The Frederick Ashton Foundation marked its tenth anniversary with an evening of rarely performed Ashton pieces and a specially commissioned film, Frederick Ashton: Links in the Chain, by Lynn Wake.
Tag - Sylvia
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet did themselves a lot of good with the last new bill of the season - a one-off celebration of Margot Fonteyn. There was much to be reminded of and be proud of.
To celebrate 10 year of live relays the Royal Opera House is hosting a Cinema Festival of past works in the newly rebuilt Linbury Studio Theatre. Jann Parry was there for the screening of Ashton's Sylvia (recorded in 2005) and which included Darcey Bussell reminiscing about dancing the lead role...
★★★✰✰ If The Unknown Soldier is dispiritingly low-key, Wayne McGregor's Infra remains assertively bold...
★★★★★ The Trocks' version of Swan Lake (or Lac, as it used to be known) restores some Soviet era removals. Benno, the hero's best friend and supporter, is back, as are mime sequences, mostly mystifying the participants...
Head and shoulders above other new work this year was Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern for the Royal Ballet...
★★★★✰ Sylvia makes a welcome return to the repertoire, reacquainting dancers and audiences with Ashton’s sensibility and complex choreography. It’s a joy but not a masterpiece, as he well knew...
With Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov in the lead roles. Gallery by Dave Morgan...
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet’s away-day to Hull, this year’s UK Capital of Culture, was dramatic in its scale: 17 pieces presented over three hours...
★★★★✰ It isn’t often that a gala program proves satisfying, but this one was the exception.
More from ABT's run of Ashton's "Sylvia" - the time Marina Harss reviews Maria Kochetkova and Herman Cornejo...
★★★★✰ Part of the secret to Sylvia is of course Léo Delibes’s score; like the story, it has its silly moments, but when it soars, it is utterly seductive...
Ballet Estable del Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires recently lived streamed Ashton's "Sylvia" from their home theatre. Graham Watts tuned in from a remote North Norfolk - it's a small world...
The Royal Ballet's Zenaida Yanowsky talks about her long career and also about the joys of working with Carlos Acosta - part of which is appearing with him in 'Cubania' this summer...
David Bintley's Sylvia is a great piece of classical dance and escapist fun.
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
Margaret Willis has just been in St. Petersburg, catching up with the Dance Open Festival and also visiting the Vaganova Academy where she had some words with director Nikolai Tsiskaridze...
As The Royal Ballet prepares to celebrate Frederick Ashton with an all Ashton quad bill, two other events have also been celebrating the work of the Royal Ballet's founder choreographer...
...the audience was in thrall to the bucolic genius of Ashton’s production with as many curtain calls at the premiere as I can recall witnessing for a very long time.
San Francisco Ballet is in town for two weeks, and on the evidence of opening night, this should be an invigorating visit. The company looks to be in top form.