Barnett Serchuk - Page 7

Cartier Williams is a hoofer, choreographer, filmmaker and performer hailing from Washington, D.C. He began his tap dancing career at the age of four and has been active in the tap dance community ever since. Throughout his career, Cartier has had the opportunity to dance with a multitude of tap pioneers and masters, including Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Peg Leg Bates and the Nicholas Brothers. He has appeared on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' 'The Tonight Show,' 'Good Morning America' and CNN. Cartier has performed for President Clinton, co-starring with Bebe Neuwirth in the PBS special 'In Performance at The White House.' He also performed for President George W. Bush at the 2006 Congressional Picnic at the White House. Cartier is currently continuing to develop multiple musical productions and workshops.

Gloria McLean, a New York-based dancer, choreographer and teacher, is the founder and artistic director of LIFEDANCE/Gloria McLean and Dancers. From 1982-1993, Ms. McLean was a member of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, performing in New York, the U.S., and internationally. She is considered one of the leading exponents of this American Modern Dance tradition.

Remember high school history. Some of us loved it; others hated it. Best of all, there were the teachers. They tried to educate us about British royalty, Swedish neutrality, or crumbling Hapsburg empires. How I wish they had known The Flames of Paris back then. Just think, in less than two hours we'd have known all about the French Revolution. While there were plenty of Civil War movies-just in case we needed some brain reinforcement for our exams-the French Revolution was a very deep ocean away. I know we had all seen Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette or some version of A Tale of Two Cities. But that's as far as most of us got to a real understanding of French history. Besides, they spoke a strange language, and in those days you didn't want to be caught being bi-lingual.

Early in Giselle, the heroine starts picking petals off flowers. Does he love her or does he not? That's very much the way I felt when I went to see the Mikhailovsky Ballet's November 14 performance of Giselle at Lincoln Center's Koch Theatre. I thought the odds were against me. When you have seen the ballet close to 1000 times, some great, some good, and some beyond mention, your spirits don' exactly soar with anticipation. So what can I say after seeing Giselle 1001 times? Welcome back. It's nice to see you in such pristine shape.

BalletCollective will present two world premiere ballets that showcase the company's commitment to artistic collaboration on October 29 and 30 at NYU Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square. The program will also include The Impulse Wants Company (2013). All three works will be accompanied by live music performed by the ensemble Hotel Elefant and feature lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker.

Cartier Williams is a hoofer, choreographer, filmmaker and performer hailing from Washington, D.C. He began his tap dancing career at the age of four and has been active in the tap dance community ever since. Cartier is currently working on a project that will bring the joy of tap dance back into the lives of people across the world. He is the co-founder and artistic director of The Williams Davis Foundation for the Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization committed to bringing the joy of performing arts into the lives of people worldwide. Throughout his career, Cartier has had the opportunity to dance with a multitude of tap pioneers and masters, including Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Peg Leg Bates, and the Nicholas Brothers. He has taught at Broadway Dance Center and American Tap Dance Foundation in NYC along with many other cities across the country and the world!

Francis Patrelle, the artistic director/resident choreographer of Dances Patrelle says in a program note that prior to 1982 he had never seen any version of the Romeo and Juliet ballet. It certainly sounds strange to me. Where had he been all that time? It seems that everyone I knew in the dance world had seen some production of it. Even my brothers, who detest ballet, had seen the Fonteyn/Nureyev movie. Be that as it may, I won't hold it against him.

I glanced at the program photograph as I was sitting down for the Fadi J. Khoury Dance concert on July 24 at New York Live Arts. I suppose it's me-or an over stimulated brain-because the photo screamed, yelled, and hollered 'beefcake evening.' Nothing wrong with that-there are worse things one can encounter in life.

Svetlana and Tatiana, two mature women originally from the Soviet Union, recently attended the July 16th performance of the Bolshoi's Swan Lake. I happened to overhear their conversation on the IRT going downtown.

If I ever become famous-the odds are against me--but if I do, I want Patricia Ward Kelly to give a talk about me. Bright, articulate, witty, insightful, eloquent, compassionate, she spoke about her late husband, the very famous Gene Kelly, for over two and a half with not an 'uh, er or' to be heard. Yes, it's entertainment, but it's much more: professional speaking of the highest caliber. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. I wanted to hand her a prize. I'll zing to the point: Patricia Ward Kelly, you were superb. I can't think of a higher compliment.

