The Kirov Ballet: Romeo and Juliet

An established tradition and important cultural event, the annual visits of the Kirov Ballet to the Kennedy Center Opera House are anticipated with high expectations. This year the renowned Russian troupe brought its signature ballet – Leonid Lavrovsky’s production of Romeo and Juliet – in observance of the Shakespeare festival underway in Washington. The Kirov originally produced this ballet in 1940. Among the finest works of the past century, Romeo and Juliet has been in the company’s repertoire since its premier.

The most famous love story of all time has inspired many dance interpretations. Yet Romeo and Juliet attained true popularity only with the magnificent music of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953).

Read the review at www.Ballet.Co.uk

American Ballet Theater: Othello

Premiered in 1997 at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lubovitch’s Othello is spectacular theater for which modern choreography defies classical ballet conventions. This $2-million production, unprecedented in its scope, has been a major event in the world of dance. Conceived as a three-act ballet, Othello is a unique collaboration among the prominent modern-dance choreographer, Lubovitch; the award-winning composer, Elliot Goldenthal; and two premier American dance companies – American Ballet Theater and San Francisco Ballet. The result of this partnership is a fusion of eclectic, emotionally charged choreography; original music score; and fine dancing.

Continue reading at Ballet.Co

America Ballet Theater: The Mixed Program

The mixed program presented by the American Ballet Theater at the Kennedy Center Opera House was a perfect sampler of the company’s classical and modern repertory. No doubt the performance satisfied the most demanding and sophisticated tastes of avid Washington balletgoers.

The evening opened with a ceremonial procession of twenty-four ballerinas in white tutus, slowly descending in a repeated arabesque movement on the moonlit stage. The Kingdom of the Shades is an all-time favorite scene from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadere, and perhaps the most beautiful ballet blanc ever produced. The incomparable master of large ensemble dances, Petipa, deftly utilized symmetry and repetition to create an enchanting, near-hypnotic effect – an illusion where ballerinas appear in multiples or reflected in arrays of invisible mirrors. The choreography is brilliant in its simplicity. At the same time, the scene is an ultimate challenge for the company’s female corps de ballet, requiring intense concentration, stamina and impeccable pointe work from each member of the ensemble. It’s all about balance and coordination of bodies in motion with the symmetry of geometric precision. The visual impact of the imagery can be astonishing if danced well...

Read the review in the February issue of Ballet.Co Magazine.

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.

The Joffrey Ballet: The Nutcracker

December means it’s Nutcracker time once again. For more than sixty years, The Nutcracker ballet has been a staple of holiday entertainment, a cherished tradition in America.
Dozens of various productions of this timeless Christmas classic will be performed in Washington. Traditionally the Kennedy Center Opera House hosts the premier Nutcracker party in town. This year the Joffrey Ballet took center stage to present their Nutcracker, widely considered among the finest productions of the ballet—a distinctly American version conceived and directed by Robert Joffrey in 1987...



The scenery and choreography of the Land of Snow is a crowning achievement of the creators of this production. Gerald Arpino, artistic director of the company, created a stunning spectacle with imaginative dance variations of Snowflakes, Snow Winds, and Snow Trees. This was the time for the corps de ballet to shine… which the Joffrey dancers did so beautifully.

Read the entire review on Ballet.co.uk.

Pilobolus at the Warner Theater

Pilobolus Dance Theater (known simply as Pilobolus) is a nontraditional dance company to which each member of the ensemble contributes the multiple skills and talents of a dancer, acrobat, theater actor, and choreographer, altogether.

Pilobolus is famous for its visually arresting choreographic images—human formations in motion—entwining the bodies of the dancers in seemingly impossible ways. (If you are looking for exquisite pointe work or immaculate port de bras, look elsewhere.) The trademark gravity-defying choreography of Pilobolus requires exceptional athletic prowess from each performer.

Read the review on Ballet.co.uk

Saint Genet L'Africain

The Kennedy Center opened its Contemporary Dance series for the 2006/07 season with Saint Genet l’Africain—the dance-theater version of the celebrated play “The Maids” written in 1948 by Jean Genet (1910-1986). Genet, a prominent French novelist, playwright, and poet, based the play on a high profile murder case involving two sisters, the maids, who carefully plotted and executed a gruesome murder of their employers.

