San Francisco Ballet – Bespoke, Hummingbird and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – London
★★★★✰ the overall impression was of the wholly American spirit of the company – peppy, vivacious, determined and running at full-tilt.
American Ballet Theatre – Tharp Trio: Brahms-Haydn, Deuce Coupe, Upper Room – New York
★★★★✰ Thirty years after its creation, In the Upper Room is still the ultimate Twyla Tharp piece, an expression of American dynamism and New York style.
English National Ballet – She Persisted: Broken Wings, Nora, Le Sacre du printemps – London
★★★★✰ Grouping this diverse triple bill under the title She Persisted works in so many ways…
Natalia Osipova – Pure Dance bill – New York
★★★✰✰ So, is Pure Dance a success? It depends on what you’re looking for. Osipova is as exciting, and as powerful, a dancer as ever. Among the commissions, only Valse Triste and Flutter are worthy of further exploration…
Alessandra Ferri, Herman Cornejo and Bruce Levingston – TRIO ConcertDance – London
★★★★✰ A harmonious blending of music and dance, it proved seventy-five minutes of non-stop bliss!
American Ballet Theatre – Fall Gala + Symphonie Concertante & Garden Blue 3bills – New York
★★★✰✰ The fall season is too brief, particularly because it always feels as though it takes the company a few days to warm itself up. The dancing at the gala on Oct. 17 was a little slapdash, but by Friday things had begun to settle.
Les Etés de la Danse, Paris – Homage to Jerome Robbins, Programme 1 – New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet
★★★★✰ The programme, performed by two very different American ballet companies, displayed Robbins’s versatility while revealing the similarities in his approach to music.
Nederlands Dans Theater – Shoot the Moon, Woke up Blind, The Statement, Stop-Motion – London
★★★★✰ World-class dancers… it’s the dancers’ polish and power that raises all they do up another level.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Polarity & Proximity: Kin., Embrace, In The Upper Room – London
★★★✰✰ Williamson’s commission – the first of an ambitious Ballet Now programme for new works – was themed on issues of gender and alienation, with Brandon Lawrence being a man struggling for identity…
San Francisco Ballet – Unbound Festival Program D: works by Edwaard Liang, Dwight Rhoden, Arthur Pita – San Francisco
★★★★★ A hundred monkeys might eventually type out Hamlet, but only a herd of unicorns on Ecstasy could come anywhere near Arthur Pita’s Björk Ballet.
Wendy Whelan, Brian Brooks and Brooklyn Rider – Some of a Thousand Words – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ I very much like Brooks’ work, particularly his approach to rebound, points of contact in partnering and his nuanced use of accumulation…
American Ballet Theatre – Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, I Feel the Earth Move, Daphnis and Chloe – New York
★★★✰✰ The choreographer and L.A. Dance Project director Benjamin Millepied is a mover and a shaker, a clever curator, a man of taste, a force in the dance world. But is he good choreographer?
Ballet Central – 2017 Tour – London
★★★✰✰ At the end of the evening was what you might call the blockbuster piece of the tour – 30 minutes of Matthew Bourne in the form of Act II of his “Highland Fling”. Bourne’s take on “La Sylphide” is a wonderful piece of work, full of wit, style and pathos…
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.
Russian Ballet Icons Gala – In the steps of the Ballets Russes – London
★★★★✰ The long gala (three and a half hours with one interval) was well organised, with no speeches and no protracted curtain calls.
Wendy Whelan & Brian Brooks – Some of a Thousand Words – New York
★★★✰✰ Over two years after her retirement from New York City Ballet, Wendy Whelan remains a sight to behold.
Ballet de Lorraine – Devoted, HOK Solo Pour Ensemble, Sounddance – New York
★★★✰✰ This winter, New York is getting to see more Merce Cunningham than it has in years, thanks to visits from various European companies. It is a sad fact that Europe has always been more supportive of Cunningham than the choreographer’s own country.
Royal Ballet / Royal Opera – Les Enfants Terribles – London
★★★✰✰ The story line becomes as labyrinthine as the ribbons of tape that criss-cross Paul’s bedroom.
Royal Ballet – Woolf Works – London
★★★✰✰ The ballet’s narrative interest depends on the dancer, and both performers are magnificent – different in tone and physicality, though not markedly so.
Lucinda Childs Dance – Lucinda Childs: A Portrait – New York
★★★✰✰ The post-modernist Lucinda Childs is experiencing a bit of a comeback here in the US, after years of working abroad.
