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Washington Ballet
Washington Ballet's Bold New 'Mood'
Mood Swings: The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry, Rubies, Unknown Territory
USA, Washington, Kennedy Center, Eisenhower Theater
Dancers: Bland, Jimenez, Jordon, Krocil, Mahoney, Nelson, Palomo, Urgelles
by Sarah Kaufman
    "In a classically based world premiere, a newly acquired work by a master and a piece dusted off from its bright past, the Washington Ballet demonstrated it can command attention on the strength of beautiful dancing alone. The program was called "Mood Swings," but there was just one feeling in evidence: confidence."
Washington Post

Washington Ballet
Ballet soars with virtuosity
Mood Swings: The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry, Rubies, Unknown Territory
USA, Washington, Kennedy Center, Eisenhower Theater
Dancers: Bland, Du, Jimenez, Jordon, Krocil, Mahoney, Nelson, Palomo, Urgelles
by Jean Battey Lewis
    "...His new ballet is admirable on many levels. Waves of fresh, imaginative dancing spill across the stage; the movement is both virtuosic and nuanced.
    "Its only flaw: The ballet is burdened with an unwieldy title — 'The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry.'"
Washington Times

Houston Ballet and Paul Taylor Dance Company
KenCen tribute is Taylor-made
Washington
By Jean Battey Lewis
    "Choreographer Paul Taylor's recently created "Promethean Fire" is scheduled to be performed here by his company next week in an unusual evening that pairs the Taylor group with the Houston Ballet in the Kennedy Center's latest bit of inspired programming."
http://www.washtimes.com/arts/20030405-98615500.htm

Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart is back, staging ballet classic
San Diego
By Jennifer de Poyen
    ""John (Cranko) had an amazing ability to take the audience's eye where he wanted it to go," Anderson said. "In the crowd scenes, you never lose track of the dramatic action. And in the (duets), you get not just beautiful dancing but a lot of psychological information on what the couple is going through. It's really a jewel."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20030404-9999_1c4stuttgart.html

Les Ballets C de la B
4 stars
Foi
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
by Judith Mackrell
    "The cast are extraordinary, reckless and compelling, and Cherkaoui is clearly a major talent. Though Foi might, objectively, benefit from some sharp editing, its vision cuts disturbingly close to the bones of our current situation"
The Guardian

Parsons Company
Parsons out of step with music
Rise and Fall, Slow Dance, Swing Shift, Caught
USA, Los Angeles, Cerritos Center
Dancers: Ahn, McGinnis, McRae, McSwain, Skarpetowska
by Laura Bleiberg
    "It was choreographic genius George Balanchine who mused that ballet audiences could always close their eyes and listen to the beautiful music if the dance got boring.
    "That became worthy advice - more often than not - during Parsons Dance Company's show..."
Orange County Register

Pacific Northwest Ballet
Mixed bill by PNB includes world premiere of new `Zais'
Seattle
by Carole Beers
    "It's payback time for Christopher Stowell.
    "In creating ``Zais'' for Pacific Northwest Ballet, the gifted former dancer with New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet is giving back not only to the organization that first shaped his talent, but also to his parents, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, PNB's artistic directors."
http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/127110

Spectrum Dance Theatre
Spectrum shows off its daring new vigor
In a Different Light, A Cruel New World/the new normal
USA, Seattle, Intiman Playhouse
by Alice Kaderlan Halsey
    "There was a palpable buzz in the air Thursday night even before the curtain went up on Spectrum Dance Theater's inaugural performance under internationally acclaimed artistic director Donald Byrd. By the time the evening was over, that excitement had turned to thunderous applause, and with good reason."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Eiko & Koma
Static Electricity
Choreographers Eiko and Koma make a ritual 'Offering' to the life cycle
Boston
By Karen Campbell
    "The central image in ''Offering,'' Eiko and Koma's most recent dance/theater work, is a large, open container filled with dark soil. Sticks reminiscent of bones emerge from the corners, like the handles of a bier, and allow the nest-like box to be turned on its axis, ever so slowly. A microphone underneath the set amplifies the sound of the dirt as the dancers sift and dig, bury and unearth. It is a poetically distilled evocation of both loss and regeneration."
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/094/living/Static_Electricity+.shtml

