PREVIEWS & REVIEWS
Performances at Caldera / June 18, 2010
"Time to dance: Portland's Oregon Ballet Theatre brings performances to Caldera Arts Center Professional-level ballet is rare in Central Oregon.
So this week, lovers of dance can rejoice. Portland’s Oregon
Ballet Theatre has come to Caldera Arts Center for a residency,
capped by a trio of performances this weekend. " - Read The Bend Bulletin Preview
DUETS / April 22 - May 2, 2010
"Dance review: Artistry and versatility shine in OBT's 'Duets'
Oregon Ballet Theatre's spring concerts at the Newmark Theatre are always worth seeing, this year more than ever. You actually can see the details of performance in ways that are impossible in the Keller silo. And it's the last chance to see Gavin Larsen, a master of nuanced dancing, perform." - Read The Oregonian Review
"There are two solid additions and one sorry subtraction in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s spring program, Duets. First the good news: OBT has beefed up its rep with two musically and choreographically engaging contemporary pieces…. Now, the bad news: principal dancer Gavin Larsen is retiring after this season, which seems especially unfair after watching her in the 1972 Balanchine-Stravinsky joint Duo Concertant. - Read the Willamette Week Review
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM / February 27 - March 6, 2010
“[I]t was danced with grace, wit and fervor. Alison Roper and Ronnie Underwood as the fairy queen and king, Titania and Oberon, were truly regal, especially in the culminating scene when Oberon needs to win back Titania's love and respect. Javier Ubell, in a role he seems to have been destined to dance, was a giddy-eyed bouncing ball as the mischief-maker Puck. Ansa Deguchi was a sprightly accomplice to Puck as the fairy Peaseblossom, and veteran Kevin Poe brought a sinuous low comedy to his performance of donkey-eared Bottom without turning him into a complete buffoon.” - Read The Oregonian Review
GEORGE BALANCHINE'S THE NUTCRACKER / December 12 - 27, 2009
"...it was a profound pleasure to see how well the company has mastered the musically timed mime throughout, the unity and charm of such set pieces as the Dance of the Snowflakes and the Waltz of the Flowers, and the way individuals have grown into various roles." - Read The Oregonian Review
EMERALD RETROSPECTIVE / October 10 - 17, 2009
"The program shows where OBT has been, with works by the late Spaight, and
where it may go, with a well-drilled ensemble piece by OBT students, plus an
excerpt from Stowell’s visually pleasing A Midsummer Night’s Dream…Stowell’s
ability to choose and create solid work bodes well for the future." - Read the Willamette Week Review
"In Oregon Ballet Theatre's 20th anniversary season opener, the dancers, performing a program headed by George Balanchine's elegant, eloquent Emeralds -- followed by excerpts from, count them, nine other ballets -- delivered the technical skill, stylistic versatility and eclectic musicality the evening demanded, and then some." - Read The Oregonian Review
"Premiered in 1967 and seeming older than that (this is definitely a pre-Beatles universe onstage) Balanchine's ballet is a visual stunner: Karinska's glittering emerald costumes; the spare vivid set with its falling sweep of white drapery and its lone elegant chandelier high above the stage; the astonishing lighting (originally by Ronald Bates, executed here by OBT's masterful designer Michael Mazzola) that reminds me somehow of C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, with its conceit that there are old worlds and new worlds, and that in the new ones everything is brighter, more vivid, more cleanly outlined, and the air seems alive." - Read the Art Scatter Review
"Portland is a city that's going places. New streetcar lines downtown, restoration and use of historic trolleys, a new tram that connects the Willamette waterfront to the Oregon Health & Science University and a ballet company that is celebrating a well-deserved milestone anniversary." - Read the Critical Dance Review
CHICAGO DANCING FESTIVAL / August 18 - 22, 2009
"Trey McIntyre's 'Just,' is an amusing mix of the ballet and contemporary vocabularies, providing often startling partnering moments for its two couples from Oregon Ballet Theatre." - The Chicago Tribune
