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Writing from 2004January 1, 2003, Roundup: Nine things we're looking forward to in 2003 "After a 20-year hiatus, the Bay Area has a chance to see one of Europe's greatest dance companies, the 400-year-old Stuttgart Ballet, appearing this March both in Davis and in Berkeley, bringing two superb but very different programs." January 17, 2003, Kim Epifano: Idea for 'Einstein's Daughters' fell from the sky "The work is a nonlinear swoop into the story of Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein's first wife and scientific collaborator. It is a mix of theater, dance, music and aerial work in which Epifano, Louise and 11-year-old Keefer trade off the roles of Maric and her daughter in a fluid interpretation of the former's inner life. The show continues at the Cowell Theater in Fort Mason Center." January 19, 2003, Magic Theater: Joe Goode's Body Familiar: "When you walk into the theater for a Joe Goode show, you’re just as likely to be confronted with a mesh of oozing intestines, up close and personal, as anything else. " January 20, 2003, Aeros: "The sheer physical excitement generated by 'Aeros,' a fantastical show comprised of 20 athletes from the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, was enough to bring awe-inspired gasps from the crowd at UC-Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall Friday night."
January 30, 2003, Oakland's Artship: Gallery plans sinking quickly "The Oakland Port Commission has scuttled hopes for the Artship, an experiment that would have made the waterfront home to one of the Bay Area's most unique cultural spaces." February 8, 2003, San Francisco Ballet: Program 1: Ballo Della Regina, Chi-Lin, Dreams of Harmony; Program 2: Elite Syncopations and Dances at a Gathering "San Francisco Ballet opened its 70th season last week at the War Memorial Opera House with two programs of 20th century ballets that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, but with a fine display of world-class dancing." February 10, 2003, Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Suite for Five, MinEvent, Fluid Canvas "For some people, a performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company can be an adventure into the realm of purely distilled ideas about movement and time -- a kind of kinesthetic conceptual art -- while for others, it is a excruciating descent into pretension and boredom." February 12, 2003, Robert Moses' KIN: Lucifer’s Prance, Doscongio, Blood in Time, Solo Suite, 3 Quartets for 4 and the Second is 2, A Biography of Baldwin: Part I, The Soft Sweet Smell of Firm Warm Things "Few of the Bay Area’s modern choreographers are more highly regarded than Robert Moses and with his latest offering, “A Biography of Baldwin,” which premiered during his company’s latest season at the Cowell Theater, he once more shows us the pleasure of his elegantly intelligent and yet vital work."
February 24, 2003, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Prayers From the Edge, Black Milk, Treading, Revelations "For its current season in Berkeley, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater offers 16 works on four programs with two Bay Area premieres, but in reality, it almost doesn't matter which night you go see the company. With spirited dancing, honest and direct performances, vast pyrotechnical skills and a habit of flinging caution to the wind, this is a company that can make just about any piece of choreography look terrific." February 28, 2003, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Prayers From the Edge, Apex "Apex was much different in tone, and a little more obscure in its meaning. Almost tanztheater at first glance, Apex invites us into a Cabaret meets Sprockets environment which seems to be under the four-inch heeled boot of Fisher-Harrell. She smokes a cigarette, and drags around a chair like a jaded dominatrix while the company of dancers flit in and out in bizarrely brilliant sequences. " March 6, 2003, ODC/SF: Remnants of Song "One might wonder how a sexy, high-energy company would conceive of Cistercian society, and the answer is with a sexy, high-energy production. With their robes split down the sides -- revealing more than a little thigh on both the men and women -- and the movement motif of firmly gripping the buttocks, one hoped that Way was making reference to the state of corruption in the old Benedictine monastic orders of the eleventh and twelfth century and not just giving us a little razzle-dazzle." March 14, 2003, Diablo Ballet: Rescued Diablo Ballet survives, and shines "The dancers don't look too anxious. But then such wardrobe concerns are minor compared with the worries that plagued Diablo Ballet last September, when the troupe was literally fighting for its existence. Only a last-minute appeal and an outpouring of support from the community kept the company afloat. This weekend it returns to the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek to celebrate its ninth anniversary." March 17, 2003, Diablo Ballet: Divertissement from La Bayadère, Pairs, Walk Before Talk "To celebrate its ninth anniversary, Diablo Ballet presented a program at the Dean Lesher Center for the Regional Arts in Walnut Creek on Friday and Saturday that showed that, while the dancers might be able to do 19th century works, the company is grounded in the 21st century." March 29, 2003, Stuttgart Ballet: Romeo & Juliet "There are many new faces in the company and the overall impression is one of youth, although they are in excellent form. Even in minor roles, the dancers had a good handle on their characters. One would expect no less from the Stuttgart ballet: "Romeo and Juliet" is their calling card ballet, and almost certainly performed often enough for most of them to feel that they’ve grown up in it." April 4 and 5, 2003, San Francisco Ballet: Program 5: The Waltz Project, Nanna's Lied, Connotations; Program 6: Jewels" In a way, this pair of programs typify the SFB season for me: filled with anticipation and high hopes, which were rewarded with some truly wonderful dancing, but at the core -- I fear there's no other way to say it -- to me, there was a lack of inspiration programmatically in No. 5 and a lack of inspiration stylistically in No. 6."
April 28, 2003, Contra Costa Ballet: Les Sylphides, Mes Enfants, Voiceprint, Bolero "For the avid ballet-goer, following the development of young dancers can be immensely satisfying. Contra Costa Ballet's spring repertory program at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts on Friday gave Walnut Creek audiences ample opportunity to watch a talented group of young people already working like professionals." |
Reviews by YearPlease bear with me as I repopulate the site!
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January 29, 2003, San Francisco Ballet: Opening Gala: Little Waltz, Pas de Trois from Divertissements d'Auber, Shogun, Excerpt from Without Words, Norwegian Moods, Chaconne for Piano and two Dancers, Pas de Deux from Act II of Giselle, Pas de Trois from Agon, Concerto Grosso"The phrase 'an embarrassment of riches' came to mind at San Francisco Ballet's Opening Gala last night at the War Memorial Opera House. It was an evening to admire the talent that is coming up through the ranks, as well as appreciate the virtuousity of the company's best dancers, who offered performances that elevated mere steps into artistry."
February 15, 2003, Farruquito & Juana Amaya: Por Derecho "The flamenco term duende refers to the transportation that one experiences in the presence of performers who have released themselves completely to the music and the dance. If anyone attending this show had never experienced duende before, this was it."
April 26, 2003, Nederlands Dans Theatre II: Indigo Rose, Sad Case, Minus 16 "Wherever they go, the emphasis in both the advance and review materials has often been on the youth of this company of 17 to 22 year olds. They are duly noted to be a training ground, a feeder company for the "main" troupe (NDT1) But make no mistake, these are already polished performers that could easily be rising stars in any number of companies around the world. "