Neglia’s “Baba Yaga” is a bewitching ballet

By Steve Sucato News Contributing Reviewer Neglia Ballet Artists opened its 15th anniversary season Saturday afternoon in Shea’s Performing Arts Center with the often-performed Halloween favorite, “Baba Yaga.” The kid-friendly ballet – based on a Russian folktale and adapted for the stage by Neglia Ballet artistic director/choreographer Sergio Neglia – delighted the audience, many who came in Halloween costumes. With an easy-to-follow and spooky story, … Continue reading Neglia’s “Baba Yaga” is a bewitching ballet

Joffrey Ballet’s ‘The Rite of Spring’: Conductor Tito Muñoz talks Stravinsky, Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Steve Sucato Mention the word “riot” and images of political and social upheaval come to mind, not a ballet. But that is by many accounts what happened on May 29, 1913 in Paris when Sergei Diaghilev‘s Ballets Russes premiered Vaslav Nijinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) with music by Igor Stravinsky. The extent of the Paris audience’s displeasure over Nijinsky’s pagan sacrificial … Continue reading Joffrey Ballet’s ‘The Rite of Spring’: Conductor Tito Muñoz talks Stravinsky, Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra