A Life Less Examined

Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater: June 18, 2011

2011-06-21T22:06:00.019-05:00

Spring ended on a wonderful note with the recent performance of Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater (CRDT) at the Hubbard Street Dance Center on Saturday, June 18^th @ 6p. The program entitled, New Works, featured choreographers’ Mei Kuang Chen, Sarah Cullen Fuller, Josh Pawelk, CRDT’s resident choreographer and member, and Raphaelle Ziemba, also, a CDRT member. The dancers included Christina Chen, Laura Chiuve, Dustin Crumbaugh, Andrea Deline, Kate Dempsey, and Joey Schumann. The musicians were Marcus Dunleavy on guitar, James Sanders on violin, and Bobbi Wilsyn with vocals. I am always thrilled to blog about dance that I truly enjoyed.

The evening begun with Mr. Pawelk’s work: 40 Years Later. Musical director, Mr Stu Greenspan, arranged the piece to Curtis Mayfield’s Hard Times and a speech given by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy after the MLK Jr assassination and comments by Pres. Barrack Obama. I thought the work captured the essence of the turbulent 1960’s when much civil and political unrest was occurring both at home and abroad for the U.S. For me, the dance symbolized a poignant and retrospective look at history from the viewpoint of an individual who, while not directly affected by events, understood and could relate to the shared experience of pain, grief and sorrow that is inherent to mankind. The cor. was very powerful with lots of expression coming from wrist action as the arms were extended in front of the dancers’ bodies. The full company of seven was staggered into 3 lines yet seemed to fill the entire space as they dropped to the ground or threw their heads back in unison, almost violently at times. Their emotion and movement was crystal clear and that is why I enjoyed the work.

The next work was a duet by Ms C. Fuller and performed by Ms Ziemba and Mr Crumbaugh. I remember that when I first saw the piece, Dreaming of Home, on rehearsal day, I thought three things: the duet was lyrical, balletic and sensual and made me aware of my own sexuality and sensuality. I think the dancers captured the mood of the duet and the cor. was such that the couple was never entirely present or available for each other. There was not much eye contact between the two, but the cor. was very physically intricate; the two needed each other to assist with a falling catch, a slide off of one’s torso or push up off the floor or an overhead pressage. One tango move I enjoyed was when Raphaelle when into a deep knee bend on one leg w/the free leg extended behind her as Dustin held her arms then pivoted around her; it was very DWTS. There were several moments when Raphaelle stepped away or pushed away from Dustin leaving him bereft; it felt like the duet was a glimpse into what must have been a tremendous past love affair but that the what, when, and wherefores were left unanswered. It was a lovely piece that ended on a hug.

The work, Pedestal, by Ms Chen was a powerful and visceral example of an abusive relationship between one man and two women that was inspired by Ophelia, a troubled character from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a play in which I knew very little except for the soliloquy of Act 3: To be, or not to be: that is the question . . . Although nothing is known about any of the characters, it was clear that the ladies were entirely submissive to the man’s dominance. What made this cor. really unique was the creative use of a table as a platform in the abuse. Of course, the dancers, Andrea, Christina, and Joey actually brought the piece to life through their connection and trust with each other and their willingness to go to a darker place emotionally as the choreography dictated. Of all the works presented, this one created the most buzz among the dancers and audience, which was well deserved.

Love in a Foreign Language was an older work presented by Ms Michelle Manzanales, who was not in attendance. It featured another duet by Raphaelle and Dustin, but this time under happier, more flirtatious circumstances. The music with live vocals by Bobbi Wilsyn helped to elevate the sensual, joyful, romantic and slightly tango-esque mood of the duet. It, too, was enjoyable.

The last new work was, Café 1930: The Histoire de Tango, by Ms Ziemba for the full company except her. I felt the cor. contained more of a Latin flavor in terms of port de bras and movement composition compared to previous pieces and featured music by Argentinean tango composer, Mr Astor Piazzolla. The dance was strong and dramatic as well as interesting and entertaining. Due to lack of male dancers, I enjoyed the use of female partnering among the cast, which seems very natural on this company. Again, it was another wonderful piece.

During breaks between the new works, Mr Dunleavy and Mr Sanders, entertained us with other movements from Mr Piazzolla’s, Histoire du Tango: Night Club 1960 and Bordel 1900. This composer was chosen because of his revolutionary style that infused elements of classical music with jazz to create, nuevo tango. I should, also, note that both Ms C. Fuller and Ms Chen’s cor. was set to original music by CRDT’s resident composer/co-founder, Mr Joe Cerqua. This blending of styles is what CDRT is all about. The company infuses dance (contemporary, ballet and jazz) with live music, usually, performed on stage with the dancers, and visual art either streaming or in the form of murals by Mr Matt Lamb. This company has much to offer individuals and the dance community at large.

Much hard work and dedication goes into making CRDT what it is today, and I’d like to personally thank Mr Kevin Holt (Marketing Dir.) for the invitation to participate with CRDT; Mr Wilfredo Rivera (Artistic Dir./co-founder) for allowing access to the company from behind the scenes; and to the dancers, who were so gracious to allow me into their intimate group to observe and ask questions. I had a blast! Also, thanks to Dance USA for their contribution to the pre- and post-performance reception and to all the sponsors who support CRDT and dance in Chicago. Merde!

See CRDT perform, CONSTANT MOTION, Saturday, September 24^th, 2011 at 8pm for the first time at the Harris Theater.

Wayne McGregor's INFRA

2011-03-17T00:17:00.002-05:00

The Joffrey Ballet will be performing this for their 2011-2012 season. It should be interesting.

Mr McGregor is the Resident choreographer for The Royal Ballet in the UK and has his own company as well. Infra is the next ballet following Chroma (below).

On the Nature of Daylight - a ballet by David Dawson

2011-03-01T20:08:00.011-06:00

I am going to start posting info and/or videos about dance, dancers, companies, and choreographers from the US to around the globe that are interesting to me. I haven't explored any companies from say South America in a while nor investigated some of the Russian touring companies besides the Kirov. While attending dance and blogging are my hobbies, I mainly like to educate myself on what and who's out there in the dance world that's worth knowing about. Besides, have you ever noticed that about 50-75% of the people living in Chicago will act like a quasi-expert about a topic, esp. if they find out that they know more than you. It never fails no matter where you are or what the subject is. It could be about Chicago area sports, theater, politics, history, street names, or weather but someone will make it their civic duty to enlighten you. Well, I'm the one who'll talk your ear off about any ballet or dance company that I may know a little something-something about. I'm certainly not an expert on ballet technique but I know how to critique it so to the person who's listening, I seem like a dance master. Call it narcissism if you'd like, but everyone either does it or knows someone who does :-)

My current interest is in knowing more about two principal dancers from the Dresden SemperOper Ballett, Yumiko Takeshima and Raphael Coumes-Marquet, who I saw on DancePulp, and their choreographer, David Dawson. So far, I am really enjoying this threesome. If you see any of the many videos about Mr Dawson, you'll find that his choreography is incredibly hard and physical. It sounded like the ballerinas and ballerinos were snapping apart during rehearsals, but it was just their clothing and shoes being put to the test. I've seen and heard the sensation about British dancer/choreographer Christopher Wheldon, and he's good; but, Mr Dawson, who is also a British dancer, has some pretty amazing contemporary cor. himself. I hope some of his work hits the US soon, and in particular, Chicago b/c its got a nice visceral, earthy quality about it.

Here's a clip of these 2 principal dancers in Wm. Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated
FYI- The Joffrey Ballet will be performing this in their 2011-2012 season.

Honoring choreographers of color (aka black or brown people)

2011-03-01T18:46:00.004-06:00

Donald Byrd is being featured on DancePulp in the upcoming season 2. I've seen a little of his work which he set on the Joffrey Ballet, entitled Motown Suites. It's a beautiful ballet featuring several solo, duet and ensemble dances to some of Motown's old-school hits. I loved it.

Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow

2011-02-28T19:52:00.001-06:00

Joffrey Premiere's- The Merry Widow- 2/2011

2011-02-28T15:08:00.026-06:00

Victoria Jaiani & Miguel Angel Blanco (photo-herb migdoll/Joffrey Ballet)
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL! SHE'S RICH! AND IF SHE CAN JUST GET THAT PLAYBOY DANILO TO PROPOSE, SHE'LL BE DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY, TOO!
And so will the Ambassador of Pontevedro. Why? Because Hanna, the Merry Widow, is his nation's wealthiest citizen. And if she's lured away by some Frenchman, she'll take all her lovely money with her, causing a financial meltdown of epic proportion.
Time to institute a romantic stimulus plan! Flirtations and assignations fly.....
(quoted from Lyric Opera of Chicago,2009)

[Click here to for a synopsis of the ballet and here for a short clip.]

There have been many changes over the past 2 yrs within the Joffrey Ballet d/t the changing of the guard in leadership, and while change is inevitable, sometimes it can affect one's ability to be nonjudgmental or unbiased. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting to like this newest production of The Merry Widow, mainly b/c I had never heard of it before, was reluctant to do any research before seeing it, and didn't think the Joffrey should be doing it so soon after Cinderella & their annual The Nutcracker. Fortunately, my short-lived negativity did not preclude me from truly enjoying this great production. To start with, the scenery design and costumes by Roberta Guidi di Bango were quite lovely. I can be easily seduced by bright, shiny and dazzling sights as highlighted by Randall G. Chiarelli. Next, I love live [neo]classical music so hearing the Chicago Sinfonietta, lead by conductor & music director Scott Speck, was no hardship by any means; the many waltzes were performed beautifully as scored by Franz Lehar and adapted by John Lanchbery. I completely enjoyed the wonderful choreography of Ronald Hynd as staged by John Meehan. But lastly, I could not have enjoyed this cor. without it being brought to life by the talented artists/dancers of the Joffrey Ballet.

Of the three shows that I saw (opening night, 1st Saturday matinee and Thursday night), the Thursday performance was my favorite but each was enjoyable. When it comes to the performing arts, I am inevitably drawn to 4 things: showmanship, chemistry, authenticity and individuality. There are 2 main couples, and on opening night, I fell in love with Yumelia Garcia as Valencienne, the cheating French wife of the Pontevedrian Ambassador. Her port de bras and leg extensions were fabulous and incredible, and she was so passionate. As she danced, I kept wanting to actually be her on stage (I felt the same way about ABT's Gillian Murphy as Juliet Capulet); she gave a mesmerizing performance! My only wish for Ms Garcia was that her partner, Graham Maverick (French lover, Rousillon), had had the strength to press her up into the air with fully extended arms and to provide better support throughout the ballet; it took away from the cor. and beauty of Yumelia's performance.
graham maverick & yumelia garcia- JB's Merry Widow
On the other hand, I have to give credit to Miguel A Blanco as Danilo for fully supporting his partner, Victoria Jaiani, as Hanna; probably the best surprise with this pairing came in the last act, when Miguel showed his strength and sparkle as the dashing count to reclaim and win the heart of his merry widow. An excellent way to end the performance! My praises to Wily Shives as his personal aide, Aaron Rogers and Lucas Segovia as embassy officials and Brian Gephart as the waiter. I really liked the Can Can Ladies, esp., Elizabeth Hansen Anastacia Holden, Caitlin Meighan, Amber Neumann, Abigail Simon and Allison Walsh. All of the company members pulled off the required stick to make this ballet a very good comedy.

On the Sat. 2/19 @2p, I enjoyed the pairing of cutie-patooty, Mauro Villaneuva (Fr attache) and April Daley (Valencienne); together they were adorable and romantic, and Mauro was such a charmer on stage. No problems with any of his required lifts; they were effortless and truly showed off the beautiful cor. on this night. I also enjoyed the comedic charm of Fabrice Calmels as Danilo and Valerie Robin as Hanna. I have not seen these two look so happy coupled together since a Sugar Plum Fairy Pdd back in 2006 versus their typical pairing in more dramatic roles. It was nice role play, but I wanted to see some sexual tension between the two for a change. Big kudos to John M. Giragosian as the lead Pontevedrian dancer, Erica L. Edwards as the enraged client and Derrick Agnoletti as the maitre d'.

Okay, the Thursday night performance was amazing and magical! I could not believe how funny and animated both Miguel A. Blanco (ambassador) and Brian Gephart (his aide) were in these roles; they were so lively and believable! For whatever reason, I prefer to see Mr Blanco cast in comedic roles versus the leading man. D. Agnoletti was brilliant here as the lead Pontevedrian dancer. Everyone was more comfortable with their dancing and characterizations but most improvement was seen in the synchronicity and timing during 3 large dance sequences: the ballroom waltz of act 1, the Pontevedrian dance of act 2, and the male clientele in tailcoats of Act 3.

Abigail Simon and M. Villanueva were so adorable as the French lovers, and I was so happy to see them dance together! The biggest surprise of the entire ballet for me was the fantastic performance by Matthew Adamczyk as Danilo & Christine Rocas as Hanna. Who would have thought? He was this handsome, funny, vulnerable yet intriguing hottie while she played this sweet and adorable widow that was somehow both innocent and seductive at the same. The chemistry should not have worked, but they were just so fantabulous as a couple and in character that I couldn't stop smiling. Then at the end when they were finally together, I was like.....awwww! It could not have been more romantic or believable. I love it when I'm moved by a performance!

dylan gutierrez, michael smith and shane urton(? ) w/can can ladies

Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre - Jubilation- Feb 19, 2011

2011-02-20T18:36:00.008-06:00

I wasn't sure what to expect from CRDT at the Athenaeum Theater in Lincoln Park, but what I got was an amazing show. Jubilation appropriately celebrates and honors February's Black History month with amazing choreography by artistic director & co-founder, Wilfredo Rivera. The jazz/blues/gospel music by the CDRT Orchestra, lead by Stu Greenwood, was simply incredible. If I didn't know or understand the significant contribution to music made by Jazz legend Miles Davis when I arrived, I certainly did by the end of the night. Vocals were provided by two of Chicago's well known artists, Joe Cerqua, CRDT co-founder and producing director; and Bobbi Wilsyn, an amazing vocalist and ensemble member. The special guest of the evening was renowned ragtime pianist and composer, Reginald R. Robinson.

Lastly, the evening would not have been complete without the fantastic prowess of the CRDT dancers: Nicole Sebastian Betts, Nebi Berhane, Christina Chen, Dustin Crumbaugh (formerly of Luna Negra DT), Andrea Deline, Kate Dempsey, Luke Joiner, Joshua Pawelk, and Raphaelle Ziemba. I was simply amazed with their talent. To quote Kevin Holt, CRDT Managing & Marketing Director : "Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre (CRDT) uniquely fuses contemporary dance, live music and visual art with programs that express the stories of American diversity, creating work both thought-provoking and accessible". I only wish that more people had been able to see CDRT perform last night.

Aronofsky's "Black Swan" movie review

2011-01-17T02:51:00.003-06:00

I reluctantly saw this movie a few weeks ago versus waiting for the DVD, and I have to say that I enjoyed it. Some parts were corny, some funny and others a pleasant surprise. I come from the perspective that most movies are mediocre to poor so when a particular character(s) or scene(s) keeps me interested in what's happening, I'm happy. It is certainly not the best film I've ever seen nor the worst. I just allowed myself to roll with the good and overlook the not so good. I was impressed with Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and the crazy mother, Barbara Hershey. I didn't think the artistic director, Vincent Cassel, was all that bad either, plus he's French.

I am a fan of the concentration and skill involved in the acting craft, which has almost nothing to do with the plot or storyline. For me, if the actor sells it right, I'll buy it but, of course, it's all subjective. I totally love(d) "ER","Grey's Anatomy,""Private Practice," and the like even though my 22 years of experience working as either a military medic, CNA, RN, and/or medical student have significantly paled in comparison. I can only dream of working w/a bunch of studly, attractive and oversexed doctors or with all the ridiculous drama. My world mostly consists of sick, demented, or drug-seeking people, stressed-out staff, the occasional crazy narcissistic doctor and lots of different body fluids and bad smells.

Peace out,
C

CORY STEARNS PROMOTED TO PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

2011-01-06T17:25:00.002-06:00

photo by Gene Schiavone

As directly cut and pasted from American Ballet Theatre's site

"1/5/2011 - Cory Stearns has been promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre. The promotion, which becomes effective immediately, was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

A native of Long Island, New York, Cory Stearns began his classical training at Seiskaya Ballet with Mme. Valia Seiskaya. At 15, he participated in the Youth America Grand Prix and was offered a full scholarship to The Royal Ballet School in London. During his training, Stearns performed in Madrid, Moscow, Milan and Germany. His repertory included principal roles in Mark Annear's Mendelssohn Concerto, Kenneth MacMillan's Concerto, Kirk Peterson's Eyes That Gently Touch, Robert Hill's Piano Concerto #2 and Barry Moreland's Fearful Symmetries. In March 2004, Stearns appeared with Kylie Minogue in her music video Chocolate. Upon graduating, with honors, from The Royal Ballet School, he received, for the second year, the Dame Ruth Railton Award for excellence in dance.

Stearns joined American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company (now ABT II) in September 2004, the main Company as an apprentice in January 2005 and became a member of the corps de ballet in January 2006. He was appointed a Soloist in January 2009. His repertory with the Company includes The Awakening Pas de Deux, Solor in La Bayadère, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Basilio in Don Quixote, Oberon in The Dream, Her Lover in Jardin aux Lilas, Armand Duval in Lady of the Camellias, The Prince in The Nutcracker, Romeo and Paris in Romeo and Juliet, Prince D&eacutesiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried and von Rothbart (Act III) in Swan Lake, James in La Sylphide, Orion and Apollo in Sylvia, leading roles in Allegro Brillante, Études and Everything Doesn't Happen at Once, and roles in The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Citizen, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, The Leaves Are Fading, Overgrown Path and Rabbit and Rogue. Stearns created roles in From Here On Out and One of Three.

Stearns was the recipient of the 2009 Erik Bruhn Prize for best male dancer. "

Anytime I see him perform, he stands out so naturally I've blogged about him.
http://alifelessexamined.blogspot.com/2010/04/abts-swan-lake-wmichelle-wiles-cory.html
http://alifelessexamined.blogspot.com/2007/03/my-abt-photo-gallery.html

Joffrey "All Stars" Oct 16, 17 & 21, 2010

2010-10-26T16:19:00.011-05:00

photo by Herbert Migdoll: After the Rain- V. Jaiani, F. Calmels

I was definitely impressed with this fall season so much so that I went three times. That is certainly not a record for me, when it comes to ballet, but it does say something about the quality of this particular program, including the dancing and music. It says I'll spend my time and money if something is worth seeing multiple times.

To sum up my thoughts, I've decided that Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto was a mixed bag for me. I thought the cor. was exceedingly difficult, esp. for the male ensemble with all those crazy, angled jumps and for the principals in their duets; one couple was slightly painful to watch as they struggled through their duet. I thought that most everyone rose to the occasion and only a few faltered. Things that I didn't like about this ballet....well, in general, when it comes to entertainment, I am greedy! I don't like having to choose whom to watch when 7 different things are happening on stage at once because I miss stuff. However, I very much enjoyed Ms Valerie Robin in Balanchine, who for me is an etoile for her continued excellence. I thought Mr Derrick Agnoletti made Balanchine look super easy to dance. Overall, there were just too many highlights to mention, and I thought the company attacked the cor. and did a great job with this difficult piece.

As for Balanchine's Tarantella, the couples were delightful and entertaining and each individual unique: Ms Anastacia Holden & Mr John Mark Giragosian; Ms Amber Neumann & Mr Graham Maverick; and Ms Neumann & Mr Giragosian.

Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain was an interesting piece because it was like 2 different ballets in one. I'm digging Mr Lucas Segovia; I thought he did well. I enjoyed Ms Yumelia Garcia, although I thought she kept getting ahead of the music and Ms Kara Zimmerman & Mr
Villanueva gave a good performance.

My favorite couple in the principal role was Ms Rocas & Mr Temur Suluashvili because both of them rose to a level of virtuosity that I found stunning and poignant; they made the lady next to me cry throughout the entire duet. Temur was just so much the "man' for me yet became very vulnerable while Christine just became sheer poetry in motion for me...... watching them dance felt very personal and that was the surprise.

Ms April Daly turned in another wonderful performance, and her partner, Mr Miguel Angel Blanco, for me lived up to all the potential that I believed he had. As for Ms Victoria Jaiani & Mr Fabrice Calmels, they, too, were stellar, but .......you know, I've seen the latter 2 couples in other performances that just couldn't be emotionally toppled for me with After the Rain.

Robbins' The Concert (Or, The Perils of Everybody) was brilliant! I loved it! Enough said.

The live music, all of the soloists, and conductor, Mr Scott Speck, were also brilliant!

Bravissimo to the Joffrey Ballet, all the musicians and supporting staff!!

p.s.- Ms Victoria Jaiani & Mr Fabrice Calmels are two of my favorite etoiles, and I would be remiss not to mention that I love 'em or that their combined performances were brilliant!

Russell Ferguson

2010-10-13T15:47:00.002-05:00

I really don't care for krumping as a style, but I loved watching Russell do his thing.

Paris Opera Ballet DVD- Delibes' "Sylvia"

2010-10-13T13:11:00.002-05:00

Delibes - Sylvia- starring Aurelie Dupont, Manuel Legris, Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnes Gillot, Jose Martinez by Paris Opera Ballet (2006).

I guess if you can see the POB perform than you can probably skip this DVD, but I recommend it, esp., since some of these dancer's have retired. It's just great dancing! Everyone is awesome, and the ballet is cool. The DVD contains interviews with the choreographer, artistic director and the female etoiles.

One of my fave couples- SYTYCD S6

2010-10-11T12:32:00.004-05:00

Ellenore and Ryan- "Razzle Dazzle" music from "Chicago," cor. by Spencer Liff.

Ellenore and Ryan in a contemporary jazz routine by Sonya Tayeh

Ellenore and Ryan in a Travis Wall routine- I just loved them as a couple and as performers.

My favorite Latin dance on SYTYCD 6/2010

2010-10-11T12:17:00.001-05:00

I love Pasha and Anya, and this threesome was sexy and cool!

males dancing en pointe- cute

2010-10-11T11:34:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure what to think of former POB etoile, Manuel Legris, dancing "Etudes" this well en pointe. Is this something we can expect to see from more ballerinos in the future? Good God! I hope not!

Oh know, they did it again. This time it's some of the most famous male ballerinos dancing in pointe and it ain't that pretty.

Lar Lubovitch Dance Co- Fall 2010

2010-10-04T14:23:00.009-05:00

The Fall 2010 dance season is off to a great start esp. with the return of the LLDC. I went to their 9/23/2010 Program B performance where for a 2nd time, I felt myself fall into a sort of "trance dance" hypnosis during the opening, North Star and final piece de resistance, Calvalcade. What makes some of Mr Lubovitch's cor. appear hypnotizing is that it has a similar effect to watching an aquarium, or if you dive it's like hovering at depths of 15-40 ft watching aquatic vegetation and sea life being gently swept back and forth by the current. It involves appreciating the beautiful symmetry and cohesion as everything in the immediate area follows or flows in the same pattern and is not rushed; it can be very hypnotizing.

North Star (1978) is supposed to be very geometrically designed with the one member acting as an arm, back or leg. The rest of the ensemble is supposed to represent that movement on a larger scale so they were usually intertwined. What I like most about the cor. was seeing the cast do neoclassical or contemporary ballet.

Dogs of War (2010) danced by Christopher Vo & Attila Joey Csiki was amazing; it was about 2 enemy soldiers fighting on the battlefield and the contrast between wanting to kill your enemy yet respecting his and your own humanity as well.

Nature Boy: Kurt Elling (2005) featured Christopher Vo & Ensemble performing more amazing cor. as well as 3 very sultry and seductive duets. My favorite duet was btw Katarzyna Skarpetowska & Brian McGinnis. I recall the couple sitting in front of me to my right getting real hot and heavy with their own PDA during the duets. Not surprisingly, they left the theater right after that. Interestingly, one half of that couple is a young physician employed at my hospital. I'm still debating whether or not to tease him about it.

Calvalcade (1980) was awesome and contained the sort of classic Lar Lubovitch circular cor. that I have come to love and appreciate as it was performed by the ensemble. It reminded me of Men's Stories (2000).

Click here for a clip with former LLDC member, Peggy Baker, as she explains Mr Lubovitch's choreographic style and method.

Josie Walsh choreography

2010-09-22T18:11:00.001-05:00

Lovely pas de deux

2010-09-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

Elmo dances w/Jock Soto & Lourdes Lopez

2010-09-01T18:23:00.003-05:00

As an adult, some of the things on Sesame Street are both impressive and hilarious. Was it this funny, too, when I watched in the 70's?

Eclectica- Joffrey Ballet-May 8, 2010 @2p

2010-05-08T18:01:00.019-05:00

Holy Smokes! They were on fire this afternoon! Thank goodness I came back for seconds b/c Electica was much better for me than on April 28th with few exceptions. Reflections had a slightly different cast so it was a pleasure see some of the company's newer members shine: Ms Kara Zimmerman, Ms Caitlin Meighan and Mr Dylan Gutierrez. I loved the pairing of Fabrice Calmels & Valerie Robin in Pretty BALLET. All the prior kinks had been worked out. For me, the Joffrey premiere had followed too closely behind (only 10 days) a visit by the American Ballet Theatre, which had set the barre sky high, IMO.

For Reflections, I felt only that the cast was perhaps a bit more relaxed and fluid, but I saw definite improvement in Jessica Lang's Crossed and James Kudelka's Pretty BALLET, which had better timing and synchronicity with the music and the dancers. I see now that in Crossed, it was intentional that two female dancers be lifted over the wall by Mr Calmels. The Mozart Mass in C Minor used in Crossed sounded phenomenal to me this time around (not too loud on the main floor) and the choreography was gorgeous. I kept singing "hallelujah" during intermission. In Pretty BALLET, the idea of a central figure guiding his "mechanical" muse around was much clearer to me. I, also, liked how Mr Kuldeka divided the males into two distinct groups by height, which looked great.

