Washington Ballet: The Nutcracker

The holiday season brings numerous performances of The Nutcracker to Washington. This traditional Christmas ballet comes in all manner of creative adaptations. Superior to other local productions, the Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker is grand: beautifully produced and well presented. This Nutcracker comes with a million-dollar price tag for its costumes and decoration. The impressive staging requires a cast of more than 200 children—students of the Washington School of Ballet—performing alongside 28 professional dancers of the Washington Ballet and its studio. Choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Septime Webre, this Nutcracker is distinctly Washingtonian. Webre’s unique production offers not only a taste of Washington, with stage décor featuring city landmarks, but also reflects upon American history and traditions.

Continue reading @ ballet.co.uk

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Throughout his career of more than five decades, American choreographer Paul Taylor has attained the status of a legend. He is hailed by many critics as one of the greatest living choreographers. Charles Reinhart, Director of the American Dance Festival, describes him in one word: genius. Mr. Taylor’s choreographic portfolio includes more than 120 works, many considered classics of the modern dance repertory; and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the troupe he founded in 1954, is widely regarded as the most prominent modern dance ensemble in America.

Tall, lean, and impeccably dressed, the choreographer appeared onstage at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater to take a bow with his dancers after a performance that featured two of Taylor’s classics (Aureole and Airs) and two recent works (Banquet of Vultures and Troilus and Cressida (Reduced)). At 76, Taylor, shows no signs of slowing down. As the retrospective program and his post-performance talk with the audience demonstrated, his artistic creativity is still booming, and his wit is as sharp as ever.

Continue reading at ballet.co.uk

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence

“I want my work to be evidence of people’s lives,” says Ronald K. Brown, the remarkable performer and prominent choreographer of American modern dance. At the age of nineteen he founded his troupe, Evidence, to tell his stories through the universal language of dance. During his 20-year career, he has established himself as an original choreographer, innovative and influential. His diverse idiom incorporates a wide array of movements ranging from traditional ballet pas to hip-hop to West African dances. Brown’s dance stories, notable for their vitality and directness, draw attention to social issues and explore spiritual themes.

The three-dance program presented by Ronald K. Brown/Evidence at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater included two of Brown’s new pieces and his signature work, Grace.

Read the review in January issue of Ballet.Co magazine.

Ronald K. Brown: Blue Print of A Lady

Blueprint of a Lady is a genuine artistic collaboration among dancers and musicians. Two prominent artists—Brown, an award-winning modern dance choreographer, and Freelon, a leading American jazz vocalist—created a theatrical dance show, in which the songs inspired the movements, and the choreography shaped the words.


Freelon selected twelve of Holiday’s classics and applied her own arrangements without attempting to imitate the renowned singer. In her performance, she accentuated the independent spirit of Holiday, portraying her not as a tragic figure but as a heroine. Freelon’s emotive singing was matched by Brown’s expressive choreography and an outstanding performance by the Evidence dancers. The program hit all the right notes from the start. It was a jazz celebration, indeed.

Read the review in January issue of Ballet.Co magazine.