Gone fishing

Dance
Natalia Alonso & Gary Jeter II
A lot of chatter, lately, amongst dance geeks on Facebook about the great classical ballet pose the “fishdive” which, according to pundits was not part of the original Petipa choreography (way too athletic and upside down for that era) but seems to have been introduced in the 1946 version of “The Sleeping Beauty.” This notwithstanding, ...

Pure Petipa, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

Dance
In this great portrait by dance photographer Gene Schiavone, American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Marcelo Gomes (Prince Desire) and Diana Vishneva (Aurora) pose in “The Sleeping Beauty” the full-evening ballet that just had its world premiere at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. ABT resident choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s restaging of original choreography by Marius Petipa may ...

A triumph for ABT, Ratmansky’s “The Sleeping Beauty”

Dance · Fashion · Reviews
American Ballet Theatre celebrated its 75th anniversary last evening at Segerstrom Hall with its sublime new “The Sleeping Beauty” staged by Alexei Ratmansky using original choreography by Marius Petipa interpolated with contributions of his own. The sheer beauty of the production and the revelation of how fresh and compelling the Petipa language positions our national ...

Stellar casting creates “Beauty”ful ABT quandary @ Segerstrom Center

Dance
Southern California, wake up! Stop your behind-the-wheel slumbering … Don’cha know that we’re hosting the dance event of the season? And it’s a real sleeper! That would be “The Sleeping Beauty,” in a prestigious new production presented by American Ballet Theatre. The new “Beauty” will have its festive premiere March 3 at the Segerstrom Center ...

Review: National Ballet of Canada’s “Romeo and Juliet” at the Music Center

Dance · Reviews
Alexei Ratmansky’s infusion of ballet classicism with inventive, sometimes quirky, contemporary dance movement reinvigorated “Romeo and Juliet” for a new generation last night at the Los Angeles Music Center. The National Ballet of Canada‘s compelling opening-night performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was further enlivened by live orchestral delivery of the Prokofiev score. Despite minor fits ...

Carmageddon & ABT’s communist caper-ballet 5

Dance · Reviews
Despite best efforts, California authorities (the people who brought you Ronald “Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev!” Reagan) could not put the kibosh on American Ballet Theatre’s “The Bright Stream,” choreographed by their new in-house guy, Alexei Ratmansky. Clearly controlled by Soviet agents, ABT foisted a clever piece of communist propaganda on our sunny climes. ...