Gus Solomons on film
'GBH delivers 1-2 punch
Boston
by Theodore Bale
    "Aside from his significant choreographic contributions, Solomons has been a major force in American dance as a critic. His reviews have appeared during the past decades in such publications as Dance Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times, and he has always been a brilliant speaker about dance."
http://www2.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/danc04042003.htm

Royal Ballet
Sleeping Beauty
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Cojocaru, Putrov
by Jann Parry
    "..Putrov danced with such flair and nobility that he was obviously heaven-sent. His precision complements Cojocaru's delicate strength - and he's learnt, at last, how to be at ease on stage."
The Observer

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The House That Alvin, of All People, Built
New York
By Jennifer Dunning
    "Ailey took his responsibility seriously. "The cultural heritage of the American Negro is one of America's richest treasures," Ailey once wrote in a statement that still defines the mission that has driven the Ailey institution. "From his roots as a slave, the American Negro — sometimes sorrowing, sometimes jubilant but always hopeful — has touched, illuminated, and influenced the most remote preserves of world civilization. I and my dance theater celebrate this trembling beauty."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/06/arts/dance/06DUNN.html

American Ballet Theater Studio Company
America leaves us standing - When it comes to young dancers, the US has all the talent
Revelry
UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre
Dancers: Hidalgo, Tidwell
by Jann Parry
    "These are apprentice dancers aged 16 to 20, ready to become polished professionals. "
The Observer

Paul Taylor Dance Company
The 'Fire' This Time: Paul Taylor Heats Up the Dance Season, and a Critic's Enthusiasm
Promethean Fire
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Corbin, Viola
by Terry Teachout
    "...Taylor's "Promethean Fire," premiered at City Center, is the best new dance I've seen in ages."
Washington Post

Mark Morris Dance Group
Musical motifs elevate dance in latest Mark Morris works
V, Serenade for Guitar, Going Away Party, Resurrection
USA, Seattle, Meany Hall
Dancers: Morris
by Mary Murfin Bayley
    "Morris ... has received ample criticism over the years for what was called the "Fantasia" effect of matching step to note.
    "The four works that the Mark Morris Dance Group is performing this weekend as part of the UW World Dance series show that this criticism is nonsense."
Seattle Times

Mark Morris Dance Group
Resurrection, Something Lies Beyond the Scene, New Love Song Waltzes, V
USA, New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Dancers: Morris
by Terry Teachout
    "...and "V," the 2001 visualization of the Schumann Piano Quintet that is an edge-of-the-seat drama of pure musical form
Washington Post

Akram Khan
Massive kathak
He’s bringing Indian dance to the people. Clifford Bishop on the flat-footed genius of Akram Khan
London
by Clifford Bishop
    "I never went to dance school to ‘fuse’ anything. I don’t like the word ‘fusion’. You can’t simply decide to put together contemporary and Indian classical. It has to come from within.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-631975,00.html

San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet's 'Jewels' a treasure at last
Jewels: Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Feijoo, Garcia, Hench, Maffre, Possokhov, Tan, Zahorian
by Stephanie von Buchau
    "When its "Polonaise" finally arrives, it is the signal for Balanchine to fill the stage with swirling, silver-and-white dancers, leading to a tremendous, soul-filling climax. SFB's version of "Jewels" is now a must-see."
The Daily Review

San Francisco Ballet
Unbalanced program or unbalanced choices?
The Waltz Project, Nanna's Lied, Connotations
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Arce, Boada, Diana, Hench, Low, Maffre, Norman, Pierce, Possokhov, Schull, Starbuck, Tan, Vilanoba, Magierek
by Stephanie von Buchau
    "San Francisco Ballet has been on such a roll that a weak program was inevitable. Tuesday night at the War Memorial Opera House, poor musical choices and an unbalanced repertory kept Program 5 from soaring."
The Daily Review

