Category: Dance

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Rudolph Nureyev and Denise Jackson: Spectre de la Rose

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Le Spectre de la rose (English: The Spirit of the Rose) about a young girl who dreams of dancing with the spirit of a souvenir rose from her first ball. Jean-Louis Vaudoyer wrote the ballet story. He based it on a verse by  Theophile Gautier.  The dances were designed by Michel Fokine. The music is Hector Berlioz’s 1841 orchestration by Carl Maria von Weber’s piano music Afforderung zum Tanz (English: Invitation to the Dance). Leon Bakst designed the original sets and costume. The ballet was first presented in Monte Carlo on 19 April 1911. Nijinsky danced The Rose and Tamara Karsavina danced The Young Girl. Continue reading

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Ailey II: The Creative Process- Choreographer and Dancer/ a conversation with Benoit-Swan Pouffer and David Freeland

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By Walter Rutledge IMG_0795

Paris-born choreographer Benoit-Swan Pouffer and Ailey II dancer David Freeland discuss the creative process following a rehearsal of Rusty prior to the Ailey II New York season April 2 through April 14 at the Ailey Citgroup Theater. Continue reading

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11/29/17 O&A NYC DANCE: Rudolf Nureyev and Zizi Jeanmaire: Le Jeune Homme et La Mort by Roland Petit (1966)

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Le Jeune Homme et La Mort was choreographed by Roland Petit  choreographed in 1946 to Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, with a one-act libretto by Jean Cocteau. It tells the story of a Young Man driven to suicide by his faithless lover. Sets were by George Wakhevitch and costumes variously reported as being by Karinska or Cocteau. Continue reading

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(Repost) 4/1/14 O&A NYC DANCE: Martha Graham – Appalachian Spring and Rite of Spring

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By Walter Rutledge

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The recent all too-short season of the Martha Graham Dance Company at New York City Center was a resounding artistic success. The company performed two programs of Graham classics and stunning new works by Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis. The Saturday March 22 evening program included two Graham classics Appalachian Spring (1944) and Rite of Spring (1984).  Both works reinforced the fact that Graham was not only as a master craftsman, but also as an artist with a strong sense of classic form, structure and design. Continue reading

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(REPOST) O&A NYC DANCE: Three Black Kings- An Ailey Classic

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By Walter Rutledge

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Three Black Kings was the last dance and music collaboration between choreographer Alvin Ailey and composer/musician Duke Ellington.  Continue reading

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Ailey II 2014 NYC Season begins Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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Ailey II, the youthful and gifted second company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, returns to its home, the Ailey Citigroup Theater,  405 West 55th Street at 9th Avenue, for their annual two week/ fourteen performance season Wednesday, April 2 through April 13, 2014. Continue reading

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Martha Graham Dance Company Opening Night – New York Season

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by Walter Rutledge

Graham 2014

The Martha Graham Dance Company opening night gala performance need only be described with one word…ART. The company began their four-performance season at New York City Center, Wednesday, March 19 with an abbreviated program that left the audience hungry for more. Continue reading

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Dallas Black Dance Theatre at the Ailey Citigroup Theater

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By Walter Rutledge

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The Dallas Black Dance Theatre returned to New York for a three-day four-performance season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. This is the third consecutive year that the company has performed in New York and the eleven-member ensemble, under the direction of founder and artistic director Ann M. Williams, presented six works by new and emerging choreographers. Continue reading