Category Archives: Ballet

The Inspiration of Dance

Posted on May 17, 2013 | 1 Comment

I woke up this morning wanting so desperately to find some inspiration in the day for myself…and then a video appeared in my box, posted by Ellison Ballet in NYC who The Model Critic covered in review.  I had to share…

Featured here is 3rd Place Winner in the Classical Dance category, Yui Sugawara, age 19,  who danced her piece called, “Exit,” at the 2013 Youth America Grand Prix  which took place in Hartford, CT.

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AsianInNY 2013 Lunar New Year Celebration And Fashion Show

Posted on February 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

Lunar New Year Celebration in SingaporeFebruary 10, 2013 marked the Lunar New Year, a major holiday in Asia and a major cultural event in Asian communities around the world, celebrated with music, food, and good company.

Asian Lunar Celebration New Year Fashion Show

For its eighth year in a row, AsianInNY, New York’s premier online destination for multicultural networking and entertainment, will host its 2013 Lunar New Year celebration fashion show on February 23, 2013 from 6:00-10:00pm at New York Law School located at 185 West Broadway, New York.

*The first 100 people to arrive will receive free raffle tickets (amazing items including bags, wallets, bottled water, t-shirts and more.)
$20 online pre-event purchase* before Feb 22 midnight
$25 at the door
For tickets: http://www.asianinny.com/?p=26601

AsianInNY guests will enjoy an exciting line-up of comedy, music, fashion, dance, and food starting with MC for the event, the Godfather of Asian American comedy, Phil Nee. A native New Yorker, Nee appeared recently on “The Colbert Report,” headlined the Hong Kong Comedy Festival, and just completed filming a role in the upcoming movie “Chinese Puzzle.”

Raising the roof will be DJ Simon ‘Taiga’ Tai. Regularly mixing at the hottest clubs in NYC, he can be found spinning events for the likes of LVMH, Dior and Tag Heuer.

This year’s runway fashion show will spotlight Joy Hu, a NYC-based Canadian designer whose couture custom dresses have been worn by Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, Miss Jamaica Chantal Zaky, singer Anjulie, Jersey Shore’s, Angelina Pivarnick, and Model Latina Champion Jessica Caban, and will feature the new collections by other outstanding Asian designers.

Get in the groove early.  Check Anjulie’s hit record, You and I.

Attendees can purchase all the featured items from the fashion shows with discounted rates on 247Features.com after the event where a portion of their profits will give to charity.

Asian models will be sporting TC Charton Eyewear by designer Alexandra Peng Charton, the first North American line created expressly for Asians. Hair and makeup will be done by Charles Lam’s hair salon and beauty spa MessLook. A top international stylist for more than 20 years, Lam’s clients include artists, singers, models and performers from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The evening’s featured performers will include:

• KI-YO -Singer

• Shoko Tamai – Dancer

• United East Athletics Association – Lion Dance

• Takala Land – Dance Company

• ‘Nuf Said – Live Band

AsianInNYRead more about the performers on the AsianInNY blog.

Sponsors: AriZona Beverages, Asian Real Estate Association of America, Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, Haruo Noro Salon, JOA Production, KOH COCONUT, Manhattan Portage, MessLook, Mika Japanese Cuisine and Bar, MusicDish China, New York Law School, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, TC Charton, Ty Ku, Well Luck Co., 247Features.com.

Asian in New YorkJoin their Facebook FanPage to receive special announcements about exclusive offers and events: https://www.facebook.com/AsianInNYFans

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The Model Critic Reviews: Tarantella: Spider Dance at Theatre for the New City, New York

Posted on January 26, 2013 | Leave a comment
TarantellaTARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE
Reviewed by Carlos Stafford, The Model Critic
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In popular culture the Tarantella is mostly associated with a high spirited, Italian folk dance performed at wedding celebrations, or perhaps more formally, in a character dance for ballet along with mazurkas, polkas, and other traditional festive fare. Who can forget the Michael Corleone wedding scene in the Godfather 1?
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Forget all that! Alessandra Belloni’s Spider Dance takes her audience on a spectacular historical, hypnotic, and soul-liberating trance dance experience as she traces the origins of the Tarantella and its myths and evolutions.
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Beginning in Greece, Aracne, the beautiful princess, who weaves the most beautiful and skilled linens of all, challenges Athena, goddess of love, to a weaving contest. When Aracne wins, Athena in her fury, destroys the linen and rips it into a thousand pieces. Aracne, humiliated, hangs herself.  Athena, then out of pity, transforms her into a spider, condemning her to weave her web forever.
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“Rarely on stage does a choreographer get to the heart of the matter like Alessandra Belloni. “

