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writers on dancing

Volume 4, Number 29 - July 31, 2006

this week's reviews

A Rare Homage
The Maryinsky Ballet in London
by John Percival

San Francisco Ballet in New York
SFB Opens with a Bang!

by Susan Reiter

Morris's "Sylvia": Thin Brew
by Leigh Witchel

Morris's "Sylvia": Dryads, satyrs and an elephant
by Mary Cargill

Vanessa Zahorian and Guennadi Nedviguine in "Sylvia"
by Susan Reiter

In Your Face
by Lisa Rinehart

The West Wave Festival: Programs 5, 6, 7
Kansas by the Bay

by Ann Murphy

"Quem Quaeritis?" or, "Whom do you seek?"
The Recognition and Investiture of Marc Handley Andrus as the Eighth Bishop of California
by Paul Parish

Batsheva's "Telophaza"
by Susan Reiter

Letters and Commentary

Letter from New York:
The Lincoln Center Festival — Opening Week

by Nancy Dalva

Letter from London
Carlos Acosta, Royal Ballet School

by John Percival

San Francisco Letter No. 13
Erica Shuch, West Wave
by Rita Felciano

did you miss any of these?

The Royal Danish Ballet at Grønnegaarden
by Eva Kistrup

Bill T. Jones' "Blind Date"
by Susan Reiter

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE and Philadanco
by Naima Prevots

"Spring Awakening"
by Susan Reiter

Footworks Percusssive Dance Ensemble
by Naima Prevots

 

 

 

 

 



A Rare Homage
by John Percival

Just imagine: a cast of 95 performers, no less, taking their calls after a Maryinsky Ballet premiere at the London Coliseum, led by a dancer who joined the company from the Vaganova School in 1957 (yes, that is 49 years ago). There was a solitary boo for the choreographer from some nitwit, but altogether a very warm audience response. We are talking of “The Golden Age”, one of two ballet programmes brought to celebrate the centenary of the composer Dmitry Shostakovich, together with three operas. You may remember that the opera and ballet companies from St Petersburg were announced for Covent Garden this summer, but the Maryinsky’s artistic director Valery Gergiev fell out with their impresario because he wanted to pay homage to Shostakovich and refused their request for the likes of “Swan Lake”. Good for him — and good that he could find the alternative theatre and enough sponsors to make it possible. READ MORE

 

San Francisco Ballet in New York
San Francisco Ballet opens with a bang
by Susan Reiter

It’s a familiar format: a string of brief excerpts, mostly pas de deux, designed to showcase a ballet company’s leading dancers. It can easily trade on the overly familiar (yet another “Dying Swan” or “Corsaire” pas de deux) and often threatens to grow tedious. But the exhilarating night of exceptional dancing and — more often than not — interesting choreography that made up San Francisco’s opening night performance in every way merited the label “Celebration.” READ MORE

 

Mark Morris's "Sylvia": Thin Brew
by Leigh Witchel

San Francisco Ballet followed the blockbuster opening gala in their New York engagement with what should have been another juggernaut; Mark Morris’ version of “Sylvia”.  It’s a handsome production and it has Delibes’ marvelous and haunting score, but the choreography is a thin brew. Morris’ version of "Sylvia" was created on San Francisco Ballet in 2004, one year before the Royal Ballet revived Ashton’s version, which also entered the repertory of American Ballet Theatre, which danced the ballet here less than a month ago. Both versions stick close to the original libretto of the tale of Sylvia, an acolyte of the goddess Diana, and Aminta, a shepherd who loves her. READ MORE

 

"Sylvia": Dryads, satyrs and an elephant
by Mary Cargill

Love triumphed in New York yet again, as modern dance choreographer Mark Morris visited the groves of an imaginary, pastoral Greece with the San Francisco Ballet. There is an elephant, though, in this peaceful glade, in the form of Sir Frederick Ashton, and, after seeing his magnificent version (which had not been revived when Mark Morris choreographed his), it is almost impossible, if very unfair, not to compare and contrast. Morris, by and large, does come out second, but there are still many fine and beautiful things to see. READ MORE

Vanessa Zahorian and Guennadi Nedviguine in "Sylvia"
by Susan Reiter

Vanessa Zahorian, lithe but strong, projected warmth and humor as Sylvia. Her commanding presence and powerful, sleek technique made her the clear leader of the huntress nymphs, who fend for themselves and have no use for the powers of Eros, to whom everyone else in the ballet bows, or prostrates themselves, reverently. This Sylvia is obviously a take-charge, no-nonsense nymph, but also rapturously feminine. Her crisp attack imbued her Act One material with welcome energy and fire, and her dramatic skill allowed one to follow Sylvia’s the stages of emotional journey quite clearly, culminating in her lucid radiance in Act Three. READ MORE

 

In Your Face
by Lisa Rinehart

San Francisco Ballet is a mighty good company these days thanks to Helgi Tomasson's intelligent direction and some hefty (mostly international) star power. Admittance to the big leagues, however, entails increased scrutiny of possible flaws in the company's polish, and in spite of recent rhapsodic reviews, there are a few. The corps de ballet and soloists, while enthusiastic and generally competent, are an eclectic mix of body types and technique styles that can look ragged, and sometimes, dare I say it, downright civic — neo-classical is one thing, but all over the place is quite another. Perhaps the effort of trying to wow a New York audience after a four-year hiatus from the city is responsible for the hard sell, but it's something to watch. The programming was equally eager to please and was as overloaded with rich offerings as an insecure cook's Thanksgiving table. One stumbled out of the theater overwhelmed by the bounty and just a little too full to appreciate how good everything was. READ MORE

 

The West Wave Festival: Programs 5, 6, 7
Kansas by the Bay

by Ann Murphy

Vacations have pulled me out of town in recent summers just as the annual West Wave Dance Festival was getting underway. Little did I know that that the absences would leave me feeling like Rip Van Winkle. It appears that while I was gone many small changes were taking place, and now, jammed together in anthology programs over a couple of weeks, these shifts begin to look like major sea changes. The liquidy domination of release technique, for instance, has virtually disappeared from view, while the past obsession with dance theater has relievedly dried up. Meanwhile, a new technically proficient and accomplished generation of ballet and modern dancers is cropping up all over the place. That’s a welcome sight. READ MORE

 

"Quem Quaeritis?" or, "Whom do you seek?"
The Recognition and Investiture of Marc Handley Andrus as the Eighth Bishop of California
by Paul Parish

"All liturgy is dance," says the Reverend Professor Louis Weil, one of the Anglican communion's greatest authorities on Christian liturgy. Professor Weil, who teaches at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, was partly responsible for planning the 2-hour ceremony to invest the new Episcopal Bishop of California which took place in San Francisco Saturday, July 22, 2006, at 11 AM. It pricked my interest to hear that the ceremony would include a 4-minute ballet; the whole thing reminded me how Balanchine when he was a boy used to make an altar out of chairs, dress up to the hilt, make portentous gestures and pretend to be a bishop and celebrate Mass. READ MORE

"Telophaza"
by Susan Reiter

Outside on the Lincoln Center Plaza, a crowd of people filled the space with palpable, vibrating energy as they danced to the salsa music being performed for Midsummer Night’s Swing. Inside the theater, a couple of thousand people intending to spend their evening dance rather than participating in it found themselves asked to become participants as well. A soothing disembodied voice, identifying herself as “Rachel,” took over midway through Ohad Naharin’s “Telophaza” to instruct those of us nestled in our comfy red seats to move — first just our heads, then arms and torsos, suggesting emotional associations tog go with the movements (“connect to pleasure”). READ MORE

 

 

 

 

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