An American Sampler This June, the third Ballet Across America will bring nine regional ballet companies to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Highlights of the event’s three programs include the Kennedy Center debut of Richmond Ballet and a performance of Sir Frederick Ashton’s seldom seen Les Patineurs by Sarasota Ballet. Ballet All Over New […]
What does Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella look like? Although it’s been the focus of the current season of “Breaking Pointe,” up until last night’s episode, we never actually saw much of the ballet. But we finally got a good dose of stage time this week. (Of course pop songs were consistently dubbed over Prokofiev’s music, […]
American Ballet Theatre announced its 2014 Metropolitan Opera House season today, and the lineup includes some lovely surprises. Perhaps the biggest is the company premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, which I’m sure fans are especially excited to see after all the teasing on “Breaking Pointe.” A Shakespeare Celebration evening will feature more Ashton—The Dream—and a […]
Larissa Ponomarenko, long a revered principal at Boston Ballet, has been with the company through multiple versions of Cinderella—most recently James Kudelka’s in 2005 and 2008. Now, as ballet master, she’s guiding dancers through Frederick Ashton’s classic rendition, which BB performs through this weekend. Pointe talked to Ponomarenko about the similarities and differences between the […]
Last night, I saw American Ballet Theatre in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, a ballet that entered the company’s rep just this season. Of course, you’re at the theater to see the magical story of Cinderella and her prince unfold. And what magic it was! Julie Kent played an endearing, doe-eyed Cinderella and Marcelo Gomes was princely, […]
Think of dancing in front of the love of your life. Suddenly, the thousands of hours you’ve spent rehearsing leave you stunned as excitement and bashfulness consume every move. Dance presents a new hurdle once it becomes an open expression of love—a gesture Lise offers Colas in Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée. In […]
Choreography is filled with tricky moments, and sometimes even the simplest steps or sequences can cause the most trouble. (Think of the countless hours you spend perfecting your pliés.) Whether you’re trying to capture just the right accent or refine a technical detail of a movement, watching a dance video played back in slow motion […]
The past few weeks have brought another exciting round of career news—check out the latest farewells, appointments, promotions, and more in this month’s roster roundup. Promotions and Appointments After 10 years with San Francisco Ballet, principal Mathilde Froustey has left to join Bordeaux National Opéra Ballet as an étoile. Froustey will make her debut in […]