Dance Writer/Critic. Member of the Critics' Circle, Chairman of the Dance Section and National Dance Awards Committee. Writes for leading dance magazines & websites - in UK, Europe, USA, Japan & cyberspace. Graham is based in London.
Under are the articles written for DanceTabs. Reviews on Balletco
Ballet Hispanico – Noche Unidos, a virtual fundraiser to celebrate BHs 50th anniversary
★★★★✰ One silver lining to the pandemic has been getting to see companies online that I have been largely unfamiliar with and Ballet Hispanico is a real find…
Nederlands Dans Theater – Paul Lightfoot and Sol León lockdown streamed premieres
★★★★✰ / ★★★★★ If there have been better examples of substantial dance films made during these trying times then I have yet to see them.
Dutch National Ballet – 8 new digital works streamed to the world during lockdown
Dutch National Ballet, under director Ted Brandsen, have made a splendid response to COVID-19, streaming 8 new digital dances in the last 3 months. Graham Watts on many interesting and absorbing works, varying from ★★✰✰✰ to ★★★★★
Carlos Acosta in Lockdown
Carlos Acosta chats to Graham Watts about how things are going after his first few months at the artistic helm of Birmingham Royal Ballet & the impact that Covid-19 has had on his plans…
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Francois Rousseau and Julie Gardette – Where do the birds go? – Streamed premiere
★★★✰✰ No lockdown for Annabelle Lopez Ochoa who has just choreographed “Where do the birds go?” over five Zoom sessions with Norwegian National Ballet’s Francois Rousseau and Julie Gardette in their Oslo living room…
SystemsLAB mixed bill, curated by Freddie Opoku-Addaie – London
★★★✰✰ Featuring works by Jonzi D, Theo Inart, Becky Namgauds and the due of Ffion Campbell-Davies and tyroneisaacstuart.
EDIFICE Dance Theatre – Salomé – London
★★★✰✰ This inventive dance theatre summarises Oscar Wilde’s one-act play, which relates the Biblical story of Salomé and her unrequited feelings for Jokanaan…
Mark Bruce Company – Return to Heaven – London
★★★✰✰ Trying to understand a holistic approach to the narrative was like compiling a jigsaw where some of the pieces are missing and others don’t fit.
Scottish Dance Theatre presents Joan Clevillé – Antigone, Interrupted – London
★★★★✰ Joan Clevillé’s direction deserves much praise. A solo show for more than an hour on such an esoteric subject is a difficult framework to sustain and Clevillé’s structure is expertly paced with quick transitions and surprising interludes.
Kate Prince and Sting – Message in a Bottle – London
★★★✰✰ The idea of setting a story about a refugee family to the songs of Sting was inevitably an enforced marriage of his diverse lyrics with a narrative for which they were never intended.
Acosta Danza – Up Close bill – London
★★★✰✰ This was indeed a case of Up Close and personal with five intimate pieces variously dosed with Cuban fire and flair…
Dutch National Ballet – Frida – Amsterdam
★★★★✰ This was much more than my expectation of an update to Broken Wings. Part prequel, part sequel; it now stands proudly alone as an excellent new addition to the Dutch ballet repertoire.
Galactik Ensemble – Optraken – London
★★★✰✰ Hats in the air for these five guys from France for coming up with something new, which requires nothing but their own ability to dodge things and stay alive!
Luca Silvestrini’s Protein – The Little Prince – London
★★★★✰ Silvestrini has fashioned a striking theatrical experience in perfect harmony with this timeless story, capped by a triumphal performance in the title role.
Obituary: Jeffery Taylor, 1938 – 2019, Dancer and Critic
Jeffery Taylor, who died in the autumn, aged 81, was a professional dancer for sixteen years before going on to become a dance critic. Graham Watts on the real Billy Elliot…
Book – Royal Academy of Dance: Celebrating 100 Years
The achievements of RAD over the past hundred years are brought together in an impressive new book, published this month…
New Adventures – Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes – London
★★★★★ …this revival of The Red Shoes, coming with a number of tweaks, appears even tighter and slicker than the original.
English National Ballet – The Nutcracker – London
★★★✰✰ Having premiered in 2010, it is now two years’ past the median lifespan of an ENB Nutcracker and – despite many attributes – the show has reached its sell-by date.
Film: Kes Reimagined, by Jonathan Watkins
★★★★✰ In Watkins’ choreography and MacGibbon’s mastery of camera angles and close-ups the narrative is crystal clear.
Madhavi Mudgal – Vistar – London
★★★✰✰ There is a mannered and refined gentility in the movement style; bodies and arms beautifully shaped with the eloquent symmetry of body bends…
