International Ballet Festival 2013 – Dance Open – St Petersburg
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…
Slava Samodurov: bringing Yekaterinburg Ballet in from the cold
Graham Watts braved 21 hours of flights and missed connections just to spend a night at the Yekaterinburg Opera House followed by a meeting with its new(ish) Director of Ballet, Slava Samodurov, a former Principal at The Royal Ballet…
Sofia National Ballet UK Tour – July 2013
The Sofia National Ballet has announced an exclusive debut UK summer tour for 2013, performing in nine venues around the country.
Mikhailovsky Ballet – Without Words, Nunc Dimittis, Prelude – London
There were wonderful performances by Ekaterina Borchenko and Leonid Sarafanov – dancers you would like to see a lot more of. But three works by the same choreographer was too much of the same dish on the menu.
Mikhailovsky Ballet – Laurencia with Osipova and Vasiliev – London
When the Mikhailovsky Ballet first brought this production to London in 2010, Laurencia seemed a creakily old-fashioned Soviet drambalet. Now, with Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev as the leads, it sparkles with fun, melodrama and commitment…
Mikhailovsky Ballet – Don Quixote (Osipova / Vasiliev) & Giselle (Semionova / Matvienko) – London
…the Mikhailovsky put on a wonderful display of classical excellence that we just don’t routinely see in the UK.
Gallery – Mikhailovsky Ballet in Don Quixote with Osipova / Vasiliev & Bondareva / Matvienko
36 pictures by Dave Morgan…
Shanghai Ballet – White-Haired Girl – Hong Kong
Ideological qualms aside, White Haired Girl is an odd bird. The choreography is a hybrid between textbook classical vocabulary and Chinese opera, an idea interesting in itself but here executed with a lack of imagination…
Peter Boal – Pacific Northwest Ballet – Artistic Director
So how long does he see himself staying on the far side of America? “Well, I am just about to sign another six year contract,” he grinned…
Ballet San Jose – Don Quixote – San Jose
The good news is that I had a very pleasant afternoon, mostly the result of the dancers actually having a splendid time on stage.
Jose Manuel Carreno – former American Ballet Theatre Principal and freelance dancer
Toba Singer talks to José Manuel Carreño: “Coming from Cuba, with the Cuban school you end up with a very strong foundation because you train so much in technique and partnering. These are two things that were very strong from the Cuban school, but on top of that, there was a lot of attention paid to the theatrical elements…”
Ballet San Jose – Don Quixote – San Jose
The overall spirit is vivacious, the ensemble committed, on task and fully present. As this company moves along its new trajectory… there is every reason to believe that its partnership with ABT will be celebrated…
San Francisco Ballet – 80th Season Gala Opening – San Francisco
Perhaps the best pas de deux of the evening, judging by the audience reaction, is one from Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain.
Mariinsky Ballet – Gala – Baden-Baden
The Mariinsky Ballet’s annual Baden-Baden tour is something of a balletomane’s winter retreat and, with mild weather to boot over Christmas, provided yet another opportunity this season to catch up with the St. Petersburg company.
Paris Opera Ballet – Don Quixote – Paris
It’s not every day Petipa’s carefree Don Quixote comes with a health and safety warning. …Injuries played havoc with the casting throughout November and December…
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Trocks) – Program A, Laurencia Mixed bill – New York
…it’s that ambiguity in their performances — the tension between seriousness and satire — that makes the company such a joy to watch.
Paris Opera Ballet – William Forsythe / Trisha Brown bill, Don Quixote – Paris
The middle piece, O Zlozony/O Compsite, is a beautiful work by Trisha Brown, made for the company in 2004. Bizarely it always reminds me of Ashton’s Monotones…
Australian Ballet – Rachel Rawlins and Colin Peasley bid farewell
Rawlins, 39, shared the numerous curtain calls with Colin Peasley, who must surely have broken some records for the longest full-time dancing career with one ballet company in history. His first appearance with the Australian Ballet was in Swan Lake in November 1962…
Ballet San Jose – Gala Performance – San Jose
…I’m not certain in which direction the company is headed. There is so much potential to be realised that it would be disappointing to see it ebb away.
Sean Kelly – From Ballet to Musical Theatre and Diablo Ballet’s A Swingin’ Holiday
Sean Kelly enjoyed a nearly two decades-long career as a principal dancer with Houston Ballet, and then decided to try his hand at Musical Theater. He joined the casts and/or became Dance Captain in such shows as Carousel, Swing, Moving On and Billy Elliot. He was recently in the San Francisco Bay Area to set a new holiday swing-themed premiere on Diablo Ballet…
