I Am A Dancer

Thanks to A Time To Dance for posting Martha Graham's 'I Am A Dancer'. An essay by the great American dancer talking about what dance means to her.

Here's an excerpt:

In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength. In a thinker, there is a reverence for the beauty of the alert and directed and lucid mind. In all of us who perform there is an awareness of the smile which is part of the equipment, or gift, of the acrobat. We have all walked the high wire of circumstance at times. We recognize the gravity pull of the earth as he does. The smile is there because he is practicing living at that instant of danger. He does not choose to fall.

At times I fear walking that tightrope. I fear the venture into the unknown. But that is part of the act of creating and the act of performing. That is what a dancer does.

See: A Time To Dance

New York City Ballet in London

Image borrowed from Sadler's Wells

New York City Ballet is coming to town. It's not on till March 2008, but it's worth getting excited now. Their first time performing in London in 25 years, I think to start getting excited now isn't overdoing it one bit.

More updates on dance soon.

See: Sadler's Wells, New York City Ballet

Radiohead Ballet

A ballet's been created with Radiohead for inspiration. It's true, you heard it right. The Scottish Ballet will premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August. Stephen Petronio's production Ride the Beast is set to five Radiohead tracks. "Expect the unexpected," accord to the summary of the production on Scottish Ballet's website. The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 10 August to 2 September.

My five tracks if I had anything to do with it are:

1. High and Dry
2. No Surprises
3. Let Down
4. The Bends
5. You Never Wash Up After Yourself

See here: Guardian Music News

Dance Roundup Spring/Summer 2007: NDT2

As promised, here is my account of Nederlands Dans Theater's performance at Sadler's Wells last Saturday.

On occasions where dance, lighting, costumes and music come together, it is one of sublime enjoyment. And Nederlands Dans Theater 2's Sleight of Hand performance is just that occasion. Philip Glass's Symphony nr. 2: Movement II commanded that of the otherworldly. His haunting music conjured two tall giants in the background - two dancers sitting atop a structure nearly touching the ceiling, dressed in black with skirts falling to the floor. Three boys in tailcoats come on stage like black jokers tease the audience, in tandem to Glass's haunting and slightly dark melodies. The composition of the two giants with their sharp angular movements, the three black jokers' strong leaps and the lone, sad dancer in white was the work of Lightfoot Leon (Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon).

I went because of Jiri Kylian - Chapeau and Sleepless were his works, but came away discovering the enjoyment of another choreographer. Watch an excerpt here, and be seduced.

Image borrowed from here. Sleight of Hand, Nederlands Dans Theater II
Photographed by John Ross ©

NDT2 was originally conceived to prepare young dancers for the big move to NDT1. Over the years, NDT2 have become renowned for their experimentalism with different dance styles.

So they may be young, but NDT2 carried themselves with such aplomb. Can you imagine NDT1? I can't wait for their London arrival.

Image borrowed from NDT. Chapeau, Nederlands Dans Theater II
Photographed by Joris-Jan Bos

Dance Roundup S/S 2007: Intro

I am back on the dance circuit, after being ensnared by work commitments for the last six months. First up, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 this Saturday. Then Phoenix Dance Theatre (under the helm of new artistic director Javier De Frutos - can't wait!) on 1 June.

I will be posting reviews right here on Magpie Style.

ROH Spring 2007 Newsletter

Just received Royal Opera House's newsletter. Great design with what looks like helvetica font. It has a very dynamic layout, conveying ROH's efforts to update the establishment's identity.

Just one complaint. Partial to how books and magazines smell (what an odd person, you must be thinking), ROH is an assault to the olfactory. On ripping open the plastic wrapping, it literally puts one off browsing the newsletter. Simply imagine, a beautiful woman who smells of sweat. That's what the ROH newsletter is. Over time, the smell does mute.

Soldiering on past the smell, the programme for Spring looks spectacular. There's Apollo (George Balanchine), Children of Adam (World Premiere - Alastair Marriott) and Theme and Variations (George Balanchine). The other one is La Fin du Jour (Kenneth MacMillan), Pierrot Lunaire (Glen Tetley) and Seven Deadly Sins (World Premiere - Will Tuckett).

Digital TV Is All The Rage

First there was MySpace, then blogging. Now, there's digital TV. Magazines like Nylon, Vice, Dazed & Confused and Vogue all have started their own digital TV service, featuring prime content that us mere mortals may not be privvy to.