Spectrum Dance Theatre
Spectrum tests out edgier dance style
In a Different Light, A Cruel New World/the new normal
USA, Seattle, Intiman Playhouse
Dancers: Keppel, Moreno, Peters, Wilkins
by Moira Macdonald
    "Based on Thursday's night's evidence, the company is still a work in progress — but all signs are good.."
Seattle Times

Ballet San Jose
Dancing up a storm
The Tempest
USA, San Jose, Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Cherlow, Goldman, Gwatkin, Jacobs, Koltun, Lapshin, Moreno, Perez, Rawson, Strong, Tai, Yoshimoto
by Anita Amirrezvani
    "Although the first act of ``The Tempest'' is well-conceived, the tale gets wobbly during Act 2. That's because it's dominated by a masque, an allegorical play featuring Juno, Neptune and Bacchus and other mythological characters."
Mercury News

Madeline Leavitt and Holding Up the Sky
Combining the timely with the timeless
Holding Up the Sky
USA, Culver City, Gascon Center Theatre
Dancers: Bergenholtz, Gilbert
by Lewis Segal
    "Responding to violence against women, the devastation of war and other issues of the day, "Holding Up the Sky" offers a strongly crafted hour of dance theater..."
Los Angeles Times

Eiko and Koma
Eiko & Koma offer rare masterpiece
Snow, Offering
USA, Boston, Blackman Auditorium (Northeastern University)
Dancers: Eiko, Koma
by Theodore Bale
    "...this accomplished duo continues to create idiosyncratic theater events that assert ideas of non-aggression, impermanence and harmony with the environment."
Boston Herald

Les Ballets C de la B
Foi
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
by Jann Parry
    "...Foi's convictions are muddled. An overloaded workshop piece, it leaves you punch-drunk."
The Observer

San Francisco Ballet
The Waltz Project, Nanna's Lied, Connotations
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Boada, Brandenhoff, Diana, Legate, Low, Maffre, Martin, Miner, Possokhov, Schull, Tan, Vilanoba, Waldo
by Renee Renouf
    "Program V ... had its moments, an interlude with uniformly good dancing, uneven in the works scheduled."
Ballet.co Magazine

Phoenix Dance Theatre
The Fact That It Goes Up, Requiem, Me and You
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Ourila, Seabra, White
by Anne Marriott
    "I had better admit straight away that I prefer the original Phoenix..."
Ballet.co Magazine

Yes... and tonight it will be on Ballet.co too!

Royal New Zealand Ballet
Passion abounds at Tasmanian festival
Melting Moments, FrENZy, Milagros, Paquita Variations
Tasmania, Launceston, Princess Theatre
Dancers: Fletcher, Wright
by Lee Christofis
    "RNZB's surprise, and festival triumph, was Milagros, by contemporary Venezuelan choreographer Javier de Frutos, inspired by medieval religious rituals and miracles and by early Modernism in a remarkable pianola recording of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring."
The Australian

Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT 2)
Stepping high
Nederlands Dans Theater stays true to form – taking risks.
Orange County
by Laura Bleiberg
    Marian Sarstädt, AD - "I feel it's very easy not to take chances. I know financially it's not good to take chances, but somewhere we have to start living dangerously again."
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=33286§ion=SHOW&subsection=DANCE&year=2003&month=4&day=6

Les Ballets C de la B
4 stars
Foi
UK, London, Queen Elizabeth Hall
by Donald Hutera
    "Setting, actions and text (mainly in English) suggest that we are witnessing fairly immediately the aftermath of a World Trade Centre-style disaster. The performers embody either angels or obliviously self-absorbed humans."
The Times

Eifman Ballet
American As Russian Ballet
Who's Who
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Ananyan, Arbuzova, Galichanin, Markov, Matulevsky, Melkaev, Povorozniuk, Siadzko, Smekalov, Turko
by Clive Barnes
    "Whichever cast you catch, "Who's Who" is a sweet, funny, wildly imaginative and, yes, charmingly Russian, view of America and why we like it hot."
New York Post

