Preserving and making new the Smuin legacy

By Jaime Robles, 24 September 2018

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“No one continues Smuin's desire to combine the popular with ballet better than Trey McIntyre”

Reviewed at Lesher Center for the Arts: Margaret Lesher Theatre, Walnut Creek on 22 September 2018

Schubert Scherzo (Michael Smuin)

The Eternal Idol (Michael Smuin)

Echo (Ben Needham-Wood)

Sinfonietta (Rex Wheeler)

Merely Players (Nicole Haskin)

Smuin Ballet

Thrilling New Work by Women for Oregon Ballet Theater

Carla Escoda, 29th June

Oregon Ballet Theater closed its season with the first instalment of a new program in support of emerging female choreographers. New work by Helen Simoneau and Gioconda Barbuto made a particularly striking impression.

****1

Diablo Ballet's 20th Anniversary

Terez Rose, 6th March

Diablo Ballet celebrates its 20th anniversary with a one-night performance of dance, film, shared memories and surprise performances.

****1

The Royal Ballet and McGregor: stunning dancing but nothing really new

Deborah Weiss, 18th April

An evening of ballets by Wayne McGregor, including the world premiere of Quantum Souls, proved to be a little too much of the same thing.

***11

Natalia Makarova's La Bayadère: a night to remember in Oslo

Vikki Jane Vile, 17th April

Norwegian National Ballet gives a marvellous rendition of Natalia Makarova's La Bayadère. Opening night in Oslo was a strong argument for its place in any season, displaying ballet escapism at its best.

****1

The Center Will Not Hold: Dorrance Dance thrills at Sadler's Wells

Daniel Pratt, 17th April

Dorrance Dance offer a compelling mix of genres in The Center Will Not Hold – high energy, full of surprises, top quality performances.

****1

Scottish Ballet’s Starstruck: plenty of pzazz in Glasgow

Kathy Elgin, 16th April

Christopher Hampson’s newly updated Starstruck is thoroughly entertaining with sexy solos, classical pas de deux and lines of perfectly-timed Broadway hoofing.

****1

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Jaime Robles

Jaime Robles has previously written in the San Francisco Bay Area, including for the San Francisco Classical Voice. Also a poet, she has written song lyrics and librettos for several one-act operas, including Inferno (music by Peter Josheff), staged in 2009 by San Francisco Cabaret Opera, and Vladimir in Butterfly Country (music by Anne Callaway), staged in 2012.