★★★★★ That BRB managed to get this on at all is a small miracle - and the undiminished determination with which the dancers attack their work inspires passion in us all.
Tag - Birmingham Royal Ballet
★★★✰✰ Carlos Acosta, ten months in to his directorship of BRB, has provided it with a mixed bunch of shoots for a fresh start. Their first flowering may have been cut short by the closure of theatres but the company has already shown its resilience, and will do so again...
Bruce Marriott, seeing live work for the first time in months, chose to dive in to an evening of new Birmingham Royal Ballet works including a world premiere - Will Tuckett's Lazuli Sky. He was glad he did...
★★✰✰✰ Strasbourg 1518 has been lauded as 'head buttingly confrontational' and an original 'dance for today'. It isn't. Familiar Bausch tropes don't really reflect 1518's psychogenic mania, which was communal, or today's experience of isolation, stress and tedium.
Carlos Acosta chats to Graham Watts about how things are going after his first few months at the artistic helm of Birmingham Royal Ballet & the impact that Covid-19 has had on his plans...
★★★✰✰ Giselle was the first full-length classical ballet that Arthur Mitchell's company of black American dancers would perform. He thought there would be no point in their pretending to be Rhineland peasants, so decided to set the 19th century ballet in pre-Civil War Louisiana.
★★★✰✰ This was indeed a case of Up Close and personal with five intimate pieces variously dosed with Cuban fire and flair...
★★★★✰ In spite of all the problems with performing a proscenium arch ballet in an arena setting with a purpose-built stage, it is no less magical than any other production and in some ways, it works advantageously.
Lynette Halewood with some reflections on London dance performances over the last year - the good and the less good...
★★★★✰ The dancing is so enjoyable, the comedy so appealing, that any flaws in the story telling are easily overlooked.
★★★★✰ ...exemplary performances from Momoko Hirata as Giselle and César Morales as Albrecht make for a richly rewarding and moving experience.
★★★✰✰ The Washington Ballet opened its season with a program of new works created specifically for the company. All three ballets ...had a strong visual appeal and plenty of winning ideas...
Birmingham Royal Ballet ★★★✰✰ & Ballet Black ★★★★★ The Suit rewards multiple viewings and it thoroughly merited the opportunity of the bigger platform...
★★★✰✰ In the event, the levels of polish and invention were quite remarkable given the circumstances.
★★★★✰ The choice of works emphasised ensembles more than individuals. It was interesting to see large numbers of young men dancing together, as well as a more usual female corps de ballet.
This years Yorkshire Ballet Seminars take place from 13 July to 2 August 2019 – time for a word with Director Iain Mackay about what makes them so special and his plans…
The Young Talent Festival at London's Royal Opera House included an important Symposium, hosted by Theresa Ruth Howard, under the title "Exposure, Access and Opportunity: Exploring the Cultural Barriers to Ballet." Deborah Weiss with a comprehensive report on a stimulating event...
★★★✰✰ The great achievement of LCB is to mount professional productions, complete with full orchestra, without charging parents for the privilege.
★★★★✰ Big-hearted, whimsical, suffused with equal parts romance and drollness, Hobson’s Choice is a gem of the BRB repertoire – long may it keep being revived.
★★★★✰ Royal Ballet School at the ROH Young Talent Festival with a mixed bill of over 10, new and old works...