★★★✰✰ At the end of the evening was what you might call the blockbuster piece of the tour - 30 minutes of Matthew Bourne in the form of Act II of his "Highland Fling". Bourne's take on "La Sylphide" is a wonderful piece of work, full of wit, style and pathos...
Tag - Christopher Marney
★★★✰✰ Ballet Central's 2016 tour visits 17 theatres with 8 diverse works. Bruce Marriott catches up with one of the paciest nights of dance you will find...
★★★★✰ I’ve long admired Ballet Black’s efforts to make ballet a more accessible art form to both dancers and audiences who’ve historically been excluded from it.
It’s a modern and sometimes rather busy retelling, but it ends as every fairy tale should do...
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.
So how did it go with the young audience? Answer, jolly well...
Like ENB at large, the eight finalists for 2015 are a noticeably international bunch, representing Germany, America, Ukraine, Brazil, China and the UK between them.
This glitzy evening proved that the Central School of Ballet has friends in abundance (or perhaps that should be hyphenated to “a-bun-dance”) but the aim of this gala event was clearly to encourage a few more.
Of all the school shows I most appreciate the one by Central School of Ballet. Their show, under the name Ballet Central, invariably has the widest range of dance, from ballet to contemporary to musical theatre and more. And importantly they tour it...
Now in its thirteenth year, Ballet Black’s specialness is not the colour of its performers’ skin but the quality and quantity of the works its director, Cassa Pancho, commissions: over 30 new ballets to date. Where else could ballet dancers experience such a cornucopia of creativity?
Throughout the piece, Bourne’s choreography is highly theatrical and vigorous but only intermittently compelling ...the chief pleasure of the evening was the highly-spirited and convincing performance of the entire cast.
For all Bourne’s imagination, his version makes even less sense than the original.
While I wasn't wowed by the closer, as I left I couldn't stop talking about the Bhuller and Gable and wishing to see major companies put them both on in full. That and the usual thought: Another year, another fine night from Ballet Central - well done all.
Of this year's 4 premieres, 2 very much connected with me and 2 didn't.
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle announced the winners of the 13th National Dance Awards at The Place on 28th January 2013.
He knows he can’t surpass Petipa (or Ivanov for 'Swan Lake') – but he can tweak their scenarios into something uniquely his own. And he’s magnificently served by a cast of just 17, capable of switching roles at the twitch of a fairy’s wing.
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle announced the nominations for the 13th National Dance Awards at a reception held at The Place on 9th November 2012. The winners will be announced 28th January 2013.