We live in interesting times. If there ever was a time of fast-paced progress and equally extreme desire to recreate some sort of status quo it seems like this is that time. (No doubt the industrial revolution had a similar vibe in some ways.) I have the job of raising two children in these times and for the…
Tag: ballet
Step Outside & Get Lost in Willliam Forsythe’s Artifact: Boston Ballet will be Remembered for This
Boston Ballet’s performance, which is the North American premiere of William Forsythe’s full length Artifact. It is a spoken word piece, a ballet, a concerto, an artwork all in one.
Bah Humbug It’s Nutcracker Time
Boston Ballet invited me to see this year’s Nutcracker performance and I decided to put my carol-belting, holiday baking, dance-loving self aside for a little holiday twist on this year’s review. If you can’t stop singing Christmas carols and you love the smell of pine trees everywhere then this post isn’t for you. If you are picking…
Princesses & Pirates vs Sugarplums & Soldiers: Boston Ballet’s Le Corsaire
I know! I know ! “Nutcracker is a tradition!” you exclaim. Do you know how many “traditions” get stale and are mentioned later in life as that day we all dreaded? Don’t get me wrong, Nutcracker is a fun family ballet, but if you really want to share an appreciation of the arts you have to…
Le Petit Prince: National Ballet of Canada
Le Petit Prince is a story that resonates with both children and adults on different levels. It is like a fairy tale where the moral is woven so tightly into the story that when presented as a live performance like this you seem to absorb it through all your senses rather than just ruminate about it with your mind. Even though I have never crashed in a desert, or been betrayed by a snake, somehow the dancing, the music, the set and costumes all make you understand the message. It really reminds me of the complexity that animation allows but in live performance form.
This I believe: Power of Expression through Dance (Guest Post)
By Isabelle Klein There are many ways to express yourself: through art, music, writing, and dancing. I believe that expression is important anyway you do it. When you put expression in whatever you are doing it comes alive and there is a better product. I believe in the power of expression through dance. I was…
Mirror Mirror On the Wall Who’s the Fiercest of Them All?
Even though Swan Lake is still on, Boston Ballet’s Mirrors has also opened and like Odette and Odile the shows’ “personalities” could not be more different. While Swan Lake is a classic story ballet, Mirrors is a quartet of pieces including two world premieres and a piece four decades old that still resonates today. Part of why I…
Top 10 Reasons to See Boston Ballet’s Onegin
When we take refuge under the banner Of quiet and sombre rationality, When passions’ flames have grown much dimmer And their unbridled liberty Is now ridiculous, and their outbursts, And even their belated thirsts, – Then, with some struggle, now being sober We love to hear sometimes the tale From another’s tongue of passion’s gale,…
A Third, A Musical Third and a Balletic First: Boston Ballet’s North American Premiere
In music, a third is a beautiful thing. It is a simple little interval that hops from do (c) to mi (e). It comes in majors and minors and we hear them in old nursery rhymes and popular music. In John Neumeier’s The Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler, the choreographer takes things that we take…
Not a Photographer Nor a Critic
When I chose my degree, based on a careful consideration that a) I might decide to be a lawyer and b) I was in a big school and wanted to be in a small school, I found myself studying Philosophy at McGill. In retrospect, I think I chose well. Thinking about life, ethics and meaning…
Thrill of Contact: Boston Ballet’s Season Finishes with Agility, Grace and Guffaws
This year, Boston Ballet gave their mixed bill programs titles to highlight a common thread among each of the varied works on the bill. These titles gave you a sense of what to expect, but allowed the programs to span the decades and step in and out of different styles of music, dance, costumes, and choreographic…
You’ve Got A Fremd in Me: Choreographer Jeffrey Cirio Seamlessly Premieres in Thrill of Contact
Thrill of Contact is Boston Ballet‘s season finale at the Boston Opera House and Principal Dancer Jeffrey Cirio’s début on the big bill as a choreographer. Cirio’s fremd is sandwiched between George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations and William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and the program doesn’t miss a beat. t’s a bit like watching someone…
Leah's Life: Pearls and Oysters 