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From Greece we move to Southern Italy where the bite of the taranti, or little spider, would send working women of the fields into fits of convulsive dance to rid the body of the poisons.  They were know as tarantate, and others would join in the frenzied dance that could last for days. They danced the Pizzica Tarantata (bite of love) that would evolve into a Dionysian cathartic revel, purging victims of  the poisons within–sexual repression, social mistreatment, abuse, depression. Or similarly, as Blake poetically wrote, the mind-forged manacles imposed on oneself from within and without.
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The performance conjures up caravans of gypsies, witches, and shamans at orgiastic gatherings, from Greece, Italy, French Basque country, to present day Brazil; all with the repetitive driving beat of the tarantella–tambourines, flutes, piccolos, wild techno violin, and  plaintive chanting.  The dancers respond to the quick and energetic trance music with the basic tarantella steps of hops, spins, and skips, but weave them into wild writhing on the floor as the music intensifies, and demons are released. Francesca Silvano was especially enchanting as Arianna, as she performed most of the dances with wild sensuality and grace. This is clearly not a social outing at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Ms. Belloni incorporates so many electrifying elements of movement, an aerialist, a fire-twirling performance, Death, portrayed on stilts, capoeira, and authentic period costumes.
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Rarely on stage does a choreographer get to the heart of the matter like Alessandra Belloni.  You are reminded of primitive fertility dances of Africa; of sun-worshiping dances of the Incas during spring plantings; of the Sufi’s Whirling Dervishes, invoking and blending with all things in universal rotation; of the ancient Balinese gamelan and dancers, along with the sound of the gong to communicate with the  gods; to even the Shakers, and “shake and the word will be revealed.”  All these examples of elemental dances that we could call trance dances, of worship, of liberation, of connection.
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The tarantella, of course, morphed into a courtship dance, then a dance of celebration. Naples, Calabria, and Sicily are have versions to the ancient underpinnings as the tradition continues.  Alessandra actually has her 13th Annual Workshop “Rhythm is the Cure,” August 19-26, 2013, in Italy, focusing on the origins of the Tarantella as a healing trance dance of purification, and Southern Italian tambourine workshops among other offerings. When you consider how many classical musical composers used the same elements of the tanrantella in their work–Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, etc–you begin to see the deep influence that this music and dance has inspired throughout the ages.  Her performance is like no other in its originality and content, and she strikes a deep chord of truth.
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TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE

Theater for the New City, New York
I Giullari Di Piazza
Choreography by Alessandra Belloni
No More Performances

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

This Christmas I’m celebrating with one of my favorite renditions of the Nutcracker.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Rudolf Nureyev as The Prince
Merle Park as Clara.

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1/2 Price Nutcracker Tickets Today Only – Los Angeles

Posted on December 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Nutcracker From Marat Daukayev Ballet Theatre

Marat Daukayev Ballet

Marching toy soldiers, waltzing snowflakes, mischievous mice and Tchaikovsky’s unforgettable score are quintessential hallmarks of the holidays. Celebrate the season with Marat Daukayev Ballet Theatre’s presentation of The Nutcracker, a holiday ballet for the whole family. Featuring dancers of all ages, The Nutcracker tells the story of young Clara, who receives a gift of a wooden nutcracker doll at her parents’ Christmas party. That night, she dreams her nutcracker comes to life and together they battle the wicked Mouse King and journey through an enchanted forest of snow to reach the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy and all her sweet subjects await them.

Murat Ballet

Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State LA, On the north side of campus off Circle Dr. (5151 State University Drive Los Angeles, CA 90032)

Worth The Ticket

Get Tickets

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We are geeks

Posted on November 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Reblogged from hovercraftdoggy:

Click to visit the original post
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Large Hadron Collider LHC, Maximilien Brice / © 2012 CERN

In 2009, I motivated and did the publicity for a talented dance choreographer who created a a short Pas de Quatre Ballet which premiered in Los Angeles, CA. It was loosely based around what CERN was doing with the Hadron Collider interwoven with the powerful energy of four Hollywood starlets. I also got to experience an off the wall comedy called, The God Particle Complex, during the Hollywood Fringe festival this past summer which played out the "accelerated effects" of time gone awry. So what an amazing thing to see this awesome piece of machinery much more up close (courtesy of hovercraftdoggie). #WhyGeeksAreAwesome

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Ballerina Street-Side Chic. Win Your Tights!

