Birmingham Royal Ballet's new Nutcracker streaming is very much about investing in company and student dancers (from the Royal Ballet School and Elmhurst Ballet School) at the most difficult of times for the performing arts.
Features
Features and previews about Dance and Dancing
It all started promisingly... And then there was lockdown and everything stopped. We had no idea of how events would play out. Surely this was going to be just for a couple of months?
There’s no way around it: it’s been a miserable year for the performing arts here in the US... But still, there were highlights, moments in which for whatever reason, some spark illuminated the soul...
Amy Pearl's lockdown has been defined by NDT who she saw in NY just before lockdown and just caught up with again as they danced live at their home theatre for the first time and streamed the show to the world - a show which included a world premiere by Medhi Walerski and work by Crystal Pite...
Bruce Marriott, seeing live work for the first time in months, chose to dive in to an evening of new Birmingham Royal Ballet works including a world premiere - Will Tuckett's Lazuli Sky. He was glad he did...
There was a rush of emotion at seeing these extraordinary dancers doing the thing they do best. Their energy, precision, and drive, the way they change the space around them, is inspiring...
This three-hour compilation of dance films, interviews and discussions celebrates Akram Khan's burning desire to speak out to a wide audience in the occasion of his company's 20th anniversary.
David Gordon has been collaging past choreography and present variations, text and narration, video and photographs and graphic arts, personal and cultural history for so long that it is no surprise he was perfectly positioned to make something truly involving under lock down...
David McAllister, about to step down as the artistic director of Australian Ballet, has just released his memoir and it proves enlightening and candid reading about both the company and the man himself...
As lockdown eases ballet is getting out of streaming from living rooms and into the big wide world - Jann Parry looks at six happenings/films involving dancers from Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet & The Royal Ballet
New York City Center is streaming some ballet master classes, curated and hosted by Alastair Macaulay, and involving Misty Copeland, Sara Mearns and Tiler Peck. The coaches/guests include Nina Ananiashvili, Merrill Ashley, Alessandra Ferri, Stephanie Saland and Pam Tanowitz.
The six films in the 40th anniversary celebration provide tantalising glimpses of Amici's considerable back catalogue, which includes short works as well as major productions...
"If you missed 'Men at the Barre - Inside the Royal Ballet': a look behind the scenes at the male ballet dancers in the company, then do take the time to catch up on BBC iPlayer."
Kenneth MacMillan's Mayerling in new Jürgen Rose designs - "I am not reviewing the recording so much as commenting on the differences between Stuttgart Ballet's 2019 production and the Royal Ballet's version that dates back to the ballet's premiere in 1978..."
Feature – Ashton Rediscovered Masterclass: Voices of Spring, coached by Merle Park and Wayne Eagling
For anyone with an interest in the machinations of bringing a difficult pas de deux to performance standard, this was an experience to cherish.
To say Carnival can be an all-consuming celebration of life seems something of an understatement for some communities and nations. Susanna Sloat with a lively and detailed account of a recent Eastern Caribbean jaunt to Guadeloupe. And the spelling? Well, it’s always Carnaval in Guadeloupe...
Released on the 13 March 2020, CUNNINGHAM, the new film about Merce Cunningham, has sadly emerged into a COVID-19 locked down world – but Jann Parry makes a compelling case for seeing it sooner rather than later and CUNNINGHAM is currently available to see at home in many formats.
'X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes' is a well overdue exhibition profiling the groundbreaking work of the radical 1970’s dance collective, X6. The group of revolutionary dance practitioners sought dance liberation through redefining the body in dance while documenting that process through writing a magazine...
Lynette Halewood with some reflections on London dance performances over the last year - the good and the less good...
I don’t really believe in lists, but it’s admittedly fun to look back over the year and reflect on moments that have stayed with me. So here they are, in no particular order…