(m)Orpheus. New Zealand Opera & Black Grace
…t as suited the Samoan dimension of the production but also honoured Gluck completely. The guitar, beautifully played by Gunter Herbig, was Orfeo’s lyre come to life. Samson Setu singing Orpheus was a beautifully steady and centred presence throughout, his rich and resonant voice effortlessly delivered as he avoided any operatic extravagance. Deborah Wai Kapohe was perfectly cast as Euridice and reminded me of korimako/bellbird. Madison Nonoa as A…
L’histoire de Manon. La Scala Ballet on film
…as Manon. To put it mildly, the film shows the ballet as a tour de force, completely understandable in all its facets and danced with remarkable technique from every performer. Standouts were Nicoletta Manni as Manon and Reece Clarke as the young student, Des Grieux, who falls in love with Manon and follows her to Louisiana, to where, as one of several prostitutes, she has been deported. Technically their performance of MacMillan’s choreography,…
Études/Circle Electric. The Australian Ballet
…Bournonville’s La Sylphide. Circle Electric, on the other hand, is a newly commissioned work from recently appointed resident choreographer for the Australian Ballet, Stephanie Lake. The official synopsis says that the work ‘starts as a microscopic investigation of the intricate and the intimate, ultimately expanding to encompass a telescopic view of humanity.’ Circle Electric opened the program and for a moment it looked promising as two lines of…
Joy Womack: The White Swan
…s and directors believed was necessary for progress through the school and company; the apparent hierarchical system within ballet companies; and the management of a dancer’s injuries. There were many moments when I was shocked to tell the truth, perhaps none more than when I watched as Womack stood in a canteen and asked for ‘a salmon sandwich without the bread’ and proceeded to eat from a plate on which was spread just a few slices of smoked sal…
Yuldea. Bangarra Dance Theatre
…esented the Bangarra style that has become familiar over the course of the company’s existence—the grounded movement, the turned up feet with legs bent sharply from the knee, tightly structured and strongly held group poses, bodies held upside down or at unusual angles in partnering moves, and so forth. But there were times in Yuldea when I was struck by the existence of moments that seemed based on ballet, both in some less grounded movement and…
Tatiana Leskova on DVD
…and several of those who appear on the DVD say she made them cry with her comments and demands. But the outcomes she achieved are exceptional, especially in her restaging of the ballets of Massine, which she did across the world. The DVD closes with Leskova saying: I was born in Paris. French people don’t take me as one. The Russians don’t take me as Russian. The Brazilians don’t take me as one. So, I am a ballerina. Free in the world. A DVD wel…
Tribute to Jon Trimmer
…Related Arts, the sixth in the annual series, to be held in Wellington on Sunday 25 February 2024, will be all about Jon Trimmer. Turid Revfeim is the main presenter, with a number of other contributors, and we will also screen the complete Coates’ documentary. For those readers able and interested to attend, please email jennifershennan@xtra.co.nz for an invitation. We are already thinking ahead that 2025’s lecture will be on Gray Veredon. Perhap…
Jungle Book Reimagined. Akram Khan Company
…tral character, Mowgli, is raised by a a pack of wolves. But the story is reinterpreted, as the Akram Khan website records, ‘through the lens of today’s children—those who will inherit our world and become our future storytellers’. The website explains further: Embedded in the roots of Jungle Book is the deep threat that mankind poses towards nature. Akram and his team have reimagined the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a refugee caught in a…
Glimpses of Graeme. Reflections on the work of Graeme Murphy. Book review
…ntenary season in 1982, devised by artistic director Harry Haythorne. Our company also staged The Protecting Veil the following decade. Sydney Dance Company visited with Shining (I recall a mighty performance from New Zealand dancer Alfred Williams). They returned with Some Rooms, a fine work which appealed to audiences wider than just dance aficionados. Berlin was a major work that well warranted the trip to Auckland then, so of interest now to…
Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella. The Australian Ballet (2013)
…ail Ratmansky and his team. Michelle Potter, 21 September 2013 Featured image: Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in Cinderella. The Australian Ballet, 2013. Photo: © Jeff Busby For my comments after a second viewing in Sydney follow this link. See also my comments on David Hallberg’s performance as the Prince published by DanceTabs….