Bella Figura » 2011

February 16, 2011

Review: Russo-American treasures in Amsterdam

Laura @ 23:17 —
Filed under: English,Reviews/critiques — Tags: alexei ratmansky, anna tsygankova, balanchine, cédric ygnace, dutch national ballet, financial times, jozef varga, jurgita dronina, krzysztof pastor, larissa lezhnina, marisa lopez, matthew golding, nadia yanowsky —

A la russe: Serenade / Dumbarton Dances / Tchaikovsky pas de deux / On the Dnieper
Choreography: George Balanchine, Krzysztof Pastor, Alexei Ratmansky
Dutch National Ballet
Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam
February 11 & 13, 2011

Strangely enough, Amsterdam is shaping up to be the place to see the very best of Russo-American ballet in western Europe. The Dutch National Ballet’s latest mixed bill, A la russe, celebrates the company’s rather unexpected connection with two great choreographers who left Russia for New York: George Balanchine and Alexei Ratmansky. Only Krzysztof Pastor’s Dumbarton Dances, a witty but one-dimensional showcase for eight men set to Stravinsky, fell flat, but who wouldn’t in such good company?

The Dutch have long boasted one of the largest collections of Balanchine works outside New York City Ballet, and they dance them fearlessly, with tremendous attack in the legs. The lyrical Serenade was given uplifting performances last weekend by the company’s women, led with spirited musicality on different evenings by Anna Tsygankova and Nadia Yanowsky as the Russian Girl. In Tchaikovsky pas de deux, similarly, both Cédric Ygnace and Matthew Golding tackled the virtuoso variation and coda with glee, unruffled by their technical shortcomings, while Jurgita Dronina charmed with artful ease. (…)

» Read the full review in the Financial Times

Anna Tsygankova & corps de ballet in Serenade © Angela Sterling

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February 2, 2011

Review: Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker’s Ars subtilior

Laura @ 16:25 —
Filed under: English,Reviews/critiques — Tags: anna teresa de keersmaeker, ars subtilior, financial times, théâtre de la ville —

En Atendant
Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker – Rosas
Théâtre de la Ville, Paris
January 29, 2010

Has the audience been shortchanged when the main event in an evening of contemporary dance turns out to be the music? In Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s case, not necessarily. Her latest creation, shown this week at the Théâtre de la Ville, may be flawed as a dance work but her exploration of the ars subtilior, a highly refined, manneristic musical style born on the heels of what has been called the “calamitous” 14th century, is an unexpected revelation.

En Atendant is as much musical incantation as it is dance, and a lone flautist (Michael Schmid) welcomes us as the lights dim, sustaining notes for minutes on end while a horn seems to call from a distance. A poignant series of ars subtilior songs follows, performed by singer Les Van Laethem and two musicians. The genre’s haunting undercurrent of resignation and mortality is best expressed in Philippus da Caserta’s En Atendant, souffrir m’estuet: “While waiting, I must endure grievous pain / And live, languishing: it is my fate / Since I cannot approach the fountain / Surrounded as it is by too many streams.” Keersmaeker senses a mirror for our times in this medieval melancholy, but the choreography sadly falls short of capturing its reflection. (…)