by Steve Sucato | Dec 26, 2018 | Profiles
While its minimalist costuming and sets gave Edwaard Liang’s new Giselle for BalletMet a nontraditional look last February, there was nothing spartan about Grace-Anne Powers’ performance in the title role. Powers’ radiant smile, warmth and happy...
by Amy Brandt | Dec 23, 2018 | Profiles
During the Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s tour to Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center earlier this year, the company brought longtime artistic director Alicia Alonso’s Giselle. And while the production was admittedly well-worn and the style of dancing...
by Amy Brandt | Sep 11, 2018 | Career, Profiles
With a large exhale, Katherine Williams steps into a series of arabesque chugs, as if the force of her breath is propelling her forward. “Big step out, big,” coaxes ballet mistress Irina Kolpakova, watching from the front of a small studio at American...
by Julia Rosica | Jul 25, 2018 | Profiles, TBT
The story of Giselle has emotional power in the way it blurs the lines between good and evil. Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, is often considered the villainess, but her character is far more complex than the bad guys in most ballets. A wounded spirit determined to...
by Julia Rosica | Jun 13, 2018 | Profiles, TBT
In the late 1950s and 60s, Italian ballerina Carla Fracci won the world over with her definitive interpretations of romantic ballets like La Sylphide, La Sonnambula, and, of course, Giselle. At just 22 years old, she left her home stage at La Scala in Milan to begin...
by Toba Singer | Jun 11, 2018 | Profiles
Grettel Morejón and Sadaise Arencibía, principal ballerinas with the National Ballet of Cuba, danced the title role of Giselle in the company’s performances on June 6 and 8 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. SPAC was the...
by Joseph Carman | Jun 10, 2018 | Career, Dance History
Two hundred is the new 30. Or at least it seems so for Marius Petipa, whose ballets are as active as ever as we celebrate his 200th birthday this year. Nearly all major ballet companies dance Petipa’s iconic ballets, which reflect his prolific creative output....
by Chava Pearl Lansky | May 28, 2018 | News
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve pulled together some highlights. Ballet Nacional de Cuba Continues U.S. Tour at the Kennedy Center A few weeks ago we shared that the historic Ballet Nacional de Cuba is back in the U.S. after 40 years. The...