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    The Review Is In

    A well-deserved standing O: Houston Ballet's Rite of Spring is a fresh, unforgettable spectacle

    Theodore Bale
    Mar 8, 2013 | 2:17 pm

    You might be thinking that the most re-made ballet in dance history is The Nutcracker. At my last count, however, I had evidence that The Rite of Spring is coming in a close second.

    Since the premiere 100 years ago by Vaslav Nijinsky, Igor Stravinsky, Nicholas Roerich and Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet has been interpreted by more than 200 different established choreographers.

    These versions could be loosely grouped into a few major categories. There are the “tribal” versions, the ones centering on gender (only men or only women, or men and women in opposition), the solos (a significant number), the new narratives (some of them delightfully outlandish), and what I’ll call the post-modern “fragments” (many of them my favorites). I consider Paul Taylor’s and Pina Bausch’s interpretations masterpieces; both have given rise to entire threads of re-interpretation.

    Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch has done a remarkable job, as evidenced at the premiere.

    With this in mind, it is courageous then even to consider making a new Rite, especially in celebration of the ballet’s centennial. The odd thing is that most big ballet companies don’t have a decent version in their repertory, even though audiences are always eager to see a choreographer take it on.

    Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch has done a remarkable job, as evidenced at the premiere last night at The Wortham Center. His Rite isn’t iconoclastic, which is strangely refreshing.

    It doesn’t make you want to start a riot. Rather, it brings an exceedingly fresh eye to Stravinsky’s dense and polyrhythmic score, and engages the entire company in an unforgettable spectacle. It is likely his finest work of the past few years.

    The choreography does not look particularly balletic, at least in a classical sense, and it appears that Welch was striving for something more archetypal and primitive. He has succeeded. Often, the dancing looks more like what average people do when they gather in groups. There is lots of pounding the earth and jumping towards the sky, and it works.

    Welch has studied the score phrase by phrase, and some viewers might find his final decisions too musically literal. I see the overall result more as an exercise in mass and volume, which demands synchronicity rather than counterpoint. Partnering is kept to a minimum. The only moments where Welch floundered were the trembling hands put to a series of lengthy trills from the woodwind section. Those need to go, and soon.

    Ermanno Florio lead the Houston Ballet Orchestra in an expert and inspired realization of Stravinsky’s rousing score.

    Rosella Namok’s set designs bring sophistication and color. Welch designed his own costumes, which are too busy against Namok’s backdrops, though his color scheme and the extensive body makeup works well. Welch should probably have left the costumes to an experienced designer. Sometimes the whole thing looked a little too Aztec to me, like the cover of an Yma Sumac record from the 1950s.

    The dreadlock wigs are possibly an expensive and unnecessary extravagance. In its present state, the ballet is a little overdressed.

    It doesn’t make you want to start a riot. Rather, it brings an exceedingly fresh eye to Stravinsky’s dense and polyrhythmic score.

    Welch’s Rite should travel well, meaning that it is a version other ballet companies with at least 50 dancers will want to perform. The audience hesitated a bit at the curtain last night, possibly because the ending is so surprising and abrupt, but then rose to a well-deserved and enthusiastic standing ovation.

    The Houston Ballet premiere of Mark Morris’ 1995 Pacific, set to Lou Harrison’s murky and modal Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano, opened the program on an elegant note. It must be said that many of the greatest ballets by an American choreographer of the past 20 years have come from Morris. Pacific is danced in Martin Pakledinaz’s flowing skirts (for both men and women) and alternates inspired unison phrases with inventive ensembles and duets. It’s a perfect addition to Houston Ballet’s growing collection of Morris ballets.

    The world premiere of Edwaard Liang’s Murmuration to Ezio Bosso’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Esoconcerto was a little lost in between these two works, though it has some enchanting moments. Apparently it is inspired by the patterns of birds flocking (in particular, Starlings). The choreographer, however, seems to have had a problem distinguishing foreground from background.

    Without strong central images, this makes for a kind of visual exhaustion by the conclusions. Or was it the dark costumes against the dark curtain?

    From the Houston Ballet's production of The Rite of Spring, artists Nozomi Iijima and Joseph Walsh and artists of the ballet

    7207, Houston Ballet, Rite of Spring, March 2013, Nozomi Iijima and Joseph Walsh
      
    Photo by © Amitava Sarkar
    From the Houston Ballet's production of The Rite of Spring, artists Nozomi Iijima and Joseph Walsh and artists of the ballet
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    Movie Review

    A magnetic Brad Pitt goes full throttle in new film F1: The Movie

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 26, 2025 | 4:15 pm
    Brad Pitt in F1: The Movie
    Photo by Scott Garfield / courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Apple Original Films
    Brad Pitt in F1: The Movie.

    The sport of auto racing has been tackled in a variety of ways over the years by filmmakers, with the intoxicating ability of the cars to go super-fast often overriding whatever story they’re trying to tell. The Formula 1 circuit has been the subject of several films based on real drivers, and now it’s at the center of a fictional story in F1: The Movie.

    Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is an aging driver who lives an itinerant lifestyle, traveling in a van to whatever kind of racing organization will give him a chance to show his skills. Ruben (Javier Bardem), an old competitor from Formula 1 who now owns his own team, comes calling when the lead driver of his team gets injured. Soon enough, Sonny has joined up with the team halfway through their season, with rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) as his teammate.

    The bulk of the film finds Sonny trying to impose his old-school ways on the modern sport, with crew members like Kate (Kerry Condon) and Kasper (Kim Bodnia) alternately bristling and marveling at his methods. Sonny and Joshua also spar, sometimes off track, but typically on, where the stubbornness of each threatens not only the success of the team as a whole, but also their safety.

    Directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, the filmmaking team tries to bring the same you-are-there feel that they did successfully in Top Gun: Maverick. And there’s no doubt that the film is at its best when it puts multiple cameras in a Formula 1 car while it navigates tight turns and speeds down straightaways, especially because it seems like Pitt and Idris actually did some of the driving. Even non-racing fans should come away impressed with what the cars and drivers are capable of.

    Now, if you’re looking for any kind of story, you’ve come to the wrong place. The Sonny-Joshua rivalry has a bit of juice to it, but not much. Unlike most sports movies, the film rarely goes outside of the team, so there’s no antagonist to be found in the film. In fact, were it not for the presence of other cars in the various races, you’d think that Sonny and Joshua were the only drivers, with an annoying commentator constantly talking about them alone, even when they’re far behind the leaders.

    The film also struggles with making the sport accessible for non-fans. With the winding courses the circuit uses, there’s far more to it than a car’s (and driver’s) ability to go really fast. The characters use lots of technical jargon about how the design of the car allows the driver to shave tenths of seconds off their times, but the filmmakers are not able to deliver that information in a manner compelling enough to draw the viewer in.

    Pitt, as he’s been for more than 30 years, is a magnetic presence who knows how to play to the camera. Sonny is not one of his most interesting characters, but he makes the role work overall. Idris, best known for starring in the FX series Snowfall, makes the case for being the film’s breakout star, giving his character plenty of charm and cockiness. Bardem, Condon, Tobias Menzies, and other members of the team are cast well, even if the story lets them down.

    As a showcase (aka advertisement) for the sport it depicts, F1: The Movie works relatively well, giving viewers a taste of what it’s like to actually be in a rocket on wheels. As a film, though, there’s not much to recommend, to the point that it almost negates any of the positives that come from the racing scenes.

    ---

    F1: The Movie opens in theaters on June 27.

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