Miami City Ballet hedged its bets for the last program of season by presenting the world premiere of an elaborately ambitious collaborative work together with the company premieres of two acclaimed contemporary pas de deux and a dated repertory warhorse --- George Balanchine’s The Prodigal Son. It was an evening of strong performances by all the company dancers, but the … [Read more...]
‘Revelations’ still best thing about Ailey show
This time around, it was the past that was the highlight of the program when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre came back into town Feb. 28 to perform again at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Revelations, choreographed by founder Alvin Ailey almost 60 years ago and the undisputed cornerstone of the company’s repertory, was the backbone of the evening. Though the … [Read more...]
MCB’s ‘Fairy’s Kiss’ tops a rich evening of dance
It was the world premiere of Miami City Ballet’s The Fairy’s Kiss that grabbed my attention on Program Three on Feb. 25 at the Kravis Center. The eagerly awaited and highly publicized new work of the ballet world’s heralded master-choreographer Alexei Ratmansky was beautifully presented. It was all that it was expected to be, but it was the convergence of the creation of … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 9-11
Film: If you are suffering from withdrawal pains waiting for the next screenplay from glib, hyper-articulate Aaron Sorkin, this weekend brings the next best thing. It’s Miss Sloane, a terrific, smart new film about inside Washington, as seen through the machinations of the city’s most wily, win-at-any-cost lobbyist, Elizabeth Sloane. Flame-haired firebrand Jessica Chastain … [Read more...]
Dancers, choreographer Wheeldon lift ‘American in Paris’
Few new Broadway musicals these days are strong on dance, perhaps because so many of the great director-choreographers have passed away or retired. That void makes the arrival of An American in Paris — based on the 1951 movie musical — all the more worthy of celebration. It ushers into the director’s chair the Royal Ballet’s Christopher Wheeldon, who demonstrates that he knows … [Read more...]
‘American in Paris’: Iconic score, film reimagined for Broadway
Twenty-three years after George Gershwin composed an orchestral piece called An American in Paris — and 14 years since his death — the work became the climax of an Oscar-winning movie of the same name. Continuing his posthumous productivity, that film was transformed into a Broadway musical last year to major acclaim, spawning a national tour which arrives at the Kravis Center … [Read more...]