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…
American Ballet Theatre – Giselle – Washington
★★★★✰ I saw two performances; each of them demonstrated why Giselle is still so popular even 180 years after the ballet’s premiere.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaker / Rosas – Mitten Wir in Leben Sind – New York
★★★✰✰ The dance is spare and pedestrian, as is De Keersmaeker’s way, and lasts two hours, without intermission. And yet it’s not really a challenge to experience it all in one sitting.
San Francisco Ballet – Program 2, Classical Re(Vision) bill – San Francisco
★★★★✰ San Francisco Ballet’s Program 2 was dubbed Classical Re(Vision) – a remembering of and reconnection with choreography in SFB’s existing repertory catalogue.
Russell Maliphant – Maliphantworks3: The Space Between, Film One & Two, Duet – London
★★★★✰ In this magical programme of two duets and two short films, Maliphant is investigating weightlessness – not so much defying gravity as conjuring its non-existence.
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.
New York City Ballet – Classic NYCB I including Haieff Divertimento & Episodes – New York
★★★★✰ The four ballets make for a slightly over-long evening (both Episodes and Rodeo are substantial works). But it’s a small price to pay for seeing these rarities back onstage.
The National Ballet of Canada – The Sleeping Beauty – Washington
★★★★✰ …undoubtedly one of the most visually stunning and dramatically meaningful Beauties you will ever find.
Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker – Cāo Sem Plumas – New York
★★✰✰✰ At times the striking images and lithe, hyper-flexible dancers are enough to seduce the eye. But Cāo Sem Plumas is a frustrating piece, in which the live dancing is overshadowed by film…
Tsveta Doycheva – Hang in There – Sofia
★★★✰✰ Doycheva’s first project explores a complex topic – the long-lasting trauma of gender-based physical violence.
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!
Ballet Icons Gala 2020 – London
★★★★✰ The annual Icons gala provides the chance to see dancers who don’t often appear in London…
New York City Ballet – Voices (new Ratmansky), and New Combinations bill – New York
★★★★✰ There was always something new around the corner, a surprising shape, a witty step, an unlikely transition. It’s clear that Ratmansky felt liberated by the unusual structure and soundscape…
New York City Ballet – All Balanchine: Allegro Brillante, La Source, Firebird – New York
★★★★✰ How is the company looking? …the company looks good so far.
The National Ballet of Canada – Works by Forsythe, Kylián and Ratmansky – Washington
★★★✰✰ The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, the opening dance of the first program, is Forsythe burrowing into the neoclassical cannon and a nod to the style and traditions of George Balanchine.
New York City Ballet – Stravinsky & Balanchine bill – New York
★★★★✰ New York City Ballet is off to a fine start when it opens the winter season with a very well-danced all Balanchine, all Stravinsky program.
Scottish Ballet – The Snow Queen – Glasgow
★★★★✰ Bruce Marriott takes a second look at Scottish Ballet’s new Christmas hit – one day, two shows, many different dancers…
Rambert – Aisha and Abhaya – London
★★✰✰✰ Rambert dancers on stage perform with great energy and commitment but the whole thing doesn’t manage to live up to its ambitious objectives…
Royal Ballet – Onegin – London
★★★★✰ The ballet works as a conflicted love story centred on the heroine, Tatiana. When Natalia Osipova dances the role, she brings home how Russian the character is.
Gregory Maqoma – Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro – New York, Joyce Theater
★★★★✰ The dance style is a fusion of many elements of South African dance, other African and African diaspora influences, and modern and postmodern dance. It can be both liquid and percussive and has a complexity that is hard to take apart.
