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.
Dipping in to the 8th International Festival of Arts ‘Diaghilev. P.S.’ in St. Petersburg
The aim of the annual festival is to celebrate Russian influence in international culture, thanks to Diaghilev’s productions in the first two decades of the 20th century… St Petersburg also wants to boost its reputation as ‘a great forum of the arts’, introducing contemporary creations from different nations to Russian audiences.
MacMillan Celebrations – Le Baiser de la fee (SB), Concerto (BRB), Jeux (RB) – London
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…
American Ballet Theatre – Sleeping Beauty – Paris
★★★✰✰ I was eager to see American Ballet Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty, mounted by Alexei Ratmansky last year, because of the enthusiastic reviews it has received in the United States. The Paris premiere, however, met with muted acclaim…
American Ballet Theatre – The Sleeping Beauty – Washington
★★★★✰ “Ratmansky’s new staging is a Beauty like you have never seen before: it uncovers the original ballet’s genuine beauty, which faded over the years under the clutter of modern revisions.”
Alexei Ratmansky – Simple and Wise, a Q&A about Ratmansky’s Sleeping Beauty for ABT
Q: What have you learned about Petipa from the notations? Ans: Looking at the notations changed my taste. Honestly, I just can’t stand seeing productions of the classics any more, because I know how far it is from Petipa’s intentions…
American Ballet Theatre – The Sleeping Beauty – New York
Perhaps the most striking element in Alexei Ratmansky’s new Sleeping Beauty for American Ballet Theatre is its musicality, the way the steps, peppered with accents and breaths, unspool within the music.
Mariinsky Ballet – The Firebird, Marguerite and Armand, Concerto DSCH – London
“This is how ecstasy is danced.” Kimin Kim in Concerto DSCH.
Les Saisons Russes of XXI Century – Le Spectre de la rose, Firebird, Scheherazade – London
But altogether, this was an evening of historical curios that lacked consistent vibrancy.
Games People Play: ‘Jeux’ Young at 100
Nijinsky’s ‘Jeux’, like ‘Rite’, is in its centenary year – lesser known it may be but Archer & Hodson give fascinating detail on its creation and the thought that went into putting on, at UNCSA, their reconstructed version earlier this year.
Exhibition of 1930’s British Ballet Design – Saffron Walden
Obscurer corners of early British ballet are connected in the exhibition ‘An Outbreak of Talent’, at the Fry gallery in Saffron Walden, Essex until June 30 2013.