Eifman Ballet
Russians Discover America, the Myth
Who's Who
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Ananyan, Arbuzova, Galichanin, Matulevsky, Siadzko, Smekalov, Turko, Markov, Melkaev, Povorozniuk
by Anna Kisselgoff
    "In a way Mr. Eifman is his own worst enemy, pouring out a torrent of ideas and details with such superfast theatricality that too much slips by to allow for depth and development."
The New York Times

Christopher Stowell - Pacific Northwest Ballet & Oregon Ballet
Choreographer follows in his parents' dance steps
Seattle
By Lynn Jacobson
    "I'm not as interested in creating work that's popular, that appeals to a non-dance or non-theater audience," he says.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/classicalmusicdance/134669951_stowell06.html

Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion
Martin's Fusion states the obvious
D Dance: A Word in Private, Enlighten, Sweet Misery, Between Us, Build-Up, Rubric
USA, Houston, Hobby Center
Dancers: Canete, Dones, Guy, Manzanales, Nathan-Murphy, Thorton-Stein, Walker
by Molly Glentzer
    "His latest works were adept enough structurally; Martin shifted dancers around the stage swiftly in changing patterns. But his vocabulary was limited, and too many of Friday's dances described the obvious..."
Houston Chronicle

Royal Ballet
Artists in an unequal fight
Nureyev Bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, In the Middle pdd, Images of Love, Romeo and Juliet pdd, and others
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Bussell, Cojocaru, Cope, Galeazzi, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Kumakawa, Morera, Mukhamedov, Nunez
by Clement Crisp
    "Tetsuya Kumakawa won my vote by dancing the Corsaire solo without any filmic distraction: it is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it numbers, and he whistled over the stage like a distracted budgerigar, but at least we saw what he was doing."
The Financial Times

Royal Ballet
In the shadow of the master
Nureyev Bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, In the Middle pdd, Images of Love, Romeo and Juliet pdd, and others
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Bussell, Cojocaru, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Mukhamedov, Putrov, Rojo, Watson, Kumakawa
by Debra Craine
    "We finish with Nureyev’s flamboyant staging of Act III of Raymonda, a shameless display of classical kitsch led by a triumphant Guillem. No other ballerina in the world could produce the kind of imperious glamour she brings to the choreography. Nureyev would have been proud."
The Times

Royal Ballet
In the shadow of a genius
Nureyev Bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, In the Middle pdd, Images of Love, Romeo and Juliet pdd, and others
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Bussell, Cojocaru, Galeazzi, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Nunez, Rojo
by Luke Jennings
    (Apollo) "Carlos Acosta's rendition of the young god is wholly different in tone from Nureyev's, but the newly minted nobility and pantherine stillnesses that he brings to the part are born of the same dramatic temperament."
Daily Telegraph

Rambert Dance Company
Famous for 15 minuets, and other tricks
Visions Fugitives
UK, Woking, New Victoria
Dancers: Liburd
by Jenny Gilbert
    (Visions Fugitives) "Van Manen succeeds by paring everything to its formal essentials, even while introducing quirky twists."
Sunday Independent

Ballet San Jose
Smuin whips up imposing 'Tempest' - Ballet San Jose stages perfect storm
The Tempest
USA, San Jose, Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Goldman, Gwatkin, Koltun, Lapshin, Moreno, Yoshimoto, Anderson, Dalle
by Octavio Roca
    'With works by Petipa right through the late John Cranko and the Bay Area's own Smuin, Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov, there's been a powerful trilogy of narrative dance: the Stuttgart Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet," San Francisco Ballet's "Don Quixote" and now Ballet San Jose's "The Tempest"'
San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Ballet
Morris' new 'Sylvia' to close '04 season
Ballet to perform seldom-seen classic, centennial salutes for Balanchine, Ashton
San FRancisco
by Octavio Roca
    "A new version by Mark Morris of the romantic ballet "Sylvia," centennial celebrations of George Balanchine and Sir Frederick Ashton and the return of "Don Quixote" will be among the highlights of San Francisco Ballet's 71st season..."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/07/DD13902.DTL&type=performance

