Feature - The Royal Ballet School recently danced a 'lost' Ninette de Valois ballet, "The Arts of the Theatre", reconstructed by Anna Meadmore. Jann Parry with a full report on an interesting excavation of the early days of British ballet.
Tag - Bronislava Nijinska
The Jacob’s Pillow website contains an important and incredibly diverse dance archive under the banner "Dance Interactive" - Susanna Sloat introduces an important resource and calls out many video gems...
★★★✰✰ Stunning images of Bolshoi ballerina Svetlana Zakahrova dressed as Coco Chanel whetted the appetite for the London Premiere of her latest how, Modanse.
★★★✰✰ The key to La Fresque (The Wall Painting) is that it was originally commissioned in France as a piece to be seen by young people. Choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj, it's based on a 14th century Chinese fable...
★★★✰✰ The vitality and drive of the troupe was palpable Wednesday night, as was a sense of collective energy to move forward – however rocky that movement might be.
★★★✰✰ Mark Morris's Layla and Majnun is a music concert with dancing, lamenting a love that cannot be. It's an age-old story, spread across continents and centuries.
★★✰✰✰ After viewing Ashton on a bill with works by Ricardo Graziano and Christopher Wheeldon, I’m not worried about Ashton’s relevance nor his resonance with a future audience. ...Both the Graziano and Wheeldon posed some problems from what some might consider a “female” perspective.
★★★★✰ The centenary celebration bills are more than enough to give a sense of Robbins' breadth, theatrical savvy, stylistic curiosities, and, perhaps most unique of all, his ability to present dancers as human beings onstage.
★★★✰✰ Within this potpourri of Graeme Murphy’s works, the highlight was "Grand", a charming and poignant tribute he created in 2005 for his mother, a pianist, who died the previous year.
★★★✰✰ Leonard Bernstein wrote (in 1949): "I have a deep suspicion that every work I write, for whatever medium, is really theatre music in some way.' Many choreographers have taken up the challenge, though his quasi-metaphysical musings have usually eluded them: dance is more corporeal than music.
★★★★✰ It’s always exciting to discover a new side of an artist. For this, and for an immensely entertaining show, we have to thank Matthew Bourne.
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...
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.
★★★✰✰ Ratmansky’s Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher turned out to be a mysterious little ballet, a double pas de deux that captures, ...the complex history of a quartet of characters.
Robert Barnett joined New York City Ballet in 1949. In those early years he worked closely with Balanchine and Robbins particularly before going on to direct Atlanta Ballet. Now 91 he is still actively involved in dance and passing on all he knows...
★★★★✰ The Fairy's Kiss (Ratmansky premiere): The final image is poetic, grand, inspiring. It takes one’s breath away.
★★★✰✰ Hosted by the Japan Society on the east side of midtown Manhattan, this year’s showcase concentrated on the theme of two: the dynamics of duos. Featuring works from Japan, Korea and Taiwan...
★★★✰✰ The most interesting item of the programme was definitely the revival of Roland Petit’s L’Arlésienne, created in 1974 when he was director of the National Ballet of Marseille.
★★★✰✰ Even after his death, Vaslav Nijinsky suffered from the power and control of others...
Last year Dane Hurst conjured a magical night of dance at Dulwich Picture Gallery as a response to one of their exhibitions. Well he's back, this year responding to Winifred Knights "The Deluge" with a night of dance called Exodus. We talk to him...