Foot contributor Eva Yaa Asantewaa writes: Hearing of Beverly Sills's death this summer, I wondered if the field of dance had or could have a world-renowned, charismatic figure who, in a similar way, might serve as a much-needed ambassador to the masses. The announcement of Luciano Pavarotti's death yesterday reminded me of those thoughts: a beloved figure, bridging the gap between aficionados and … [Read more...]

Way back in May, we here at Foot wandered from the question of why opera is winning the popularity contest over ballet to why music is more likely than dance to survive recording. I asked readers if they'd seen any dance recordings that they felt survived the translation intact--or even improved on the live event. For a whole two months, the only people to take a stab at the question were Griffin, … [Read more...]

...in fact, tomorrow, Wednesday, at 9 pm, for New Yorkers (repeated Saturday night at 12:40 am--officially Sunday). The focus is Nureyev's Soviet years. The documentary, "Nureyev: The Russian Years," has its cheesy moments, but the footage of him dancing--both newly discovered film and clips from studio films and live broadcasts shot soon after he defected, in 1961 at age 23--are thrilling through … [Read more...]

From Eva: "Accounting for Customs"--a new site-specific ensemble work by choreographers Andréya Ouamba (a Congolese performer from Senegal) and Reggie Wilson (U.S.)--utilizes the main entrance steps of the former Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green at the lower tip of Broadway. Some months ago, during an interview for "Dance Magazine," Wilson told me of his fascination with the … [Read more...]

Apropos of posts earlier this summer--from Paul and me and Tonya (a.k.a. Swan Lake Samba Girl)--about how dance translates to the screen (or fails to), here's an advance feature I wrote for Newsday about "Live From Lincoln Center's" national telecast this Thursday of Mark Morris' widely acclaimed "Mozart Dances." Morris and the wonderful 86-year-old director of "Live From...," Kirk Browning, shed … [Read more...]

From Eva, in response to my call out in the previous post: Not much from me. Isn't this the time when we get to kick back, Apollinaire? [Ed: Oh, alright.] I'll be checking out some theater (and the occasional dance event) at the Fringe Festival and sometimes heading up to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, braving either the scorching sun or threat of downpours to enjoy some music and dance. Last … [Read more...]

...presence from me, at least, in the next week or so. Perhaps Eva or Paul will have something. In the meantime, did you see Paul's invention of a new drink to beat the heat? Out here in the East, the weather argues for it. From Paul Parish: A propos of nothing (and I promise I will write something appropriate SOON), in my other life, I have invented a new drink, and my friends have urged me to … [Read more...]

Sorry, no political diatribe to light up your night. Just wanted to remind you of the new column way down on the right labeled "elsewhere," with recent reviews from Newsday. I just updated the roster. … [Read more...]

Here is my survey of Pilobolus's three programs at the Joyce Theater, including the premiere "Rushes" by guest choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak, both of Israel, with Pilobolus codirector Robby Barnett supervising (as he put it in an interview; maybe he was being modest). In the review, I wonder briefly about the chairs that appear in the work of contemporary Jewish choreographers. I … [Read more...]

Here are a couple of interesting responses to my last post, on ABT's "The Sleeping Beauty." From Dance Magazine's editor in chief, Wendy Perron: Hi, Apollinaire, I like your description of the "Hey, let's put on a show!" spirit of ABT's "Sleeping Beauty." It's too bad there wasn't time to develop and connect all those ideas. But I felt like the right casting could have helped a lot. I saw three … [Read more...]