutant. That progression  permeated this mixed bill. Tyler Angle added the lead male role in “Mozartiana” to his repertory. He does not appear until the fourth and final movement, but with an entrée, three solos, adagio and finale, he has a ballet’s worth of demanding dancing to do. “Mozartiana” requires it lead male to be both boyish and adult:  fleet, light, fast in his solos, a mature, subtle and confident partner in the adagio, effortlessly commanding the stage at all times. It’s a tall order.

Those Who Party, Those Who Pray

"Anointed", "Cry", "The Hunt", "Revelations"
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
February 1, 2011

by George Jackson
copyright 2011 by George Jackson

Opening nights of Ailey visits to Washington start early, 7 PM, so that there is plenty of time for festivities after the final curtain drops. Actually, the partying yesterday began already in the theater's lobbies and aisles. Those who attend are a society crowd, black as well as white and lately very much so. Though there was no Obama in the audience this time, the ambience was posh. What did the wondrous and wily Judith Jamison, company director, give such a public to see? Ritual, religion!