I had the opportunity last night to check out a preview/rehearsal of PNB’s “Sculptured Dance” event, premiering as part of Summer at SAM on August 11. The video PNB just posted on YouTube (below) gives a little glimpse of the event, which features choreography by PNB’s Kiyon Gaines and Ezra Thomson (whose work wasn’t shown last night),… Read More Sculptured Dance, Summer at SAM, Rehearsal
Prepping for class tomorrow, I stumbled upon an old (somewhat overwrought) piece of writing. Seems like something to throw out into the universe before teaching Cage and Cunningham to a new group of students… For the first time in my life, I pause outside a theater and take a snapshot of the marquee: It… Read More Muscle Memory: Reflections on Audience, Legacy, and Merce Cunningham’s Rainforest
Hello world! Yes, it’s been a while (about a year, I think…oops. So much for resolutions). But here we are. I had some thoughts following PNB’s “Emergence” program on November 14 and thought to myself, “where might I share those musings…?” and then remembered, “oh right, I have a blog” 🙂 So since we’re out… Read More PNB’s “Emergence”
Would be so interested in seeing this: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/nov/16/royal-ballet-age-of-anxiety-ceremony-of-innocence-aeternum-observer-review I’ve had my set of suspicions about the work since watching the Royal Ballet’s World Ballet Day transmission–if you think this poem is about the plot, you’ve missed the point entirely: Robbins veered massively from the plot, but that was because I think he actually understood what… Read More Age(s) of Anxiety
The first part, “Emeralds,” is arranged to music by Fauré, from Pelléas et Mélisande and Shylock. It is danced by two leading couples, three soloists, and a corps de ballet of ten girls. There is first of all a pas de deux to soft, melodious strings with eight girls accompanying, then a variation for a girl to light lilting music. This is… Read More PNB Coaching Sessions: Emeralds and Rubies
Velocity’s Fall Kick-Off event last Friday was my first taste of the contemporary (modern? postmodern? postpostmodern? we need to come up with some new terms…) dance scene here in Seattle. It was an awesome event with some great dancing/art and a fun welcoming feel. So, some thoughts and images that have stuck with me over the… Read More Velocity’s Fall Kick-Off 9/6
Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins in Diamonds Wednesday night’s coaching session of Diamonds with Jacques d’Amboise was both everything I wanted it to be and left me wanting more. Although billed as a “coaching session” for the pas de deux, d’Amboise seemed to approach it as more of a lecture-demonstration, even as Peter Boal tried to coax… Read More Diamonds Coaching with Jacques D’Amboise at PNB 8/20
Having just moved to Seattle from the San Francisco Bay Area, the strongest first impression I have of the dance scene in this city is of how friendly and accessible it is! That’s not meant, in any way, to be a dig at the SF dance scene, which is fabulous, vibrant, and always doing something… Read More PNB In-Studio Showing 7/31
On 1935’s Alma Mater: Warburg told me about football. It was Yale [vs] Princeton; he told me there are cheers, yelling, that they take the poles away and that people wear coats with that fur–raccoon. And Princeton doesn’t like Yale, so I made a Yale boy marry a Princeton girl. Kay Swift wrote it like… Read More Balanchine on Princeton (?!)
The Wayward Muse 