Peeping Tom – Father (Vader) – London
★★★★✰ The stand-out moments in this show came in dynamic bursts of extraordinary movement in which the form of propulsion seemed to be any part of the body but the feet.
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.”
Boy Blue – Blak Whyte Gray – London
★★★★✰ Directed by Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy and Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, the return to the Barbican of Blak Whyte Gray, is again a triumph.
Boy Blue – A Night with Boy Blue – London
★★★✰✰ The annual celebration of all things Boy Blue fielded 138 dancers this year – Kenrick Sandy and Michael Asante’s company is one that can wow you through sheer force of numbers alone.
Will Tuckett’s Elizabeth – London
★★★★✰ Was she passionate as well as imperious? Her own letters and poems suggest so: contemporary accounts by others are not to be trusted. Her position of power in turbulent times generated a lot of fake news…
Memorable Performances of 2017 – London
Head and shoulders above other new work this year was Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern for the Royal Ballet…
Rocio Molina – Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) – London
★★★★★ The words “90 minutes, no interval” generally fill me with dread.
Gallery – Rocío Molina in Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo)
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Darren Johnston – Zero Point – London
★★✰✰✰ The show – an art installation and dance performance at once – makes heavy use of digital technology, with a range of lighting and visual illusions designed by Johnston, plus a thudding soundtrack from Canadian composer Tim Hecker.
Ballet Black – House of Dreams, Captured, Red Riding Hood – London
★★★✰✰ It’s rather a scandal that Ballet Black get no regular Arts Council support and yet proportionally they do far more to put new work out there and also before a public that is not your usual ballet crowd.
5 Questions to Julie Cunningham, about choreographing, her link to Rambert and starting her own company…
Julie Cunningham on Twitter www.rambert.org.uk Julie Cunningham and Company make their debut at the Barbican Theatre on the 8-11 March 2017. Full Details A busy time for Julie Cunningham – this last year…
Gallery – Ballet Black in House of Dreams, Captured, Red Riding Hood
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Royal Ballet / Royal Opera – Les Enfants Terribles – London
★★★✰✰ The story line becomes as labyrinthine as the ribbons of tape that criss-cross Paul’s bedroom.
Interview – Viviana Durante: Ballerina, mother, teacher and coach of MacMillan’s Anastasia
One of the leading interpreters of Kenneth MacMillan’s dramatic ballets Viviana Durante’s leaving of the Royal Ballet at the height of her powers was a sad loss to London, if the gain of those who saw her perform elsewhere all around the world. Well now she’s back at the Royal Opera House, this time to coach MacMillan’s Anastasia, which is where Jann Parry caught up with her…
Boy Blue Entertainment – A Night with Boy Blue – London
★★★✰✰ As with all such showcase events, where every last member needs his or her moment on stage, it was an enthusiastic if somewhat ramshackle affair.
Ballet Black – Cristaux, To Begin, Begin, Storyville – London
★★★★✰ I’ve long admired Ballet Black’s efforts to make ballet a more accessible art form to both dancers and audiences who’ve historically been excluded from it.
