Valerie Lawson on an important series, by WildBear Entertainment, excavating Australian Ballet's past and what's happening now for the company, with all the complications of Covid-19.
Tag - David Hallberg
★★★★✰ After nearly a year away from dancing for live audiences Australian Ballet are back with a gala - Summertime at the Ballet - and at an unusual location, the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
"I thought it would be interesting to make this Swan Lake very specific for Finland. They are proud of their Nordic heritage and traditions; that whole idea of winter and the purity of nature is very dear to them."
There’s no way around it: it’s been a miserable year for the performing arts here in the US... But still, there were highlights, moments in which for whatever reason, some spark illuminated the soul...
★★★★✰ The Fall for Dance festival is an all digital affair this year and Program 1 included striking and heartfelt premieres by Jamar Roberts and Christopher Wheeldon...
David McAllister, about to step down as the artistic director of Australian Ballet, has just released his memoir and it proves enlightening and candid reading about both the company and the man himself...
★★★★★ Though the concert was a treat, could the Royal Opera House please try raising our spirits in future streamings, and give the Royal Ballet the prominence it deserves.
The Royal Ballet's Vadim Muntagirov talks about making the most of lockdown and getting ready to dance again for the Royal Opera House's Live from Covent Garden transmission on Saturday night (20 June 2020), where he is dancing Ashton's seldom-seen "Dance of the Blessed Spirits"...
I don’t really believe in lists, but it’s admittedly fun to look back over the year and reflect on moments that have stayed with me. So here they are, in no particular order…
★★★✰✰ Once again, Osipova gave it her all – and Osipova’s all is quite something to behold.
★★★★✰ Sarah Lamb and Vadim Muntagirov, as Des Grieux, are not new to the roles and their understanding of the characters and the choreography has deepened with experience.
★★★★✰ Starwise, Bejart's Wayfarer bumps this program from two stars to four.
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet did themselves a lot of good with the last new bill of the season - a one-off celebration of Margot Fonteyn. There was much to be reminded of and be proud of.
Meaghan Grace Hinkis, the Royal Ballet soloist, is about to make her debut as Vera in Frederick Ashton’s “A Month in the Country”. 5 quick questions about that and her dancing life…
★★★✰✰ So, is Pure Dance a success? It depends on what you’re looking for. Osipova is as exciting, and as powerful, a dancer as ever. Among the commissions, only Valse Triste and Flutter are worthy of further exploration...
Semperoper Ballett Dresden were another new visitor in the summer, with a programme of Forsythe works, some not seen here before. But Forsythe is a theme this year in himself.
★★★★✰ Nicoletta Manni’s performances in Don Quixote and Giselle on the last three days of Teatro alla Scala ballet company’s season in Australia was extraordinary, not just for her stamina and resilience, but her acting skills.
★★★✰✰ No trade description problems, here. This was exactly what it said on the tin: Natalia Osipova performing pure dance, enhanced only by recorded music and lighting designs varying from the merest of subtle tints to an explosion of floodlights...
★★★★✰ After a week of Giselle, during which Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg had their much-awaited re-match, the company began its season in earnest on May 21, with a spring gala that included two new works and excerpts from a third...
★★★✰✰ The program opened and closed with the most recent works: Jessica Lang’s Her Notes and Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium. Both premiered at ABT in 2016, and both are works whose inspiration largely comes from their scores.