Against the reality of harsher advertising climates where print advertising have taken a hard knocking, magazines need to come up with new ways of generating revenue. Digital television is a different way of presenting content to the consumer and engaging the MTV generation/Internet saavy audience. The writers have access to, say, fashion designers and need to write up their catwalk reports for the magazine. So why not rig themselves with a portable DV cam, record the behind the scenes footage and interviews, then repackage it for digital TV? It's called thinking laterally and being economical with resources.

The success of YouTube could also quite possibly have been another factor, demonstrating how easy it is to upload videos followed by an almost immediate worldwide response and appreciation of popular home videos.

The race of brand extensions continues...

Vice TV arrives 1 Feb 2007. Updates soon.

Vice TV ad from the website

On Dazed Digital Broadcast, there are interviews, behind the scenes footage of bands and recordings of the Dazed Live Sessions. There's also an exclusive with Charles Atlas, the video artist who works with dancers like Michael Clarke and Merce Cunningham. He's also worked with Leigh Bowery. Atlas recently had an exhibition of new video works 'Instant Fame' at Vilma Gold on Vyner Street from 22 Nov to 3 Dec. Tate Modern also showed a series of retrospective screenings of his work from 1975 to 2005 at the Tate Modern Starr Auditorium from 17 to 22 Nov. Both exhibitions I'd read about, told myself to remember to go, then forgotten about. Annoyed... All dance fans out there will no doubt appreciate this piece of digital TV.

Footage of Charles Atlas borrowed from Dazed Digital Broadcast

Nylon TV features Nylon's MySpace blogger, Tracy, showing off the cool gear that streams into the Nylon office and out on the streets of SoHo. The first episode takes her to the Tsubi store looking for boy-fit jeans.

Footage of Tracy in Tsubi store borrowed from Nylon TV

Vogue TV, sponsored by Estee Lauder, carries expert comment and footage of the London, Paris and Milan fashion shows. All shows are presented by members of the Vogue team. The team headed by Alexandra Schulman recently celebrated their 90th anniversary with a special issue. Latest video on Vogue TV is of Karl Lagerfeld in Monte Carlo. Behind the scenes footage of the fashion world is always interesting for the fashion voyeur. Die-hard Chanel fans please take note: this is definitely not to be missed.

Footage of Karl Lagerfeld in Monte Carlo borrowed from Vogue TV

Dance Roundup A/W 2006: Rambert

Alistair Spalding, the chief executive and artistic director of Sadler's Wells, is doing an incredible job of attracting big names to this heavyweight London institution in contemporary dance. From Sylvie Guillem and Dutch National Ballet to Michael Clark and Pina Bausch, Sadler's Wells is the place to catch exciting dance.

Rambert, a Sadler's Wells associate company, presented a performance celebrating its 80th anniversary. Inciting minimal excitement from me (after all, didn't they just throw a big party for its 75th), I was more excited about the fashion designer Roland Mouret's involvement than its birthday celebrations. Anniversary novelty's run a little thin this time round.

Verge
© Richard Dean
Image borrowed from Rambert

Mouret's costumes for Verge didn't disappoint. Beautifully cut, each of the eight dancers were clad in different black-clad costumes. These dancers need to move, so certainly no Galaxy dress here. In Verge, Cameron McMillan explored,

With the idea of a major life transition and the experience of change, particularly the inherent conflict of fear and anxiety versus excitement ad anticipation.

His dancers performed to a score plump with a recording of the physical sounds of the dancers (composed by Elspeth Brooke), like a chair dragged across the floor and tapping feet. It's something that's difficult to imagine. When I read the programme, I could not for a minute imagine how it was going to translate on stage. The end result was rather exciting and an artistic collaboration - in music, costume and choreography - I hope to see more of.

Divine Influence
© Anthony Crickmay
Image borrowed from Rambert

Apart from Verge, there were three other parts to the programme: Divine Influence, Lady Into Fox and Stand and Stare. Divine Influence kicked off the evening. Two dancers challenge the constraints of classical ballet, dancing out their frustration.

Pieter Symonds and Simon Cooper in Lady into Fox
© John Ross
Image borrowed from here

Lady Into Fox was specially revived from the '40s, with a newly added prologue and epilogue by Mark Baldwin to the original conceived by Andree Howard.

