JANUARY 2002
Sunday January 27
FORBIDDEN
DANCE: Capoeira is "a 400-year-old Brazilian martial art that arrived in
North America only 25 years ago. Developed by slaves as a weapon to strike for
their freedom, it was outlawed in Brazil for such a long time - it only became
legal in the 1930s - that in order to survive it was disguised as dance. The
outcome is an exhilarating art form that in North America has undergone yet
another metamorphosis." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 01/26/02
POSITIVELY
PINA: "One of the seminal performance figures of the 20th century, Pina
Bausch is a choreographer who has expanded the possibilities of modern dance,
opening up the genre to snatches of dialogue, stage visions and chaotic
intrusions from everyday life. She is based in an obscure German town where her
avant garde, often violent, work attracted furious hostility. Her own company
rebelled over her methods but more recently, after she overcame personal
tragedy." The Guardian (UK)
01/26/02
IN LOVE WITH
ISADORA: Dancer Isadora Duncan was one of the great dancers (according to
some). On the other hand, Balanchine remembered her as a "drunk fat woman who
for hours was rolling around like a pig." A new book examines her life:
"Isadora's melodramatic death in 1927, at the age of 50, came too late to save
her reputation from ridicule. Blowsy and reckless, she commandeered a ride in a
sports car (the marque was an Amilcar, not a Bugatti) in order to try out the
handsome driver. The long fringe of her red shawl caught in the rear wheel, her
neck snapped and her body was dragged along the road for 30 metres. The perfect
end, according to Jean Cocteau: 'A kind of horror that leaves one calm'."
The Observer (UK) 01/27/02
Friday January 25
SHOOTING STARS:
"Of course, ballet has always been a profession for the young. What's different
right now at the New York City Ballet is the large number of promising young
dancers." Christian Science Monitor
01/25/02
Monday January 21
DANCE
OF DISTURBING IMAGES: Pina Bausch is "the world leader of dance-theatre,
often imitated, never equalled. Some dance-lovers are strongly resistant to the
genre that she has, if not invented, then formulated as the late-20th-century's
major contribution to the history of dance."
The Telegraph (UK)
01/21/02
Sunday January 20
LESSER
OF TWO EVILS: For mid-level ballet companies, the choice of what to do about
music is never an easy one. Everyone agrees that live music is preferable to
recorded, but the cost can be prohibitive, and once a regular ensemble is
engaged, union rules can make it very difficult to disengage them. Still, is the
ballet really the ballet when the sound comes from a speaker rather than an
orchestra? San Francisco Chronicle
01/20/02
Friday January 18
REACQUAINTANCE
WITH THE DANCE COLLECTION: The remarkable Dance Collection at Lincoln
Center's Library of the Performing Arts has finally reopened after the library
finished a three-year renovation. "It is the largest dance archive in the world,
with holdings that date back to 1460." The New York Times 01/18/02
Wednesday January 16
MOVING WITH
THE TIMES: Yuri Grigorovich, for 30 years the master of the Bolshoi Ballet,
wielded absolute power during his reign. In post-Soviet Russia he was ousted
from his perch. "Clearly he saw the writing on the wall in terms of his future
with the Bolshoi; as a principal cultural powerbroker in the old Soviet regime,
he was a natural target for housecleaning." But he quickly put together a new
company, made up of young dancers from the leading schools. The company is now
in America for an impressive tour. Chicago Sun-Times
01/16/02
- 100
CONCERTS IN 27 CITIES: The company's 90 dancers are impressive, but
performances in Detroit are uneven - the company is "in the midst of a 27-city,
100-performance tour that has them spending an astounding amount of their waking
time on buses." Detroit Free Press 01/16/02
APPRECIATING
DANCE: How does one teach the aesthetics of dance as an artform? "All
students have seen dance movement, if only music videos on MTV or Broadway
musicals. But appreciating dance as an artform requires some understanding of
the cultural status of works of art. What makes ordinary movement different from
artistic movement? What makes social or ritualistic dance different from theater
dance?" Aesthetics-online 01/02
Sunday January 13
THE FACE OF
DANCE: "Those of us who love dance are sometimes haunted by the memory of a
particular face on stage. What force is it that, without close-ups to simulate
intimacy or words to aid communication, imprints the dancers' personalities into
our consciousness? Do the thousands of hours of sweat and self-criticism that
mold the dancer's body also mold the face? Or is there an essential presence
that is inborn? One thing sure is that the charismatic dance face is not
achieved through a deliberate effort but mysteriously springs from some deep
connection between mind and body." The New York Times 01/13/02
TURNING
POINTE: "The Association of Blacks in Dance meets later this month in
Brooklyn. The association is a service organization that has helped bring dance
by black choreographers and performers to new public prominence in the 15 years
since its formation. Founded by three savvy matriarchs of black American modern
dance, the association faces a turning point typical in the histories of
successful grass-roots organizations." The New York Times 01/13/02
THE
NEW DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM: Dance Theatre of Harlem has a new name: "Arthut
Mitchell's Dance Theatre of Harlem." "And no one was more surprised by the
announcement than Mitchell, artistic director and founder of the company." Los Angeles Times
01/13/02
Friday January 11
PHILADELPHIA
- DANCE MAGNET? "With more than two dozen dance companies, Philadelphia has
become a dance magnet, drawing performers from other states and building a
reputation as one of the top five dance cities in the country. Yet many people
in the area are not aware of this." Philadelphia
Inquirer 01/11/02
Tuesday January 8
DANCE
MAKES A SOFT LANDING IN SF: A little more than two years ago, at the height
of the Dotcom real estate craze in the Bay Area, The San Francisco Dance Center
found out it had to find a new home. The Center is "a major artery if not the
pulsing heart of the Bay Area dance scene, offering more than 400 classes to
8,000 adult students a month. Much like the larger-scale Steps on Broadway in
Manhattan, SFDC brings together aspiring young choreographers, established dance
figures and weekend amateurs in drop-in sessions on everything from jazz to
flamenco." Now the Center has a brand new home and some big challenges in trying
to support itself in a new space. San Francisco Examiner 01/07/02
NEW NEW NEW:
"True to its founding fathers, George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, New York
City Ballet remains the foremost creative ballet troupe in the world. No other
classical dance company presents as many new works. One reason is the number of
ballets produced by the Diamond Project festivals in the last 10 years with 6 to
12 choreographers commissioned at a time. More important, the company has
developed choreographers within its ranks."
The New York Times
01/08/02
Wednesday January 2
BUILDING A DANCE
COMPANY: "Over the last 15 years, fed by the elegant choreography of its
artistic director José Mateo's Ballet Theater has cultivated a distinctive
ballet style, a critically acclaimed repertory of original work, a school and
20-member company. With performances of this season's Nutcracker, which
ended on Sunday, the troupe has opened this erudite Cambridge's first home for
professional ballet." The New York Times
01/01/02
Monday December 31
THE EXAMINED DANCE:
"The theoretical study of dance, using the broad content and methodology of the
humanities, is still far less developed than in those other arts. And there is
much less in the way of rigorous dialogue among well-trained scholars in the
various theoretical disciplines." Aesthetics-online
12/01
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