Saint Genet l’Africain is a modern interpretation of Genet’s drama with a peculiar twist – the story takes places not in Madam’s bedroom as in the original play, but in a prison. Moreover the maids, Claire and Solange, appear as male inmates inhabiting separate cells and watched over by a guard who is the Madam incarnate.

Read the review on Ballet.co.uk

Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza

A visually stunning dance entitled Waters of Forgetfulness (1998) was a highlight and a powerful culmination of the Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza performance at the George Mason University Center for the Arts on October 28. Founded by Tania Pérez-Salas in 1994, Compañia de Danza, a beautifully rehearsed 10-dancer ensemble, is considered Mexico’s most accomplished contemporary dance troupe.

Read the review on Ballet.co.uk

Washington Ballet at the Kennedy Center

The Washington Ballet opened its 2006/07 season with an ambitious triple bill program featuring two masterpieces of American modern ballet repertoire – Jerome Robbins’ In the Night and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. The company also presented the world premier of oui/non – a collaboration between Washington Ballet artistic director Septime Webre and chanteuse Karen Akers.

Read the review on Ballet.co.uk

Limon Dance Company

“I believe that we are never more truly and profoundly human than when we dance,” proclaimed José Limón (1908-1972), one of the greatest dancers and choreographers of the 20th century and a pioneer of American modern dance. The dancers of the Limón Dance Company, which he co-founded with Doris Humphrey (his teacher and mentor) in 1946, demonstrated the credibility of his words in their spectacular performance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland.

Read the review in the October issue of the Ballet.Co. Magazine.

Bach Cello Suites - Winds in the Void (DVD)

“In Den Winden Im Nichts” is a three-part abstract ballet comprising 18 interlinked, fleeting dances (each lasting from 2 to 6 minutes). Like most music-driven ballets, it is pure dance without narrative. Each part has its intrinsic color: ruby-red, emerald-green, and deep-blue, respectively, corresponding to colors of the dancers’ costumes: silver-trimmed elegant leotards. A giant circle, illuminated with colored lights and adorned with vapors, is the only element of décor. The visual effect is striking, providing a dramatic background to the imagery of the dance onstage. The lighting, designed by Martin Gebhardt, creates a stunning dichotomy of the backdrop and floor with contrasting illumination. Claudius Herrmann, a cellist with the Zurich Opera House, delivers an expert reading of the Bach score, providing a beautiful live accompaniment for the dance.

Read the review in the October issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.

Bolshoi Ballet: Pique Dame (DVD)

The new version of “Pique Dame” is a spectacle with deep dramatic content and amazing theatrical choreography. Four characters take the spotlight: Hermann, the Countess, Lisa, and Chekalinsky. Hermann, a young man obsessed with winning a fortune by playing cards, has a principal role in the story. He is not an inveterate gambler, yet he is a social climber. Hermann learns of the Countess, who has knowledge of a magical sequence of three winning cards, and is determined to learn this secret at any price. In the end, he is driven by his growing obsession and greed to attempted murder, madness, and his eventual death.

Read the review in the October issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.

Trey McIntyre Project at Wold Trap

The Trey McIntyre Project is a unique dance company. It rehearses at the White Oak Plantation complex in Florida, and performs at a number of dance festivals only off-season in summer. The founder and artistic director, Trey McIntyre, is widely recognized as a talented, prolific, innovative, and much in-demand choreographer. This summer, he invited eleven dancers from some of the best companies around the country to create new works and showcase some of his earlier productions at venues such as the renowned Vail International, Jacob’s Pillow, and Wolf Trap festivals.

Read the review in the October issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence and Philadanco

The Filene Center of Wolf Trap presented Ronald K. Brown/Evidence and Philadanco in a five-dance program on Tuesday, July 18. New York-based Evidence opened the evening with “Come Ye,” a dance created by the company’s founder, Ronald K. Brown. “Come Ye” is a call for peace and a tribute to people who “have no fear, and still have hope and love.” The dance is set to three songs by jazz and blues vocalist Nina Simon and traditional African tunes composed by Fela Kuti. Brown’s choreography is intense and dynamic, featuring soaring jumps, powerful spins, and turns. The dancers breezed through each element with astonishing tempo and vigor. The lighting, masterfully designed by Brenda Gray, contributed to the success of the work.

Read the review in the September issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.

