This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on January 24, 2008. Frances Chiaverini and Matthew Branham perform in "Connoisseurs of Chaos" on Jan 21, 2008. Photographer: Julieta Cervantes/Joyce Theatre via Bloomberg News Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- In the hourlong ``Connoisseurs of Chaos,'' the final installment of choreographer Karole Armitage's ``Dream Trilogy,'' six figures twist and angle the postures of classical ballet into a with-it postmodern language. Set to Morton Feldman's spare ``Patterns in a Chromatic … [Read more...]
Wal-Mart Heiress Funds First-Rate Dancers in Trendy Ballets
January 20, 2008 by
This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on January 15, 2008. Cedar Lake dancers Acacia Schachte, Oscar Ramos, back, and Jon Bond perform on Dec. 21, 2007. Photographer: Paul B. Goode/GRW Advertising via Bloomberg News Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Four men and five women are dressed unisex-style, eyes heavily outlined in black, all in stiff, strapless, brief-skirted dresses decorated to suggest spring burgeoning. They shudder, run rampant, scuttle about as if sensing what's coming -- sex, presumably -- and finding … [Read more...]
The Dress: Personal Indulgences No. 6
January 12, 2008 by 21 Comments
It happened in Copenhagen. Hans Christian Andersen tells us that magic and imagination flourish on Danish soil, and the tourism industry builds on that proposal at every turn. My own frequent visits to Wonderful Copenhagen and its environs--for work and play--make me suspect there's some truth in the idea. One Friday, many summers ago, the Danish friend with whom I was staying told me about an upcoming weekend fair of vintage items (one of my fatal passions) and offered to drive me out there--god knows where, to hell and gone--in her zippy … [Read more...]
Jock Soto: Sightings
January 5, 2008 by
Dancer Jock Soto. Photo by Paul Kolnik. On Water Flowing Together, Gwendolen Cates's film biography of Jock Soto: "There's an honesty about it that is both innocent and powerful. Like Dan Geller and Dana Goldfine's 2005 Ballet Russes, this film is fueled by simple truths about what it is to be human." On Soto's partnering class at the School of American Ballet: "Without words, he hoists one of the girls--a bantam-weight, granted--to his shoulder, where she sits, elegantly poised in the air while he walks forward, as if on a stroll in the … [Read more...]
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Virginia on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
I just returned from an afternoon at NYCB, watching Balanchine's various responses to American music. Like some of you,...Tobi Tobias on The Royal Danish Ballet in New York
Hello, Katrine, Jeanette Andersen is a long-experienced dance critic, currently living in Germany, She frequently writes about the Royal Danish...Thomas Schoff on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Ivesiana has been out of NYCB's standard repertory for many years--at least a decade, I think, and maybe more. ...Katrine on The Royal Danish Ballet in New York
I know this post was done a long time ago, but I must say, what Jeanette Andersen (who?) wrote is...Leo Greenbaum on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Thank you! I was there too.Theresa Bener on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Dear Tobi, It was with great interest that I read your detailed review of Ivesiana. Your vivid descriptions made it...Ann Allen-Ryan on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Tobi, thank you (once again) for sharing your insights and interpretations. I'm off to see this program this afternoon. While...George Dorris on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Ivesiana is indeed a remarkable work, perhaps not to be seen too often, to preserve its special feeling but also...Myra Malkin on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
I'm going to a couple of performances just to see Ivesiana, and am very grateful for your description and your...Martha Ullman West on On Balanchine’s “Ivesiana”
Thank you, TT, for the blow by blow, play by play account of a ballet that is very much on...