★★★★✰ The annual Icons gala provides the chance to see dancers who don't often appear in London...
Tag - Artem Ovcharenko
★★★★✰ The messages of Grigorovich's Spartacus may have changed over the half-century since its creation but new generations revel in its theatricality - and the bolshoi power of its performers.
★★★★★ As you would expect Diamonds was the highlight of the three part Jewels.
★★★✰✰ This year's Russian Ballet gala was ostensibly in honour of the 200th anniversary of Marius Petipa's birth. Any choreography attributed to him was mostly a long way 'after Petipa', but it's always fun to see excellent Russian dancers deliver pas de deux from Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire.
★★★★✰ It’s not often that one gets to see three such companies side by side, or to experience a work as familiar as Jewels with new eyes...
★★★★✰ The great pleasure of Alexei Ratmansky’s version of Vasily Vainonen’s 1932 ballet is the cornucopia of steps to which both choreographers had access: danse d’école, folk and character dances, as well as expressive acting.
★★✰✰✰ Like all galas, this was quite a mixed bag. Over 200 students trooped on and offstage in a veritable tornado of activity before the veteran YAGP dancers stepped out for the showstopping stuff...
30 dancers already confirmed include Natalia Osipova, Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin, Kim Kimin, Sarah Lamb, Xander Parish, Aline Cojocaru, Tamara Rojo, Marianela Nuňez and Thiago Soares.
It is even more disappointing that the troupe should open its run with a Swan Lake so lackluster... It’s not the dancers’ fault. At every level, the Bolshoi dancers move with thrilling force and fullness.
...but the production isn’t so interested in motivation, more in grand effects, and those were delivered. It was a glittering, ostentatious performance, though not one to catch the heart.
The Bolshoi Ballet are touring 'The Flames of Paris' to London this summer - but Natasha Rogai recently caught up with it in Moscow for us. So what shape is the company in?
The 12th International Ballet Festival - Dance Open - was held over 4 days in St Petersburg. Margaret Willis (our Ms Expressivity) was there to report on much ballet and not a little award giving...
Though this year it was Nijinsky’s turn to be reclaimed as a Russian icon, the contents of the gala had little to do with him. Very probably the choice of items – mainly pas de deux - depended on which dancers were available to perform whatever was in their repertoire.
On Sunday 10 March the Russian Ballet Icons Gala, this year dedicated to the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky, will take place at the London Coliseum.
The Bolshoi's new Coppelia was heavenly fun. Vikharev’s production brought to the fore the Russian ballet tradition of expressive pantomime and spirited ensemble dances.
International Ballet Festival – Dance Open Performances: Bad Boys of Dance, Gala Tribute to Natalia Dudinskaya, Dance Open – Gala of International Ballet Stars St Petersburg, Oktyabrsky Concert Hall and others 14-16 April 2012 www.danceopen.com It’s that time of year in St Petersburg when the water from the taps comes out dirty yellow as the winter’s ice and snow melt into the system...