Posted on November 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

You don’t have to be a ballerina to wear Tights!

But you CAN have a single pair of super cool hosiery that works as hard as tights, plays as hard as leggings and looks good doing both with a toe pocket that completely envelopes the toe to form a full tight or folds back to form a legging — a  new must-have of the season: the Convert-A-Tight.

To celebrate their big launch, Convert-A-Tight is giving away 10 pairs of this wardrobe workhouse on Facebook every Friday through November 22. Plus, one lucky grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 Visa gift card just in time for the holidays.

All you have to do is drop by their Facebook page to learn more about this function-meets-fashion piece that will quickly become your wardrobe staple: http://on.fb.me/Po6x5y

What we love at Gia On The Move about this:

Well, it’s a contest.  We love contests. And sharing the sweepstakes with a friend will get you an extra entry!

What’s not to love about fashion?

Gift card.  Need I elaborate?

It’s gettin’ kind-a cold outside but I still want to show off my well-trained gams and favorite stilettos.

Me personally:  As a professional dancer much of my career, I’ve always been in tights and have been in a habit of pulling back my leggings to throw on a pair of open toed shoes after a grueling pointe class.  Now I can wear one of my favorite and most comfortable fashions street side without feeling like a “bun-head” all day and night long and apparently without the leg bump (aka the wadded fabric all balled up).  Plus, Convert-A-Tight tights are silhouette-slimming, have a control-top and maximum blackout coverage. So if I happen to overindulge…

I’m “covered!”

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The Floor Is Your Friend: The Model Critic Reviews

Posted on August 15, 2012 | 3 Comments
Zena Rommett–Floor–Barre Technique–For Teachers
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Reviewed by Carlos Stafford, The Model Critic
 City Center, NYC, recently hosted a teacher’s training program for the Zena Rommett Floor–Barre Technique. Teachers, and those wanting to be certified, came from many places on the globe to review their methods and to learn anew. The morning I attended, master teacher Charlotte Furst from Sweden gave a very clear and calm class to attentive students.
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Zena Rommett Floor–Barre Technique has been with us for almost fifty years. A former ballerina, Ms. Rommett first taught her methods at the Joffrey School of American Ballet; the technique essentially gives ballet dancers barre training on the floor, thereby eliminating the intrusion of gravity and balance in developing neurological pathways in the body.
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Ballet, and dance in general, requires certain physical necessities– alignment, turnout,  and lengthening, for example.  Tendu’s, coupe’s, passe’s, and degage’s with pointed or flexed feet can be slowly practiced on the floor to give the dancer the desired placement.
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I sat and watched class with Camille Rommett, Zena’s gracious daughter who heads up the Foundation.  Camille schooled me on some of the finer points as the class progressed, and told me that Zena always gave dancers what they needed, not what she knew. They never use the term “stretch” as I inadvertently spoke, but preferred the term, lengthening, as in the spine, back of the legs, and arms.
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The devotee’s since the 1960′s have continued to be enthusiastic, and the technique has been a favorite of many past and present stars: Judith Jamison, Lars Lubovitch, Tommy Tune, and Patrick Swayze, to name a few luminaries. At present, Camille said this method is being taught worldwide, and on numerous colleges campuses and national dance studios.  Next month they’ll offer another teacher’s training in Florence, Italy.
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Basically, while working slowly on the floor, nothing is set to chance.  At the barre, things may move quickly and the student may get used to working improperly, and develop bad habits; on the floor there is a lack of tension, and without music, the dancer, along with an aware teacher, can focus of his or her needs.  Incidentally, this technique has been used  as a rehabilitation method for those who have injuries too. It’s easy to see how effective this method would be for someone who has had a knee or ankle injury, for example, and wants to activate and strengthen those areas.
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Camille also said that Zena emphasized transitions as well. Having been a ballerina, she well understood the necessity of linking movements together with proper alignment. Ms. Furst underscored this by coaxing the students to relax during their movements, not to struggle, and to become more fluid, with a strong center and relaxed face.
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For those who don’t have studios nearby that offer these classes, many DVD’s are available for the young dancer, the professional, elders, and injured.  I’m a convert, and consider this technique very valuable for dancers and non-dancers alike.  Why would anybody not want the effects of a longer, stronger, and balanced body?
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Posted in Ballet, Dance, Fitness, Injury, Media, Movement Techniques, Tap Dance