The Boston Ballet will perform at The Koch Theater at Lincoln Center from June 25-29, 2014 for their first New York tour. This marks the final performances of the Company's 50th season, which launched at London's Coliseum Theatre in July, 2013. Nominated by The Critics' Circle National Dance Awards for 'Outstanding Company', Boston Ballet is internationally recognized for a commitment to classical, neo-classical and contemporary choreography. The Company consists of 56 dancers representing a total of 19 nationalities and will present six dynamic performances accompanied by the Boston Ballet Orchestra. Boston Ballet's programs showcase a century of ground-breaking choreography and the impressive range of this world-class institution as well as two New York premieres - Alexander Ekman's Cacti and a new work by Jose Martinez. Jeffrey and Lia Cirio are brother and sister and also principle dancers with the company. We spoke to them about their experiences with The Boston Ballet, their training, and coming to New York for the first time. For tickets to the Boston Ballet at The Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, please visit http://www.davidhkochtheater.com/moreinfoBB.html

If you were looking for an afternoon of pure enjoyment, Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech performance on June 12 was the place to be. As the old Gershwin line goes: 'Who could ask for anything more?'

Cherylyn Lavagnino has an MFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a BA in Philosophy from USC. Lavagnino toured nationally as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. She has performed a range of classical repertoire and contemporary work by choreographers including Balanchine, John Butler, Hans Van Manen, and Tere O'Connor, and the diversity of these experiences has informed the dialogue between classical and contemporary in her work with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance. Ms. Lavagnino has created over forty works in the past fifteen years, and since 2000 the platform for her choreography has been Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance. Many of those works were created in collaboration with composers Scott Killian and Jane Chung. CLD continues to support a Live Music and Dance incentive their performances. Lavagnino's choreography has been presented in New York City: by Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, Dance Theater Workshop, Symphony Space, DanceNow/NYC, Kaatsban International Dance Center and The Joyce Theatre's 'Evening Stars' series. Ms. Lavagnino is an Alpert Award nominee for choreography and recipient of a space grant residency from the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Her choreography has been supported by the American Music Center's, Live Music for Dance grant and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Manhattan Creative Communities Fund.

Balanchine and Massine on the same program on February 20, 2014? I can't remember that last time I saw that. I wonder if the two would approve. But there is one fundamental difference separating the two choreographers. Balanchine, even 30 years after his death, is still in the forefront of modern ballet choreography, and most of Massine's ballets have fallen into oblivion. To be honest, the only Massine ballets I have seen prior to this were Parade and The Three Cornered Hat, both of which I enjoyed. I'd like to see The Good Natured Ladies, Le Beau Danube, La Boutique Fantasque, Rouge et Noir, Choreartium and Les Presages one of these days, but the chances are very slim. As the old saying goes, keep dreaming.

Hilda Morales was born in N.Y. City, and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her early training was with Ana Garcia of the Ballet San Juan. At 14 years of age, Ms. Morales received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She danced as a principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet and guest appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Albuquerque Ballet and Jacksonville Ballet. During her dancing career, Ms. Morales performed in full-length classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, John Butler, Alvin Ailey, and Jose Limon. Ms. Morales was featured in the movie The Turning Point, in the role of Sandra, directed by Herbert Ross. She guest teaches and is on the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania summer programs, and joined The Hartt School faculty in 1998.

According to Ohad Naharin's biography on the Batsheva Dance Company's web site, his invention of the dance style GAGA is an 'experience of freedom and pleasure. The work improves instinctive movement and connects conscious and unconscious movement, and it allows for an experience of freedom and pleasure in a simple way, in a pleasant space, in comfortable clothes, accompanied by music, each person with himself and others.'

What can I say but kudos to the Juilliard Dance Repertory's presentation on March 25, 2014? Yes, there will be a new and exciting generation of dancers. We won't have to worry. My only real concern is with the state of the art: Will there be enough companies for all these dancers to join? And what about the financial resources to sustain them? I wonder.

As I was going to the Paul Taylor performance I saw a woman wearing a mink coat and my brain retreated to my early teenage years when all those Blackglama ads were in vogue. You remember them: 'What becomes a legend most?' Among those featured in the advertisements were Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, and Martha Graham, among the many icons.

A previous commitment prevented me from reviewing the Ensemble for the Romantic Century's (ERC) Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at the Brooklyn Academy of Music until now. Unfortunately, the production has closed but the memory lingers.

Tom Gold was one of my favorite dancers when he was a soloist with New York City Ballet. You never expected anything but the very best when he was on stage, and I always got it. After leaving the company in 2007 he founded his own company, Tom Gold Dance, which I attended on Thursday, March 8.