Pure Petipa, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre
Mar
9
2015
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 ...
Library of Congress ABT exhibit to roost at Disney Hall
In this photo dated 1938, dancer John Kriza stars in choreographer Eugene Loring’s characteristically American ballet about the notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid. Loring created the work for George Balanchine’s Ballet Caravan to a score by Aaron Copland. American Ballet Theatre first performed the work in its Chicago season in November 1940. [Loring’s significant southern ...
Stellar casting creates “Beauty”ful ABT quandary @ Segerstrom Center
Feb
18
2015
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 ...
‘Ivan the Wonderful’ fans the “Flames of Paris”
Nov
29
2014
Russia’s latest Sputnik-in-orbit, Ivan Vasiliev, swapped between adorable, formidable, and simply irresistible as French revolutionary “Philippe” in Mikhailovsky Ballet‘s production of “The Flames of Paris” tonight at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. It was a West Coast debut for the Mikhailovsky, an impressive second-tier player to Russia’s Bolshoi and Kirov ballets. High above the Segerstrom stage, Ivan soared and ...
Pre-Thanksgiving ballet weight gain @ Segerstrom Center
Nov
19
2014
This stunner of a high-attitude position, poised on a set of million-dollar legs comes from Mikhailovsky Ballet ballerina Veronika Ignatyeva, as Cupid, in “Flames of Paris.” The French Revolutionary ballet, first created in Stalinist Russia in 1932, will be on view Nov 28-30 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts over Thanksgiving weekend. The production, ...
Nude ballet photos! Herman Cornejo, Ivan Vasiliev in near buff
Yes, budgets are tight. So we’re seeing our biggest ballet stars come on stage wearing less and less clothes! In this case, it’s no huge punishment. We are talking about two of the loveliest, most talented — and beefiest — guys in ballet today. Pictured at left, Herman Cornejo, who commenced the “Diana & Acteon” ...
‘Solo for Two’ in steady preparation at Segerstrom Center
Jul
17
2014
It’s a pretty big stage — that’s why we love watching the great ballet companies of the world bourée and jeté across it. So let’s see how two of our best, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, succeed in riveting our attention over their full-evening performance “Solo for Two.” The showcase by the diminutive Russian duo, ...
Bill T.’s “D-Man in the Waters” revived by Ailey @ Segerstrom
Mar
26
2014
On offer this weekend at Segerstrom Center for the Arts from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: a major reconstruction of Bill T. Jones’s AIDS-related dance work, “D-Man in the Waters.“ The controversial choreographer created “D-Man” in 1989 at the height of the auto-immune-disease pandemic that robbed our world of many lives nonsensically but hit the ...
Les Ballets de Monte Carlo plunges anew into “Swan Lake” 1
Mar
2
2014
“Not your grandmother’s ‘Swan Lake,'” quipped one dance pundit in anticipation of “LAC,” choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot‘s revisiting of ballet’s sacred cow — correction: its beloved swan. “LAC,” c’est le français for “lake.” The production by Les Ballets de Monte Carlo will enjoy its U.S. premiere next weekend on the stellar stage of Segerstrom Center for the ...
Review: The Hamburg Ballet in “Liliom” at Segerstrom Hall
All elements converged for John Neumeier’s “Liliom,” a two-act narrative ballet presented Saturday night by the choreographer’s stellar company of 38 years, The Hamburg Ballet. The revisiting of Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s play, adopted by Rodgers & Hammerstein as “Carousel” in 1945, packed much visceral pleasure and emotional punch into one evening at Segerstrom Hall. ...