★★★★✰ Now that we are all one more Nutcracker nearer death, as weary critic Richard Buckle used to bemoan, the Royal Ballet has given us a wintry bonne bouche of ballets to savour.
Tag - Anna Rose O’Sullivan
★★★★✰ Wright's ending is the best ever, preserving the assurance of the Grand pas de deux that the future must surely be blissful.
★★★✰✰ It’s fascinating to see how Balanchinean charm and wit are interpreted by dancers for whom the Balanchine repertoire is more of a foreign language.
The Metropolitan Opera in New York staged "Le Rossignol" in December 1981 as part of a programme commemorating the hundredth anniversary of Stravinsky’s birth... the producer was John Dexter. He told Ashton, back in London, that he could choreograph two dancers as the Nightingale and the Fisherman on stage, while the roles would be sung by opera singers in the orchestra pit...
★★★✰✰ Kevin O’Hare is commissioning choreographers who want to make use of what the Opera House can offer; he’s not setting out to declare where ballet ought to be heading and he’s not playing safe.
Hightlight - Yasmine Naghdi promoted to Principal dancer. Full press release with all Promotions, Joiners and Leavers
★★★★✰ The first Emeralds ballerina, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, could be a water nymph, touching the hands of her suitor, Valeri Hristov, in the opening pas de deux before drifting out of reach.
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
Four Royal Ballet dancers promoted to Principal from the start of the 2016/17 Season - Alexander Campbell, Francesca Hayward, Ryoichi Hirano and Akane Takada
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou...
Draft Works 2015 features pieces by Joshua Beamish, Valentino Zucchetti, Sander Blommaert, Erico Montes & Marcelino Sambe. Gallery by Dave Morgan...
If the choreography was a mixed bag there was a clear flip side, or rather two. This year's standard, particularly on the boys' side, gave cause for celebration at the strength on show...
This is the 19th LCB production and a remarkable total of 7,500 children have auditioned over this time, with just 669 making it into the company...