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Performance Monkey

David Jays on theatre and dance

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Archives for 2008

No time for jet lag

October 17, 2008 by David Jays Leave a Comment

Entrepreneurial is too tame a word for the Mariinsky Ballet (formerly the Kirov) under Valery Gergiev. This week, they have been in both the US and the UK - giving their cornerstone repertory in San Francisco, and showing London some of the more recent (ie 20th-century) material they've been exploring - from early Balanchine to post-modern William Forsythe. Performing everywhere at once is a good … [Read more...]

Found books 1: Dickens’ clown

October 16, 2008 by David Jays 3 Comments

This may seem an odd choice for the opening number in a series about theatre books. An unreliable memoir of a forgotten figure who performed in a genre we rarely see. It's not, I guess, an essential text. But Charles Dickens' Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, reissued by the enterprising Pushkin Press in a chubby little volume, gets to the heart of the theatre-going experience. It's both about our need … [Read more...]

The late show

October 15, 2008 by David Jays 4 Comments

I haven't got appreciably wiser as I've aged - how about you? Wandering around Rothko: The Late Series at London's Tate Modern yesterday morning, I realised how tempting but misleading it is to view an artist's work as an index of their physical age - or to read it retrospectively, looking backwards from their deathday. You might call this the Prospero Fallacy: the sense that a late work (in this … [Read more...]

Welcome

October 12, 2008 by David Jays 3 Comments

In which Performance Monkey sets out his stall Welcome to Performance Monkey, a blog about theatre and dance. I enjoy watching productions, for work and pleasure, but like to think that a show doesn't end when the curtain falls. It's in talking with friends after a show that creative thinking begins, even if discussion often dissipates under pressure of hunger, gossip or public transport. This … [Read more...]

January 28, 2008 by David Jays Leave a Comment

… [Read more...]

https://www.artsjournal.com/performancemonkey/2008/01/testing_picks.html

Blogs we like

January 27, 2008 by David Jays

Alison Croggan Andrew Haydon Chris Goode Critical Condition The Guardian theatre blog Matt Trueman Neandellus The Rest is Noise [ssba_hide] … [Read more...]

Performance Monkey

January 27, 2008 by David Jays

This is what theatre and dance audiences do: we sit in the dark, watching performances. And then, if it seems worth it, we think about what we've seen, and how it made us feel. The blog should be a conversation, so please comment on the posts and add your thoughts. … [Read more...]

David Jays

January 27, 2008 by David Jays Leave a Comment

I am a writer and critic on performance, books and film and currently write for, among others, the Sunday Times and the Guardian. I edit Dance Gazette, the magazine of the Royal Academy of Dance. I'm also a lifelong Londoner: it's the perfect city for connecting to art forms that both look back and spring forward. … [Read more...]

Contact me

January 27, 2008 by David Jays 1 Comment

I'd love to hear from you, so click here to send me an email... … [Read more...]

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David Jays

I am a writer and critic on performance, books and film and currently write for, among others, the Sunday Times and the Guardian. I edit Dance Gazette, the magazine of the Royal Academy of Dance. I’m also a lifelong Londoner: it’s the perfect city for connecting to art forms that both look back and spring forward. [Read More]

Performance Monkey

This is what theatre and dance audiences do: we sit in the dark, watching performances. And then, if it seems worth it, we think about what we've seen, and how it made us feel. The blog should be a conversation, so please comment on the posts and add your thoughts. You know what I've always … [Read More...]

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  • Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17
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