All World Dance: News for Lovers of Dance

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! Tours UK & Ireland

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! on DVD [Source: Amazon]

"Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!" is currently holding court at Sadler's Wells in London through January 22nd with a whole series of dates to follow in the UK and Ireland deep into 2012.

The "irreverent" production premiered in 1992, on the hundredth anniversary of the first performance of "The Nutcracker", and is now in the midst of its own 20th Anniversary tour!

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! Promo Montage [Source: New Adventures]

Bourne's Nutcracker opens with a Christmas party staged in a "bittersweet" location in order to make later sweets that much more desirable. As Matthew Bourne describes it:

"We came up [with] the notion of an awful Dickensian orphanage, enjoying the annual Christmas Eve visit of the Institute’s Governors. Dr Dross and his wife, who run the orphanage, contrive to create a pleasant Christmas atmosphere for the benefit of the visitors, only to snatch the Governors gifts back from the children as soon as they leave and before Christmas day has even begun."

"Clara is, of course, one of the Orphans and the Nutcracker boy is a fellow orphan on whom she has a young girls crush. Fritz and Sugar are the Dross’ awful spoilt children who terrorise the other children. So the basis for the whole story developed out of this grim and fearful place. I should say, though, that as well as having this bittersweet quality it is also very funny, and when the Orphans eventually revolt and escape from the clutches of Dr Dross you want to cheer them on."

Official Site: Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!

Available at Amazon: Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! on DVD

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Dutch National Ballet Presents The Nutcracker & the Mouse King in Cinemas

The Nutcracker & the Mouse King in Cinemas [Source: Het Nationale Ballet]

Het Nationale Ballet aka the Dutch National Ballet is presenting The Nutcracker & the Mouse King in theaters worldwide on December 30.

The film will be shown in Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Spain, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

You can find out more on The Nutcracker & the Mouse King in theaters at Het Nationale Ballet's site. If you don't speak Dutch but do speak English, here's a translated version.

Via TenduTV.

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Girl Walk // All Day: 71 Minute Dance/Music Video to Girl Talk's All Day

Girl Walk // All Day Trailer [Source: Girl Walk // All Day]

I wrote about a 71 minute dance-music video over at Hypebot called Girl Walk // All Day. It's a dancing in public space tale featuring the All Day album by Girl Talk and premieres December 8th in Brooklyn, NY. However, it's also going to be released online in segments.

Director Jacob Krupnick posted an 8 minute video of initial footage shot on the Staten Island Ferry featuring dancer Anne Marsen whose improvisational combination of dance styles is considered a good match for Girl Talk's mashups of other people's music.

This video was used in a Kickstarter campaign that raised around 5 times as much as requested resulting in $24,817 in funding to develop the full video. I think this is a very cool project that will be getting a lot more attention in the days ahead.

Official Site: Girl Walk // All Day

New York City Ballet Presents George Balanchine's The Nutcracker in Movie Theaters Worldwide

 

New York City Ballet Presents George Balanchine's The Nutcracker in Movie Theatres [Source: Omniverse Vision]

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker was not the first staging of this Russian classic in the U.S. but the New York City Ballet's production, that premiered in 1954, went on to become not only a local favorite but the inspiration for The Nutcracker craze that eventually swept the nation. I'm not clear on how The Nutcracker made its way around the world, but Balanchine can certainly be credited for its popularity in the States.

On December 13th, a performance of The Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet will be streamed live in movie theaters across the U.S. for a single night nationwide.

In late December and early January, NYCB's The Nutcracker will be shown in theaters worldwide including the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Iceland. I cannot tell if this is a live or recorded version but if it was live I assume they would be letting people know since that makes it an even more special event.

If you know of other countries in which George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is being shown in theaters, please let me know at: clyde(at)allworlddance(dot)com.

I'm really happy to see such live events being streamed in movie theaters. When I was young (said grandpa!) growing up in the States, movie theaters were a special place to see great films and they've had some ups and downs with the growth of competitors from video and DVDs to cable tv and, now, online streaming of movies. It's nice to know that advances in technology are also working to their advantage in settings where movie theaters are not as competitive as they used to be.

Available at Amazon: George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

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The Nutcracker - All Posts at All World Dance

Floor Kids: B-Boy O-Live vs B-Boy Nugs [by Jonathan Ng & Kid Koala]

Floor Kids: B-Boy O-Live vs. B-Boy Nugs [Source: kidkoalaproductions]

This animated bboy battle came out at least as far back as 2006. I was checking out a studio video from some of the kids associated with World of Dance and remembered this animated series. It featues music by Kid Koala and The Slew with animation by Jonathan Ng.

There are actually two shorter animations featuring each of the characters solo. You can check for that at Ill Moves, my old hip hop dance blog.

