#Alan Lucien Øyen

[arcimboldisworld]

ALAN LUCIEN ØYEN: STORY, STORY, DIE - STEPS / KURTHEATER BADEN 24.04.2024

ALAN LUCIEN ØYEN: STORY, STORY, DIE - STEPS / KURTHEATER BADEN 24.04.2024 #kurtheaterbaden #steps #alanlucienøyen #winterguests #festivalopening #tanz #rezension #review

Erstmals in der Schweiz zu sehen: ALAN LUCIEN ØYENs Tanzkompanie WINTER GUESTS eröffnet das Tanzfestival STEPS am Kurtheater Baden mit der Produktion “Story, Story, Die”… Continue reading ALAN LUCIEN ØYEN: STORY, STORY, DIE – STEPS / KURTHEATER BADEN 24.04.2024

[don-lichterman]

In Conversation with Norwegian Choreographer/Stage Director/Playwright Alan Lucien Oyen

In Conversation with Norwegian Choreographer/Stage Director/Playwright Alan Lucien Oyen

Story, story, die (Photo: Mats Bäcker) Norway’s Alan Lucien Øyen, 44, is a polymath whose artistic credits span dance, theatre and opera. Here are just some of the companies and people he has recently worked with: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Netherlands Dance Theatre, Paris Opera and Paris Opera Ballet, and legendary actress Liv Ullmann. It doesn’t get much starrier than that. Øyen keeps…

[jminter]

A West Coast Premiere Closes The DanceHouse Season

A West Coast Premiere Closes The @DanceHouse_Van Season June 22 & 23 at Vancouver Playhouse

To bring its season to a close, DanceHouse presents the West Coast premiere of winter guests’ evocative work, Story, story, die., choreographed by Artistic Director Alan Lucien Øyen, on stage June 22 and 23 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Through cinematic staging and poignant spoken word, Story, story, die. is a thought-provoking look at the interdependency between lies and love and the surprising…

[mickeypamo]

(via Pina Bausch legacy continues with new work by Alan Lucien Øyen | The Wonderful World of Dance Magazine)

[gramilano]

Denis Rodkin and Eleonora Sevenard in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

The annual orgy of dance that kicks off the year in Rome, known as Les Étoiles, began in 2015 with an evening in the Auditorium della Conciliazione near the Vatican with its 1,700 seats. The gala has grown to occupy three days in the Auditorium Parco della Musica with its 2,800 seats. The reason for its astounding popularity is that it never disappoints. From the first outing, there were the top stars of ballet – Marianela Nuñez, Vyacheslav Lopatin, Svetlana Zakharova – with a pleasing mix of the popular and the lesser-known, classical and modern. The standard has always been maintained, if not bettered, with sixteen dancers appearing in this January’s shows, and Nuñez almost always in the line-up.

The gala’s artistic director, Daniele Cipriani, also enjoys pairing up dancers and works so that dancers are performing with new partners and in new pieces for the first time. Just one example of this was the former New York City Ballet principal, Robert Fairchild, dancing with American Ballet Theatre’s Stella Abrera for the first time: they danced the pas de deux from Balanchine’s Apollo. She also partnered him in a number from An American in Paris, which he knows inside out after his hit performances in New York and London, though Abrera was dancing it for the first time.

Certainly, this may lead to a little nervousness, which could be felt on the first evening, though that had disappeared on the second night where everyone seemed to have made Rome their temporary home ground.

Robert Fairchild and Stella Abrera in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer 01

Robert Fairchild and Stella Abrera in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Another way Cipriani found to inject an element of surprise, was to create some costumes especially for the occasion. The grand old man of fashion, Roberto Capucci – now 90 – designed costumes for Sergio Bernal’s Zapateado and for Young Gyu Choi as the Golden Idol.

Young Gyu Choi in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

There was also the chance to see the star of Ralph Fiennes’s White Crow. Oleg Ivenko, who played Nureyev in the film, was suitably sullen and slightly arrogant in life, which must have been one of Fiennes’s reasons for picking Ivenko for the role, even though he humbly said that his life is divided by before and after White Crow. When asked for an example, he indicated the ballet stars he was to perform with, “Well, I’m here!” However, the 23-year-old Ukrainian is a genuine talent, not just a product of editing and close-ups.

