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New York City Ballet
For Balanchine's Big Birthday, a Celebration of His Daring
Apollo, Serenade, Prodigal Son, Chopiniana
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Angle, Boal, Borree, Brown, Fayette, Hubbe, Kistler, Kowroski, Neal, Nichols, Rutherford, Somogyi, King, Mearns
by Anna Kisselgoff
    "George Balanchine would have been 100 years old on Thursday, and a packed house was on hand that night to sing "Happy Birthday" and celebrate with a vodka toast and a cascade of balloons in the New York State Theater."
The New York Times

New York City Ballet
Audience Mark Balanchine's 100th Birthday
Apollo, Serenade, Prodigal Son
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Boal, Borree, Hubbe, Kistler, Nichols
by Jocelyn Noveck
    "On the way out, guests were handed little tartlets of caramel and passion fruit mousse, with a lychee nut center (2,800 of them had been baked for the occasion.)
    "As for the dancing, Thursday's performance highlighted three of Balanchine's earliest works..."
Associated Press

Mark Morris Dance Group
A frenzied flock of birds, and other top-flight dances from Mark Morris
All Fours, Peccadillos, A Spell, Grand Duo
USA, Seattle, Meany Hall
Dancers: Morris
by Brangien Davis
    All Fours: "The fact that the dancers fit so flawlessly with such challenging music speaks volumes toward the depths of Morris' talent."
Seattle Times

Mark Morris Dance Group
Morris group radiates fun and sophistication
All Fours, Peccadillos, A Spell, Grand Duo
USA, Seattle, Meany Hall
Dancers: Morris
by Rm Campbell
    All Fours: "There are few who would think that any of Bela Bartok's six string quartets, a collective landmark in 20th-century music, is fertile ground for dancing. But Morris has always had a highly individual, and eclectic, taste in music..."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Washington Ballet
A Tiptop Tribute To Balanchine - Washington Ballet Marks the Master's Centennial
The Four Temperaments, Sonatine, A Midsummer Night's Dream
USA, Washington, Kennedy Center - Eisenhower Theater
Dancers: Gaither, Hartley, Jimenez, Jordan, Palau, Pregger, Torres
by Sarah Kaufman
    "If the best way to honor the groundbreaking architect of American ballet is by dancing his works with perceptiveness and spirit, then this company paid him effusive tribute..."
Washington Post

Washington Ballet
Tribute to a master
The Four Temperaments, Sonatine, A Midsummer Night's Dream
USA, Washington, Kennedy Center - Eisenhower Theater
Dancers: Bland, Du, Gaither, Hartley, Jimenez, Jordon, Mahoney, Nelson, Palau, Torres, Urgelles
by Jean Battey Lewis
    "The Washington Ballet opened at the top of its form Thursday evening with a galvanizing performance of "The Four Temperaments" on a program celebrating George Balanchine's 100th birthday."
Washington Times

Ultima Vez - Wim Vandekeybus
Wim Vandekeybus: The moving beauty of still images
For Blush, the choreographer Wim Vandekeybus and his troupe merge dance with the magic of cinema
London
By Zoe Anderson
    "When he started to use film in works for his dance company, Ultima Vez, "they were short films, self-contained, with their own story. This time, the screen is elastic." The dancers dive from the stage, reappearing on screen in sequences filmed at Bruges dolphinarium."
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/interviews/story.jsp?story=483381

Chisinau National Ballet
3 stars
Nutcracker
UK, Manchester, Palace Theatre
Dancers: Schepachiova, Schepachoiv, Cheban, Chebotari, Ilina, Kamish, Kirilova, Sharaev
by Robert Beale
    "... a version which makes the most of a small and mainly youthful company, and which simplifies and adapts the traditional scenario so that its story can be easily followed by all ..."
Manchester Online

Oakland Ballet
Energized Oakland Ballet steps up to plate
Thirsting/La Femme au Puits, Sightings, Lone Woman, Huapango
USA, San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Dancers: Goldman, Johnson, Malone, Frias, Gaddis
by Mary Ellen Hunt
    "Overall, though, this is without a doubt one of the most interesting and best-produced programs Oakland Ballet has offered in a long time."
Contra Costa Times

Black Expressions - Gesel Mason
Redefining Black Dance
Washington
By Lisa Traiger
    "Black Dance is more than Alvin Ailey, and Gesel Mason wants the world to know that. But before she can tell the world, this dancer and choreographer has to let her own adopted home town, Washington, know...."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38603-2004Jan22.html

