“Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake” is back for a month of performances at the Ahmanson Theatre, the site of its 1997 U.S. premiere and its follow-up engagement in 2006. This remarkable revision of the seminal 19th century ballet became a sensation on its first trip here from London. It was called the “gay Swan Lake,” because …
Continue reading Review: Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake,’ Again
Mark Morris — that most-musical choreographer and sometimes-conductor, who was the 2013 director of the Ojai Music Festival — has shown little interest in setting his dances to rock ’n’ roll or other popular music. So “Pepperland,” seen this weekend at the Segerstrom Center, is an outlier. The piece was a commission, made for the …
Just a quick reminder that Dance Camera West, Los Angeles' screen-dance festival, and To the Sea: Dance Concerts at the Santa Monica Pier run through Sunday. I made it to Friday's (4/13) To the Sea performance and sitting at the end of the pier is a remarkable--and utterly unique--place to see a dance concert. The …
The Music Center last week presented “The Nutcracker” for the first time in five years. The two-act ballet premiered in Russia in 1892, but, as we all know, it ended up becoming a holiday obsession here in the U.S. instead. (Read Jennifer Fisher’s excellent book “Nutcracker Nation” to find out how that happened.) Rachel Moore, …
Continue reading Not a review: Thoughts on Miami City Ballet & George Balanchine’s ‘Nutcracker’
The Friday night debut of Jacob Jonas The Company at Wallis Annenberg Center was a big deal for choreographer and artistic director Jonas. The Beverly Hills High School alum is only 24 and started his concert-contemporary-street-dance group a mere two years ago. And there he was, with his 11 dancers being presented by this small …
American Ballet Theatre has a lot to offer these days, and its one big, thrilling, ace in the hole is Alexei Ratmansky, its artist in residence. The choreographer—Russian-born and schooled, his skills expanded and fine-tuned in Denmark and Canada—treats the classical art form in an expansive way. He has a complete grounding in technique, of …
Now 10 years old, Contra-Tiempo is one of Los Angeles’ most ambitious and accomplished home-grown dance companies, but your average resident would be hard-pressed to know about this striking group. It gets most of its gigs on the road, away from L.A., which is a loss for us. Artistic director Ana Maria Alvarez gives her …
A pilot program with exciting potential to promote local dance by giving companies more performing opportunities--which is what Los Angeles dancers say need and want--debuts in February. It is called Home Grown @ Bootleg and the first weekend of concerts will feature Antics, which under the direction of Amy “Catfox” Campion combines street dance with …
Continue reading Home Grown @ Bootleg: A Leg up for Los Angeles Dance
Next up, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' International Dance Series: Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra, "Swan Lake," Oct. 2-7 Trey McIntyre Project, Nov. 23-25 Hamburg Ballet, "The Little Mermaid," Feb. 8-10, 2013 Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, "Rodin," May 3-5, 2013 The lowdown: As mentioned in an earlier blog post, the Center has decreased the …
Continue reading Upcoming dance season: Segerstrom Center for the Arts
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