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
Emanuel Gat Dance – WORKS – London
★★✰✰✰ There are six distinct works that, taped together, form WORKS… It adds up to a beguiling, albeit uneven and often inaccessible, 70-something minutes of dance.
Northern Ballet – The Kingdom of Back, Mamela…, The Shape of Sound – London
★★★✰✰ The works offer strong contrasts between the traditional story-telling strength of Northern Ballet and more abstract thematic dance.
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance – Staging Schiele – London
★★★★✰ Jeyasingh has directed a work in which all the elements integrate seamlessly to provide a satisfying, if fleeting, picture of a life.
Birmingham Royal Ballet & Ballet Black – A Brief Nostalgia, The Suit, Nine Sinatra Songs – London
Birmingham Royal Ballet ★★★✰✰ & Ballet Black ★★★★★ The Suit rewards multiple viewings and it thoroughly merited the opportunity of the bigger platform…
ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company – Some Like It Hip Hop – London
★★★★✰ Some Like it Hip Hop is full of quirky humour, great music and dance, enjoying top-notch performances throughout the whole cast of sixteen.
Fame the Musical – London
★★★★✰ With a strong and familiar story, an excellent songbook, well performed, and a pacy theatrical momentum, it is highly recommended.
Interview: Angelin Preljocaj, Choreographer and Director
Ballet Preljocaj are about to make their long awaited return to London’s Sadler’s Wells dancing “La Fresque” – Graham Watts talks to Angelin Preljocaj about the work itself and more widely about his creative life.
Mercedes Ruiz, Eduardo Guerrero and María Moreno – Gala Flamenca – London
★★★★★ As the gala’s artistic director, Liñán brought together four great talents (three dancers and a singer), backed up by an outstanding group of musicians…
Rocío Molina – Fallen From Heaven – London
★★★★✰ Fallen From Heaven (Caido del Cielo) is referenced as the celebration of being a woman, and it is certainly all about one woman.
London Children’s Ballet – Ballet Shoes – London
★★★✰✰ The great achievement of LCB is to mount professional productions, complete with full orchestra, without charging parents for the privilege.
AVA Dance Company – ORIGINS Festival: No Woman’s Land – London
★★★★✰ Ava Dance Company’s essay on the tribulations of the Inuit people from the northern-most reaches of Canada is appropriately a mix of dance theatre and spoken text…
Ballet Black – The Suit, Ingoma – London
★★★★✰ Merging these two works onto the same bill created a powerful double-header of impressive and arresting dance theatre.
English National Ballet – Cinderella – London
★★★★✰ A spectacular show, full of colour, humour and romance…
San Francisco Ballet – The Infinite Ocean, Snowblind, Björk Ballet – London
★★★★✰ Ballet companies across the globe are in a new age of commissioning …but none can match the pioneering zeal of this, the oldest American ballet company.
Faso Danse Théâtre – Kalakuta Republik – London
★★★✰✰ Without help, which was certainly not forthcoming in the programme, most of the action was a mystery in relation to Kuti and the Kalakuta Republik.
Kiera Martin – Sadler’s Wells Wild Card series: Where Ye From – London
★★★✰✰ It was one of those evenings without an obvious beginning or end…
Carlos Acosta splendidly summed up as he collects his Critics’ Circle Services to the Arts award
I was at the recent Critics’ Circle lunch when Carlos Acosta won his latest award and was struck by Graham Watts citation – it seemed to splendidly sum up Carlos, both the man and his illustrious career… and why exactly we all admire him. BM, Ed.
English National Ballet – Emerging Dancer Competition 2019 – London
★★★✰✰ The 2019 winner is London-born Julia Conway and her success was well deserved.
Sisters Grimm – Inala – London
★★★★✰ This third iteration of Inala under the Sadler’s Wells umbrella seems refreshingly new and the abundance of goodwill promised by the Zulu title was all-pervasive.
Clod Ensemble – On The High Road – London
★★★✰✰ This is the stuff of which nightmares are made. A frightful storm from which sundry strangers take refuge to spend the night in an isolated place provides the essence of On The High Road…