Prometheus Dance - Tommy Neblett and Diane Arvanites-Noya
Troupe's `Dreams' become reality
Boston
By Theodore Bale
    "One short dance, in particular, is intensely personal for Arvanites-Noya.
    "It's based on the recent death of my father. I wondered when I would meet him in that dream space, where he could tell me something..."
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/artsNews/edgeArts.bg?articleid=652

Danny Grossman Dance Company
Dancers make room
Grossman company revives 1955 classic
Toronto
by Gord McLaughlin
    "Plays have scripts and operas have scores, but dance pieces sometimes live only in the bodies of the dancers who performed them. That idea takes flesh this week when the Danny Grossman Dance Company presents Rooms, the 1955 modern dance masterpiece by revered U.S. choreographer Anna Sokolow."
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=bdf9342d-3894-4f48-9e80-6ab1be90f54f

Ballet for fitness
Called to the barre
London
by Abigail Hofman
    "Kylie and rugby players have got the pointe: ballet keeps you on your toes and tones your body as well as your soul"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-973390,00.html

Scottish Opera Problems
A different high art but issues are the same..."
Glasgow
on Letters Page
    Aonghas MacNeacail: "Much is being made of the need for the creative community to engage with the wider community. There is an inference that funding for the arts will be made conditional on a demonstrable social engagement: that seems to me to be wrong. Poets, painters and opera singers do not necessarily make good social workers, nor should they be expected to be. Poetry, painting and music should be valued for themselves, and should be supported accordingly."
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/8544-print.shtml

"Anyway, let me tell you about Giselle. Giselle is a comely peasant girl who has fallen in love with the Count Albrecht. However, she doesn’t know it’s the Count Albrecht because, in order to conceal his high birth, Albrecht has told her he, too, is a peasant. Call me cynical, but I’m not sure that’s how people behave in the real world.

...

But it’s a little churlish, I suppose, to judge an entire art form on the scanty evidence of two performances in the past ten years. So perhaps I should go to the ballet again. Certainly I shall continue to tell women that I am in thrall to the ballet and wish for nothing more than an evening dolled up to the nines in the Royal Opera House. For some reason, women seem to think that men who admit a penchant for ballet are sensitive and, therefore, suitable mating material. Or they think they’re loaded, and suitable mating material. One of the two. And by the time they’ve found out the truth, on both counts, it’s usually too late."

There's not much difference in the duplicity of Albrecht and Rob Liddle, really, is there? Except that *Albrecht* appears to have learned his lesson by the end ...

...I think (?)....

I wonder if this was in the actual arts reviews pages or was one of those 'witty-journalist-endears-himself-to-reader-by-writing-childishly-about-unfamiliar-situations'-type of pieces.

In either case it fails being neither informative/ imaginative/ entertaining/ witty/ remotely interesting etc.

(Still, never mind ...he seems to have made one interesting point - in spite of himself !)

But really, it is an absolutely vacuous piece of 'writing' and because of that I find it offensive on behalf of all the unemployed journalists/comedy writers/dance critics out there.....

I think you've hit the nail on the head with your 'witty-journalist' version. Perhaps "would-be-witty" and "attempts-to-endear-himself" would be even more accurate.

I wonder if Jeremy Clarkson has been giving classes - there's a distinct whiff of the Clarkson approach in Liddle's article.

Alison - I read this article too with similar reactions. I think you should send it to the paper's correspondence page.

Misogynism? Good grief! A particularly notable senior moment. I meant misogyny.

And i doubt any girl stabbed herself for Rob....

Someone should take him to see Judas Tree though. THAT would give him a nice contrast

Ballet Training
Ballet Training: Where Democracy Misses a Step
New York
By Erika Kinetz
    "It takes a decade, and in the United States anywhere from $30,000 to upward of $50,000, to train a ballet dancer, not counting summer program tuition or point shoes, though many students, especially boys, receive scholarships."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/arts/dance/25KINE.html

San Francisco Ballet
Ballet! - San Francisco Ballet spotlights Balanchine and story dances
San Francisco
by Michael Wade Simpson
    "The San Francisco Ballet's 2004 season is a Balanchine sandwich on a story ballet roll."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/25/PKG6C4BRNG1.DTL&type=performance

