In 2017 I wasn't able to get out to the theater often (so I reviewed film and book and other events as well). I maybe saw 10 concerts, including the big bubbly premiere of American Balllet Theatre's "Whipped Cream," the new Alexei Ratmansky creation replete with 3-D ferret-giraffes and Abe-Lincolns from artist Mark Ryden. Many of my friends … [Read more...]
The Red Shoes Are Not Tired
Matthew Bourne's "The Red Shoes" On September 15, the big-ticket fall dance season in Los Angeles begins with the U.S. premiere of Sir Matthew Bourne's award-winning 2016 ballet version of ‘The Red Shoes,’ appearing for a robust two-week run at the Music Center (Sept. 15-Oct.1). As with other recent Bourne visits, the luxe scenic production … [Read more...]
Dance in L.A. Museums Unleashes the Spirits
If you haven't seen dance at a museum lately, some good news. Gone are the days when dancers were brought in like bulky decor to inhabit dead gallery space. Synchronicity abounds, tickets are still low cost (often free) and the payoff can be huge. In fact, some of the best dance I've ever seen has been in galleries. In the last few years, … [Read more...]
Premium Snow: Are the Luxe New West Coast Nutcrackers Worth the Bucks ?
Two highly anticipated, top-draw Nutcracker productions that premiered on the West Coast last season -- Peter Boal’s new setting of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and Alexei Ratmansky’s 2010 “The Nutcracker” for American Ballet Theatre, now relocated to Costa Mesa -- had somewhat soft landings their … [Read more...]
Maillot’s Botchy Look at American Dance in “Choré”
Though inspired by and decorated with 20th century American dance styles, Jean-Christophe Maillot's 2013 “Choré” for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which had its U.S. premiere at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa on Friday, shows integrity only to Maillot’s own sleek neo-classical choreographic voice. This is not a problem unto itself – Maillot … [Read more...]
On the First Day of Christmas, ABT Brought Costa Mesa a Lovely “Nutcracker”
Kevin McKenzie, Gillian Murphy and others discussed Alexei Ratmansky's "The Nutcracker" with me for California's Coast magazine this month. The heralded production left the Brooklyn Academy of Music to establish a new home in Costa Mesa beginning December 10th. OC's Ballet Moment: ABT's ‘Nutcracker' finds a home in Costa Mesa On a Saturday … [Read more...]
Boredom Unpacked & the Cosmos Rebuilt: A Week with Forsythe, Noë and de Keersmaeker in L.A
“The proximity of boredom to the work of art is somehow a clue to what art is and does,” said the captivating UC Berkeley philosophy professor Alva Noë during a talk with former Ballet Frankfurt choreographer William Forsythe at Los Angeles' Getty Museum on Nov. 12th. It was a quick, fascinating lecture that also addressed whether choreography can … [Read more...]
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Fest in Los Angeles
Resistance is futile: There is no way to rank or prioritize all the myriad events occurring next week during the choreographic & performance feast by Belgium-based choreographer Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker and her company Rosas at CAP UCLA. Every event in "Then & Now" is unmissable -- Tuesday is the only time de Keersmaeker will dance; … [Read more...]
Refusal to Swoon: Ratmansky’s Stalinist-era “Cinderella” Debuts in LA
Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra Los Angeles Music Center Oct. 8-11, 2015 musiccenter.org/Cinderella No pumpkin, no fairy godmother, no big dress, no vengeful besting on the dance floor, no heraldic marriage ceremony. If a lacey, pale-blue firehose of royal transformation is not the essence of the Cinderella story, then what is? Opening Los … [Read more...]
The Communal High of Twyla Tharp in Los Angeles
In advance of Twyla Tharp's 4-day run at the Wallis Theater in Beverly Hills on Oct. 1-4 -- the second stop on the company's 10-week 50th Anniversary tour across the U.S. -- a call went out for public volunteers to participate in a staging of Tharp's 1969 piece, "The Hundreds," to take place on September 29, two days prior the formal concerts. … [Read more...]