Fashion Show on the Edge: Rick Owens

Now THIS is fashion to revel in. Watch all the way, it gets better and better and don't forget to look at the clothes.

The Big Ballet

The world of dance is not very nice or inclusive, traditionally. But every now and then someone makes a breakthrough that shakes things up and push the "refresh" button. Here is a group of Russian dancers who are the opposite of the typical svelte and lanky ballerinas we've been programmed to expect. They are BIG ladies, but they can shake it with the best of them. Presenting and example from The Big Ballet:

Emergence/ Four Seasons

I went to the last performance of the National Ballet, mainly in hope to find something redeeming in Kudelka's work, and to catch another breath of fresh dancerly air with Crystal Pite's creations.
The Four seasons was a predictable disappointment, and Emergence simply wonderful.
There is something wrong when a choreographer takes continuous on-the-nose approach to the music he works with, only to wait for the most compelling and dramatic part of the phrase to take a pose. That's what Kudelka does. He does this all the time. My other quibble is that this is a good group of dancers, accomplished, skilled. He takes a humble approach to their skill, modest to a fault. He doesn't challenge them, doesn't give them a chance to shine, to show off their virtuosity. If there's anything in classical ballet that dancers and audience love, is the skill of it. Without that, it's nothing but prancing around in tights and flawy costumes, posing in between, with a bit of heavy lifting for the boys. Who cares.
Of course, traditionalists love this. They don't have to think about anything at all while watching - it lulls them to a nice comfortable snooze, as the old man sitting besides me confessed he was going to do even before the show started. But he wasn't snoozing during Emergence. He was startled, and watched intently from the moment the first dancer started to twitch on the stage.
Crystal Pite gives a dancer something to chew on, as well as the audience. Something to think about, a mystery to discover and anticipate. A fleshy piece of work, this Emergence, a bit creepy, inspired by the life of insects and intersected with introspection into the life of a dance group, yet beautiful and graceful and challenging. At 45 minutes, it is a long dance, and I wished it was longer. Excellent costumes, careful use of the atmospheric music, flawless lighting design that highlights exactly the parts of the body she wants us to notice at any given time, while hiding what lurks in the shadows just enough for us to wonder what's there.

Crystal Pite v. Wayne McGregor in Toronto

Last weekend I took my inquisitive and thoughtful boy to see 2 of today's contemporary ballet great names in action.
Crystal Pite is almost local, she's Canadian (Vancouver). Wayne McGregor is from away.
They couldn't be any more on opposite sides of the spectrum of good contemporary dance.
Their dancers are the best you could possibly want to work with. But the shows left a different aftertaste. Hers - you wanted to see it again when it ended after 2 long acts. His - you wished it stopped while it was going on. Obnoxious and contrived from the get go.

He was a dog of one trick, which we got the hang of after 5 minutes and wished we hadn't. It was cold and cruel and pretentious, both to the dancers and to the audience. He put the dancers on the highest volume of movement from the first second to the last, never letting up till the end. They moved in virtuosity but said only one thing about the human condition - to me that is what dance is supposed to do. He told us, for exactly 60 minutes and not very eloquently, that we are like dogs in a race even though we think we are more. I wouldn't be so harsh if he wasn't such a big name in the filed, and should know better.

Crystal Pite's, in contrast, was about creation and destruction, and about love created and destroyed carelessly, and hearts that can be mended with care. It was graceful even in violence, and strong when it was soft. The very last duet is the mark of a real artist at her best, of knowing what life is all about.

Swine Lake

Wondering around tube we stumbled upon this piece of genius:

Finds

A great dancer from the 80's, Jorge Donn, and 20 years later, doing the same dance, but different, Silvie Guillem, the greatest dancer alive: This one I watched tonight on TFO, an incredible a Capella choir transforming orchestral music into vocal in the most wonderful way:

Curious Pursuits

Some people get to play with their imagination all their lives and collaborate with other professional enthusiasts. I sometimes envy them. Here is a collaboration of the poet Anne Carson, Merce Cunningham dancers, Harvard University, and some other artists who bring it all together into one curious end.
I found it here.

The Fountain of Youth

The secret is being silly every now and then, for no good reason. That is exactly what I did this morning - participating in a flash mob dance thing in Cabagetown, where a neighbourhood festival is taking place every fall. I was the oldest participant, but I pretended not to care. I had my fun.

Come Fly Away

Those who pay attention may remember a post a while ago with a youtube old video of Baryshnikov dancing a Twyla Tharp duet set to Frank Sinatra songs. Well, as it turns out this old dance piece has been turned into a full blown Broadway show called Come Fly Away and this afternoon I took my dancer boy to watch it at the Four Season center - rush tickets, naturally.
We had fun, despite my usual criticisms. The voice was Sinatra's, with a live band on stage. The choreography and staging could have been better. I liked the Baryshnikov version better, I admit. Broadway is not my thing. Still, the big band was fantastic, and the dancers very vibrant and sexy.
All in all, a nice way to spend an afternoon. We then went home and rented the old Guys and Dolls movie to give the young man some perspective on Sinatra. I still think it's the best musical ever to be produced.

3 Positives

1. Rush tickets to see the Twyla Tharp dance "In the Upper Room" with the National Ballet. They had some difficulties as it is a challenging piece but the dance is uplifting, interesting, mesmerizing. The Balanchine and Robbins pieces, although technically well done were not as compelling. Still, This is a great way to see performances that normally would be out of my reach.

This next one is just a bonus, I did not see it in reality, I wish they'd do it here - Enjoy! The older way of ballroom dancing, with a Twyla twist, as she is known to do:
2. Cabinets in the kitchen. Not operative kitchen yet but progress made.

3. Summer outings in this vibrant city, on the bike and on foot, with hats and fun dresses.

Alice In Wonderland - NBC

We stood in line this morning at the crack of dawn to get rush tickets (they are too pricey otherwise) and got them, two and a half hours later.
It was a great spectacle, great staging, costumes, sets and even the music was fun.
It is a busy show, lots going on, and the dancer who does Alice is greatly challenged - she is on the move constantly for the entire 2 1/2 hour production.
We got tired from clapping after a few minutes - imagine the output of energy she goes through each show.
My son just finished reading the book, perfect timing for this show to hit Toronto. Our favorite characters in the book are of course the Cheshire cat and the caterpillar. Oh, the wonderful sparkly pointe shoes of the caterpillar at the end of those legs - to die for!
We loved the dance sequence of the cards. We loved the gruesome Duchess house scene, bloody and crazy. We loved the little porcupines and the pink flamingos. We were not bored for a minute, which is a hard thing to say about most classical ballet. I love doing it, but usually not crazy about watching it, contemporary is more my preference. But - we had so much fun tonight!