Memorable Performances of 2018 – London
Semperoper Ballett Dresden were another new visitor in the summer, with a programme of Forsythe works, some not seen here before. But Forsythe is a theme this year in himself.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Autumn delights: La fille mal gardée & The Nutcracker – London & Birmingham
★★★★✰ I look forward to the changes inevitably coming to BRB, but I can’t believe any new director will turn their back on such repertoire gems as La fille mal gardee and their Peter Wright Nutcracker.
Sujata Mohapatraa and Gauri Diwakar at Darbar 2018 – Adventures in Odissi and Kathak – London
★★★★✰ The evening allowed us to observe the differences between the expressive delicacy of the Odissi storytelling and the more expansive and speedy space-devouring moves of Kathak. Each had its distinct flavour with different qualities to enjoy.
2018 National Dance Awards – Announcement of Nominations
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle is pleased to announce the nominations for the 19th National Dance Awards…
Royal Ballet – The Unknown Soldier (premiere), Infra, Symphony in C – London
★★★✰✰ If The Unknown Soldier is dispiritingly low-key, Wayne McGregor’s Infra remains assertively bold…
Le Patin Libre – Threshold – London
★★★★✰ If there is a major difference between Le Patin Libre of 2014 and now, then surely it lies in this merger of these skaters’ extreme skills with the same elite capability in their artistic collaborators.
English National Ballet – Lest We Forget bill – London
★★★★★ “I cannot recall being so moved at a dance performance for a very long time, if ever.”
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Shantala Shivalingappa – Play – London
★★✰✰✰ Cherkaoui looks older than his years, so much so that his relationship in Play with Shivalingappa risks being unsettling. As dancers, they are no longer equals, as they must have been in 2008.
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…
Gallery – Akram Khan Company in Portraits in Otherness
Works by Ching-Ying Chien, Maya Jilan Dong, Dickson Mbi, Joy Alpuerto Ritter. Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Akram Khan Company – Xenos – London
★★★✰✰ Xenos, which apparently means “stranger” or, more aptly for this piece, “foreigner”, is a tangled mass of many things but, above all, it seems to be an essay on loneliness.
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer 2018 Competition – 5 Questions to 6 Finalists
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer Competition is unique in British ballet in throwing the spotlight on more junior dancers or “tomorrow’s stars” as ENB put it. This year’s competition is on the 11 June and ahead of the that we talk to the finalists – Precious Adams, Fernando Carratalá Coloma, Giorgio Garrett, Daniel McCormick, Francesca Velicu and Connie Vowles…
English National Ballet – Akram Khan’s Giselle – on cinema release
★★★★★ A total of 150 cinemas will show the ballet, which was filmed at the Liverpool Empire, in October 2017
Memorable Performances of 2017 – London
Head and shoulders above other new work this year was Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern for the Royal Ballet…
2017 National Dance Awards – Announcement of Nominations
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle is pleased to announce the nominations for the 18th National Dance Awards…
Darbar Festival London: Indian Adventures of Sitar and Dance bill with Mangaldas, Khoo and Banerjee
★★★★✰ The Darbar Festival has been celebrating Indian classical music for a number of years, but now at Sadler’s Wells it has an additional dance component curated by Akram Khan, showcasing different forms…
Rocio Molina – Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) – London
★★★★★ The words “90 minutes, no interval” generally fill me with dread.