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The Model Critic Reviews: La Bayadere, American Ballet Theatre

Posted on June 16, 2012 | 2 Comments
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Three Steps To Heaven
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In the Second Act of La Bayadere, in Hindu India, Solar reclines in sorrow, smokes his opium pipe, and dreams of his dead lover, Nikiya.  As he falls into a dream vision–The Kingdom of Shades–harp strings lead us into his subconscious world.  Then, the first of thirty-two shades, or spirits, appear as from the clouds;  plie arabesque, cambre, port du bras repeated in timeless unison growing whiter and whiter as light suffuses and overcomes darkness. In a word, the dancers create an impression, mesmerizing and sublime, that is one of the most iconic exerpts in classical ballet.
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In 1877, the genius of classical ballet choreography, Marius Petipa, first unveiled La Bayadere in Imperial Russia. It has been considered one of his finest achievements in an illustrious career that included the best of the best for this Frenchman:  Le Corsaire, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Raymonda, and of course, the great Swan Lake.  All these works, and many others of his, fill dance theatres all over the world on any evening, and have become the ethos of ballet itself, today and perhaps forever.
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La Bayadere is a narrative ballet about the love affair between Solar, a warrior, and Nikiya, a temple dancer (Bayadere) in exotic, ancient India. But their love is thwarted by the High Brahmin who also declares his love for Nikiya, but is rejected by her. The Radjah Dugumanta wants Solar to marry his daughter Gamzatti, but finds that he is already in love with Nikiya.  Both he and the Brahmin collude to kill to Nikiya. Solar must marry Gamzatti.
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La Bayadere then becomes a eternal story of love, jealousy, revenge, and eventually, cosmic reconciliation. It has sometimes been compared to Verdi’s opera Aida, especially the ending, the triangular love affair, an exotic locale, but these prove to be loose comparisons, and reflect the cultural developments and tastes of the era more than anything else.
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David Hallberg, back from Russia, where he was made principal dancer at the Boshoi, a first ever for an American, brilliantly danced the role of Solar.  Nikiya was flawlessly danced by Paolina Semionova from St. Petersberg–the place where the first La Bayadere was originally performed; so you could say the production was infused with a genuine Russian spirit.  This, added the fact that this version was conceived of and directed by the great Natalia Makarova, made everything even more compelling.
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Hallberg now appears to be a more mature artist; his acting ability and mime, noble and tastefully restrained, always promising more in his glowingly fluid movement.  He seems to float when he is airborne, and always lands lightly, composed, and clear in his transitions. He seems to be made for classicism, as his abilities are textbook clear and delightfully executed. With so many stars retiring this year–Maxim Beloserkovsky, Angel Corella, and Ethan Stiefel– Hallberg will no doubt be a busy dancer.
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Paolina Semionova was astonishing throughout, and was most effective in the famous “basket dance.” Solar is forced into marrying Gamzatti, the Radjah’s daughter, and Nikiya is ordered to dance at the betrothal celebration. To render this complex and pathetic moment, a dancer must live a multiplicity of emotions as she dances before her lost love: confusion, disbelief, sorrow, as she dances sensually before the gathering.
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Semionova captures all the complexities with her arching back, expressive arms, and slow slides into the floor while the delicate Minkus score underscores the pathos. Ingrid Bergman, 20th century actress, could achieve this dramatic life on screen, and this was a moving likeness in dance.
 During Nikiya’s dance, a basket of flowers is presented to her.  Thinking it a gift from Solar, and a secret sign of fidelity, her mood brightens, and life is breathed into her movements, she has a reason to believe.  But in her joy, she buries her head into the flowers, and a serpent strikes out and bites her in the neck. The conspirators succeed.  An antidote is offered by the Bhramin, she refuses, as sees Solar and Gamzatti depart. She would rather die than live without Solar, and collapses.
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Earlier in the week, Veronika Part and Marcello Gomes danced the leads to equal effectiveness.  Part, long limbed, with beautiful arched feet and wonderful line danced with passion and precision.  Gomes always a devoted and stellar partner added with his precise technique and powerful sensitive presence.  Gamzatti was danced by Gillian Murphy–confident, strong, full of attack and perfect energy. Seo, as Gamzatti with Hallberg was more lyrical, airy, without the punch of Murphy, but again very expressive in her pas de duex, with beautiful quality.
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Finally, at the wedding ceremony at the temple, with a great Buddha statue presiding, we have a show stopping dance–the Bronze Idol.  Daniel Simkin on Tuesday, and Joseph Phillips on Saturday.  Both had bravura performances and were electrifying in their stylized leaps.
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The ceremony is solemn. Solar is going to the alter but sees images of Nikiya as a shade, and falls into remorse. Nikiya’s spirit, dressed is white, enters and departs, spinning and leaping through the proceedings, as the beautiful candle dance is created by sixteen bayaderes. As in a serenade, and music to match, they
surround the couple with crooked arms and flexed hands holding candles aloft. As Gamzatti lures Solar to the alter, a shade enters with a basket of flowers that was used to kill her rival, reminding Solar once again of the evil transgressions.  As he approaches the alter, as if going to the guillotine, the rare contrast between beauty, sadness, and remorse is struck.
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But nature, the gods, do not want this ending. As the Bhramin orders the couple to take their vows, the temple is destroyed, and in the apotheosis, Nikiya emerges from the destruction with a white coil of ribbon
that Solar catches as they eternally ascend together, united at last.
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Praise all around:  For Petipa, for Ludwig Minkus’ score, for Natalia Makarova’s staging, to the truly world class dancers, and even the maestro of both evenings–Charles Barker–who worked wonderfully with the dancers both evenings. La Bayadere is a study in Romantic Classicism, with many music and dance styles, groups of varying sizes, classic partnering, and exotic costumes and sets.  We have Imperial Russia to thank for this exquisite artistic production–a nod to the accomplishments of Aristocracy–and to the astonishing talent of our 21st Century World.
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A little bit more on David Hallberg (video)

