Staatsballett Berlin – La Bayadère (premiere of Ratmansky reconstruction) – Berlin
★★★★✰ In the last several years, the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has developed a sideline to his main choreographic efforts: the reviving of ballets by Marius Petipa in a way that represents the original choreography with as much fidelity as possible…
American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake – New York
★★★★✰ Devon Teuscher has done her time, and the results are breathtaking…
Zurich Ballet – Swan Lake – Zurich
★★★✰✰ But, at least to my eye, the production’s triumph is its final lakeside act. There, the formations of swans, as originally choreographed by Lev Ivanov, become intricate, delicate, lyrical, and intensely moving.
Ekaterina Maximova Arabesque Ballet Competition Gala in Honour of Marius Petipa and Lev Tolstoy – Perm
The occasion was the 15th anniversary of the Ekaterina Maximova Arabesque Ballet Competition named, since 2012, after the late and much-loved Bolshoi ballerina, and organised by her husband, Vladimir Vasiliev…
Mariinsky Ballet – La Bayadѐre – Washington
★★★✰✰ Since its creation 140 years ago, La Bayadѐre has been one of the Mariinsky Ballet’s calling cards and the Russian company can make this enduring classic shine in all its stylistic glory and theatrical splendor.
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance – Bayadère: The Ninth Life – London
★★✰✰✰ …an intriguing idea inflated into unwieldy modern dance-theatre.
Washington Ballet – Les Sylphides, Le Corsaire pdd, Bolero, Prodigal Son – Washington
★★★★✰ It was a pleasure to see this company in such a smart and wide-ranging program. It was even more rewarding to see the Washington Ballet dancers masterly navigating the numerous challenges…
Interview – Catherine Turocy, artistic director of New York Baroque Dance Company
Meticulous reconstructions of Petipa, Cunningham, Graham, Taylor works are performance staples these days. Much rarer is a reconstruction like “Le Temple de la Gloire” (The Temple of Glory) a 1745 political opera-ballet with music by Jean-Philippe Rameau and a libretto by the philosopher Voltaire….
Bolshoi Ballet – Don Quixote – London
★★★★✰ The Bolshoi’s Don Quixote continues to delight for the exuberance and skill of its range of performers, with the corps de ballet and demi-soloists taking pride of place.
American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake – New York
★★★✰✰ Murphy is a sensual Odette, something made all the more effective by Stearns’ tenderness.
National Ballet of Canada – Giselle – Toronto
★★★★✰ On opening night, Svetlana Lunkina in the title role gave one of those unique performances in which the ballerina completely disappears into her heroine, putting her entire living self into the role.
American Ballet Theatre – The Sleeping Beauty – Washington
★★★★✰ “Ratmansky’s new staging is a Beauty like you have never seen before: it uncovers the original ballet’s genuine beauty, which faded over the years under the clutter of modern revisions.”
Dance Like an Egyptian – Mirò Magloire and choreographing for Aida
In the world of opera, dance has a rather low place on the totem pole. Music critics (and opera audiences) can be pretty dismissive…
American Ballet Theatre – La Bayadère – New York
But no end of fine, or even inspired, performances can breathe life into this tired production
Washington Ballet – Swan Lake – Washington
This handsomely-crafted and well-danced Swan Lake marked an important milestone for the Washington Ballet and proved a huge achievement for its artistic director Septime Webre.
American Ballet Theatre – Cinderella – Washington
Both nights that I attended were blessed with an exquisite Cinderella. Gillian Murphy gave this production a beating heart with her tenderly expressive and incisive performance…
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
Septime Webre – Artistic Director, Washington Ballet
We catch up with Septime Webre, choreographer and artistic director of Washington Ballet. So what makes him get up in the morning? Oksana Khadarina finds out…
