I have been ruminating about American Ballet Theatre's "The Sleeping Beauty"--first in excited anticipation, here and here and here, then in more sober post-premiere reflection, here and here and here--for so long, you'd think I would have exhausted the subject. Nope!--especially now that ABT's artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, who choreographed this version with former ballerina Gelsey Kirkland … [Read more...]

Tomorrow (UPDATE: late Wednesday), in fact: what can be done about American Ballet Theatre's much-maligned "The Sleeping Beauty." (A whole lot, I say.) In the meantime, how about being all crazy and reading this essay on the state of experimental dance in, um, Bushwick -- no, in New York? Really. I do not exaggerate. … [Read more...]

From Foot contributor Paul Parish: A propos of nothing (and I promise I will write something appropriate SOON), in my other life, I have invented a new drink, and my friends have urged me to copywrite it. I figure, I'll post it on the net, by Foot in mouth, and that'll establish my claim. What do you say? We all have day jobs--as the club dancers call it, "the afterlife." And in the afterlife, I'm … [Read more...]

So, remember when the Times dance writer extraordinaire Claudia La Rocco and I were on WNYC going on about the end of a ballet era? (What's this? You say, No, you don't remember, you have had other things to do besides follow Foot's every move?) Well, afterwards I was saying how nice it would be to go on the radio all the time when Doug Fox of Great Dance interjected, Why don't you? I'm not, but … [Read more...]

Everyone took a side. Depending on who you asked, the warehouse was too big and too cold, or the audience was too big and too drunk. The event's organizers encouraged anarchy and violence, or they might have sold peanuts with the booze. The lobster lady was right to throw a mike stand at the woman with the rat-a-tat toy machine gun strapped across her bare breasts, or the topless chick had good … [Read more...]

...to my assessment of Alastair Macaulay in the previous post. Lise Brenner, a choreographer in New York, writes: I want to thank you for a very balanced and considered review of A. Macaulay's performance to this point. He IS in a very powerful position vis a vis dance. What's important is not only what he says about any individual dancer or choreographer or company, but the effect he has on the … [Read more...]

GO. Or not. I'm not quite sure what to advise about James Kudelka's "Cinderella" at ABT. (But you only have through Saturday to decide.) Last year, I loved the modern take on the story but was underwhelmed by the steps. This year, I was enchanted from the second act on--enough to forgive the sloppy beginning and Kudelka's idea of the point shoe as super-high heel. The duets between Cinderella and … [Read more...]

My fellow blogger Tonya Plank (a.k.a Swan Lake Samba Girl) answers my question at the end of Foot contributor Paul Parish's intriguing post. Paul makes the argument that film's quality of weightlessness robs dance of its magic. I had wanted to know from readers if, in their experience, screen dance always paled next to the live stuff. Was it ever just different--equal but different? Ever … [Read more...]

In typical Foot fashion--peripatetically--Paul Parish brings us back to the disparity between the popularity of opera and ballet, discussed about a month ago here and here and here. Here's Paul: Liking either ballet or opera is like liking brandy -- all you need is to taste it once and you'll say, where's this been all my life? The main difference is recording. Very little of the physical … [Read more...]

Foot contributor Paul Parish sent me this email from the other coast, a de facto recommendation: The Oakland Dance Festival has got another weekend. It's a little like going to the Oakland Ballet used to be. There are kinda long waits between the numbers, but all the performances are full of energy, sincere, and they've got ideas.... I saw ODC last night, on a mixed bill put together by Charlie … [Read more...]