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The Model Critic Reviews Ellison Ballet

Posted on May 18, 2012 | 1 Comment
Erez Milatin in "Last Man", reviewed by Carlos Stafford, The Model Critic

Erez Milatin in “Last Man”, choreography by Jason Ambrose

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Reviewed by Carlos Stafford, The Model Critic
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The Ellison Ballet Spring Showcase 2012 had a rousing performance last Saturday night at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center.  In an evening of classical and contemporary ballet, the students delivered a pleasing amalgam of well-chosen pieces that showcased their remarkable abilities.
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A sampling of romantic duets to music by Chopin opened the program–Waltz, Scherzo, Minute Waltz, and Nocturne –with nuanced and delicate partnering. Sara Ezzell–David Hochberg, Sarah Tryon–Jason Ambrose, and Lauren Archer-Louis Picuira-de Pimodan painted beautiful languorous and evocative shapes in Nocturne, while the men in their solos, and ensemble work were outstanding in the Finale–bold and confident.  All appeared well-rehearsed and sharp in their intentions.
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As the evening proceeded, there were a few brilliant performances. Ka’imi Cambern was technically exacting in the “Variations from Flower Festival at Genzano” executing the difficult Bournonville style with attack and elevation, and added haughtiness. We were also presented with “Variations from Don Quixote,” by Erez-Ben Zion Milatin, who matador straight, bold, and strong, danced with panache.
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But perhaps the best pure dance performance of the evening was by Leonid Khrapunsky, in “If Only.”
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Dance being one of the primal arts was certainly in evidence here. With contemporary choreography to percussion instruments only, Mr. Khrapunsky viscerally interpreted the beats with elemental and animal athleticism;  with a quick tempo, and intense, expressionistic movement encompassing a lightly woven theme and variation, he electrified the audience thoroughly.
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And there was more!  Closing the program was a thoroughly engaging ”Gypsy Dance from Don Quixote.”
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Music by Minkus, choreography by Larisa Calero after Marius Petipa, and Gypsy Solo choreography by Kasyan Goleizovsky.  This turned out to be the piece de resistance for the evening.  What was good? Everything. Lauren Archer, the music, guitar solos, sexy costumes, big wild hair with flowers, all added up to a true mood of a gypsy camp; like swans, you can never have too many gypsies.  Everyone likes the myth of the gypsies, and they are found everywhere from India, Romania, to Spain  These were of a Russian variety.
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Lauren Archer provocatively captured the Spanish passion and essence of her character, and danced with wild abandonment as she displayed a flexible, pliant, and expressive body.  The choreography sizzled, and the corps of fellow gypsies were wild and beautiful, as gypsies should be.
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After having seen the Ellison school perform a few seasons ago, I must say the men were stronger and better prepared than ever before.  The women were also sharp and displayed a maturity that was evident, say in “Fan Dance from La Bayadere,” where they all appeared in harmonious unison in another Minkus score.
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In a word, the energy, commitment and dedication all showed through, and one lucky graduate, David Hochberg was accepted into the Sarasota Ballet Company.  Well done and congratulations!
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A lovely reception followed, where dancers, former dancers, instructors, family members and balletomanes socialized after an exciting evening.
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Ellison Dance in Rehearsal:  I LOVE DANCE!
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The Model Critic Reviews The Joffrey Ballet School Performance Company in NYC