Perm State Ballet
Tchaikovsky with a twist
Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty
USA, Cerritos, Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Araptanova, Geer, Kulagina, Mashkina, Mershin, Moiseeva, Volkov
by Lewis Segal
    "If the difference between the old Perm "Swan Lake" and the new Perm "Sleeping Beauty" suggested that artistic director/ballet master David Avdysh is well on the way to upgrading his company's repertory to international standards..."
Los Angeles Times

Phoenix Dance Theatre
3 stars
The Fact That It Goes Up, Requiem, Me and You
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
by Judith Mackrell
    "So far it is as a director, rather than a choreographer, that Bhuller triumphs in the new-look Phoenix."
The Guardian

Eifman Ballet
A walk on the light side
Who's Who
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Arbuzova, Siadzko, Turko
by Robert Johnson
    "Despite its intentional stupidities, "Who's Who" also has something profound to say about the immigrant experience, which involves trading identities in deeply personal ways.."
The Star-Ledger

Vincent Dance Theatre
Famous for 15 minuets, and other tricks
Let The Mountains Lead You To Love
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Kujawska
by Jenny Gilbert
    "Call me unsubtle but I do love a good stunt, and choreographer Charlotte Vincent is happy to provide stunts by the truckload..."
Sunday Independent

Vincent Dance Theatre
2 stars
Let The Mountains Lead You To Love
UK, London, The Place
Dancers: Howard, Kay, Kujawska, Lubos, Orlik
by Donald Hutera
    "The 70-minute piece was devised under her (Vincent) guidance by six performers hailing from Austria, Poland and Britain.
    "The result is an undernourished scramble of Chekhov, Pina Bausch and a party"
The Times

Dance Performance Group
Nancy Havlik, Out of Step
Afternoon of a Faun, You're covered with thick cloud, Amazon Dreams, Mouse Tails, Kinetic Stories
USA, Washington, Dance Place
Dancers: Torres
by Lisa Traiger
    "The language of movement isn't enough for choreographer Nancy Havlik. She fills her pieces with words, poems, monologues and dialogues, spoken and recorded...."
Washington Post

Old Dancers
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - Leap toward ageism a backward step in dance
A Delhi High Court shelves dancers over 45, ghettoizing a generation of India’s most fabled dancers.
Los Angeles
By Lewis Segal
    "Two steps forward, one step back: That's the Dance of Progress, and it's being performed right now on a number of world stages.
    "One of them is India, a nation with an enviably generous tradition of official go..."
http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/dance/cl-et-segal8apr08,0,6105146.story?coll=cl%2Ddance

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313533476&p=1016625900929

Stuttgart Ballet cancels New York performances
Robert Johnson in the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports on dance, including the news that the Stuttgart Ballet is to cancel its NY appearance due to the depressed economy and poor ticket sales:
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1049869470207020.xml

Deja Donne
Clothes May be Flung off, but Anxieties Still Remain
In Bella Copia
USA, New York, Dance Theater Workshop
Dancers: Benes-McGadie, Capkova, Malek, Noguchi, Popova, Vajsar
by Anna Kisselgoff
    " "In Bella Copia" purports to be about people acting out their dreams through power games, but it is more about what humans do to humans. That the dreams will be shattered is a given from the first welcoming speech, full of irony, from Jan Benes-McGadie as an expressly unpersuasive M.C."
The New York Times

San Francisco Ballet
Ballet renditions enhance passion of beloved stories: 'Quixote', 'Romeo & Juliet seen' anew
Don Quixote
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Pierce, Sofranko, Solomakha, Tan
by Steven Winn
    "Yuan Yuan Tan's Kitri was all feisty, resilient spirit With the jaunty lift of her chin, casual high-fiving of a friend and smirk of gratification at a flower presented by Basilio (Vadim Solomakha), she made her flickering, look-at-me moods the center of attention."
San Francisco Chronicle

