Did dance organizations have their heads in the clouds when they secured large spaces--a seeming future--for themselves? … [Read more...]
Archives for 2009
Ahistorical (No! Historical!: Updated with comments)
[UPDATE: Scroll down for illuminating comments (taking me to task, yes they do) by Bob Yesselman, former head of DanceNYC, and John Wyszniewski, marketing manager from 2004 to 2007 of Dance Theater Workshop (DTW), one of the debt-plagued organizations La Rocco discusses.] Claudia La Rocco is probably the best dance journalist around. Working at the Associated Press since college, she knows how to … [Read more...]
Saturday March 22:
What's the problem with giving experimental dances a second chance on the stage? … [Read more...]
Deja-vu fest?
This winter, a deadline forced me to miss Janie Taylor in Balanchine's "La Valse" at New York City Ballet. I felt even more gloom than usual at missing her--I try to catch everything she does--because the reviews confirmed, as Alastair Macaulay, chief dance critic at the New York Times, wrote, thatno other recent interpreter... is so right for the heroine as the febrile, driven Janie Taylor. The … [Read more...]
Eva and Apollinaire, March 16:
Eva interviews Julian Barnett, of "Sound Memory" renown. Apollinaire kvetches. … [Read more...]
Sound Memory fast-forwarded (with added dialogue between Eva and Apollinaire)
About a year ago, a rough draft of Julian Barnett's "Sound Memory" at the La Mama Festival jumpstarted all sorts of memories for me, and now it's back in full: at Danspace Project this Thursday through Sunday. The esteemed Eva Yaa Asantewaa, irregular Foot contributor, has a half-hour interview with Barnett here on her blog, Infinite Body. I love Eva's interview style--her engagement and clarity, … [Read more...]
Paul Parish, March 4:
The buoy of ballet for dire times … [Read more...]
Movies, bars, and ballet
My friend Paul Parish, irregular Foot contributor, writes from the Bay Area: The world sure is looking unfamiliar -- not unrecognizable, just distorted and actually "on-the-morph." San Francisco Ballet's "Swan Lake" did unbelievable box office. Two million dollars in sales, biggest box office ever for SFB. High ticket prices, of course. Standing room's gone up to 20 bucks, and standing room was … [Read more...]
February 15:
The marvel of Balanchine's one-act "Swan Lake" … [Read more...]
GO: Balanchine’s one-act “Swan Lake”
Earlier this season, worrying over the first-time Balanchine audience drawn by the $25 orchestra seats at New York City Ballet, I warned against the Short Stories program. My thinking: though Balanchine's genius for unleashing the comedy in such recognizable genres as the tale of a toy animated by real feelings or the twisty gangster thriller runs through "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" and … [Read more...]