“The two technically deft couples from Oregon Ballet Theatre (Anne Mueller, Alison Roper, Artur Sultanov and Lucas Threefoot) danced the tricky series of duets in choreographer Trey McIntyre's "Just" with polish.” – Chicago Sun Times
RUSH + ROBBINS / June 5 - 7, 2009
Arts Scatter Blog Review - Further Thoughts by Martha Ullman West
"When I wrote on Monday in The Oregonian that the way Oregon Ballet Theatre’s dancers performed The Concert last weekend clearly and painfully demonstrate how much we have to lose if the company folds, I didn’t mean the same assessment couldn’t be applied to the rest of what was a very difficult program. OBT’s season-finale program was designed to accomplish several goals, one of which was to challenge the dancers. And there is no getting around the fact that the work those dancers had performed most often — Rush, Afternoon of a Faun and The Concert — was polished to the accomplished shine you see only in major companies..." - Read Martha Ullman West's Review
The Oregonian Review
"Loud guffaws and rippling giggles marked the closing performances of Oregon Ballet Theatre's 2009 season at the Keller Auditorium last weekend as the dancers capered their way through "The Concert," Jerome Robbins' brilliantly loving send up of high art and audience behavior, the perfect closing ballet for the company's best put together and performed show since Christopher Stowell assumed the directorship in 2003. - Read Martha Ullman West's Review
Willamette Week Review
"What Portland has now—and what it could lose—became painfully clear last Friday night at the Keller during Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Rush + Robbins program." - Read Heather Wisner's Review
Critical Dance Blog Review
"Oregon Ballet Theatre strongly concluded its 2008 - 2009 season with one of its best programs ever: 'Rush + Robbins.'" - Read Dean Speer's Blog Review
The Oregonian Preview
"With Oregon Ballet Theatre's dire financial straits in the headlines and an outpouring of accompanying support, the final program of the company's 19th season holds particular resonance for ballet fans. It's also a reminder of why OBT is worth saving." - Read Catherine Thomas' Preview
Willamette Week Preview
"It’s a muggy Tuesday evening, and Anne Mueller is gripping Ronnie Underwood’s head between her calves; he writhes in agony as she stabs his ribcage with her pointe shoe and scowls fiercely at his prone form. “Attackers ready!” calls Bart Cook, as three women stride forward, bare their teeth in a silent scream and knife their fingers through the air." - Read Heather Wisner's Preview
THE SCHOOL OF OREGON BALLET THEATRE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE /
May 2 & 3, 2009
Art Scatter Blog
"Students from the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre had their annual showcase at the Newmark Theatre May 2 and 3 in a lengthy program consisting of works by Balanchine, Ashton, Lew Christensen, Robbins, Bruce Wells, Josie Moseley and OBT principal Ronnie Underwood, works that reflect the background and training not only of OBT artistic director Christopher Stowell, but also of school director Damara Bennett and the rest of the faculty." - Read Martha Ullman West's Review
LEFT UNSAID / April 17 - 26, 2009
The Oregonian
"Kudelka's new dance is elegantly designed, stripped to its lush essentials... [The music] is restrained and rigorous, and the more beautiful for it... Christine Darch's diaphanous costumes, which alight on the dancers' bodies like dew, underscore the dreamlike quality of the whole thing."
- Read The Oregonian Review
Portland Mercury
"Oregon Ballet Theatre’s spring program, which opened last Friday at the Newmark Theatre, reminded me why they’re one of the region’s most worthy arts organizations. The programming was risky and inventive, the performances were fully committed, and the quality of artistry never fell below a certain high standard of excellence."
Willamette Week
"What emerges in [Left Unsaid] is the precision and passion of all six dancers... It's truly a joy to watch. That passion also shines in Vertiginous...and in Tarantella."