Houston Ballet
Coming: a brave new ballet season
Houston
By MOLLY GLENTZER
    "The company will also add dances by Mark Morris, Lila York and Serge Lifar, and artistic associate Maina Gielgud's staging of Giselle, to its repertoire.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/dance/2366908

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo - Medina Gallego
Men in tutus give ballet a little tickle in the ribs
Honolulu
By Wayne Harada
    "So when he gets roses and other floral bouquets after a night with the Trocks, Medina Gallego knows he's done his job well ... masquerading as a ballerina. "Funny thing, though; we get flowers only in Japan. The girls and women love us there," he said."
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Jan/23/en/en09a.html

Bare Bones
All up in the air
2/004: Bounced Bach, Tautology, Maybe, Misconsumption, Improper
UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre
by David Dougill
    "I can’t think why William Tuckett titled his dance Tautology, but I enjoyed this most, with its giddy swirlings and rollings for a cast in striped pyjamas, living out a dream..."
The Sunday Times

Protein Dance
The Banquet
UK, Deptford, Laban Centre
Dancers: Gilmore, Strange
by David Dougill
    "The Banquet is witty and surreal dance-theatre, constructed rather like a Pina Bausch work in miniature."
The Sunday Times

Moving Africa
Chiefs, The Torn Eye, Several Form One
UK, London, Barbican Theatre
Dancers: Mantsoe
by David Dougill
    "...a conspectus of modern “fusion” dance from three parts of that continent, and very different from folkloric extravaganzas in grass skirts."
The Sunday Times

Oakland Ballet
Witty mix of faith, dance highlights Oakland Ballet in its return to S.F. stage
Thirsting/La Femme au Puits, Sightings, Lone Woman, Huapango
USA, San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Dancers: Copley, Gaddis, Jarrett, Johnson, Lieberth, Malone, Sheppard, Williams, Custer
by Janice Berman
    "The Oakland Ballet's visit represents a company searching to find itself by finding a wider audience. It's an idea fraught with challenges, but this is a troupe that appears willing to take them on."
San Francisco Chronicle

Oakland Ballet
Oakland Ballet crosses bridge to showcase contemporary works
Thirsting/La Femme au Puits, Sightings, Lone Woman, Huapango
USA, San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Dancers: Gaddis, Jarrett, Johnson
by Jeanne Fogler
    "The program that opened Thursday ... leans distinctly toward the contemporary end of the spectrum both in dance styles and in general aesthetic sense."
Alameda Times-Star

Prometheus Dance
Prometheus's 'Dreams' is a rich flight of fancy
Dreams
USA, Cambridge, Multicultural Arts Center
Dancers: Dionne, Taylor-Blenis
by Karen Campbell
    " It is a clever, compelling blend of the elegantly lyrical and the unceremoniously awkward."
The Boston Globe

Canadian Stage Company
A play without words - or rhythm
The Overcoat
UK, London, Barbican Theatre
Dancers: Anderson
by Jann Parry
    "The elaborate nature of the busy crowd scenes is where the production runs into difficulties...."
The Observer

Israel Galvan - flamenco
Flamenco Like Something Out of Kafka
New York
By Valerie Gladstone
    "At 29, he has been called the Nijinsky of flamenco for his virtuosity by Spanish critics; his performances have earned him several major prizes in his homeland."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/arts/dance/25GLAD.html

Ballet for fitness
Try BalleCore
Washington
byTony Sclafani
    "...BalleCore, a new exercise craze combining aspects of ballet, Hatha yoga and Pilates in a routine designed to strengthen the "core" muscles -- those deep in the abdomen..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40359-2004Jan22.html

New York City Ballet
Plenty of Pastiche and Pizazz, but, Sorry, No Popcorn
Double Feature
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Ansanelli, Bouder, Evans, Fairchild, Flynn, Fowler, Gold, Hanson, Higgins, Korbes, Krohn, Nichols, Orza, Woetzel, Hankes, Sorine, Tobias
by Anna Kisselgoff
    Unlike Balanchine, Ms. Stroman has always seen dance as a narrative medium, not as pure form. Storytelling is her gift in the genre she has chosen, and with Glen Kelly's brilliant arrangement of the Berlin and Donaldson songs, shorn of their lyrics, she displays a musical sensitivity that Balanchine could appreciate.
The New York Times

