★★★✰✰ Seventeen months after Andrew McNicol announced the launch of his company, with its debut scheduled for April 2020, his programme of four new works has finally reached the stage...
Tag - L’apres-midi d’un faune
★★★★★ One of the most riveting things I’ve seen in a long time.
★★✰✰✰ There was certainly some spectacle and some good dancing, and not just from the big stars. However, the most heavily promoted piece and world premiere was an excruciating fifteen minutes of disappointment...
★★★★✰ It was a good night for Afternoon of a Faun, in particular. Chase Finlay, débuting in the role of the young dancer sensually lolling about a ballet studio, brought back the eroticism this ballet often lacks.
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...
★★✰✰✰ ...of more interest to Rodin scholars than dance-lovers.
★★★✰✰ Even after his death, Vaslav Nijinsky suffered from the power and control of others...
Benjamin Millepied, the new director of the Paris Opera Ballet, made a daring choice of programme for the Christmas season at the opulent Palais Garnier opera house: a triple bill of contemporary works...
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou...
The most impressive (if not, incredible) thing is that his scratch company exudes the professionalism that one would expect from a tight-knit group that has lived, trained, rehearsed and performed together for seasons.
Lynette Halewood with her personal selection of London dance memories this last year…
Only the official retirement age of 42 requires him to leave the company, alas, though he may be invited back as a guest.
It’s a really demanding work, and the intimate setting of the Purcell Room brings you up close to every drop of sweat.
...the dancers seem able to handle whatever comes their way. It’s a quality that will serve them well in their travels.
...the men Ivan Putrov has chosen for his latest Men in Motion programme are exceptional dance-interpreters, not self-glorifiers...
“I want audiences to leave inspired, not scratching themselves in boredom."
Though this year it was Nijinsky’s turn to be reclaimed as a Russian icon, the contents of the gala had little to do with him. Very probably the choice of items – mainly pas de deux - depended on which dancers were available to perform whatever was in their repertoire.
Closing the program is Kurt Jooss’s anti-war ballet from 1932,The Green Table, one of the greatest pieces of choreography ever created and still relevant after more than 80 years.
The choice of programme was something of a curate’s egg – disappointingly so in view of the company’s rich repertoire – but two out of the four works were excellent and the dancing was spectacular.
Rambert... offers a mix of new commissions with rarely-seen work from their archives. Some items had much more impact than others, though not necessarily the ones you might imagine from the programme.