Breaking Down Ballet

Now that Black Swan starring Natalie Portman is on cable, more people than ever are being exposed to the art of the dance of ballet.  Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, presents the same type of character depth and story intensity as his 2008 movie,  The Wrestler, with Mickey Rourke. 

In Black Swan, Portman’s character, Nina Sayers, balances a line between reality and insanity as she strives towards perfectionism in her pursuit of and ultimate portrayal of the White Swan and its counter, the passionate Black Swan from Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." 

Vincent Cassel plays the role of Thomas Leroy, the brilliant, yet hugely egotistic artistic director.  Through the movie, he explains the story of Swan Lake and describes the emotional state of the White Swan and the Black Swan – which Portman’s character internalizes to the point of madness. 

See the movie and you’ll never watch a ballet quite the same way again.

You can download the MP3 tracks from any of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" Acts via this link.  

Below are some live performances that you may not want to miss.

The New York City Ballet is now performing The Nutcracker at the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, followed by Romeo and Juliet later in the season.  And in an encore performance, Paul McCartney’s Ocean’s Kingdom, orchestrated by Andrew Cottee and choreographed by Peter Martins will be back this January.  You can click here to review a program description and order tickets for Ocean's Kingdom.

Ballet Chicago is performing The Nutcracker at the Athenaeum Theatre and Balanchine Masterworks this spring at The Harris Theatre for Music and Dance in Millennium Park.

The San Francisco Ballet is performing John Cranko’s Onegin, Don Quixote, and The Nutcracker this season at The War Memorial Opera House.

At the Academy of Music, the Pennsylvania Ballet is performing Russian Suite and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker featuring the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet is performing Love Stories, The Nutcracker, and Don Quixote at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall this season.

The Miami City Ballet performing at the Adrienne Arsht Center, has an extensive line up this fall with Square Dance, World Premiere Ballet, Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Afternoon of a Faun, In the Night, Liturgy, Ballet Imperial, and In the Upper Room.

Enjoy the season.

Begrudgingly,

BB