Along the way, the show strings together some memorably ravishing songs and knock-out dance numbers while having fun...
Archive - May 2013
The Smuin Ballet’s current season, Spring Bouquet, has one remarkable flower at its center. The ballet’s title, Petal, hardly does it justice in this metaphor since the work is far beyond the sum of its botanical parts.
Picture above is from
Dave Morgan: Alina Cojocaru Gala – Preparations and Rehearsals – 30 pictures
These are pics of the preparations and practise runs in the afternoon before the show. Many thanks to Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg for allowing us access.
In fact delight was the keynote of the whole evening ...I was very happy to see the whole company reclaiming their 'joy in dancing', the Bournonville essence which is fundamentally what keeps these old ballets alive.
Chroma: Perhaps it’s meant as a kind of sherbet to clear the palate between the Balanchine pieces... In short, I found the ballet dazzling but soulless.
But 'A Place for Us' (new Wheeldon) feels like a bauble, not quite a jewel.
It is a mixed experience: too long and overworked in places, a dark vision, unevenly realised, with some striking and chilling moments.
Christopher Wheeldon's new Cinderella for San Francisco Ballet is spied in 2 more casts by Aimée Tsao. Some nice dancing but still rather an OTT Broadway-style extravaganza.
The title of Kate Prince’s latest extravaganza is way too modest. On the basis of the universal adulation pouring from this audience, not just at the end but throughout the show, it would appear that EVERYONE likes it hip hop.
Pictures by Dave Morgan...
...the crowds – from the six-year-old toprocking on stage for a prize t-shirt to the octogenarian gentleman seated next to me in polite raptures – were most definitely entertained.
I hope ENB do lots more short and sweet choreographic initiatives to real audiences. Well done all, great to have a go - now do more.
5 Questions for Cathy Marston as she and Bern Ballett, the company she directs, prepare to show their latest work, Witch-hunt, at London's Royal Opera House...
5 Questions to Sarah Crompton about her new book "Sadler's Wells - Dance House"
20 pictures by Dave Morgan...
A delightful production, on this occasion, there was the added excitement that the two principals, Maria Shirinkina and Vladimir Shklyarov, husband and wife, were performing the ballet together for the first time.
If extravagant productions are the way to bring in new audiences and fill the till then they are justified for those reasons alone. However, they don’t necessarily leave a rich legacy for future generations.
It is rare to find a dance company that articulates a new movement methodology but that is exactly what the Montreal-based RUBBERBANDance Group have developed over the past ten years.
This is the 19th LCB production and a remarkable total of 7,500 children have auditioned over this time, with just 669 making it into the company...
A hit with me and I'm so glad it's a great success in the company's home and a great calling card for touring. It's a particularly useful broadening of Scottish Ballet's repertoire.