Carlos Acosta – Dancer, Directer, Choreographer: ‘I am a man on a mission – I always have been’
“That’s what it’s always been about for me – the necessity to connect with an audience and express myself.”
Royal Ballet School – Summer Performance, ROH Main Stage – London
★★★✰✰ A matinee in two halves: fine before the interval, with dire, dreary choreography in the second half. Thank goodness for the exhilarating Grand Défilé at the close.
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer 2018 Competition – 5 Questions to 6 Finalists
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer Competition is unique in British ballet in throwing the spotlight on more junior dancers or “tomorrow’s stars” as ENB put it. This year’s competition is on the 11 June and ahead of the that we talk to the finalists – Precious Adams, Fernando Carratalá Coloma, Giorgio Garrett, Daniel McCormick, Francesca Velicu and Connie Vowles…
Dutch National Ballet – Dutch Doubles: Impermanence, Two and Only, Déjà vu, Last Resistance – Amsterdam
★★★★✰ Dutch National Ballet’s Dutch Doubles quad bill features 3 new works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Ernst Meisner and Wubkje Kuindersma plus a classic piece, new to the company, from the legend that is Hans van Manen.
Bialy Teatr Tanca Izadory Weiss – Eros Thanatos – Warsaw
★★★★✰ Biały Teatr Tańca (it means White Dance Theatre), is a new vehicle for the work of the uber-talented choreographer, Izadora Weiss, a protégé of the great Jiri Kylian…
Washington Ballet – Kylián, Peck, Forsythe – Washington
★★★✰✰ Forsythe’s emblematic In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated was created 30 years ago. Still, the ballet retains its explosive spirit and irresistible urgency, as well as its ability to thrill.
English National Ballet – Pina Bausch, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen bill – London
★★★★★ One cannot help but observe that while the programmes of other companies both hit and miss, in terms of their critical appreciation and popular appeal, ENB is continually raising the bar…
Interview – Mara Galeazzi on Woolf Works, her wider career and dancing on…
She found that she came back to perform with the company she left five years ago with a different approach. ‘I know more about why I love to perform…’
5 Questions to Didy Veldman – on forming and touring her new company, Umanoove
Choreographer Didy Veldman has just formed her own company – Umanoove – and is off touring her latest work, called “The Happiness Project”. Time for a brief 5 questions interview we thought…
Francesco Ventriglia – Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet
Nearly 2 years into his directorship at RNZB, Michelle Potter talks to Francesco Ventriglia about his life before joining the company and broad hopes for the company.
Royal Ballet School – Annual Main Stage Performance 2016 – London
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet School in particular includes something very special in their show – the closing Grand Defile, which always brings a lump to the throat and a feeling of pride.
Australian Ballet – Forgotten Land, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and DGV: Danse a grande vitesse – Sydney
★★★★✰ In music, mood and dynamics the Australian Ballet’s new triple bill, Vitesse, represents three elements, water, fire and air.
Juilliard Dance – Roses, Moves, Symphony of Psalms – New York
★★★✰✰ The dancers are young, but already skilled. They’re well trained, well-rounded. But they don’t yet have strong artistic personalities. That can be a good thing…
Interview: Alexander Ekman, Director / Choreographer, on Cacti and other things
One of the go-to international choreographers, particularly if you want something arresting and unusual, is Alexander Ekman. His “Cacti”, appropriately featuring a stage full of Cacti, is about to be presented by Royal New Zealand Ballet and Sydney Dance Company – Valerie Lawson catches up with a dance maverick…
National Ballet of Spain – Carmen – Cannes
More from the Cannes Dance Festival and director Brigitte Lefèvre definitely kept the best for the last night with Johan Inger’s full-length production of Carmen performed by the National Ballet of Spain…
Cannes Dance Festival – Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse: The Beast and Beauty, Lyon Opera Ballet: Kylian bill – Cannes
For the festival Brigitte Lefèvre chose an eclectic mixture of popular and audacious programmes from twelve different companies – mainly regional French companies… some smaller independent groups and international companies from Korea, Argentina and Spain.
American Ballet Theatre – AfterEffect, (Company B, The Green Table) – New York
…mostly the ballet (AfterEffect) is an enthusiastic love letter from Gomes to his company, and was received as such by the enthusiastic audience at the Koch…
Baltic Dance Theatre – Fun, Death and the Maiden, Body Master – Warsaw
Unlike Kylián, Weiss generally works from an overt storyline and her own libretto for Body Master is loosely based on the life of Gordon Craig, the English pioneer of modernist theatre…
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Trocks) – London & UK Tour Bills – London
So a tip to the wise up front – see them in London while you can or catch them on their subsequent UK tour….
Julio Bocca – Director Ballet Nacional SODRE in Montevideo
Julio Bocca, much loved but now no longer dancing, has a new life in Montevideo, running Ballet Nacional SODRE. Marina Harss talks to a busy man rebuilding his company – fast…
