Iceland Dance Company are about to present the UK premiere of Sacrifice at London's Royal Festival Hall - so an excellent time to catch up with Erna Ómarsdóttir, their choreographing director...
Author - Bruce Marriott
★★★✰✰ I went to Bristol to catch Coppelia and the specific lead casting of Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton - who have now totally transitioned from being rising stars to fully risen Principals.
★★★★✰ This little trip made it abundantly clear we need to see more Ratmansky in the UK and Europe...
★★★★✰ This year's Images Ballet Company is 8 strong, small in the graduate school scheme of things, and yet their show was one of the most exciting I've seen in years with a wonderful and eclectic choice of repertoire, danced with passion and verve.
★★★✰✰ At the end of the evening was what you might call the blockbuster piece of the tour - 30 minutes of Matthew Bourne in the form of Act II of his "Highland Fling". Bourne's take on "La Sylphide" is a wonderful piece of work, full of wit, style and pathos...
★★★★✰ ...I was again struck by just how effortlessly a story can be communicated and emotions laid bare by ballet - it was a triumph.
We talk to two of the three artistic directors of Nora about what makes them tick and touring their latest bill - "Nora invites Aggiss, Burrows, Fargion and Tanguy".
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer Competition is unique in British ballet in throwing the spotlight on more junior dancers or “tomorrow’s stars” as ENB put it. This year's competition is on the 25 May and ahead of the that we talk to 4 of the 6 finalists - Isabelle Brouwers, Rina Kanehara, Madison Keesler and Guilherme Menezes...
★★★✰✰ The South tour is particularly interesting this year because it features a new piece by Ruth Brill, a first artist within the company, and this is her first major commission.
★★★★✰ Each Other makes you reflect and think - and it deserves to be seen much more widely.
★★★★✰ This is Northern Ballet firing on all dramatic cylinders - a fine show made great by the entire company.
After a few years below the radar Vanessa Fenton has been quietly bouncing back choreographically and this month presented her own double bill at Siobhan Davies Dance Studies and once again contributed a piece to the Royal Ballet's latest Draft Works bill.
★★★✰✰ Overall I came away impressed by an intelligent multimedia show that really makes you think about your views and how they have been influenced by what you see and hear...
★★★★✰ Tree of Codes ...shows McGregor as an out-and-out showman who dazzles us senseless with design, music, dancers and dance. I'm not sure if he really planned it that way, but I'll take it every time.
★★★✰✰ It's rather a scandal that Ballet Black get no regular Arts Council support and yet proportionally they do far more to put new work out there and also before a public that is not your usual ballet crowd.
Julie Cunningham on Twitter www.rambert.org.uk Julie Cunningham and Company make their debut at the Barbican Theatre on the 8-11 March 2017. Full Details A busy time for Julie Cunningham – this last year she has become Rambert’s first Leverhulme Choreography Fellow and this week unveils her own company in performances at the Barbican. But Cunningham has always been busy since...
★★★✰✰ The one thing you can be assured of when you step over the threshold of the Place's Resolution season is surprise.
★★★✰✰ Material Man redux is a fascinating work that combines disparate dance styles and commonwealth history into a seamless piece of work that really makes you think about where we have come from and might go.
Founded eight years ago Hagit Yakira Dance are steadily becoming more widely known as they tour increasingly - which is what they are currently doing. We have a word with the boss about this particular tour and her approach to creating accessible and entertaining work...
Tanzania-based Circus of the Senses are presenting their internationally-toured Mother Africa at London's Peacock in February/March. We have a word with dancer and choreographer Noluyanda Mqulwana (Nolly)...