The Latest ReviewsBoulder BalletBoulder Ballet's "Cinderella" - If The Shoe Fits Virtually every adult, and most children over three know the story of Cinderella, the poor stepchild made to do all the house chores by her mean Godmother and ugly Stepsisters, despite attempts by her father to nuture her to no avail. They know about the ball the Prince is holding. About Cinderella's Stepsisters' preparation to attend, and about Cinderella's animal friends (a cat, mice, and birds) and an assortment of fairies who work with her Fairy Godmother to also get Cinderella to that ball, where she can stay until midnight, at which time she will change back to the person she is seen as by her Stepmother and Stepsisters. It is at that ball the Prince falls in love with her, But, at that midnight hour when Cinderella must hastily depart she loses a shoe. The Prince finds and keeps that shoe traveling through his kingdom until he finds whom it fits, which is of course Cinderella. The Boulder Ballet provided their annual Mothers Day treat on May 13, 2012 with their version of that story as choreographed by Peter Davison and Ana Claire. Cinderella was danced by Melissa Heslep, who danced as well with a broom as she did at the ball, and her duet with the Prince, Matthew Helms, was stunning as she flowed into his partnering and lifts wondrously. Cinderella's Father, Ryan Seale, was kind in his open arm embraces and gentle partnering as Heslep was forced to work, but could not overcome the mean nature of Cinderella's Stepmother, Kala Berg, or her Stepsisters, Rachel Haber and Kathryn Wagner. Annalise Woller was a regal and kindly Fairy Godmother that made things work in getting Cinderella to the ball. But not in the traditional pumpkin coach, turned elegant by Woller, and pulled by mice made into horses, Rather a pseudo coach pulled by Unicorns - Livia Diener and Beatriz Kuperus - and Driven by Eliza Schwartz. That coach entered through the audience and carried Heslep suitably to the ball - a very elegant ball - where she lost her slipper. The Prince and eventually found her - with the help of Cobbler, Case Bodamer, whose dancing was superb - as the only one who could wear the slipper, and a grandiose wedding happened that again moved through the audience. Flatlands Dance TheatreFlatlands Dance Theatre evokes rethinking of fairytale Flatlands Dance Theatre, Lubbock, Texas' only professional contemporary dance company, presented "The Cracked Mirror" May 4 and May 5, 2012 at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts Firehouse Theatre.
The opening concert lasted about 55 minutes and featured eight of the company's 12 dancers, as well as artistic director Ali Duffy and executive director Kyla Olson. The concept of theproduction, a rewritten version of the classic fairytale "Snow White," was a collaboration between Flatlands, playwright Norman A. Bert and Duffy, Olson and company member Genevieve Durham DeCesaro, who choreographed the show. The fusion of theater and dance by the two-year-old company keeps the audience interested and makes the narrative easy to follow. The production begins with a narrative and written display of the fairytale. The dramatic, dark voice of the narrator makes the audience feel more involved than if they read the prologue silently. Axis Dance CompanyAXIS DANCE COMPANY - What Is A Disability? It was the Americans with Disabilities Act that led the way. Rather than warehousing the Biblical "lame, halt and blind," institutions were required to accommodate disabilities. It was perhaps that which enabled the disabled to demand the right to try, attempt (possibly fail) in any field wherein a person, disabled or not, might flourish. Even dance. Or perhaps especially dance. 40 Women Over 40 and New Breed"40 Women Over 40" and "New Breed": A Total Audience Pleaser Nancy Cranbourne's "40 Women Over 40" and Linzee Klinkenberg's "New Breed" are putting up a concert this weekend and next - April 27 and 28 and May 4 and 5, 2012 at the Boulder Dairy Center for the Arts Performance Space. Each concert starts at 7 PM. That concert is a rollicking portrayal of hot and cool jazz dance that is a total audience pleaser. In fact, on Friday April 27th it seemed that every one of the huge cast had friends in the audience cheering them on. That plus the shouts, cheers, and clapping of the performers and the music creates a boisterous, frolicsome hour of solid energy. Given the size of the cast - over 20 - much of the work choreographed by Cranbourne and Kinkenbeg is in large ensembles that flow in and out of and through the space. Much of the time in unison, but often with counter flows and new phrasing developing throughout. The concert also has small pieces from solos to smaller ensembles, especially in the cool jazz works. Costumes vary from somber black to technicolor outfits in blonde and red wigs - the blonde ones being huge. All ages from over 40 to Kinkenberg;'s younger company members are represented, making this a true intergenerational concert. At times choreography seems "toned down" to what dancers can do, but that does not detract from the dancing, especially since every work is well rehearsed and shows it. CU/Boulder Dance and Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM)Harris CU/Dance "Heaven" - A Mixed Bag It is difficult to build a work that depends on a cast of members from a professional New York City dance company with students integrated into the piece. Lorenzo Rennie Harris is doing that this weekend (April 19, 20, and 21, 2012) at the University of Colorado (Boulder) Main stage Theater with members of his New York Company - "Rennie Harris PureMovement" - RHPM. Those dancers include Macca Malic, Emiko Sugiyama, Brian Newby, and Josh Culbreath. CU/Dance student dancers Include Brittney Kirkpatrick, Macca Madyun, Mollie Wolf, Charlie Danno, and Sexton McGrath. The results are a totally mixed bag. The Break Dancing by the RHPM dancers is amazing. The floor work and the aerial moves are stunning, including long high dives over other dancers, with breathtaking "hang times." The show is about a story line narrated by Sugiyama, mostly in Japanese, with only very short sections in English to give the largely English speaking audience at least a minimal perspective. Thus, I was lost most of the time as to what the narrative was, which is a relatively constant part of the show until the end. Basically I sorted out that there once was a king who thought mostly of heaven, much to the discern of his wife who wanted a life on earth first. Many of the the resulting sections contain long narrative, and still, or almost still student dancers moving in bass background, or surrounding the king or queen paying homage. Some of this is done in a smoke filled stage, apparently to engender the heaven of the king's dream. None of those sections have any reasonable performance life, and the show essentially stopped for me as the Japanese narration continued. |
 Photo by David Andrews |
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