Book – Peter Wright: Wrights and Wrongs – my life in dance
His is an insider’s account, complete with waspish comments and cameos of the famous people he encountered…
Wu Husheng and Qi Bingxue – Shanghai Ballet’s stars of Echoes of Eternity
After a successful season of Patrick de Bana’s Jane Eyre, back in 2013, Shanghai Ballet returns to the London Coliseum with the same choreographer’s Echoes of Eternity – we catch up with the stars of it – Wu Husheng and Qi Bingxue.
Bolshoi Ballet – Swan Lake – London
★★★✰✰ According to the programme notes for Yuri Grigorovich’s 2001 account of Swan Lake, his Prince Siegfried is a ‘ballet Lohengrin’ – a Knight of the White Swan. The production is all about him.
Gallery – Bolshoi Ballet in Swan Lake
Featuring Anna Nikulina | Ruslan Skvortsov and Olga Smirnova | Denis Rodkin. Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Australian Ballet – Swan Lake – London
★★★✰✰ Australian Ballet (AB) must surely be the only significant ballet company in the world with two Swan Lakes in their active repertoire. Strangely, the one we’ve seen before in Britain we have just been seeing again…
5 Questions to Irina Kolesnikova on her new work – “Her Name was Carmen”
St Petersburg Ballet Theatre and their lead ballerina Irina Kolesnikova return to the London Coliseum this summer and with a brand new ballet to boot – we wanted to know more…
American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake – New York
★★★✰✰ Murphy is a sensual Odette, something made all the more effective by Stearns’ tenderness.
Royal Swedish Ballet – Juliet and Romeo – Washington
★★★✰✰ The production nevertheless intrigues the eye and is fueled by the exceptional dancing of the company’s talented and dedicated dancers.
English National Ballet – Swan Lake – London
★★★★✰ The entire company looks strong and well disciplined.
New York City Ballet – Serenade, Hallelujah Junction, Duo Concertant, Western Symphony – New York
★★★★✰ Balanchine himself once said that Serenade is “many things to many people.” If it is one thing to City Ballet, it is the single ballet which they are expected to do perfectly every time.
Carlos Acosta at IDFB – A Classical Farewell – Birmingham
★★★★✰ Winks, finger wags, flamboyant leaps in a criminally short leather skirt – Carlos Acosta gives the people what they want in this winsome bill, a mix of variations he’s assembled to mark his retirement after more than 25 years on stage.
New York City Ballet – Jewels: Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds – New York
★★★✰✰ What do you do with a problem like Jewels? This 1967 blockbuster by George Balanchine is a hard one to pull off…
Northern Ballet – Swan Lake – Milton Keynes
★★★✰✰ Although David Nixon authored this ballet long before Lord Grantham was a twinkle in Julian Fellowes’ eye, it certainly provides an inkling of Swan Lake meets Downton Abbey.
The Royal Ballet’s Gary Avis & Friends – Dance for Suffolk
Led by Gary Avis and a Royal Ballet all-star cast, the company will perform an especially created programme of Royal Ballet classics, hosted by BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton du Beke.
Scottish Ballet – Swan Lake (Dawson premiere) – Glasgow
★★★✰✰ Sophie Martin’s Odette/Odille, despite the costume, steals the show with layers of dramatic nuance on top of the pushed lines of Dawson’s steps.
Bolshoi Ballet Summer Season in London 2016
Press release – 11 April 2016 Victor Hochhauser presents BOLSHOI BALLET General Director: Vladimir Urin Artistic Director: Makhar Vaziev ROYAL OPERA HOUSE Monday 25 July – Saturday 13 August 2016 The Bolshoi Ballet…
Mariinsky Ballet – Raymonda – Washington
The Mariinsky Ballet brought Raymonda to Washington where Oksana Khadarina saw the opening night and gave it ★★★. A night later the performance got ★★★★ – different ballerinas, different result…
Mariinsky Ballet – A Tribute to Maya Plisetskaya, Program B – New York
★★✰✰✰ What’s going on in the head office at the Mariinsky Ballet?
Interview: Alexander Ekman, Director / Choreographer, on Cacti and other things
One of the go-to international choreographers, particularly if you want something arresting and unusual, is Alexander Ekman. His “Cacti”, appropriately featuring a stage full of Cacti, is about to be presented by Royal New Zealand Ballet and Sydney Dance Company – Valerie Lawson catches up with a dance maverick…