Finally, there was Stand and Stare. Which I thought was disappointing. The piece did not hold together. Having a lot of dancers on stage at the same time can work, but in this case, I thought it failed. Perhaps choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller meant to convey the crowd scenes from Lowry paintings. But I thought it was all at once too chaotic, and the big Lowry prints on canvas hanging from ceiling to floor made matters worse. It was a couragous and ambitious attempt.

Lasting about two and a half hours, including intervals, this was quite a long programme. Rambert should never be missed because its dancers are technically very precise and strong (Angela Towler was astounding demonstrating her strong sense of control over her moves). But this evening never quite climaxed.

Dance Roundup A/W 2006: Rosas (Repertory Evening)

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas in Fase, four movements. Photo by Herman Sorgeloos.
Image borrowed from here.

One look at the programme and the name Bartok jumps out. My heart sinks. Bartok's music is difficult to listen to, but choreographers just love it. Rosas, presented Quatuor No. 4 to Bela Bartok's string quartet at Sadler's Wells. Fun evening ahead.

So far, of all the dance performances I've seen choreographed to Bartok hasn't engaged enough. I didn't have high hopes for this either. Also, it's my first time watching Rosas. After 10 minutes, I was bowled over. Never have I seen such intelligent choreography and deep understanding of the music. Anna Teresa de Keersmaker's choreography counterpoints Bartok's difficult music; where the music alienates, the dance draws you in.

Accompanied by The Duke Quartet, the dancers were strong and consistent. Very precise in their steps.

Quatuor No. 4 (1986), Verklarte Nacht (1995) and Die Grosse Fuge (1992) are Rosas' most popular works. Rosas was the focus of this year's Dance Umbrella.

Ballet Russes (2005)

This film is pure documentary genius. Filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine pieced together a little gem about the famous Ballet Russes, using interviews with surviving members like Alicia Markova, Frederic Franklin, George Zoritch and Nina Novak. Cleverly mixing precious archive footages and new interviews, the film tracks the ups and downs of the dancers who counted great creators of this century like Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Matisse and Stravinsky as collaborators.

Dance Roundup A/W 2006: Royal Ballet Mixed Bill (Chroma/The Four Temperaments/DGV)

If there is just one performance to catch this year, then it's Royal Ballet's mixed bill. Never before have I been to a performance as exquisite as Chroma/The Four Temperaments/DGV.

Chroma, a new work by Random Dance's Wayne McGregor (the man with the bald pointy head), opens with a spare and minimal setting. White floor, white walls, white light. I'm sure there's a narrative, but as with most dance, it can be hard to extract. Four Temperaments by George Balanchine, wonderfully revived by the Royal Ballet. As more time goes by, Balanchine looks increasingly dated. I've no doubt it was once the avant-garde act of its time.

Then there's Danse a Grande Vitesse. It's like snow on Christmas Day. Music by Michael Nyman (Musique a grande vitesse, initially composed for the opening of France's high speed train. Nevermind that for now), it's a spectacular spectacular show. Nothing can top it. Not even Michael Clarke with his Sex Postols or T. Rex. Let's just say, with DGV you don't want the moment to end. And Darcy Bussell. When you see her dance, you realise why she's the principal. She's in a class of her own - no other dancer in the company comes anywhere close. Nyman's music builds the dance with one magnificently choreographed moment after another, building up to the last 5 minutes (DGV lasts 29 minutes), where the music soars into an incredibly moving moment where music, dancers, lighting and set become one.

Dance Roundup Autumn/Winter 2006

A roundup of all the best dance performances this season will be posted shortly. From Michael Clark and Rosas to Royal Ballet and Rambert.

The one regret this season is having missed Stephen Petronio Company and, to an extent, Merce Cunningham. Hey-ho. There'll always be another time.

Mademoiselle Non

Sylvie 'Mme Non' Guillem doing what she does best. Could it look anymore effortless?

Michael Clarke Dances

Another dance performance set to excite Londoners to no end. Michael Clark's Mmm... (Stravinsky Project Part 2) is on 27 October. Like Sylvie Guillem's September performance at Sadler's Wells, best make sure you get your tickets now. Seriously.

The Barbican
Michael Clarke Company

Sylvie Guillem

The month of September has finally come round.

Long have I waited for this day to come - Sylvie Guillem's performace at Sadler's Wells with Akram Khan opens in two weeks. Even before reading any details about it (a lie, of course), you know it's going to be a treat of a night.
Guillem's also been appointed the Associate Artist at Sadler's Wells.

19- 23 Sep 2006
Sadler's Wells