English National Ballet – 70th Anniversary Gala – London
★★★★✰ For those of us that have been involved with the company, no matter how small a part, it is clear that the ‘happy family’ that is English National Ballet, reveres and appreciates all who have been part of its 70 year existence.
Some Memorable Performances of 2019 – London
Lynette Halewood with some reflections on London dance performances over the last year – the good and the less good…
Some Memorable Performances of 2019 – New York
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…
Royal Ballet – Coppélia – London
★★★★✰ The dancing is so enjoyable, the comedy so appealing, that any flaws in the story telling are easily overlooked.
Bolshoi Ballet – Giselle (Ratmansky premiere) – Moscow
★★★★✰ This is a Giselle that is both familiar and new. Watching it on opening night was like seeing a faded painting regain its colors.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Giselle – London
★★★★✰ …exemplary performances from Momoko Hirata as Giselle and César Morales as Albrecht make for a richly rewarding and moving experience.
New York City Ballet – Serenade, Summerspace, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 – New York
★★★★✰ On the penultimate day of the fall season, I managed to catch a performance of New York City Ballet’s revival of Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace. The 1958 piece, which had its City Ballet premiere in 1966, was last performed here in 2000.
Mariinsky Ballet – Paquita – Washington
★★★✰✰ This three-act three-hour-long Paquita is a brainchild of Smekalov, who is a second soloist with the company. He wrote his own libretto, largely borrowing from the Cervantes novella La Gitanilla…
Dada Masilo – Giselle – London
★★★★✰ Masilo and company unpack this famous story of a wronged woman, establishing a refreshingly black, South African and feminist perspective.
English National Ballet – Akram Khan’s Giselle – London
★★★★★ Everything about this production is topical, very real and will probably be so for many years to come. Absolutely five stars to the company…
Book – Dancing Under The Southern Skies: A History of Ballet in Australia – by Valerie Lawson
Although Valerie Lawson’s context is wide-ranging, she brings individuals into focus with personal details, shining a spotlight onto their roles in Australian dance history. Lavishly illustrated with photographs from Australian archives, her book gives vivid life to long-gone personalities.
The Bolshoi Ballet in London, Summer 2019 – All you need to know (and more!)
The Bolshoi Ballet are in London this summer with Spartacus, Swan Lake, The Bright Stream and Don Quixote. One of the world’s greatest companies, here are Jann Parry’s thoughts on an important visit…
English National Ballet School – 2019 Summer Performance, Celebrating 30 Years – London
★★★✰✰ English National Ballet School is celebrating 30 years since its inception in 1989 – it had just 12 students in that inaugural year. The numbers are ever increasing and there is evidence of significant talents among the graduates this year.
American Ballet Theatre – The Sleeping Beauty – New York
★★★★✰ This production proposes that Sleeping Beauty is not really the story of a love quest – as it’s often depicted – but rather a fable about order and disorder, harmony and disharmony, the balance between good and evil.
American Ballet Theatre – Le Corsaire – New York
★★★★✰ Days after the performance, I cannot get James Whiteside’s Ali out of my head. Devon Teuscher’s Medora is charming and warm, pulling off triple fouettées turns and her Italian fouettées with aplomb…
Natalia Osipova Film – A Force of Nature Natalia
★★★★★ This is a superbly made film… It draws a portrait of a supreme artist, a woman with exceptional humility, all sensitively handled with warmth and humour.
Yang Liping – Rite of Spring – London
★★★✰✰ As with most retellings, Liping’s centres on a young woman destined to dance herself to death. However, the dancemaker has invoked Buddhist principles, including the concept of reincarnation…
San Francisco Ballet – Shostakovich Trilogy – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ The choreography in Shostakovich Trilogy, which was co-commissioned by SFB and ABT and premiered in 2014, is as frustratingly capricious as the music.
