First some housekeeping: I saw the first night of "Terra", which was a preview - the press night is the third performance (25 February). So see this as impressions of the show, and when I see "Terra" again, towards the end of the run, I'll update.
Author - Bruce Marriott
★★★✰✰ When I think of Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) under David Bintley I think of tradition with a capital T and the latest double bill underlines that in spades.
Award winning Mark Bruce has just unveiled his latest work - The Odyssey - based on Homer's epic poem. But circumstances around the premiere have put the company through their own testing odyssey, if we were tantalised and enthralled by what we saw...
★★★★✰ DanceTabs reviewed the Scottish Ballet premiere of Cinderella and now we catch up with the last show of the season - which also happened to be Eve Mutso's last performance with the company.
Yet again the Trocks had a fabulous critical reception during their Autumn UK tour and mentioned in nearly every review was Chase Johnsey, or in Trocks speak their petite ballerina Yakatarina Verbosovich. So what makes Chase/Yakatarina tick? Time for an interview...
Birmingham Royal Ballet have been celebrating the Silver Anniversary of Sir Peter Wright's great Nutcracker production and the company's move to Birmingham that same year.
Seeing Northern Ballet's Nutcracker is a lot like going to a favourite local trattoria. It's not incredibly fancy but the base ingredients are rather good - in this case the dancers and music...
Transfigured Night is a piece I could watch many times and find new things in...
A good night, illustrated by 24 pictures in total - a full gallery scattered amongst the text...
I rather warm to the Nureyev Romeo - its the big gory sweep of it, with more focus on the family feuding and a cinematic approach.
"I Loved You & I Loved You" feels a particularly grown-up work of dramatic substance - it has something to say about somebody real and says it most eloquently.
Some partnership work because the dancers are so different and others, as here, work because they share a style and approach - unaffected, nuanced, true and richly musical.
Scottish Ballet's autumn bill is an uplifting affair with everything on it new to the company...
So a tip to the wise up front - see them in London while you can or catch them on their subsequent UK tour....
It's a significant accomplishment - Watkins has really marked his card.
I'm rather conflicted about the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) La Bayadere. On the one hand I recognise some great dancers and dancing when I see it and on the other hand none of it really added up to create a truly satisfying whole.
The overall standard of dancing of both NEBT and guests was very good - if the choreography was rather more mixed.
This is not a show for the dance-studious, looking to discover a Mexican Balanchine or Forsythe, but a colourful and spectacular entertainment and I loved it - it's stampiliciously good!
I thought this year's Royal Ballet School (RBS) performance on the main Royal Opera House stage was pretty damn' good.
David Bintley's Sylvia is a great piece of classical dance and escapist fun.