12.4.08
The Biblical origins of Bob Dylan's IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'm Only Bleeding)
King Solomon inspired one of Dylan's most enduring songs
12.2.08
Napping more effective than a cuppa joe
Reports says replace afternoon coffee with a lie-down
11.29.08
[BOOK REVIEW] LUSH LIFE by Richard Price
Review by Seth Rogovoy, critic-at-large, Berkshire Living
11.26.08
MASS MoCA DIRECTOR to BRING SOL LEWITT SOUTH
Rest of the Story event at the Triplex on Dec. 14
11.25.08
[FILM REVIEW] QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
11.23.08
[FILM REVIEW} A SECRET by Claude Miller
Review by Seth Rogovoy, critic-at-large, Berkshire Living
11.23.08
Why so many Holocaust films, and what do they say about us?
Film critic A.O. Scott asks penetrating questions about our obsession with Nazis and their Jewish victims
11.23.08
Lenox Gallery to feature small works by top regional artists
[PRESS RELEASE] Shade Gallery at the Bookstore opens new show on December 4
11.23.08
First English pubs, now French cafes are fading
Along with smoking and drinking, so goes the French way of life
7.7.08
CHATHAM SYNAGOGUE TO CELEBRATE LEGACY OF MARC CHAGALL
[PRESS RELEASE] Discussion of his life and work
11.17.08
[FILM REVIEW] RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
11.7.08
Police, school administration apologize for terrorizing MMRHS students
Overreaction to bomb threats prompts indiscriminate police interrogation of innocent students
11.6.08
Another look at Dylan's IS YOUR LOVE IN VAIN?
Dylan's post-divorce song offers great insight into the transitional period
11.4.08
Dave Mason to perform at the Mahaiwe Dec. 5
[PRESS RELEASE] Legendary rocker, former member of Traffic, brings guitar and band to Great Barrington
11.4.08
Ani DiFranco to play Bardavon
[PRESS RELEASE] Indie folksinger performs in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on November 19, 2008
11.4.08
Ani DiFranco to play Bardavon
[PRESS RELEASE] Indie folksinger performs in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on November 19, 2008
|
[DANCE REVIEW] Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at Jacob's Pillow
8.14.08
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet [photo by Christopher Duggan]
JACOB'S PILLOW
ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET
Ted Shawn Theatre
August 13-17, 2008
PROGRAM:
Petal, choreography by Helen Pickett, music by Philip Glass and Thomas Newman
Chameleon, choreography by Itzik Galili, music by John Cage
Slingerland, choreography by William Forsythe, music by Gavin Bryars
1st Flash, choreography by Jorma Elo, music by Jean Sibelius
by Seth Rogovoy
(BECKET, Mass., August 14, 2008) -- Dancer Lauren Alzamora was the star of an evening with many stars, as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet performed works by four international choreographers in a witty and entertaining program.
Artistic director Tom Mossbrucker aptly chooses dances that play to his company's strengths. These are classically trained dancers who for the most part choose to live in the Southwest due to their love of nature and the outdoors; hence, they are as vibrant and athletic as they are precise (sometimes more so).
The company has also come to favor theatrical dances, dances that still exist within the traditional format of dance (never edging into dance-theater) but that call upon the individual dancers' personalities, facial expressions, and acting skills nearly as much as their ability to move with precision, en pointe or off.
At times, the company performed what could be thought of as extreme ballet, such as in Petal, which bathed the dancers in yellow and pink walls and had them dancing as if bees in a flower -- very busy, hypercharged bees at that. Slingerland, too, called upon a hyperkinetic tendency; in this case, an extreme pas de deux which emphasized pure angles and shapes formed by Katherine Eberle and Sam Chittenden with the speed and force hinting at violence underneath.
Itzik Galili's Chameleon was the highlight of the evening, a short theatrical piece that nevertheless packed in a whirlwind of emotion in spite of the dancers being rooted almost entirely to chairs. While they may have technically been performing from a seated position, that didn't stop the five dancers, with Alzamora the alluring centerpiece, from gesturing and bending into just about every possible position one could from a chair, as well as voguing different attitudes, as the title hints.
Aspen Santa Fe's visits to the Pillow are always highlights of the season, and this year's program did not disappoint on that account.
Seth Rogovoy is editor-in-chief at award-winning critic-at-large at Berkshire Living.
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet [photo by Ben Rudick]
|
