Word: ballets
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...rare to hear a wolf whistle from the crowd when the curtain goes up on an evening of ballet. But that's what happened last week at Minneapolis' Northrop Auditorium as the music of rock star Prince zoomed toward bombination. The occasion was Billboards, a new work presented by the Manhattan-based Joffrey Ballet in a frank attempt to link the world of ballet to the life of young people in the streets. The company desperately needs a hit, and Billboards -- loud, generous of spirit, heart-on-sleeve romantic -- looks to be it. Last week the 4,800-seat Northrop...
Billboards, which the Joffrey will take on a 20-city tour over the next seven months, is hardly the first time ballet has reached out to pop. Balanchine used Gershwin, Paul Taylor the Andrews Sisters, Alvin Ailey Count Basie and others. And of course the great rock performers like Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger have set the standard of movement in that particular pop art. Still, the Joffrey evening radiates grace because it embraces a challenging world with very little in the way of snobbery or preconception...
Performed in three acts, The Sleeping Beauty opens with a court scene reminiscent of the history of ballet itself. In the palace of King Florestan XIV, fairy upon fairy dance blessings on the new born Princes Aurora. With a stage full of court guests, each fairy dancer bows to the audience as if the audience was a part of the court itself. The history of ballet centers around court culture but the bows in this opening act feel somewhat jarring to the audience--its self-awareness adds a layer of artificiality to the ballet, for the audience witnesses the performance...
...center of the ballet, the second act witnesses the highest levels of dance and the resolution of the fairy tale story. Prince Desire, danced superbly by Patrick Armand, hunts near the enchanted castle a hundred years after the casting of the spell. The rich costumes and haughty dance render this scene a true early Ralph Lauren moment. The Prince, dressed conspicuously in wedding white throughout the ballet, wanders off pensively self-absorbed. The Lilac Fairy greets him and shows him an apparition of the sleeping princess, and lo and behold, he falls in love. Heightening tension and passion between...
...night at the Boston Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty will not disappoint any lover of dance. And yet, the rarity of solos and duets on the stage illustrate the ballet's social nature and its lack of drama and psychological development. Even the much anticipated kiss occurs in Aurora's bed chamber with her parents, the King and Queen, by her side! Still, The Sleeping Beauty combines rare moments of stunning dancing with magical stagecraft for an enjoyable evening of theater and dance...