    | Published: February 27, 2019 Category: review By Rachel Straus, Musical America February 27, 2019 An appropriate subtitle to New York City Ballet’s “New Combinations” program—William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman (1992), Justin Peck’s Principia (2019), and Kyle Abraham’s The Runaway (2018)—might be “Just Friends.” It’s a theme the company’s team of interim directors is trying to espouse as they seek […] Published: February 18, 2019 Category: historyRACHEL STRAUS A nostalgia for British conduct and customs is central to the song “An Englishman in New York” (1987). Created by the English popstar Sting and inspired by an afternoon of conversation with the eccentric English theater icon Quentin Crisp, the song’s most pointed lament is expressed in its refrain: “Oh, I’m an alien, […] Published: February 11, 2019 Category: review By Rachel Straus, Musical America February 11, 2019 The components of the Balanchine-Stravinsky Greek-themed trilogy Apollo (1928), Orpheus (1948) and Agon (1957) are infrequently seen together, perhaps because the middle ballet is not an outright crowd pleaser. But the sum of the whole is greater than its parts. Seen side by side, these works provide […] Published: November 6, 2018 Category: reviewBy Rachel Straus Tributes to historic masterpieces and their creators are a tricky business. In dance, the choreographer and original dancers with whom he or she created the piece are long gone. What has been passed on inevitably undergoes changes from the original, sometimes seismic ones. So rather than catering to nostalgia, the curators of […] Published: November 17, 2017 Category: reviewBy Rachel Straus Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 classic film The Red Shoes was a surprise hit with audiences because of its sheer style: a technicolor phantasmagoria of blood reds and oceanic blues that distilled on and off-stage visions of a dance company, modeled after the The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1937-1968). Perhaps […] Published: January 31, 2017 Category: reviewBy Rachel Straus, MusicalAmerica.com The 10-year-old Israeli troupe L-E-V takes its name from a word that can be translated as “heart.” Which is ironic, for in the group’s OCD Love (2015), six dancers’ hearts appear mangled, like partially melted pieces of corrugated iron. Created by L-E-V co-founders choreographer Sharon Eyal and the multi-media artist Gai […] Published: November 28, 2016 Category: review By Rachel Straus A roar of approval from the sold-out crowd greeted the four marvelous Nederlands Dans Theater performers following Crystal Pite’s The Statement (2016), seen in its local premiere at New York City Center on Nov. 18. Pite has been the associate choreographer of NDT since 2008. The roots of her movement style stem […] Published: November 8, 2016 Category: review By Rachel Straus for MusicalAmerica.com November 8, 2016 As the curator of the White Lights Festival’s “Sounds of India” series, choreographer Mark Morris brought his company to the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, in a gem-like program that illuminated his own, personal relationship with India. In 1981, Morris toured that country as a performer with Laura […] Published: October 20, 2016 Category: reviewBy Rachel Straus, MusicalAmerica.com October 20, 2016 Shantala Shivalingappa. Photo by Hector Perez There is a popular saying that “dance is a universal language.” This statement raises eyebrows among dance anthropologists. They argue that dance is a language, like any other, and it needs to be studied in order to be understood. That […] |
| Copyright © 2019 Rachel Straus – Dance Writer - All Rights Reserved Contact | Links | Legal Notices | Credits |
|