LAMBARENA / February 21 - 28, 2009
Willamette Week
“Oregon Ballet Theatre has hit the jackpot... With three wildly different examples of what contemporary ballet can look like, this program is sharp, entertaining and well worth the ticket price." - Read the Willamette Week Review
The Oregonian
"On Saturday's opening night at Keller Auditorium, Anne Mueller's fearless central performance was an exquisite interpretation of shape-shifting duality, serpentine and robotic at once, the intensity of her presence injecting every angle of elbow and stab of leg with an almost feral distress. A must-see." - Read The Oregonian Review
THE NUTCRACKER / December 12 - 24, 2008
The Oregonian
“Behold the beauty of 'The Nutcracker's' snow scene, a result of craft, technique and talent..." - Read the Preview
The Oregonian
Ballet Review: "Choreography, dancing reason to see 'Nutcracker'" - Read the full review by Catherine Thomas
ArtScatter Blog
"Martha Ullman West on the Ghost of Nutcrackers Past" - Read the full blog by Martha Ullman West
SWAN LAKE / October 11 - 18, 2008 / SEE PHOTOS
The Oregonian
“...a packed house whooped and clapped and finally leapt to its feet to celebrate the burnished brilliance of this lively antique." - Read the Review
Just Out
"Free as a Bird:
Swan Lake dancers are no featherweights" - Read Feature Article by by Rebecca Ragain
"Oregon Ballet Theatre has flashed onto the national ballet scene in the last few months, with breakthrough appearances at the Kennedy Center (in June) and New York City Center (late September), where they picked up strong notices from even the most cantankerous of serious ballet critics." - Read Stephen Marc Beaudoin's Blog
"A standing ovation greeted the final curtain at last night’s opening of Swan Lake by Oregon Ballet Theater. And a well deserved ovation it was." - Read Floyd Sklaver's Review
Critical Dance
"I’ve previously reported how Margot Fonteyn used to rate the difficulty of the roles she tackled by the level of fear-factor she experienced. 'Swan Lake' '...was sheer terror. Everything about it is enormous.' We don’t know if Yuka Iino experienced sheer terror in dancing Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night 'Swan Lake' as Odette/Odile but if she did, it certainly did not show." - Read Dean Spear's Blog
FALL FOR DANCE at New York City Center / September 20 & 21, 2008
The New York Times
“...the [RUSH] pas de deux, performed by Alison Roper and Artur Sultanov of Oregon Ballet Theater, was a snapshot of Mr. Wheeldon at his most ardent and enigmatic.” - Read The New York Times Review
Dance Magazine
“...the clean crisp lines of a duet from Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush, beautifully danced by Alison Roper and Artur Sultanov of Oregon Ballet Theatre, made a great contrast with the onrush of Hofesh Shechter’s Uprising.” - Read Wendy Perron's Editor's Blog
The New York Observer
"Let’s salute also... the striking duet from Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush, performed superbly by the Oregon Ballet Theatre." - Read The New York Observer Review
Explore Dance
"Dancers Alison Roper and Artur Sultanov were exceptionally fluid in their partnering and turns, a mere tease at what New York audiences might be missing with OBT being on the opposite coast.” - Read the Explore Dance Review
Danceview Times
“The dancers were impeccably clear and strong, and captured the underlying unease of the Martinu music.” - Read the Danceview Times Review
KENNEDY CENTER DEBUT / June 2008 / SEE PHOTOS
The Washington Post
"Oregon Ballet Theatre is the smallest, least wealthy and youngest of the companies in "Ballet Across America," established less than 20 years ago. It set itself a hefty challenge in dancing Wheeldon's 'RUSH,' an energetic, highly technical work created in 2003 for the San Francisco Ballet and, until OBT acquired it, danced by no other troupe. But the result was a revelation: Here is a group of talented and winsome dancers to watch." "...[Oregon Ballet Theatre] put an exhilarating stamp on a fascinating
week."- Read the Washington Post Review
"[Oregon Ballet Theatre's] dancers seized the stage with appetite and attention-getting strength." - The Washington Post
The Washington Times
"The program concluded with a bright, fresh gem...Oregon Ballet Theatre
dancing Christopher Wheeldon's RUSH..."
- Read The Washington Times Review
The New York Times
"...Mr. Wheeldon's 'Rush'...now emerges as one of the most vividly
satisfying constructions by him or any other ballet choreographer in this
decade."- Read The New York Times Review
The Portland Tribune
"For all its successes in five years under artistic director Christopher Stowell, Oregon Ballet Theatre may be enjoying its finest hour this weekend
in Washington, D.C." - Read The Portland Tribune Review
The Oregonian
"To say that [OBT] held their own against Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet West, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Washington Ballet would understate the case." - Read The Oregonian Review
The Wall Street Journal
"Oregon Ballet Theatre looked youthful and individual in Christopher Wheeldon's 'RUSH'..." - Read The Wall Street Journal Review
Just Out
"17 dancers, eight staffers and a phalanx of supporters from Portland's Oregon Ballet Theatre, all [arrived] in Washington, D.C., with sweaty palms and one heady ambition - to blow the roof off Kennedy Center in the company's debut performance there. And by all critical and audience accounts, it happened." - Read the Just Out Review
LAGUNA DANCE FESTIVAL / October 2007
Top Dance Performances of 2007...Laguna Dance Festival, especially Oregon Ballet Theatre” - Orange County Register
