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Venture Opportunity

"Never Was", "Two Dimes and a Nickel", "For Pixie", "Chaconne" (José Limón), "Shadows'", "Soir Bleu"
SFDanceworks
ODC Theater
San Francisco, CA
June 24, 2017 (matinee)

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2017

Last year SFB soloist James Sofranko stepped into new territory. He decided the Bay Area's crowded dance field had room for another dance troupe. It was to be one freed from genre obligations and open to choreography both old and new that showed dance at its broadest and, the hope was, at its most widely appealing. It was a big risk that seems to have paid off. This year's second season -- like a second novel -- would have its own challenges. They were more than met. The four sold-out performances showed that there is an audience for this type of programming -- if it is as intelligent as Sofranko's is.

SFDanceworks in Penny Saunders' "Soir Bleu" Photo by Alex Reneff-Olson

Dark and Stormy

"Swan Lake"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 15, 2017

by Denise Sum
copyright © by Denise Sum 2017

"Swan Lake" may be one of the most loved of all ballets, but it is also one of the most tinkered with. There are times when a decent version of the 19th century classic seems hard to find. Sadly, James Kudelka's "Swan Lake" for the National Ballet of Canada leaves much to be desired. As a whole, this version does not make dramatic sense. Choreographically, it is often inelegant and at odds with the music. The most successful moments are those in Act II from the Petipa/Ivanov choreography, which makes it puzzling that they are not acknowledged in the program (the "after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov" credit is omitted). When one views a production as problematic as this one, one's hope lies in the dancers and their abilities to transcend its shortcomings. On this particular evening, there were a number of noteworthy performances.

Photo: Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté in "Swan Lake". Photo by David Cooper.  

 

Miami City Ballet Opens Jacob's Pillow Season

“Allegro Brilliante,” “Barber Violin Concerto,” “Polyphonia”
Miami City Ballet
Jacob’s Pillow
Ted Shawn Theatre
Beckett, MA
June 24, 2017

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2017 Gay Morris

Miami City Ballet opened the Jacob’s Pillow 85^th summer season with a program of works that stressed the company’s connections to New York City Ballet. Balanchine’s “Allegro Brilliante,” Peter Martins’ “Barber Violin Concerto,” and Christopher Wheeldon’s “Polyphonia” were all created for New York City Ballet by in house choregraphers and remain in its repertory. The links between the two companies go much deeper than repertory since MCB’s first director, Edward Villella, and its current one, Lourdes Lopez, were both NYCB stars. The technique taught in the MCB school is similar to that of the School of American Ballet, and consequently the two companies’ techniques are similar, as well. Nevertheless, MCB is no carbon copy of its NY parent. It has its own style, a particular kind of warmth that one is tempted to attribute to Miami and its many Latin influences.

Miami City Ballet dancers Jennifer Lauren and Renan Cerdeiro in "Allegro Brillante", Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust; photo Christopher Duggan

Know Your Audience

"Murder Ballades," "MinEvent," "In Silence We Speak," "Orpheus Highway"
L.A. Dance Project
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
June 20, 2017

by Carol Pardo
copyright 2017 by Carol Pardo

Benjamin Millepied knows  New York audiences and how to entice them to see his Los Angeles based L.A. Dance Project, in town for two weeks at the Joyce. Give them familiar names (including his own) in an unfamiliar repertory (including his two world premieres) and they will come. The other familiar names were Justin Peck, choreographer in residence at the New York City Ballet, whose "Murder Ballades", an LADP commission from 2013, is not well known on the East Coast; Merce Cunningham, whose company, based in New York, is still mourned; Janie Taylor, the former NYCB principal who retired in 2014; and Carla Körbes, also ex-NYCB, the dancer that got away of her generation, to star at the Pacific Northwest Ballet from which she in turn  retired in 2015. Add to this an engaged and engaging troupe of nine more dancers, four scores by contemporary composers--two played live--and hopes were high.

LA Dance Project company members performing "Murder Ballades" by Justin Peck. Photo by Rose Eichenbaum.

Really, Really Like to Dance

“Hearts & Arrows,” “Yag,” “In Silence We Speak”
L.A. Dance Project
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
June 21, 2017

by Martha Sherman
copyright © 2017 by Martha Sherman

L.A. Dance Project has a fine pedigree, and it shows. Built and led by former New York City Ballet principal Benjamin Millepied, the company has all the dance chops of a top ballet corps, and the flexible repertoire developed by the dancer-turned-choreographer who uses ballet discipline as a tool rather than an end. Although Millepied’s choreography, not surprisingly, has privilege in the repertoire, both programs offered at the Joyce also included the work of other important choreographic voices.