Ana Sophia Scheller and Oleg Ivenko in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

The Bolshoi’s Denis Rodkin with his on and offstage partner Eleonora Sevenard were perfect in Spartacus, the company’s calling card ballet, though in Swan Lake, Sevenard – a Bolshoi soloist – showed that although she has many exceptional qualities, she still has some finishing touches to add to her technique.

Sergio Bernal wowed with his Capucci cape and stunning high-waist trousers in his Zapateado to his own choreography, but a pleasant surprise was The Last Encounter, a duet with the gorgeous Miriam Mendoza from the Spanish National Ballet and with choreography but the inventive Ricardo Cue. Cue manages to both surprise and gratify with his unaffected approach to rhythm, music and passion. This can be deduced just from the concept – an Astaire and Rogers-inspired piece using music by Alberto Inglesias for Pedro Almodóvar’s film Hable Con Ella (Talk to Her). A satisfying mix of the fresh and the familiar.

Miriam Mendoza and Sergio Bernal in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Elisa Badenes and Friedmann Vogel from the Stuttgart Ballet with their extraordinary bodies demonstrated the versatility of their company’s repertoire with the crazy lifts of John Cranko’s Legende and the hyper-extensions of Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa. Their control, musicality and occasional flirty playfulness showed off two rounded artists at their peak.

Two lesser-known Cuban dancers came to represent their school and former company which lost its director Alicia Alonso a few months ago. Yanela Piñera and Luisa Valle performed the Spring Waters and Don Quixote pas de deux with Cuban aplomb.

Elisa Badenes and Friedmann Vogel in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Yanela Piñera and Luisa Valle in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Dutch National Ballet principal Young Gyu Choi, an exciting virtuoso, performed the Le Corsaire second act pas de deux with Ana Sophia Scheller whose secure technique and vivacious personality were winning. This was one of two new partners for her as she also partnered Ivenko in Harlequinade. Needless to say that Gyu Choi brought off the Golden Idol’s solo thrillingly.

Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov were delightful in The Sleeping Beauty pas de deux (oddly dancing under bluish lighting which gave the impression of a moonlit wedding) and La Bayadère (where the blue lighting was suited). They are audience favourites and they didn’t disappoint with two majestic performances.

Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Young Gyu Choi and Ana Sophia Scheller in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

It was good to have the opportunity to see Aurélie Dupont back on stage. She performed a re-imagined version of Martha Graham’s Ekstasis with great dignity, but it was a piece by Alan Lucien Øyen to Nina Simone’s Stars that showcased her interpretive abilities. Let’s face it, with that song, she could have just sat on a chair while the audience listened to the music and we would have finished with tears in our eyes anyway, but adding another layer of pathos with her side-ranging moves was deeply moving.

Let the stars continue to come out in January in Rome to brighten the winter evenings. It’s a fixed date in my diary.

Aurélie Dupont in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer 01

Aurélie Dupont in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Sergio Bernal in Les Etoiles 2020 Rome, photo by Graham Spicer

Les Étoiles for three days shone over Rome The annual orgy of dance that kicks off the year in Rome, known as Les Étoiles…

[danzadance]

Review 2019 - The Dance Year from Dance Europe on Vimeo.

A collage featuring some of the wonderful dancers and companies photographed by Dance Europe during the past 12 months.