Posted on April 10, 2012 | 3 Comments

Joffrey Ballet Dancer Katie Muesen

~Reviewed by Carlos Stafford, The Model Critic

Dropped by the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center in NYC last week to catch a shared program, WalkingTalking/ Catherine Miller; and the Ariel Rifka Dance, featuring the Joffrey Ballet School Performance Company.
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In a casual atmosphere, without sets, and in a small but packed house, the three groups presented a combination of classical ballet and modern dance pieces that ran the gamut from Gerald Arpino’s 1986 commissioned dance, “Birthday Variations,” to Catherine Miller’s more modern offering,
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All the dances were interesting for highlighting the young performers, and for showcasing the accomplished choreographers.  By far though, the most polished offering was the World Premiere of “Barroco,” by Africa Guzman, a native of Madrid, who in a twenty year career, worked with such luminaries as Maya Plisetskaya, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, and Mats Ek. Here, we saw a dance that possessed strong choreographic imagination, surprising transitions, bright, clear shapes and line grounded in a compelling music composition. Mostly, it was exciting to watch the dancers blend with the evocative allegro tempi of  Vivaldi, and then to the slower, romantic guitar solo. The movement was powerful, lyrical, and athletic, but more important graceful, and delivered with intensity and purpose. Lastly, the claret-colored costumes added to the good choices of this sophisticated piece.
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Special mention to Nathaly Prieto, who danced all the dances in  the first half, and once in “Unfurl,” by Catherine Miller, in the remainder of the program.  Showing a wide range of talent and musicality in her busy evening, she was used to best advantage in “Barroco.”
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The second part of the evening was mostly modern with some contemporary ballet elements.  Ariel Grossman’s “Une Nuit,” a New York premiere, was very charming, with an easy grace which, as the piece developed became more hypnotic and compelling.  With five girls in white tunics, combined with the surprise of lime green socks, shorts, and matching headbands, we imagine them having stepped off a Grecian urn to dance with pure joy and natural movement to sounds of  perhaps a Balalayka, then calliope rhythms.
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“Holly,” another small but very honest and personal piece, of hope and prayer, and of saying goodbye, to the beautiful “Four Concerned” ended the evening.  Both these latter pieces had a freedom and beauty beyond technique that was very inspiring.  Sometimes it is a deeper experience to view dance as pure expressive movement, beyond story, detailed construction, and self-consciousness; these dances achieved that feeling for me.
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Still, there was a bit of nostalgia in the air too, for the glory days of the Joffrey Ballet Company when they once wonderfully graced the stage at City Center, before picking up stakes and moving to Chicago.  It was good to see Gerald Arpino’s name in print, and to see a touch of his talent in “Birthday Variations.” It’s not a great dance, pretty simple, but still reminded those of his association with Robert Joffrey, and how they both electrified the dance world with their cutting edge company of youth, athleticism and new ideas–a real American original.  Some of those “shades of forgotten ancestors” permeated this performance, and they are still missed here in New York.  The new students honored that tradition, and will no doubt brighten other companies across America. Everybody, keep dancing!
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Great Ballet Performances: Anthony Dowell — Swan Lake

Posted on February 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

There are certain ballet performances that are so unmistakably beautiful that they beg to be experienced.  Accidentally stumbling upon this youtube video I couldn’t help but celebrate the truly classical line without (oh so thankfully) the circus tricks that are ever more required in the modern dance age —  just gorgeous lines, breath and passionate acting.   Truly a study (in arabesque) in how effortless technique is translated onto the opera house stage.  – I sigh…

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