Interview: Mayara Magri, First Soloist, The Royal Ballet
Jann Parry talks to the recently promoted Mayara Magri at an important time – she is about to make her debut as Gamzatti in The Royal Ballet’s production of La Bayadere – her first major and leading role in the company she joined 6 years ago…
Dance@TheGrange – Curated by Wayne McGregor & Edward Watson – Grange Festival, Hampshire
★★★★✰ McGregor’s company dancers (in Bach Forms) brought a surging energy, buoying up jewel-like moments from the Royal Ballet stars…
Royal Ballet – Opening the New bill – Hull
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet’s away-day to Hull, this year’s UK Capital of Culture, was dramatic in its scale: 17 pieces presented over three hours…
New York City Ballet – Spring Gala with Odessa, Ratmansky premiere – New York
★★★✰✰ With only four works, no intermissions and a run time of less than two hours, New York City Ballet’s Spring Gala was short and to the point.
Royal Ballet – Flight Pattern (premiere), After the Rain, The Human Seasons – London
Flight Pattern: ★★★★★, After the Rain: ★★★✰✰, Human Seasons: ★★✰✰✰. Like Gorecki, Crystal Pite has created a memorable and moving work full of meaning…
Gallery – Royal Ballet in Human Seasons, After the Rain, Flight Pattern
The Royal Ballet in perhaps the most eagerly anticipated premiere of the season – Crystal Pite’s “Flight Pattern”. Also on the bill are Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” and David Dawson’s “Human Seasons”. Dave Morgan was at the photocall for us…
Wendy Whelan & Brian Brooks – Some of a Thousand Words – New York
★★★✰✰ Over two years after her retirement from New York City Ballet, Wendy Whelan remains a sight to behold.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet – Gutter Glitter, So Not A…, Star Dust – New York
★★✰✰✰ Slated as a “rock opera style production” created in the late David Bowie’s honour, Star Dust is a lengthy, razzle dazzle suite of dances set to Bowie’s most popular tunes.
Jessica Lang Dance – Thousand Yard Stare, Solo Bach, Among the Stars, Sweet Silent Thought, i.n.k. – New York
★★★✰✰ The beefiest work on the program was a New York premiere, Thousand Yard Stare, a work honoring war veterans…
Australian Ballet – Symphony in C, divertissements and new works bill – Sydney
★★★✰✰ The first thing to say about Symphony in C is that the Australian Ballet’s corps and soloists had been rehearsed and coached with technical perfection in mind and there was little to fault with their execution of the steps.
Australian Ballet – Forgotten Land, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and DGV: Danse a grande vitesse – Sydney
★★★★✰ In music, mood and dynamics the Australian Ballet’s new triple bill, Vitesse, represents three elements, water, fire and air.
Ave Maya Gala in Memory of Maya Plisetskaya – London
★★★✰✰ Every gala needs a revelation, and this one was provided by Sergio Bernal, a Spanish dancer who dominated the stage in an imperious farruca solo from Antonio’s flamenco version of The Three Cornered Hat…
New York City Ballet – Works By Balanchine, Martins, Peck and Wheeldon – Washington
★★★✰✰ The first of two mixed programs that New York City Ballet presented at the Kennedy Center Opera House in March offered a wide variety of works…
Royal Ballet – Wheeldon bill: Strapless, After the Rain, Within the Golden Hour – London
★★★✰✰ Wheeldon’s talents are on display, as well as the Royal Ballet’s dancers. A pity, then, that Strapless has been exposed without previews to sort out its weaknesses.
Gallery – Royal Ballet Wheeldon bill – Strapless, After the Rain, Within the Golden Hour
Gallery by Dave Morgan…
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Toccata, After the Rain pdd, Awakening, Revelations – New York
Every fall, just after Thanksgiving, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater sets up shop at City Center, as sure a sign of the season as Christmas carols at the grocery store.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Exodus bill – New York
Harris’s Exodus, on the other hand, felt just right. Like so many pieces in the Ailey repertory, it suggests a spiritual quest, a journey toward the light…
Alvin Ailey – Odetta, Uprising, Night Creature, Awassa Astrige/Ostrich, Bad Blood, After the Rain pas de deux, Revelations – Boston
The second night… this was by far the best program I’ve ever seen Ailey offer: five pieces, each as good as the others in its different way…
New York City Ballet – Chaconne, Interplay, After the Rain, Everywhere We Go – New York
“…it’s hard not to get the impression that New York City Ballet is on a roll.”
Ballet San Jose – 2013 Benefit Gala – San Jose
This was an evening not to be missed. Newly appointed Artistic Director, José Manuel Carreño, made sure that the quality of the eighteen guest artists for Ballet San Jose’s Gala Performance would tantalise even the most skeptical dance fan.
