The Arthropologist

From Black Swan & Dancing with the Stars to Houston Ballet & other troupes, itwas The Year Of Dance

Joseph Walsh and Emily Bowen, center, and artists of the Houston Ballet in "TheUpper Room," choreographed by Twyla Tharp
Photo by Amitava Sarkar
Samantha Lynch in "Tu Tu," choreographed by Stanton Welch for the Houston Ballet
Photo by Ron McKinney of Art Institute/Houston-North
Noblemotion Dance in "Photo Box D," with artists Tristin Ferguson, MelissaNeedler, Brittany Thetford, Jared Doster, Jesus Acosta and Shohei Iwahama
Photo by Julian Grandberry
Lucy Guerin Inc. in "Structures and Sadness"
Photo by Jeff Busby
From "Forgotten Land," Samantha Lynch and James Gotesky of the Houston Ballet
Photo by Zuzana Leckova of Art Institute/Houston-North
Rachel Meyer of Dominic Walsh Dance Theater receiving her Princess Grace Award
Photo by Matthew Peyton/Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation-USA

We end this year with ballet buzzing from every tree top.

Black Swan is creeping people out right and left. There's even an early Oscar fever over Natalie Portman's performance as the self-obsessed, bat shit bonkers ballerina. I win the prize for manic tweeting over a movie I actually was last to see. My colleague Debra Levine of Arts Meme has formed a Black Swan survivor's group, which includes merch! But don't miss her review, which is way more interesting than this feathered hot mess of a movie.

Then, there's the never-ending fervor over New York Times' chief dance critic Alastair Macaulay's flip remark on New York City Ballet's Jenifer Ringer having "eaten one too many Sugar Plums." Ringer, who suffered from eating disorders, even made it to The Today Show to talk about the demands of dancing. The comment caused an online firestorm.

My hope is that it will lead to two positive things: for critics to think more about art and less about weight, and for ballet to address the elephant in the room related to ideal body types. Portman, who lost 20 pounds for the role, even chimed in the Ringer/Macaulay brouhaha.

The fuss-a-rama points to some serious problems concerning the body in ballet. Perfection is just so 2010.

Jennifer Homans declared ballet dead in her rigorously researched book, Apollo's Angels, and made the New York Times top five non-fiction books of 2010. Homans details ballet's numerous near deaths. The book is epic, thrilling, and would make a killer PBS series. Hello Ken Burns. Are you busy? Ringer could play Maria Taglioni, but she would have to gain 20 lbs.

Dance continues to dominate the airwaves with Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and soon Paula Abdul's new show, Live to Dance. Please don't suck, new show.

Even Kanye West couldn't resist the ballet urge in his Runaway vid. Kanye, you couldn't spring for real tutus?

This was a great year for dancing. Houston Ballet's Samantha Lynch moved like water in Jiri Kylian's Forgotten Land. Paired with the soulful James Gotesky, Lynch came into her own in Kylian's fluid contours, showing her understanding of the unfurling power of waves.

What a wonderful partnership the company has in Joseph Walsh and Emily Bowen. Walsh and Bowen had terrific seasons together and separately. They showed off their connection in La Fille Mal Gardee, Mark Morris' Sandpaper Ballet. and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room.

Houston Ballet soloist Joseph Walsh shows off his Mark Morris moves in Sandpaper Ballet

Kelly Myernick made everyone quit breathing during her silent solo in Stanton Welch's Falling at the Kennedy Center as part of Ballet Across America. Jim Nowakowski's technical chops continue to amaze me. Newcomers, Jun Shuang Huang, Melissa Hough and Karina Gonzalez, are an impressive lot. I look forward to getting to know their dancing better.

Rachel Meyer had a stand out season at Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and has a Princess Grace Award to prove it.

Hope Stone Dance Company's Courtney Jones caught my eye in Lemonade Stand for her witty aliveness. When she moves, all the oxygen molecules get out of the way. It's that exciting. And yes, it's the very same Courtney Jones who sings and acts in Panto Pinochhio at Stages Repertory Theatre.

Hope Stone artistic director Jane Weiner enjoyed a banner year, offering her first season ever with more to come in during Dance Month's Triple Focus at the Jewish Community Center.