Photographs: The Nutcracker, Mariinsky Ballet - Kimin Kim and Maria Khoreva; Le Parc ch: Angelin Preljocaj- Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo; Beauty and The Beast ch: David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton; Yaoqian Shang; Faun ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Paris Opera - Juliette Hilaire and Marc Moreau; Les Noces ch: Pontus Lidberg, Paris Opera; Blue Moon ch: Aletta Collins, The Royal Ballet; Odissi Solo - Mavin Khoo; What is BirdGang? - BirdGang; Don Quixote pr: Carlos Acosta, The Royal Ballet - Marianela Nuñez; Swan Lake pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Germain Louvet and François Alu; Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet; Bon Voyage, Bob... ch: Alan Lucien Øyen - Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Hotel - Cirque Éloize; Swan Lake, Dutch National Ballet - Maia Makhateli and Daniel Camargo; Le Reveil de Flore - Mariinsky Ballet; Frankenstein ch: Liam Scarlett, The Royal Ballet - Federico Bonelli and Wei Wang; Russian Ballet Icons Gala - Marcelino Sambé; Julian MacKay; Romeo and Juliet ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Lauren Cuthbertson; Victoria ch: Cathy Marston, Northern Ballet - Pippa Moore; Marguerite and Armand ch: Ashton, Mariinsky Ballet - Diana Vishneva and Xander Parish; Push Comes to Shove ch: Twyla Tharp, Mariinsky Ballet - Victor Caixeta; Canto de Ossanha ch: Joonhyuk, The Royal Ballet; Medusa ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Natalia Osipova and Matthew Ball; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet - Elena Yevseyeva and Victor Caixeta; Maria Khoreva; Mayerling ch: MacMillan, Stuttgart Ballet - Friedemann Vogel; Giselle, Abay Kazakh Ballet; The Birds ch: MacMillan, Central School of Ballet; My First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty, English National Ballet School; The Great Gatsby ch: David Nixon - Kevin Poeung and Ashley Dixon; Mayerling ch: MacMillan - Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen; The Two Pigeons, Paris Opera Ballet School; Dracula ch: David Nixon - Javier Torres and Antoinette Brooks-Daw; The Sleeping Beauty, Mariinsky Ballet - Xander Parish; YAGP New York, Grand Prix recipient - Gabriel Figueredo; Hummingbird ch: Liam Scarlett - San Francisco Ballet; Cinderella ch: Christopher Wheeldon - Emma Hawes and Katja Khaniukova; Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández; Birthday Offering ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Fumi Kaneko; Coppélia ch: de Valois, The Royal Ballet - Gary Avis; YAGP Paris, Grand Prix recipient António Casalinho; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet, Chloë Réveillon; Dracula ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Kevin Poeung and Joseph Taylor; Paquita, Dutch National Ballet Academy - Emma Mardegan and Philippe Magdelijns; The Nutcracker, English National Ballet - Matthew Astley; The Firebird, The Royal Ballet - Yasmine Naghdi; Raymonda, pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand; Giselle, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales; Giselle, Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa; Dada Masilo’s Giselle; Legend of Love, The Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa and Timur Askerov; Manon ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Francesca Hayward; Cinderella, Christopher Wheeldon, English National Ballet - Shale Wagman; Rasputin, Polunin Ink - Sergei Polunin and Johan Kobborg; Raymonda, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Powerhouse Rhumba ch: David Nixon - Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor; Bespoke ch: Stanton Welch, San Francisco Ballet - Angelo Greco; Spartacus ch: Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet - Anastasia Denisova and Denis Rodkin; A Month in the Country ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet - Oxana Skorik and Xander Parish; Boléro ch: Mats Ek, Paris Opera - Niklas Ek; The Red Shoes ch: Matthew Bourne, New Adventures - Ashley Shaw and Adam Cooper; Cinderella ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Ashley Dixon. © Emma Kauldhar 2019.

Photos of The Royal Ballet courtesy of the Royal Opera House.

Curtain Calls Dutch National Ballet, Gala, National Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam

Mariinsky Ballet, Don Quixote, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Abay Kazakh Ballet, Rediscovering Bach/Boléro, Almaty

Paris Opera, Raymonda, Opera Bastille, Paris

Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, Royal Opera House, London

Mariinsky Ballet, The Nutcracker and Marguerite and Armand Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Music - ‘An Orchestra’ licensed by Envato

[informer82]

