Svetlana Zakharova – Modanse: Gabrielle Chanel, Come un Respiro – London
★★★✰✰ Stunning images of Bolshoi ballerina Svetlana Zakahrova dressed as Coco Chanel whetted the appetite for the London Premiere of her latest how, Modanse.
Richard Alston Dance Company – Alston at Home – London
★★★★✰ Richard Alston’s title for his company’s last tour before it closes in 2020 is Final Edition. The autumn run ended with four performances at The Place, in a programme aptly called Alston At Home.
Madhavi Mudgal – Vistar – London
★★★✰✰ There is a mannered and refined gentility in the movement style; bodies and arms beautifully shaped with the eloquent symmetry of body bends…
Royal Ballet – Coppélia – London
★★★★✰ The dancing is so enjoyable, the comedy so appealing, that any flaws in the story telling are easily overlooked.
Mavin Khoo & Temple of Fine Arts – unnamed dance inspired by the Ramayana – London
★★★✰✰ Mavin Khoo doesn’t appear on stage here: the work has been made on dancers from the Temple of Fine Arts Inner Space Dance, based in Malaysia.
Gallery – Francesca Hayward and Gary Avis in a scene from the Royal Ballet’s Coppélia
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Acosta Danza – Evolution: Rooster, Faun, Satori & Paysage, Soudain, la nuit – London
★★★★✰ It’s thrilling to see the building confidence of Carlos Acosta’s Cuban-based dance company. There’s a sense of cohesion, shared purpose and a unique identity drawn from a vibrant range of influences.
Just Us Dance Theatre / Joseph Toonga – Born To Manifest – London
★★★★✰ This is a thoughtful and nuanced depiction of how complex and fraught identity can be in Britain today, put across with meaty, muscular force by two charismatic performers.
Tom Dale Company – Step Sonic, Resonance of Air, Escape, Surge – London
Tom Dale Company Step Sonic, Resonance of Air, Escape, Surge ★★★✰✰ London, The Place 14 November 2019 tomdale.org.uk www.theplace.org.uk This two-part programme of work in progress further enhances Tom Dale’s reputation as a…
ACE Dance and Music – Skin Reimagined: Blind Trip, Letlalo – London
★★✰✰✰ Blind Trip was longer than it deserved to be and mixed too many ideas to be compact and coherent, while Letlalo left me wanting more of the performance on stage but less of the filming going on beside me.
Dorrance Dance – Myelination, Jungle Blues, Three to One – London
★★★★✰ Dorrance Dance boast crisp technique and a sharp-witted approach that catapults tap way beyond its show-biz associations.
Fernanda Muñoz-Newsome – Sadler’s Wells Wild Card series: Inchoate Buzz – London
★★★✰✰ Fernanda Munoz-Newsome’s unconventional set up in the Lilian Baylis transformed the studio into part nightclub-chill-out lounge, part sensual art installation and featured a line-up of intriguing guest artists.
Emanuel Gat Dance – WORKS – London
★★✰✰✰ There are six distinct works that, taped together, form WORKS… It adds up to a beguiling, albeit uneven and often inaccessible, 70-something minutes of dance.
Rambert – Rambert Merce Cunningham Event – London
★★★★✰ As part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial celebrations, Rambert dance company took over all four floors of Sadler’s Wells before the on-stage performance of this year’s Event.
Royal Ballet – The Sleeping Beauty – London
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet’s current production of The Sleeping Beauty, dating back to 2006, is a homage to Ninette de Valois and her faith that Marius Petipa’s Imperial Russian ballet should be the flagship of her British company.
Northern Ballet – The Kingdom of Back, Mamela…, The Shape of Sound – London
★★★✰✰ The works offer strong contrasts between the traditional story-telling strength of Northern Ballet and more abstract thematic dance.
Rambert2 – Terms and Conditions, Sin, Sama – London
★★★✰✰ Absolutely first rate dancing with rather mixed choreography…
Gallery – Royal Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty
Lead Casting: Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball. Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