The best part of seeing these 3 ballets again, esp. the two world premieres, was not just that the dancing was wonderful, but in their overall cohesiveness. Rather than focusing on individuals as I oftentimes do when the timing or synchronicity is off, or I don't appreciate the ballet, I mostly focused on the collective. When I focused on any individual it was because I forced myself to do so. I usually single out favorites, but today, every dancer was my favorite and everyone rose to the occasion. I feel this company shines most when the only character they need to bring is their own expressing their love and passion for dance. The energy in the auditorium was palpable and felt very spiritual. The Joffrey danced as one today, and it was beautiful!

Bravissimo Joffrey Ballet!

p.s., I had a chance to see the last company class just before this show, which for dance enthusiasts, I would highly recommend seeing. I look forward to seeing another performance.

Zenaida Yanowsky in Le Sacre du Printemps

2010-05-05T00:25:00.007-05:00

Occasionally, I see something on video that I enjoyed more so than during a live performance. This clip is from Riot at the Rite that aired on the BBC2 in 2005. I saw the Joffrey Ballet perform this in 2009, and I thought it was just alright. However, this movie puts the viewer at the premiere of this ballet as it might have occurred in May 1913 at the Théâtre Champs-Elysées in Paris. The surrounding chaos and drama heightens the dramatic effect of the ballet IMO. Ms Yanowsky's interpretation of the sacrificial virgin is powerful.

Eclectica - Joffrey Ballet- April 28, 2010

2010-04-28T22:45:00.034-05:00

Victoria Jaiani in Pretty BALLET- photo by the Silverman Group

The Joffrey presented 3 pieces, a neoclassical work by Gerald Arpino and two world premieres by Jessica Lang and James Kudelka. Based on tonight's programming one thing is clear. Ashley Wheater, Artistic Director of the Joffrey since October 2007, aims to keep this company fresh and vitalized today and in the future. He had some pretty big shoes to fill since this company was once touted as “America's Ballet Company of Firsts." New works help the Joffrey to recruit talented and strong dancers from all over the world as well as new audiences. New works provide greater depth and breath of ballet technique and versatility. I've learned that not only the dancers are affected but that new work enhances the creativity and skill among other departments like lighting, set & costume design and artistic, musical & production staff.

Mr A's Reflections was as beautiful as it was neoclassical in its purity and freedom of movement. It allowed me to appreciate each individual dancer b/c there were 8 distinct sections. I had the opportunity to really enjoy seeing Ms Joanna Wozniak and Amber Neumann for the first time as individual artists, and they were beautiful. This piece was refreshing since it focused on 7 ballerinas, including A. Daly, A. Holden, V. Jaiani, V. Robin and A. Walsh and 3 males, M. Villaneuva, J. Dummar and F. Calmels. Of course, the duet btw Ms Jaiani & Mr Calmels was exceptional. All the dancing is wonderful. Each variation offers a meditation set on the only live music of the night, Tchaikovsky's ''Variations on a Rococo Theme for Violoncello and Orchestra'' as played by pianist, Paul James Lewis and cellist, Donald Mead.

photo by Herbert Migdoll, The Joffrey- Ms Lang's Crossed

Crossed by Ms Lang was an interesting if not challenging piece in 6 movements for the company set to the extremely loud recorded music of Mozart, Handel, and des Prez, which we were told "is a reflection and reaction to music that was inspired by religion." The cast included 14 dancers in costumes by Tamara Cobus and with moving sets (horizontal and vertical panel sometimes representing a cross) by Ms Lang. I didn't feel that the piece was particularly religious, but I did discover some wonderful things about the dancers, in particular, Yumelia Garcia, Christine Rocas, David Gombert, Raul Casasola, Temur Suluashvili, and Aaron Rogers. I couldn't take my eyes off Mr Rogers; he was so joyful and beautiful to watch. Again, I was seeing dancers that I really don't see that often being showcased, which made this a nice piece for me. There was nothing about this cor. that should be offensive b/c I think its spirituality or energy, if you will, really comes from the artists and their interpretation. I didn't even realize the gals were in soft shoes. It was danced with joy and passion!

However, Crossed was challenging for the cast, particularly early on, due to their lack of timing and synchronicity esp., in the 2nd movement, which used des Prez' Nymphes des bois. The oral music lacked a discernible rhythm or downbeat; I couldn't even snap my fingers to a count of eight uniformly so I wasn't surprised that the dancers lost timing. There was one fall that may possibly have been attributed to the long split costume worn by the ladies since I saw another ballerina's shoe get caught up in hers. A horizontal set piece came down then became temporarily stuck, which, unfortunately, might have gone unnoticed if not for the illicit yelps heard from folks in the wings. Then after a few seconds of nothing happening, we saw Mr Calmels come on stage to "rescue" a couple of damsels in distress from beyond this approx. 3 to 4-foot high wall, but the whole incident was pretty seamless. Hopefully, those glitches will be fixed by Friday night's performance and the timing improved over time. Overall, it's a very nice work that was danced with plenty of joy and excitement.

Pretty BALLET by Mr Kudelka with music by Bohuslav Martinu, Symphony #2 was very different from the first 2 ballets. It was meant to show the juxtaposition between the romantic and industrial ideals of art, huh? All I know is that Victoria Jaiani was again brilliant here and that John Mark Giragosian is a ballerino I want to see more of; he was perfection of technique, musicality and maturity. On the opposite note, I found Derrick Agnoletti's movement a bit frenetic; it lacked timing and synchronicity with the rest of the ensemble and proved to be distracting rather than the usual highlighting for me. Was that Mr Kudelka's intention? I don't know. The ballet is set on this sorta dark hazy night. Overall, this was a great piece. I really liked the red shoes on Ms Jaiani, which another subscriber told me reminder her of the movie "The Red Shoes" with Moira Shearer (I just found clips of it on Youtube tonight). The entire cast looked like they were having a great time.

I look forward to seeing these works again next week; however, I do miss the continuity of a full-length ballet, like Othello or Cinderella. Congratulations to all of the Joffrey artists and production staff for another great night of dance in Chicago.

American Ballet Theatre in Chicago- All-American Celebration

2010-04-18T11:21:00.027-05:00

I've always wanted to see American Ballet Theatre perform a live contemporary ballet in Chicago, and they brought 3 different works. ABT and critics like Hedy Weiss and Sid Smith of Chicago have been quick to point out how Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and Jerome Robbins are three of America's most beloved choreographers of the 20th century, which may be true, but the decision will always be up to the viewing audience. It happens that I am familiar with those choreographers b/c modern or contemporary dance is popular in Chicago between the Joffrey Ballet, River North Chicago Dance, Giordano Jazz and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and with the variety and frequency of touring companies such as Paul Taylor, Miami City Ballet, Austin Santa Fe Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and other national, regional, or local companies.

Tharp's "Brahms-Hadyn Variations" (Julie Kent & Sascha Radetsky) photo courtesy of Gene Schiavone

For me, Ms Tharp's work is always hit or miss. ABT performed, and I quote from Sid Smith, "Tharp's massive "The Brahms-Haydn Variations" ....possibly her most straightforward classic ballet, minus most (but not all) of her postmodern quirks". I agreed with Ms Weiss who wrote,"not only were there moments when the stage was so packed with dancers (30 of them in all) doing so much, so fast, that it was hard to focus. But often the choreography itself seemed more like a ferocious opponent with which the dancers had to do battle." So rather than get bogged down on the cor. or overwhelming volume of dancers, I chose to focus on 3 couples instead: the incredible Gillian Murphy w/Jose Manuel Carreno, the lovely Michele Wiles w/Cory Stearns and the amazing Julie Kent w/Sascha Radetsky. They make the piece entirely worth it. With dancers of that caliber on stage who cares about the cor. I just loved seeing them put through their ballet paces, plus they are just pretty to look at.

Taylor's "Company B" (above pic) featuring recorded music by The Andrews Sisters was for me all about seeing the charm, spunk and talent of Aaron Scott in Tico-Tico, Craig Salstein in Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!, and Joseph Phillips in Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. I love men in ballet performing high octane routines so the ladies of ABT didn't have any cor. that would ordinarily grab my attention, plus I've never been a fan of the sock-hop or bunny-hop look with its long skirts, tennies and ponytails. I apparently missed the whole concept of war, too, that was supposedly part of the theme.

ABT's "Fancy Free" photo courtesy of Andrea Mohin

My favorite piece of the night was Robbin's Fancy Free, his alleged precursor to "West Side Story". It was awesome b/c I finally saw ABT's new soloist and youtube star, Daniil Simkin. I'd been following this Russian-born kid out of Germany's career since 2006 because he had the creative foresight and aptitude to plug himself on both his own website and youtube; balletomanes like myself the world over were blogging about, writing to him (he responded back, too) and sharing his videos before he ever got into a major company. Of course, he had also won a gold medal in 2006 at The International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS and all kinds of other dance awards and competitions, too, so some in the dance community knew of him. He basically created his own huge fan base much like the movie "Center Stage" did for Ethan Stiefel and others outside of the dance world.

Daniil Simkin photo courtesy of Richard Finkelstein

Daniil Simkin in Fancy Free rocked!!! He was everything that I knew he could be, and it was just so exciting to finally see him live! Let me quote Mr Smith again, "Sparkly Daniil Simkin, a rising ABT spitfire, was electric as the first sailor, flawless in the double spins and glissando-like split that Robbins assigned the character." Hedy Weiss wrote also, "Daniil Simkin (a dancer whose compact frame and airtight style are reminiscent of Baryshnikov's)" . Mr Simkin was a joyful presence in this story about 3 horny, fiesty sailors who visit a bar in NYC in wartime 1944 only to get carried away for the attention of a couple of ladies. Carlos Lopez and Mr Radetsky were, also, excellent, but I have seen them in other live performances; it was Daniil's time in the spotlight for me.

ABT in Chicago- Swan Lake 4/15/10

2010-04-18T11:17:00.031-05:00

photo courtesy of Scott Strazzante w/Paloma Herrera & Ethan Stiefel
When I sat down near the stage for what would be my first live viewing of American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake, I tried to forget that I had ever seen their 2005 DVD version w/ Gillian Murphy, Angel Corella and cast b/c I thought that it might not be any better than that. And, OMG! This performance was exquisite! All others were forgotten. A huge sensory explosion happened in my brain. This Swan Lake, for me, was about the sum total of all its parts! The sets and costumes by Zack Brown were extraordinarily lavish and spectacular, which blended in contiguously with the stately, gold glamor of the Civic Opera House. The lighting by Duane Schuler highlights the opulence and splendor of it all. I heard this wonderful music by P.I. Tchaikovsky from the orchestra led by David LaMarche with its opening score including the oboe's plaintive call as the violins, cellos, bass and harp provide backup before the horns sound off. I was in heaven because now I had become a part of this living, breathing creature that was Swan Lake. When watching something recorded on video, I can never capture the energy of the actual performance. I prefer sitting near the stage, too, so I can feel more of the acoustic vibration as well as see, hear and feel what the performers are doing. I usually attune my own breathing and/or mood (unconsciously) to one of the performers be they a musician, actor or dancer which allows for a more visceral, emotional reaction and connection to what's happening. I like to actively engage with the performance; otherwise, I would just stay home.

I found the choreography (K. McKenzie, Petipa/Ivanov) of the 1st two acts mesmerizing from the transformation of a princess into a swan, the birthday party scene with its famous pas de trois to the swans by the lakeside. Mr Daniil Simkin as Benno, the prince's friend, was outstanding and his dance for three with Ms Sarah Lane & Ms Yuriko Kajiya was refreshing and joyful. The aristocrat dance and following peasant scene, including the maypole, which looks like a human carousel, was also fun and delightful. The whole time I was watching the 1st 2 acts, it just felt like I had won the lottery and was being treated to a first class good time. I actually felt like royalty and that the performance was put on just for my sole entertainment. In that moment in time, there was no other place I would have rather been.

I've already written about Mr Stiefel as Pr. Siegfried, but Ms Paloma Herrera's Odette was gorgeous and very satisfying. I loved her as the white swan. The corps de ballet's portrayal as the flock of swans, lead by Ms Hee Seo and Ms Stella Abrera, was visually beautiful and unexpectedly emotional for me. I felt like crying every time they appeared. I was completely amazed by Ms Gemma Bond, Ms Marian Butler, Ms Anne Milewski, and Ms Maria Riccetto as the cygnettes (dance of 4 swans). I thought they were perfection; seriously, I've never seen it performed anywhere as well as they did it.

ABT swans- photo courtesy of MIRA
Although Act III & IV, which began after an intermission, didn't have the same spell-binding impact as I & II, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr Kevin McKenzie includes cor. here that is not seen in the DVD version like the trio from the pas de trois of Act I doing another little dance number here. I liked the Czardas, Spanish dance, and Mazurka more in this live performance. Basically, the entire Great Hall section is awesome. Again, I was still swept up in the opulence of it all. Sascha Radetsky played von Rothbart and his performance was underwhelming; he was hesitant or tentative in the cor., which lacked his usual overtly dramatic flare and bravado. Ah well, Mr Stiefel and Ms Herrera performed incredibly well here, too. Ms Herrera transformed into a vampishly, coquettish Odile. She unexpectedly fell off balance after the last of her 32 amazing fouettes w/multiple pirouettes; however, she was still brilliant. The doomed couple offed themselves with gigantic leaps into the lake, the flock of swans gave a final dance before disappearing into the fog, and the lovers were reunited again in the after-live. Bravissimo ABT! Bravissimo!

ABT's Swan Lake w/Michele Wiles & Cory Stearns

2010-04-18T11:15:00.037-05:00

photos by Chimene- Jared Matthews (far Lt), Michele W. & Corey S.; Swans; Vitali K (far Rt).
This was my 2nd and final ABT performance of Swan Lake in Chicago on Fri 4/16, 2pm, and it was thrilling for different reasons than opening night b/c I would be seeing the partnership of Principal, Michele Wiles and new Soloist, Cory Stearns. I had never seen Ms Wiles perform in Chicago, and it was the debut of Mr Stearns as Pr. Siegfried. They made a beautiful couple.

I had only heard great things about Ms Wiles in the past. As my companion, Joy, said about her, "she's perfection". As both Odette and Odile, she, and I quote the Washington Post, "...is a stunning technician who makes the knottiest technical feats look easy". Like Ethan Stiefel, Ms Wiles appears unassuming on stage, until she blows your mind by stopping on a dime while en pointe or some other feat of balance when it seems impossible to do so. I tell you, I gasped out loud several times. There were no over dramatizations or pyrotechnics, just incredible technique all while looking melancholy, resigned to fate and sometimes serene as the white swan before her transformation into the seductively, coquettish black swan. Bravissima, Ms Wiles!

Cory Stearns for me is just a cutie-patootie! What I love about him is that he blends good technique and artistry with an incredible ability to emote! If he's acting sad then first I see it in him and then start to feel it myself internally. If he's portraying any emotion [joy, dismay, frustration] you'll not only see it but, hopefully, attentuate to it. He for me is like Ms Julie Kent of ABT or Fabrice Calmels of the Joffrey Ballet. When these dancers are on stage, I have to see their facial expressions, and when they are not dancing, I don't really want to look away from them because their countenance says so much. What Mr Stearns brings to dance goes beyond technique yet includes an ability to create good chemistry with his partners.

Even while Mr Stearns as Pr. Ziggy sought a dance partner at his own party, he seemed sad not because he had to find a wife but possibly because he wanted to fall in love naturally versus being forced to marry. I felt he portrayed all the loneliness and isolation of having princely obligations and, therefore, sought solace in the woods. He was then an excellent partner to Ms Wiles, romantic, sensual and soulful, and he held his own as a soloist, too. I adored how he danced and expressed himself with each of his potential brides; he showed no disrespect to the lovely ladies only that he couldn't choose her because he was in love with another. If I had to describe him in a single word as a performer, I would say he is "poetic."

photo by Chimene- Swan flock
I'll be honest and say that I enjoyed the corps de ballet flock of swans more so on Thursday 4/15 opening night because that was a virtuosic performance. On this night it was just good; same with the pas de trois, which lacked timing and synchronicity between Mr C. Lopez, Ms Riccetto, and Ms Boylston. The corps in the birthday party and great hall scene were again excellent and delightful. Besides the two leading roles, the other stellar or stand out performances for me belonged to Mr Blaine Hoven as a Neopolitan. I just like the way Blaine looks when dancing. I'm always drawn to Ms Hee Seo's face and wonderful technique, esp. as the Polish Princess. Jared Matthews gave the best artistic performance that I've ever seen him do b/c it had personality! I absolutely loved him as the human-form, Machiavellian von Rothbart and how he toyed with the queen and potential brides; his acting was superb and his technique flawless.

photo by Chimene- Swan flock w/Vitali K.
The last dancer that I must compliment was Mr Vitali Krauchenka on a virtuoso performance as the green monster von Rothbart, which can get overlooked. It was reminiscent of acting on the level of James Caviezel's The Passion of Christ. Mr Krauchenka fully extended his body, limbs and neck like he was truly suffering. He held nothing back; it felt raw and pure and was beautiful to watch. He crawled then staggered to his feet haphazardly as he was injured by the swan flock before eventually crumpling to his death on top of a rock. His performance didn't look anything like Isaac Stappas' rendition. It was just good acting and use of the costume's cape, the floor and rocks as part of the physical technique. Bravo!

Farewell to ABT. I give no argument with them being bestowed by Congress as America's National Ballet. A better company of performers could probably not be found anywhere. I would most definitely take in another Swan Lake performance or any other whenever I get the chance.

photo courtesy of Rosalie O'Connor- Michele Wiles white swan

photo courtesy?- Isabella Boylston & Cory Stearns- Black Swan PPd

Ethan Stiefel in Chicago in ABT's Swan Lake

2010-04-17T12:37:00.021-05:00

photos courtesy of a) rosalie o'connor and b) steve davis
Ethan Stiefel, Ethan Stiefel, Ethan Stiefel! Hallelujah! I finally saw him perform live in Chicago on Thursday, April 15, 2010. It's hard to believe that I had never even heard of ABT or Mr Stiefel until I saw the movie "Center Stage" on DVD in April 2004. At that point, I became a balletomane and thought Mr Stiefel was the greatest thing in dance. It's been six years since that movie, and I try to see as much dance as humanly possible in Chicago and anywhere else that I happen to be.

Sometimes when you finally get what you wish for, you are disappointed so I purposely didn't set any hopes or expectations for what the night would bring. I mean, he might have been replaced d/t injury for all I knew since that had happened 2 years ago. So what did I think of him as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake? I thought he was BEAUTIFUL! He was so calm, confident and at ease. I thought that every leg extension, every arched foot, every port de bras, every gesture, and indeed, every body part moved seamlessly. For me, he's got the best legs, perfectly straight and lean (obviously from genetics), that I've ever seen on a guy in dance; it's why his pirouettes, esp. in 2nd position, tendus and leg extensions look so incredible and unlike other ballerinos. Watching him was like looking at a beautiful painting in a museum; I was entranced with looking at the artist's finer details much like the brush strokes on a canvass. The quest for me is always on how does the artist present their work. It was like, I am seeing the painting that is Ethan Stiefel dancing, and it was a priceless piece of living art.

I loved seeing his hands and his fingers upon Odette-Odile's waist. I loved the way those hands slid across his ballerinas arms and body, I loved the distance that he stood from her. I loved how he leaned first his head and then body in towards his ballerina. How he lifted and held Ms Herrera at such an extreme arch over his head was beyond me. In general, I love the intimacy and sensuality that is inherent in partnering; and Mr Stiefel was brilliant at it. There must be trust and security in something so intimate occurring between two dancers.

I loved how Mr Stiefel transitioned from one movement to the next. I liked all of his facial expressions not because they induced any emotional component for me but rather that they were in keeping with the character he played. I even loved how his hair bounced when he ran across the stage or balloned. This is how Mr Stiefel told the story of Swan Lake with all of its nuances and subtleties. There were no pyrotechnics in his dancing and no over dramatizations. His beauty and mastery came from another source, the quality and refinement in his technique. The New York Post described Mr Stiefel as America's most elegant male classicist, and for me in that moment in time, he was.

I will discuss all three ABT ballet's that I saw from April 14th- April 16th in another post. This one was dedicated to Mr Stiefel, who has brought me full circle in the world of ballet.

My fave video of the 1980's

2009-12-06T00:03:00.001-06:00

Clearly, I favored dancers even back when I was 13-14 y.o

Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics- 10/2009

2009-11-25T17:20:00.003-06:00

I totally found this on another person's blog and stole it for my own. Amazing synchronization, timing and choreography by this Japanese men's team and winners. As another blogger commented, I didn't know this existed outside of women or that there was even a group floor routine involved in rhythmic gymnastics. Another title might be "synchronized gymnastics" much like synchronized swimming.

Joffrey's Affinity Night 10/20/09

2009-10-20T21:30:00.011-05:00

Dylan Gutierrez, Yumelia Garcia, Amber Neumann, Tanner Schwartz, Jenny Winton, Kara Zimmerman, & Jaime Hickey. The hostess got cut out.

Tonight, I attended this informative Joffrey event at the fairly new Joffrey Tower on 10 East Randolph Street in Chicago as a benefit for being a series subscriber. We were treated to the brief "Othello" clip starring Fabrice Calmels, April Daly, Matthew Adamczyk & Aaron Rogers. Then each new member was introduced by our host and sponsor from the Cafe Latino Magazine as followed: Dylan Gutierrez, Yumelia Garcia, Amber Neumann, Tanner Schwartz, Jenny Winton, Kara Zimmerman, and Jaime Hickey. You can sorta tell these dancers are under the age of 25 yrs old just by their names alone b/c they're so catchy. The hostess read from scripted questions and then opened the floor up to an audience Q&A where anything from 'what each dancer's dream role would be', 'how they maintain their commitment to the profession', deal with injury', 'came to or heard about the Joffrey Ballet', to their dance backgrounds was discussed.

L-R Jaime, Kara, Amber & Jenny

I was fascinated to hear that Jaime studied Irish step for some years since I love that style, too. Who doesn't remember when the Riverdance phenomenon swept the Nation? Somehow, I hope we get to see that incorporated or blended into one of her performances or on the larger ensemble. Wouldn't that be interesting? Jenny has done a bit of choreographing for ABT II back in NYC and may wish to explore that in her future. When asked about her dream role, she said she enjoys ballets with animals in them, which received a huge laugh from everyone in the room, but what she meant was ballets like Swan Lake or The Firebird. Dylan's mom owns a dance studio in LA so he naturally fell into dance then more specifically ballet under the encouragement of his non-dancer father. He auditioned for the Joffrey one day and was offered a contract right after; to dance as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake is his dream role. Tanner got into ballet after a sports injury [gymnastics] where both his ankles were injured so he used ballet technique to build strength then fell in love with it since it didn't involve being upside down [you had to be there to appreciate that comment]. He, also, has apparently danced as an animal in many roles. We learned that Amber trained in a small studio in South Bend, Indiana then came to audition for the Joffrey one day where she was soon discovered and offered a contract. Amber's dream role would be a work by choreographer, Jiří Kylián; whereas, Kara's would be to have a new work created on her. Yumelia spoke no English when she first immigrated here from Brazil but soon learned that her ballet French would not be enough to get by with so she picked up English in no time at all while living and training with the Milwaukee Ballet; she was the most expressive out of the group and spoke for all as she described her love and passion for dance and life as a dancer. All the dancers expressed their appreciation for how truly demanding their chosen profession is, and how fortunate they were to be hired by a major company. They take nothing for granted and appreciate the tutelage of the more experienced dancers. For now, these young dancers are just happy to be in the Joffrey and be working on their current and upcoming performances like Othello and The Nutcracker. Next 3 lovely new dance portraits were revealed of Dylan, Yumelia, and Miguel Blanco before it was off for cocktails and refreshments in another room.

Another room for hors d'oeuvres

As usual, I attended this event alone b/c my friends are never available for this kinda stuff unless I give them a months notice, it's summertime in Millennium Park or involves Latin/Salsa dance. Where are all the balletomanes in the city? Needless to say, I felt right at home discussing my thoughts and feelings about the Joffrey Ballet and its artists with some of the new artists, older company member, Derrick Agnoletti, and fans over a plate of hors d'oeuvres. How freakin' cool is that! I cannot tell you how lucky I felt to be a part of this evening; however, my thoughts and prayers go out to Mr Miguel Angel Blanco, who could not attend tonight b/c of an injury. May he have a speedy recovery!

This is one of the three studios on level 4 of the Joffrey Tower,
The Gerald Arpino Studio.

Joffrey's Othello [2nd cast] 10/17/09 @730p

2009-10-17T22:20:00.018-05:00

Alright, so I decided to check out the 2nd cast of Othello, which consisted of newbie, Mr Miguel Angel Blanco as Othello, Mr Mauro Villanueva as Iago, Mr Derrick Agnoletti as Cassio, Ms Victoria Jaiani as Desdemona, Ms Suzanne Lopez as Emilia and Ms Anastacia Holden as Bianca plus ensemble. I'll just cut right to the chase. I preferred cast one because of its higher emotional impact on me. Outside of that, I have to accept what I saw. I still am loyal and will continue to support the Joffrey ballet in future endeavors. The stuff below is just all the nitpicking that I did.

Let me relate an incident that happened just a few hours before this Oct 17th performance. I saw one of the final performances of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom " at the famous Court Theater of U of Chicago. The writer's name is August Wilson. The themes dealt with issues and experience of being Black in America during the 1920's. There's a senseless murder at the very end of the play that few of us in the audience saw coming. As a result, I broke into spontaneous tears at the end of the show just after the actors had left the stage. The house was packed and the audience was an even mixture of Whites and Blacks. Many people had spontaneous visceral reactions to the virtuosity of the performers. If you were capable of feeling empathy for the characters then you felt something, but here's a negative review by a blogger. Against my will, I couldn't help the flood of tears b/c of the pain that these characters displayed. I could relate it to my own experiences. You don't need to be Black to relate to the human experience since pain, humiliation and rage is colorless.

