Articles written by the author
With 'The Crown,' a 'Secret Weapon' Could Become Not So Secret
LONDON — You have probably seen Tobias Menzies in a host of television shows (“Outlander,” “Rome,” “Catastrophe,” “Game of Thrones”). You may have seen him in a movie (“Casino Royale,” “Atonement”). And if you’re a theater buff who visits England, you might have caught him in a number of leading roles (“The History Boys,” “Hamlet,” “Uncle Vanya”). He is that ascetically-but-unobtrusively-handsome actor, with those deep grooves running down each side of his face; the one who disappears so thor...
Reviving a Homegrown Modernist Out West
(Critic’s Notebook)
When the Choreographer Won't Fly, the Dancers Rehearse by Skype
PARIS — “Can you see me? Can you hear me?”
After a Renovation, a Storied Theater Hopes to Entice Paris
PARIS — The workmen were everywhere. Backstage and onstage, they were hammering, banging, gluing, carrying, laying tarpaulin, shimmying up ladders and shouting, “Attention!”
In Taiwan, a Contemporary Dance Troupe Brings in the Crowds
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A lunchtime bout of torrential rain, lightning and thunder couldn’t keep a crowd of intrepid souls from lining up at Liberty Plaza here Saturday. They simply put up their umbrellas.A playful American choreographer tackles Beckett
Enter Mark Morris, swathed in pink pashmina.
Joyce Theater Ballet Festival has a starry lineup
NEW YORK — A high-profile group of international ballet stars from the Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater will come to the Joyce Theater from Aug. 6 through Aug. 18, for its 2019 Ballet Festival. Among the dancers: David Hallberg, Maria Kowroski, Robert Fairchild, Sarah Lamb and Joseph Gordon.
Surrender to a boundary-blurring tour of Europe, war and peace
“Everything That Happened” was commissioned by 14-18 NOW, a British cultural program that marked the centennial of World War I, and produced with Artangel, an intrepid London-based company that also worked with Goebbels on “Stifters Dinge,” in 2007.
Nothing is random in a meditation on Shakespearean themes
WUPPERTAL, Germany — The stage resembles a large, elegantly high-ceilinged living room with a red carpet, sofas, chairs, a piano and two sets of tall French doors. A suggestion of trees in the darkness beyond hints at a garden. But as the lights slowly brighten, it becomes clear there is too much furniture, haphazard and oddly placed, for realism.
Beyoncé, Ballet and points between: A choreographer calmly covers the waterfront
LONDON — “You have to be clear about where the movement is starting and where it’s going,” Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui said mildly as a group of Royal Ballet men struggled with a backward roll that involved scissoring legs and a one-knee landing. “You would be surprised how much weight needs to be on the elbow as you roll back.”
The moment when Nureyev became Nureyev
UFA, Russia — Oblivious to the freezing cold, a small boy, seated at the edge of a hill overlooking the wide Belaya River, held a wooden train high above his head. He angled it so that it appeared poised on a bridge spanning the gray water, taking people and goods perhaps to the far-off metropolises of Moscow or Leningrad.
Less Singing, More Misery
VILVOORDE, Belgium — Lily Collins, dressed in a mud-colored linen shift, tried to hide the small piece of jewelry she had crafted, as a hatchet-faced factory supervisor approached.Making Sense of South Africa's Journey
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England — “What does a black man think has happened since South Africa had democratic elections in 1994? What does a white man think?”
Review: Queen Victoria in toe shoes?
LONDON — What kind of story ballet can be created in the 21st century?
Ivo van Hove unlocks a rarely staged 'Diary'
PARIS — A woman enters a studio apartment, makes herself some coffee and presses play on a tape recorder. “Sit at the piano,” a male voice on the tape says.
William Forsythe: 'Isn't ballet delightful?'
“Let’s go, let’s go!” sang Barry White as “Sha La La Means I Love You” played over the speakers.
Two choreographers at work in a Pina Bausch-haunted land
Yes, we’re in Pina Bausch Land. Or rather, a land haunted by Pina Bausch. Dimitris Papaioannou’s “Since she” is the first new full-length work to be made for Bausch’s company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, since her death in 2009.
Lauren Lovette to be artist in residence at Vail
Damian Woetzel, who has directed the festival since 2007, said he believed in nurturing talent over multiple seasons.
Coming to Chicago: A 'Giselle' that speaks to the present
It’s a daring — perhaps foolhardy — decision and she must persuade her board and executive director of its value and raise the money. Then, a month before the premiere, the composer and choreographer part ways.
Patricia McBride Lousada, Early Balanchine Muse, Dies at 89
LONDON — Patricia McBride Lousada, who was a founding member of New York City Ballet and interpreter of some of George Balanchine’s seminal early works and who later became a noted cookbook author, died Jan. 8 in London. She was 89.
