Some Memorable Performances of 2019 – New York
I don’t really believe in lists, but it’s admittedly fun to look back over the year and reflect on moments that have stayed with me. So here they are, in no particular order…
Bolshoi Ballet – The Bright Stream – London
★★★★★ A wildly surreal comic turn involves a dog riding a bicycle, both cunningly choreographed. He’s actually a tractor driver in disguise, disrupting sexual assignations.
Northern Ballet – Victoria (Marston premiere) – Leeds
★★★✰✰ Where the ballet takes off is when there are only two or three major characters on stage and then Marston clearly shows intentions and emotions and the dancing becomes rich and telling, clever and gorgeous.
Cathy Marston on her new work for Northern Ballet, Victoria, the creative process and more…
Marston has been working at Northern Ballet creating Victoria for the company (premiere this month) and we wanted to find out more, also catch up on other commissions and discuss just how she works creatively and manages to juggle it all so effortlessly…
San Francisco Ballet – The Fifth Season, Snowblind, Etudes – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ I was thrilled to see Snowblind returning. It was by far my favorite offering of last year’s Unbound Festival because it captivates on every level: potent storytelling, emotive choreography, fitting design tropes and deep character development.
Scottish Ballet – Cinderella – Glasgow
★★★★✰ This is my second review of Scottish Ballet’s Cinderella this winter. Why? Well, it’s a production I like and I wanted to see more dancers in it, silly!
English National Ballet – Manon – Milton Keynes Theatre
★★★★✰ English National Ballet can once more reflect triumphally on another significant success.
Royal Danish Ballet – The Queen of Spades – Copenhagen
★★★✰✰ The good news is that Queen of Spades is a good-looking crowd pleaser and the RDB dancers look fantastic in it – I can’t emphasise that enough. Also good that it’s a step up from his last commission, Frankenstein – thank goodness, really.
San Francisco Ballet – The Sleeping Beauty – San Francisco
★★✰✰✰ The efforts of San Francisco Ballet’s artists are sadly misplaced in this largely joyless and wholly unsatisfying rendition of The Sleeping Beauty.
Royal Danish Ballet – Raymonda – Copenhagen
★★★✰✰ All up, I think this production demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of “Raymonda” as a ballet. It certainly is a fabulous looking (and listening) calling card which might tour well…
Royal Ballet School – Annual Main Stage Performance 2017 – London
★★★★✰ It was a well-balanced programme, featuring different kinds of discipline for future corps de ballet dancers, and honouring veteran choreographers as well as contemporary ones.
San Francisco Ballet and School – Student Showcase, Promotions and Company Joiners
San Francisco exists in its own world, out here on the distant West Coast. The San Francisco Ballet, though, just became more global than ever, with new 2017-18 members joining from around the world. The company school, which presented its annual Student Showcase 31 May through 2 June at YBCA Theater, draws international students as well…
Royal Danish Ballet – Dangerous Liaisons (premiere) – Copenhagen
★★★★✰ …I was again struck by just how effortlessly a story can be communicated and emotions laid bare by ballet – it was a triumph.
American Ballet Theatre – Giselle – New York
American Ballet Theatre Giselle ★★★★✰ New York, Metropolitan Opera House 26,27 May 2017 www.abt.org Giselle Fever Like Swan Lake, Giselle is a centerpiece of the ballet repertoire; American Ballet Theatre performs it almost…
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer 2017 Competition – 5 Questions to 4 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 25 May and ahead of the that we talk to 4 of the 6 finalists – Isabelle Brouwers, Rina Kanehara, Madison Keesler and Guilherme Menezes…
Hamburg Ballet – The Little Mermaid – Washington
★★★✰✰ It’s a somber and dark story; yet in Neumeier’s hands it gets even darker. Don’t expect Disney’s happily-ever-after – this Little Mermaid is certainly not for children.
American Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake – Washington
★★★★✰ Making her debut in the role of Odette/Odile 28-year-old soloist Devon Teuscher emerged as a shining star in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center Opera House last week.
American Ballet Theatre – The Golden Cockerel – New York
★★★★✰ American Ballet Theatre’s spring season has turned into a kind of voyage into the mind of Alexei Ratmansky, its choreographer-in-residence since 2009.
Royal Danish Ballet – Shaken Mirror (Brandstrup premiere) – Copenhagen
★★★✰✰ Seeing the premiere of Kim Brandstrup’s Shaken Mirror in Copenhagen proved both an uplifting and a frustrating experience.
Northern Ballet – Jane Eyre – Doncaster
★★★★✰ It’s actually the best new narrative work I’ve seen Northern Ballet do in many years.
