...and not just because he agrees with ME about "King Arthur," though I have to say it's not at all fun writing a negative review of work you generally admire, so I am grateful for the company. Macaulay has settled down, dug in and begun shedding his mannerisms (the self-celebration as moony, sensitive poet, for example, and the sarcasm). He can describe what he's seeing and why it matters in … [Read more...]
Macaulay Watch: The chief Times dance critic is getting better (REVISED)
...and not just because he agrees with ME about "King Arthur," though I have to say it's not at all fun writing a negative review of work you generally admire, so I am grateful for the company. Macaulay has settled down, dug in and begun shedding his mannerisms (the self-celebration as moony, sensitive poet, for example, and the sarcasm). He can describe what he's seeing and why it matters in … [Read more...]
GO? St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s “Carmen”
The preview below involved one of those maddening situations where no video of the ballet existed--and I'd never seen the company. I read everything I could find on the troupe (on Nexis, for example, and the ballet boards)--but there wasn't a single review, even, of this particular ballet, which could either be marvelous or a bust. I hate being reduced to a reporter--just reporting what the … [Read more...]
Mark Morris’s “King Arthur”: I didn’t like it.
Morris has made some of my favorite works. But this is not one of them. Here's my review from Newsday: Henry Purcell's 1691 "King Arthur" wasn't ever an opera, exactly. Proud of their theater tradition and suspicious of this Italian business of singing your way through a story, the 17th century English preferred the semi-opera, a play in "blank verse, adorn'd with scenes, machines, songs and … [Read more...]
GO: Paul Taylor at City Center (Updated Saturday)
Okay, I admit it, I have mixed feelings about the two dreamscape premieres: there are moments when Taylor achieves an impressive surreality and other times when the dance devolves into a series of discrete shards. But I do think he's experimenting with new ways to put a dance together--impressive for anyone, but especially someone who's been at this business for more than 50 years. And the New … [Read more...]
GO– to Long Island or New Jersey for the Perm Tchaikovsky Ballet’s “Romeo and Juliet”
This version of the ballet, by Russian choreographer Nikolai Boyarchikov to the Prokofiev score, inspired all sorts of thoughts that had no place in a short preview. Was wondering whether the Russians have a greater comfort with symbolism, with showing us the inner workings of the mind or the outer workings of fate--larger or smaller than the social. It made me think, on the good side, of … [Read more...]
GO: Juliette Mapp at Danspace Project
Juliette Mapp breaks Foot contributor Eva Yaa Asantewaa's heart again--in a good way this time. Eva writes: Juliette Mapp's "Anna, Ikea and I"--the kinetic-aural memoir of her development in dance--is huge. Simply huge. And beautiful. And arguably the most assured, definitive presentation--and certainly the most emotionally affecting, as I see it--in this season's round of contemporary dance. … [Read more...]
Go: Ronald K. Brown at the Joyce this week
Our very own Eva Yaa Asantewaa says it great in this Times feature by Felicia Lee: His message is never under the surface; he's never been shy about saying it's spiritual. That's what I think makes Ron's work so special: people look at it and get it. He always picks the juiciest music, and his dancers are just fantastic. At the Joyce through Sunday. Check it out. … [Read more...]
The second coming of… (plus–added Wednesday–the farewells of…)
She's a version of Nureyev. Or something like. Or would be in another era. Anyway, my essayette for New York magazine on peripatetic Kirov/ABT star Diana Vishneva, who's having a real season here in New York this year. And, here, my review for Newsday of Christopher Wheeldon's final dance as resident choreographer for New York City Ballet, "Rococo Variaitions," and Nikolaj Hubbe's moving farewell. … [Read more...]
One of Queens’ best-kept secrets…
...The Jaurena family of tangoistas: with Raul leading the band (he just won a Latin Grammy for his tango tunes--long overdue), his daughter Carolina dancing, and his wife, Marga, singing. I go to lots of tango shows in the city--and I've never heard music as rich and various as this. Here's my featurette for Newsday on the family. … [Read more...]