When I watch a ballet that has a plot or is based on a famous work of art, especially among someone so prolific as Shakespeare, who based his "Othello" play on another author's work (Giraldo Cintio) because it inspired him, I expect to be moved. I think I just had higher hopes than what these dancers could accomplish on this night. I even felt that the ballet had been miscast. As I saw Thomas Nicholas dancing in the ensemble, I thought his ability to project massive amounts of intensity and passion towards his ballerina would have been perfect for Othello. I thought Mr Agnoletti would have been an ideal Iago. He is a fabulous technical dancer, and as I've said about him in the past, he always dances like tonight's performance might be his last. He lives for the stage, and it shows in his presentation. The Energizer bunny has got nothing on Derrick, whom I thought brought out a personality in Cassio that I'd never seen before. Well, someone needed to bring something to this ballet b/c I didn't feel it from either Mr Blanco or Mr Villanueva. I'm afraid Mauro could not transcend the image of being a cutie-patooty Prince Charming for me. Sure, he handled the modern dance choreography exceptionally well, but if he has an evil bone in his body, I certainly didn't see or feel it. I had a similar problem with Ms Suzanne Lopez as Iago's complicated wife, Emilia. I still remember her as the awesome Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," but she just couldn't convince me that she understood Emilia's situation. Also, there was something not quite right in her chemistry and dancing w/Mauro; the choreography didn't sit as well on Ms Lopez.

Then there was Mr Blanco. I think he did the best that he could to be the stately Othello, but he didn't possess any stage presence for me. The brown oil-based face paint didn't help matters and seemed entirely unnecessary. Again, he handled the choreography okay, but I didn't care that he was Othello. I began to wonder if he'd been cast simply because he has a more muscular build than other dancers with the exception of Fabrice Calmels. Now I love Victoria Jaiani, but I only felt her wonderful presence as the ballet was winding down during her duet with Ms Lopez and her final solo variation- there was beauty in motion there. Where was this Ms Jaiani most of the evening? She and Mr Blanco have not had sufficient enough time (3 months maybe?) to form the intimate chemistry and partnership that I felt was missing. For the first time ever, I saw blunders in some of her duets. When Mr Blanco put her down from a lift, several times it looked like her ankle might have twisted or gave way so she had to coupe out. I'm not blaming anyone but just pointing out when I saw it. She stumbled at least twice on her own, too, which unfortunately can happen to any dancer.

For me, Ms Holden performed as the sexy seductress brilliantly. She transcended her image as the innocent little "Clara" so big KUDOS to her! I also enjoyed seeing, Ms Edwards, Mr Giragosian, Mr Kitten and two newbies, Ms Neumann & Ms Zimmerman as the Venetian dancers; they were delightful. The rest of the ensemble did another kick-ass job with the choreography. However, without the drama, chemistry, passion, and evilness from the central characters, it feels like watching just another modern dance not "Othello." This ballet and its wonderful music deserves much more, but I respect that this is only my opinion and everyone will experience the ballet differently.

Premiere of Joffrey's Othello 10/14/09

2009-10-14T23:01:00.024-05:00

The Joffrey’s Premiere of Othello on Oct 14th was Fantastic! The ballet was conceived and choreographed by Chicago’s own, Mr Lar Lubovitch, whom I think is a genius! The musical score was written by Academy Award winning composer, Elliot Goldenthal. I own the production on DVD as it aired on PBS’s series Great Performances, featuring the incredible Desmond Richardson as Othello (he is poetry in motion as Othello & as a partner), the lovely Yuan Yuan Tan as Desdemona, the fabulous Parrish Maynard as Iago, the amazing Katita Waldo as Emilia, cutie-patooty Gonzalo Garcia as Cassio, and the seductive Lorena Feijoo as Bianca. The Joffrey had its work cut out for them premiering this full-length ballet, but they pulled off another excellent production. As a huge fan of the Joffrey and balletomane, I plan to see it at least once more b/c it's that good. My two friends and several other guests told me they plan on seeing it again, too, which is not the typical reaction I’m used to hearing at these shows. Fabrice Calmels’ appearance as the “beefcake”, I mean, Othello, had everything to do with those female reactions. Can anybody say “Cougars” unite! I already discovered he was a “hottie” and much, much more back in 2006; he’s a fantabulous performer and star as well!

For the Oct 14^th premiere, Othello was played brilliantly by Mr Calmels as was Desdemona by Ms April Daly. This was a wonderful pairing. The thing about Desdemona or April's character is that she has to be totally vulnerable and just surrender herself fully to this man without rushing any of her movement- Othello has to initiate it; April was incredibly vulnerable and lyrical.They made their duets appear effortless and so romantic, which I didn't feel watching the DVD. For me, Mr Calmels managed to make his Othello seem like a lovable brute that couldn’t overcome his Alpha male upbringing even for the lovely Desdemona. Whenever he walked on stage, it looked like nothing I had ever seen him do before; the stage might have shook with each heavy-leaden step he took. He was so animalistic like a panther on the prowl. On the other hand, Mr Calmels managed to appear quite vulnerable and soft at times, too, but only when his fair Desdemona was present. I couldn’t help but to like his character. When Mr Richardson played the role, I didn’t like his Othello's personality as much b/c I couldn’t see why the sweet Desdemona would like such a barbarian; Richardson is phenomenal in sheer movement quality and musicality. However, there were times when Fabrice cradled April to his muscular chest with such tenderness, delicacy and love that he might as well have been holding a precious newborn. He would look at Ms Daly with such longing and tenderness that I could understand what damage and cruelty Iago’s betrayal truly wreaked within him. It was Mr Calmels’ softer side that made it possible for me to like his Othello; he was a man in love yet clearly unaccustomed to feeling vulnerability towards a woman. Both Ms Daly & Mr Calmels handled this modern choreography beautifully. FYI- I don’t care how “hot” a man is—beating up a woman is never sexy nor acceptable, but I understand the emotion of RAGE having once felt it towards my ex-spouse. If a viewer can empathize with the sense of loss of power and underlying rage within Othello, which is really the intense fear of abandonment, then one can understand what Fabrice’s Othello ultimately does.

Othello is about a crime of passion between Iago and Othello that is later acted out between Othello and Desdemona.

One of the things I would have liked to see more of from Matthew Adamczyk’s Iago was passion in his deceptiveness and ultimately cowardice. I felt Mr Adamczyk played it way too safe. He was not strong enough FOR ME in his artistic presentation to compensate for Othello’s reactions. IMHO, Mr Parrish Maynard, outdid himself as Iago, which was my favorite character in the DVD version. This character is more central to understanding "Othello" the ballet than Othello himself. To me, it felt like Mr Adamczyk was more concerned with technique than developing the character. It may be b/c this is the first-time I’ve seen him in what would normally be a “principal” danseur role in companies such as ABT or SFB, which to me means a dancer should have a higher level of confidence, showmanship or acting ability, in other words, virtuosity. Yeah, I know, the critic in me is being nit-picky; however, I make no apologies for having an opinion. I was in the upper box, and I couldn't feel his evilness. Mr Adamczyk danced the role well even down to all the little adjustments made to slicking back his hair and pulling on his shirt-sleeves, but I still expect more from him artistically.

Ms Valerie Robin as Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s handmaiden, Emilia, was portrayed brilliantly. Here we have a ballerina that has danced leading (principal) roles in several productions and her experience and talent shined through as Emilia. Everything she did was believable & felt by me; Ms Robin left no doubt as to her part in bringing down Othello & Desdemona.

Cassio is one of those roles that has not been developed nor given much to do in terms of the plot by the choreographer, Mr Lubovitch, either last night or on DVD. Cassio is nothing more than a scapegoat for Iago as he naively participates in the downfall of Othello. The role is mainly there to fulfill the story line and offer the audience a chance to see some good male dance technique. I was pleased as punch to see Aaron Rogers cast in the role b/c we get to see him doing some nice choreography throughout the ballet. I’ve liked this danseur since seeing him play “Clara’s brother” & the “snow prince” in the Nutcracker 2006; he’s a terrific actor so I’d like to see him cast as Iago just to see what he does with the character.

Ms Allison Walsh did a great job dancing the “Tarantella” as Bianca although I thought her character should have been way more seductive since the dance is known to make people go insane; the music has a climatic buildup leading to that outcome, too. I felt no sensual emotion from her what so ever, but I saw her excellent technique. In this case, I liked Ms Feijoo’s interpretation much better; again, this may be due to her being a more seasoned [principal] danseur. Aside from Ms Walsh, the rest of the ensemble did a fantastic job dancing the Tarantella in the 2^nd Act. I thought their musicality and timing were spot on. This was probably my favorite group dance of the entire ballet, and I liked it better live than on DVD. I also enjoyed John Mark Giragosian as one of the Venetian Dancers; his crisp, sharp technique really stood out and caught my eye.

The musical score by the Chicago Sinfonietta was magnificent, too, and it was so cool to see Scott Speck, the conductor. I actually own one of his books, “Ballet for Dummies,” written jointly with former SFB principal danseur, Evelyn Cisneros. Whether one sees “Othello” for the choreography, the danseurs or the music, just be sure to “witness the passion” before it closes Oct 25^th.

Joshua Bell w/ the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

2009-10-09T15:13:00.010-05:00

I'm a dummy when it comes to classical music, but this Joshua Bell was amazing! I tend to assume one violin phenom is the same as the next, but it all comes down to how moved I am by the piece being performed. Since almost everyone around me was tapping their foot, moving around restlessly in their chair or audibly gasping, including myself, I'm inclined to believe that Mr Bell is an incredible soloist! According to the Chicago Tribune, Mr Bell plays on an $18 million Stradivarius violin called, the 1741 "Vieuxtemps" Guarneri del Jesu. Again, these are just words that mean nothing until you actually hear the instrument being played live. As far as the Max Bruch Violin solo, I only recognized the 3rd movement b/c I'd seen Ashley Tuttle, Ethan Stiefel, other ABT dancers perform choreography for this movement by Clark Tippet that I have on DVD.

The night's program consisted of 4 pieces: 1) Faure's "Pelleas et Melisande" Suite; 2) Bruch's "Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor", Op. 26, featuring Mr Bell; 3) after the intermission, Mr Bell opened with Saint-Saens' "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso"; 4) which was followed by Saint-Saëns' "Symphony No. 3 (Organ)", which featured, Texas-based organist Henry McDowell. The Saint-Saëns' Organ piece was magnificent and made me feel at times like I had died and gone to the celestial gates! It was that moving! Again, the audience grew restless, like they couldn't contain the energy that the piece was producing inside each of us. Now that is how great symphony is done!

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was lead by Yan Pascal Tortelier, guest conductor and last minute replacement for the ill, Roberto Abbado.

Joffrey's Othello Preview 10/8/09

2009-10-08T16:51:00.001-05:00

Incredible Dancer at 2:32- updated 4/28/10

2009-05-26T00:12:00.008-05:00

I watched this fellow, Ricardo Santos of Brazil, repeatedly both with and without the music and found him to be spectacular and so very beautiful! He has completely embodied and interpreted this piece or cor. and music IMO.

Music: not sure. Choreographer John Neumeier

Wow, Ricardo Santos is now in the Joffrey Ballet as of 4/28/2010. I saw him walk on the stage at the end of the show and thought he looked familiar. What a small [dance] world!

Elfman Ballet's Onegin May 2009

2009-05-19T15:59:00.009-05:00

Mr Elfman and his company have received many favorable reviews in the last 2 years. Although, I did find Mr Elfman's choreography [cor.] different and inspiring, I didn't much care for how it was danced during a weekend performance. Each year, I faithfully watch reality dance shows like DWTS, So You Think You Can Dance and the more recent "Superstars of Dance" and "Dance Wars", and I am always perplexed by the fact that most of the classically-trained ballet dancers get voted off rather early. One notable exception being Danny Tidwell on SYTYCD. Maybe it's because the better dancers are currently in or trying to get into a top notch ballet company; who knows? From what I've seen it's because many of them are unable to loosen up enough to make contemporary or modern dance cor. sit well on their body. In other words, most of them look to rigid or awkward doing this type of cor. No matter what style is being performed, it needs to look natural on a dancers' body. In a nutshell, this is the problem I had with The Elfman Ballet. I guess a good analogy would be to think of how most people walk. Most of the time, we only notice a person when their gait or stride appears off or weird like when someone walks with a limp or shuffles their feet instead of smoothly, seamlessly lifting them up. It just doesn't look normal, and we don't have to be a doctor or physical therapist to notice.

With the exception of two dancers, Nina Zmievets & Oleg Markov, who were both in principal roles, I was uninspired by the performance. Ms Zmievets could have been the twin sister in looks and movement of my favorite female ballerina, Victoria Jaiani of the Joffrey Ballet; both dancers move me with their passionate ability to emote.

Joffrey's Winter Program 2009

2009-03-10T00:29:00.010-05:00

It feels like forever since I last saw the company perform. In actuality, it's been since Oct 2008. In the interim, I enjoyed wonderful performances featuring contemporary dance by the River North Dance Company (Feb) and the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (Nov) as well as several plays, operas, and musicals.

I do love me some dance so it was with excitement as well as trepidation that I attended the Joffrey's Sunday (Mar 1st) matinee performance. Trepidation b/c I wasn't sure how I would receive their "Le Sacre Du Printemps [The Rite of Spring]" ballet, which was one of four performed. This ballet has the reputation that it once sent so called civilized audience members into hysteria and outrage causing them to storm the stage and run out of the theater in disgust. Sounds like a typical futbol game in Europe or South America. Fortunately for us, there was a brief video presentation beforehand called "The Golden Age of Art" that explained the history of the iconic ballet's creation in 1913 by Russian choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky. The ballet is part of a larger collection choreographed and performed by the Diaghilev Ballet Russe. Long story short, the Ballet Russe created some cutting-edge choreography during its heyday so its repetoire is historically significant to both contemporary ballet and music. Because the Joffrey possess the greatest number of Diaghilev ballets in the USA, they, too, consider "Le Sacre" to be important.

Historical significance aside, I thought the ballet was just alright; there's nothing in my memory to compare or contrast it with. It was like watching a combination of Japanese Kabuki theater and an Indian Pow wow, except you weren't quite sure what anything meant. The best part about it, honestly, was the amazing music of the same title by Igor Stravinsky. There were considerably more gray-haired senior citizens in the Auditorium's audience than I've ever seen in attendance before. Where I typically see crowds like that are at Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera and HD Met Opera performances as well as at the Goodman Theater. It's also possible that mainly seniors have money for such luxuries as the ballet during this down economic times.

Next, "Kettentanz" by Mr Arpino was performed, which I had seen last summer '08 at Millennium Park. I enjoyed the entire ballet, but my favorite piece featured Ms Emily Patterson doing a solo called, Schnofler Tanz. Ms Patterson was lovely, graceful, beautiful and sensual, like the perfect, unattainable woman. I was captivated by her performance. Much of the cor. is done on the floor and requires the ballerina to be sensual yet elegant. I have seen another ballerina perform this piece before, but Ms Patterson transformed it into something absolutely mesmerizing by placing her own stamp all over the cor.

"Hand of Fate" a duet from "Cotillon" by George Balanchine was performed nicely by Ms Victoria Jaiani and Mr Thomas Nicholas, but I didn't feel any real connection or chemistry between them, but this may have been done intentionally. The dance is supposed to reflect a haunted ballroom, where a young, handsome Cavalier chooses a lovely partner (Ms Jaiani), who ultimately ends up doomed and alone supposedly at the hands of a dark fate.

"Mobile" which I had also seen last summer was well performed by Mr Tian Shuai and two ballerinas (possibly Ms Alexis Polito and Ms Abigail Simon). This is a ballet that the audience eats up b/c it looks like a super feat of strength by the male and amazing flexibility and balance by the 2 ballerinas. I'm sure it's a combination of all 3 by the trio.

All in all, it was a great night of dance and entertainment. Several folks, including 2 of my ballet buddies, who attended the Wed. Premiere, were pissed off that a movie was shown because it extended the length of the entire evening and forced people to either leave early or take a very late train out to the suburbs. I arrived by El train so time wasn't an issue for me, which is why I live in the city.

Familiar Ballet Dancers in "Dirty Dancing" - Chicago, IL

2008-12-08T13:26:00.019-06:00

To my surprise, I discovered what happened to Britta Lazenga, who I only recently noticed had disappeared from the Joffrey Ballet roster. She had moved on to play the role of the hot, leggy, Penny Johnson, in the first U.S. touring production of Dirty Dancing- The Classic Story on Stage as well as the North American premiere in Toronto. The role of Penny was a speaking and dancing one, so it was interesting to hear Britta as well as see her dance. The audience seemed quite taken by her attractiveness and talent; she fit the image of the character. In fact, Josef Brown, the Australian dancer/actor, who played the starring role of Johnny Castle, was an extremely hot looking man with his attractive, lean, chiseled body & face; I kept my binoculars trained on him for that reason even though I had a decent view of him already. He looked like he walked straight off the cover of a romance novel into the show so I could forgive him slipping in and out of his Australian accent. My friend, James, was like do you really need those? Uh, yeah! I needed them to see the hot guy better. They also helped me to spot, Samuel Pergande, another former Joffrey Dancer that I'd met previously but had never actually seen dance. He was enjoyable as were all of the dancers and dance sequences.

This musical was all about the "dirty" dancing and not as much about the singing, which was fine with me. Some of the musical tracks may have been original recordings b/c the movie mainly used popular music and had few original songs. I couldn't tell the difference sometimes between live music and recorded unless the audience was shown the musicians, but everything sounded nice, including featured singer Ben Mingay, who sang the hits "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with Karen Burthwright, "In the Still of the Night" and "She's Like the Wind"; Karen Burthwright and others, also, sang solo as well, but it's not clear which songs since the playbill doesn't specifically list who sang what or what may have been a recording. It didn't really matter anyway.

The performance presented at the Cadillac Palace on Sat. Dec. 6th was overall very enjoyable for the most part but had no surprises for obvious reasons. My friend really enjoyed the scene changes, which for the most part involved a lot of video projection to create much of the background scenery and special effects. There were often multiple levels of staging used to create roads, walkways, or bridges, which often revolved around like a Lazy Susan to simulate movement and/or popped up and down from the floor as the actors moved across the stage throughout the entire performance. I hadn't seen this done before b/c usually scenes change behind a curtain or behind the actors not while their walking across the stage. The actors had to time their movements just so or risk injury. I, also, liked how this giant tree slowly lowered down from stage left and how there was a simulated lake/water scene that had everyone laughing. The production was really quite innovative and creative, and I've been to lots of live theater performances in dance, opera, symphony, plays, Cirque de Soleil and improv. I don't see that many musicals. In the past year, I've seen Wicked, Rent and now Dirty Dancing. Wicked has been my favorite of all musicals so far b/c it was just so well written, staged and performed. In the past 12 years, I've seen Phantom of the Opera (my 2nd favorite), Dream Girls (my 3rd favorite, starring Frenchy, from the very 1st American Idol t.v show), Chicago, Miss Saigon, & Les Miserables.

So I would say check out this production if you wanna see some cool dancing and listen to some popular tunes. You already know the story line from beginning to end including the famous statement, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner". Just be prepared for some folks in the audience to get ahead of themselves by clapping or screaming before all of those special moments occur. Also, actress Amanda Leigh Cobb gave a very credible and winsome performance as Francis "Baby" Houseman.

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company: 11/22/08

2008-11-23T00:15:00.028-06:00

Dvorak Serenade

This performance was a brilliant example of virtue and virtuosity in modern dance at it's finest, IMHO! I was spellbound and wanted more, more, more. It's got to be rare to enjoy every single movement and every single dancer and not have one even slightly negative thing to say about anything that I saw or heard in a single night of dance; it was perfection. I mean, no one and nothing had a weakness. Sometimes, I just don't appreciate the cor., the music, the costumes or something like the venue itself. Sometimes, I feel like a dancer makes it [the cor.] look like work b/c I can see the effort behind the movement, or the movement looks odd on a certain body type, or a dancer is unable to move between shades of lightness/lyricism and darkness, or their line doesn't continue all the way through, which was not the case with this ensemble. Lest I sound like a complete and total, prejudiced, nit-picking ass, I'm just saying that in my heart and soul, this was one of the finest examples of modern dance to date that satisfied whatever it is inside of me that responded to whatever it was that was done at that performance; they possessed a level of refinement that is not always found in every performance.

One thing that struck a chord within me was the cor. in Men's Stories. It was beautiful and flowing like water with lots of circular movement being used to create the story. I'm saying that they literally and figuratively danced circles around each other or with each other throughout the entire piece versus the typical linear style of cor. Twyla Tharp has some cor. like that in parts of Duece Coupe but not as much as in this piece. The men kept creating these beautiful, repeating circles and shapes with their port des bras. I can't stop typing the word circle.

What was unique about the cor. was that it was designed so that the movement from one dancer or groups of dancers to the next were contiguous. If one group or individual started a circle or other pattern with their arms, the next performer continued that shape or movement as their arms would duplicate or replicate that shape directly in front of or behind that dancer. It was fascinating to discover where this would occur and how many different dancers were going to continue the pattern before the cor. changed into something else. The point of all this seemed to be to show a connection between everything and everyone in the dance from past, present to future. It also made me think that Lar's is a genius choreographer.

Men's Stories [male cast only] was probably 45+ minutes in length and after a while started to put me in a trance. It felt like I was being hypnotized by all of the gentle, swaying and circular arm movements and the dancer's hands. I believe the dancers were grouped together based on size, shape or length of their limbs, which had to have been wisely considered to create a look of symmetry. When these dancers purposely duplicated each other's movements, they were incredibly in sync and aligned, which was integral to the cor.

I haven't seen American Ballet Theater dance any contemporary or modern work as a company b/c they always present the classical ballets when in Chicago so I can't judge them; however, I have seen the San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Complexions, Alvin Ailey, several lesser known troupes, and the Martha Graham Dance Co. (aka mother of modern dance) perform modern dance in the last 13 months. Out of those performances, tonight's favorable critique is the result of a high degree of seemingly effortless technique combined with great artistry, musicality and kick-ass choreography, which put Lar Lubovitch's work and company at the top of my list. Clearly, emotions are transient, and I will continue to be blown away by various artists and/or performances in the future. It's never all black and white; there are shades of gray. But I'm gonna savor and store the memories of this night for awhile. After all, I couldn't have experiences like this if I hadn't seen every one of those previous company's performances.

I felt all of the cor. that night had a similar theme of being contiguous, harmonious, lyrical and flowing. Often times, I hear people complaining about how choreography is stolen from some other work, and I don't know if Mr Lubovitch did that, but what I saw was a fantastic revelation of artistry and symmetry. Hat's off to Lars Lubovitch and his wonderfully, talented company dancers: Jonathan E. Alsberry, Mucuy Bolles, Atilla J. Csiki, Kurt Douglas, Jay Franke, Susana Garcia, Charlaine M. Katsuyoshi, Brian McGinnis, Scott Rink, Kevin Scarpin, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, George Smallwood, Christopher Vo, & Katherine Wells.

Info below taken from Harris Theater Website:

One of America’s most acclaimed choreographers and Chicago native Lar Lubovitch returns home with his company's 40th Anniversary Tour. The Harris Theater will present Men’s Stories, Lubovitch’s powerful exploration of masculinity, biography and character, selected as a winner of a 2008 touring award by the National Dance Project. Lubovitch has described the work as “a dance that opens up, like a book, to reveal the story of the men inside the dance.” "...and Dvorak Serenade, a 2007 work praised by the Financial Times at its world premiere as “…one of Lubovitch’s big, sweeping ensemble works, the sort he does best.”

Info taken from here:

Lubovitch's "Jangle" has been receiving premiere performances on tour preceding the company's engagement this week at New York's City Center. In stark contrast to the white costumes and Classicism of the Mozart piece, "Jangle" - subtitled Four Hungarian Dances - finds company members dressed in casual street attire and responding to folk-tinged pieces by Bartok (Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2 for Violin and Piano).

The activity travels from communal earthiness - twirling figures and upheld arms not far from the world of "Fiddler on the Roof" - to muscular solos and a duet of unconventional lifts and turns. In the finale, the company performs beckoning gestures and wild flights, with the piece's nimble soloist, Jonathan E. Alsberry, landing in front at the curtain.

Jangle (2008): Four Hungarian Dances
Choreography: Lar Lubovitch

Men’s Stories (2000): A Concerto in Ruins
Choreography: Lar Lubovitch

Dvorák Serenade (2007)
Choreography: Lar Lubovitch

Joffrey Ballet @ Millennium Park 2008: A 9/11 Tribute

2008-09-12T13:08:00.025-05:00

"Trinity" 9/11/08

(image obtained from Sun Times News Group website)

It seems I haven't quite run out of explicatives to describe the feelings of witnessing this company perform. Despite the haunting reminder of 9/11, the crowd was in good spirits as should be. All in attendance were no doubt thankful to be alive and to be attending such a wonderful night of dance on a cool, cloudy, slightly humid day in Chicago. My friend and I discussed that we had not cried this day about the victims of 9/11. What I discovered about myself after that event was that one can never take life for granted; I started living my life more fully as a result. No terrorist act was going to erase the fact that I live in one of the greatest countries in the world to be a Black woman in this millennium. It [USA] is by no means perfect, but name a country that is, yet I am grateful to be alive! I live on triumphantly b/c it is my God given right and responsibility to do so; therefore, the victim's of 9/11 did not die in vane!

The night began with Kettentanz, cor. by G. Arpino, music by Johann Strauss, Sr & Johann Mayer. The program stated this was Mr Arpino's salute to the Old Vienna balls and wein-gartens as depicted by polkas, gallops, and waltzes after a visit Vienna in 1969. I enjoyed this piece very much feat. Heather A., Derrick A., Jennifer G., Suzanne L., Kathleen T., Allison W., Jonathan D., John G., Calvin K., Temur S., and Mauro V. Mauro & Calvin and Heather & Suzanne performed duets, respectively, where their musicality, technique and timing (synchronicity) was superb and amazing. Kathleen performed a very nice solo of which a portion required her to do some floorwork. I was surprised by some of the positions she got into and out of while being on the floor; I hadn't seen anything quite like it before in ballet. The Gitana Gallop with the entire cast is just a really fun routine, where they are lined up with linked arms in boy girl fashion doing lots of what I call bouncing-at-the-knee-steps (kinda like the hopscotch only more graceful, elegant & difficult) with tons of joy and synchronicity. It was very nicely done and showcased what I refer to as the "cutie-patooty" expression, where everyone just looks happy; I think the Joffrey calls it "za za".

Since I didn't fully read the program, I was surprised to find myself watching students from the Exelon Strobel Step-Up Program dancing cor. by Joffrey's own, Michael Smith. The ballet called Happy Endings, named after the song by Mika, was quite uplifting and memorable and is . . . about love, loss, and finding the strength to carry on. We really liked how the piece ended with this powerful hand & arm movement started by 1st one dancer then followed by the ensemble.
The students did a very nice job.

