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Joni Mitchell's The Fiddle and the Drum Reviews

Joni Mitchell's Plea Turned Into A Blockbuster
Alberta Ballet artistic director Jean Grand-Maître has the smarts. He has created an audience-friendly ballet, The Fiddle and the Drum, that can be his company's calling card around the world.
Download full article by Paula Citron from the Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080616.FIDDLE16/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Music/

Joni Mitchell Takes Big Yellow Taxi To The Ballet; Threesomes For Dinner At Rain
The Fiddle and the Drum pairs Mitchell's art and songs with dance choreographed by Jean Grand-Maitre of the Alberta Ballet. Its debut at the Four Seasons Centre was powerful, charged with athleticism and a haunting beauty as the narrative unfolds and the dancers are bathed in washes of gold and green light.
Download full article by Karen Hawthorne from the National Post.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theappetizer/archive/2008/06/14/review-rain-before-the-ballet.aspx


Potent Mix Of Elegance, Energy
In a way it's the same old story -- Alberta energy used to heat up a space in chilly old Toronto. But usually, that's something that happens in January, not on a sultry night in June. So while it may be the same old story, one could say it's dancing to a whole new tune.
Download full article by John Coulbourn from the Toronto Sun.
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Theatre/2008/06/16/5889931-sun.html


Alberta Dancers Step Lively To Anti-War Beats Of Joni's Drummer
Grand-Maître's company is young, muscular and mostly bare-skinned, an essentially human touch. They move as a community, dancing exuberantly. This is not a ballet yearning to be Broadway. The Fiddle and the Drum is uniquely Joni, offering up her music for dance interpretation.
Download full article by Susan Walker from The Toronto Star.
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=592189

Dance, Dance: A Folk Singer's Evolution; The Fiddle And The Drum
Alberta Ballet's dancers infuse their performance with electrifying intensity, digging into Grand-Maitre's sometimes athletically super-charged choreography with passionate commitment.
Download full article by Michael Crabb from The National Post.
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=592189

Joni Enjoys Rousing Debut
Just how good is Alberta Ballet's new show? Well, let's just say that Dancing Joni & Other Works was easily good enough Thursday to leave most of the opening night audience rockin' out into the night dazed, dazzled and near delirious with delight.
Download full article by Bob Clark from The Calgary Herald.
http://albertaballet.com/images/stories/pdf/JoniReviewCalgaryHerald.pdf

Joni Mitchell's Plea For Paradise
How could anyone fail to be moved by a ballet that ends with a little girl holding up two fingers in the peace sign so beloved in the sixties and seventies?
Download full article by Kaeja Pepper from The Globe and Mail.
http://albertaballet.com/images/stories/pdf/JoniReviewGlobeMail.pdf

Mitchell's Dance Against Death
It was almost inevitable The Fiddle and the Drum, Alberta Ballet's keenly awaited new work to Joni Mitchell songs, would receive an opening night standing ovation, especially since the Alberta-born singer/songwriter was in attendance, but it was not a spontaneous one; and for good reason.
Download full article by Michael Crabb from The National Post.
http://albertaballet.com/images/stories/pdf/JoniReviewNationalPost.pdf