MONAS
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monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Sabrina Matthews
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Chelsea Andrejic
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Photograph by Christopher Wahl, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Yuma Kozuki
Photograph by Christopher Wahl, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Lynn Wallis
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Yuma Kozuki and Sabrina Matthews
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Karen Kain, Antoinette Sibley and Ashley Wheater
Photograph by Christopher Wahl, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Sabrina Matthews and Andrei Streliaev
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Jasmine Brown
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Sabrina Matthews
Photograph by Bruce Zinger, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
monas - Genée International Ballet Competition
Aaron Smythe and Sabrina Matthews
Photograph by Christopher Wahl, Courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance
Ballet Name |
monas |
Choreography
Music (female piece)
Music (male piece)
World Premiere
Company
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Sabrina Matthews
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, adapted from Piano Sonata In C Major KV 545: III. Allegretto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, adapted from Kleiner Trauermarsch In C Minor, K 453.a
August 21 and 23, 2008
Genée International Ballet Competition
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| Reviews: |
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Paula Citron, Globe and Mail – "…perfect choreography for young people… Matthews must expand this charming choreography to become a complete work." (More)
Victor Swoboda, Montreal Gazette – "…The piece cleverly and ably gave dancers a chance to show off…" (More)
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Paula Citron, in the
Globe and Mail, August 26, 2008:
…Day two of the semi-finals included the performance of Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews's monas, two original pieces created specifically for the Genée, one for the women, and a different one for the men. The candidates also performed their 19th-century variations.
Matthews used Mozart piano music to come up with perfect choreography for young people. She told me that she deliberately did not teach by counts which would have ensured uniformity. Rather, she told the candidates to make the piece their own, which meant allowances for their own pacing within the music. They all looked so good doing the piece that it was a problem separating the chaff from the wheat. I told Matthews she must expand this charming choreography to become a complete work.
The women interpreted the piece, delightfully filled with both grace and awkwardness, as coy, sexy, brass, cheeky or defiant. There were supple bends, surprising angles and all manner of muscle undulations, not to mention difficult turns and jumps. On the other hand, Matthews gave the men high drama. Angst dominated the very difficult and dramatic virtuoso demands of the piece…
From an audience perspective, I had a marvellous and thought-provoking time being inside the world of ballet.
Victor Swoboda, in the
Montreal Gazette, August 30, 2008:
…All 40 or so female contestants began by performing the same three-minute work to a Mozart piano sonata that Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews created earlier that week. "The dancers and I worked together for three hours the first day, then I had one-on-one sessions with them the next day," said Matthews after the semi-finals.
The piece cleverly and ably gave dancers a chance to show off their leg extensions, suppleness in the back, pirouettes and jumps…
Smyth clearly showed gold medal qualities. Matthews created a challenging piece for the male dancers topped by a triple jump in the air, but Smyth tore through it with gusto. He did the same afterward in his Don Quixote variation, throwing off multiple pirouettes and big jumps. At his age, he can be forgiven the show-boating (his Don Quixote drew enthusiastic female squeals)…