L.A. Dance Project company members in "Hearts & Arrows." Photo ©. Laurent Philippe.

ABT Dances "Onegin"

"Onegin"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 20, 2017

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2017 Gay Morris

John Cranko’s 1965 work, "Onegin," entered the American Ballet Theatre repertory in 2001 and has since become a company staple. Its longevity undoubtedly has less to do with its choreography than with the dramatic roles it provides star dancers. Tuesday’s cast was undeniably starry, led by Alessandra Ferri, making a guest appearance, and Roberto Bolle.

"Onegin" is based on Pushkin’s poem and uses various bits and pieces of Tchaikovsky’s music, arranged by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. Apparently the management of the Stuttgart opera house, where the three-act ballet was first presented, objected to any use of Tchaikovsky’s "Eugene Onegin", so no music from the opera was included. The plot centers on a thoughtless, arrogant young man whose actions lead to tragedy and ultimately to his emotional and psychological ruin. In the ballet, however, the central character is Tatiana, who falls in love with Onegin and is cruelly rejected by him. Years later, Onegin enters her life again, full of regrets. Although her attraction to him is still strong, Tatiana, now married, rejects him.

Photo: Alessandra Ferri and Roberto Bolle in "Onegin." Photo: Gene Schiavone.

Urns, Mearns, and Isadora

The Art of Isadora
Lori Belilove and the Isadora Duncan Dance Company 
Joyce Theater
New York 
June 19, 2017

by Tom Phillips
copyright 2017 by Tom Phillips 

A prophet is always without honor in her home country, but Isadora Duncan may finally have come into her glory. It happened last night at a jam-packed Joyce Theater, where a world-famous ballerina gave a boost to an infamous enemy of ballet. Isadora would have been amazed.

 

 Sara Mearns rehearsing "Narcissus"  New York Times photo. 

When Worlds Collide

"A Streetcar Named Desire"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 3, 2017

by Denise Sum
copyright © by Denise Sum 2017 

  John Neumeier's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" begins where the play ends. Fallen Southern belle Blanche DuBois has been institutionalized, marking the final stage of her retreat from reality and descent into madness. In front of the curtain, a symbolic fallen chair rests. The curtain lifts to reveal a sterile psychiatric ward. Ceiling fans turn eerily, too slowly to create any breeze. Beneath them, Blanche (performed with tragic fragility by Sonia Rodriguez) is perched on the edge of a bed, hands trembling, with a vacant stare that hints at her mind's internal preoccupations. It is a powerful opening and Neumeier's "Streetcar" maintains this focused intensity throughout. From this tableau, Blanche's story is told in a series of vignettes, part memory and part fantasy, that reveal how loss and trauma shattered her understanding of the world and ultimately, herself.

Muddy Waters

"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 14, 2017, matinee

by Mary Cargill 
copyright © 2017 by Mary Cargill

ABT's ever-popular but problematic "Swan Lake" had a glorious new swan queen in Devon Teuscher, who made her New York debut in front on an enthusiastic matinee audience. Fortunately, most of her choreography remains traditional, though the truncated and breathless Act 4 (or Act 2, Scene 2 in this version) continues to flutter anticlimactically and Odette still has to make a brief appearance in her nighty during the overture, so the original dramatically glorious official entry during the lake scene fell flat as the audience had already seen her.

ABT dancers in "Swan Lake" photo © Rosalie O'Connor.

Two for the Price of One

"Walking Distance Dance Festival"
Monique Jenkinson
tinypistol
ODC Theater, Studio B at ODC Commons
San Francisco, CA
June 9, 2017

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2017

Six years ago, San Francisco’s Walking Distance Dance Festival came up with a smart idea: offer people two programs for one ticket price and simul- taneously take advantage of ODC’s two performance venues, ODC Theater and Studio B at the ODC Commons around the corner. There is something of a Festival atmosphere to these one-after-another programs as audiences change venues. This year the second of the three double bills offered world premieres by Monique Jenkinson and Maurya Kerr. Both have veered away from their ballet training, but retained certain aspects: a rigorous respect for clarity of articulation and a strong commitment to form when shaping content. Jenkinson’s solo “C*NT, or The Horror of Nothing to See,” and tinypistol’s premiere of Kerry’s quintet “PoemAnthemSong,” offered more than their ambiguous titles promised.

Monique Jenkinson in "C*NT, or  Luce " Photo Arturo Cosenza