Bausch is a mystery. To some, she represents the summit of poetry and expression, worthy of a cult-like following. Clearly, these dancers derive great emotional sustenance from performing her work. And it suits them. But, with the exception of Gillot’s solo and a few moments here and there, it left me cold.
Reviews
Reviews of Dance and Ballet Performances
Seeing the programme twice confirmed my initial impression that Trespass is the best-wrought work. The other two ballets are interesting as concepts rather than as polished productions. But the programme’s emphasis on creativity and collaboration means that Monica Mason’s farewell contribution to the art form in which she has invested her considerable energy will carry on germinating ideas long...
Ould-Braham had just been made étoile and her performance seemed, to me, buoyed by an extra layer of joy and happiness. Hoffalt was completely at ease in both technique and characterization. When they celebrated their wedding onstage, the audience went crazy.
The story is clearly narrated and easy to follow. Harangozo’s choreography is proficient overall though not particularly inventive. The two pas de deux are warm though lacking emotional depth.
‘We do not describe a city’, Bausch is quoted as saying. ‘We describe the feelings we have picked up there.’
The arrival of the wilis takes one’s breath away. Not only are they individually beautiful, with their soft port-de-bras and milky-white shoulders, but they are all eerily the same, in every way: same size, same build, same arms, same tilt of the head, same gaze, same feet.
It is a fabulous evening, funny, sexy and as fast paced as a thriller. This is Bourne’s finest and most inventive work.
After the dreary bombast of Alexei Ratmansky's recent Firebird for American Ballet Theatre, the Balanchine/Robbins version, with its blessedly shorter score (Stravinsky's Firebird Suite), heavenly Chagall designs and the great Ashley Bouder in one of her first great roles, was a welcome palliative.
Nicolas Le Riche was fabulously predatory in Bolero, a raging furnace of self-love and sex appeal. One imagines that after the show he must have ravaged a hundred virgins, but maybe he simply went home and soaked his feet in the tub, but in any case, he was magnificent, good taste (and choreography) be damned.
Ten or so years ago, I was watching ABT soloist Gennadi Saveliev dance Lankendem, the red-pajamad slave-dealer in ABT's nicely condensed Le Corsaire, when he uncorked a step that made my jaw drop.
Half-hidden behind pillars or leaning against brick walls were isolated figures in Tyvek paper suits, nursing private angst, waiting their turn to claim our space. Sometimes only the dancers’ coloured outfits distinguished them from disoriented white-clad spectators, dazzled by beams of light.
With its exquisite staging, and most importantly with its understanding and respect of the Romantic ballet style, and whole-hearted dedication of the dancers to their roles, the Paris Opera Ballet demonstrated just how Giselle should be produced and performed.
All in all, this was a programme that delivered what Karen Pilkington-Miksa and her team set out to achieve for which she (and they) deserve our considerable applause. ...NEBT allows one more throw of the die but these young dancers still need a “double 6” to win contracts for more sustainable jobs.
Sampled offered smorgasbord snippets of the goodies that will be gracing the stage of Sadlers Wells Theatre this coming season. This show, like cinema trailers, entices viewers to decide what to see, or what to miss. However, there was nothing shown in Sampled that should be missed!
Pina Bausch’s particular brand of dance theatre owns many characteristics that are reiterated again and again throughout her work. The balance of these motifs changed over the years but the act of breaching the fourth wall is generally present.
Despite the moments of absolute, breath-taking beauty, there is something ultimately overworked about Terrain...
Sometimes Água’s moving images are dizzyingly beautiful, undulating palm fronds echoing the women’s waving tresses; sometimes they seem reminders that civilisation is only skin deep; or that the untamed jungle is indifferent to human concerns.
Disappointment is an inevitable part of theatre-going - I mean, how often do performances live up to our expectations? - but it is especially hard to swallow when it comes at the hands of one of the artists we most admire....
It is a fine selection which illustrates the variety of the Royal’s heritage works, which must beg the question how well are they are danced now...
Corella’s final performance alongside Paloma Herrera - theirs is an enduring partnership - was just as one would have imagined it: ardent, joyful, and full of charm. He gave and gave...