A scene from Barak Marshall’s Monger.
By Sharon McDaniel
There’s dance in a variety of styles, stars and stripes this season.
The mix runs from modern dance to Irish, contemporary ballet to tango, flamenco to Philippine. A dance fan can catch a Russian ballet classic—featuring a cast of Russians to the ballet born—then make tracks for really rad, cutting-edge dance theater.
Incoming to South Florida are popular touring companies we’ve watched over the years (such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Feb. 17-20, Adrienne Arsht Center). Plus there’s a local newcomer that we can watch as it grows (O Dance, April 2, Duncan Theatre).
Take your pick of the controversial or the classical (State Ballet Theatre of Russia in Giselle, Jan. 5, Sunrise Theatre). Choose among today’s internationally renowned celebrities or the stars of the future (Florida Classical Ballet in Don Quixote, March 25-26, Eissey Campus Theatre).
Plus there’s film: the world-premiere screening of a PBS documentary focused on a celeb of our own (spotlighting dance artistry and photographic creativity in Steven Caras: See Them Dance, Feb. 24, Kravis Center). There’s even a deluxe package: Miami City Ballet, the only area company to dance to live orchestra accompaniment (Programs I-IV).
Ballet Arabesk: Two enormously popular concert works crossed over into the dance realm in this Bulgarian company’s extensive repertoire. Here is an entirely new perspective on Ravel’s Bolero, famous as a prism of orchestral color, as well as Carmina Burana, Carl Orff’s setting of rowdy medieval poetry for chorus, soloists and orchestra. Modern, unconventional stagings are the norm for the 33-year-old Arabesque Contemporary Dance Company — Ballet Arabesk, for short. And Bolero and Carmina Burana have not been seen in the United States since the troupe’s North American debut in the 2005-06 season.
Artistic Director Boriana Sechanova created Carmina, an hour-long, contemporary one-act for the 16-member company. Bolero, in the style of a Spanish dance, blends a folk idiom into modern technique. (Feb. 10, FAU/Boca Raton; Feb. 11, Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach Gardens)
Barak Marshall’s Monger: Intense, athletic dancing and surreal dramatic scenes form Monger, an evening-long work by Los Angeles-born choreographer Barak Marshall. Both dramatically provocative as well as entertaining, Monger weaves together Marshall’s highly original contemporary dance with humorous dialogue in much the same way as Jean Genet’s The Maids and Robert Altman’s award-winning film Gosford Park.
It is the story of a handful of servants who find themselves trapped in the basement of their abusive employer’s house. Their struggle to survive raises issues of power, free will and compromise. The work for 10 dancers is further heightened by music by Balkan Beat Box, Handel, Verdi and National Public Radio’s The Yiddish Radio Project. Commissioned by the Suzanne Dellal Centre, the dance-theater work premiered in 2008, afterward opening the International Tel Aviv Dance Festival.
Marshall, who studied social theory and philosophy at Harvard University, emigrated to Israel in 1994, and is a former resident choreographer of Batsheva Dance Company. Following the performances are behind-the-scenes discussions with the performers. (April 8-9, Duncan Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth)
Romeo and Juliet: Many ballet lovers would agree that the best Romeo and Juliet is the version by John Cranko. The South African choreographer, who died in 1973, created a full-length staging for his own Stuttgart Ballet in 1962. And its emotional depth, sensitive characterizations and large scale quickly made it an audience favorite wherever classical ballet is admired.
Miami City Ballet will perform the company premiere in Program IV of its 25th anniversary season. And, as with Programs I-III, it will be accompanied live by Opus One Orchestra.
Cranko’s version requires not just star-quality soloists, but also a strong overall company. His group scenes — townspeople, party guests, family members — are as colorful and picturesque as the intimate scenes of the lovers are tragic. This full-evening version of the most famous love story is of course combined with the exceptional, sweeping ballet score of Sergei Prokofiev. The Miami company’s four-performance weekend schedule is Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. (March 25-27, Adrienne Arhst Center; April 1-3, Kravis Center; April 29-May 1, Broward Center)
The Nutcracker: There are holiday Nutcrackers galore, each with a special element to recommend it. But here are some of the super surprises — and even a spinoff:
Miami City Ballet: Now celebrating its 25th anniversary season, the Miami company brings the family classic back to the Kravis Center for the first time since 2007. And of course, this is not just any Nutcracker: Miami is our chief exponent of the George Balanchine Nutcracker, specially designed by the great Russian choreographer in 1950s for his New York audiences. Balanchine’s version is the reason that Americans associate this ballet — and its ever-popular Tchaikovsky score — with the Christmas holiday.
The four performances at the Kravis Center are Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4 and 5 at 2 p.m. The production travels next to the Broward Center (four performances in Fort Lauderdale, Dec. 10-12), then home to the Adrienne Arsht Center (seven performances in Miami, Dec. 17-23).
Boca Ballet Theatre: If your visions of sugar plums lean to the Russian variety, don’t miss ballerina Irina Dvorovenko and her husband, Maxim Belorsokovsky, as extra-special guests of Boca Ballet in November. Mega-star principal dancers of New York’s American Ballet Theatre and Dance Magazine cover artists, the two made their regional debut in March at the Festival of the Arts Boca. Now they’re returning in two of Nutcracker’s most popular roles — Sugar Plum and her Cavalier — for three performances with the now 10-year-old youth company: Saturday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. It’s at the University Theater (Griswold Hall), Florida Atlantic University.
A pair of Russian-based troupes may be in Florida, but they’ll still be on their home turf with the Nutcracker:
Moscow Classical Ballet is one of the few ballet companies still supported by the Russian government. You might remember it from last year’s performance of the classic Giselle at the Kravis Center. This year, the company brings The Nutcracker, with which it has been touring for the last nine years. It is again at the Kravis Center, for three performances: Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 22 and 23 at 8 p.m., and Friday, Dec. 24 at 2 p.m.
State Ballet Theatre of Russia is the touring name of the Voronezh State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, and is slightly older than Moscow Classical, but it didn’t begin North American tours until the 2006-07 season. The company of 54, led by Artistic Director Lyudmila Sycheva, presents The Nutcracker at the Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce, on Sunday, Dec. 26 at 3 p.m.
Nutcracker is the first of two productions by the State Ballet Theatre. It also stages the great classic Swan Lake on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center.
Oh, but wait; there’s more, as in another Swan Lake coming this spring, staged by yet another Russian troupe. The Moiseev Russian Classical Ballet – formerly the Russian Ballet – will bring Swan Lake and Tchaikovsky’s great music to two South Florida halls. Artistic Director Evgeny Amosov and his company of young soloists, ages 17-25, are here for two dates: Thursday, March 10 at 8 p.m., the Carole & Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; Friday, March 11 at 8 p.m., the Eissey Campus Theatre, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens.
Savion Glover.Savion Glover: Remember Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk? If not, it’s OK. Because the most memorable hero of that 1996 Broadway musical’s success story has moved on, stretching the boundaries of tap dance again in his newest show, Solo in Time. From funk more than a decade ago, Glover has explored musical styles from classical to jazz to rap. His latest concert in rhythm pairs tap with flamenco.
Glover and his dance team interpret Spanish-inspired music, embellishing it with his mesmerizing agility and celebrating the fiery passion that tap and flamenco share in common. It’s Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 23 and 24 at 7 p.m., the Lyric Theatre, Stuart.