★★★✰✰ I do wonder why ENB chose this particular (acceptable but sometimes subdued) recording to stream, when we are all suffering from live performance withdrawal symptoms and this company so often produces spectacular performances, sending audiences away in raptures.
Tag - Adela Ramirez
★★★★✰ English National Ballet can once more reflect triumphally on another significant success.
Of the three Choreographics evenings to date I thought this was the best, with all the pieces feeling buffed-up, thought about and nobody making a huge wrong turn.
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
Eight paragraphs of praise and I haven’t yet mentioned Alina Cojocaru! My advice to anyone yearning to see the special beauty of ballet is simple: take any chance you can to see Cojocaru dance.
Derek Deane created a winner that always seems to sell well and which people, including me, don't grow tired of. But fill your boots this year - next year "Romeo and Juliet" returns as the ENB/RAH blockbuster
....the performance done, Muntagirov was promoted live on stage by new Director Tamara Rojo to the highest rank in the company - Lead Principal. A pleasant surprise, but in fact no surprise at all - it was only ever a question of time.
Firebird: To Williamson’s credit, the action, though baffling, never palls. He knows how to deploy a diverse cast, using an interesting vocabulary of classical ballet steps and partnering. He’s obviously fired up his dancers to commit themselves to their roles, flaunting their glitzy costumes with panache. But it’s a muddled piece, overpowered by Stravinsky’s myth-making music.