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“Orpheus and Eurydice”
Paris Opera Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
July 20, 2012

By Michael Popkin
Copyright © 2012 by Michael Popkin


Paris Opera Ballet concluded its ten day visit to New York with a rendition of Pina Bausch’s “Orpheus and Eurydice” that demonstrated both the range of the company’s repertory and sensitivity of its stagings.  As Bausch’s “Orpheus” hewed closely to Gluck’s opera – at least until the end, POB’s performance was faithful to the style and spirit of Bausch.  This was a contemporary realization of remarkable delicacy for a company that was also highly classical in “Giselle” earlier last week.

To the Manor Born

“Giselle”
Paris Opera Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
July 18, 2012

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

Paris Opera Ballet featured one of the company’s youngest and most capable stars, Dorothée Gilbert, as Giselle in partnership with one of its newest étoiles, Josua Hoffalt. Yet the production didn’t come to life until after she died.

Gilbert is a technical all-rounder, who can jump, turn and balance. A hallmark of the company’s dancers is their impeccable placement; in her Act 1 solo, Gilbert rolled down from her attitude turns with determined strength to a flat foot and then straight into serene piqué arabesques.

But what distinguished her was her footwork.

Tricolore

“Suite en Blanc,” “L’Arlésienne,” “Boléro”
Paris Opera Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 11, 2011

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2012 by Carol Pardo

The Paris Opera Ballet opened its first New York season in sixteen years with a triple bill of works to French scores by Serge Lifar, Roland Petit and Maurice Béjart under the rubric “Masters of the 20th Century”. Lifar was the chief dancer, choreographer and director of the company for a quarter century between 1930 and 1958. Petit was a product of the POB school, a dancer with the company, and for about six months, its director. But he is best known in France as the one who got away, who bucked the establishment, formed his own companies, and thrived. Béjart’s career took place well away from the POB, but he is revered in France. This program announced more clearly than anything else could, “This is where we come from. This is who we are. This is what we believe in.” It also made for a well-balanced evening, opening with the plotless classical “Suite en Blanc” followed by “L’Arlésienne,” which blended plot and mood, and finishing with the spectacle of “Boléro”.

Cool Motion

"Astral Converted"
Trisha Brown
Park Avenue Armory
New York, NY
July 12, 2012

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2012 by Martha Sherman

America’s love affair with cars has no better saleswoman than choreographer Trisha Brown. In the reconstruction of her 1991 classic “Astral Converted” at the Park Avenue Armory, nine silver-costumed dancers brought sleek, smooth power to life, dancing Brown’s inventive moves in an environment created by Robert Rauschenberg, to a score by John Cage.

White Magic

"Giselle"
Paris Opera Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
July 13, 2012

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2012 by Mary Cargill

"Giselle" was born in Paris but survived in Russia, and now is a citizen of the world.  Since Paris let their original version die in 1868, their current one is combination of the Russian version with some added features by the stager Patrice Bart.  To those familiar with the ABT version (the one most often seen in the US), there are some differences, especially in the second act, but the main set pieces of choreography--Giselle's first act solo, the arabesques voyages of the wilis, the second act pas de deux, and Albrecht's solo, are remarkably familiar.  The sets, based on the 1924 version by Alexandre Benois (the Russian designer responsible for the 1910 Diaghilev Giselle), are also quite traditional--the two houses with a castle in the distance.  These sets are quite beautiful and detailed, like a wonderfully illustrated children's book.  The second act is a bit starker than the traditional lush green forest, with bare trees against a black background, and a hint of a ruined chapel in the distance.  The bare, wintery feel emphasizes the cool white of the wilis' costumes.  What isn't traditional, at least to American eyes, is the absolute uniformity of style, especially of the corps, where, in the second act, it seemed that, not only was each head and arm doing the same movements but each heart was beating at the same rhythm.  Also not quite traditional was the glorious orchestra (the New York City Opera Orchestra, conducted by Koen Kessels) which gave the charming, effective score a nuanced and soaring performance.