Stuttgart Ballet
Ballet renditions enhance passion of beloved stories: 'Quixote', 'Romeo and Juliet' seen anew
Romeo and Juliet
USA, San Francisco, Zellerbach Hall
Dancers: Barankiewicz, Kang
by Steven Winn
    "From beginning to end, John Cranko's 1962 "Romeo and Juliet" is a marvel of narrative resourcefulness and inspiration. The ballet may not include every character and event in Shakespeare's play, but it seems to capture and concentrate every turbulent emotion."
San Francisco Chronicle

b]Mark Morris Dance Group
Double Takes
Kolam, New Love Song Waltzes
USA, New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music
by Joan Acocella
    "The main reason for his popularity, I think, is his constant yoking of the humblest facts of life—the sweat, the buttocks—with the ideal. On his stage people see their secrets told, and joined to beauty, and they are grateful."
The New Yorker

Paul Taylor Dance Company
Double Takes
Promethean Fire, Dream Girls
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Corbin, Viola
by Joan Acocella
    "The upside of Taylor’s double-mindedness, which we saw in “Promethean Fire,” is an ambiguity that is not only rich theatrically—it gives shading, texture—but actually looks like truth.
The New Yorker

This week’s dance in New York
Deborah Jowitt in the Village Voice reports on performances by three companies: Sarah Michelson, Sean Curran Company and Mia Lawrence.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0315/jowitt.php

Also in the Village Voice, Tobi Tobias and Eva Yaa Asantewaa report respectively (and briefly) on Tina Croll’s ‘The Horse’s Moouth’ and Marlies Yearby’s ‘Brown Butterfly’.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0315/footnotes.php

Ballet schools and witches’ covens: the link
..just for laughs..
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-film.html?2003-04/08/11.15.film

John Percival's article on what Nureyev might have achieved with the Royal Ballet:

The Royal Ballet's special programmes this month,
honouring Rudolf Nureyev 10 years on from his
death, would have been very different if there
had been a successful outcome to talks he had
with their management a quarter of a century
ago. That was when, unknown to most, the Royal Opera House suggested he might
become director of the Royal Ballet. Even his protégée Sylvie Guillem seems
unaware of this. In an interview in The Guardian last week she said "he was really
sad that they never asked him to be their director".

The Independent

English National Ballet
Tour de Force
Tour de Force: Trapeze, Facing Viv, Manoeuvre, Sideshow, Paquita Grand Pas
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Edur, Oaks
by Judith Mackrell
    "..these ballets make ENB look more interesting, more versatile, more intelligent than they have in a long while."
The Guardian

English National Ballet
Tour de Force
Tour de Force: Trapeze, Facing Viv, Manoeuvre, Sideshow, Paquita Grand Pas
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Edur, McIlroy, Oaks
by Debra Craine
    "The choreography (of 2 Humans) is spiky, intimate and superbly disciplined. It’s a terrific commission for English National Ballet, and a tour de force for Oaks and Edur."
The Times

Phoenix Dance Theatre
Lost for Clues
The Fact That It Goes Up, Requiem, Me and You
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Hughes, Hytton
by John Percival
    ".. as Phoenix Dance's new artistic director Darshan Singh Bhuller has commissioned two all-dance works to complete this programme"
The Independent

Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet offers mixed performance
Seventh Symphony, Dreamdeepdown, Paper Scissors Stone
USA, St. Paul, Northrop Auditorium
Dancers: Conn, Fernandes, Gauthier, Herrero, Lempertz, Ortega, Reilly
by Rick Nelson
    " "Seventh Symphony" is a platform for fine dancing by the marvelous Stuttgart company... What's frustrating is Scholz's repetitive choreography, and how it ultimately echoes rather than enlarges Beethoven's music."
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Joffrey Ballet of Chicago
Joffrey shows it's still afloat after move to Chicago
Light Rain, Sea Shadows, Italian Suite, L'Air D'Esprit
USA, Chicago, Browdard Center
Dancers: Hamilton, Lopez, Robertson, Shives, Wilkins
by Lauren Heist
    "..the fact that the Joffrey even attempts to honor timeless ballet masters is noteworthy. This is a company that sees itself as upholding the classics and pushing the boundaries at the same time. A standing ovation was proof that the audience was duly impressed."
Chicago Sun-Sentinel

