In recent seasons New York City Ballet has gotten into the habit of starting things off with a week or two of Balanchine. It’s an excellent idea.
Tag - Tchaikovsky
English National Ballet Nutcracker London, Coliseum 11 December 2014 Gallery of pictures by Dave Morgan www.ballet.org.uk You know that Christmas is really on its way when you see your first Nutcracker. And for me, it has to be a traditional one, from its classical dancing and scenario to brightly varied costumes and characters. Despite a few quirky moments, English National Ballet’s production...
Year after year, I see Balanchine’s Nutcracker, and year after year I marvel at its perfection. This year it turns sixty.
Vadim Muntagirov, making his debut as Jack, is any girl’s dream of a dancing partner.
This time, I made 15 trips to the theatres – there were performances at 5pm and 9pm each day - and saw 82 different full-length ballets or extracts in the eight days I was in Havana.
At my first performance, Ashley Ellis was a first-rate Odette/Odile, giving a nearly flawless performance. (I’m assuming that flawless performances transpire only in Heaven or some other extraterrestial locale.)
One cannot help but be amazed by the number of exceptional women in the company, and by how differently they approach the steps, the music and the temperament of each ballet.
Ek’s choreography, for both groups and individuals, is animated and detailed.
Audience applause during the evening recognised that Scarlett’s Hummingbird was the starry centrepiece of the three Paris premieres.
It is even more disappointing that the troupe should open its run with a Swan Lake so lackluster... It’s not the dancers’ fault. At every level, the Bolshoi dancers move with thrilling force and fullness.
Finding myself in Rome for a few weeks, I decided to test the local waters and was happy to discover that the Rome Opera Ballet was performing Tchaikovsky’s 'Sleeping Beauty', with several casts. I chose a cast almost at random...
To close its 50th anniversary season Boston Ballet mounted a splendid production of Balanchine’s 1967 masterpiece Jewels.
The 13th Dance Open Festival invited two European and very differently styled neo-classical-cum-modern companies – Malandain Ballet Biarritz and Dutch National Ballet - to perform as part of their celebrations in St. Petersburg.
The Festival is held from April 23 to April 28, 2014 on stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, St. Petersburg. The main focus of the 13th International Ballet Festival DANCE OPEN, which performances will be held on stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, is on original contemporary choreography.
In many ways, Jewels is Balanchine’s choreographic résumé – a retrospective and a vivid showcase of his aesthetics and creative genius...
Graham Watts met up with the choreographer on a recent visit to St Petersburg to discuss his career and to ask what London audiences might expect from Rodin...
Now in its thirteenth year, Ballet Black’s specialness is not the colour of its performers’ skin but the quality and quantity of the works its director, Cassa Pancho, commissions: over 30 new ballets to date. Where else could ballet dancers experience such a cornucopia of creativity?
George Balanchine’s favorite composers may have been Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, but it’s no secret that he also had an affinity for France and its music...
The formula for the success of the Mariinsky’s Swan Lake is simple. The love story between a beautiful young woman turned into a swan and a prince is told in a direct, traditional manner. There is no symbolism or hidden meaning here, no exaggeration or melodrama.
So far this season I’ve seen three “traditional” Nutcrackers: Ratmansky’s version for American Ballet Theatre, Gelsey Kirkland’s, and the familiar and much-loved 1954 staging by George Balanchine for New York City Ballet. All three have their charms...