One feels as Débussy did when he wrote, at the end of the nineteenth century, that “amid too many silly ballets, Lalo’s Namouna is something of a masterpiece.”
Reviews
Reviews of Dance and Ballet Performances
This company is the definition of esprit de corps, period.
Despite many memorable highlights ...I felt frequently as if an interloper in someone else’s conversation, one taking place in a language that I only barely understood.
The National Ballet of Panama recently put on Coppelia, staged by Vasily Medvedev over from St Petersburg. Margaret Willis was there for DanceTabs and we have lots of pictures of a colourful production:
Still / Current is a marvellously evocative title for Maliphant’s work, capturing the mercurially elusive quality of his choreography and his own dancing. And the good news is that Maliphant is back on stage...
So Reflections could have a lot resting on it, if the eventual tryptich is to be a 21st century equivalent of Balanchine’s Jewels...
Jeu de Cartes, by Peter Martins, is jaunty and busy, a cross between the pas de deux in Balanchine’s Rubies, the trios in Danses Concertantes, and the non-stop action of Martins’ Fearful Symmetries....
It's especially challenging for the Royal Ballet, whose repertoire and style are built on the subtle understatement of Frederick Ashton and the deep psychological explorations of Kenneth MacMillan: hot-blooded Latin exuberance is not really their thing...
An imaginatively contrasting double-bill, it pulled in audiences and left them buzzing.
Sensitive acting and nuanced dancing by the entire cast contribute immensely to the production.
'Necessity, Again' ends the programme on a high. Kylian’s 'Indigo Rose' is an effective opener, provided you don’t find yourself asking why he made the choices he did.
In short, it was foot-tapping fun!
What most struck me on this particular evening was the transparency, and clarity of intention, that marked each work.
Dance Odysseys at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival with reviews on 20 dance works by Scottish Ballet, Scottish Dance Theatre, Gelabert Azzopardi Companyia de Dansa, James Cousins and Rosie Kay. Also thoughts on 4 rare films and links to much video material and many other reviews. It's big!
The most successful pieces of the evening are – perhaps not coincidentally – those least directly indebted to McGregor’s movement volcabulary and compositional style.
Amid all the fuss about the costumes, the choreogaphy paled... What a joy, then, to see a section of Western Symphony, with those marvelous frou-frou tutus by Karinska and that euphoric outpouring of Balanchine’s’ crisp, witty steps.
A major triumph throughout the work is a seamless integration of dance with all other theatrical elements.
This Cinderella, the hotly anticipated centerpiece of the Australian Ballet’s 2013 season, is sensationally, luxuriantly, and extravagantly beautiful...
The Contortions of Contemporary Ballet, Put to Use... for a while.
In my book nobody has ever truly rivalled Christopher Bruce in the role, either for pathos or style, but Luke Ahmet came close.