Double Exposure
"La petite danseuse de Degas" (choreography by Patrice Bart) and
" Swan Lake " (choreography by Rudolf Nureyev after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov).
Paris Opera Ballet
Palais Garnier and Théâtre de la Bastille
Paris
December 2005-January 2006
By Marc Haegeman
copyright ©2006 by Marc Haegeman
The Paris Opera Ballet ended the year with two different programmes playing simultaneously in two theatres in town. Patrice Bart’s La petite danseuse de Degas (Degas’ Little Dancer) entered its second run at the Palais Garnier, while Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake—now well over its 200th performance since its creation in 1984—was shown again at the Bastille.
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Starting Over
“The Sleeping Beauty”
English National Ballet
The Coliseum
London
5 – 21 January 2006
By John Percival
copyright ©2006 by John Percival
Given that Anton Dolin had mounted “Princess Aurora” for the early days of American Ballet Theatre —comprising extracts from the first and last scenes of “The Sleeping Beauty”—it is surprising that he neglected this ballet when forming and running London Festival Ballet from 1950. I seem to remember only “Bluebird” with John Gilpin and Alicia Markova; maybe Dolin felt he would need a larger troupe to challenge Sadler’s Wells Ballet on what had become its own ground. So it was not until 1967, under Donald Albery’s consolidating directorship, that Festival acquired a full “Beauty”, staged by Ben Stevenson and Beryl Grey. Eight years later Grey, now director, replaced this with Rudolf Nureyev’s much grander treatment, which was perhaps too demanding and too expensive to maintain—also, not everyone liked it.
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Nimble Wordplay
“Aristophones in Birdonia”
rewritten/designed/directed/choreographed by David Gordon
Danspace Project
St. Mark’s Church
New York, NY
January 14, 2006 [Performances continue Jan. 19 – 22]
by Susan Reiter
copyright ©2006 by Susan Reiter
Admirers of Valda Setterfield (and is there anyone who is not?) have a new addition to the treasure trove of her memorable, distinctive performances this one-of-a-kind dancer/actress has given over the decades. In David Gordon’s nimble, updated version of Aristophanes’ comedy from 414 B.C., Setterfield oversees the proceedings in a homespun version of Greek robes, a grey wig that looks like someone tossed a mop over her head, and plastic silver sandals. The ever-willing muse and co-conspirator of Gordon in his free-wheeling yet sharply targeted amalgams of movement and speech, she manages here to be both commonsensical and daffy—both a measured voice of reason and the epitome of eccentricity.
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Telling Stories
"Women on the Way"
Dance Mission Theater
San Francisco, California
January 12, 2006
by Charlotte Shoemaker
copyright ©2006 by Charlotte Shoemaker
"Women on the Way" (in its 6th year) presents a three-week smorgasbord of dance, theater, comedy and music created by women. (Last year it has broadened its programming to include transgender artists.) Nine groups or individuals perform in various combinations, two to four each evening, over the twelve performance span of this festival. It has given me a chance to see work that that has intrigued me while also being introduced to work I didn't already know.
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New Swans
“Swan Lake”
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
January 13, 2006 and
January 14, 2006 (evening)
by Leigh Witchel
copyright ©2006 by Leigh Witchel
There were new swans making their debut at New York City Ballet this weekend. At the two evening performances, one claimed the role the moment she flew onto the stage. The other had to fight for it.
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The Youngest Swan
“Swan Lake”
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
January 14, 2006 (matinee)
by Tom Phillips
copyright ©2006 by Tom Phillips
It’s not fair to thrust an unknown young performer into a role meant for a master of the art, but that rule has never applied at New York City Ballet, where baby ballerinas are the speciality of the house. It’s not fair except when it works; and thankfully it worked well enough on Saturday, when 20-year-old Sara Mearns stepped up from the obscure ranks of the corps de ballet to dance Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake.” Her debut was notable not for technical brilliance, but for something rarer on the NYCB stage—an instinctive sense of drama and character.
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Dance on Camera
Dance on Camera Festival
Walter Reade Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
January 2006
by Susan Reiter
copyright ©2006 by Susan Reiter
One certainly can’t fault the range of dance films assembled for this annual event, co-presented by the Dance Films Association and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, at the intimate and comfortable Walter Reade Theater. The first four days (January 4 – 7) of the festival—further screenings are scheduled for January 10, 13 and 14—included several feature-length films as well as shorts as brief as ten minutes. The seven programs I caught—exactly half of the festival’s generous offering of 14—were heavy on documentaries, but within that category there were a wide range of approaches, from the meticulously chronological to the impressionistic.
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The Drama's in the Dance
"Bringing Balanchine Back"
Dance on Camera Festival
Walter Reade Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
January 10, 2006
by Lisa Rinehart
copyright ©2006 by Lisa Rinehart
In 2003 it was hastily decided the New York City Ballet would be part of the White Nights festivities celebrating the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. With only two months to prepare for the trip, it was a leap of faith on management’s part to allow filmmaker Richard Blanshard along to document the event. After all, the company had not been seen in the city of Balanchine’s birth for 31 years and Russian audiences are famously discriminating when it comes to dance. What would the Russians think of dozens of leggy, neo-classical dancers trotting about on the hallowed boards of the Marinsky Theater? What would American dancers, too young to have known Balanchine, make of the beautiful city he came from? And, how would this unwieldy group of performers, pianists, technicians, ballet masters and therapists, get themselves organized for the grueling nine day schedule planned?
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