Royal New Zealand Ballet – Carmen

Right from the beginning with the opening curtain the audience was filled with suspense with what was to come. There was a tangible excitement as the Auckland Philharmonic began Bizet’s opening score.

It was obvious right from the start, as the dancers appeared in denim, that this was no ordinary ballet. In fact there wasn’t a pair of pointe shoes or tights to be seen. It was all bare legs, bare feet, cut off jeans and the odd sneaker.

The way the choreographer fused contemporary dance vocabulary with ballet, jazz and musical theatre makes Carmen really accessible for anyone to enjoy. This is the kind of ballet that you could take a real bloke to. But some of the not so subtle moments in the bedroom scene might not be so suitable for the kids.

There were a number of duets where the graceful, sexy, sultry, ever flirtatious and confident Carmen left us in no doubt as to her power and passion. We were surprised at times how the store telling captured our attention to the point where we barely noticed any of the slick scene changes.

With the costumes being based on every day clothing, the dancers are relied upon to convey the story through their body movements – which they all did incredibly well. One of the key elements to successful story telling in ballet is the clever use of gesture. A standout example of this is the interchange between Carmen & Jose as she convinces him to set her free.

The story of Carmen changes according to the climate in which it is created. The Royal New Zealand Ballet version includes the use of technology, film and modernisation of the musical score by John Longstaff.

The story was so vividly presented that at one point I felt I could have been watching a silent movie. The music and dance complemented each other perfectly. Given that Carmen has such a well-known score it is a tall order to create such an entrancing mix of music and dance – but they succeeded without a doubt. The strength and agility of the dancers contributed greatly to the often humorous concoction.

The real strength in this performance is the way the relationships have been created. Not only between the dancers but between the dancers and the audience. I felt real emotion and connection to what was happening. The characters were believable and someone we could all relate to.

Normally I come away from a dance performance with a number of critiques but it was difficult to find fault with this vibrant and slick performance. The dancers, lighting, costumes and set were all in synch.

If you’ve never been to the ballet before - this is a great place to start!

Reviewed by Allie Carter & Natalie Dowd
http://www.dance4everyone.com

Click here for ticket details

David Bain...more questions!

So if you didn't see the The Investigator Special programme on TVOne tonight, you've missed one of NZs most interesting programmes this year.

The show was careful not to say that David had committed the crime of murder, but it painted a very convincing argument for why Robin could simply not have done it.

A couple of the points:

• There was so much blood in Stephens room, but not one drop on Robin
• There were no fingerprints on the murder weapon belonging to Robin
• There was testimony given to support the Defense case, that seems to not only be wrong, but a blatant lie - for your reference the purchase of a photocopy machine.

The argument was well laid out, logical and seemed to point the finger away from Robin Bain very convincingly.

David Bain's legal team wrote to the producers of the documentary asking them not to show it while David Bain has a case for compensation before the courts...after seeing the documentary, you can see why.

As for my opinion, one thing about the re-trial of David Bain has always confused me. It appears that his conviction was overturned based on the evidence given by the experts organised by the defense team, however none of those experts were at the scene the day that the murder was committed. So for the overturned ruling to be correct, every expert that was at the scene of the murder has to be wrong...and all the experts that were not there, using the evidence gathered by those that were there, would have to be right.

Did David Bain kill his family? No one knows...no one ever will I suspect. But I agree with Award-winning documentary film maker Bryan Bruce, David had his day in court, and that's what the jury has decided, but Robin never has...until now.

The Book of Eli - Review

The Book of Eli is a story about Eli (Denzel Washington), he was alive before the war, one of the few remaining that remembers what is was like before "the war tore a hole in the sky, the sun came down, burnt everything, everyone". He describes that world, the world you and I live in now as a place where "...people had more than they needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn't. We threw away things people kill each other now."

Eli is being led by a voice, that first led him to his most precious belonging, then told him to go West. His most precious belonging is a book...the bible...in fact the last bible on the face of the planet...and he reads it everyday.

This bible is the stuff of legends, a local War Lord (Gary Oldman), also a survivor of the war, knows of the books power and has been hunting for the last copy for years. The story of the clash between the protector of the book, and the seeker of it's power is a classic confrontation of good versus evil....except this time the good guy is pretty handy with a sword.

This movie is Mad Max meets The Prince of Egypt, and has some intriguing twists especially towards the end, but isn't for the faint hearted with graphic violence not just smattered...but splattered right the way through. The storyline and themes make for some fascinating conversation over a beer afterwards and I would suggest if you like a good action...then you'll love this one.

And as an aside, Mila Kunis (Jackie from That 70s Show) didn't look that bad in the flick either :o)