October 2013 Blog Posts (8)

With "Sleeping Beauty", the third ballet in Matthew Bourne's Tchaikovsky trilogy that includes "Nutcracker!" and "Swan Lake", the award-winning British choreographer has once again proved himself to be not only a gifted dancemaker but a masterful storyteller. The production, correctly billed as "A Gothic Romance", is playing at New York's…

 As I mentioned last week in my largely favorable review of one of the San Francisco Ballet’s mixed bills at the Koch Theatre in NYC, the company under the direction of Helgi Tómmasen is first rate. Yet the excellent dancing in Christopher Wheeldon’s “Cinderella”, which I saw on Friday evening, couldn’t save the production from being overwrought and hard to follow. The opening scenes, with the child Cinderella suffering the untimely death of her mother and the teenage…

I still remember how surprised I was as a young dancer to learn that the first professional ballet company in the United States, the San Francisco Ballet, was not established until 1933. Given the fact that the Paris Opera Ballet was founded almost three centuries earlier in 1673, I realized that dance in America is very young indeed. Yet I am happy to report that on the evening of October 18^th 2013 at the Koch Theater…

I have always told my ballet students that because the art form is kept alive by each new generation of dancers, we must be as proficient in historical styles as we are in contemporary techniques. The important works of the past cannot be hung on museum walls the way the paintings of the masters are. Instead, we have to recreate what came before us or else the ballets will be lost. Years ago when I made that speech, I was referring to the centuries-old ballet classics. Yet…

On the evening of Sunday, October 13^th, an invitation-only crowd filed into Studio II at Steps on Broadway in NYC to share fond memories of David Howard, the beloved ballet teacher who once said that he arrived in New York “as a upstart and became part of the American Dream.”

David’s death at the age of 76 on August 11^th left his followers stunned and saddened. They welcomed the opportunity to gather…

Dancer's Over 40 presented their tribute to choreographer / director Ron Field this evening at the St. Luke's Theatre in NYC.  It was an incredible slice of dance and theatre history that left me sad for a generation of dancers who probably aren't aware of the amazing body of work created by Mr. Field and the dancers who brought his visions to life.

As a dancer, Ron Field appeared in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Kismet and The Boy Friend.  Switching over to choreography his debut was…

New York City’s dance luminaries, rising stars, and fans were out in full force at the fabled Apollo Theater in Harlem on the evening of Monday, October 7^th 2013 to attend the 29^th annual Bessies Awards. The ceremony, named for contemporary dance legend Bessie Schonberg and produced in partnership with Dance/NYC, recognizes established as well as upcoming artists who have made outstanding contributions to the many disciplines of the liveliest art in…