This is as powerful as dance theatre gets and a bill that connects and chimes with us all.
Archive - November 2013
In this programme we got some shiny new toys, maybe quirkier than we imagined, but some definitely to keep and treasure.
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.
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.
They say of designer Paul Smith that his style is 'classic with a twist' and the same might often be said of Michael Clark - classical (ballet) steps with a twist or...
Someone wise once said that the journey is as important as the destination...
At times the choreography doesn't seem to fit this space... Nonetheless, the dancers do a remarkable job with what they are given.
...very definitely worth catching for an energetic and engrossing evening of dance.
The fact that the company’s 30-piece orchestra was there accompanying the dancers helped elevate the atmosphere to something special.
So the company showed well enough to save the afternoon – but how much better they would look in a stronger piece.
Throughout the piece, Bourne’s choreography is highly theatrical and vigorous but only intermittently compelling ...the chief pleasure of the evening was the highly-spirited and convincing performance of the entire cast.
L’Allegro, with its painterly tableaux, classical references, and unselfconscious evocations of sex and death, feels both ancient - almost pagan - and perfectly of our time...
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou...
The gulf between commercial dance – the kind one sees in TV ads, music videos, and on shows like So You Think You Can Dance – and theatrical dance is disconcerting....
Phoenix Dance Theatre are part way through their Autumn "Particle Velocity" tour - Paul Arrowsmith caught up with them in London at their Royal Opera House Linbury performances...
Reid Anderson can certainly pick dancers and choreographers in the making. We really do need to see Stuttgart Ballet more often in order to keep up with his discoveries.
...offered a perfect Balanchine sampler, bringing together an assortment of ballets, full of unexpected juxtapositions, from very different periods of the choreographer’s long career.
No sets – just glorious lighting designs playing essential roles in the performances.
Funding is my biggest frustration. Compared to others, we receive peanuts. We have to strip everything back. That can be healthy – forcing me to scrutinise why I want something and concentrating on production values.
"Today I’d like to talk, rather than whinge, about responsibility and communication..."