BEST PREMIERES/DanceEuropeMagazine 2017
Oregon Ballet Theatre in BRINGINGOUTSIDEIN by Gioconda Barbuto (July 2017)
sum of all parts
After 25 minutes all this extraordinary beauty reaches an end and it’s hard to know what to say, or to say anything at all, because great dancing speaks for itself.
Roger Levesque / Edmonton Journal
bringingoutsidein
“task-based movement built on itself and blossomed into unexpected and moving tableaux. Barbuto's musicality is very refined, and the briefest moments of stillness proved highly effective......unaccountably thrilling.”
Carla Escoda, BachTrack
FOOTPRINT
TU Dance troupe taut with an urban edge...
Gioconda Barbuto, in collaboration with the dancers, created the world premiere “Footprint" -edgy and industrial, propelled by Gabriel Prokofiev’s taut score.
Barbuto is aggressive with her dance-making in the best possible way. The TU company members embrace her fearlessness without hesitation.
Caroline Palmer, Star Tribune
l’ABRI
L'abri, fait l'effet d'une fête sans fin, rythmée par des prestations rapides d'une bande de jeunes, pétant d'énergie. En fond de scène, un immense bloc tient lieu de décor et de coulisses à la fois, d'où émergent et disparaissent les artistes. Giaconda Barbuto, ex-soliste aux Grands Ballets canadiens et Nederlands Dans Theater 3, a insufflé à L'abri sa touche de danseuse. Réglé comme du papier à musique, l'opus est chorégraphié à souhait dans des mouvements de groupe ou des duos d'équilibre qui prennent l'allure de pas de deux.
Isabelle Paré, Le Devoir
immix
Without question, immix is the most stunning piece of workwithin UN/A, and a brilliant choice to close the evening and season with.A large cast of dancers assemble onstage throughout the work, and quickly separate into smaller settlements of singles and small groups, showing the company's ability to impress collectively and individually alike.
Lords of Dogwood, Vancouver
l’Abri
Beaux, forts, fiers, touchants, agiles, sensibles, nuancés, audacieux, surprenants et TALENTUEUX. Voilà ce qu'ils m'ont inspiré dès les premières secondes de leur spectacle L'abri. Leur passion et leur travail acharné, je l'ai ressenti de mon siège du début à la fin. Je n'ai jamais détourné le regard, jamais baillé, jamais cligné des yeux.
Quelle mise en scène incroyable de la part de Gioconda Barbuto qui a construit ce spectacle sur mesure avec un grand respect des forces de chacun des finissants.
Boucle Magazine
At @BalletBC last nt, I was wide-eyed & mouth agape. Barbuto's 'immix' is THE most awe-inspiring piece. GO! You won't want it to end.
Gioconda Barbuto's full-company, stage-covering show-closer, immix, is more about unleashing, set as it is to the chopping, looping strings and fractured beats of London-based composer Gabriel Prokofiev's genre-fusing score.
Janet Smith, Straight.com, Vancouver
Touch
"Her choreography is a flow of lyrical move-ment and makes good use of Genge’s lyrical score:Individual dancers may be doing their own patterns, but it is as part of the whole – there is always a connection."
Paula Citron, Globe and Mail, Vancouver
Negotiating movement that twists and spins its way through a very physical vocabulary, the 13 dancers performing Barbuto's homage to the rootedness of contention do so with admirable assurance and precision.
Bob Clark, Calgary Herald
"An abstract contemporary dance work, the choreography,patterning and partnering had an uncomplicated feelingthat was refreshing after the intensity of the previous pieces. The lighting worked as a sculptural element and punctuated choreographic moments to great effect. The piece moved well with overlapping entrances and exits, and there were first-rate moments of partnering and original contemporary movement accents.The piece was well danced, well choreographed and enjoyed a contemporary score that was lyrical, melodicand pleasant to listen to. And with its charming ending and the audible appreciation it inspired in the audience, the work was a success, and concluded a mighty fine evening of dance."
Day Helesic, Arts Beat, Vancouver
CLIQUE
"Clique by Gioconda Barbuto was structured like a group of street dancers egging each other on with their latest moves. It was perfect in the way it allowed the dancers to show both their great physical abilities and their youthfulness."
Kevin Griffin, The Vancouver Sun
"One of the highlights of the night is Montreal choreographer Gioconda Barbuto’sClique, a wildly energized piece of perpetual motion that finds the dancers in a breaker-style circle, taking turns showing off and partnering to the sounds of sampled music and electro beats."
Janet Smith, Straight.com, Vancouver
NEGOTIATING SHIFTS
Montreal's Gioconda Barbuto has given the company a fluid, supple work in Negotiating Shifts, set to the relentless repeating rhythms of Philip Glass. Her choreography is the representation of the compromises necessary to carry on living as shown through the abrupt collisions within human encounters.
The off-point piece sports a taut energy and unpredictable movement that catches the eye.
Paula Citron, Globe and Mail, Toronto
"Barbuto's choreography was magnificent.
The movements were fluid, with an effortless breathing motion that flowed as if underwater.The complex and intricate choreography was engaging, and fused well with the music."
Tara Miller, Special to The Okanagan Sunday Kelowna
Cantus
“Barbuto’s originality emerges in her marshalling of forces, her elaboration of unison movement into richer textures, and in the imaginative mechanics of the partnering, particularly in a central pas de deux, danced in silence.”
Michael Crabb, National Post, Toronto
“The fiendishly difficult, hypnotically riveting and superbly performed pas de deux choreographed by former Grands Ballets dancer Gioconda Barbuto was flawlessly performed by les GBC’incomparable Anik Bissonnette,with heroic partner Mario Rodacovsky.”
Myron Galloway, The Suburban, Montreal
LifeLines
"There is pleasure to be had watching this pluralist show. Front and centre, these two beautiful dancers possess commanding line and technique, glorious attack and a nuanced control of their contrasting bodies … there are Barbuto and Molnar, each with an indelible presence — all expert strength and purpose — distinguishing the night and providing some real satisfaction and inspiration."
Philip Szporer, The Dance Current
Piccolo Mondo
"Piccolo Mondo flows with an exceptional clarity. Regardless of the fast sweeps of overlapping movements by 10 dancers,its lovely blend of line and coloration remains distinct, never mudded.
This is a dancey piece with an air of romance that challenges today’s taste for edgy, angularity.
Barbuto’s musicality and sense of timing show particularly well in massed groupings. So it’s big when she sets a ravishing pas dedeux to silence. The effect is magnified, as if she’s suspended time. ”
Linde Howe-Beck, The Gazette, Montreal
Chiaroscuro
“Barbuto’s fierce, confrontational vocabulary… reveals a strong musical sense and an ambitious creativity. ”
Calgary Herald, Calgary
CANTICUM CANTICORUM
Pepita Ferrari's adaptation of Karen Young's oratorio based on the Bible's Song of Songs is simply exquisite. Filmed in Montreal, the beautifully crafted cinematography enhances the updated story of love and betrayal. As a dancer should, Wadge uses her body to wonderful effect to articulate complex emotion, yet adds even more subtle shades to her performance. Her face also carries the intense feeling of Gioconda Barbuto's highly charged choreography. Medieval and Middle Eastern in texture and tone, Canticum Canticorum works especially well as a modern expression of great love.
CBC's Opening Night, CRITIC'S CHOICE, Henrietta Walmark
except bringingoutsidein photo Yi Yin and Clique photo unknown