"It's a beautiful, lush, amazing idea, a new idea of what the firebird could possibly be,"
"Most of the other productions rely heavily on the Russian, the old Russian look. And he threw all of that out. He created a sort of a scandal, Mr. Holder, with the tutu."
"It's absolutely perfect, because you know how the bird has the very slight legs? It accentuates the legs of the female dancer in such a beautiful way, "
"I call her a female superhero - the Storm of ballet."
Dance Theatre of Harlem returns to France in February–March 2026 to perform Geoffrey Holder's Caribbean-inspired Firebird and other works, including at the Palais des Congrès de Paris. Holder's 1982 staging relocated Stravinsky's score to a magical Haiti and celebrated Black beauty and myth. The original production provoked controversy with its daring costumes: jeweled headpieces, sculpted gold crowns, frontless tutus, and skin-tone unitards draped with rope and shimmering fabric. Artistic director Robert Garland praises Holder's rejection of traditional Russian aesthetics and the way the costumes accentuate dancers' legs, calling the Firebird a female superhero. Leo Holder is restoring the designs to match the original production.
Read at Travel Noire
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