Titel: Review 2019 - The Dance Year Text: A photographic collage recalling some of the wonderful dancers and ballets photographed by Dance Europe during the last 12 months. Photographs: The Nutcracker, Mariinsky Ballet - Kimin Kim and Maria Khoreva; Le Parc ch: Angelin Preljocaj- Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo; Beauty and The Beast ch: David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton; Yaoqian Shang; Faun ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Paris Opera - Juliette Hilaire and Marc Moreau; Les Noces ch: Pontus Lidberg, Paris Opera; Blue Moon ch: Aletta Collins, The Royal Ballet; Odissi Solo - Mavin Khoo; What is BirdGang? - BirdGang; Don Quixote pr: Carlos Acosta, The Royal Ballet - Marianela Nuñez; Swan Lake pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Germain Louvet and François Alu; Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet; Bon Voyage, Bob... ch: Alan Lucien Øyen - Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Hotel - Cirque Éloize; Swan Lake, Dutch National Ballet - Maia Makhateli and Daniel Camargo; Le Reveil de Flore - Mariinsky Ballet; Frankenstein ch: Liam Scarlett, The Royal Ballet - Federico Bonelli and Wei Wang; Russian Ballet Icons Gala - Marcelino Sambé; Julian MacKay; Romeo and Juliet ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Lauren Cuthbertson; Victoria ch: Cathy Marston, Northern Ballet - Pippa Moore; Marguerite and Armand ch: Ashton, Mariinsky Ballet - Diana Vishneva and Xander Parish; Push Comes to Shove ch: Twyla Tharp, Mariinsky Ballet - Victor Caixeta; Canto de Ossanha ch: Joonhyuk, The Royal Ballet; Medusa ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Natalia Osipova and Matthew Ball; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet - Elena Yevseyeva and Victor Caixeta; Maria Khoreva; Mayerling ch: MacMillan, Stuttgart Ballet - Friedemann Vogel; Giselle, Abay Kazakh Ballet; The Birds ch: MacMillan, Central School of Ballet; My First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty, English National Ballet School; The Great Gatsby ch: David Nixon - Kevin Poeung and Ashley Dixon; Mayerling ch: MacMillan - Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen; The Two Pigeons, Paris Opera Ballet School; Dracula ch: David Nixon - Javier Torres and Antoinette Brooks-Daw; The Sleeping Beauty, Mariinsky Ballet - Xander Parish; YAGP New York, Grand Prix recipient - Gabriel Figueredo; Hummingbird ch: Liam Scarlett - San Francisco Ballet; Cinderella ch: Christopher Wheeldon - Emma Hawes and Katja Khaniukova; Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández; Birthday Offering ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Fumi Kaneko; Coppélia ch: de Valois, The Royal Ballet - Gary Avis; YAGP Paris, Grand Prix recipient António Casalinho; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet, Chloë Réveillon; Dracula ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Kevin Poeung and Joseph Taylor; Paquita, Dutch National Ballet Academy - Emma Mardegan and Philippe Magdelijns; The Nutcracker, English National Ballet - Matthew Astley; The Firebird, The Royal Ballet - Yasmine Naghdi; Raymonda, pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand; Giselle, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales; Giselle, Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa; Dada Masilo’s Giselle; Legend of Love, The Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa and Timur Askerov; Manon ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Francesca Hayward; Cinderella, Christopher Wheeldon, English National Ballet - Shale Wagman; Rasputin, Polunin Ink - Sergei Polunin and Johan Kobborg; Raymonda, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Powerhouse Rhumba ch: David Nixon - Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor; Bespoke ch: Stanton Welch, San Francisco Ballet - Angelo Greco; Spartacus ch: Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet - Anastasia Denisova and Denis Rodkin; A Month in the Country ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet - Oxana Skorik and Xander Parish; Boléro ch: Mats Ek, Paris Opera - Niklas Ek; The Red Shoes ch: Matthew Bourne, New Adventures - Ashley Shaw and Adam Cooper; Cinderella ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Ashley Dixon. © Emma Kauldhar 2019. Photos of The Royal Ballet courtesy of the Royal Opera House. Curtain Calls Dutch National Ballet, Gala, National Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam Mariinsky Ballet, Don Quixote, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg Abay Kazakh Ballet, Rediscovering Bach/Boléro, Almaty Paris Opera, Raymonda, Opera Bastille, Paris Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, Royal Opera House, London Mariinsky Ballet, The Nutcracker and Marguerite and Armand Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg Music - ‘An Orchestra’ licensed by Envato, Hochgeladen von: Dance Europe, https://ift.tt/35dstrR

[earlrmerrill]

A Daunting Task: Creating The First New, Full-Length Dance Piece For Pina Bausch’s Company Since She Died

“What’s most important for the company is the legacy, taking care of Pina’s works and then finding the best way to look forward,” says director and choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen, whose Bon Voyage, Bob recently premiered in Bausch’s home theatre and is now in London. – The Stage

Article source here:Arts Journal

[demmy-rs]

Neues Stück II - Eine Kreation von Alan Lucien Øyen from Tanztheater Wuppertal on Vimeo.