My favorite Gerald Arpino ballet of the night, feat. the virtuoso artistry and partnership of Victoria Jaiani and Fabrice Calmels, was Round of Angels with music by Gustav Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. The ballet was exquisite! This couple together is always fantabulous!! The supporting cast of Matthew Adamczyk, Jonathan Dummar, Brian McSween, Tian Shuai, & Michael Smith was excellent and amazing as well. This group performed together like a well oiled machine. I'm always up for a beautiful, emotion filled ballet with fluid movement and otherworldly-like quality. The program states that the ballet was partially inspired by an etching, found by Mr. Arpino in a flea market, entitled Ronde d'Anges by Cavaliere d'Arpino, which is about a couple destined to part, surrounded by 5 broken-winged male angels. The musical score alone is heavenly by itself- click here to listen it.

[Round of Angels exploited... feminine suppleness to an extraordinary degree as the dancer emerges from behind her partner and five supporting angel figures to be lifted, lowered, circled and swirled like wispy clouds blown by winds or waves swelling in the ocean against a starry-studded scrim and darkened lighting design. The five angels circle the couple when she is raised or lie on one side, one arm stretched like a wing...] -a review by Ballet Magazine, May 2005.

[The mixture of modern-dance floorwork and streamlined balletic line is used very sophisticatedly. The male angels collapse in pretzel shapes and curtsies on the ground, they help [male partner] hold [female partner] head-down in a split on his back and they rush to recline in a corner, packed tightly like sardines. The rest flows just as swimmingly] -a review by New York Times, Jan 1983.

After the intermission, we were presented with four works by Lar Lubovitch from ". . .smile with my heart" with music by Marvin Laird's "Fantasie on Themes by Richard Rodgers." This ballet feat. the only live music of the night with a pianist and cellist, whose names I didn't catch. I took pleasure from all of the pieces that incl. 1) Do I hear a Waltz? and It Might As Well Be Spring feat. Matthew A., April D., John G., Suzanne L., Thomas N., & Allison W.; 2) The Sweetest Sounds- a very nice duet by John & Allison; 3) I Didn't Know What Time It Was and Where Or When- also well done by Matthew & Suzanne ; and lastly 4) My Funny Valentine w/Thomas & April.

I had already warmed up to My Funny Valentine over the course of time, but now I can finally say the same about dancer Thomas Nicholas, who performed the duet quite nicely along with April. In the past, I had never felt much emotion radiating from Mr Nicholas despite his reliability as a partner. All that started to change after the arrival of Mr Wheater and during the Tudor Centennial, where Mr Nicholas performed the role of the artist in “Offenbach in the Underworld”. Last night, I felt his character was contemplative, somewhat distant but intense, and very much aware of and focused on his partner at all times. Truthfully, it was his level of intensity that I found appealing, attractive, and very sensual, which when combined with his dark looks and sweaty appearance worked. April was, also, able to convey emotion through body movement as well as facial expression very clearly.

The next ballet was Mobile, with cor. by Tomm Ruud and music by Mr Khachaturian's Gayne Ballet Suite, Adagio. This is the 2nd ballet this year feat. Michael Smith performing a balancing act and feat of strength as part of a trio. The man balances 2 women, Elizabeth H. and Erin M. in slowly evolving positions much like a child's mobile. Think a Cirque de Soleil-like show of strength that occurs slowly and fluidly as the trio rotates around. It was very nicely done, and the audience got quite a big kick out of it.

Lacrymosa, feat. Matthew A., was a short, intense, one man solo that's cor. is by former Joffrey dancer, Edward Stierle, with music by Mozart of the same title, which my friend absolutely loved. I loved Matthew in the role b/c it showed off his athleticism with huge, flying split leaps and spins, his musicality, and some of his contortionist-like flexibility in neck-stands and straddle splits (ouch) on the floor. An amazing piece of cor. if a dancer is capable of executing it.

Finally, the night ended with my 2nd favorite ballet of the evening, Trinity, w/amazing cor., not surprisingly, by Mr Arpino and music by Alan Raph and Lee Holdridge. The piece was created while the Joffrey was in Berkeley, CA during the Vietnam War and represents a time when America's youth was uniting through protests and celebrating a new sense of freedom and exhilaration. Trinity is a joyful tribute to youth, their passions and their rituals. The ballet begins with one dancer, Calvin K., strutting out to shake his groove thing, something that he does quite well, before the others follow with groovy dances of their own: Michael S., Patrick S., Derrick A., Anastacia H. & Mauro V. For the most part, this ballet feat. members of the larger Joffrey ensemble plus some promising new faces like Erin McAfee & Caitlin Meghan (both formerly JB apprentices) and newbies Raul Casasola, Brian Gephart, & Graham Maverick. Other members that were not on stage previously were John Mark G., David G., William H., Stacy Joy K., Emily P., Alexis P., Megan Q., Christine R., & Abigail S. The ballet is one big peace, loving dance fest, and the Joffrey always excels at creating a joyful mood for the audience at large.

After the last dancer exited the stage and candles remained flickering on stage in their stead, we took a collective moment of silence in remembrance of 9/11. Then a final curtain call was taken and a glorious night of dance ended.....until next time.

click here to read a recent review of this show by Hedy Weiss.

Chicago Dancing Fest 2008: A free 3-day event

2008-08-20T23:49:00.026-05:00

Photo courtesy of the Joffrey Ballet/Millennium Park

It's been a while since I've written that the Joffrey Ballet is awesome!! I've been telling folks this ever since I first saw them back in Oct 2006, and they just keep getting better and better. Last season's 2007-2008 program of Giselle, the Tudor Centennial, and the American Moderns has brought the best out of every single company member. It could be that Ashley Wheater is one of the best things to have recently returned to Chicago and to the Joffrey, but I am concerned about there becoming a potential lack of older dancers (30+) within the company. So far things seem okay.

On another note, there were a few dancers whose contracts weren't renewed with the company. Without knowing any actual details about the matter, I can't comment, but I will say that I found out by surprise just before heading to my seat to view the American Moderns (AM) production this past May. I came upon dancer, Michael Levine, standing out in the lobby with at least 3 photo books that he'd created spread out across several tables before him. He explained why he was there, and I could feel his sadness. After I'd written in one of the books, my spirits were dampened, too. I could empathize with him at his personal loss and possible grief. Anyway, that news put a bit of a damper on the program so I was grateful this week when the Joffrey performed parts of 2 out of 3 pieces from AM (Cloven Kingdom & Waterbaby Bagatelles) during the CDF '08. I was able to view them with a whole new attitude.

Day 1 (8/18) of the CDF '08 took place at the Harris Theater and featured 20th century masters of choreography (cor.). The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performed first, and they were excellent. I was familiar with Lubovitch but not his company, which performed Concerto Six Twenty-Two. In this short Youtube clip, it's the 1st & last cor. danced in all white that is a tiny bit remininscent of the JB's Sometimes it Snow in April ballet. The piece was very long (I was told 45min) but well choreographed, staged, and timed. It did bring back haunting memories from last year's "Dear Fredric," an excruciatingly long piece by the Complexion Ballet. Fortunately, in this Lubovitch piece, the musical choice matched the cor.; it was a light, lyrical, flowing piece for the entire ensemble that featured an allegro, adagio, rondo section plus several solos. I enjoyed the male pas de deux feat. Griff Braun & Jay Franke as well as Jonathan Alsberry b/c he was just awesome and athletic and Brian McGinnis, who looks a lot like the popular, bald, American actor, Stanley Tucci.

The Jose Limon Company danced a court dance called The Moor's Pavane that was awesome as it was based on themes from Othello. The dancers were Francisco Ruvalcaba (The Moor/Othello-like), Jonathan Fredrickson (awesome as His Friend/Iago-like), Kathryn Alter (Friend's wife), and Roxane D'Orleans Juste (awesome as Moor's wife).

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet danced a Balanchine piece entitled Tzigane (music by Ravel), which I just didn't appreciate since IMO the costumes were a terrible brown color and the music not helping the mediocre cor. at all. Most of the people I was with didn't like this one either, but it wasn't the dancers fault, who danced it respectably. It does make me wonder what was going through the mind of the Artistic Director when the piece was chosen for Chicago. It's like, you couldn't choose a happier or more lively production instead of this dark, intense piece. We don't see a lot of Balanchine in Chicago except from Ballet Chicago.

The Martha Graham Dance Company feat. Miki Orihara (a Winger blogger), Tadej Brdnik, Jennifer DePalo and Katherine Crockett performed Cave of the Heart respectably. B/c I found the piece boring, I fell asleep. I swear I tried to appreciate it, but the music by Samuel Barber was too intense for me so I tuned it out. The audience practically went mad when the piece ended; numerous standing ovations were given so clearly I was in the minority in my opinion. With no disrespect to Ms Graham as the so called "mother" of modern dance, the piece was not interesting to me since there was not enough actual dancing. I felt like my 10 y.o. cousin could have danced that ballet. It seemed to be mostly standing, laying around, or staring out into the audience, but, perhaps, someone who had bothered to stay awake the entire time might provide a better critique than I :D

The Oregon Ballet Theater performed, Rubies, a short pas de deux from Balanchine's full length Jewel's. The dancers were Yuka Iona & Ronnie Underwood and both were very enjoyable.

The evening ended with the Joffrey's Cloven Kingdom, cor. by Paul Taylor music by A. Corelli, Henry Cowell and Malloy Miller. The piece was well performed by the ensemble as it showcased their sense of humor, athleticism, artistry and musicality. The plot is basically about the dichotomy btw our civilized human nature and the beast that lies within us all. The ballet feat. the cast dressed for an evening of black ties w/tail and cocktail dresses which gets interrupted by outbursts of animalistic behavior among the guests. Out of nowhere come these women wearing shiny metal-looking objects on their heads, which I guess is meant to alter the dynamics of propriety throughout the piece. It's quirky, but well done IMO. They were awesome, and I could appreciate this piece much better the 2nd time. However, I thought the entire night of dancing belonged to the ladies of the Joffrey, who stole the whole show for me for all of the afore mentioned reasons, which included Valerie Robin, Suzanne Lopez, Erica Lynette Edwards, Elisabeth Hanson, Jennifer Goodman, Anastacia Holden, Emily Patterson and Allison Walsh.

Day 2 (8/19) took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art and feat. artistic director discussions, video graphics, and live demonstrations by both the Jose Limon & Martha Graham Companies. I did not attend b/c the website stated the event was sold out, but I later found out that only like 1/2 the guests bothered to show up to this very informative event. Pity b/c I would have gone. Point of fact, the show on 8/18 was, also, reportedly sold out, but if one didn't mind waiting standby a bit, one could have gotten a seat about 10 min prior to the show starting. The CDF needs to make that important fact known for the future.

Photo courtesy of the Joffrey Ballet/Millennium Park

Day 3 (8/20) culminated at Millennium Park with more guest companies.
Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago kicked off the show. I feel all the pride and joy that's connected to my African roots when this company performs. They were fantastic plus had live music- drumming and singing.

The Lar Lubovitch DC repeated their 8/18 performance, and I enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time around.

Ballet Tech Kids Dance performed a very sprite and youthful number called A Stair Dance, which is exactly where the action took place. I was tired just looking at them; but, hey, you can do that kinda stuff (going up & down stairs like a cajillion times) when you're under 15 y.o.

Again, the Joffrey Ballet brought their A game. I have never seen this company look better. Allison Walsh and Mauro Villaneuva have just been killin' it for the past year in solos; both have matured tremendously in their artistry. More than that, I think more dancers are now being featured so that we can appreciate all members of the company better. Everyone needs their chance in the limelight to sparkle sorta speak. And, where did this new guy, John Mark Giragosian, come from? He looks as young as some of those Chinese female gymnasts in Beijing and just like them, he, too, is clearly talented and kicking butt. He's already a featured dancer. Wow!!! My faves and company staples, Derrick Agnoletti and John Gluckman, also lit it up. Is it just me or does Derrick seem like he's going for that miniature bronze adonis look? He is quite possibly the tannest person in Chicago:D To view a clip of the JB performing an excerpt of Waterbaby Bagatelles by Twyla Tharp, click here; essentially, it's the same dancers but from an earlier gig.

American Ballet Theater brought back soloists, Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews, to perform the "Black Swan Pas de Deux" from the ballet Swan Lake. I was impressed with these two dancers. Yuriko pulled off 27 fouettes and Jared had no problems with his pirouettes a la seconde; aside from a minor slip or two from Yuriko, the piece went well for both. They have nice stage presence, and the crowd was really pumped-up like it was the Super Bowl or something with 2 standing ovations.

Battleworks Dance Company saw dancer, Kanji Segawa, perform, Takademe, a fun piece of cor. by Robert Battle. It required great musicality, stage presence, and stamina, which this guy had from start to finish.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performed a cool piece called, Pasomezzo, by dancers, Robyn Mineko Williams and Terence Marling with cor. by Ohad Naharin. [It] depicts the intimate dialogue between a man and a woman – the nature of relationships at their most raw and most tender. Naharin’s partnering mingles vulnerability with conflict, articulating a touching, true-to-life exchange. I feel like I've seen this piece before but probably didn't appreciate it. Tonight it was excellent and performed well. It had just enough quirkiness and unpredictibility to keep me guessing and thoroughly entertained. Click the highlighted link above for a video clip.

The Evidence, A Dance Company performed Upside Down from the evening length work Destiny by the ensemble cast, however, no names were listed. I thought this company was amazing and reminded me of Alvin Ailey when they performed Love Stories, which nicely combined African stylized dance with contemporary or modern movement. The cor. was by Ronald K. Brown, who is also the Founder and Artistic Director. It was the kind of performance that makes me want to get up and start dancing in the isles or find a local studio to take up African dance. This company featured live music (drums) and singing, too.

So that caps off 3 days of exciting and free dance in the fabulous city of Chicago.

For a list of all the dancers who performed, visit the CDF '08 website
The Joffrey has their own blog, the J pointe, where you can find good things like photos and video clips so check it out.

ABT's Sleeping Beauty- Chicago Apr 12 & 13, 2008

2008-04-13T21:49:00.018-05:00

Ms Part & Mr Gomes (SB 2007)

So today concluded the last of 4 viewings of ABT's Sleeping Beauty. Normally, I hate to admit to enjoying frou frou, pretty ballets, where the corps does lots of pointe work wearing frilly tutus on elaborate sets. It just seems too cliche or like I'm being forced into someone's idea of a fairy tale. Wait a minute! Sleeping Beauty is a fairy tale, and I'll be damned if I didn't fall for it hook, line and sinker. But I really did enjoy each "SB" performance, tutus and all.

The interesting thing about ABT's SB is that it got better and better looking the further away from the stage I sat. For today's Sunday matinee, I was sitting in the nosebleed section (6th Fl.) with my friend and (2) twelve-year-olds. We had an amazing time, and, yes, I had my binoculars. The staging for this ballet was especially pretty to see from so high up that I began to see things that I'd missed sitting on the main floor and in dress circle. There's the requisite Village dance sequence in Act I, where the dancers line up and follow each other under and through a hand-held floral lattice of sorts. Of course it was cheesy, but it still looked nice. Suffice it to say, I can be had by gloriously vivid costumes w/itty bitty wings, good choreography, fairies, fancy set decorations, nice music, and, of course, men in tights. There are pretty much 4 adjectives that describe this ballet: light, colorful, rich & sparkly.

The dancing throughout SB was nice. Sure, I have my favorites that just really stood out for one reason or another,but all of the artists were entertaining, which is what is most important. What I think really only matters to me b/c it's based on my personal needs and wants. That being said, Veronika Part was really wonderful as The Lilac Fairy. She wasn't always as light on her feet or soft in her landings as say Ms Maria Riccetto was, but Ms Part had a distinguished presence and confidence that explained everything clearly and that she would set things to right eventually. When Ms Riccetto danced that role, I had trouble feeling or connecting to her character. It was like, "Who is she?" or "What?" Unfortunately, Ms Riccetto had the same effect of invisibility for me in both of her Princess Florine performances with Mr Radetsky & Mr Hoven. There was nothing wrong with her dancing, she's lyrical but lacked a strong enough stage presence for those two roles.

Hee Seo as The Fairy of Sincerity

The other Fairies and Lilac Fairy attendants were danced equally well by members of the corps and soloists for all 4 shows. However, Ms Zhong-Jing Fang's emotional portrayal and musicality really captured my attention as The Fairy of Joy. I liked Ms Misty Copeland's Fairy of Valor; she has a different and stronger physical appearance than most classically trained ballerinas. Quite frankly, Ms Copeland brings a nice dimension to her roles and to ballet in general that I feel is mostly lacking overall. My favorite grouping of the five main Fairies was Ms Seo (Sincerity), Ms Fang, Ms Copeland, Ms Yuriko Kajiya (Fervor), and Ms Melissa Thomas (Charity). The synchronicity between the much larger pool of artists performing as The Lilac Fairy Attendants was oftentimes missing. The cor. was still beautifully danced but lacked that overall precision that I've seen danced by the Kirov Ballet's corps in Swan Lake back in Nov 2006, which was freakishly in sync and perfect.

The men of the corps and soloists helped keep this production from turning into a pool of estrogen. May I just say that Mr Cory Stearns is just too cute for words even though he did jump the gun or added in some extra steps on a couple of different occasions. I'm assuming they were "extra" b/c none of the others did them. Mr Blaine Hoven was all over this ballet as one of The Fairy Knights, The Russian Prince, The Prince's Friends, and The Bluebird. He is a very nice dancer and had good chemistry with the Princesses. It was very easy to believe he was in love with each of the Princess Auroras or would lay down his life is he had to. I am always impressed by the high quality and caliber of ABT's male corps de ballet mbrs & soloists: Mr Radetsky, Mr Salstein, Mr Matthews, Mr Lopez, Mr Hoven, Mr Hammoudi, Mr Stearns, Mr Tamm, Mr Easter, Mr Forster, Mr Mantei, Mr Piris-Nino, Mr Ogle, Mr Phillips, Mr Scott, Mr Davis, Mr Delong, Mr Ribagorda and Mr Stewart. These guys all danced as Fairy Knights and/or Prince's Friends and they were very elegant and mostly in sync with one another. It helped that the cor. was good if not too brief for my tastes. They should have been given more cor. to dance IMHO.

I saw 4 different couples perform The Princess Florine and The Bluebird Pdd, but the couple that really thrilled me was Ms Kristi Boone and Mr Carlos Lopez. They were the only couple that I felt had all 3 things: chemistry, artistry and technique. Ms Boone has a very beautiful line and presence while Mr Lopez practically floated, light as a feather as The Bluebird. He was extremely lyrical and the couple very much in sync. I just thought they were really beautiful together, and I wanted to see them again. Jared Matthews, though not quite as lyrical, did a very nice interpretation of The Bluebird. Mr Hoven appeared uncharacteristically uncomfortable in the role. It appeared that he may have struggled a bit controlling some of the jumps and landings b/c at one point I thought he was gonna fly into the orchestra pit. He didn't, but I wish I could have seen him perform the role a 2nd time.

As for the principal roles, I was a little disappointed that Ms Gillian Murphy and Mr Ethan Stiefel did not make the Saturday matinee as scheduled. I've never seen Mr Stiefel perform live, and he indirectly started me on all this ABT nonsense to begin with in the movie "Center Stage". However, Ms Paloma Herrera and Mr Angel Corella did not disappoint at Sunday's matinee. Both are wonderful artists and excellent technicians so there was no muss or fuss with any of the cor.; they eat that stuff for breakfast. All of the principals were a delight, but, man oh man, Ms Kent and Mr Gomes blew me away! So touching; so emotional. That is a couple to see if ever one has the chance.

I was reading a couple of reviews for Opening night and it's interesting to note how the mistakes I noticed were not the ones that were pointed out by the critics (review 1 and 2). Also, there's nothing actually wrong with a Broadway or a Vegas-like feel to a set as long as the costumes are made of good quality material and design. It's why that sort of stuff draws people to those venues or to ballet in the first place. People, esp. women, like vivid imagery. I don't know if any of these critics saw The State Ballet of Georgia perform Don Quixote feat. Nina Ananiashvili, as Kitri, back in March 2008, but that set definitely had a cheesy, low budget feel to it. Despite that, the dancing was nice (see review). One final criticism to mention was that Artistic Director, Mr McKenzie chose to cut out the lengthier versions of the Little Red Riding Hood & Big Bad Wolf Pdd as well as the popular Puss in Boots & the White Cat Pdd (see it here) b/c the musical score alone is famous, esp. to anyone who has seen this ballet or the movie Center Stage before; but, whatever, right? The ballet is definitely worth seeing if you like pretty and frou frou!!

I bid farewell to ABT and its vast array of talented artists. May we meet again in the future!

ABT's Sleeping Beauty- Chicago Apr 9th & 11th 2008

2008-04-12T09:46:00.020-05:00

Ms Kent & Mr Gomes- Tudor Leaves are Fading

So last night I saw the 2nd of 4 shows I'm scheduled to see. If you are not a balletomane or someone that lives in NYC and sees ABT regularly then you will not understand the whys and wherefores. However, if you are a sports fan and have season tickets to watch the same team play again and again then you should know that ballet is no different. I go to the different shows to see different company members dance the principal roles. Even if I lived in NYC, where ABT resides, I'd still have to go to a lot of different shows just to see the various artists perform. It's a large company with a lot of principals and soloists, and they don't all perform on the same night.

Julie Kent is amazing and so much fun to watch! She danced the lead role of Princess Aurora along with principal, Marcelo Gomes last night. Together they were fantastic, and I feel so lucky to have been able to see them live! This year, unlike last year, I came prepared with mini binoculars just so I could see the expression and emotions cross Julie's face. Watching Ms. Kent perform without being able to see her facial expressions is like going all the way to Paris to see the Mona Lisa only to find that her face had been spray painted over. Yes, you'd be seeing the Mona Lisa, but you would not be seeing her as she was meant to be viewed.

Now, I'm fairly certain that Ms Kent is a fantastic technical dancer because she is a principal, but what makes her artistry special in my mind is how vulnerable and emotionally honest she appears in her characters. I fell in love with her acting in the movie "Center Stage" (BTW, if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone mention that movie while at the theater both nights, I could have bought front row seats). Last night Ms Kent was radiant, and I was not disappointed. There were several times where she clearly struggled to maintain her balance en pointe, particularly, during the famous "rose adagio", and it showed on her face. She literally fought to hold on.

Imagine trying to keep your balance while en pointe doing an Arabesque en attitude epaulee derriere. You've got one arm up in a fixed third position and with your opposite arm, you will need to keep your balance and body position in between placing your hand in one of four different gentlemen suitors as each approaches then turns you in a circle. This sounds simple enough, but it's difficult to execute because each time she switched male partners and/or was turned by them, it threw her balance off then she still had to raise that arm up into 3rd position briefly before grabbing the guys hand again. I personally felt that she should just skip trying to raise her balancing arm overhead, but I guess she felt she had to stick with the choreography. It was a bit painful (in sympathy) to watch because her balancing arm was rushed and shaky. Her body alignment remained unaffected though. You could actually see her mouth and face go "grrrhhh" as she fought for it. As I was watching her struggle, I held my breath and made little oohing sounds as I mentally gave her my support. The fact that she struggled, and let it show on her face made me love her artistry that much more. Everyone struggles in life, but we don't necessarily do it in front of an audience, our peers, or with an orchestra accompanying us. Julie Kent showed us "live" what perseverance looks like both emotionally and physically. I completely empathized with her. It was so sweet to see her and her male partners silently communicate with one another during the battle to keep her balanced; she even smiled at them like, "Yup, I'm struggling here, and your support is much appreciated!" I don't know; it had a touchingly, beautiful authenticity.

Marcelo Gomes was spectacular! His artistry, his technique, and his emotions were amazing to finally get to see live. I know someone, who practically thinks the sun rises and sets on him, and I can understand why she feels that way! He has a wonderful quality of presence or being in the moment about him that shines through whether it's a live performance or on DVD. He just owns the character. Oh yeah, he rocks that Latin machismo thing, too! He and Julie together were so effortless and emotionally and technically in sync with each other that I knew I was seeing something amazing! I am so glad that I saw that show!!

On Wednesday's opening night, I saw Xiomara Reyes as Pr. Aurora and Jose Manuel Carreno as Pr. Desire. They were wonderful together as well. Ms Reyes is a wonderful technician; there were absolutely no signs of struggle going on. Artistically, she dances with child-like wonder and abandon or like anything is possible if you can dream it. She's dances with lightness and a free-spirit. This was my first time seeing Mr Carreno live, and he, too, was definitely worth seeing. This wasn't the best technical performance of his that I've seen, but is was emotionally and artistically satisfying for me. Mr Carreno embodies the words cutey-patootie, and he exudes what appears to be a very pure spirit. I've seen him dance and in interviews before, and it feels like he is a real life Prince Charming and that everyone will be safe, in good spirits, and protected as long as he's around. In the psychiatric world, this would be called a transference issue, but in ballet the viewer is entitled to interpret the characters in anyway that provides personal meaning.

The rest of the ensemble was nice to see, but I'll discuss them in a later post. In particular, Sascha Radetsky as The Bluebird was a delight to see. He dances with such power and prowess in everything that I've seen him in. He dances like there's no tomorrow. When I compare Mr Radetsky to other's who've danced the same role, his moves are always bigger, faster, higher, have more rotations, more beatings, and more drama. The only other dancer I've seen like that is Derrick Agnoletti of the Joffrey Ballet. In other words, these dancers are technical standouts, and you'd like to see them in a principal role to see if their artistry can match.

Late entry dated Apr 14th: Here's what Principals, Ms Kent & Ms Murphy, & Artistic Director, Mr McKenzie, had to say beforehand about their upcoming Chicago Sleeping Beauty- revised version. I didn't know what the rose adagio was until I saw it on Wednesday's opening night.

Joffrey's "Cinderella"- An Old Oct 2006 Review

2008-04-03T20:37:00.005-05:00

Joffrey Ballet's "Cinderella" Oct 4th-15th Chicago, IL
October 08, 2006, 09:45:14 PM [Originally posted on The Winger Msg Board]
http://thewinger.com/mboard/index.php?topic=186.msg458#msg458
This was the 1st live ballet review I had ever written. I was already in love with the male stars of ABT so my opinions were definitely biased towards ABT. I've since changed my views.

