Sabrina Matthews - Reviews

Reviews

• Reid Anderson, Artistic Director of the Stuttgart Ballet, May 2006:

"Sabrina is an excellent Canadian cultural ambassador for Canada. The dancers loved working with her, the German audience deeply connected with her ballet and she inspired everyone here during the process. She has successfully pierced the highly competitive European market".

• Karen Campbell, in the Boston Globe, March 8, 2008:

"Surprisingly, the most effective work on the program was also the smallest, the duet "ein von viel," marking the US debut of Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews. Set to selections from Bach‘s exquisite "Goldberg" Variations (given a stellar performance onstage by pianist Freda Locker), it was commissioned by Nissinen while he was artistic director of Alberta Ballet, and it's a beauty. Friday night, John Lam and James Whiteside were dazzling in Matthews's virtuosic choreography. Matthews matches the clarity of Bach‘s score while consciously subverting the elegance with bits of "you lookin‘ at me?" attitude and quirky nuances. Dynamics shift with quicksilver speed, long lines dissolve into squiggles, complemented by playful gestures – feet that paw the ground, hands that cover the face, backward runs. But it‘s all fairly subtle, cast in phrases of tensile fluidity from which erupt brilliant leaps and turns in vivid asymmetric shapes."

• Gabriele Müller, in Stuttgarter Zeitung, May 22, 2006:

"The exceptional ballerina Alicia Amatriain is partnered by Evan McKie in Sabrina Matthew's piece soles set to spiritual vocal music by Tomas Luis de Victoria. This pas de deux of continuous movement conveys an impression of eternity. Pain, suffering and longing are expressed as a fulfillment.

• Denise Sum, Ballet Dance Magazine, August, 2007:

"The following work, also by a young Canadian, succeeded where Robinson's did not. National Ballet School alumnus and former Alberta Ballet member Sabrina Matthews’ “clearing” has direction and form. The work, set to Mozart’s powerful Great Mass in C Minor, has three couples moving through patterns of movement like the many voices of a fugue. Bridgett Zehr was particularly stunning, her pas de deux with Piotr Stanczyk almost spiritual. Stacey Shiori Minagawa and Chris Body plus Greta Hodgkinson and Nehemiah Kish rounded out this strong cast. Near the end of the ballet, the black backdrop is lifted, ever so slowly. The white background behind it “grows”, the way light fills a room. The dancers turn to face the back, in some sort of reverent or ceremonial action, as the curtain falls."

• Bob Clark, in the Calgary Herald, July 15, 2005:

"For her new creation, Matthews too has chosen carefully, building the emotional intensity of the work, losing ground, through a combination of complex passionate movement and a slow luminous score. The score is fashioned from the music of Thomas Tallis, Brahms and J.S. Bach, with important contributions from Calgary soundscape artist Dewi Wood.
Massively framed by set designer Scott Reid’s evocation of vertical steel plates and dramatically lit by lighting designer Harry Frehner, losing ground’s eight characters seem to be in a state of alert as they try to connect and re-connect – bodies bending then arching back, arms spreading in both supplicating and questioning gestures – to find their way back from loneliness and isolation. The powerful work was performed beautifully by the dancers, led by Tara Williamson and Daniel Marshalsay.The standing ovation from the large crowd was richly deserved by all concerned.".

• Salena McDougall in SEE Magazine, April 3, 2003

""Alberta Ballet’s Sabrina Christine Matthews is being outrageously understated when she describes the past dance season as "one of the biggest years" for her. In her eighth year with the company, Matthews was blazing at the forefront ... "It has been exciting, and a whole lot of work," Matthews says reflecting on a breakthrough season.

Not only is this ballerina’s career on a roll, she’s well on her way to making a name for herself as a dance-maker. Just last February, Matthews was in the Big Apple, invited by the New York Choreographic Institute to workshop her own choreography on dancers from the School of American Ballet. And she recently added video star to her resume with Dance to This, a short Bravo! film of her own creation.

• Jean Grand-Maître, Artistic Director of the Alberta Ballet, May 2006:

"Many of the most respected and cutting edge choreographers working today have had their beginning during the Noverre series of the Stuttgart Ballet and Ms. Matthews’ success will bid well for her future career as a dance creator in Europe".