[anettetheresepettersen]

En antifeministisk farse

I Oslo Nye Teaters dramatisering av Rettsstridig forføyning har Ester Nilsson blitt en karikatur som minner om Bridget Jones.

Lena Anderssons roman Rettsstridig forføyning skapte stor oppstandelse (og store salgstall) da den kom ut i Sverige i 2013, og i Norge året etter. Boken handler om forfatteren Ester Nilsson som faller for den noe eldre og kjente kunstneren Hugo Rask. Forelskelsen er sterk og utvikler seg raskt til en dyp kjærlighet, hos henne – mens den for ham ikke stikker særlig dypere enn begjær. Jo, forresten: Den pirker ganske kraftig borti eietrangen hans også. Ester er overbevist om at hun og Hugo er i ferd med å etablere et forhold, hun blir fullstendig oppslukt av ham og selv om han ikke besvarer hennes mange tilnærmelser, gir han akkurat nok til at Ester ikke gir opp. Slik næres stadig håpet hos Ester, mens Hugo får egoet sitt bekreftet og kan fortsette å ignorere hennes mange henvendelser.

Regissør Alan Lucien Øyen og scenograf Åse Hegrenes har valgt en visuelt stram og nesten nøktern profil på denne iscenesettelsen. Scenerommet er umøblert – med unntak av en pinnestol. Bakveggen består av et stort lerret med noe som minner om action painting, og ellers er det Martin Flacks lysdesign som endrer scenens fremtoning. Esters venninner, «venninnekoret», har fått forestillingens fortellerrolle. De lager rammene for scenene som utspiller seg, og kan til og med tillate seg å spole tilbake – altså gjenta deler av scener – underveis. Det gir forestillingen et dynamisk preg og en mer lettbent tone enn forelegget.

Platt eller radikalt? Anderssons bok har undertittelen «En roman om kjærlighet», og på overflaten kan denne fortellingen om en kvinnes kjærlighet som ikke blir besvart fremstå både tragisk og klisjéfylt. Den handler på ett nivå om «forelskelsens systematiske selvbedrag», men man må samtidig spørre seg hvorforEsters forelskelse blir en så sterk drivkraft. Den lille romanen kan like mye leses som en kritikk av rammebetingelsene for Esters forelskelse. Hun er en ung kvinne forelsket i en eldre mann med makt, attpåtil i et samfunn hvis ideal om fri seksualitet kan sies å være tilrettelagt for mannens behov. I romanen fremstår Ester modig fordi hun ikke underlegger seg disse reglene, men snarere våger å stå for sin kjærlighet og være redelig overfor Hugo på dette.

I denne iscenesettelsen fremstilles Ester derimot som en vimsete person, på en måte som får henne til å minne om Bridget Jones. At Hugo Rask bruker Ester for å få bekreftet sitt eget ego kommenteres for så vidt, men det gjøres med et ansvarsfraskrivende skuldertrekk. Typisk menn, liksom. Det er bare Ester som ikke forstår kjærlighetsspillet.

Dyrke komikk. «Det var mye gøyere enn jeg trodde», overhørte jeg en fra publikum si på vei ut etter forestillingen. Det kan jeg være enig i – men uten positive fortegn. Det brukes mye humor her, særlig i form av comic relief, altså at enhver spent situasjon løses opp med humor. Det kan umulig være mye oversett komisk potensial i teksten. Jeg tenker likevel at det er et snev av intellektuell latskap som har gitt denne forestillingen et såpass humoristisk tilsnitt. Selv om skuespiller Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, i rollen som Ester, byr på flere fine scener, ender nesten samtlige scener i komikk på en måte som gjør henne til en utydelig, utroverdig karikatur. Det bidrar til at utfallet av kjærlighetsaffæren ikke bare blir ekstra forutsigbar, det er også helt utenkelig at den skulle kunne ende annerledes. Dermed blir denne iscenesettelsen av Rettsstridig forføyning en farse som reproduserer kjente patriarkalske strukturer.