Hello,I just have to share my experience of Sir Ashton’s “Cinderella” with the Joffrey Ballet at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. The program was touted as the first American performance by this particular choreographer. Keep in mind, I have not seen a live classical ballet performance in more than 2-3 years nor since I saw “Center Stage” and learned about the existence of NYCB and ABT. In a word for me, the ballet overall was ‘exquisite’. I had no idea how much fun a performance could be until I really opened myself up to it. Because I cannot recall having been to more than 6 different auditoriums, I was taken aback by the fact that my chair was free standing, plush, high-backed and facing perpendicular to the stage, which was awkward, because everyone had to move and shuffle chairs so everyone could squeeze into the entrance and see the stage. My box seat was upper tier and cost $25.00 (plus an add’l $11.00 via Ticket masters). Also, one wrong move forward and one would plummet over the dangerously low-walled balcony. Part of the experience was meeting and exchanging commentary with my fellow box seat members before and during the 2 intermissions. They consisted of a former ballet dancer, Mr Douglas Henshaw, who is now 71 years old, two transgendered females (they were pretty quiet), and an odd, but sweet, talkative couple. From a personal and medical point of view, I could not have been seated with a better bunch of individuals because of the stimuli. Overall, the theatre is beautiful, and I am told has the best acoustics in the USA. I could see everyone onstage and everyone in the orchestra pit.

As far as I know, there are no current superstars in this company, which prides itself on being an ensemble cast with equal opportunity for starring roles. I had never heard of any of the dancers prior to attending, but had read some mediocre to mixed reviews about the company’s performance last season. Like I cared, it was live ballet. Cinderella was danced by Victoria Jaiani, who was fabulous. The Prince was danced by Mauro Villanueva, who got off to an awkward start but thoroughly won my support. The fairy Godmother was danced beautifully by Suzanne Lopez. And finally, the Jester was danced by a cutie named, Calvin Kitten. Two guest artists played the Ugly Stepsisters to perfection: Gary Chryst & Christian Holder. The rest of the ensemble was excellent. For strictly personal reasons, I loved the multiple ethnic groups represented in the company including the conductor and orchestra; it almost brought a tear to my eye.

Okay, so I cannot do a fair comparison btw ABT and Joffrey. However, ABT’s Swan Lake & Joffrey’s Cinderella are big productions with some similarities. One thing the Joffrey was lacking in overall was timing with the musical score, which Douglass said may have been due to the difficulty of the musical score. I don’t know? The Jester achieved great élan (sp?) or should I just say height and was technically good; however, he never quite finished on bended knee or with punctuation with the ending of the score. The Prince did a sequence of turns in the air in which he landed in a weird way such that I didn’t really see a smooth plie then turn, plie, turn so it looked like he just jumped and stopped, jumped and stopped, etc.; Douglass said he never landed in a tight 5th foot position but rather a looser variation of that so that no plie was achieved. At any rate, I noticed it right away, and I am a novice but after watching the superstars of ABT do that move to absolute perfection, I would have to have been blind to miss it. There was one moment when the entire audience gasped and held our collective breath as Cinderella made her grand entrance into the ballroom post-transformation; she was wearing a long gauzy-like cape which was carried by 4-6 boys. As she was going down the 3rd of seven very high and somewhat narrow steps, en pointe & holding hands with the Prince, we all saw one of her feet catch on a step and she hesitated for just a moment there and then again as she continued down the remaining three stairs before safely reaching stage level. She handled herself remarkably well in that situation and never did she break from character as her gaze was transfixed forward. It was awesome!! My favorite part was the pas de deux and adagio. The partnering seemed so intimate and delicate, but I could sense how much trust the two had in each other, which was just incredible to witness. I have seen many fabulous partnerships but today, it just blew me away!! It felt like Cinderella and the Prince were dancing for everyone in that auditorium as if all of our lives depended on watching these two express their love for one another. It was simply breath-taking! How many years it must have taken to create such a moment onstage, and just for us it seemed? Without a doubt, there is no way to express the energy and delicacy of a live performance through a camera lens.

Ooh! The Joffrey Did It Again.

2008-03-04T20:41:00.011-06:00

This photo, featuring my heroine Erica Lynette Edwards in Dark Elegies, is on the current Playbill.

The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago out did themselves with their Antony Tudor Centennial. Besides the dancing, there was the amazing voice of Baritone Stephen Salters in the piece Dark Elegies as he was accompanied by the always fabulous Chicago Sinfonietta conducted by Musical Director, Leslie Dunner.

An airborne John Gluckman

I saw performances on Sat. Feb 23rd at 7:30p & the Sun. Mar 2nd Matinee. I don't know if it has anything to do with the new Artistic Director, Ashley Wheater, but everyone brought their A-game to Tudor. A group of bright, shining stars is what I saw both nights. They were simply outstanding! It's always amazing to watch artists grow and improve over time, and I look forward to their next performance of American Moderns in May 2008.

Cloverfield Made Me Sick, Literally!

2008-02-22T23:17:00.006-06:00

OK. So I just now saw this movie for only $3 at a local theater, but it was worth the wait. And, yes, I almost vomited on the floor about 20 minutes into the movie, too. So I'm getting into the story line and had just finished my McDonald's parfait when suddenly I began to feel terrible and nauseous; it took a few seconds for me to realize that it couldn't have been from the yogurt, not that quickly anyway, so it must be from the jumpy camera work. Yup! That's what it was alright, and there were times when I simply had to look away from the screen or else. I guess you do what ya gotta do to watch a movie these days whether it's buy expensive concessions or vomit for 'the man'.

I learned a valuable lesson tonight, which is that Dramamine is necessary for me to take before certain movies. On a scale of 1-5, I give the movie a 3 overall. On a nausea/vomit scale from 1-5, it rates a 4. If you haven't seen the movie, you've been forewarned!

Charlie: Candy Mountain; Gay Unicorns: Heyyy

2007-12-18T18:48:00.000-06:00

I saw this on another blogger's site listed as WTF Part II, but it made me laugh out loud and cry. The crying may have been related to the residual smoke in my kitchen from an earlier broiling incident, but, WTF, the clip is still funny!

I couldn't resist posting another YouTube.com finding.

I've been taking myself and life a bit too seriously lately so these clips were just what I needed to relax and laugh. If you didn't enjoy them, that isn't my fault.

Chicago premiere of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

2007-11-18T22:15:00.000-06:00

Please be sure to read Complexions CB Pt 2.

Overall, I enjoyed seeing the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB). Technically and artistically, I could not find anything to critique. I would say that none of the pieces performed highlighted any particular dancer to any degree so it felt like a true ensemble performance. I don't know if the repertoire that this company performs is all that different from other companies, but I do know that I haven't seen anything that duplicates it here in the Chicagoland area. That alone would made this company worth seeing.

A friend of mine who was raised in the Mennonite faith, really got a thrill with Sweet Fields, cor. by Twyla Tharp, which also featured Hymns from William Billings, the Shaker tradition and THE SACRED HARP. According to Wendy, this Shaker tradition was passed along to the Mennonites who incorporated it into their religious culture. Personally, the four part harmony vocals were OK for that short of duration but would not normally be my cup of tea. I thought that the cor. and simple white costumes then made sense with that particular themed music. If you were looking for fireworks in that number, you wouldn't have found them. The piece was sort of clean and simple. This cor. reminded me a bit of Bronislava Nijinsky's Les Noces.

The next piece, 1st Flash, cor. by Jorma Elo, was nicely done and was in direct contrast with the earlier piece b/c it featured dark colored costumes and lighting. I remember that there was this large billiard-table like top/light suspended from the ceiling. I didn't get its purpose during the number b/c when it did flash it wasn't that grand. Still, the dancing as well as the music by Jean Sibelius was nice.

The best and final piece, Noir Blanc, conceived and directed by Moses Pendleton, was sort of a cross btw Cirque de Soleil and the Blue-Man Group in look, feel, and musicality. In the first 1/3rd of the piece, you're just trying to figure out what it is you're seeing and how it is being done exactly. This piece was thought provoking b/c of the former yet fun to watch. It reminded me some what of the ballet Caught choreographed by David Parsons that I had seen two Joffrey members perform b/c which featured a strobe light. The dancers glowed in the dark. The exception being that again this was an ensemble piece. The dancers really had to focus on team work and good timing. The audience truly ate this one up b/c it was really quite quirky to watch plus had great music. Go see the ASFB if they come to your city. The artists were Lauren Alzamora, Eric Chase, Sam Chittenden, Katie Dehler, Seth DelGrasso, Katherine Eberle, Samantha Klanac, Nolan DeMarco McGahan, Emily Proctor and Stephen Straub.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet: Part 2

2007-11-17T08:14:00.004-06:00

OK, let me finish up this post; click here to see part I. BTW, I have yet to hear back from Complexions management. On to the dancers. The only ones that really mattered to me as far as the choreography was concerned were the 6 male dancers: Bryan Arias, William Cannon, Gary Jeter II, Juan Rodriguez, Jeremy Nedd, Rubinald Pronk and Clifford Williams. If I had to choose just one word to describe their talent it would be "virtuoso". They were f-ing amazing to watch. All of them seemed equally talented, meaning they moved very similar to one another, which usually isn't the case in ballet companies; hence, the stratification into principal, soloist or corps de ballet categories. I guess a better way to explain it would be to say that each duplicated a single movement as if they had stood up to each other and practiced getting it exactly right. These men could also move like either men or women as needed. At one point, I even thought C. Williams was a girl b/c he was wearing a leotard with a little skirt and like 4 wispy streamers in the front. In the DVD, Born to Be Wild: The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre, it was said that Vladimir Malakhov possesses a unique line and refinement uncommon in a male dancer. Well, these guys all possess those same two qualities.

Where D. Rhoden shines as a choreographer is in the athleticism, creativity and intricacy of the details. These men took the finest qualities and technique found in ballet, gymnastics and contemporary dance and blended them together seamlessly. I am not kidding. I couldn't believe some of the beautiful lines that flowed into difficult split maneuvers then into some funky, creature-like pose and so forth. They made it just look so easy, but they were clearly dancing their asses off. As I mentioned in part one, the choreography was long, often without a beat or musical count to follow and then Rhoden makes it all complex as well. Maybe they really couldn't find a darker complected female dancer that could move the way his choreography demanded. I don't know, but it would have been nice to see.

BTW, most of the males in the company are of African descent so nothing was amiss there. The quality and level of talent makes this company a must see for any fan of contemporary dance!! If I had to choose a favorite, I couldn't, although Jeremy Nedd stood out b/c he tended to have more alone time on stage; he also smiled the most.

Everything written below this sentence is just all the nit-picky stuff.

Act I, entitled Dear Fredric, consisted of what had to be the longest recorded version (45min) of a single Fredric Chopin musical score that I had ever heard, which featured just 2 pianos. Anyone living in the USA has heard at least part of that popular score either in a movie, a play, a TV show, an elevator, a ballet, at school or during some TV/radio commercial advertisement, etc. What most people in the audience, including myself, were not expecting was to be nearly driven insane by the monotonous score. It was the equivalent to listening to someone scratch their nails repeatedly down a chalkboard then stop briefly only to return to the task.

I remember that 15 minutes into the long, droning music, I just wanted to plug my ears and make it stop; I felt that way for another 30 more minutes. People all around me started moving around in their seats restlessly, yawning, talking to one another, checking the time on their cell phones and the like. These witnessed behaviors had me laughing out loud hysterically [yet quietly] and kept me from literally screaming out, "Stop, please just make it stop!" Afterwards, everyone had the same critique, which was that they absolutely hated the music but loved the dancing. I couldn't agree more.

The music had no discernible beat or tempo, and had multiple crescendos and plateaus, yet the choreography just seemed to continue on without an end in sight. Every time I thought they were going to wrap it up, I could see the dancers lining up and preparing to enter the stage from the wings. It was like how on earth is this music even related to or helping the choreography? Answer: it wasn't. I wondered how the dancers were able to find a rhythm to dance to. A Joffrey member that I later spoke with in the audience indicated that one of his critiques of Mr Rhoden's choreography is that it lacks counts so the dancers just memorize the steps; he found that the dancers were almost never in sync with one another, which was completely true throughout the entire show except for the 2 solo pieces. He basically indicated that Rhoden obviously choreographed the piece first then arbitrarily set it to that music later. I could sense that this particular dancer was feeling empathy for these artists b/c it was not their fault that they were out of sync with one another. What they were doing was really difficult. I was just amazed that these talented dancers could remember all of that long, complex choreography and had the stamina to dance the entire piece as beautifully as they did. Wow!

Act II, featured D. Rhoden's Gone, Lux, an excerpt from The Cyclical Hour, and Solo. A female solo called, The Hardest Button To Button, was choreographed by Rahim Jackson. I'll start with the female solo. I pretty much didn't appreciate it at all. Even though the cor. was not Rhoden's, it did the artist, Christina Dooling, no justice. Based on what I saw, I couldn't tell whether this gal had any actual talent b/c the cor. had her just doing all this jerky, awkward leg, arm and torso movements. It looked like she was having a tonic/clonic seizure (Gran Mal) on stage. I thought the music by White Stripes was a terrible choice but was in keeping w/the cor., and I thought the entire piece, with the exception of when the dancer kicked off her high heels in the beginning, was a waste of my time and her talent, which I'm sure she had.

We don't think that Desmond Richardson performed at all during this show; he was to be featured in a solo performance called Solo with cor. by D. Rhoden and music by Prince. This dancer seemed lighter skinned w/a shaved-head and we saw him perform in a few other pieces, which Desmond was not scheduled to be in; however, no written program changes or announcements were ever provided. Whoever it was, he was very good. At the end of the show, Desmond and Mr Rhoden came on stage in street clothes. I'm fairly certain he never danced b/c I had seen him on stage over the summer, and he has a certain look to him.

The final or Act III, also choreographed by D. Rhoden, was entitled Pretty Gritty Suite based on music by Nina Simone. This was the piece de resistance of the show and showed off every thing that was awesome about the males of the company. The women had a tiny amount of good cor. but it usually involved a pas de deux. Again, if you want to marvel at female dancers, I'm not sure that this is the company based on the cor. that I saw.

The Joffrey Ballet: They Know How to Make a Black Woman Smile

2007-11-12T21:35:00.002-06:00

The Joffrey Ballet (JB) supports its community by providing underrepresented school children some much needed exposure to ballet and dancing opportunities. If I want to see black women dance in professional companies there will have to be an adequate supply of competitively trained, black female dancers. That will only be achieved as more and more dance opportunities and exposure to classical ballet training and other techniques becomes more readily accessible and available for underrepresented minorities, namely Black & Latino children in the USA. The JB's Education & Community Engagement Program will present their Excelon Strobel Step-Up Students at the Dance Chicago 2007 event on Nov. 15th and 27th at 7:30pm. Derrick Agnoletti, a talented JB member, has choreographed 2 ballets for them. I look forward to seeing them perform.

Click here to hear: A BLACK WOMAN'S SMILE BY TY GRAY EL: SPOKEN WORD

Complexions Contemporary Ballet in Chicago: Why I'm Not Smiling (Pt. 1)

2007-11-11T11:22:00.003-06:00

The following is a very strong and stern critique of Complexions Contemporary Ballet as I saw it. I left feeling like this company not only hates women but black women especially. However, I am not holding the individual dancers accountable in this critique just the 2 founding members. They performed in Chicago, IL on November 10, 2007 at 7:30 pm at the Roosevelt Auditorium Theater.

First of all, if one is going to name their company Complexions Contemporary Ballet then I had better see a black complected female dancer among the company when it shows up in Chicago, which has a black demographic of 30%!!!! More than 60% of the blacks in the audience were black women!!! Yes, I just pulled out the race card!!! Why? B/c I cannot even begin to discuss the performance without sharing my disappointment including pain, hurt and anger about not seeing any identifiable black sistas on stage when the two founding men of the company, Dwight Rhoden & Desmond Richardson, are in fact black men. Black women beget black men just like white women beget white men even if one has to trace that black woman back to being either their mama, grandma or great grandma (e.g. Tiger Woods, Barack Obama, & Prince Rogers Nelson, etc.).

MISSION

COMPLEXIONS celebrates excellence in dance. We provoke thought and inspire impassioned performance with the finest dancers in a full range of disciplines. We perform for audiences worldwide, educate, cultivate talent, and champion diversity as America's original multi-cultural dance company. This pic and mission statement was retrieved from their website, and I say it is Bullshit!!

I will tell you why the lack of a presence of Black Women is a travesty to all black women in Chicago if not the USA. It is a travesty to all mankind as well. It says that WE do not matter and that WE are not good enough, and it denies OUR historical value and presence in the USA. I would not bring my little black child to see such a performance b/c the role of a parent is to encourage their children to be whatever they want to be within reason. So if my little black girl turns to me and says, "I want to become a ballet dancer", I want her to see images of black woman doing just that. I don't want to hear her say, "Mommy, how come there are no black ladies on stage dancing along with the black men; I thought you said that I could be a ballet dancer?" What shall I tell my little black girl or any other black girl for that matter? How would I explain that although the company was founded by 2 black GAY males, who know first hand how hard it is to be a successful black dancer in the American dance community as well as gay black men living in America, that there just were not any female black dancers that were apparently good enough or deserving enough to get into the company?

Complexions isn't the only perpetrator of this act of negligence, but it sure stings more when the discrimination comes from a black owned and run company. I dare say that most American dance/ballet companies, including the great American Ballet Theater & New York City Ballet, have also done and continue to do a disservice to Black American Women!!! Black women have been a critical part of America's backbone since the 1600's. Click here to view A Black Woman's Smile by TY GRAY EL so I don't have to explain what should be obvious history to all Americans about the role of Black Women but isn't.

Now to be fair, ABT recently promoted a black female dancer, Misty Copeland, as a soloist but for Christ sake, this just happened in the Spring of 2007. Misty C. is of mixed ancestry (some would argue that no one is of purely one race) so one has to look really hard to even notice that she is black b/c of her very light skin complexion and European facial features, which of course are not a flaw nor have any impact on the quality of her dancing; she is an amazing dancer. I don't think it's an accident or even coincidence on the part of ABT that her light complexion allows her to easily blend in with those of the other company members; let me just say that the colors of ABT's rainbow aren't all that diverse which range from pale white (e.g., Julie Kent), medium (e.g., Misty C., Herman Cornejo), to a deep white (e.g., Jose Manuel Carrera or Sarawanee Tanatanit). I won't even get started on the mess that is NYCB and the Aesha Ash (former NYCB member) controversy. Aesha's dancing was featured in the movie Center Stage. Thankfully, Aesha Ash, a black heroine of mine, is or was currently dancing with Christopher Wheeldon's new company Morphoses and received rave reviews.

photo: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times. Michael Nunn, left, and William Trevitt holding Aesha Ash aloft in “Mesmerics,”choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.

Now, it is possible that no self-respecting black, female dancer would or wants to be in this company as I'll now explain. The second major problem I had with this production seemed to be the lack of suitable choreography for its female company members. These women showed some amazing talent but only briefly and in limited doses were they were allowed to shine. WTF is wrong with Dwight Rhoden? He clearly has no idea how to choreograph for the female body in such a way that the movement illuminates the dancer. Many of his movements were rugged and awkward looking and/or just did not do these women justice. It was another travesty.

I've never seen anything like this in a professional company before. Rhoden's focus was always paying close attention to detail, artistry and technique for the males dancers only. This is why it felt like he must hate women; maybe no strong black dancer would put up with such pitiful choreography and discrimination. May be such a woman would not find this company worthy of her beautiful spirit and talent. I don't know, but stay tuned for part 2, where I'll blog about the individual dancers, the music and the actual choreography. The last time I had this visceral of a reaction to a ballet company, it was during a botched Kirov Swan Lake at this same theater last year, Nov., 5, 2006.

Chimene

P.S., Just so everyone knows, I sent Complexions CB a copy of this critique so they could explain themselves. I don't want to bash them unfairly if they can provide an acceptable explanation for what I saw or rather didn't see.

Favorite Reality TV Dances

2007-10-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

If these clips don't make you want to get up and dance yourself then maybe you're just dead inside. Long live dance!!!!

October 2007- Dance in Chicago

2007-10-31T04:08:00.000-05:00

For this blog, I decided to sum up my overall interpretation by mentioning only key performers, choreographers, music and/or choreography for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago/HDSC, Luna Negra Dance Theater/LNDT, The Joffrey Ballet, and Giordano Jazz Dance Co. I'm so happy that Chicago has such a thriving dance community, and I look forward to more productions by these companies.

HSDC's Program A (Sep., 27th): I thoroughly enjoyed an aerial piece entitled Kiss performed by Cheryl Mann and Tobin Del Cuore (guest artist). The famed Twyla Tharp piece called Baker's Dozen was just okay for me. Dancer Prince Credell shined in Cor Perdut.

HSDC's Program B (Oct 7th): B-Sides (12" mix) choreography by Brian Enos, music by Hybrid and performed by the ensemble (P. Credell, P. Colucci, S. Alvis, P. Saunders & K. Epperheimer) was an absolutely beautiful piece. It featured constant flow and movement and was smooth like watching a river flow. Prince Credell and an unknown tall, brunette gal were just incredible in this piece, also. Mr Credell is a wonderful dancer and an asset to the company b/c he brings a more earthy and grounded quality to the choreography when it is called for, which I felt was sadly lacking in the other company members, particularly in Rassemblement, which used African beats and rhythm throughout. That is not a piece that should ever be danced in a lyrical style.

Luna Negra DT (Oct 19th): I am not complaining, but only two out of four pieces saved the night for both me and my friend. They were Allegro con Sabor - (Chicago Premiere), choreographed by Pedro Ruiz, a work commissioned by the Joffrey Ballet in collaboration with Luna Negra Dance Theater and performed by dancers of both companies: Vanessa Valecillos? & Ricardo J. Garcia of LNDT; and Megan Quiroz (awesome) & Willi Shives of the Joffrey. One could really note the difference in technique btw the two companies. The final piece, CUGAT! (World Premiere) was excellent. It was an homage to the era of Mambo King Xavier Cugat, choreographed by Eduardo Vilaro and accompanied live by Grammy award nominee Angel Meléndez & The 911 Mambo Orchestra. The band was fabulous!

The Joffrey Ballet (Oct. 20th): For me, the casting of the company premiere of Giselle couldn't have been more perfect. Victoria Jaiani (Giselle) and her real-life husband, Temur Suluashvilli (Albrecht) performed the leads. Jennifer Goodman and Calvin Kitten performed superbly in the Peasant Pas while Valerie Robin and Fabrice Calmels carried themselves with all the arrogance, privilege and dignity befitting of royalty as Bathilde and the Duke respectively. Kathleen Thielhelm (Mytha, Queen of the Wilis), April Daly (Moyna), Erica Lynette Edwards (Zulma) and the Wilis ensemble were all in good form. Other noteworthy standouts were William Hillard and Derrick Agnoletti as Village men. The Chicago Sinfonietta led by Leslie B. Dunner was, also, in great form. The music alone would have been enough to keep me happy, but the overall production was really nice.

Giordano Jazz Dance Co (Oct 27th): Overall, I really like their style of dance, musical selections, and choreography. Every number was thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. My favorite piece was the company premiere of The Man That Got Away danced by soloist, Ruth Sherman with cor. by Sherry Zunker. The music as sung by Judy Garland made this piece perfect. The dancing and cor. were awesome. Impulse, cor. by Tony Powell and danced by the company was, also, terrific as was Let's Play (world premiere) by Kiesha Lalama-White, danced by company. Dancers, Cesar Salinas, Craig Kaufman and Elija Gibson really stood out at times. This company seems to specialize in the use of acrobatics in their cor. from both the men and women (e.g., lots of hand stands requiring upper body holds and freezes and/or moves requiring dancers to be physically on top of one another or frozen in a mid-air, horizontal position).

November marks the arrival of Dance Chicago 2007 feat. premieres by Dmitri Peskov & dancers and LehrerDance at the Athenaeum Theater as well as premieres of both the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet to the Harris Theater, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet to the Auditorium Theater. Complexions performed for free in Millennium Park along with several other international companies incl. the Joffrey, ABT and Alvin Ailey this past summer, and they were awesome. Then in Dec., the Joffrey presents its annual Nutcracker, which far surpasses any others that I've ever seen.

Irek Mukhamedov- a virtuoso male dancer

2007-10-02T12:45:00.012-05:00

Irek Mukhamedov- Russian Ballet Dancer 1998

Sleeping Beauty -Gala Performance ROH 1993

Sleeping Beauty -#2- Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London

The Golden Age- Irek & Natalya Bessmertnova

In this Youtube clip, Irek is dancing the Coda to the Sleeping Beauty Pdd.

This is the first and only ballet dancer who almost brought me to orgasm while watching him perform in "The Mayerling". Yeah! This dancer definitely does it for me! The sexual innuendo is rampant throughout this ballet!

When I see his face, there is so much more that he brings to his characters than just the movement; maybe it's his charisma, passion, vulnerability, strength, sexuality, sensuality, and soulfulness. There is absolutely nothing effeminate about him whatsoever, and this SB Pdd usually makes every other guy look too feminine for me. I fall in love with whatever character he plays. You can read my other post about him.

Below is an old post taken from the Winger website and posted on my own blog.

Homage to 'Mayerling' and Irek Mukhamadov
« Reply #26 on: November 26, 2006, 12:11:19 PM »
Here is my personal, biased review that I posted over a month ago after first seeing it on DVD.

