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A Slice of History

“Foray/Forêt,”  “Watermotor,” “For M.G. : The Movie”
Trisha Brown Dance Company
Dance Theater Workshop
New York, NY
March 16, 2011

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2011 by Carol Pardo

 
The Trisha Brown Dance Company presented a slice of its history during its first season ever at Dance Theater Workshop. Two works from Brown’s “Back to Zero Cycle” flanked a solo, performed for the first time by someone other than the choreographer herself. Brown forced us to consider the nature of dance and dancing.

Youth is Served

"Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow"
YAGP 2011 Gala
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 22, 2011

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2011 by Mary Cargill

 The Youth America Grand Prix ended its season with its traditional celebration of prize winners and current dancers.  The first half featured the young scholarship winners in a variety of dances--this was not a traditional fouette-fest gala, but rather a vaudeville-like selection of various styles and groupings, from solos to groups.  The dancers were astoundingly accomplished, and coped with the unfortunate sound malfunction of the massive finale, and danced their variations in silence, accompanied only by the audience's applause.  Indeed, applause, whistles, and cheers accompanied most of the variations, as anything from a pointed foot to a prolonged balance or flashy turn generated enthusiastic reactions.  There is, of course, a place for audience participation, and the generous good will of the adoring audience was certainly winning.  But time will tell if these dancers can develop from performing steps to actually dancing.

Gathering of the Clans

“Les Noces,” “Skara Brae,” “Grand Duo”
Juilliard Dances Repertory
The Peter Jay Sharp Theater
New York, NY
March 23, 2011

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2011 by Carol Pardo

 
Three distinct tribes shared the stage in Juilliard Dances Repertory. Russian peasants saw two members of their village wed in Bronislava Nijinska’s masterpiece. Eliot Feld took his inspiration from Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement in the Orkney Islands abandoned, for reasons unknown, about 5,000 years ago. Mark Morris defined his clan through his chosen score, Lou Harrison’s “Grand Duo for Violin & Piano.”

Different Chip

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble
Lincoln Theater
Washington, DC
March 25, 2011

by George Jackson
copyright 2011 by George Jackson

We have been waiting a while for the rebirth of Dance Theatre of Harlem as a ballet company of international stature. The DTH Ensemble isn't intended to be that. What the group's directors, Virginia Johnson (artistically responsible for all DTH activities from training to performing) and Keith Saunders (specifically in charge of the Ensemble), must have wanted with this first program was a step in the right direction. How right was it?

Protégés III

Protégés III
Bolshoi Ballet Academy, The Royal Danish Ballet School,
New National Theatre's Tokyo Young Artists Training Program,
and the Julio Bocca Foundation Ballet Argentino School
of the Arts
Opera House
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
March 25, 2011

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright 2011 by Alexandra Tomalonis

The Protégés program, a showcase of young dancers from the world's great ballet schools, is one of Michael Kaiser's most imaginative and important contributions to dance. Watching students of the major academies is a way to keep one's finger on the pulse of ballet, and the first two Protégés programs in 2006 and 2008 did include mostly major schools (academies of The Royal, Paris Opera, Royal Danish, and Bolshoi Ballets, and, the first year, St. Petersburg's Vaganova Academy represented by a pas de deux). It's a risky business, as schools aren't factories and each class is not brimming with stars, but, as much fun as it is to try to spot future luminaries, it's more important to be able to keep an eye on the state of classical training.

The Human Complaint

"Brief Encounters", "Three Dubious Memories", "Also Playing"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Eisenhower Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
March 24, 2011

by George Jackson
copyright 2011 by George Jackson

Can one cut Paul Taylor up into three parts - teller of tales, dance maker and music user? No artist is ultimately divisible, but let me try temporarily in respect to the three pieces his company brought to
Washington. As author, he likes to juxtapose horseplay, slapstick and the sly, the subtle. His choreography has substance - it is flexibly tenacious like top notch cotton. Dancers can wear the movement comfortably, and the company's current crop does so with a distinctly sexy elegance and ease. Music is approached practically. Taylor appreciates the support it gives his stories and dances - it is there to serve. Do the Taylor stories and movement, though, make a point?

Cunningham: The Legacy Tour at The Joyce

“CRWDSPCR,” “Quartet,” and “Antic Meet”
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
March 22, 2011

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

The program for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s final series of performances at the Joyce (the company's absolute final performances will be at the end of the year at the Park Avenue Armory) was something of a mini-retrospective of the great choreographer’s long career—minus the last two decades or so—taken in reverse chronological order. It reminded us of his range and did a bit of myth-busting besides. “CRWDSPCR,” a work from the early 90s, is the Cunningham we’ve come to expect: abstract, intricate, self-contained. “Quartet,” a work from the early 80s seemed explicitly, disconcertingly dramatic. Dramatic through line? Merce? And “Antic Meet,” a work from the 50s that hasn’t been seen in New York since 1969, proved to be less avant-garde than the iconic photos hinted that it might have been.

A Contemporary Feast

“Contemporary 4”
“Pacific”, “Place a Chill”, “The Piano Dance”, “Concerto DSCH”
Pacific Northwest Ballet
McCaw Hall
Seattle, Washington
18 March 2011
19 March 2011, matinee and evening

Helene Kaplan
copyright 2011 by Helene Kaplan

When Peter Boal was asked how he chose the works for the “Contemporary 4” program, he replied that he wanted to present Alexei Ratmansky’s “Concerto DSCH” as soon as New York City Ballet’s exclusivity rights expired, and the rest he picked up from the cutting room floor, refusing to postpone them any longer.  It turned out to be serendipity, a feast for the eyes and ears, and with two ballets that could take pride of place in any classical company’s repertoire.

Out and About 02/10-27/2011

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2011 by Leigh Witchel

• DNA Presents: Raw Directions
• “Flamenco Hoy”
• “Swan Lake” New York City Ballet
• “Aesthetic Destiny 1: Candy Mountain” Walter Dundervill
• “fay çe que vouldras,” “Femina” Donald Byrd/Pam Tanowitz

"Onegin" Returns to Toronto

“Onegin”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre of the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 17, 2011

Denise Sum
copyright 2011 by Denise Sum

In the words of Oscar Wilde, “the heart was made to be broken.” Perhaps that is why John Cranko’s tragic “Onegin” is so loved around the world. When done right, watching “Onegin” is satisfying and cathartic. And the National Ballet of Canada certainly did it right on this St. Patrick’s Day opening night performance.