Mariinsky Ballet – Swan Lake – New York
If you really think about it, Swan Lake is, for lack of a better phrase, an odd duck…
English National Ballet – Swan Lake (Cojocaru / Vasiliev) – London
It is the final act that brings out the best in them. Vasiliev is abject, Cojacaru is truly touching, despairing and resolutely resolved to die.
Scottish Ballet – The Nutcracker – Edinburgh
… what a Nutcracker Scottish Ballet now have – focused on the joy of children, the delight of dance and the wonder of magic and great design.
Matthew Bourne / New Adventures – Edward Scissorhands – London
Though it has a downbeat ending, Bourne raises audiences’ spirits with cheerily choreographed curtain calls, a heavenly chorale and drifting snowflakes.
Suzanne Farrell Ballet – Swan Lake, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Allegro Brillante, The Concert – Washington
It’s hard to imagine a better program to showcase the power of ballet as an expressive art than Suzanne Farrell Ballet’s impressive offering for its annual season at the Kennedy Center.
24th International Ballet Festival of Havana, 2014
This time, I made 15 trips to the theatres – there were performances at 5pm and 9pm each day – and saw 82 different full-length ballets or extracts in the eight days I was in Havana.
Polish Dance Platform – Lublin 2014
A first for DanceTabs in covering the Polish Dance Platform event – 3 days of contemporary dance and big thinking in Lublin. Lucy Ribchester, who has covered much dance at the Edinburgh festivals, reports on a wide ranging event…
Boston Ballet – Swan Lake – Boston
At my first performance, Ashley Ellis was a first-rate Odette/Odile, giving a nearly flawless performance. (I’m assuming that flawless performances transpire only in Heaven or some other extraterrestial locale.)
English National Ballet – Swan Lake – Milton Keynes
Eight paragraphs of praise and I haven’t yet mentioned Alina Cojocaru! My advice to anyone yearning to see the special beauty of ballet is simple: take any chance you can to see Cojocaru dance.
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…
American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake, Bach Partita, Seven Sonatas, Fancy Free – Brisbane
No-one could fail to be impressed by the versatility of ABT’s dancers and by the diverse repertoire they brought. They did themselves, their company and their country proud.
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.
Mariinsky Ballet – Swan Lake, Stepanova/Parish cast – London
Xander Parish, making his British debut at Saturday’s matinee, proved that he has been transformed into a true Mariinsky prince. His achievement is a reproach to the Royal Ballet, who failed to value him as a danseur noble.
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.
Bolshoi Ballet – Swan Lake – New York
It is even more disappointing that the troupe should open its run with a Swan Lake so lackluster… It’s not the dancers’ fault. At every level, the Bolshoi dancers move with thrilling force and fullness.
Shiori Kase – First Soloist, English National Ballet
5 Questions to Shiori Kase. ENB soloist Shiori Kase is on a roll – only yesterday promoted to First Soloist (as of September), she’s just won a Gold Medal at the prestigious Jackson International Ballet Competition in the USA and is about to make her debut in Coppelia…