The Royal Ballet performing Kenneth MacMillan’s “Mayerling” in 1994 gave a fantastic performance of the events in the life of Rudolf Habsburg, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, between 1881-1889, which eventually ended in a murder-suicide involving his lover, 17-year-old, Mary Vetsera. Supposedly, these events really happened, but the fact that artist-rendered portraits of the dancers in character at the beginning of the ballet as compared to portraits of the actual people at the end the ballet make this a truly unique performance DVD. The score set to music by Franz Liszt and conducted by Barry Wordsworth was very good and set the tone throughout. I highly recommend this ballet b/c of some incredible virtuoso dancing. This ballet had everything packed into its storyline: a burial and death scene, sex, passion, joy, comedy, depravity, depression, despair, love, hatred, haughtiness, uncertainty and mental illness. There is even a very poignant scene where an actual opera performer, who plays Katherine Schratt, mistress of the prince’s father, Emperor Franz Josef, sings and all the dancers show varying degrees of emotion; the grandma w/the cane (Sophie) actually cries. This ballet was so well staged and designed that at times when no one was dancing, I thought I was watching a spoken play by Shakespeare. It is a testament to how awesome and charismatic these dancers spoke through body language only; the use of big, overt and common [hand] gestures (like in SL, Le Corsaire or R&J) was conspicuously absent in this ballet so the eyes and facial expression told the story with of course port de bras and footwork, too. MacMillan’s choreography embodies the depth of the music in movement to tell the story. I don’t think I could find a finer example of bravura ensemble acting in a ballet or play anywhere. There is no need for suspended belief or gimmicks in this ballet (e.g., elaborate dream sequences, explosions, Fairy godmothers, ghostly Wilis, sylphs or swans) because everything on stage could really happen.

Irek Mukhamedov could probably find a woman’s ‘sweet spot’ in his sleep, which is her balance, of course. This guy gave the best overall male dance performance I have ever witnessed with impressive partnering and solo work. He is a little shaky in some of his solo variations & doesn’t have the flowing line and lyricism of other dancers but this does not detract from his overall performance. He makes partnering look effortless. Not only did Irek carry this entire 135 minute ballet because the choreography dictates that he do so, but he did the most incredible bravura acting and partnering that I have seen to date. For me, partnering is the quintessential aspect of what I love about watching males in ballet, pairs skating, ice dancing, ballroom dance, and so on and so forth. I literally sit in anticipation of the moment when a man takes hold of the woman’s waist. It is the reason why I keep coming back for more. When boys or men are learning to partner, they should be first made to watch this performance of Mayerling as an example of how it could and should be done. If there is a book called Ballet Partnering: 101, Irek should be on the cover and/or the author of said book. He has the Midas touch with the ladies. If partnering is like marriage then Irek Mukhamedov and his ballerinas appear to have been married for 50 years.

Why is Irek Mukhamedov the greatest partner I have ever seen? First, because I never saw any strain, jerkiness, tremors, tension or effort in his body during any of his moves, lifts or supported turns. Every lift, position, and expression looked comfortable and secure. This guy is doing very complicated stuff with his ballerina going in multiple vectors like it was second nature to him; how the hell does he remain so sure-footed? Secondly, he never ever breaks from character in his expression before, during or after a step, lift, or whatever. Most times with males, I can see their face changing as “the cognitive wheels” turn just preceding a lift or assisted turn and the character face returns only after execution (e.g., Ethan Stiefel, who has a sexy ‘look of concentration’). Also, tension in their body is evidenced by a slight trembling of the glutes, back, shoulders, bicep and/or forearm, a wobble (balance check), and/or sudden muscle contraction as the ballerina is moved. Not so with Irek; I didn’t even know there was such a thing as effortless, fluent partnering in ballet until I saw him do it with six different ballerinas. Each new partner revealed another side of his character and was unique and pivotal to the story telling. Irek is simply ‘amazing’ and sets the gold standard for me!!

I think playing Prince Rudolf has to be one of the most challenging roles for a male dancer because it requires the ability to convincingly pull so many emotions out of oneself and hold on to them throughout the choreography whether dancing or sitting in the background or laying on the ground. The choreography in this ballet had this guy flirting, raping his wife, making love, falling in love, fighting with his mother, being afraid of his mother, being afraid of his own feelings, male-male partnering, pointing or getting a gun pointed at him and all the fear that that conveys, showing his slow decent into madness and torment and just about anything else you can thing of. I truly don’t believe that many male dancers can actually do that role as well or better than Irek Mukhamedov. If not done well as Irek did it with all his intensity and dramatic flare, the entire ballet would be lesser for it or become farcical because all the energy and expression in the other roles feed off of and depend on the prince’s performance. I would love to see any number of my favorite male dancer’s in this role.

The ladies of “Mayerling” were beautiful including Viviana Durante playing the prince’s lover, Mary (she had incredibly wonderful extension & line yet was passionate in spades w/a fiery intensity); Lesley Collier, the prince’s ex-mistress (she was so classically beautiful & elegant); Darcey Bussell, played Mitzi the prince’s mistress (she was so pretty to watch and has an awesome pas de quatre); Jane Burn playing Stephanie, the prince’s wife (very good in her wedding night pas de deux); Sarah Wildor playing Stephanie’s sister, Louise (she, too, is beautiful and does multiples of my favorite female jump, an arabesque en l’air w/the prince) and finally the prince’s mother, Nicola Tranah (another elegant and beautiful dancer that has a fantastically executed pas de deux with her English lover).

Finally, did I mention that Irek is extremely attractive and well formed with so much sex appeal and intensity that by the end of the ballet, even though he was going mad, all I wanted him to do was rip his clothes off [so I could fantasize about having my way with him]. My one and only complaint about this ballet is that the man’s clothes remained faithfully on throughout; I wanted to see his flesh, damn it! Yes, watching that man dance lowered me to my baser human instincts so much so that I felt raw at the end. Seriously, Irek moves so brilliantly that you kind of need to see his muscles/body working unclothed (a loin clothes is acceptable) to get another perspective of his virtuoso performance.

My hat is off,
Chimene

In the final analysis, there are several male dancers I would love to watch perform this role such as F.C., A.C., C.K., H.C., and M.G.; however, in my version, I would be cast as Mary Vetsera. The ending would be somewhat different, too, b/c the Prince and I die and reach Nirvana, a land of peace, love and eternal sexual bliss.

Gotta love Ellen DeGeneres

2007-09-24T23:14:00.000-05:00

A hilarious 7 part series of videos someone posted. This one had me lmao.

The Joffrey Ballet: Cool Vibrations

2007-09-06T22:53:00.004-05:00

On September 5th, 2007, I finally got to see the choreography (cor.) that the Joffrey Ballet had previously performed during their Spring & Summer tour throughout the USA. Prior to this, I had felt a little jealous that other cities got to see what I could not, but, alas, I was blessed with their free Summer performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago, IL featuring the following:

Deuce Coupe, choreography Twyla Tharp, music by The Beach Boys
Motown Suite, choreography Donald Byrd, music by various Motown artists
"Sometimes it Snows in April", "Trust", & "Baby, I'm a Star" from Billboards, conceived & directed by Gerald Arpino, choreography by Laura Dean, music by Prince (in collaboration with Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman).

What can I say about the Joffrey Ballet except that I am always astounded by them. I just love them!! I can finally understand how & why Chicagoan's feel so loyal about being either a Cubs or White Sox fan. It defies logic; I just believe in the Joffrey b/c they always give me an emotional gift throughout every performance. I feel like they are winners in the world of dance so I can never be indifferent to them when they perform. In addition, I always feel like the Joffrey makes good use of the entire stage when they perform.

So here are Erica L. Edwards, Valerie Robin, John Gluckman and Brian McSween in Deuce Coupe. Deuce Coupe

Personally, I did not warm up to this lengthy ballet, Deuce Coupe, until about half-way through during a piece called, Catch a Wave. At this point the cor. started to appeal to me and the music became recognizable; plus, I had to forgive the costumer, Scott Barie, for his design. No dancer should ever have to wear those red satin pants. So for the first 10 different dance sequences, I just thought, "I love these dancers but not this cor. except for Heather Aagard's role b/c it was classical ballet which I found more esthetically pleasing."

When I talk about dance, it is not about naming the steps b/c I don't know the names. It's about synchronicity & timing of the dancers, emotion, artistry, and how the piece made me feel overall. What was fabulous about this piece was simply seeing different moves on dancers that I rarely get to see dance that much like Heather Aagard, Jennifer Goodman, Allison Walsh and Brian McSween, who were all just wonderful! BTW, how cute did Allison look with her new (or not) short, pixy hairdo! And, Erica looked fabulous with her long flowing tresses. FYI- when Erica dances, I just pretend that I'm her so I, too, can vicariously dance along with the Joffrey Ballet. This was also the first time I had seen Wily Shives on stage since The Nutcracker in 2006; he's such a nice, likable guy off stage. Let's face it, if a dancer is in the company then I want to see him or her dance in a nice role that does them justice.

For me, Heather Aagard, Valerie Robin, and Calvin Kitten were stand outs, which takes nothing away from the other dancers, who were also wonderful. Heather b/c she was so beautiful to watch dancing in a more classical ballet role with her extensions, turns and emotions; whereas, the other cast members were doing more of a contemporary, upbeat dance with some unique cor. Valerie b/c she had these really sexy, feminine moves in Got to Know the Woman that just really suited her. And finally, Calvin b/c he just does it for me every time whether he's warming up at barre or likely just sweeping a floor. I couldn't take my eyes off of him the entire time he was on stage, which caused me to loose focus on some of the other dancers. I just adore Calvin Kitten!

My favorite parts of Deuce Coupe include the last 2 pieces, Wouldn't it be Nice and Cuddle Up. The dancers were Heather A., April D., John G., Mauro V., Jennifer G., Erica L. E., Calvin K., Willy S., Emily P., Brian M., Thomas N., Maia W., Valerie R., Michael Smith, and Allison W. Together, they created some beautiful lines with lots of emotion and synchronicity. There wasn't any significant partnering work to speak of, but there was a lot of movement of the dancers around and between each other all over the stage. It just looked very nice on the company and explains why Ms Tharp's work is typically included in many company's repertoires. For photos of this and other ballets, visit the Joffrey website.

The next number, Motown Suite, was tremendously fun and entertaining b/c of the dancing, the dancers and the music that I'm certain everyone in the audience was familiar with. The costumes were great since the guys were in basically a stretchy, colorful jean-looking costume and they got down and funky with it. A standout in this piece was Derrick Agnoletti, who did some amazing disco/hip-hop/contemporary/jazz dancing to Love Machine. I believe some ladies were screaming in the audience, people were oohing & aahing, and I think my mouth fell open when I saw him gyrating and thrusting his pelvis forward. It was like, whoa, Dude! I'm thinking he would probably make it into the Top Ten Finalists on Fox television's So You Think You Can Dance. He got my vote last night! In addition to Derrick, there was Aaron Rogers, whom I, also, think is terrific. Aaron and Derrick even danced a solo together so I was thrilled to see that. More power to them!

I was gloriously thrilled to see Victoria Jaiani perform in numerous pieces in Motown Suite b/c, well, she just does it for me, too. As I mentioned in the past, I love to watch her dance both solo and with different partners. She provided a very nice contrast btw her usual classical style and the more contemporary, funkier style that she incorporated into this ballet. At first, I thought this funkier style of dance seemed better suited to other dancers like April Daly, Derrick A., Jennifer G., and Anastacia Holden, but I was so wrong. Victoria was lovely in this cor., too. She is probably my favorite ballerina and in the same league as Sylvie Guillem, Gillian Murphy, and contemporary dancer, Dwana Adiaha Smallwood so anything she does on stage, I adore since there is just something about the way she moves and emotes that gets me everytime.

Matthew Adamczyk, featured as a shining star in Pointe Magazine Dec 2006/Jan 2007 for this very solo, captured my attention with his extreme flexibility; he was doing crazy-ass back bends, splits, extensions and things that contortionists in Cirque de Soleil usually do, which was pretty, damn cool to see done in You Can't Hurry Love. Up until this point, I'd seen him only briefly in The Nutcracker and in something else I've forgotten last season [late entry: Oops. It was a stellar performance as the Profiteer in "Green Table"]. Well, he could not be ignored or overlooked in this performance so good for him!

Jennifer Goodman really did a terrific job in her solo piece with Thomas Nicholas in Where Did Our Love Go? Again, I'd really only seen her last April in two ballet pieces that I didn't particularly enjoy b/c of their unique cor. She was very enjoyable last night. Cutie-patooty, Mauro Villanueva gave a brilliant performance in I Heard it Through (the Grapevine) that I totally didn't expect from him. It was a chance to see him doing more contemporary cor.; it felt like I was truly seeing his essence for the first time last night.

The partnering work in this ballet was as usual fantastic, especially in the final piece called I Hear a Symphony featuring the entire cast including Matthew A., Michael L., Aaron R., April D., Erica L. E., Derrick A., Jennifer G., Mauro V., Brian M., Maia W., Thomas N., Victoria J., and Anastacia Holden. The dancers were easy to tell apart b/c they all had on different colored costumes so that it looked fabulous when the matching couples separated and came back together again. Mr Byrd proved himself to be a wonderful choreographer with this ballet and I felt privileged to see it performed so wonderfully.

Finally, my favorite pas de deux of the night was between Maia Wilkins and her real life husband, Michael Levine, in Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things). I don't know, it just felt like they had a real chemistry and were telling a real love story. Not every real-life couple dances well together. The partnering between them had such an intimate, emotional feel to it that the ending of the piece left me feeling both surprised and a bit sad.

Sometimes it Snows in April: Costumes by Rosemarie Worton from original concept by Laura Dean

The final ballet, Sometimes it Snows in April, looked like typical Mr Arpino fashion but was choreographed by Laura Dean. It was exciting, light, beautiful, emotional and made me wish I could dance like them or at the very least feel like how they looked dancing that piece. I just felt pure joy. Like Mr A's work, this ensemble piece captured the joy and beauty of dance and of the individual dancer's spirit. The music by Prince [Rogers Nelson] also made this ballet special as he was once my favorite male artist/vocalist back in my youth when most of these dancers were toddlers or not even born (yikes!).

Sometimes it Snows in April:

Each and every dancers' hands told their own story in their own unique way. Just look at the photo above. The white costumes were a perfectly lovely choice, too. In the opening number, the dancers all come on stage one at a time from our right as they do a circular sequence of dance in the following order: Megan Quiroz, David Gombert [cutie-patooty], Joanna Wozniak, Patrick S., Allison W., Temur Suluashvili, April D., Fabrice Calmels, Kathleen Thielhelm, Matthew A., Alexis Polito, Tian Shuai, Christine Rocas, Michael S., Lauren Stewart, Jonathan D., Emily Patterson, and John Gluckman. The entire ballet was a crowd pleaser from start to finish.

I don't know exactly which male dancer it was, either Matthew Adamczyk or Patrick Simoniello, but one of them created such a beautiful line in his backward arabesque jump that I gasped out loud. Unfortunately, some dancers were slightly cast in shadow in the far back along with their female partners; they were also moving so fast that it was difficult to tell who was who at times, which is part of why this entire ballet is so beautiful.

Baby, I'm a Star is a delicious piece b/c it has all the cast filling up every inch of the stage in boy, girl, boy, girl fashion. There seemed to be an emphasis on straight lines (linear poses) with fully extended port des bras and first and second arabesques throughout the cor. There were also many turns or pirouettes done with arms in either high fifth or third position. I just remember seeing the beautiful, bright smiles and pure joy on the dancers' faces. David Gombert looked like he was glowing as did Patrick S. When I finally saw Fabrice Calmels appear on stage for the first time that night, my heart went pitter patter. I just adore him, too. Then I was like, "Oh! There's, cutie-patooty, Jonathan Dummar!" What an awesome ballet; I loved and adored it!

My hat is off to the Joffrey Ballet. Everyone gave a solid individual and ensemble performance, which is why they are members of the Joffrey and why I always try to see them as often as I can. They bring me joy to watch.

p.s. I saw dancers, Suzanne Lopez, who is blossoming in her pregnancy, on my way to the ladies room and cutie-patooty, Eduardo Permuy, who looked "really hot" by the way, standing in the VIP seating area. Of course, neither danced, but I look forward to their return in the near future.

2007 Chicago Dancing Festival Feat. Joffrey Ballet

2007-08-23T20:05:00.001-05:00

The Pavilion is an outdoor venue so here's Chi town skyline

These pics are of Chicago reflected off of this large, modern, bean-shaped, metal sculpture at the Millennium Park.

Wednesday, August 22nd at 7:30pm featured amazing performances by Chicago's own Joffrey Ballet and Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago along with Ballet Florida, Soloists from ABT, San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey ADT and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. I've blogged about 3 of these companies already (see labels). I thank the sponsors of this event for bringing such talent together in one fantastic show at Chicago's Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. The weather was humid, but the dancing was hot. I apologize for the lousy pics.

Muntu Dance Theatre performed Djembe Drum Talk (Communication) & Humana. It was truly spirited dance to African rhythms and drum beats.

The Joffrey Ballet- performed one of my favorite's Light Rain feat. soloists Valerie Robin (Bot. Rt) & Fabrice Calmels (Top Lt) . However, other favorite dancers were, also, on stage so I was on cloud nine. I got to see Calvin Kitten (Top Rt), Patrick Simoniello (Bot. Lt), John Gluckman (Bot. Rt, lt), Thomas Nicholas, Aaron Rogers (Bot. Rt, rt), Matthew Adamczyk (Top Rt, lt), Victoria Jaiani, Megan Quiroz, Kathleen Theilhelm, Lauren Stewart, Allison Walsh, and Emily Patterson. Naturally, I've blogged elsewhere about these dancers and how awesome they are so for more info about this ballet, read my old reviews. I was right in front of them during their warm-up.

Ballet Florida- performed Elemental Brubeck, choreography by Lar Lubovitch. The company performed a very jazzy type number w/feat. guest artist, Rory Hohenstein, from SFB. I thought the number was quite entertaining.

American Ballet Theatre- performed a Don Quixote Pdd by new soloists, Yuriko Kajiya & Jared Matthews. I thought they both did a nice job, had good stage presence and personality and good lines throughout this difficult pas de deux. I've only seen the fabulous Misha Baryshnikov & Cynthia Harvey and Angel Corella & Paloma Herrera from ABT perform this pas before. Last night's couple has not reached that level of virtue & virtuosity, but will only improve with time.

Alvin Ailey ADT- performed Pas de Duke by 2 company soloists. This was an unscheduled change in the program from Cry, which was to be danced by Ms Dwana Adiaha Smallwood; apparently, she could not perform. Pity b/c she is quite a force to be reckoned with. The male soloist was outstanding. I don't know his name, but I could watch him dance forever. What a bravura performance from him. Although the female soloist kept up the steps, I did not enjoy her quite as much. [Late entry on 8/15/2008: AAADT solists were Clifton Brown and
Alicia J. Graf.]

San Francisco Ballet- performed Concerto Grosso by five fantastic men. Red: Pascal Molat, Green: Garrett Anderson, Light Blue: Jaime Garcia Castilla, Purple: Rory Hohenstein, & Blue: Hanusuke Yamamoto. At one point all the men were in perfect sync. The piece just showed off the men's beautiful line, athleticism and technique. Nice!

Complexions Contemporary Ballet- performed Red/The Force by the company with Desmond Richardson. Oh, they were fabulous. The choreography by Dwight Rhoden was amazing. These dancers had just an incredible athleticism to their movement. I cannot really describe what I saw except that I was sorry to see the piece end. Mr Richardson was brilliant as was the choreography. All I can say is that I hope to see them perform again in November 10-11 when they return to Chicago.

My Favorite Sabra Johnson Clip

2007-08-18T13:18:00.001-05:00

I wanted this woman to win b/c she has been such a consistent, likable, dynamic and beautiful person to watch all season. Congratulations to her, and may her future be just as bright!

Her ability to emote to the music is so lovely to watch, and I pay lots of money each year to see performances like hers. In this clip, she does a beating cabriole (?), which is one of my favorite dance moves ever b/c it looks amazing on the dancers and seems impossible to actually do. Mia Michael's is right, she does look like a little Ailey girl out there. To me, she's breathtaking!!

Last but not least, here's my favorite move from cutie-patootie, Neil David Haskell (hof). It's the cabriole to music by Shawn McDonald.

Great Christian Music from SYTYCD

2007-08-17T10:39:00.002-05:00

Gravity by Shawn McDonald

I thought these people did a great interpretation of this song that I first heard on "SYTYCD" season 3; it was used by Neil Haskell for his Top 4 solo. The dance was amazing as was the song choice. Click here for the lyrics

One of my all time favorite gospel singers is Crystal Lewis. I've loved her since the late 1980's & early 1990's; unfortunately, all of my music from her is still on cassette tape. Sabra Johnson and Kameron Bink danced a Tyce DiOrio contemporary piece to this singer's version of Amazing Grace.

Crystal Lewis performing Amazing Grace

My Favorite Danny Tidwell Moment

2007-08-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

It took me until nearly the end of the SYTYCD season to warm up to this man. Yeah! He is a great dancer and a hot guy, but I didn't feel anything when he was on stage. I prefer dancers that can emote as well as dance. However, when Danny Tidwell did this move, I fell in love with him as a performer for the first time on this series. He is so beautiful doing his solo during the finale!

In this next shot, he has this incredibly radiant smile, and I could feel his energy through my computer so I know they felt it in the studio. If he keeps this up, he will be the next big thing in dance.

p.s. I've blogged about this talented dancer on The Winger message board several times way before his first appearance on SYTYCD. Someone even mistook him for Jose Manuel Carreno when he did a "Diane & Aceton" Solo that was found on Youtube.

Dance

2007-08-14T14:44:00.000-05:00

Dance Book

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One Republic- Apologize

2007-07-14T03:00:00.000-05:00

Sicko Movie Review

2007-07-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

This movie was everything you'd expect from a Michael Moore film. It was funny, sad, witty, poignant and scary as hell. I found myself getting pissed off at Americans' ways of treating each other. Some parts were as painful as watching a documentary about Black Slavery; you just can't believe the inhumanity that is done in the name of "healthcare" by our unloving insurance Co., HMOs, & PPOs nor for the love of "Money". The seemingly only driving force in US healthcare today is the "old mighty dollar" or "profit". I can't say I was proud to be an American watching this movie, and it made me want to live in England, France, Cuba or Canada instead where they have excellent universal health systems. This doesn't make me anti-American, it just means that I want and expect more from my country then what we have. How can this be the greatest country in the world if just getting sick once with or without healthcare insurance could destroy you? We can and must do better! And, just like with the war in Iraq, you'll see that the politicians, wheelers and dealers always get taken care of without any risk to themselves or their loved ones. It's just the rest of us average middle- and lower-class saps that get screwed over. But, hey! It's the American way.

Don't be fooled by the few hatemongers, who come in all shapes and forms, living among us in the USA from those aforementioned countries that will tell you differently about their country's universal health coverage as I have worked as a nurse with some them (my fellow nurses) and found them all to be mostly full of shit and ignorant. Those same people usually believe in unicorns, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and that America is some sort of Utopia. What I am trying to say is that if you believe that universal healthcare coverage or "health for all" is bullshit then I hope this movie will change your mind and pray that some of the atrocities that you'll see never happen to you. One of the reasons that Americans, myself included, are so hated worldwide is because of our attitude of "me" instead of "we". As a nation, we are selfish and greedy because we've been conditioned to act as such. I highly recommend you to see SICKO if you haven't already, and I give it 2 big thumbs way up!!!

A bit of Latin and American Jazz

2007-07-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

This night, Claudia Perez Brown & her Quartet performed a Latin jazz set at the The Village Players Theatre in Oak Park, IL on 01 Jul 2007. Claudia is a friend of a friend, and I met her recently at another Chicago area event. She is of Chilean descent and sings with such passion and soulfulness, which was a joy to experience live.
Based in Chicago for more than 12 years, she has performed with acclaimed musicians from around the world such as Jazz living legend and tenor saxophonist, Von Freeman; Chicago Symphony Orchestra Venezuelan guest composer, Ricardo Lorenz; Blue Note recording artist, guitar virtuoso, Fareed Haque; piano and harmonica player, Howard Levy; Tunisian guitarist, Fawzi Chekili; Mozambique singer/songwriter, Hortencio Langa; Brazilian singer, Paulinho Garcia; Mexican folk group, Sones de Mexico; and for the past 12 years with her musical director, talented Chicago based guitarist Neal Alger. Claudia sings in English, Spanish and Portuguese and is currently learning French, which are some of the main contemporary languages of our Americas. Her open-minded approach to music inspires her to incorporate multiple Latino-American rhythms from the South and Central America and the Caribbean as well as Jazz, R&B, Soul, Pop, and even elements of Classical Music!

Hear and see Claudia Pérez Brown at http://www.claudiaperezbrown.com/

Claudia and other featured artist, Matt Kanelos, play together.
Here is Matt Kanelos & his trio performing their American Jazz set. He singing and style reminded me of Dave Matthews while Elizabeth said he reminded her of Paul Simon. I enjoyed him so much I bought his CD, which does not do justice to his live performance however. He played with his good buddies Matt on bass and Joe on drums.

Originally from Chicago, singer/songwriter and pianist, Matt Kanelos has recently emerged as an exciting new voice in New York City’s downtown music scene. With a vocal style calling to mind Paul Simon and James Taylor, a songwriting concept in the realm of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, and a touch at the keyboard reminiscent of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. Kanelos commands the stage with a disarming grace distinctly his own. Appearing regularly at acclaimed New York music venues like the Living Room and the Rockwood Music Hall, Matt always fills the room with people and a sound that brings them back time and again. Matt has recently released a five-song EP entitled “Children Love to Dance.”

Hear and see Matt Kanelos at http://www.mattkanelos.com/

Puerto Rico and The World of Bomba Music & Dance

2007-07-01T16:28:00.000-05:00

Beginning Africaribe Bomba students incl. my friends Renee & Elizabeth.
In an effort to share what I've learned about the Spanish-named Puerto Rican (PR; English for Rich Port) or Boricuan culture, I have linked to Wikepedia. Puerto Ricans sometimes refer to their island as Borikén, or the Spanish variant Borinquen, a name for the island used by indigenous Taíno people. The current term boricua derives from the Taíno name for the island, and is commonly used to identify oneself as Puerto Rican. The Taínos, said to be descendants of the South American Arawakan people, were named by Christopher Columbus and were the native inhabitants of PR, Bahamas, Cuba, the Greater Antilles and parts of the Lesser Antilles. Another native group, known as the Caribs, were also descendants of the South American Arawakan people and the neighbors and enemies of the Taínos. The Carib people mostly inhabited the Lesser Antilles.

