★★★★✰ It was a fine team performance from the company but particular honours go to Momoko Hirata’s Juliet who let us know what she was thinking and feeling at every moment.
Tag - Birmingham Royal Ballet
★★★★✰ It's a better Sleeping Beauty than the Royal Ballet's, but it benefits enormously from a stellar performance at its heart, a reminder of how civilised ballet can be.
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
★★★★✰ The pairing cannily indulges our need for vivid material on these bleak mid-winter nights while also steering us down from the high of the Christmas circuit, with its sugary Nutcrackers and other family-friendly fare.
★★★✰✰ Peter Wright's glorious ballet might not shine quite so magically in its Bintley/Albert Hall version but the dancers certainly do...
Head and shoulders above other new work this year was Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern for the Royal Ballet...
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...
★★★★★ When Peter Wright’s production of The Nutcracker for the Royal Ballet was given its premiere on 20th December 1984, gala guests were treated to free champagne and souvenir booklets. No expense was spared...
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle is pleased to announce the nominations for the 18th National Dance Awards...
★★✰✰✰ Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café saves a dispiriting evening by providing nimble demi-character dancing with a timely message, first delivered nearly 20 years ago.
★★★✰✰ Aladdin never fully finds its feet, but there’s a lot to like about the show, from the cheery group numbers to the striking visuals.
Ballet Now is an initiative between Birmingham Royal Ballet and Sadler’s Wells to develop the (classical) choreographers, composers and designers of the future. It's a 5-year programme with 2 commissions each year, made possible by the Oak Foundation, matched BRB funding and driven by a Creative Consortium.
So how did a good Chilean boy end up dancing ballet in Europe...
★★★★✰ Elite Syncopations: Dancers from all five major British ballet companies took part, some doubling up roles in identical outfits so that identifying dancers was confusing. The stand-out solo in both the casts I saw was to the Calliope Rag, Monica Mason’s original role...
In the first of the mixed bills celebrating Kenneth MacMillan’s ballets, 25 years after his death, "Le Baiser de la fée" intrigued me because the questions it posed about his development as a choreographer...
Featuring dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Northern Ballet. Gallery by Dave Morgan...
Answer: "Do it!" Question: "What advice would you give to a young dancer who aspires to choreograph?"
★★★★✰ Gloria was Nixon’s first choice because he felt it showed MacMillan at his moving best. It contrasts Poulenc’s choral setting of the Latin text from the mass in praise of God with the toll of human lives in the First World War.
Scottish Ballet will be performing Kenneth MacMillan’s "Le Baiser de la fée" as part of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of his death. It will be the first revival of the ballet in 30 years - Jann Parry on the return of an important work.