In the choreography department, my eyes are on Amy Llanes of Rednerrus Feil Dance Company. Her duet, Strong Moves Slow, held me spellbound with its punchy timing and innovative shapes. Houston Ballet's Garrett Smith contributed the sleek Vivacious Dispositions, with a sinewy performance by Lauren Ciobanu, for the Jubilee.

NobleMotion emerged as the dance company to gush about. Andy Noble and Dionne Sparkman Noble's collaboration with Jeremy Choate, Photo Box D, showed great promise. You can also catch this upstart troupe next at JCC's Dance Month Triple Focus.

Get a taste of all things NobleMotion

Further from home, I marveled at much of what I took in at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, but Lucy Guerin's Structure and Sadness, a kinetic exploration of the collapse of the West Gate Bridge, continues to perplex me for its clever mix of physics and pathos. Houston audiences remember her DiverseWorks show from a few years back.

Lucy Guerin Inc. in Structure and Sadness

Editor's note: This is the eleventh in a series of articles CultureMap will be running this last week of 2010 on The Year in Culture. The stories in this series will focus on a key point or two, something that struck our reporting team about the year rather than rote Top 10 lists or bests of.

Movie review

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd chase their dreams in music-heavy Power Ballad

Photo by David Cleary for Lionsgate

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in Power Ballad.

Writer/director John Carney is one of the great purveyors of movies featuring music (as opposed to musicals) in the 21st century. Starting with Once in 2007 (which was turned into a Broadway musical several years later), he has made music-themed stories like Begin Again, Sing Street, Flora and Son, and now Power Ballad.

Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is a former wannabe rock star who is now the lead singer of “Ireland’s #1 Wedding Band,” The Bride & Grooves. While they mostly play smaller weddings, a gig at a country estate leads to an encounter with Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a former boy band member struggling to make it as a solo artist. Rick and Danny wind up bonding in a booze- and pot-filled jam session, sharing various song ideas.

After returning to Los Angeles and desperate for a hit, Danny steals one of Rick’s songs, which miraculously turns into the No. 1 “How to Write a Song (Without You).” Rick, initially overjoyed that something he wrote has become big, is crushed when he finds out Danny didn’t give him credit. His quest to find a way to prove his worth sends him into a spiral, upending the ordinary life he had built.

Co-written by Peter McDonald, the film is a nice exploration of two men trying to hold on to their music dreams. Their individual circumstances could not be more different, but each of them knows the ups and downs of the business as well as the other, as well as the ineffable magic of creating that one great song. While the music scenes are hit-and-miss because of a reliance on lip synching, the scene featuring Rick and Danny trading ideas is electric with creativity.

Oddly, though, the film could have used a bit less music and more of a focus on the two men’s personal lives. Rick wound up living in Ireland after falling in love with his future wife, Rachel (Marcella Plunkett), while on tour with his former American band. He spends a decent amount of time with her and his daughter, Aja (Beth Fallon), but his story needed a few more family scenes to drive the point home. Danny’s personal life is all but nonexistent, giving his arc less impact than it could have had.

Instead of loved ones, Carney and McDonald try to give Rick and Danny more depth through friends and business associates. Rick’s bandmate Sandy (McDonald) is a ride-or-die kind of guy for him, but his presence is only good for a few humorous distractions. Danny’s manager Mac (Jack Reynor) is difficult to parse, as he goes to bat for Danny on multiple occasions, but also seems to keep him at arm’s length.

It’s long been joked that Rudd never ages, and that youthfulness serves him well in this role, in which his character is supposed to be much younger than his actual age of 57. His energy and enthusiasm make his character appealing throughout, even when Rick starts to go off the deep end. Jonas is decent in his role, selling the music side well, but there might be a reason his character doesn’t have many scenes requiring him to show emotions.

While Power Ballad has all the hallmarks of another great Carney music movie, it’s missing a few pieces that could have put it over the top. It’s still a fun film with an insanely catchy song at its center, but it’s not quite as memorable as most of the filmmaker’s previous efforts.

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Power Ballad is now playing in theaters.

movies music film

The Arthropologist

From Black Swan & Dancing with the Stars to Houston Ballet & other troupes, itwas The Year Of Dance

Movie review

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd chase their dreams in music-heavy Power Ballad

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