PR people today are said to be a mixture of Taíno (meaning "good" or "noble"), Spanish and African blood to varying degrees. The Spanish origins occurred through colonization after Columbus discovered the area in 1492. The African ancestry is a result of both freed blacks and the slave trade brought to the Caribbean or New World by the Spaniards circa 1509 due to the decimation of the enslaved native population by European and later African diseases such as smallpox, influenza, measles and typhus and under the harsh working conditions. Many other Taínos are said to have committed suicide or fled the island circa 1511. The major products were gold and ginger & sugar cane, but the island was also an important Spanish stronghold and port in the Caribbean so workers were needed to build garrisons and forts. The Spaniard and Black arrivals were mostly male which resulted in civil marriages and intercourse with the Taíno women thus producing a complex mix of offspring termed "Mestizos" or "mulattoes".

Blacks had little or no opportunity for advancement and faced discrimination from Spaniards. The slave was educated by his master and soon learned to speak his language. They enriched the "Puerto Rican Spanish" language by adding some words of their own and educated their children with what they had learned from their masters. The Spaniards considered the black man superior to the Taínos, since the Taínos were unwilling to assimilate their ways. The slave had no choice but to convert to Christianity, they were baptized by the Catholic Church and assumed the surnames of their masters... This mixture was to become the bases of the Puerto Rican people.

An official Spanish edict of 1664 offered freedom and land to African people from non-Spanish colonies, such as Jamaica and St. Dominique (Haiti), who immigrated to Puerto Rico and provided a population base to support the Puerto Rican garrison and its forts. These freeman who settled the western and southern parts of the island, soon adopted the ways and customs of the Spaniards... It should be noted that the escaped slaves and freedman who immigrated from the West Indies, kept their former masters surnames which normally was either English or French. This is why it is not uncommon for Puerto Ricans of African decedent to have non-Spanish surnames.

In typical colonial fashion, the Spaniards stayed in PR only as long as doing so served their purposes. PR was virtually abandoned by these settlers for the mainlands circa the late 18th century although it remained under Spanish rule. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, which lasted 109 days, the US successfully defeated Spain and PR, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines were handed over to the US with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. "As of 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are more people of Puerto Rican birth or ancestry living in the United States than in Puerto Rico itself."

Culture
Puerto Rican culture is a mix of four cultures, African (from the slaves), Taíno (Amerindians), Spanish, and, more recently, North American. From Africans, the Puerto Ricans have obtained the "bomba and plena", a type of music and dance including percussions and maracas. From the Amerindians (Taino's), Puerto Ricans have kept many names for their municipalities, foods, musical instruments like the güiro and maracas. Many words and other objects have originated from their localized language. From the Spanish they got the Spanish language, the Catholic religion and the vast majority of their cultural and moral values and traditions.

Bomba
Below are pictures taken from the Africaribe party held Saturday, June 30, 2007, where students, like my friend Elizabeth, entertained the crowd. It was a great evening. With its intense African influence, the dance and music (drumming and singing) is quite captivating. I felt compelled to get up to center stage and shake my groove thing, too, although I have never taken class nor have any pics of my dancing to show you. Dancing to the drums and singing feels like dancing to your heartbeat, it's just so vital and alive.
Student and experienced Bomba drummers
This man was a good Bomba dancer
These are the advanced Bomba students.
This is one of the Bomba instructors from Africaribe.
This is the lovely & talented student, Tiffany, who demonstrated African/Haitian dance. She was wonderful.

Audience members doing freestyle Bomba.
Photo of the moon's eerie quality that night.
Of course, no one could resist shooting off fireworks in Chi town.

Alex sings songs

2007-07-01T13:07:00.000-05:00

I enjoy listening to Alex Smith sing; he does some great cover songs as well (see below).

Kings Of Convenience - I'D Rather Dance With You

2007-06-20T15:03:00.001-05:00

I love this song.

When no means yes....beautiful

2007-06-20T14:55:00.001-05:00

Ballet Chicago- S'Wonderful: Corrected

2007-05-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

Balanchine's Serenade (artists unknown)

Ballet Chicago Studio Co. & Guest artists put on a fantastic show last night called S’Wonderful. The title was indeed apropos! It was an evening of luscious entertainment and choreography with some very talented artists. Courtesy of the Chicago Reader: “For its tenth-anniversary celebration, "S'Wonderful," the troupe performs George Balanchine's Serenade and Who Cares? plus Artistic Director Daniel Duell's new Prelude and Fugue and Mono No Aware and Ted Seymour's new Fragile: This Side Up. Sat 5/19, 2 and 7:30 PM, Sun 5/20, 3 PM, Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, 312-902-1500 or 312-251-8838, $16-$30, children $12”

The costumes by Sandra Haggard after Karinska for Balanchine's Serenade were quite lovely and simple. It featured the ladies wearing a simple, light blue leotard with a floor-length, split, light blue tule skirt. The ladies arms would very effectively swoop down periodically to fluff out the skirt. I like how Mr B. uses port de bras to create various symmetrical group poses as well as his use of frequent little spins and hops. I don’t know the technical names for these movements but the cor. is very beautiful, light and joyous, and I suppose it was reminiscent of pure classicism. The dancers sold the performance well. Principals, Julie Niekrasz, Hamilton Nieh, who had such beautiful line and technique, and Alicia Fabry, Luke Manley and Charlotte Speranza were all lovely. I couldn’t help but to notice Robin Stupay b/c she was very beautiful and had such wonderful stage presence; she kind of reminds me of Stella Abrerra from ABT. It helped that she was in the front row but the rest was all her.

Mr Duell’s Mono No Aware was a very refreshing piece of modern cor. featuring four males as Japanese Samurai’s. This was the first live cor. I have seen using a Phillip Glass score, whom I frequently listen to so it was nice to see. The men did a fantastic job, but both Jake Laub and Hamilton Nieh stole the show for me. Alicia Fabry did an excellent job as the only female dancer. Overall, it was a nice piece of cor.

Mr Duell’s second piece, Prelude and Fugue, featured the only live music of the evening, Johann Sebastian Bach, played by a familiar pianist, Mungunchimeg Buriad. I saw her perform thrice for the Joffrey’s The Green Table back in February; she is excellent. This was a very lovely ballet for four dancers, Rachel Jambois, Alicia Pugh, Olivia Schmit and Charlotte Speranza. I would have to say it seemed like pure classical ballet to my amateur eyes. I thought one dancer, Rachel Jambois, really captured the essence of the piece although all of the ladies were fantastic. Rachel has such a natural flow, musicality and rhythm to her dancing that was delightful to see.

I was very impressed with Ted Seymour's new Fragile: This Side Up. This is just a modern or contemporary piece of cor. at its best and the dancers did a wonderful job with it to the music of Alva Noto, Aphex Twins, and Marcelino. The costumes were by Jessica Lee Keller and reminded me a bit of Wonder Woman’s outfit sans the magic lasso. I thought dancers, Rachel Jambois and Ashlynn Coffee really stood out in their ability to make the unique cor. look very natural on their frames as if they had been dancing it all their lives. As it turns out, Ashlynn’s very proud papa was beaming as he stood next to Mr Duell when I asked him during intermission who several of the dancers were. Dancers, Alicia Pugh, Charlotte Speranza & Jake Laub all had wonderful musicality and just looked like they were really enjoying themselves. I was sitting next to Alicia's very proud mama. The entire audience was just really jazzed up and having a ball right from the beginning, which had a very different feel then when I attend the Joffrey or ABT. Everyone was 100% behind these dancers.

Mr B’s Who Cares? was my favorite piece of the night because it showcased the talents of every single dancer, plus it is a really happy, joyous ballet. It felt like the entire cast just outdid themselves in that number. Mr Ted Seymour also proved himself to be a wonderful dancer as well as choreographer. Again, Alicia Fabry, Luke Manley, Robin Stupay, Jake Laub, Hamilton Nieh, Rachael Jamois and Charlotte Speranza were in excellent form. If I only singled out a few dancers, I mean no disrespect to the others; it is just that these folks really knocked my socks off. The entire night was S'Wonderful.

Correction: The parents of ballet student Mr. Jake Laub informed me that I had inadvertently called him Luke Laub. Oops, thank you for the correction. Also, the dancers were not listed separately as being a professional or student so visit BC's home page for more info.

Laila Ali is Hot, Hot, Hot

2007-05-15T23:43:00.001-05:00

She floats like a butterfly. Stings like a bee. Nobody can beat her. Move over Daddy, it's Laila Ali. Okay, this woman is awesome and my amateur ballroom hero. I want a body like her's and to move like her. Most of all, I want an attitude like her's; she has this amazing "can do attitude" that is so strong, beautiful and powerful that not even her professional partner, Maksim Chmerkovkiy's, ego can touch it. She is endearingly humble and real. How absolutely wonderful to see this in a woman of color or any woman for that matter. She's just amazing! Her Mambo is too die for!!!! Visit this link to see it on Dancing with the Stars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPvAYPtKZ40

Children of Men & Man on Fire

2007-05-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

I haven't wanted to recommend any movies lately until I saw Children of Men starring Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore. This movie takes a futuristic look (2027) at what the world might be like if we don't all learn to be more tolerant of human rights, etc. The storyline is believable, well told and thought out. The acting is superb. The cinematography is amazing, which alone makes this movie worth seeing, and features super long scenes in cars and on the street that are done in only one take. Current Hollywood fashion utilizes CGI, green screens and constant editing to make most action movies, but neither of my 2 recommendations are made in this way. Instead, these movies are filmed documentary style or in real-time so you feel like you are actually there and that the events really took place.
Another movie I like for its cinematography, incredible acting, and storytelling is Man on Fire starring Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, and Dakota Fanning. In neither movie is the hero your typical protagonist. In both cases the hero is sort of reluctant but does what he needs to do for the benefit of others and at great cost to himself. Yes, there is lots of violence, but we live in a violent world don't we that isn't getting any nicer. I am a sucker for men that are worthy of the title "man," who when the going gets tough, come through for you. I suppose I'm looking for a hero in the ordinary man.

A bonus on each DVD features how both movies were made from the director, editor, camerman and actors point of view, which I always find interesting and educational. Children of Men also features commentary about the plight of our world from a political, anthropological and environmental point of view by some very prominent figures and historians on the issues; this is very educational.

Luna Negra Dance Theater- Viajes (Journeys)

2007-05-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

This company's Cinco de Mayo celebration features three Latino choreographers. They are wonderful and rank right up there with ABT, Alvin Ailey, and the Joffrey in terms of artistry and talent which includes thoroughly selling the entire program to the audience. These dancers emote and project quite effectively. I became sucked in and willingly followed them to where ever they wanted to take me. The cor. has a very Latin-y feel throughout as do the musical choices, which are mostly in Spanish. One of the featured choreographers is Founder & Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro with Amor Y Dolor (Love & Sorrow) and Quinceanera (Sweet Fifteen), and the other is Gustavo Ramirez Sansano with Luna de Miel (The Honeymoon). However, not all of the dancers are of Latin descent, and the 5 female & 5 male dancers come from very diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. Visit their website http://www.lunanegra.org/ for more info. I’m one of those people that become easily absorbed in other cultures so I soaked this program right up. This company blends Latin and Afro-Caribbean dance forms.

The Luna Negra dancers are very beautiful artistically and physically, which is always nice. They performed at a smaller, intimate venue, the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago, and since I was in the 3rd row, I can tell you that all five guys are totally hot. With a company this small, I could really focus on each dancer and note how very unique and talented each of them is. I didn’t see any weaknesses only strengths. For example, Dustin Crumbaugh is the most youthful looking dancer but no less talented. Justin Daniel appears more limber and melty-like and is the tallest member. I am unable to distinguish btw two of the ladies, Autumn Eckman and Kirsten Shelton, but I can say that neither moves the same; they each have their own grace and style. Ricardo J. Garcia is a strong, passionate, fiery Latino. Veronica Guadalupe is a lovely classical looking dancer. Anthony Peyla has incredibly defined arms and is amazing to watch. Jorge Quintero Troestch (above pic), is a very cute, sexy, passionate Latino with a tattoo of a dagger on one arm. Vanessa Valecillos is built like Linda Hamilton in “Terminator 2” and is very athletic. Finally, there is Jessica Alejandra Wyatt (above pic), who has a beautiful smile and these sparkling eyes that focus your attention. They each appear strong individually but together make up a wonderful, cohesive ensemble. They also come across as a close knit family.

All of the cor. is unique and wonderful, but the world premiere program, Sugar in the Raw (Azucar Cruda), is an incredible piece by Michelle Manzanales with input from the dancers. The 5 ladies wore the same knee-length, light brown & dark chocolate colored dress while the 5 men wore tight black, stretchy tops (the kind worn by gay men in bars) with brownish-black, snug-fitted, chino pants. Um, watching the guys move in these costumes is worth the admission price alone, but together with the ladies the cor. has lots of intricate and unique partnering and lifts as well as solo work. The men look like men and the ladies like ladies and you could see and feel the strong Latin influence throughout. The playbill says the piece is about exploration of the complexities and subtleties of identity and is a portrait of the beautiful imperfections of humanity. All I know is that the company delivers the piece with lots of heartfelt emotion and passion. It received a standing ovation and applause lasting several minutes. You could feel the energy, humility, humaness and excitement radiating from the dancers, and I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Joffrey- Light Rain No. 2 - Updated again

2007-04-28T17:17:00.000-05:00

Here is a clip of LR from the movie "The Company" feat. Trinity Hamilton (no longer w/Joffrey) http://youtube.com/v/a9YGpkFGO-Q

With the exceptions of "Untitled" & "Caught" I preferred the lead dancers from Wednesday's opening night, which I explain in detail. As Jacques D'Amboise said in Born to Be Wild - The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre (2002), I can't say what makes a great male dancer, each person will find that. And, the more you see, the higher maybe your expectations are, and the more greater the [next] dancer has to be to erase what you just saw before and supersede it kind of. So all I can say is see all the dance you can, don't listen to anybody tell you anything and just let when it happens happen to you, ha ha."

I've tried to follow the above philosophy when I see any artistic production, and I usually see it more than once just to see how others do it. So when I say that I didn't care for something, I have given't it plenty of thought before commenting. The principal dancers on Friday, May 27th didn't erase or supercede my expections of the previous performance with few exceptions. The dancers in Dance for Yal, Maia Wilkins, and White Widow, April Daly, just didn't have the level of intensity or magic that the other ladies' did and something seemed a bit off. These 1 or 2 person performances really require more from the dancers than the ensemble pieces do b/c they've only got one shot to impress the audience. And, if they don't impress, that's the image that remains stuck in my mind until I see them in some other work that will hopefully erase the image. This is why ballet is a tough profession to be in, and why I tend to favor certain soloists that consistently deliver amazing performances.

Untitled, my least favorite, was much better the second time around. I still don't care much for it, but I liked certain things about it like how Jennifer G. fussed with her dress in the opening scene. She just did it with such style and grace that I was surprised by how much I liked it b/c it's just a simple gesture. I enjoyed the playfulness and naughtiness btw Jennifer and Britta Lazenga as well as their facial expressions and arm positions. Their concealed carriers, Michael Smith and William Hillard, had great timing and hit very funny foot positions. This particular foursome executed the cor. seamlessly. Eduardo Permuy & Aaron Rogers were fine as the 2 gentleman, and their performance was no greater or lesser than Derrick Agnoletti or Brian M. of the previous show. Derrick, however, stood out as more of a showman/comedian and executed the most believable faux falls and throws. Overall, no matter how wonderful the dancers may be, the ballet is too long so I would just assume skip it altogether.

The principal couple in Valentine, Brian McSween & Jennifer Goodman, lacked the ease, fluidity, and chemistry to make the performance interesting. There were just too many kinks. They weren't polished like Julianne & Fabrice, who were perfect in the role. Unfortunately, this is a ballet that requires virtuosity among the dancers; the cor. doesn't allow for mediocrity. All Joffrey dancers are not interchangeable within certain roles. This is one ballet that I wouldn't see again unless my "it" couple was performing. The ref was the same, and he does an excellent job.

John Gluckman rocked in Caught. Although, he didn't erase or supersede Calvin, he's certainly worth seeing again and again in the role. I don't believe there's anything that I haven't enjoyed him in or where I thought he could have done better. He's definitely one of my favorites.

A woman that was seated next to me said that she was surprised that Maia and her husband, Michael Levine, lacked chemistry in Light Rain and that she prefers Maia with Willy Shives. I liked how both Maia and Michael performed in the role, and I didn't see anything wrong with the dancing or pairing per se, they just were not able to match or supersede Valerie Robin or Fabrice Calmels in my mind. Maia was excellent but, unfortunately, her performance followed the 1st couple. Most excitement came from seeing the rest of the ensemble cast, in particular, Temur Suluashvili, who I didn't recognize at first. He has got an incredible body that just floors me, and he can dance, too. It was nice to finally see William Hillard dance full out b/c I'm not familiar with him. Jonathan Dummar can shake his groove thing quite nicely, and I really liked his chest, arm and neck extensions. Lastly, there was Derrick, who can also get down, and must have elastic in his legs b/c he just springs into the air when he jumps, which really stood out from the other guys. The 3rd movement of this ballet makes me think of Soul Train where the best dancers show off their stuff in front of the others and the camera. I will probably never tire of "LR".

If I see the same ballet following too closely on the heels of a prior performance, my emotional reaction tends to be stronger. It is one of the problems and blessings of live engagements with limited showings. It is like what happens in iceskating when the skater(s) receive(s) awesome scores or a standing ovation just before the next skater(s) takes the ice. It is almost impossible not to have certain expectations for this next performance to be just as good or better. The reverse can occur as well.

Joffrey Ballet- Light Rain on Opening Night

2007-04-28T11:02:00.004-05:00

Light Rain

I went to 2 productions, opening night Wed, May 25th & Fri, May 27th, featuring 6 different ballets. This production ends the 2 year 50th anniversary celebration of the company. On Wed. at the start of the program, we were given a special treat not part of the playbill. Suddenly, the lights went out and the curtain raised without all the usual rigamoro about cell phones, etc. On the stage were 2 posed dancers, a female, April Daly, wearing a Greek-like tunic, holding a lit torch, Calvin Kitten, wearing a single-shoulder, white leotard without tights and a light blue belt, carrying an unlit torch, and an approximately 6-foot unlit pedestal torch that stood between them. I don’t remember if there was any recorded music playing before Calvin started dancing, but the cor. is by Mr. A called, "Olympiad". He extended both arms out to 2nd position as sort of a show of strength, I guess, and did a bit of held stretching like poses and extensions. Then he began a series of grand allegro jumps and turns. The piece ended with Calvin lighting his torch from the female’s torch then lighting the pedestal torch. We clapped, and they exited the stage. Three distinguished mucky mucks came onstage to announce that the piece was a celebration of Chicago’s recent bid for the Summer Olympics. They also announced the upcoming retirement and change of title on July 1, 2007 of Joffrey’s Co-founder/Artistic Director/Choreographer, Gerald Arpino, to A. Director Emeritus. As the spot light shined on him, I finally got to see him in the infamous right, 2nd lower box, which he has apparently occupied since the Joffrey moved to Chicago in 1995. That box will now forever bear a plaque with his name and title.

On Wed., Erica Lynette Edwards was fabulous in her vivid red dress as she swung gloriously across the stage to the romantic, French lyrics of “Et Pourtant”. She really sold this short, dreamy, aerial performance with such grace, beauty and dignity. Her timing btw releasing the swing to dance on stage before grabbing it again was impeccable. I was so proud of my hero in that moment and was fortunate enough to be able to tell her personally as she later joined the audience. The cor. is by Joanna Haigood.

“Untitled” by Pilobolus was the next piece danced by Maia Wikins & Suzanne Lopez. To be honest, I didn’t appreciate this comical ballet very much. Intellectually, I understand that the piece is intended to reflect sexual and social mores of the time, but it was just too different, abstract and lengthy for me. The cor. features the ladies wearing long, large Victorian-eque gowns while 2 near nude dancer (M. Levine & J. Gluckman) concealed beneath the gown raise them to varying heights. Later, 2 fully clothed Victorian gentlemen (D. Agnoletti & B. McSween) come on stage at 2 different moments to interact with the ladies. The ladies later give birth to the concealed dancer so we finally get to see them.

“White Widow” cor. by MOMIX and performed by Emily Patterson was quite lovely. This piece by Emily can also be seen in the movie “The Company”. The experience of seeing it live was quite different for me emotionally then the movie. I liked it better in the movie because it was so much more intimate as it was shot close up so one could see the emotions cross Emily’s face to the hauntingly sad music and lyrics. Still, she reigns supreme in this aerial performance with her grace, demureness, held poses and perfect timing.

“Valentine” cor. by Mr. Arpino, features a comic battle of the sexes that takes place in a fictional boxing arena, where a solo contrabassist, Joseph Guastafeste, plays and acts as referee; he interacts with the dancers and mumbles incoherent words as needed. The chemistry and comedic timing btw Julianne Kepley & Fabrice Calmels really both sells and saves this performance b/c I’m indifferent about the cor. The thing is, I like Julianne in everything she does b/c she is such a perky, petite, powerhouse dancer. Her extensions, turns and jumps were perfectly delivered with the musical beat throughout the piece. The contrast in size btw she and Fabrice make the piece look better than it might otherwise. The point I'm making is that they are both amazing, cute and fun to watch despite the cor. As always, Fabrice is a consummate showman and actor, and I like how he looks and moves on stage so the cor. is secondary. He & Julianne have dynamic personalities and incredible stage presence or "star power," which turned this less than ordinary ballet into extraordinary. I guess if people or dancers strongly disagree with me that's okay b/c who's to say why certain dancers become audience, critic, and director favorites. Being a great dancer requires more than just perfect classical technique or whether or not a dancer shows up to class or not. The only opinion that matters when watching a ballet is your own. This link is from a 2004 interview about how Mr. A chooses his dancers for each piece.

“Caught” featuring Calvin, cor. by David Parsons, is simply ‘f-ing’ amazing. I love this petite, bravura dancer who can make any cor. look good on him when you least expect it. His technical ability in jumping and turning is similar to Herman Cornejo of ABT, which just makes you say, ‘Wow’! This ballet is about creating the illusion that the dancer is defying gravity by using a strobe light, which illuminates the dancer in various poses. Btw transitions you can see the dancer actually running so clearly he's moving. So you hear this incredible electronic music then see picture-eque images of the dancer in mid-air. The strobes are turned off periodically so the dancer can be seen standing still (breathing heavily) then the lights and action begin again. You start thinking that the stage must be moving since the dancer is ‘caught’ on the floor in the same position but appears to be being pulled in a slow-motion linear and diagonal movement almost like a conveyer belt with the strobe lights. This is a brilliant piece of cor., but if it lasted any longer than it does the dancer would probably pass out from fatigue and the audience would get a headache from the lights.

“Light Rain” is a wonderful piece cor. by Mr Arpino set to this great Eastern rhythmic music. One of the specialties of Mr. A seems to be his ensemble pieces b/c they look fantastic on the company with criss-crossing diagonals, leaps, and small solos in the midst of it all. I don't think the ballet has any meaning other than to be a feast for both the audience and dancers. The music is very catchy and the dance very sensual as there are a lot of bare male chests and hip swaying among all. I like the exaggerated use of chest, arm and neck extension; this is no "Cinderella". As usual, the dancers truly sell this performance as a whole. However, Valerie Robin in a word simply ‘dominates’ in this piece. You’d think the cor. was set to her because she doesn’t dance it, she embodies the music and the movement with slow, fluid developpes and unbelievable extension and flexibility as if she lacks a spine or joints; she just kinda melts into each move. Did I mention that she bends her leg back so that her foot touches and goes beyond her head to touch her arms which are also extended upward in some sort of contortionist developpe; her partner assists her in this. Uh, it was f-ing amazing! Here, her height makes a big difference b/c it sets her apart from the other females. Also, she has this attitude throughout the entire piece that says, “I am unequivocally the queen here” but with a quiet assertiveness and grace that bespeaks her maturity as a dancer and artist. Fabrice was her very supportive partner, but she was the 'center' of attention, which means that Fabrice appeared as the more diminutive one. When you stand 6’6” appearing invisible takes skill, and this was a bravura performance by the two. Other notable soloists were were Megan Quiroz, who was quite lovely & sensual, Aaron Rogers, who just amazed & thrilled me, and Patrick Simoniello, who looked sexy and is well suited to modern dance (former Hubbard Street Dancer). I really, really hope to see Aaron in something else like say, “Caught”. I was quite thrilled to see Victoria Jaiani in the number b/c she was previously out with an injury. Everyone did a fantastic job this night, and again, reminds me of why I love this company so.

Sylvie Guillem & Jonathan Cope- Swan Lake

2007-04-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

Uh, I couldn't resist posting this. I really enjoy these two dancers and am in love with Ms Guillem's legs, which are just perfect to me. Jonathan has a great body as well, but you be the judge.

Anaheim Ballet Podcast's- a youtube favorite

2007-04-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

I recently heard about these weekly podcast's and became addicted to them. This one features hottie, Jimmy Cha, a South Korean ballet dancer. He looks pretty good to me. To see Jimma Cha again click here.

My Favorite Dave Chappelle Clip

2007-04-07T12:42:00.000-05:00

If you don't like curse words, the "N" word or raunchy humor then don't play the clip. I think this guy is brilliant 2nd only to Chris Rock in his truthful, witty observations about life, politics, and the differences btw men & women. My favorite part occurs at 1:56 sec; total clip length is 9:39 sec. Click here to watch another of his funniest clips.

Alvin Ailey ADT has got Soul & Awesome Women!!

2007-04-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

I saw Alvin Ailey ADT perform twice on Sat. 3/31/07 for $15 a show. You just have to love student rush tickets. It didn't mater where I was sitting in the Roosevelt Auditorium Theatre b/c one still has a good view of the stage. Also, since this was a contemporary, mixed bill of lyrical jazz, facial expression wasn't as important to note as it is with ballet; however, their facial expressions were very visible from my 3rd floor balcony seat during the matinee and my much closer orchestra seat during the evening show. As is typical for me, I interacted with those sitting around me, and once again, learned things about the company and the city of Chicago that I hadn't known previously. I think I even met some new theatre and dance buddies to go to events with. I shook hands and expressed my appreciation of the company with Masazumi Chaya, Assoc. Artistic Director of AAADT when he casually passed by me in the aisle of the evening show. He seemed very pleased with the show and the audiences reception of it.