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
The largest building devoted entirely to dance opens late 2004.
“The occupant? Not American Ballet Theatre (which rents space on lower Broadway). Not New York City Ballet (housed in smaller confines at Lincoln Center).
Stepping through the plate-glass doors at 55th Street and Ninth Avenue next November will be the 30 members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater”.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42295-2004Jan23.html

Royal New Zealand Ballet
Ballet Moves with The Times
RNZB presents a terrific programme of contemporary dance entitled ‘The Meridian Energy Season of Santarello featuring works by de Frutos, NZB’s Adrian Burnett and our very own Hampy.
“This is ballet for the 21st century. We are grabbing classical ballet by the scruff of its neck and hauling it into the here and now,” says Artistic Director Gary Harris.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/CU0401/S00070.htm

Australian Ballet
AB’s artistic director, David McAllister appointed as Member of the Order of Australia for his services to dance.
“As beginnings go, it was a trifle inauspicious. David McAllister's first stage was a backyard septic tank.”
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/25/1074965439102.html

Peter Boal
Boal's expressive ability unites one-man modern dance show
Peter Boal- Solos: One Body, The Man and the Echo, Waiting for Rain
USA, Palm Beach, Kravis Center
Dancers: Boal
by Sharon McDaniel
    Boal wears the choreography beautifully. His exceptional combination of physical strength and poetry, plus the personality to draw you into his world, make him a complete expressive vehicle.
Palm Beach Post

Mikhail Baryshnikov
To adorer, Misha is forever young
From a swooning admirer. Well I suppose it’s an antidote to Rod Liddle...
“Beautiful, beautiful Misha, so perfect in our heads -- the effortless grace, the feral strength and the tights. Heaven help us, the tights! Has ever a man done more justice to ballet wear?”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/accent_0411d83375d181cd0086.html

San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet spotlights Balanchine and story dances
“The San Francisco Ballet's 2004 season is a Balanchine sandwich on a story ballet roll....Wrapped around this filling are evening-length ballets, "Don Quixote," opening Feb. 3, and the highly anticipated Mark Morris ballet "Sylvia," April 30. The lettuce and tomato are a handful of repertory programs offering everything from classic and kid-friendly dances to cutting-edge pieces”
by Michael Wade Simpson
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/25/PKG6C4BRNG1.DTL&type=performance

Blood on the dancefloor
Flamenco's hottest new star has put his foot down: it's time the dance got back to lawlessness, passion and pride. He talks to Judith Mackrell
"Now, 21-year-old Juan Manuel Fernandez - aka Farruquito - is poised to succeed Cortes as flamenco's El Guapo, or handsome one."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1131017,00.html

Igor Moiseyev
At the age of 98, the Folk maestro looks back on a life in dance.
"I think I'm the only one, not just in dance, but in any area, who works at the age of 98," said Moiseyev. "I don't want to retire."
http://www.tmtmetropolis.ru/metropolis/stories/2004/01/23/106.html

Li Cunxin
Mao’s “last dancer” turns Aussie stockbroker.
"My ultimate or best outcome for my life then would be to replace my father as a truck driver, which was the most glorious job at the time,"
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4203888

Bolshoi Ballet
Bright Stream Paris Opera
Bright Stream
France, Paris, Palais Garnier
Dancers: Godovsky, Shipulina, Yanin
by Clement Crisp
    The company performed with unfailing verve, even if some of the characterisations were furiously over-egged.
The Financial Times

Bolshoi Ballet
Bringing Back the Banned
Bright Stream
France, Paris, Palais Garnier
Dancers: Alexandrova, Godovsky, Yanin, Klevtzov, Petrova
by Alexander Meinertz
    The Bolshoi marvel, Maria Alexandrova, who plays the role of the Ballerina, shoots across the stage in an unforgettable series of great jumps and, disguised as a man in Act II, she has no problems tackling the virtuoso male variation—every single step....
DanceView Times

New York City Ballet
An Evening's Debuts
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No.2, Harlequinade
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Askegard, Borree, Bouder, DeLuz, Fairchild, Hubbe, Korbes, Somogyi
by Mary Cargill
    It wouldn’t be The Sleeping Beauty without a Carabosse, and unfortunately, Balanchine himself took that role, removing the tutus and the atmosphere, and substituting flimsy, washed-out dresses, but the glorious bones of the ballet are indestructible and Somogyi could make a dishrag look like a tutu and the work look like Ballet Imperial.
http://www.danceviewtimes.com/dvny/reviews/2004/winter/nycb4.htm