Rettsstridig forføyning Av: Lena Andersson Dramatisering: Karin Parrot-Jonzon Regi: Alan Lucien Øyen Scenografi: Åse Hegrenes Oslo Nye Teater, Centralteatret, 8.november 2018 Spiller til og med 22. desember

Anmeldelsen ble opprinnelig publisert i Morgenbladet 23.november 2018.

Foto: Mats Bäcker / Oslo Nye Teater

[houstonlocalus-blog]

CounterCurrent Returns With Groundbreaking Arts Programming

Ten Tiny Dances. Photo: Dabfoto Creative

  With audio and visual installations, dance performances, theatrical productions, and performance lectures by artists from across the world, CounterCurrent has truly set itself apart from the city’s arts festivals. The annual event — organized by the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts — includes a comprehensive schedule for patrons to experience world-class arts programming like never before.

While a large portion of the festival takes place at the Midtown Arts & Theater Center (MATCH), the festival takes place at locations across the city like The Brandon, Post HTX and the Eldorado Ballroom.

With such impressive programming scheduled for the festival between April 18 and 23, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to the festival’s can’t-miss events.

  Ten Tiny Dances

Ten choreographers present ten short dances over the span of an hour, all executed in a 4′ x 4′ stage. Ten Tiny Dancers showcases a mix of artists from varying disciplines, including contemporary and ballet dancers and choreographers, and is known to be a festival favorite. Co-curated by Nancy Wozny, editor-in-chief of Arts + Culture Texas, the performance takes place on April 19 at Post HTX (401 Franklin) at 8 pm and free tickets are available online.

  Snow White

A theatrical adaptation of an experimental novel by the late postmodern novelist Donald Barthelme, The Catastrophic Theatre presents Snow White, a contemporary take on the classic tale. Snow White is tired of being a bored housewife to seven men, who “only add up to the equivalent of about two real men.” She spends her days drinking screwdrivers, reading communist literature and waiting for her prince. Reworked for stage with the notes of Barthelme, the production will be hosted at MATCH-BOX 3 on April 20, 21 and 22 at 8 pm with free tickets available online.

  Stories of Refuge. Photo courtesy of the artist

  Stories of Refuge

This video installation leads viewers on the story of three Syrian refugees who fled the country to seek refuge in Munich. One narrowly survived a sinking ship, another walked with their children from Syria to Turkey, and the third was smuggled in a truck. Each refugee was given a discreet camera to record what it was like to live one day in their lives in a refugee camp. The installation, which itself is fitted out with bunkbeds so that the audience can feel as if they are living what they are seeing, will run at MATCH Gallery (3400 Main) from April 18 to 23 from noon to 8 pm each day.

  Camp Pause

Follow the stories of four Palestinian refugees with this fully immersive experience. Films are projected onto the four walls of a gallery with each following a single person. Headphones in the center of the room provide audiences with one of the four stories told by the refugees, yet with view of all of them at once. The entire space allows the viewer to experience a moment in the Rashidieh Refugee Camp on the coast of Lebanon. The installation will run at The Brandon (1709 Westheimer) from April 18 to 23 from noon to 8 pm each day.

  Ghana ThinkTank

At last year’s CounterCurrent, the Ghana ThinkTank posed the question, “What’s your Houston diversity problem?” The response was largely related to cultural and ethnic identity, and now think tanks in India, Iran, Indonesia, Morocco, Gaza, Serbia and Germany are looking for solutions for Houston’s problems. Through one-on-one conversation and installations, Ghana ThinkTank will introduce audiences to the journey of our city’s diversity problems from here to the think tanks and back again. The Ghana ThinkTank will be travel throughout Houston during the run of the festival, check the CounterCurrent website for location updates.

