By Tara Mitton Catao With a weighty theme and a cumbersome title, Ballet Austin’s Saturday night performance of Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts was anything but that. In short, it was arresting. Artistic Director Stephen Mills’ evening-length work depicted a timeless universality molded by the purposeful choices Mills made … [Read more...]
Arts preview 2015-16: The season in dance
By Tara Mitton Catao With new works to be seen and an emphasis on creativity, there is a lot to look forward to in the upcoming season. The dance series presented at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and The Duncan Theatre as well as Miami City Ballet’s 2015/16 season are looking rich as they run the gamut from enormous, new production ballets to intimate, black-box … [Read more...]
Boca Ballet’s salute to summer sparkles
By Dale King Boca Ballet Theatre wrapped up its 24th season with two memorable performances Aug. 1 and 2 that brought a diversity of talent, elegance and comedy to the stage of the University Theatre at Florida Atlantic University. It featured some top-notch professional dancers along with the 32 aspiring performers from the United States and Canada who were finishing up … [Read more...]
Godden, Fredmann works to be featured on Harid spring show
In a room on the Harid Conservatory campus off Potomac Road in western Boca Raton, aspirant young professional dancers were working late last week to bring a contemporary ballet to life. As faculty members Victoria Schneider and Meelis Pakri, music coordinator Michael Lazzaro and the dance school’s director, Gordon Wright, watched intently, the Harid students ran though the … [Read more...]
Zehr brings standout Aurora to Boca Ballet
A leading Florida-born, Boca Raton-trained ballerina made a three-show stop at Boca Ballet Theatre for the company’s mounting of The Sleeping Beauty this past weekend, and demonstrated how to put the “prima” in prima ballerina. But even though Bridgett Zehr’s performance as Aurora in Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet was nothing short of sensational Sunday afternoon, there were … [Read more...]
Leading dancers to star in Boca Ballet’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’
Two major ballet dancers will be starring with the Boca Ballet Theatre this month in the company’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky and Petipa’s 1890 classic drawn from Charles Perrault’s Mother Goose tales. Dancing the lead role of Aurora will be Bridgett Zehr, a Sarasota-born, Harid-trained dancer who has been a principal dancer with the National Ballet of … [Read more...]
Peck’s ‘Heatscape’ outstanding addition to MCB repertory
By Tara Mitton Catao Miami City Ballet opened its Program IV, the final one of the season, this past weekend at the Kravis Center, and it was a splendid showcase for the company. The dancers sparkled with vitality and charm as they zipped through the demands of each of the three works presented. Showing off all the company’s attributes, the program offered just the right mix … [Read more...]
BodyTraffic closes Duncan season in spectacular style
By Tara Mitton Catao Have you ever wondered what contemporary performing art is coming out of Los Angeles — that jaded bastion of entertainment — these days? What is fresh and authentic? Your question would have not only been answered but also splendidly fulfilled if you had seen BodyTraffic perform this past weekend at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth. This terrific … [Read more...]
Moscow City Ballet makes mess of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan’
By Tara Mitton Catao You are all dressed up. You are going to Dreyfoos Hall to see Swan Lake, the most revered Russian story-ballet, which is being performed by the Moscow City Ballet, a “critically acclaimed” touring Russian ballet company. It is natural to have a certain set of expectations. After all, the house at the Kravis Center is sold out for the one-night show. Then … [Read more...]
MCB’s Balanchine, Tharp and Alston come off beautifully
By Tara Mitton Catao Artistic Director Lourdes Lopez’s vision for Miami City Ballet was apparent in the tasteful programming of Saturday’s performance at the Kravis Center, with the de rigueur Balanchine work leading off the evening followed by two company premieres. Lopez who has been “shopping” for new works that would flatter and challenge the company, has been successful. … [Read more...]