Available at Amazon: Kid Koala

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The Hard Nut: A Mark Morris Nutcracker

The Hard Nut on DVD [Source: Amazon]

Mark Morris' surprising take on The Nutcracker, The Hard Nut, was his final production as Director of Dance at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. It has since been performed in six cities including London, Brooklyn and Berkeley.

The Hard Nut was filmed for PBS' Great Performances: Dance in America series. Released on DVD, the production is available via Amazon and from the Mark Morris Dance Group website. The DVD includes scenes cut from the televised version and uses the complete score by Tchaikovsky.

The Hard Nut: A Look Back [Source: APWorldNY]

The Hard Nut was filmed during a live performance in Brussels at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie and directed by Matthew Diamond:

"Revealing the depth of Morris's unsurpassed talents in a seemingly endless display of creativity and masterful dancing, The Hard Nut will leave you laughing breathlessly one moment (with hilarious snowflakes and waltzing flowers) and with a lump in your throat the next (a deeply moving pas de deux)."

"Performed by the Mark Morris Dance Group...this innovative, iconoclastic adaptation of the Christmas favorite features dancers in nontraditional costumes. Flapper dresses, go-go boots, leather, and hip huggers are some of the styles worn by the performers on the minimalist set. Gone are the toy soldiers, and in their place are Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe lookalikes."

Trailer for The Hard Nut at 2010 Next Wave Festival [Source: BAM]

An extremely popular production and certainly one of my favorites, The Hard Nut won the Battle of the Nutcrackers three years in a row. Peep the humorous trailer for the third season in which The Hard Nut won Ovation TV's competition.

Official Site: Mark Morris Dance Group - The Hard Nut

Available at Amazon: The Hard Nut on DVD

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White Out: A Dance Film Directed by Dominique Palombo, Choreography by Jordana Toback

White Out [Source: DANCELEN(D)S]

Another interesting short dance film from DANCELEN(D)S. It feels a bit like a study for something larger but definitely worth a look.

Director - Dominique Palombo

Choreographer - Jordana Toback

Featuring - Tsubasa Ogawa, Dorian Cervantes, Courtney Baron

Produced by DANCELEN(D)S, Inc.

Producers - Jennifer Madison, Jordana Che Toback

Assistant Camera - Ezra Peace

Music: Sleigh Bells - Riot Rhythm

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Dirty Dancing Game Launches on Facebook

Dirty Dancing Game on Facebook [Source: Lionsgate]

The combined force of Lionsgate and Social Game Universe recently launched a Facebook game app based on the classic flick Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. The game includes music from the original soundtrack.

Though the Dirty Dancing game partly involves maintaining Kellerman's Resort, including dropping Cupid grenades to stimulate "Romance Waves" (lol), there is also a dance element:

"The main attraction at Kellerman's is the dance shows. Featuring a set of players' Facebook friends alongside characters from the movie, each show must be properly rehearsed before it is ready to be performed."

"The more dance shows a player hosts, the more romance waves they generate, all of which contributes to returning Kellerman's to its former glory. If they really want to put on a show for the ages, players must discover secret dance style combinations that give them bonuses."

This announcement follows the news that Dirty Dancing will be remade for a 2013 release to be directed by Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of the original movie.

On a related note, I just missed letting folks know about the 2nd Annual Dirty Dancing Festival at Lake Lure, North Carolina where much of the original movie was filmed. It took place September 16 through 18 but there's always next year!

Official Site: Dirty Dancing on Facebook

An Atypical Day in the Life of American Ballet Theatre Ballerina Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland: A Day In The Life [Source: Hulu]

American Ballet Theatre ballerina Misty Copeland is featured in an episode of Morgan Spurlock's documentary series A Day In The Life.

However, as Chris Atkinson notes, this episode is not a typical day in the life of a world class ballerina. It actually features some of her public relations work on behalf of African-Americans in ballet. That's cool but it's a bit out of the ordinary even for Misty Copeland who's made it to the top via lots of hours in the studio and on-stage.

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Street Dance Documentors YAK FILMS Need Your Vote to Win American Airlines Sponsorship

Flights. Camera. Action. Contestants YAK FILMS [Source: YAK FILMS]

Now that YAK FILMS has gone global, they can use all the free flights they can get. Help them make that happen by voting in American Airlines' Flights. Camera. Action. contest to provide up to 50 round-trip tickets and media exposure for a deserving small business.

Turf Feinz - RIP RichD [Source: ]

The above video brought YAK FILMS to the attention of a whole lot of people including me so I thought I'd add it to this post.

It's directed by Yoram Savion with dancers No Noize (red jacket), Man (back jacket), BJ (striped shirt), Dreal (white shirt).

Official Site: YAK FILMS

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