All at Sea

“Le Corsaire”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 5, 2012p />

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2012 by Carol Pardo

Once upon a time the meeting of Byron’s romantic pirate and Petipa’s Imperial classicism may have given birth to a logical, fully sentient ballet. But American Ballet Theatre’s production of “Le Corsaire,” after Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev, via Anna Marie Holmes, is little more than a hook on which to hang a performance. “Le Corsaire," more than most of the full-evening ballets on view at the Met this season, sinks or swims on the efforts of its leading dancers. Entrusted with keeping the pirate ship afloat this time out were Jared Matthews as Lankendem, Yuriko Kajiya as Gulnare, and Ivan Vasiliev as Ali, with Arron Scott making his debut as Birbanto, Johan Kobborg making his as Conrad, and, for the first time at ABT, Natalia Osipova as Medora. The boat was pulled in opposite directions, between spectacle and character, all night.

"Giselle" Restored to Life

"Giselle"
Paris Opera Ballet
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy  Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
July 5-8, 2012

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright 2012 by Alexandra Tomalonis

In an interview with Marc Haegeman in the Spring 2001 issue of DanceView, Patrice Bart, Ballet Master of the Paris Opera Ballet, in response to a question as to why POB is the only truly classical ballet company in France, noted that there had been much discussion about the reasons for this. He said that in his opinion it was necessary because: “Classical ballet doesn’t stand mediocrity. It needs the best possible treatment. … In my opinion it is preferable to have a few great companies which act as guardians of these ballets and show them in the best possible way.” That POB does do this, as well as maintain an adventurous contemporary repertory, is a tribute to the company and the nation that supports it. Its production of “Giselle,” on view for a few days this week here in D.C., is astoundingly alive, and in it, the company delivered some of the most extraordinarily sophisticated dancing seen here in decades.

Up and Coming

“Sit, Kneel, Stand”
Gallim Dance
The Joyce Theatre
New York, New York
June 10, 2012

“Special Collections,” “Shimmering Islands”
Burr Johnson
Danspace Project
New York, New York
June 1, 2012

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2012 by Leigh Witchel

There are incremental paths to presenting your work in New York; Andrea Miller and Burr Johnson are on different ones at different points – but both are on the right track.

Miller, with her company Gallim Dance, has shown her work at New York Live Arts, but also at Fall for Dance and The Joyce, at first in shared evenings, most recently with her own show as part of the Gotham Dance Festival.

Her “Sit, Kneel, Stand” started even before the lights went down. A woman came in the house to the front of the aisle and started twisting, dislocating her joints in the hallmark of Miller’s movement style. She pushed against the lip of the stage – was she warming up, or trying to move it?

Golden Boy

"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 2, 2012

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2012 by Mary Cargill

ABT premiered its version of the Petipa/various hands "Le Corsaire" in 1998; its pirates and pashas owe more to Gilbert and Sullivan than to Byron and it was great fun then, and it is great fun now. Ethan Stiefel was Conrad, the pirate king, in the second performance, and among the corps were Gillian Murphy, Marcelo Gomes, and Stella Abrera. These three were among the leads as Stiefel gave the first of his final two performances at ABT as Ali, the loyal slave to Conrad, who gets the turquoise harem pants and one of the most famous men's solos in ballet.  Stiefel, one of ABT'smost exciting men (and that is saying a lot), has been curtailing his dancing for the past few seasons, due to injuries, and these two Alis were his only roles this season, so the audience was packed with Stiefel afficianados. He looked incredibly youthful, and danced the solo with the clarity and sharpness of old, with beautiful, soft landings, and some extra hops in the turns a la seconde. 

Strangers in the Night

Midsummer Night Swing
Lincoln Center, New York
June 26 - July 14 2012

By Tom Phillips
Copyright 2012 by Tom Phillips

What could be more romantic than seeing a stranger across a crowded room, walking over and sweeping her up in your arms, the two of you dancing away as a big band plays, a singer croons, and half a moon rises over the skyline on a midsummer night in Manhattan?

The only thing I can imagine that would be more romantic would be to do this over and over, with one beautiful stranger after another, all evening long. And that is exactly what can happen at Midsummer Night Swing, now in its 24th summer at Lincoln Center, bigger and fancier and more romantic than ever.