the danceview times |
Volume 4, Number 3 January 23, 2006 The weekly online supplement to DanceView magazine
Showcase of Surprises 9th Annual Japanese Contemporary Dance Showcase by Tom Phillips For nine years now, the annual Japanese Contemporary Dance Showcase at Japan Society has been a stunning cross-section of work by artists little known or completely new to the west. The last few of these eye-opening galas have been curated by Yoko Shioya, performing arts director for Japan Society, who spends much of her year scouring the world looking for new Japanese artists. Asked recently what her main criterion was for bringing something to New York, she said: “I have to be surprised.” Once again this year, she succeeded in surprising herself, and us. In Their Own World “Conjunto di NERO” by Susan Reiter
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A Cacaphony of Notions "Swan Lake" Occasionally in these troubled times, friends will read the news, sigh and say, “Maybe it’s time to move to Canada.” A tempting thought. But, then, they haven’t seen the National Ballet of Canada's “Swan Lake.” The production, by former Artistic Director James Kudelka, was the sole ballet in repertory for a week's worth of performances by NBoC last week. It was billed as a traditional version and the photographs the company provided do catch the odd minute or two when the production recalls "Swan Lake," but aside from the music, of course, the characters' names and the general scheme of the acts, the production has been rechoreographed (Kudelka even messes with the usually sacrosanct Ivanov second act) and the story is obscured by a proliferation of notions. The result is a "Swan Lake" that is sadly unmagical. Why? "Swan Lake" Odette, the royal maiden transformed into a swan, dances stiffly and with a constricted line whereas Siegfried, the prince who wants to come to her rescue, moves pliantly and on an expansive scale. At first it seemed the particular performers' doings but after seeing three different sets of principals, it dawned on me that's how James Kudelka wants it in his version of "Swan Lake". Similarly for characterizations. Kudelka's Odette is as much a tool of Rothbart, harbinger of doom, as Odile, her double. Both women seem remote, Odette as the perpetual victim and Odile as the persistent tease. Siegfried makes a more immediate impact. Yet, despite the generous stretch and plush landings in his dancing, he either broods or is up-tight and in both states appears to be a vain boy. |
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