Dance, performance art : moscow's glitzy 'fantasm'
Dance, performance art : moscow's glitzy 'fantasm'"
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
Pity the poor Moscow Dance Theatre. Brought to the United States reportedly for a one-year tour, the group of 18 female gymnasts-dancers and their director was abandoned two months ago by
their promoter after only seven performances in Torrance. Left stranded, without money, without work, without much knowledge of English, the group was saved from disaster by the help of the
local Russian and Armenian communities, which pitched in to supply food, housing, help the company rehearse and mount a new production. One would like to say the story ends in triumph.
Unfortunately, “Fantasm,” the new production, danced for the first time Saturday at the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre, is a vulgar exercise in glitz and witlessness. The piece vaguely concerns the
battle between heavenly and sensual impulses in the soul of the dissolute Russian mystic, Rasputin, who sometimes is credited for bringing down the Romanov dynasty single-handedly. In this
case, it was easy to tell heaven from hell. The heavenly figures wore white. The work was written by company co-directors, Ilya Reznik, who took the role of Rasputin, and Olga Morozowa, head
coach of the former Soviet Gymnastics Olympic Team (1986-1990), who also choreographed it. Morozowa devised three basic movement motifs for the 70-minute (not 90-) work. The most startling
was a woman lifting one leg sideways straight up to the ear. This signaled either an ecstatic emotional moment or a catch-all position whenever the choreographer had nothing else to offer,
which was a frequent occurrence. A second motif was a kind of football goal-post position, in which a dancer lay on her back to spread her legs in that shape. An astute observer realized
instantly that this was an inversion of the spread-leg, deep squat seen earlier--and often--in the piece. A third movement motif was the V-shaped, legs-in-the-air finish, with dancers again
down on their backs. Of course, this is to consider all the fanny-waving, butt-stroking and flashing jumps in the air to be mere secondary diversions. If all this implies that generally, the
lithe and attractive dancers (ages 18 to 21), usually dressed in skin-tight costumes, had little else to do but lunge, stomp, crouch and bounce, that’s right. Well, sometimes they stalked
about as monks. Sometimes they went through simulated sex routines. Sometimes they turned one-handed somersaults. Perhaps a Russian speaker could find deeper meanings behind this in Reznik’s
soliloquies, only some of which were translated. Or in the lyrics of the taped songs, mostly cabaret or rock music that was credited to eight different composers. But it wasn’t likely.
“Fantasm” will be repeated Aug. 7-15 at the Orpheum Theatre downtown and Aug. 21 and 22 at the East Theatre in San Diego. MORE TO READ
Trending News
Emphysema cough: signs and treatmentEmphysema causes a chronic, hacking cough that’s often accompanied by shortness of breath and a tightness in the chest. ...
Access denied | City of Paris Museum of Modern ArtError 404Page not found...Sorry, the page requested doesn't seem to exist on the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris' websiteDi...
The ras oncogene signals centrosome amplification in mammary epithelial cells through cyclin d1/cdk4 and nek2ABSTRACT Centrosome amplification (CA) contributes to carcinogenesis by generating aneuploidy. Elevated frequencies of C...
Phil mcgraw partners with trinity broadcasting to launch cable network anchored by ‘dr. Phil primetime’Phil McGraw Partners With Trinity Broadcasting To Launch Cable Network You will be redirected back to your article in se...
Detroit pbs documentaries | a writer worth readingDetroit PBS Documentaries Clip | 7m 1sVideo has Closed Captions | CC This segment explores U of M's encouragement o...
Latests News
Dance, performance art : moscow's glitzy 'fantasm'Pity the poor Moscow Dance Theatre. Brought to the United States reportedly for a one-year tour, the group of 18 female ...
Hoylake told to disclose takeover terms: arizona's...Hoylake Told to Disclose Takeover Terms: Arizona’s director of insurance ordered Sir James Goldsmith’s investment group ...
The page you were looking for doesn't exist.You may have mistyped the address or the page may have moved.By proceeding, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and our ...
Asking credit card companies to lower rates and fees works 80% of the timeIt doesn't hurt to ask, especially if it's your credit card company. Requests can save you hundreds of dollars...
Meet man, son of street vendor, who scored 99. 5 percentile in jee mains, gave up iit delhi seat due to...Sujal's family is from Aligarh and his father Balwant Singh sells towels near a mall in Noida. Getting into the Ind...