Okay. On to the dancing. The afternoon playbill fea. The River, Spring, Meander, Giggling Rapids, Lake Falls, Vortex, Riba & Twin Cities before the 1st intermission. Courney Brene' Corbin, Vernard J. Gilmore and Antonio Dourhit of Meander were standouts as were Chris Jackson, Adam McKinney, Willy Laury, and Abdur-Rahim Jackson in Falls. Ms. Alicia J. Graf, who has received many rave reviews, was incredible in her solo, Vortex; she moved like a ballerina and was very light and lyrical. The cor. in Riba was nice as it featured 2 groups of 4 males and females each doing gr. battements tendus or NYC Rocket-style kicks forward and to the side at a 90 degree angle; it was unique looking. I also enjoyed Linda Celeste Sims, Matthew Rushing performing Twin Cities; it was just a lovely, well choreographed number.

Next, came The Golden Section (above photo), cor. by Twyla Tharp with music by David Byrne, which is a fast paced piece filled with high-impact aerobic intensity, running and acrobatic lifts and throws. It was amazing that the dancers were able to keep up their energy and intensity throughout this long number. Ms. Tharp is known for her aerobic filled choreography. It wasn’t my favorite piece but it was definitely interesting.

I’ll discuss later on both the afternoon and evening presentation of Revelations together, which is a much beloved and staple piece of the company repertory. Although I enjoy Revelations very much, I would still see AAADT perform without it. The evening playbill fea. Love Stories (cor. by Judith Jamison, Robert Battle & Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris; music by Stevie Wonder) and Episodes (cor by Ulysses Dove, restaged Mr Chaya; music Robert Ruggieri). Neither of these programs should be missed by a serious AAADT fan. Love Stories is an incredible blend of hip-hop, street dance, latin and lyrical jazz that was performed exquisitely by the ensemble. You can see the difference in both technique, flow and artistry in these professional dancers from say the folks that appear on “So You Think You Can Dance”. I think having a ballet, modern and jazz background makes all the difference in the world from those who do not; it is just cleaner. Love Stories is such a fun piece that it’ll make you want to dance in the aisles. I came to this 2nd AAADT show because I had seen amazing clips from Love Stories on youtube.com and refused to miss seeing it performed live, full out. See Love Stories photo on left here fea. Clifton Brown, Ms. Smallwood & Ms. Boykin.

Episodes (left pic), which is no less intense, is literally a darker piece where the dancers are wearing black outfits and highlighted in white light as the background remains blackened out. The cor. involves the use of diagonals or criss-crossing on stage. It is about relationships and how they develop and/or change over time between couples, male or female. It, too, is a great piece not worth missing if possible.

Revelations is an incredible work cor. by Alvin Ailey with traditional music that contains many different numbers. The afternoon standout cast members were Chris Jackson, Khilea Douglass and Courtney Brene’ Corbin in Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel. My favorite pdd in the entire ballet is Fix Me, Jesus, which fea. Tina Monica Williams & Glenn Allen Sims in the afternoon cast and Briana Reed & Jamar Roberts in the evening cast. This pic on left is called The Shadow from Revelations.

I thought Wade in the Water (left pic) done in the evening was a bit more intense, which fea. Dwana Adiaha Smallwood, Vernard J. Gilmore & Renee Robinson, who were all incredible. Guillermo Asca, who danced I Wanna Be Ready in the afternoon was emotionally captivating to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed both casts of Sinner Man fea. Willy Laury, Adam McKinney, & Vernard J. Gilmore in the afternoon and Chris Jackson, Clifton Brown, & Abdur-Rahim Jackson in the evening. Both ensemble casts performed the finale number, Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham to perfection. However, the evening cast received a full standing ovation with lots of whistling, clapping, and cheering so the company gave us an encore presentation. Although the afternoon crowd was no less enthusiastic, they did not give a full standing ovation; I stood after each number in both shows b/c the company overall is that damn good. I left the theatre after the eve. performance dancing & singing the words to Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham b/c I found it impossible not to. People kept asking me if I was a dancer. Yes, I am, just not professionally.

Unlike in ballet, the women are the powerhouse force with their incredible technique and artistic presentation. I didn’t really focus on the men too much even though they are extremely talented with great bodies. Perhaps, there is something about seeing African-American women that look like me doing their thing that strikes some sort of kinship within me. Of course, not all of the dancers male or female look like me. In any event, I would go just to see the ladies dance without the men, which cannot be said for the Joffrey, Kirov or ABT ballet companies.

All of the dancers are fantastic but two women just stood out no matter what piece they were in. The first is Dwana Adiaha Smallwood (top & bottom pics), who for me is the black, lyrical jazz version of ballerina Gillian Murphy from ABT with her amazing body and mesmerizing talent. The second is Hope Boykin (see love story pic), who is a pint-sized, powerhouse of talent and energy. She is like the female version of Herman Cornejo of ABT.

ABT: it's all over!! *Updated

2007-03-25T17:59:00.005-05:00

It is possible to see too much ballet in a 5 day period, but I would happily do it again if given the opportunity. Still, I was so glad when the last curtain call was finally over. I hurriedly left the building to board my bus for home sweet home.

Each show I learned something new about the R&J ballet, but I want to clarify something I wrote earlier. Gillian Murphy was my favorite "Juliet" but neither of her 2 “performances” were the best because R&J needs to be about both characters. There were 3 far better performances starring the chemistry btw the couple. I’ll list what I noted about each couple starting with the most recent show.

This Sun. afternoon I saw the amazing Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo as R&J. Xiomara was absolutely in love with her Romeo; their chemistry was a joy to see and was greater than any one individual. Herman played a strong, passionate, and attentive Romeo with Craig Salstein as Mercutio and Sascha Radetsky as Benvolio. My focus was solely on Herman unless Juliet was present. It was easy to feel their attraction. They truly were everything that I could want or expect in R&J. I don’t know why Herman has not danced this role before. He is just an incredible technician and actor. Everyone around me kept remarking on his elan [height] in jumping. Oh, the balcony pdd kiss made my toes curl yet again. Damn, but I want some of that fiery latin machismo, too! One got the impression that this Romeo would have seriously rocked Juliet's world in the bedroom. The acting is just that good. I didn’t see any noticeable errors in either of them. Xiomara gave 2 stellar performances with different Romeos', which shows her versatility.

Saturday night was the worst of the 6 performances, which starred Gillian Murphy & David Hallberg. There was one major faux pas, which I blame on David for not being there to support his partner during the bedroom Pdd. It was one of those mistakes that you could see coming b/c as Gillian entered an arabesque penche, which is choreographed to lean about 15°, she had no support. David was supposed to catch her arms. One second he was nearby and the next he had sidestepped away instead of toward. A very loud thud resonated throughout the theatre when her pointe shoe hit the floor hard as she twisted her torso in the opposite direction to achieve her own balance. Anyway, she stayed en pointe, and the Pdd continued with several more baubles; one being the loud slapping of her arm as David grabbed it at the end of one of her multiple pirouettes. He was also a little shaky during some of the lifts and needed to do several balance checks throughout the pdd. Gillian held it together just fine. Let’s just say, we were all happy when the Pdd ended.

It looked like David, Jesus, and many of the male cast didn’t have much energy and only years of training and weeks of rehearsal pulled them through the night. David Hallberg on a bad night is still pretty darn good. The main thing wrong with the pairing of David & Gillian on both Fri & Sat. nights IMHO is not that he lacks the acting chops as some have alluded to. It’s that both he and Gillian are sort of ethereal in their artistic presentation. What I mean is that they can both come across as angelic/asexual, and at least one of them needs to be down to earth or grounded in human emotion so that I can feel or understand the attraction for each other. If both dancers are unobtainable then they don’t work as a couple, which is why they weren’t believable to me. BTW, in the balcony scene's final kiss, David tried the same style of kiss with Gillian that he had done so wonderfully with Paloma, but it failed miserably here twice. Without the chemistry that kind of kiss seems out of place.

Friday night was a wonderful show w/good partnering and no glaring errors; the only exception being that David was outshone by both Gillian and Sascha IMHO. However, David is a beautiful all around dancer. Things that went wrong during the Sat. night show with David and ensemble cast was that 2 different swords broke during a single fight scene. Luckily, other dancers still had swords so they just gave their's to those dancers. Then a dancer accidently lost his sword during a fight, a curtain got stuck coming down on a scene, one of the hand-carried coaches was almost dropped with Rosaline in it, and a few dancers tripped over each other but luckily were only in the periphery. There were even some wardrobe issues that blinded one's vision or hampered one's movement. It was sort of a bad luck performance all around yet nothing too serious happened. In another show, I could hear and see part of a cloth background [a pseudo wall] being ripped as a carriage exited the stage. Fortunately, I didn't see any falls.

FYI- After his Friday night performance with Gillian, I saw David immediately after the show outside the backstage door hugging and speaking with an older lady. I stopped b/c I was going to ask him if he'd seen Matt Murphy inside, whom I was supposed to meet up with. However, after waiting about 30 seconds, I realized that David must be in a hurry to get somewhere since he was outside so quickly after the show. I could also tell that he'd seen me out of the corner of his eye and was probably trying to figure out how to politely dash off without appearing rude. It was then that I realized again that being a fan doesn't mean these dancers don't have places to go and things to do after a show so I decided not to bother him and quickly walked away. As I turned to enter the backstage main door, I saw David run out into the street to hail a cab. He was wearing a snug, long sleeved, white shirt and skinny blue jeans, which gave him a tall, lanky appearance. For some reason though, the sight of his arm raised above his head and attention to catching any available taxi was very appealing to witness. Ballet dancers do some of the most ordinary things with such grace and style compared to the rest of us Neanderthals!

Thursday evening’s show was amazing with Angel and Xiomara. Angel is a sexy, fun and passionate Romeo which balances out with the sweet and shy Juliet. Again, the chemistry worked and no one outshone the other. It made sense that these two could be attracted to one another. Angel is an amazing technician but even his arms shook during that scene where he lifts a horizontal Juliet up & down twice with his arms/chest while on bended knees to the swell of the music in the balcony pdd. Still, I don't recall seeing any errors in this performance. I've written about them elsewhere under ABT.

On Thursday, the matinee couple was David and Paloma Herrera. Paloma’s Juliet was very grounded in sweetness and loveliness while David’s Romeo was like a teenager in love for the first time; he was a little sexy & a little hot when he needed to be but otherwise wistful. The chemistry was ground in basic human emotion so it worked for me. Neither person outshone the other providing a nice balance. David does have wonderful line & extension plus beautifully arched feet. His long limbs and tall body look great and is what sets him apart from Herman & Angel. He's also a very light-on-his-feet dancer. This was a stellar performance. FYI-I think David is quite attractive in person b/c there is something very boyish about him. Soloist Jesus Pastor had a wonderful night with lots of personality, joy and technique as Mercutio; he started to fade in subsequent performances. Jared Mathews did a fine job in all four of his performances as Benvolio; however, Sascha has much more experience as a soloist and played the role with a lot more drama and technical umph.

On Wednesday night, I didn’t feel the chemistry btw Julie Kent & Angel. I didn’t feel them as a couple but they danced well together and individually. Julie was the only Juliet to do certain lifts in the balcony Pdd, which I’ve seen her do with Ethan Stiefel in the movie “Center Stage”. Alessandra Ferri does the same lifts with Julio Bocca in ABT’s “Variety & Virtuosity”. Both she and Angel are amazing actors so even though I couldn't’t feel them as a couple both were grounded in human emotions: Angel passionate and sexy to Julie’s softer passion and fragility. Julie has an amazing ability to emote even when one is sitting really far away like I was, and she did this wonderful grand jete through this narrow bedroom doorway w/a step. She also expressed the best fright of the bedroom scene. No one else matches her emotionally in ABT. Technically, Angel Corella is brilliant, and I like him more than Mikhail Baryshnikov. Angel is the only dancer or Romeo I've seen that can extend his leg to a 135 degrees in 2nd position when he dances side by side with his 2 friends; it looks amazing. He didn't have a perfect show (the stage is slippery & sloped as he put it) but it doesn't matter when you are as awesome as he is. His worst is probably better than most dancer's best. Soloist Craig Salstein was such a comedian and great technician that night; Craig started fading fast after this performance.

Corps members & others
One dancer I want to mention is Marian Butler. Matt Murphy envies her work ethic while I envy her dancing. If I had to sum her up compared to the other corps ladies she danced with, it would be "subtlety". She dances with an economy of movement that works well for her with the choreography, especially as one of Juliet's friends this afternoon. She just set herself apart from the other corps women. Prior to this, I've only seen her on DVD as a soloist in the "The Dream" in which she was cast as one of two "fighting" couples. The other couple was Stella Abrerra and Carlos Molina; Marian's subtlety of movement and character is in direct contrast to Stella, who is a very dramatic and expressive dancer.

I just need to further state that all of the ABT dancer's are talented. I thought Blaine Hoven, Matt Murphy and some unknown dude (I was too damn far away on Wed 21st), who danced on my far left or D-3 side, were the best of the Mandolin Dancers. Matt has a really good line esp. in the air and had the best timing musically of them. The red tights w/short top allowed me to see the dancers body better than the other townspeople unfortunately plus it is a standout piece.

Misty Copeland was wonderful as Juliet's friend, but she never danced along with Marian in that role. I saw Jackie Reyes dance twice with 2 principals as Juliet's friend so she gets a shout out for a great job as well. Oh, Adrienne Schulte played a naughty whore quite well on 2 nights and even kicked Tybalt as he lay dead; good job. Stella Abrera and Carmen Corella both did excellent jobs as Ladies Capulet. Victor Barbee is a wonderful, charismatic Lord Capulet, and Roman Zhurbin wasn't too shabby either as Lord Capulet and Lord Montague. Mr Luckett was a very convincing Friar. Late entry (so sorry ladies): the role of the nurse was played fabulously by 3 ladies, local dancer/actor, Susan Jones (my favorite) and 2 ABT corp mbrs, Sascha Dmochowski & Karin Ellen-Wentz. As you know, this role requires quite a bit of comedic timing, which they had in spades, especially in the playfulness with an 'immature' Juliet in her anteroom and the teasing btw Romeo and his 2 friends in the market place. Also, it was impossible not to love Corey Stearns as Paris; it was just wonderful to watch him with 'each' Juliet. Finally, I'll mention Vitali Krauchenka b/c I just kept seeing him all over the stage, back stage, and outside the theatre so he gets a shout out for constantly catching my attention. He became my ballet "Where's Waldo" b/c I wasn't happy unless I spotted him each show/scene.

Bravo ABT, musicians & support staff for this rich and succulent production!!!

1) Me behind the Civic Opera House on this 78 degree day; 2) Julio Bragado-Young, he was always seen in this very spot each day. I told him he did nice pointe work as the donkey in The Dream; He said he'd be getting them [pointe shoes] out soon for ABTs Met season.

3) This is the Lyric Opera Bridge on W Madison. 4) This corner shot fea. the archway in front of the backstage door where Julio is standing (above pic) on the corner of 20 N Wacker & W. Washington. The front entrance is further down on the left and looks exactly the same on N Wacker & W Madison.

4) This view is from where I was supposed to be sitting on Sat & Sun; Upper Balcony row A level 5. Come on, what are you going to see from way up here without binoculars. On opening night, I was in dress circle only 2 levels down ($75), but the same distance from the stage; too far. I got spoiled after my front row and 10th row tickets and chose to sit in orchestra left side btw row M and AA versus here. 5) For reference, this is the view from the absolute nosebleed seat: last row of UB level 6.

Random ballet musings- gillian murphy

2007-03-24T00:38:00.006-05:00

Some of the original content has been deleted from this post for personal reasons.

The amazingly beautiful and talented, Gillian Murphy. She was so normal and, of course, petite. She wouldn't let me close my book after signing it b/c she thought the ink was still wet; I kept tugging until I finally looked at her and got a clue. It was quick dry ink, but how could she have known that. Then after the last photo, she just turned and observed me for a while. The observer became the observed. What a turn of events that was for me. I wondered what she thought of me at first; however, she is entitled to have her own private thoughts about me just as I do her. * Updated- It turns out I may not have wowed Gillian Murphy with my beauty; it is more likely that she suddenly recognized me from several photos I had previously sent to Matt Murphy from day one since my hair was covered by a scarf at that time. Also, the pic book with multiple fuschia tabs poking out indicated that I was a fan; besides, how many black ballet chicks are going to be hanging around back stage. Interestingly, the night before after I met Angel, Bonnie hugged me and told me that I was an extremely beautiful person inside and out except that I needed to wear lipstick. I told you ABT fans will say anything.

Gillian's debut performance as "Juliet" was so beautiful. She is just an incredible dancer; for me, her artistry lies in her flawless technique since her movement tells the story. She is my favorite "Juliet" so far which takes nothing away from the other lovely ladies. It's just that there is something breathtaking about the way she moves that looks different from all the others. Unfortunately, some guy kept getting in the way of seeing her magnificence. Uh, it was David Hallberg. I'm sorry to say this, but David was just incidental compared to her. His only purpose for even being in the ballet was to partner Gillian and because it's called R&J. Her performance simply outshone David's. However, I loved and preferred his chemistry with Paloma. Only Angel Corella could have matched Gillian on that stage that night as he did in 2005's Swan Lake on DVD.

Incidentally, Sascha Radeskty did an amazing job dancing "Benvolio," which has some meaty choreography. He'd only been acting as "Tybalt" previously not dancing. He did this incredible multiple pirouette (Angel style) that had me and about 5 other amazed fans clapping vigorously even though David was doing a solo. His performance, also, exceeded that of David's in my opinion. Suffice it to say, I pretty much only focused on Sascha and Gillian.

I think the Civic Opera House & home of the Lyric Opera is a very beautiful bldg but not ideal for watching the ballet. The seats are not staggered and everything is just too far from the stage.

my ABT photo gallery

2007-03-23T11:23:00.002-05:00

Afternoon R&J cast for Thursday 2p.

1) Cutie-patootie, Cory Stearns. He's been with ABT only 1.5 yrs and already he was dancing "Paris" for both Thursday shows. I like him a lot on stage, plus he was really sweet in person.
2) That's Soloist, Gennadi Saveliev, who danced "Paris" on Wed & "Tybalt" on Thu. 2p. He was at first annoyed by us fans, but then he apparently warmed up. Incidently, Clinton Luckett was sort of rude, but I have a pretty strong ego for getting what I want from difficult people. It is sort of my specialty so needless to say, his autograph is in my book. So there, Mr Luckett, ballet master!! "You did my bidding!!" Oddly, he played "Friar Laurence" & "Escalus Prince of Verona," but, fortunately, showing forgiveness is also in my nature.
3) Here's cutie-patootie student/dancer, Luke Davis with the lovely Paloma Herrera. I loved her performance, which was very special b/c it featured David Hallberg. I had always found her a little aloof, but she was very emotionally compelling as "Juliet." She and David are on the billboard in front of the theatre & on Ticketmaster's website so I'm glad they ended up being paired together after all. David by the way, gave her a very hot kiss in the balcony Pdd. The closest thing to it was the kiss btw Wayne Eagling of the Royal Ballet with Alessandra Ferri in the 1980's. Yeah, that kiss makes my toes curl.
4)Paloma Herrera. She just started smiling like that as soon as she passed through those doors in the background to see her waiting fans. I don't think she could help it.

5) I was trying to capture just how petite Ms. Herrera looked. All 3 principal ladies are petit and shorter than I expected. Meanwhile, many of the guys except, Angel, Craig, and Jesus, were much taller than I expected, mostly 6" or so.

Evening cast on Thursday

6) Xiomara Reyes, danced with Angel on Thur. night. Originally they were scheduled for Fri but many casting changes ensued. She was quite lovely and sweet as "Juliet". I felt her connection with Angel immediately, but sadly with Julie Kent, I was just too far away to appreciate it as much.

7) A clear photo of Angel and one of his timid, adoring fans. Angel, was an amazing "Romeo". He was very passionate and down-right sexy. I thought it was amazing. I've never thought of him as sexual/sexy before. Honestly, even David Hallberg came across as a sexy, sweet Romeo as well to my great surprise. Having never seen David dance, I had only been told that he was quite lyrical; no one mentioned he could be a hottie, too.

ABT vs Joffrey Fans and Company

2007-03-23T08:25:00.001-05:00

There is no question that ABT has the best fans/balletomanes ever. I'm a complete amateur compared to these folks; the first night, Wed Mar 21st, I found myself seated next to Virginia from NYC, who flew into Chi town with tickets for Wed 7p & Thu 2p & 7:30p. She has seen ABT live no less than 200 times (73 times of just R&J only). She couldn't believe I didn't have a ticket for Thu 7:30p show; she was like you need to buy one. I was thinking to myself, "What? Do I look like I'm made of money or something."

Then there was 15-yr-old Luke Davis (ballet dancer) and his mom, who flew in from Oklahoma for Wed night & both Thu shows; Luke & I were always backstage helping each other trade off picture books, Sharpie pens and cameras to ease things for the dancers. I met a nice older gentlemen in the front row of the Thu. matinee, who comes religiously every year to see ABT; he told me who the orchestra folks were and said ABT has the best stage productions in the USA. At last night's 7:30p show, I met Nancy & Bob from Chicago, who have seen ABT and just about every dance company/event in Chicago for like 30+ years; they were there both Wed & Thu nights. When I was walking around between intermissions and the 3 different shows, I started recognizing many people in the crowd from prior shows. I was not the only crazy, obsessed, deranged balletomane there.

Well, I did end up buying a $20 student rush ticket that was the very best seat in the entire house 90 minutes before showtime last night; Center seat B 104. I couldn't believe where I was sitting or how easy it was to obtain. I am not even mad considering I have spent $370 for (5) tickets purchased on Nov 19th & Dec 30th. This entire ABT experience has been priceless. I never went all out for concerts, musicals, records/CDs or entertainment like this when I was younger the way many people do. Everyone, it seemed, was very familiar with this company and had gone to great lengths or made sacrifices to be there so who was I too complain about anything.

I was backstage for all 3 shows so even Sascha Radetsky was like, "Wow! You're here again." I couldn't let him pass by without getting a picture, autograph or a hug, and he was so friendly and cool about everything. I told him that I enjoyed all the sound effects at last night's show. He was like, "Uh oh! Could you hear us talking?" I said, "No. I just heard breathing, singing and sound effects like grunts." The singing came from conductor, Charles Barker (he was so much fun to watch). Sascha said, "Where were you sitting?" After I told him, he said "Yeah, from the front row, you can hear a lot". Actually, I've never heard anything like that before ABT; it made the show special. He danced "Tybalt" on 2 nights and his acting, sword fighting and death scene were amazingly dramatic so it made sense that I could hear grunts, moans, heavy breathing and other sound effects coming from several dancers on stage. Depending on your tastes, it might have been a turn on.

Now, I've been to (9) Joffrey shows and anytime I mention having seen anything more than once, I get surprised looks. Then inevitably, I'm asked to explain why I like ballet or how I became interested in it or what other companies have you seen. My favorite question is what was your first ballet. I tell them my mom took me to see Swan Lake as a 7 yr-old-girl. Guess what? I am the freak at the Joffrey. Even the Joffrey dancers are surprised to know how many shows I've been to, but they like and appreciate it.

One final difference between ABT and Joffrey fans. ABT fans will tell you in a heartbeat if the show or a particular dancer wasn't good, why it wasn't up to par, which dancer has done the role the best in their opinion and exactly where the mistakes were. Personally, I like for people to be knowledgeable and honest like that. At the Joffrey, people are usually either clueless or very harsh about dancers that I thought did well. Let's just say that none of the seasoned ABT veteran's were impressed with the opening night Gala performance. Others didn't think David Hallberg or Paloma's Thu. matinee performance was as wonderful as I did. They told me not to get used to that kind of performance because principal dancers, Julie Kent & Angel Corella were both off their game. Oddly enough, several dancers told me personally that even they weren't happy with the shows. I think ABT has just been on tour for too long, and Chi town is the last stop before going home. I'm not mentioning any names but the list of the injured is mounting, which explains why the casting keeps changing. The only show the veterans approved of was Thu 7:30 pm b/c they felt the dancers had a chance to get used to the stage & Chicago, etc.

Interestingly, I love both the Joffrey and ABT for similar and different reasons. The main difference between the two companies would be the level of the male technical ability. The ABT men simply have more material to work with and are among the best in the world. The ladies aren't too shabby either. Everyone in the entire ABT company is a fabulous dancer in their own right. The thing is though, I no longer care if dancers are the best or even perfect. I lost that disillusion after experiencing a flubbed Kirov "Swan Lake" performance in Nov. 2006. It only matters that they capture my attention or affection and keep it throughout a performance. Both companies do this quite well but in their own unique ways.

Every single performance was special to me, and all the dancers are wonderful. David and Paloma were incredible. Angel and Xiomara were beautiful as were all the others. I wasn't thrilled about how far from the stage I was for opening night, but I quickly got over that. See the photos below.

My favorite female dancer remains Victoria Jaiani despite having now seen Julie Kent, Paloma Herrera, Xiomara Reyes, Stella Abrera, Veronica Part and corps de ballet members. Fabrice Calmels is still my favorite male dancer, too, and he hasn't nearly had the kind of technical choreography that I've seen to date from the ABT males. Those two particular Joffrey dancers just emote and pull me in every time; it fails to matter what they are doing on the stage. You don't change loyalties just because it's ABT or another company; you stick with your natural instincts and trust what you feel deep down in your soul. Neither of these companies take anything away from the other. There is room in my heart to love them all.
1) Lyric Opera Orchestra, 2) Civic Opera House from (front row, Yippee! -Lt Ctr B 106)

3) See how tiny the people are on level 3 balcony (up in the middle )- that is where I was opening night; I hate sitting that far away. Sorry ABT, but this theatre sucks for ballet. No one was happy there and the seats cost $75; 4) Rt side of theatre- No worries from here b/c I was in front row for both Thur. shows.

5) and 6) self-explanatory. I became friendly with the ladies behind me. They asked the typical non balletomane questions of me. There is no explanation for why anyone loves ballet except that it fills some deep need inside of me.

7, 8, 9, 10) Paloma Herrera & David Hallberg twice, Roman Zhurbin, Stella Abrera & Jesus Pastor respectively.