danceviewtimes

An Intimate Evening of Ballet: Spotlight on Contemporary Female Choreographers

“Under the Olive Tree (Excerpts),” “Echoe,” “Á Morgun,” “Space Between Words,” “Fractales”
Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami 
South Miami Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC), Lab Theatre 
Cutler Bay, Florida
Saturday April 21st, 3:30pm

by Sean Erwin
copyright © 2018 by Sean Erwin

In the Fall of 2016, within months after announcing their retirement from Miami City Ballet, principal dancers Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra formed Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami bringing together Cuban classically trained dancers and former Miami City Ballet dancers versed in the Balanchine tradition. Since then DDTM has shaken up the South Florida dance scene. Last weekend’s program – “An Intimate Evening of Ballet: Spotlight on Contemporary Female Choreographers” - proved another success for this young company which, in its first eighteen months, has received a 2017 Knight Challenge Grant and now looks toward its debut at New York’s Joyce Theater on June 26^th and 29^th followed right after by their first appearance at the storied Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

"Under the Olive Tree" by Tara Lee (c) Simon Soong, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami 

Statement Pieces

“Embattled Garden,” “Histoire,” “The Legend of Ten”
Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
April 11, 2018

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2018 by Marianne Adams

Martha Graham Dance Company opened its season at New York City Center by reaffirming its identity as a troupe of multitalented dancers that may have Graham in their hearts, but whose bodies belong in a whole range of diverse choreographies. The opening night gala program offered an expertly danced world premiere by Lucinda Childs called “Histoire,” a company premiere of Lar Lubovitch’s “The Legend of Ten,” and a Graham classic – “Embattled Garden.”  These works were as different as could be in modern choreography style, but all seemed native to this adept troupe.

Photo of Lloyd Knight and Anne Souder in Lucinda Childs’s “Histoire.” Photo © by Ani Collier.

Twelve Makes A Dozen

Program A: "The Collective Agreement," "Bound To" "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
Program B: "Otherness," "Snowblind," "Anima Animus"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
April 20 and 21, 2018

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2018

This past weekend San Francisco Ballet opened its much anticipated, or at least much advertised, unbound-a festival of new works with two programs of three world premieres in each. An additional two evenings will bring the grand total to twelve new choreographies. That’s a remarkable achievement for any company. One might quarrel with some of the choices but the fact that half of these choreographers have never worked with SFB -- Alonzo King, Cathy Marston, David Dawson, Trey McIntyre and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa -- speaks to Helgi Tomasson’s approach to programming: challenge your dancers and your audiences -- but not too much. The first two openings were sold out; the quality of the dance-making high; the audience’s enthusiasm infectious. It looks like SFB may have a hit. For people worrying about where ballet is going in the 21^st century, they got a glimpse.

Dores André and Benjamin Freemantle in "Bound To". Photo: Erik Tomasson

Miami City Ballet Ends Season with Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH

“Apollo,” “Concerto DSCH” and “La Valse”
Miami City Ballet
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
Miami, Florida
April 13, 2018

by Sean Erwin
copyright © 2018 by Sean Erwin

Artistic director, Lourdes Lopez addressed the audience before the start of Miami City Ballet’s Program IV and recalled the trajectory of the 2017-2018 season that began with Balanchine’s Emeralds, saw the company’s first post-modern ballet in Brian Brooks’ “One Line Drawn” as well as an all Robbins celebration. The night opened to George Balanchine’s 1928 version of “Apollo” with music and libretto by Stravinsky, and dancer Jordan Elizabeth Long seated on a platform in the role of the goddess Leto.

Photo of Renan Cedeiro and Tricia Albertson in "Apollo" courtesy of Alexander Iziliaev 

Contract and Release

“Ekstasis,” “Panorama,” “Histoire,” “The Rite of Spring”
Martha Graham Dance Company
City Center, New York, NY
April 14, 2018

by Martha Sherman

copyright ©2018 by Martha Sherman

In an elegant program that started at the most essential, then wove into the complex, the Martha Graham Company offered a program that was pure Martha. All of the works, from the 1933 solo, “Ekstasis,” to Graham’s mature 1984 “The Rite of Spring,” offered Graham’s signature body geometry, the breath, fists, and sweeping kicks creating scenes and stories of power. Even Lucinda Childs’ “Histoire,” whispered Graham’s name as often it evoked Childs’ own choreographic style.

Lloyd Knight and Anne Souder in Lucinda Childs’s “Histoire.”© Ani Collier.

Ratmansky and the Choreographic Process

“The Choreographic Process”
with Alexei Ratmansky
Studio 5
New York City Center
April 16, 2018

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2018 by Gay Morris

When “the” is inserted in front of phrases like “the creative process” or “the choreographic process,” the implication is that there is only one process, to which artists conform. In fact, there are as many such processes as there are artists. How an artist approaches his or her medium is deeply personal and likely to be as unique as handwriting or fingerprints. American Ballet Theatre’s resident choreographer, Alexei Ratmansky, discussed his own ways of working Monday as part of City Center’s Studio 5 series, which is being presented in collaboration with ABT. Oddly enough, though, Ratmansky didn’t speak about ballets he has choreographed for ABT, but rather for New York City Ballet. Accompanying him were a group of NYCB dancers headed by Sara Mearns and Adrian Danchig-Waring.

Exploring the Human Condition

“The Resilience Project”
ClancyWorks Dance Company
Dance Place
Washington, DC
April 14, 2018

by Arielle Ostry
copyright © 2018 by Arielle Ostry

“The Resilience Project,” performed at Dance Place this past weekend by ClancyWorks Dance Company, investigated how an individual responds to and recovers from a blow. The show included additional performances from the Dance Place Repertory Class and The Ensemble from the University of Bedfordshire, and incorporated dancers with a variety of technical levels to offer a diversity of movement approaches, all relating to the theme of resilience. All the works integrated the concept of contact — whether it be between dancers or other objects — into established movements informed by familiar modern techniques. This explicit connection served as a representation of the everyday internal struggles we face due to the unsettling, chaotic world in which we live.

Photo: The ClancyWorks Dance Company in "The Resilience Project." Photo by David Dowling.

Happy Anniversary

"Charm", "Rapid Oxidation", "Shanti"
Tom Gold Dance
The Kay Playhouse at Hunter College
New York, New York
April 10, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

Tom Gold, a former soloist with the New York City Ballet, celebrated the tenth year of his chamber company with a brief New York season showing three of his works, including one premiere, "Rapid Oxidation". As a dancer, Gold was noted for his outgoing, engaging personality and his scrupulous but never flashy technique and he has brought these gifts, along with a sure sense of structure, to his choreography. The three works, danced without an intermission, were all abstract, emphasizing shapes and movement, but musically varied and, if not profound, eminently watchable.

Shoshana Rosenfield, SEvelyn Kocak, and Mary Elizabeth Sell in "Shanti" photo © Ani Collier.

Pertinency to the Present

"Shoot the Moon", "The Statement", "Singulière Odyssée"
Nederlands Dans Theater
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
April 5, 2018

by Arielle Ostry
copyright © 2018 by Arielle Ostry

This past Thursday, the Nederlands Dans Theater offered a thrilling program, delivering a riveting intensity to the Kennedy Center stage. In three ballets, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Léon, as Artistic Director and Advisor respectively, presented lively, modern stories and showcased a performance full of current relevance and intrigue. Since 1959, NDT has been leading the way in Europe, establishing a reputation for stunning technicality and a distinct contemporary aesthetic. Now almost sixty years later, the Dutch company lived up to its international prestige with a breathtaking performance in the nation’s capitol.

Photo: The Nederlands Dans Theater in "Singulière Odyssée." Photo by Rahi Rezvani.

Greatness Derailed

"Nijinsky"
National Ballet of Canada
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
April 3, 2018

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2018

John Neumeier’s 2000 “Nijinsky”, excellently performed by the National Ballet of Canada, is certainly a sui generis extravaganza – a mixture of psychodrama and Cecil B. DeMille. Neumeier is a brilliant designer. His costumes veered from the Edwardian for the hotel guests to modernist flapper ones and reconstructions from Ballets Russes ballets. The two-part set –- secessionist touches for the Suvretta Hotel and an abstract, brilliantly lit circle that opens into a black abyss -- functions excellently. Yet too often during this meandering show, you wondered why this experienced choreographer didn’t realize that piling more and more onto an idea, which might have been perfectly viable on its own, pulling it out like chewing gum strips it of its punch. While this second viewing – Hamburg Ballet performed “Nijinsky” in San Francisco in 2003 – did not offer a better understanding of the ballet’s low points, except perhaps, that Neumeier attempted to reflect Nijinsky’s own distorted sense time.

Guillaume Coté and Heather Ogden in John Neumeier's "Nijinsky"
Photo: Erik Tomasson