I've got a busy month coming up and won't be around here much, so I thought I'd leave you with some shows to see (those of you in New York, at least). For a long time, New York City Ballet has begun its winter rep season just after New Year's, so January has long been rich in ballet. What's a recent development is downtown theaters bringing back some of their best work from the past year. (No … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2007
GO? “Overall, this show is a wow,” reports Eva Yaa Asantewaa on “Tango Fire.” Plus, a tardy YAY for Full Circle’s “Innaviews” at Dance Theater Workshop
Foot contributor and Infinite Body blogger Eva Yaa Asantewaa saw the tango show I previewed here. She writes: Saw the show this afternoon. It's about twice as long as it needs to be, but, lord, how those kids can dance! Outrageous choreography! What footwork! What acrobatics! And the musicians--especially the pianist (Gustavo Casenave, stepping in this afternoon for musical director Gabriel … [Read more...]
Divided and conquered: the Argentine tango
The one nifty thing about this featurette for Newsday on Estampas Portenas, the fantastic tango troupe to hit the Joyce tomorrow in "Tango Fire" (and then tour the country), is the connection the artistic and musical directors make between the strife inherent in Argentine tango (the top vs. the bottom) and the state of being in exile. Here's music director and pianist Gabriel Clenar: "In the … [Read more...]
More on us curmudgeonly dance critics (Wednesday night: Eva responds. Scroll down)
Oh, we are such a gang of grouches! It turns out my colleague and occasional seatmate Tobi Tobias got to this subject of the trials and tribulations of finding a companion for dance a long while ago--and was advised by her editor to kindly shut her trap, as she reports here in a very entertaining essay on why when you're reviewing, two can be a crowd. Plus, Tonya Plank (aka Swan Lake Samba Girl), … [Read more...]
Is it fun or is it work? (With more! Monday noon)
From Foot contributor Eva Yaa Asantewaa's blog, Infinite Body (thank you, Eva!): As I sat in City Center last night, writing some notes about the Ailey show, the fellow sitting to the left of me leaned over and laughingly asked, "Is it work? Or is it fun? Or is it both?" "Oh, both!" I quickly chirped. "If not," he replied, "poor you!" Poor me, indeed. Sometimes, it is indeed work with no fun. … [Read more...]
GO: Robbinschilds at P.S. 122
Foot contributor Eva Yaa Asantewaa had her attitude on--but this dance got her to take it off. The performance is only through this weekend--so check it out! (I've snatched the whole glorious review from Eva's website, Infinite Body. It's got a short video of the dance and many necessary links.) … [Read more...]
Matthew Neenan, Pennsylvania Ballet’s terrific resident choreographer. Plus, a note on Performa 07.
I promised to write something about Matthew Neenan-- showcased in Pennsylvania Ballet's one week, two-program visit to City Center last month. So before I forget any more, this: It probably tells you less about Neenan than about the current state of ballet choreography that his "Carmina Burana"-- to the gorgeous and dense Carl Orff cantata about fickle Fortune-- could cause me such pleasure and … [Read more...]
“A haunted happening in the shadow of our transience”–Toni Bentley on Nureyev. (Updated again Tuesday. Scroll down)
Here's the whole incredible paragraph... "They pay us," Nureyev once said, "for our fear." Sure, vanity, self-indulgence and cruelty ran rampant throughout his short, tempestuous life. But he faced death with defiance not only when he was dying. In daring to be so vehemently, disobediently alive, he faced it, for us, every time he stepped onstage. Great dancing, unlike good dancing, is an … [Read more...]