Perm Ballet – Serenade, Concerto Barocco, The Second Detail – Paris
The Perm Ballet has become a regular fixture in France over the past six years… the company embarks every winter on a countrywide tour akin to a Ballets Russes expedition. This year, they visited 19 different venues…
Ethan Stiefel is standing down as Royal New Zealand Ballet Artistic Director after just 3 years
A shame – not long for either him or the company to know one another. Three years is not the normal tenure for being artistic director of a company – 5 would be…
Mariinsky Ballet – Swan Lake – Washington
The formula for the success of the Mariinsky’s Swan Lake is simple. The love story between a beautiful young woman turned into a swan and a prince is told in a direct, traditional manner. There is no symbolism or hidden meaning here, no exaggeration or melodrama.
National Dance Awards 2013 – Leanne Benjamin and Matthew Bourne’s citations for outstanding achievement in dance
At Monday’s National Dance Awards two de Valois awards were given for outstanding achievement in dance. Here are Graham Watts citations for Leanne Benjamin and Matthew Bourne, as given on the day.
David Hallberg with Australian Ballet – Cinderella – Sydney
…Hallberg’s entrance drew gasps and shouts of ‘bravo’ from the audience. His magnificently stretched jetés soared through the air…
Martha Clarke Takes on Colette’s Chéri + Herman Cornejo interview
Novels are treacherous terrain for choreographers. So much of what draws us into a book and imprints itself in our imagination …is almost impossible to convey in the language of the body.
Matthew Bourne / New Adventures – Swan Lake – London
I’m not ashamed to admit to a tear in my eye at the final curtain…
Company XIV – Nutcracker Rouge – New York
If you think about it, Nutcracker lends itself quite naturally to an erotic treatment. Coming of age story, voyage of discovery, fantasy playground filled with tantalizing delights
Russian State Ballet of Astrakhan – Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet – Guildford
As its whistle-stop tour drew to its final week, the Russian State Ballet settled down for three consecutive days at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.
Ballet San Jose – 2013 Benefit Gala – San Jose
This was an evening not to be missed. Newly appointed Artistic Director, José Manuel Carreño, made sure that the quality of the eighteen guest artists for Ballet San Jose’s Gala Performance would tantalise even the most skeptical dance fan.
Boston Ballet – La Bayadere – Boston
As for the whole ballet, it’s a 19th century expression of the racist Orientalist view that says India is a land of groveling slaves and despotic rajahs, unbridled lust and pervasive corruption, abundant opium and yielding odalisques. …Once past all that, however, it’s a lavish and thrilling spectacle with abundant pleasures for eye and ear.
Matthew Bourne / New Adventures – Sleeping Beauty – New York
For all Bourne’s imagination, his version makes even less sense than the original.
City Contemporary Dance Company – It’s My Turn showcase – Hong Kong
It’s My Turn is the 2013 edition of City Contemporary Dance Company’s annual showcase for new choreography… Although this wasn’t a vintage year, all four pieces offered something to enjoy…
Smuin Ballet – XXtremes: Seiwert, Kylian and Smuin bill – San Francisco
Earlier this month Smuin Ballet danced their XXtremes bill in San Francisco with works by Amy Seiwert, Jiri Kylian and Michael Smuin. Aimée Tsao with thoughts on the bill and where the company might be heading…
San Francisco Ballet – From Foreign Lands, Beaux, Classical Symphony and Symphonic Dances – New York
In its second mixed bill here in New York, San Francisco Ballet once again impressed with its vitality and the depth of its bench, as well as with its pleasantly unified look.
Susan Jones – Ballet Mistress, American Ballet Theatre
My father asked my original teacher in Rockville, Ms. Hood, whether it was viable for me to become a dancer, and she said she thought I could, even though I wasn’t blessed with beautiful legs and feet. But I had a lot of other assets…
New York City Ballet – Spectral Evidence, Soirée Musicale, Namouna – New York
One feels as Débussy did when he wrote, at the end of the nineteenth century, that “amid too many silly ballets, Lalo’s Namouna is something of a masterpiece.”
Michaela DePrince – Junior Company, Dutch National Ballet
An interview with Michaela DePrince ex Dance Theatre of Harlem and now with the Junior Company of Dutch National Ballet. Marina Harss talks to her about life and motivations and, inevitably, about DePrince often being a different colour to most other dancers on ballet stages and the issues around that…
Dance Odysseys at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival – 4 days of total dance immersion with Scottish Ballet and others…
Dance Odysseys at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival with reviews on 20 dance works by Scottish Ballet, Scottish Dance Theatre, Gelabert Azzopardi Companyia de Dansa, James Cousins and Rosie Kay. Also thoughts on 4 rare films and links to much video material and many other reviews. It’s big!
