"I Am Vertical"
Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company
Kogod Courtyard
The National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DC
December 10, 2017
The poet Sylvia Plath receives attention because she wrote about herself as a passionate woman, because she committed suicide and because she was in love with another writer - Ted Hughes, the man who led their time together. Now, more than half a century after her death at the age of only 30, Plath's poems are still in print, she
The Suzanne Farrell BalletOpera HouseThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtsWashington, DCDecember 7 & 8, 2017 by George Jackson
First things first! Last night, December 8, the company danced the greatest "Serenade" of the countless ones I've seen. It had utterly remarkable accelerations with the fastest allegros plus the richest retards. These things were independent of any particular dancers, and yet all were part of it. The phrasing changed my idea of "romantic" and "classical" in
New York City Ballet
"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
December 5, 2017.
The enduring charm of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" continues to light up the stage with its combination of the Maryinsky of his youth (the little Nutcracker's mime, the hoop dance, the floating arabesque trick, the snowflake's pom poms, and the magical tree that all came from the Russian version) and the more daring style of his own company (notably in the
Helanius Wilkins's "Triggered"
Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
December 3, 2017
Was it bold of Wilkins to start with three male solos in a row and continue with a male duet? A sign at the theater's entrance had alerted the audience to strong language and mature topics. Yet, what met the eye possessed a harmony that was totally unsensationalistic. Different bodies, so it seemed, moved as a matter of course
National Ballet of Canada
"Nijinsky"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 22, 2017
Fresh from bringing John Neumeier's "Nijinsky" to Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in October, the National Ballet of Canada performed this ambitious work in their home theatre with renewed vigor. One can only imagine how powerful it must have been for the company to perform a ballet about this dance legend on the very stage where his "Le Sacre du Printemps"
"The Nutcracker"
Kansas City Ballet from Missouri
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
November 22, 2017
This time, DC's visiting version of "The Nutcracker" comes from Missouri's metropolis - Kansas City, located on the state's western border with Kansas. Like such guests in previous years, the company is wanted back home for Christmas so that its seven performances here are scheduled as a Thanksgiving treat. Credited as choreographer is
National Ballet of Canada
"The Winter's Tale"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 10, 2017
With "The Winter's Tale", Christopher Wheeldon has transformed one of William Shakespeare's "problem plays" into a highly effective dance drama. Many elements of a full-length classical ballet are there: pas d'action which move the plot along using mime, divertissements to showcase the dancers' technique, and a series of distinctive pas de deux for
"The Sarasota Ballet: Classical and New Voices"
Works & Process
Peter B. Lewis Theater
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, New York
November 19, 2017, matinee
Works & Process, the imaginative discussion program sponsored by the Guggenheim Museum, offered a double dose of ABT's revered principal Marcelo Gomes, showing him both as a dancer and as a choreographer in a program featuring dancers from the Sarasota Ballet, led by its director Iain Webb and hosted by Wendy Perron. Webb
"Brigadoon"
New York City Center
New York, New York
November 16, 2017.
New York City Center's Encore Series has traditionally given revivals of musicals in stripped-down, partially staged, script-clutching performances, offering current stars a chance to perform those glorious songs without having to commit blocks of time to rehearsals. The series' gala production of Lerner and Loewe's "Brigadoon", directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, did have glorious songs, but it was fully (if economically) staged and
"Work"
Kim Yong-geo Dance Theater from Korea
Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
November 9, 2017
"Work" could use a sense of play, of gracious relaxation, of elegance. This hour plus display, choreographed by Yong-geol Kim, is crammed full with different dance numbers and has, sometimes, a military air – especially when its corps de ballet struts onto the stage in marching file. For the opening, though, there were no bodies, no
"5", Ganz leise kommt die Nacht / The Night Falls Quietly", "On the Nature of Daylight", "Vertigo Maze"
Dresden Semperoper Ballett
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
November 1, 2017
The Dresden Semperoper Ballet, founded in 1823, boasts a roster of sixty dancers, and a repertory which, during the 2017-2018 season, encompasses everything from Petipa's "Sleeping Beauty" to Justin Peck's "Heatscape". Its inaugural season at The Joyce included eleven dancers from all ranks of the company (among them
"Balance and Imbalance"
Bereishit Dance Company of Seoul, Korea
Millennium Stage South
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
November 7, 2017
Words that indicate opposites - "traditional" and "contem- porary" – appear in the printed program for choreographer Soon-ho Park's piece for a pair of drummers, a vocalist and five dancers. Indeed, what the eyes see on stage, and on the huge overhead video screen, is quite diverse in terms of dress, age and action,