Royal Ballet School – Annual Main Stage Performance 2017 – London
★★★★✰ It was a well-balanced programme, featuring different kinds of discipline for future corps de ballet dancers, and honouring veteran choreographers as well as contemporary ones.
Russian Ballet Icons Gala – In the steps of the Ballets Russes – London
★★★★✰ The long gala (three and a half hours with one interval) was well organised, with no speeches and no protracted curtain calls.
San Francisco Ballet – Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Prodigal Son, Diamonds – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ The soloists and principals of San Francisco Ballet brought unique interpretations to George Balanchine classics for the company’s fourth program of the season, a varied survey of Balanchine’s oeuvre.
Japan Society – 17th Contemporary Dance Showcase: Japan + East Asia – New York
★★★✰✰ Hosted by the Japan Society on the east side of midtown Manhattan, this year’s showcase concentrated on the theme of two: the dynamics of duos. Featuring works from Japan, Korea and Taiwan…
New Adventures – Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes – London
★★★✰✰ If you remember the 1948 film, the plot is easy to follow. If you don’t, and can’t pick up the references to ballets, a printed scenario would be helpful, as would job-descriptions of the characters…
Suzanne Farrell Ballet – Danses Concertantes, Gounod Symphony, Stars and Stripes – Washington
★★★★✰ Watching this immensely entertaining program one realizes that even a minor Balanchine ballet is still a great ballet.
American Ballet Theatre – Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, Symphonic Variations, Brahms-Haydn Variations + Fall Gala – New York
★★★★✰ A second look at Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium confirms the impression formed last season. It is a fascinating work that represents a new direction for the choreographer.
Australian Ballet – Nijinsky – Melbourne
★★★✰✰ Even after his death, Vaslav Nijinsky suffered from the power and control of others…
Gauthier Dance – NIJINSKI – Stuttgart
★★★✰✰ NIJINSKI neatly lassos this altogether using Goecke’s avant garde movement style …to give the Stuttgart audience an abstract impression of Nijinsky’s life and contribution to Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
American Ballet Theatre – The Golden Cockerel – New York
★★★★✰ American Ballet Theatre’s spring season has turned into a kind of voyage into the mind of Alexei Ratmansky, its choreographer-in-residence since 2009.
American Ballet Theatre – Spring Gala – New York
★★★★✰ It isn’t often that a gala program proves satisfying, but this one was the exception.
Pacific Northwest Ballet – Square Dance, Prodigal Son, Stravinsky Violin Concerto – New York
★★★★✰ Clarity of execution is a hallmark of this Seattle-based company, which has been led since 2005 by the former New York City Ballet star, Peter Boal.
Rambert – The 3 Dancers, Transfigured Night – London
Rambert Love, Art & Rock ‘n Roll: The 3 Dancers, Transfigured Night London, Sadler’s Wells 3 November 2015 Gallery of 3 Dancers pictures by Stephen Wright Gallery of Transfigured Night pictures by Foteini…
Obituary: David Drew, Royal Ballet Principal, with the company 56 years
David Drew, for 56 years a member of The Royal Ballet, has died after a long battle with illness. He described himself as one of a ‘bridge generation’ of dancers. The longevity of his career meant that he worked with many figures from the Ballets Russees – but also taught many dancers and choreographers working today.
Julio Bocca – Director Ballet Nacional SODRE in Montevideo
Julio Bocca, much loved but now no longer dancing, has a new life in Montevideo, running Ballet Nacional SODRE. Marina Harss talks to a busy man rebuilding his company – fast…
Alexei Ratmansky – Simple and Wise, a Q&A about Ratmansky’s Sleeping Beauty for ABT
Q: What have you learned about Petipa from the notations? Ans: Looking at the notations changed my taste. Honestly, I just can’t stand seeing productions of the classics any more, because I know how far it is from Petipa’s intentions…
Sagraçamba: The Rite in Rio
Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer first put their reconstruction of “The Rite of Spring” on Rio de Janeiro Ballet in 1995. This year they went back to put it on again – this is what happened…
Ivan Putrov – Men in Motion – Lodz Ballet Festival
The most impressive (if not, incredible) thing is that his scratch company exudes the professionalism that one would expect from a tight-knit group that has lived, trained, rehearsed and performed together for seasons.
American Ballet Theatre – The Sleeping Beauty – New York
Perhaps the most striking element in Alexei Ratmansky’s new Sleeping Beauty for American Ballet Theatre is its musicality, the way the steps, peppered with accents and breaths, unspool within the music.
New York City Ballet – Apollo, Agon, Duo Concertant, Symphony in Three Movements – New York
The New York City Ballet spring season is off to the races with a week devoted to George Balanchine, specifically the “black-and-white” ballets that for many have come to define his style.
