Mariinsky Ballet – Le Sacre du Printemps, Le Spectre de la Rose, The Swan, Paquita Grand Pas – Washington
In all, this was a tremendously entertaining and well-received program; but at the same time it left an unsettling impression that the Russian company is holding on to its eminent past with all its might, relying heavily on well-worn
Ballet Nice Mediterranee – Soir de Fête, Pas de Dieux – Nice
Vu-An writes in the programme that he has chosen the two ballets Soir de Fete and Pas de Dieux to make up an entertaining and enjoyable programme for the festive season. However, he has chosen two very contrasting and rather curious works…
Book – The Making of Markova – by Tina Sutton
Sutton was originally asked to write a brief account of Markova’s career for the Gotlieb Centre but soon realised that her subject’s life, personal and public, was so fascinating that she undertook a substantial biography
Tina Sutton, writer and author of ‘The Making of Markova’
Tina Sutton’s book “The Making of Markova: Diaghilev’s Baby Ballerina to Groundbreaking Icon” is about to be released in paperback – Jann Parry talks to Sutton about unearthing one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century…
Book – Constant Lambert, Beyond The Rio Grande – by Stephen Lloyd
Lloyd has written widely on English composers and is meticulous in combing together many fragmentary impressions of Lambert. The book weighs over 1.5 kilos, 419 pages of small print, most heavily annotated in smaller print still, with a further 150 pages of appendices.
Mariinsky Ballet – Apollo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream – London
Viktoria Tereshkina has a warm personality and this enhances her dancing. She has long thin limbs and offers expansive port de bras, while her legs whip up effortlessly but with control.
The Work of Mikhail Fokine – Q&A with Isabelle Fokine
Born in Paris in 1958, Isabelle Fokine is the daughter of Vitale Fokine and granddaughter of choreographer Mikhail Fokine. She is artistic director of the Fokine Estate Archive, which holds the worldwide copyright to his work.
Les Saisons Russes / Natalia Sats Opera & Ballet – Petrushka, Chopiniana, Polovtsian Dances – London
The triumph of the triple bill was the rip-roaring account of the Polovtsian Dances, with the choir exulting from boxes at the side of the Coliseum stage.
Les Saisons Russes / Natalia Sats Opera & Ballet – Le Coq d’Or (The Golden Cockerel) – London
…it’s very Russian in its mixture of comedy, satire and luscious spectacle – and first-class performances.
Paul White – Dancer, Collaborator, Lecturer and Choreographer
5 Questions to Paul White. Last year Australian Paul White danced at the Southbank Centre in Meryl Tankard’s ‘The Oracle’ and won a UK National Dance Award for Outstanding Performance. This week he dances in a new piece at the Southbank – another winner? We catch up with him…
Andris Liepa and Georgy Isaakyan – Bringing Diaghilev Back: Recreating the Russian Seasons
Graham Watts, visited the Natalia Sats Theatre in Moscow, earlier this year, to talk to both Liepa and Isaakyan about their new production of Le Coq d’Or.
Yale School of Music & Yale School of Drama – The Soldier’s Tale – New York
Stravinsky’s is a bitter tale with folk roots, about a soldier (played by the convincingly guileless, agile Tom Pecinka) returning home from the front who is sidetracked by the devil….
Paris Opera Ballet – Fall River Legend, Miss Julie – Paris
…an unusual choice of bill. Unusual firstly as the work of two women choreographers, and secondly in that it gives audiences a rare chance to see ballets from the extremely interesting and creative period of the 1940’s and 1950’s, now sadly neglected.
New York City Ballet – Acheron, Afternoon of a Faun, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, La Valse – New York
George Balanchine’s favorite composers may have been Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, but it’s no secret that he also had an affinity for France and its music…
The Nureyev Collection – Centre national du costume de scène et de la scénographie – Moulins
The triumph of the Nureyev collection at CNCS Moulins is to make the many facets of his profligately talented, maddening personality so vividly alive still.
Ormsby Wilkins – Britten’s Sylphs and other Musical Questions for ABT’s Music Director
ABT’s run of Les Sylphides this season are different – after research, the company, under their musical director Ormsby Wilkins, have rediscovered a 1941 orchestration by Benjamin Britten. Marina Harss reveals all in conversation with Wilkins…
Les Saisons Russes of XXI Century – Firebird, Scheherazade – London
An apologetic Liepa promised to return for a week next time and bring the new Cleopatra with him, but this was an unsatisfying evening in its current form.
Les Saisons Russes of XXI Century – Le Spectre de la rose, Firebird, Scheherazade – London
But altogether, this was an evening of historical curios that lacked consistent vibrancy.
Games People Play: ‘Jeux’ Young at 100
Nijinsky’s ‘Jeux’, like ‘Rite’, is in its centenary year – lesser known it may be but Archer & Hodson give fascinating detail on its creation and the thought that went into putting on, at UNCSA, their reconstructed version earlier this year.