The Kirov Ballet: Giselle

“Spirits in white gowns... the snow-white wilis who waltz pitilessly the whole night long... What a pretty ballet one could make of that!” wrote prominent French writer and critic Théophil Gautier in 1841, inspired by a legend from Heinrich Heine’s novel De l’Allemagne. This is how the greatest romantic ballet Giselle or Les Wilis (the original title) was conceived. History has it that composer Adolphe Adam completed the music score in a week. And what great music it was! Adam’s music with its enchanting leitmotifs tailored to each personage of the story made history of the practice of repackaging existing songs for ballet.

Read this review in the September issue of the Ballet-Dance Magazine.

Lewis Segal: Five Things on Ballet

When the last time ballet was a subject of controversy? When the last time an article by a dance critic was “the most e-mailed article” of a major newspaper (The LA Times) for three consecutive days (as of now)?

On August 6, 2006, Lewis Segal let the world know all five things he hates about the ballet.

I think the LA Times dance critic just had an off-season meltdown...
If he really hated ballet so much ... how could he come up with such glorious ballet gratifications like:

“Ballet has given us visions of limitless human potential and a sense of grace as profound as anything we have ever thought, felt or believed.” Or “Beauty in ballet should be something unique, luminous, even mysterious: dancing that embodies a physical and spiritual ideal, a profound, expressive act rather than just a refined technical feat. But prettiness is relatively easy, a matter of symmetry, smoothness, good taste and a sense of dancing as a form of decoration — of a score, a story, a metaphorical image.”

I can never agree more.

A punch back (sort of) from the New York Times critic John Rockwell can be read here.

Royal Variations

After a five-year absence, the Royal Ballet is in town again, in time for its 75th anniversary. On Tuesday night, the Royals presented a program of four ballets created in various times by the company’s own choreographers: La Valse and Enigma Variations by Frederick Ashton (The Royal Ballet’s founding choreographer), Gloria by Kenneth MacMillan (Ashton’s successor as the company’s Artistic Director), and Tanglewood by Alastair Marriott (the company’s dancer and aspiring choreographer).


The name of Frederick Ashton is integral to the history of the Royal Ballet. He sculpted British classical dance and created some of the most popular ballets that built the company’s name, so it wasn’t surprising to see two of his works on the program’s menu.



Created in 1958 for the La Scala Ballet, Ashton’s La Valse is a glamorous dance and perfect curtain-opener. “Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples may be faintly distinguished. The clouds slowly scatter: one sees... an immense ball room filled with a whirling crowd. The scene is gradually illuminated,” wrote Maurice Ravel about La Valse. And this is how Ashton’s ballet begins in a ball room, decorated with gorgeous blue multiple-layered drapes and crystal chandeliers. Men in black tail coats, women in dazzling evening gowns and white gloves are indulging in a waltz. Ravel’s music sets an exuberant and at the same time ominous mood for the dance. The Royal Ballet had it all: stunning decorations, beautiful costumes, and a great band (the Washington National Opera Orchestra). Unfortunately, a lack of unison movements of the corps de ballet made the dance less effective and visually appealing. It was quite disappointing to see dancers not being able to demonstrate synchronized arm- and footwork when the music itself serves as a perfect metronome. The male corps looked stronger, while ballerinas reminded of debutantes on their first ball. As a result, the thrill and excitement of the dance were conveyed mainly by the orchestra.



The urgent and somber sounds of a solo violin opened the second ballet of the program, Tanglewood. Choreographed to the violin concerto of the American composer Ned Rorem (six movements conceived as songs without words) it’s dance driven by music, not plot. Slick gray and white costumes, striking abstract backdrops, and thoughtfully designed lighting created a romantic and dreamy atmosphere. Amid a sense of purposelessness, it was enjoyable to watch mainly because of a superb performance given by soloists: Martin Harvey, Leanne Benjamin, and Marianela Nunez.

Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, subtitled My Friends Pictured Within, gave inspiration and title to the second Ashton work of the evening. Fourteen variations created by the composer in 1899 represent a collection of affectionate musical portraits of his family, friends, and acquaintances. This ballet could be perceived as a photo album of them, with pictures becoming ‘alive’ during each variation. There are monologues, dialogues, and conversations all in the form of dance. It’s a beautifully choreographed and staged work. Christopher Saunders gave a solid performance of Edward Elgar while Zenaida Yanowsky impressed as his faithful wife. Roberta Marquez sparkled as little Dorabella dancing gracefully and joyfully. Sarah Lamb was perfect as Lady Mary Lygon – a mysterious, fairy-like character. Her spectacular love duet with Elgar was full of passion and tenderness. Elegant, nostalgic, humorous, and idyllic, “Enigma” was truly enjoyed and appreciated by the audience.



