5.11.08
What I'm Reading
Martin Amis, Bob Dylan books, Richard Price
5.11.08
How I'm Feeling
Need a replacement for lower back
5.8.08
Weekend Highlights May 9-11
THE ROGOVOY REPORT
5.6.08
[PRESS RELEASE] Pinchas Zukerman daughter Natalia to headline at Club Helsinki
Coming to Great Barrington, Mass., nightclub on May 18
5.2.08
Singer/composer Jenny Scheinman at MASS MoCA is weekend's top pick
Preview by SETH ROGOVOY, Berkshire Living Magazine
4.25.08
[FILM REVIEW] Shine a Light (The Rolling Stones)
review by SETH ROGOVOY, Berkshire Living Magazine
4.17.08
[FILM REVIEW] The Counterfeiters
review by SETH ROGOVOY, Berkshire Living Magazine
4.11.08
Klezmatics do Woody Guthrie's Jewish songs
Weekend highlights, April 11-13
3.17.08
GOLEM returns to Club Helsinki for PURIM this Friday night
Press Release from Club Helsinki
7.1.07
[PERFORMANCE ART REVIEW] Aurelia Thierree at Jacob's Pillow
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING
2.25.08
Richard Thompson, America, and Madeline Peyroux added to Mahaiwe lineup this spring
Mahaiwe press release
2.25.08
Dennis Prager to make the case for Judaism at Berkshire South
Simulcast of lecture at NY's 92nd St. Y
2.24.08
[MUSIC REVIEW] Urban vs. Pastoral Music at the Mahaiwe courtesy of Close Encounters with Music
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
2.18.08
[THEATER REVIEW] TRUMBO at Barrington Stage
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
2.18.08
[MUSIC REVIEW] Sarah Aroeste's neo-Ladino at Club Helsinki
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
2.18.08
[MUSIC REVIEW] Sarah Aroeste's neo-Ladino at Club Helsinki
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
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[DANCE REVIEW] Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia at Jacob's Pillow
6.21.07
JACOB'S PILLOW
Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia
Ted Shawn Theatre
June 20-24, 2007
MOZARTIANA by George Balanchine
SECOND BEFORE THE GROUND by Trey McIntyre
DON QUIXOTE GRAND DIVERTISSEMENT by Marius Petipa
Review by SETH ROGOVOY, editor-in-chief and critic-at-large of BERKSHIRE LIVING MAGAZINE
(Becket, Mass., June 20, 2007) -- The seventy-fifth anniversary season at Jacob's Pillow got off to a rousing start last night with a stunning show by Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia, in a program that stretched back all the way to the company's roots in the mid-19th century, touched base with perhaps its best-known choreographer (George Balanchine, who claimed Georgian ancestry), and demonstrated how the company remains a living, breathing organism, with a wonderful rendition of Trey McIntyre's SECOND BEFORE THE GROUND.
The company is solidly based in classical ballet tradition, but the wonder of this program was seeing how the dancers were able to stretch themselves beyond the limited, cold vocabulary of classical ballet to embrace modern innovations.
Balanchine's MOZARTIANA and Trey McIntyre's SECOND BEFORE THE GROUND were studies in contrast -- the first a relatively traditional work by the choreographer who attempted to break free of Old World chains, the second a much looser, folk-based piece, all hot and fun as signified by the yellow, orange, and hot pink costumes in dances based in African rhythms and techniques and luxuriating in humor and sensuality. The dancers in the former withheld themselves, while in the latter they became expressive individuals, albeit always with incredibly sharp, muscular technique.
The finale, DON QUIXOTE GRAND DIVERTISSEMENT by Marius Petipa, was an exhibition of sorts. Featuring the world-renowned ballerina whose name is now attached to the company, the piece proudly flaunted the great tradition of Russian classical ballet in excerpts that functioned as demos more than a complete scene from the full-length work.
In its range, eclecticism, and virtuosity, Nina Ananiashvili and the State Ballet of Georgia's performance was the perfect opening to what promises to be a banner 75th anniversary season at the Pillow.
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