{"title":"Karriem Riggins","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"neumeier-nijinsky-hamburg-state-opera-orchestra-233296","title":"Neumeier: Nijinsky \/ Hamburg State Opera Orchestra","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=2268521\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Nijinsky“ is the title of this “choreographic approach“ to a dance phenomenon that has been part of Neumeier‘s life ever since the beginning of his career. During his approximately ten years as a dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) set a new standard both technically and expressively, while in his choreographic work he pointed the way towards modern dance. All three aspects - the dancer, the choreographer and the person Nijinsky - form the starting point for John Neumeier‘s latest creation. Neumeier, who as early as 1979 presented a short ballet, “Vaslav“, is regarded as one of the leading Nijinsky experts worldwide. Nevertheless, it was not without reluctance that he took up the task of honoring through dance a dance legend: “In creating a work about a historical person, what aspect should we concentrate on? Who was he truly: The man? The artist? Which witness, what information can we trust, which theories should one follow? What point of view can we take towards the complex puzzle Nijinsky? An instinctive choice must be made...“ Also included is an interesting interview with John Neumeier about Nijinksy.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013118021866,"sku":"814337014438","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3781531.jpg?v=1778385993"},{"product_id":"the-little-mermaid-san-francisco-ballet-auerbach-232972","title":"The Little Mermaid - San Francisco Ballet \/ Auerbach, Neumeier","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=652022\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Subtitles: German, French\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 2\u003cbr\u003e  Run time: 134 minutes\u003cbr\u003e  Disc Format: DVD\u003cbr\u003e  Picture: NTSC, 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Bonus Material: The little Mermaid- behind the scenes\u003cbr\u003e  Region Code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  R E V I E W:\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ctitle\u003e3550200.az_AUERBACH_Little_Mermaid_Martin.html\u003c\/title\u003e  \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003e AUERBACH \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eThe Little Mermaid \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Martin West, cond; John Neumeier (choreography); Yuan Yuan Tan (\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eLittle Mermaid\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Lloyd Riggins (\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePoet\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Tiit Helimets (\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePrince\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Sarah van Patten\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003e (Princess\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Davit Karapetyan (\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eSea Witch\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); San Francisco Ballet; San Francisco Ballet O \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e C MAJOR 708608 (2 DVDs: 119:00 + 35:00); 708704 (Blu-ray: 119:00 + 35:00) Live: San Francisco 4\/30–5\/7\/2011 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan\u003eBleak, brutal, and heartbreaking, John Neumeier’s dance adaptation of \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Little Mermaid\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e is likely to traumatize those children it does not baffle; this is a thoroughly adult account—inspired by certain aspects of Hans Christian Andersen’s life as well as his source story—of sexual repression, longing, and denial, and the literally disabling nature of unrequited love. The Mermaid, after saving a dashing Prince from drowning, falls in love with him and wants to pursue him onto land. But to do so, she must be stripped of her tailfin, which Neumeier presents as an agonizing flaying; the Mermaid’s new legs and feet, awkward and weak, are so useless that she spends most of her time on land despondent in a wheelchair. The Prince, meanwhile, regards the Mermaid lightly as a funny, gangly, odd little kid sister; his romantic attention turns elsewhere. All the while, in Neumeier’s account, the story is being written as we watch by an emotionally wrung-out Poet, a stand-in for Andersen, who himself seems to have been gut-wrenched by an adored male friend who went off and married a woman. No, actually the Poet doesn’t write the story as we go; it seems to unfold almost against his will, and ultimately to his horror. The Poet shadows the Mermaid through much of the ballet, and the story ends not at all happily, but with a duet that suggests the possibility of future transfiguration after long suffering. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan\u003eNeumeier, as usual, employs only some elements of traditional ballet vocabulary, melding them into movement patterns drawn from modern dance, and paying special attention to gesture and facial expression; this story is acted as much as it is danced. Yuan Yuan Tan portrays the Mermaid as a happy, graceful creature in her natural element who becomes gangly, awkward, even a bit physically ugly when she thrusts herself into a realm in which she doesn’t belong. Together with choreographer Neumeier, in the “Mermaid’s Room” scene she creates a particularly realistic and distressing depiction through movement of claustrophobia and depression. Lloyd Riggins, as the Poet, has a role that is nearly as challenging, and turns in the most poignant performance here. Tiit Helimets is a virile, athletic Prince, and manages to make his character seem obtuse but not unlikeable. Davit Karapetyan is a menacing, very physical presence as the Sea Witch, who strips the Mermaid of her tail, while Sarah van Patten is more ethereal in her more limited role as the Princess. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan\u003eNeumeier designed every element of this production except the music; that task fell to Lera Auerbach, whose chamber scores, at least, often call to mind Shostakovich and the more accessible side of Schnittke. Here, wresting much color from a full orchestra (including a subtly employed theremin, associated with the Mermaid), Auerbach knits together some memorable motifs and sequences that sometimes evoke other composers without ever seeming derivative (but what about that bit in the Sailors’ Dance that sounds like an allusion to Rota’s \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa Strada\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e—accidental, or sly and intentional?). Perhaps the best stylistic comparison would be to John Corigliano’s \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRed Violin\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e Passacaglia, although an actual passacaglia Auerbach provides for an intricate \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epas de quatre\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e is more reminiscent of early Panufnik. In other words, it’s a dark work, but something easy enough for an audience to embrace. The excellent playing of the orchestra under Martin West puts the lie to the notion that pit orchestras are the worst orchestras. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan\u003eThe Blu-ray edition provides clarity through the underwater murk without sacrificing atmosphere, and the DTS-HD audio track gives the orchestra realistic depth and timbral precision. The 35 minutes of interviews are actually quite worthwhile in terms of expressing the dancers’ approaches to characterization, not the usual tedium of each artist praising all the others as geniuses who are wonderful to work with. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan\u003eNeumeier’s \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLittle Mermaid\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e is not for people who prefer the pretty, psychologically shallow old story ballets. Put the kids to bed, watch this, and weep. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: James Reel \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46013185851626,"sku":"814337010874","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46020720230634,"sku":"814337010867","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/860707.jpg?v=1778184349"}],"url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/karriem-riggins.oembed","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}