The 1980 MacMillan Gloria was inspired by Vera Brittain’s autobiography Testament of Youth and commemorates and laments the victims of World War I. The ballet is set to Francis Poulenc’s Gloria from his Latin Mass, which was masterfully performed that evening by the WNO orchestra and the Washington Chorus. Alas, the choreography was less profoundly moving. The powerful emotional effect one would expect from such a work was absent. Perhaps, it was too much of a task to relay human pain and suffering caused by a war in a short dance… What made this dance stand out from the entire program was the quality of its cast, especially soloists Alina Cojocaru and Thiago Soares.

Starting June 22nd, the Royal Ballet is presenting their classic revival of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, which I have previously written on here.

The Washington Ballet: "7x7: Women"

For its final performances of the season this month, the Washington Ballet opened its company headquarters' doors, located on Wisconsin Avenue. The title of their last program, 7x7: Women, may suggest that it is a square dance performed by the female corps de ballet. Not exactly. It’s a showcase of seven miniature dances (each lasting approximately seven minutes) created by women choreographers. While women have always dominated ballet as dancers, it has usually been a man’s world when it came to the choreography. 7x7 presents women in dance not only as a performers but also as creators.

As I experienced last Thursday, the atmosphere in the Washington Ballet’s England Studio - transformed into a theater - is very intimate, with just a few feet of space separating dancers and audience. You can hear every breath (and there was a lot of heavy breathing during the evening), see every movement, notice every change in facial expressions on the performers. This is an evening with the Washington Ballet up close and personal.

Don’t expect to see the old stereotypes of ballerinas in white tutus and tiaras dancing on their toes as love-stricken heroines, either. The 7x7 dances are modern and stylish, variously charged with energy, sensuality, and humor. It’s a dynamic variety show with a woman’s touch, offering imaginative, appealing, and entertaining choreography. And because of the short duration of the works it’s all very digestible even to ballet newcomers. The costumes are simple (little shirts, shorts, and plain dresses) and sometimes unusual (white nightgowns), decorations are minimal, and the soundtrack is a definite winner with music by Haydn, Beethoven, Bartók, Joseph Canteloube, and Mikis Theodorakis.

Helen Pickett’s Trio in White opened the program. It is a pas de trois (more precisely, a ménage à trois) - a complicated love triangle: two guys and a girl share their passion for each other with the "Moonlight" Sonata’s “Presto Agitato” as accompaniment. Michelle Jimenez was flirtatious, sensual; showing affection for both of her suitors (compellingly danced by Jonathan Jordan and Jared Nelson), who in turn shared a few moments of intimacy with each other. Choreographed by Jessica Lang to a Bartók melody, Stearc is a stranger piece, featuring a trio of dancers and a trio of chairs. Giselle Alvarez, Corey Landolt, and Jade Payette performed this less immediately appealing work masterfully.

Beautifully choreographed and my favorite, Uncertain Song (created by Susan Shields) is a romantic dance of two couples: an amalgam of classical ballet and modern dance movements. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jared Nelson and Morgann Rose whose love duet was breathtaking. They danced with passion and sparkle. Their pairing was impeccable, as if the dancers were singing that Uncertain Song in perfect unison. An ensemble of nine performed Shifting to Here(by Tania Isaac), an exhilarating tribal dance with plenty of power and energy - their combined body heat raised the temperature in the studio... given the close quarters probably not just metaphorically.

One could imagine that Alarm Will Sound, choreographed by Sarah Slipper, was inspired by either Mission Impossible or The Thomas Crown Affair. Two dancing couples skillfully navigated through the maze of the “laser beams” as if breaking in or getting out of a secure vault and making sure that alarm will Not sound. Minor Loop (a pas des deux created by Marsha Groethe) looked more like The Taming of the Shrew, with the company’s principal dancer Jason Hartley as the hero trying to deal with a bad-tempered heroine (Brianne Bland). The program’s closing number was the comic Pillow Talk (a pajama party of four that ended in a pillow fight), an appealing work and sure audience pleaser.

With such a variety ideas, approaches, and visions to a dance-making, this program will satisfy every taste somewhere while the brevity of the works ensures that the lesser liked pieces go by too fast to displease. And the performance of the Washington Ballet’s young, beautiful, and talented troupe will make you want to come again. For the program schedule, see the Washington Ballet's Web site.