"Cinderella"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
January 22, 2020
by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2020
“Third time is a charm” can work, but often it is also a case of wishful thinking. Such is the case of Christopher Wheeldon’s take on “Cinderella”, first seen locally in 2013 and again in 2017. It is a co-production by SFBallet and the Dutch National Ballet. The delights of this hobbled together fairy tale are many, but missteps keep the rethought story from as wholly involving as it could be. Still performances regularly sell out, and rousing applause is the norm. The second cast, the one I saw, was no exception.
San Francisco Ballet in "Cinderella"
Photo: Erik Tomasson
"Allegro Brillante", "La Source", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 22, 2020
by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2020 by Mary Cargill
New York City Ballet celebrated Balanchine's 116th birthday with an all-Balanchine program which looked back to his (and ballet's) past. The classical clarity of "Allegro Brilliante", the nineteenth century Parisian perfume of "La Source", and the Diaghilevish exoticism of "Firebird" are from different streams which flowed into his imagination.
Ashley Bouder in "Firebird" photo © Paul Kolnik.
“Dances Concertantes,” “Monumentum pro Gesualdo,”
“Movements for Piano and Orchestra,” “Stravinsky Violin Concerto”
New York City Ballet
David Koch Theater
New York, New York
January 21, 2020
by Gay Morris
copyright© 2020 by Gay Morris
In his opening remarks for the 1972 Stravinsky Festival, George Balanchine commented that Stravinsky, like Delibes and Tchaikovsky, “made music for the body to dance to.” A steady pulse and strict adherence to time made Stravinsky a consummate dance composer, providing, as Balanchine said, “a floor for the dancer to walk on.” But that was just the beginning. Throughout his choreographic career, Balanchine found seemingly inexhaustible sources for invention in Stravinsky’s diverse works.
Erica Pereira and Harrison Ball in George Balanchine’s "Dances Concertantes." Photo by Erin Baiano.
Continue reading "Balanchine and Stravinsky at New York City Ballet" »
"The Unknown Dancer in the Neighborhood"
Written and Directed by Suguru Yamamoto
Wataru Kitao, Performer
Japan Society, New York
January 10, 2020
-- By Tom Phillips
Copyright 2020 by Tom Phillips
Mayday! Mayday! Is a cry that comes up repeatedly in Suguru Yamamoto’s dance/drama “The Unknown Dancer in the Neighborhood.” It means “help me” in French, but it seems to fall on deaf ears in Tokyo, the setting for this theater piece by and for a new generation of Japanese artists.
Despairing dramas about alienated people were a staple of the last century. What makes this fresh is that it suggests alienation is only the other side of human community. We feel disconnected because we are connected.
Photograph by Ayumi Sakamoto
"Christmas Ballet"
Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Yerba Buena Center of the Arts
San Francisco, CA
December 21, 2019
by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2019
Next year the late Michael Smuin’s 1995 holiday ballet, “Christmas Ballet” will hit its quarter -century mark. Divided into two sections, 'Classical Christmas', performed primarily in white and toe shoes, and 'Cool Christmas,' with lots of red and as much pop as you like, has grown on me. Maybe, despite myself. There is something to be said for a show that has survived for as long as this one. The primary reason for “Christmas’” popularity belongs to Artistic Director Celia Fushille. She has grown this sixteen-member ensemble into a disciplined, excellently performing troupe. At the beginning of this last incarnation of “Christmas”, she asked for first time-audience members, which showed a lot of hands, but also from those who had been there the in the beginning, not a few, yours truly included.
Max van der Sterre in 'Blue Christmas'. Photo: Chris Hardy
"George Balanchine's The Nutcracker"
Miami City Ballet
Adrienne Arsht Center
Miami, Florida
December 13 to 15, 2019
by Sean Erwin
copyright © 2019 by Sean Erwin
Miami City Ballet opened with George Balanchine’s Nutcracker at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, December 13th to 15th with strong attendance at the Friday opener and a packed Sunday matinee. Both castings turned in strong performances.
Some North American ballet companies make news with intentions to remake Nutcracker productions to reflect their city’s racial and ethnic mix. MCB has already accomplished a great deal here, a fact Isabel Toledo infused into her costumes. In 2017 celebrated woman’s designer Isabel Toledo and her husband, artist and illustrator, Ruben Toledo revamped the costumes and design elements of MCB’s Nutcracker. Mrs. Toledo died in August but she left behind a production that bubbles with embossed fabrics, surprising cuts of coat and dress and happy juxtapositions of texture.
Miami City Ballet School students in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. Photo © Alexander Iziliaev.
Continue reading "Miami City Ballet Opens with Holiday Classic" »
"George Balanchine's The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
December 17, 2019
by Carol Pardo
copyright © 2019 by Carol Pardo
"George Balanchine's The Nutcracker", as it's now called, turned sixty-five this year, old enough to be eligible for Medicare and half-price rides on the New York City subway. Whatever else might have changed over the decades, the ballet has always been anchored by Tchaikovsky's score, from its first delicate notes, glittering like ice on snow and transporting us to a cozy vision of Biedermeier Nuremburg, to its final fanfare as the hero and heroine are born aloft in a sleigh drawn by reindeer to an unknown destination, and Balanchine's response to that score, not just the steps, but the theme and tone as well.
Teresa Reichlen and company in "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. Photo credit: Paul Kolnik