Now it’s Arvo Pärt the ballet

Now it’s Arvo Pärt the ballet

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norman lebrecht

January 12, 2019

A curiously addictive video of Fratres from the Israeli violinist Hagar Maoz and dancer Tamar Bardosh.

You see it here first.

 

Comments

  • K O'Reilly says:

    Christopher Wheeldon has been choreographing Pärt brilliantly for at least 15 years: Fratres, Spiegel im Spiegel, Tabula Rasa … way more special than this.

    • Susie Q. says:

      Yes, Fratres for Liturgy, from 2003 (a pas de deux), and Tabula Rasa and Spiegel im Spiegel for After the Rain in 2005, both brilliant pieces in NYCB’s rep. The After the Rain pas de deux (the second part of After the Rain) is usually performed as a stand-alone piece and is performed by several other companies as well. It is very popular.

  • Robert von Bahr says:

    Yes, all playback, of course, and possibly heavily edited, but, gosh, that’s some playing! So good, in fact that, in spite of real artistry, the dance for me was slightly disturbing. And not any single picture notion that a pianist was involved…

  • RW2013 says:

    Robert Wilson also used Pärt’s music to great effect in his “Adam’s Passion”.

  • Angela says:

    Hans van Manen used “Fratres” in 1995 for his piece “Déjà vu”, John Neumeier already made a ballet called “Fratres” in 1986. Ohad Naharin used the music, many other choreographers did.

  • sorin says:

    sorry but arvo part is a total bore

  • Sharon says:

    Actually, it looks like it was choreographed kind of amateurishly by the dancer herself.

    I am so used to seeing the unnatural stick arm and leg ballerinas in their unnatural point work in the New York City Ballet that when I see a healthy weight dancer doing healthy movement I compare it negatively; I do not see it as beautiful or as skilled –and that’s just a shame.

    Rationally, I should be against ballet because it is unhealthy for the body, (I consider the video to be modern dance although the dancer was wearing ballet slippers) especially with the weight requirements of the major professional ballets. I also believe that abstract ballet, as opposed to ballet that tells a story, objectifies people by just turning them into moving designs.

    Maria Tallchief, Ballanchine’s wife when he was setting up the NYC Ballet, said that they used to visit art museums so that Ballanchine could get ideas for his choreography–he wanted nothing more than to turn dancers into moving objects for his neo classical pieces. She said that she was expected to work very hard with him setting up the ballet and also dancing neo classical pieces and part of what broke up the marriage was that she realized that she did not share his vision that this is what ballet should be.

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