People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s...
Posted: 10/31/14
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All comments by Robert
People Are Talking: UMS presents Tanya Tagaq in concert with Nanook of the North:
I did not understand this “performance” but I could feel it. I did not applaud because I had nothing comparable to refer to from experience. It didn’t seem all throat singing because a vocalist I recognized aerated notes from her head. I enjoyed the instrumentalists. The film was great.
People Are Talking: UMS presents Antigone by Sophokles:
I also was impressed that the lack of a chorus was replaced, if I am correct, by slow motion film clips of the Dutch recovery of their dead in Ukraine, based on the hint in the program notes. Subtle yet powerful.
People Are Talking: UMS presents Antigone by Sophokles:
The star of the show without a doubt was Anne Carson’s translation. Everybody else was good but that was great.
People Are Talking: UMS presents Compagnie Marie Chouinard at Power Center:
I liked both sets. I am not a dance expert but I do see the NY ballet a few times per year. So this was not “beautiful” like ballet but I felt the animal spirits, the “primitive” was in full swing, with humor and subtlety in the first set and connection to the intellect/reason (words) in the second. Like 8th Blackbird, Marie Chouinard is a young group bringing disruptive art to the stage. That’s a good thing.
People Are Talking: UMS presents eighth blackbird at Rackham Auditorium:
8th blackbird, a kind of modern polyphony. Having sung Gesualdo’s songs in college I know what it sounds like alone. There is a bit of Sondheim in them, refusing to resolve. Musicianship highest caliber. Numbered emotions; great. A sort of list of infinitely possible interpersonal emotions. Love to hear them intermix REINCARNATIONS with MOTHERLESS CHILD and I GOT SHOES.
People Are Talking: UMS presents 1927: The Animals and Children Took to the Streets at Performance Network Theatre:
Elegantly done. But the “background” music sometimes drowned out the words. Excellent use of humor for what was essentially an allegory about Ritalin and Adderal (gumdrops, indeed), as well as the underside of of Sao Paulo, for instance. It was good that they repeated key phrases. Could take a cue from Wagner and simplify key elements a bit more. Very talented players. Let’s see more of them!
People Are Talking: UMS presents Propeller at Power Center:
I was never impressed with ‘Shrew’ as a play before, but that all changed with PROPELLER. Bring them back!!
People Are Talking: UMS presents Propeller at Power Center:
Great sets. Great music! Great movement, loved the doors. Loved the masked observers; very effective. Fool was ok, a bit off. Sir Toby and Mariah were great. Malvolio superb. Wonderful unmitigated malice toward him by fool. That alone provided a balance to all the fun and set up the final song, well sung.
People Are Talking: UMS presents The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra: From the Canyons to the Stars:
The music and musical performances were wonderful. I would suggest the film accompaniment was, in essence, 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life in a garbage dump. Sooooooo derivative. Bob Hamel
People Are Talking: Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro de Cuba:
Bring them back!!!! Looked like somebody wized up a little late that a dancer could fall off the stage or fall into an amp. That’s ok, the audience response was spontaneous and joyful. Somebody said that art is a combination of play and joy. That was it last night.