  Simulacrum. Photo: Erik Berg

  Simulacrum

Incorporating elements of kabuki, flamenco and contemporary dance, this interdisciplinary performance is the work of Argentinian-born Daniel Proietto, trained in kabuki, and 76-year old Shōji Kojima, who moved from Japan to Spain to become a master of flamenco. The two award-winning dancers present a two-hour performance created by Norwegian company winter guests and its choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen. Performances take place through April 18 to 20 at 7 pm each day at MATCH-BOX 2 with free tickets available online.

  Movement V: Ballroom

A site specific sculptural and sound installation at the Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin), which has served the Third Ward as a legendary venue for blues and jazz players from the 1940s through the 1970s, artist Kevin Beasley presents Movement V: Ballroom. Exploring cultural, personal and historical contexts, Beasley will feature sixteen sculptural works to amplify the sounds produced by visitors’ movement, the installation exists only with the movement of people and their physical engagement with the largely darkened space. The installation will be on view from April 18 to 23 from noon to 8 pm each day, and Beasley will also perform and engage with the installation on April 22 at 8 pm.

  Illusions of Urbanscape. Photo: Harry Gamboa Jr.

  Illusions of Urbanscape

This performance lecture from Chicano artist-activist Harry Gamboa Jr. revolves around the myth of contemporary society based on the artist’s experiences in Los Angeles and “its subtle layering of codes, rules, and visual markers that contribute to making a sophisticated living space for millions of people.” He will discuss the many works he’s directed with his current performance troupe, Visual Vérité, as well as works he produced with a group of young Chicano artists in the ’70s and ’80s. The performance will take place at the Quintero Theatre at the University of Houston on April 20 at 6:30 pm and free tickets are available online.

  Farmhouse/Whorehouse

Using test, song, costume, film and projections, Lili Taylor performs Suzanne Bocanegra’s most recent lecture on life at her grandparents’ farm in La Grange, existing across the road from the Chicken Ranch, also known as “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” “Through the lens of the farm and the brothel, a story emerges that considers the invention of the pastoral in art, the homesteading movement, hippie communes in the 1960s and the idea of the prostitute in art and theater.” Taylor will perform at MATCH-BOX 1 on April 21 at 7 pm and on April 22 at 3 and 7 pm with free tickets available online.

CounterCurrent Returns With Groundbreaking Arts Programming this is a repost

[gramilano]

Oleg Ivenko © Dilius Gimadeyev

The annual appointment with Les Étoiles in Rome is certainly a chance to enjoy a thrilling ballet gala, but the producer Daniele Cipriani also finds interesting twists to make each edition unique, so it never becomes a clichéd evening of ballet’s greatest hits.

Such was the popularity last year, that the gala will spread over three days to satisfy those who were turned away last year, as well as the regulars who keep coming back for more. At the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome from the 24-26 January 2020 will appear some of the world’s best dancers.

One of Cipriani’s surprises this year includes specially designed costumes by fashion’s most theatrical designer, Roberto Capucci, for two of the dancers: Sergio Bernal and Young Gyu Choi. There will also be the opportunity to see the 23-year-old Ukrainian dancer, Oleg Ivenko, who was the star of the Ralph Fiennes’ Nureyev biopic, The White Crow, dancing as himself. Tony Award-nominated Robert Fairchild, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, who will a number from Christopher Wheeldon’s hit show American in Paris, which the multi-talented dancer-actor-singer starred in both on Broadway and in London’s West End.

Robert Fairchild

The Swan with Sergio Bernal © Graham Spicer, Daniele Cipriani Entertainment

Young Gyu Choi © Cositore

The glamorous line-up includes the Bolshoi Ballet’s Eleonora Sevenard and Denis Rodkin (Swan Lake and Spartacus), the Stuttgart Ballet’s Friedemann Vogel and Elisa Badenes (John Cranko’s Legend and Itzik Galili’s Mona Lisa), American Ballet Theatre principal Stella Abrera will dance with Fairchild (American in Paris and Balanchine’s Apollo pas de deux), and former Paris Opera Ballet étoile, and now the company’s director, Aurélie Dupont, will perform Martha Graham’s Ekstasis re-imagined by Virginie Mécène, and Star, a piece by Norwegian choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen to a song by Nina Simone.

Elisa Badenes

Friedemann Vogel © Youn Sik Kim

Denis Rodkin and Eleonora Sevenard

Aurélie Dupont in Ekstasis © Benoite Fanton

Stella Abrera © Gene Schiavone

There will also be the customary “surprise étoile” who will dance with Dutch National Ballet’s Young Gyu Choi, and he will also dance the Golden Idol solo from La Bayadére wearing Capucci’s ‘minimalist’ costume.

Of course, Les Étoiles wouldn’t be Les Étoiles without The Royal Ballet star Marianela Nuñez who will again dance with the “dancers’ dancer” Vadim Muntagirov who was her partner at The Royal Opera House for the recent cinema relay of Coppélia. They will dance pas de deux from La Bayadère and Sleeping Beauty.

Marianela Nuñez © Castaldi

Vadim Muntagirov in Sylvia, Les Etoiles 2019 © Malcolm Levinkind

Sergio Bernal has become another Les Étoiles regular, bringing down the house with his thrilling zapateado, and he will be doing the same this year as well as performing a new piece by Ricardo Cue (who choreographed The Swan which has brought Bernal acclaim throughout the world) called The Last Encounter, which he dances with Miriam Mendoza of the Spanish National Ballet. Cue was inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and uses music written by Alberto Iglesias for Pedro Almodóvar’s film Talk to Her.

Sergio Bernal with Miriam Mendoza in The Last Encounter

Last October, the world of ballet lost one of its brightest stars when Alicia Alonso died in her beloved Havana, two months short of her 99th birthday. To remember her, Cipriani has invited two of her former Cuban pupils to dance the pas de deux from Don Quixote: Yanela Piñera from the Queensland Ballet in Australia and Luis Valle from the Ballet Méditerannée in Nice.

Yanela Piñera

Luis Valle © Elena Pushkina

Christian Dior once said that the nonagenarian Roberto Capucci was “the best creator of Italian fashion”. If you don’t know his work, google him and be awed. He says,

A few years ago, while organising my archive of drawings for my Foundation, I came across an old yellowed envelope, and its contents made me leap back in time: it was from 1948 when I was 18 years old, and a student Academy of Fine Arts. It contained sketches for costumes for a musical revue in Buenos Aires. I remember my passion and excitement designing those costumes but, as is often the case, the project did not go ahead.

As we know, my professional life took another direction but if things had gone another way maybe I would not be a fashion designer but be living in Argentina!

Roberto Capucci © G Baronchelli

Apart from designing a production of Capriccio in 2002 at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with my dear friend, the soprano Raina Kabaivanska, I haven’t designed anything else for the stage. However, theatre costumes have always remained close to my heart and so, in my spare time, I would do some designs. I began to show my sketches in exhibitions: at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Palazzo Scarpetta in Naples, and so on. The success with both critics and the public encouraged me to continue and so I’ve immersed myself in this project [for Les Étoiles] with great excitement and energy.

A wonderful meeting with the artistic director of Les Étoiles, my friend Daniele Cipriani, convinced me to dress two of the dancers for the gala. It was as though time hadn’t passed… and there are other projects on the way!

Sergio Bernal with Daniele Cipriani © Ripari Young Group 2019

Daniele Cipriani’s Gran Gala in Honour of Alicia Alonso will be at the Ravenna Festival on 17 July 2020.

Les Étoiles Gala in Rome 2020 features the ballet world’s starriest names with some surprises The annual appointment with Les Étoiles in Rome is certainly a chance to enjoy a thrilling ballet gala, but the producer Daniele Cipriani also finds interesting twists to make each edition unique, so it never becomes a clichéd evening of ballet’s greatest hits.

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Titel: Pina Baush - Alan Lucien Øyen - Bon voyage, Bob Text: Tanztheater Wuppertal - Chaillot Théâtre National de la Danse BON VOYAGE, BOB Pina Bausch - Alan Lucien Øyen, Hochgeladen von: despasdesfigures, https://ift.tt/31X0EU8

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Ten Years After Pina Bausch Died, Her Company Moves On To New Choreographers

Four of Tanztheater Wuppertal’s dancers, including veterans and new members, talk about enterting the very different artistic worlds of Dimitris Papaioannou and Alan Lucien Øyen. — The Guardian

Article source here:Arts Journal