How ballet dancers audition
Fascinating piece by Tanya Barrientos in the Philadelphia Enquirer on New York ballet auditions: “Like swallows to Capistrano, dancers from all over the globe swoop into Manhattan every year for a chance to plié, jeté and port de bras in front of company directors who can make or break their fledgling careers.”
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/5589537.htm

St. Petersburg’s White Nights Festival in Japan
The Daily Yomiuri online reports on the White Nights celebrations in St. Petersburg. This year it will also feature as part of the Russian Arts Festival in Japan.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030410woa6.htm

Royal Ballet
A flawed tribute to greatness
Nureyev Bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, In the Middle pdd, Images of Love, Romeo and Juliet pdd, and others
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Bussell, Cojocaru, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Kumakawa, Mukhamedov, Putrov, Rojo, Watson
by Nadine Meisner
    "The Royal Ballet's tribute to Rudolf Nureyev begins wonderfully and ends very nicely, but in the middle it falls prey to one of the most massive miscalculations ever committed in dance history. Too many hands seem to have been determined to be involved; too many memories intent on asserting their angle on the Nureyev phenomenon."
The Independent

Royal Ballet

Giannandrea Poesio, writing in The Spectator (not online) was incandescent with anger:
"Professional etiquette prevents me from writing what I truly think of the persons who had the despicable idea of juxtaposing the screened images with the totally unrelated dancing on stage. I found the whole thing utterly diminishing for the excellent dancers and I cannot believe that such an idea was approved by the powers that be."

Sarah Frater, writing in The Standard (not online), was similarly unimpressed.
"Utterly wrongheaded - apart from the overwhelming multiplicity of images,the bright screen plunged the dancers into silhouette rendering them barely visible."

Royal Ballet
Nureyev Bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, In the Middle pdd, Images of Love, Surge, and others
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Arestis, Bussell, Cojocaru, Cope, Galeazzi, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Kumakawa, Morera, Mukhamedov, Nunez, Putrov, Rojo, Watson
by Lynette Halewood
    "All in all a very successful evening which received a really warm welcome from the audience, much more vocal and excited than they have been for some time."
Ballet.co Magazine

Royal Ballet
Nureyev bill: Apollo, Raymonda act III, Memory, La Sylphide pdd, Images of Love, Surge
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Arestis, Guillem, Hilaire, Kobborg, Kumakawa, Morera, Mukhamedov, Putrov, Rojo, Watson
by Suzanne McCarthy
    "The current ROH triple bill is meant as a tribute to Rudolf Nureyev. Certainly the programme notes did him credit, and I had looked forward to the evening with great expectation. What was delivered, however, was either merely a device for getting former ROH stars back onto the Opera House stage or an open invitation to Sylvie Guillem to take a run down memory lane. Maybe it was a combination of both. In any event, at least if you were sitting in the stalls, it was a mess..."
Ballet.co Magazine

Ballet San Jose
The Tempest
USA, San Jose, Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Anderson, Dalle, Gwatkin, Jacobs, Koltun, Lapshin, Perez, Tai, Yoshimoto, Rodriguez
by Renee Renouf
    "If this recitation is disjointed, so was the ballet. Just as magic began to twinkle on stage, it went exeunt, replaced by physical blatancy. I guess that's life."
Ballet.co Magazine

Paul Taylor Dance Company, Houston Ballet
Anna Kisselgoff in the NY Times reviews a double performance in celebrtation of the work of Paul Taylor: “ The program's title is "Celebrating an Icon: The Legacy of Paul Taylor," and the icon himself received a well-deserved standing ovation at the center's Eisenhower Theater on Wednesday night”
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/arts/dance/11BEGI.html

Alpha Omega Dance Company
Grief and Joy: Stark Contrast
Elegy, Pegao, Alone in This World, Urban Rituals
USA, New York, Aaron Davis Hall
Dancers: Boyd, Clark, Henry
by Jennifer Dunning
    "in "Pegao," ...a seeming cast of hundreds spilled out across the stage in dance of syncopated strides and struts with extra-sinuous choreography for the dancers' bottoms"
The N