Washington Ballet
The Washington Ballet Celebrates Balanchine
The Four Temperaments, Sonatine, A Midsummer Night's Dream
USA, New York, John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Bland, Du, Gaither, Hartley, Jimenez, Jordan, Mahoney, Nelson, Pregger, Torres, Urgelles
by Alexandra Tomalonis
    ...this all-Balanchine evening, programmed by Artistic Director Septime Webre to honor the great choreographer on his 100th birthday, is very much a part of the company’s tradition, not a one-time gesture. And the company did the ballets proud.
Danceview times

James Sewell Ballet
A Vivid, Musical Talent
Moving Works, Loves Remembered, Barrage
USA, New York, Joyce Theater
Dancers: Freeh, Sewell
by Susan Reiter
    The lasting impression I carried away from my initial look at James Sewell's choreography—his troupe's first New York appearance in 2001—was that it is refreshingly unaffected and musically astute.
Danceview times

Flyaway Productions
Good Intentions
The Grim Arithmetic of Water
USA, San Francisco, Cowell Theatre
Dancers: Lam, Welch
by Rita Felciano
    With her latest endeavor of art rooted in social activism... Kreiter took on the one resource without which life cannot exist. Eloquently she states in her program notes: “Tonight, we illuminate thirst, so that we might cultivate just a little more commitment to a water ethic that embraces sustainability for everyone.”
Danceview times

Black Expressions
Where's The Soul?
Cocteau Variations, No Less Black, Pa-Shen, Catch 22, Beg-In Her, Goddess Subdued
USA, Washington, Lincoln Theatre
Dancers: Freeman, Hurt, McLaughlin, Murray, Pack, Williams, Willis
by Lisa Traiger
    The audience was extravagantly appreciative and vocal—applauding and whooping with every display of athleticism, pyrotechnics.
DanceView Times

Gandini
Gandini Juggling, Purcell Room, London
Quartet, Duet, Button up your Overcoat
UK, London, Purcell Room
Dancers: Gandini, Hokkala
by Zoe Anderson
    Gandini Juggling does dance, but it is at its most magical when it sticks to throwing and catching.
Independent

Scottish Ballet
Bottom line is dancers have got a ballet cheek
Fans are being warned that, before buying their theatre tickets for the latest SB show that they will see bare bums.
“But theatre industry professionals suggested the fact the theatre was alerting patrons to the nudity was likely to draw in people who wouldn’t normally go to the ballet.”
by Gareth Edwards
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=98332004

Dance Theatre of Harlem
A profile of Ikolo Griffin, principal dancer with the company.
“His return to the Bay Area on Wednesday....offers a chance to reflect on the differences between his experience and that of the company's director and co-founder, legendary New York City Ballet star Arthur Mitchell.”
by Mary Ellen Hunt, Contra Costa Times correspondent.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/7798129.htm

Twyla Tharp
The choreographer has joined up with Billy Joel to create a Broadway show based on his songs..
Joel recalls the conversation going something like this:
"She goes, 'Listen, what ever happened to Brenda and Eddie in the Italian restaurant?'
"And I said, 'I don't know.'
"She goes, 'What happened to Anthony from the grocery store?'
"I said, 'I don't know.' "
http://www.freep.com/entertainment/newsandreviews/movin25_20040125.htm

Sadler’s Wells Chief resigns
“Frenchman Jean-Luc Choplin was appointed as chief executive in October 2002 for a five-year term. He has resigned after just a year.”
by Luke Leitch of the Evening Standard.
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=23022

More to come....

Chamber Dance Project
Mayhem, Dressed in Suits
Heir of Civility, Bowery Poetry Club, To Whom It May Concern, Four Men in Suits, In the Garret
USA, New York, Symphony Space
Dancers: Pickard, Quijada, Welker, Winkler, Aptowicz, Booker, Brown, Payton
by Jack Anderson
    Chamber Dance Project brought some succinct dances to Symphony Space on Jan. 12. It was at its best in choreographic comedies of manners.
The New York Times

Fist and Heel Performers
Fist and Heel group offers spiritual touch and physical appeal
Introduction, Vocal Suite, Big Brick - A Man's Piece
USA, Houston, DiverseWorks
Dancers: DeSoleil, Hamilton, Hunte, Aleong, Flowers, Harding, Lawrence, Wilson
by Molly Glentzer
    Move over, Alvin Ailey. There's a new post-modern kid on the block, with a brand of dance that makes Ailey's Revelations ...seem like so much cotton candy. His name is Reggie Wilson
Houston Chronicle

