DanceTabs photographer Foteini Christofilopoulou recently spent the day with Birmingham Royal Ballet starting with company class, followed by rehearsals of two works involving the company with Miguel Altunaga, Goyo Montero, Alessandra Ferri, and director Carlos Acosta.
Tag - Celine Gittens
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...
★★★★✰ 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.
★★★✰✰ Overall, invigorating; a demonstration of the company’s healthy enthusiasm for innovation and playing with the form...
★★★★✰ I look forward to the changes inevitably coming to BRB, but I can't believe any new director will turn their back on such repertoire gems as La fille mal gardee and their Peter Wright Nutcracker.
★★★✰✰ David Bintley, who steps down as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet at the end of the 2018/2019 season, describes the current double bill as 'two ballets fuelled by power and politics'.
★★★★✰ 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.
★★★✰✰ Peter Wright's glorious ballet might not shine quite so magically in its Bintley/Albert Hall version but the dancers certainly do...
★★✰✰✰ 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.
★★★✰✰ I went to Bristol to catch Coppelia and the specific lead casting of Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton - who have now totally transitioned from being rising stars to fully risen Principals.
★★★✰✰ The South tour is particularly interesting this year because it features a new piece by Ruth Brill, a first artist within the company, and this is her first major commission.
Lynette Halewood with her personal selection of London dance memories from the past year...
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
★★★✰✰ Bintley has treated Shakespeare’s drama as a masque, full of spectacle, music and dancing, with elusive characters that are more allegorical than realistic. It doesn’t work as a narrative ballet because the sub-plots are too complicated...
★★★✰✰ Jessica Lang's Wink is an attractive piece, well designed and well made with a clear structure.
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
★★★✰✰ "... Wink is a 4 star piece. We need to see more of Jessica Lang’s work..."
★★★✰✰ When I think of Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) under David Bintley I think of tradition with a capital T and the latest double bill underlines that in spades.
Opening night cast of Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton reviewed + some thoughts on Delia Mathews and Brandon Lawrence...
Some partnership work because the dancers are so different and others, as here, work because they share a style and approach - unaffected, nuanced, true and richly musical.