New York City Ballet
Double Trouble
Double Feature
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Ansanelli, Bouder, Fairchild, Gold, Kowroski, Nichols, Woetzel
by Mary Cargill
    Pointing out the gruesome details is almost too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel (how could anyone have a game Ansanelli try to do fouettés while the stage is littered with dollar bills?); but these are vicious, dangerous little fish, who are eating up time and money that could and should be spent on ballet.
Danceview

New York City Ballet
Stroman Brings Magic to Lincoln Centre
Double Feature
USA, New York, Lincoln Center
Dancers: Ansanelli, Bouder, Fairchild, Gold, Kowroski, Nichols, Woetzel
by Jocelyn Noveck
    But we'd also be remiss not to mention the dog a Boston terrier named Pi, to be precise who steals the show at several moments. At Friday night's opening, this performing pooch missed one of his exits, suddenly becoming engrossed in a small object lying on the stage. A pair of hands finally reached out to drag him into the wings. And the audience laughed even harder.
Associated Press

New York City Ballet
Stroman Puts Showman into City Ballet
Double Feature
USA, New York, State Theater
by Clive Barnes
    Stroman...sought her inspiration in silent movies, feeling that there was a dramatic link of expressive technique between those actors and these silent dancers. The woman was right.
New York Post

Limon Dance Company
A strong celebration of love from Limon dance troup
The Unsung, Psalm, Angelitos Negros, Phantasy Quintet
USA, San Francisco, Cowell Theatre
Dancers: Boumaila, Foote, Juste, Regala, Riedel, Ruvalcaba, Scott, Cook, Kudio, Seeber
by Janice Berman
    The Limon Dance Company bill mourns injustice, celebrates love, rails against fate. Irony, that staple of contemporary performance, is refreshingly absent.
San Francisco Chronicle

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard dance troupe first-rate full-throttle
Diphthong, Kiss, Rooster, Super Straight Is Coming Down
USA, Madison, Oscar Mayer Theatre
Dancers: Cuore, Mann
by Ronnie Hess
    For much of two hours, the near capacity crowd yelled and cheered this Chicago-based, high energy troupe of modern dancers, then gave the company a standing ovation at the end...
The Capital Times

James Sewell Ballet
Having Taken Flight
Moving Works, Loves Remembered, Barrage
USA, New York, Joyce Theater
Dancers: Freeh, Johnson, Rousse, Seipp, Sewell
by Deborah Jowitt
    Dancers get injured, embark on bizarre lifts, try new choreography, keep the polonaise alive, bow.
The Village Voice

Margie Gillis
Having Taken Flight
Eliminations, Breathing Bird Bone, A Complex Simplicity of Love, Viridian, Blue, Waltzing Matilda, What the Wind Whispers
USA, New York, Joyce Theater
Dancers: Gillis
by Deborah Jowitt
    What moves me most about Gillis, though, is not just her gifts as a performer, but the joy she radiates over and beyond each work's message. She performs as if the stage were her home, and there is no place she'd rather be.
The Village Voice

Scottish Ballet
Scottish chiefs scrap Tramway move
More on SB and its decision not only to scrap proposals for the Tramway move, but also its bid for lottery funding from the Scottish Arts Council.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/print/news/5023138.shtml

Scottish Ballet
The Scotsman reports on Scottish Ballet’s plans to tour primary schools in Glasgow to carry out Nutcracker workshops with youngsters.
“For Lorna Pickford, head of education at Scottish Ballet, going into schools and teaching pupils about ballet has a value beyond simple cultural enrichment.”
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=103082004&rware=PBTZKNEFREJW&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=1

Paul Taylor Dance Company
A report from the Washington Times on a video of two of Taylor’s dances - Black Tuesday and Promethean Fired first recorded at the Edinburgh Festival and shown on PBS.
“No small-screen viewing can possibly replicate the huge impact of the dance onstage, but the camera's eye still brings plenty to treasure.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/entertainment/20040127-095011-8610r.htm

Anastasia Volochkova
’Fat’ ballerina seeking £500,000 compensation
Ms Volochkova demands compensation and is heading for London. “She told Russian daily newspaper Izvestia: "I've started negotiations in London. The conditions since my re-instatement at the Bolshoi Theatre have become particularly intolerable."“
http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_859843.html

Ultima Vez
Sex and frogs and wobbly bits
Blush
UK, Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre
by Ismene Brown
    '..Still 60 minutes left to fill out. Easy: the company must show why this genre is called "Eurocrash" by tumbling and crashing into each other or on to the floor.... When in doubt, as a general rule, shriek.'
The Telegraph

Ballet Frankfurt
Wear, The The, Reflection of Another
Germany, Frankfurt, Opera House
Dancers: Gonzalez, Zabala, Ando
by James Woodall
    'Forsythe's latest piece, Wear,... (is) a gnomic half-hour of outright Tanztheater, leaving one with a sense of a joke too far and virtually no moving or memorable images.'
Financial Times

New York City Ballet
Concerto Barocco, Harlequinade, Apollo, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Double Feature, Flower Festival in Genzano, Scotch Symphony, Chopiniana
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Ansanelli, Bojesen, Borree, Bouder, Fairchild, Gold, Hubbe, Kowroski, Lund, Millepied, Nichols, Reichlin, Somogyi, Sorine, Sylve, Weese, Woetzel
by Robert Gottlieb
    '..but to make the central duet of Apollo boring is a unique achievement....To be fair to Borree, her second performance was somewhat more relaxed and convincing, but even so, could we possibly believe that she was the Muse whom Apollo chose above Calliope and Polyhymnia—particularly when the Polyhymnia was Jennie Somogyi...'
New York Observer

New York City Ballet
Double Feature
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Ansanelli, Bouder, Gold, Kowroski, Nichols, Woetzel
by Sylviane Gold
    ' "Makin' Whoopee" captures the sweet comic spirit of a Buster Keaton movie Tom Gold is simply brilliant as the bashful businessman who can never quite pop the question to his long-suffering sweetheart (a delightfully resigned Alexandra Ansanelli)'
Newsday

Principals and Soloists of the Royal Danish Ballet
Danish Principals Revel in Their Bournonville
Conservatory Pas-de-deux, Flower Festival at Genzano Pas-de-deux, William Tell Pas-de-deux, Napoli Pas-de-six, Nomade, Triplex
USA, New York, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Blangstrup, Cavallo, Cuni, Hansen, Hojilund, Hubbe, Sakuri, Still, Watson. Lund
by Jack Anderson
    'It became easy to understand why the Royal Danish Ballet is such a beloved company when a troupe called Principals and Soloists of the ballet performed on Sunday afternoon at Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College. These dancers filled the stage with choreographic sunshine.'
The New York Times

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey Troupe Leaps Beyond Its Founder's Legacy
Heart Song, Juba, Revelations, Night Creature
USA, Washington, Kennedy Center Opera House
Dancers: Archer, Brown, Deshauters, Fisher-Harrell, Gerodias, Machanic, Robinson, Sims
by Sarah Kaufman
    'If there was a divine force at work, it was surely in the mesmerizing presence of Renee Robinson, who presided over "Wade in the Water" with serene command and ignited a fire of fan-fluttering and fleet feet in "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham." '
Washington Post

Flamenco Festival
James Woodall in the FT on the origins of flamenco, prior to the opening of a flamenco festival in New York: ‘Under Franco, good flamenco declined on Spain's coasts into dreadful imitation: his regime used the form to earn fast tourist revenue and flamenco dance, which should at the least be dignified, was debased. In most seaside clubs, it still is’
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1073281326684&p=1016625900929

Dance Down Under
Sharon Verghis in the Sydney Morning Herald on a musical featuring dancing ladies of a certain age: ‘There were wonderfully surreal, chaotic scenes as the group, responding to the call from the producers of Todd McKenney Live for women aged between 50 and 80, able to "tap, high-kick and samba", staged impromptu rehearsals in the lifts, in corridors, in any conceivable open space. All gold curls, faded glamour and fishnet-encased long legs, some looked like time travellers from the Tivoli circuit of the 1930s’
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2004/01/28/1075088083431.html

The London Coliseum
Rupert Christiansen in the Telegraph on the progress of the re-vamped Coliseum in London: ‘…for all its shortcomings, the renovated Coliseum will triumph. It's going to look and feel like an opera house - even if it isn't one’
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2004%2F01%2F28%2Fbartscol2.xml