Acosta Danza – Up Close bill – London
★★★✰✰ This was indeed a case of Up Close and personal with five intimate pieces variously dosed with Cuban fire and flair…
Gallery – Royal Ballet in The Cellist and Dances at a Gathering
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
San Francisco Ballet – Program 2, Classical Re(Vision) bill – San Francisco
★★★★✰ San Francisco Ballet’s Program 2 was dubbed Classical Re(Vision) – a remembering of and reconnection with choreography in SFB’s existing repertory catalogue.
Cathy Marston on The Cellist & Mrs. Robinson – new works for The Royal Ballet & San Francisco Ballet
In the next two months Cathy Marston has premieres at The Royal Ballet (17 February) and San Francisco Ballet (24 March) – Jann Parry talks to Marston about the inspiration and making of two special works…
Ballet Icons Gala 2020 – London
★★★★✰ The annual Icons gala provides the chance to see dancers who don’t often appear in London…
Royal Ballet – Onegin – London
★★★★✰ The ballet works as a conflicted love story centred on the heroine, Tatiana. When Natalia Osipova dances the role, she brings home how Russian the character is.
Some Memorable Performances of 2019 – London
Lynette Halewood with some reflections on London dance performances over the last year – the good and the less good…
Obituary: Jeffery Taylor, 1938 – 2019, Dancer and Critic
Jeffery Taylor, who died in the autumn, aged 81, was a professional dancer for sixteen years before going on to become a dance critic. Graham Watts on the real Billy Elliot…
Arthur Pita – The Little Match Girl – London
★★★★★ Think comic opera meets dance theatre, with choreography so animated there’s no translation needed.
MuzArts – Radio & Juliet, Faun, McGregor + Mugler – London
★★✰✰✰ There was certainly some spectacle and some good dancing, and not just from the big stars. However, the most heavily promoted piece and world premiere was an excruciating fifteen minutes of disappointment…
Royal Ballet – Coppélia – London
★★★★✰ The dancing is so enjoyable, the comedy so appealing, that any flaws in the story telling are easily overlooked.
Gallery – Francesca Hayward and Gary Avis in a scene from the Royal Ballet’s Coppélia
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
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.
Feature – Ashton Rediscovered Masterclass: Foyer de danse and the Le Papillon solo
Ashton Rediscovered Masterclass: “Foyer de danse”, coached by Ursula Hageli & Christopher Newton, and the “Le Papillon” solo, coached by Wayne Eagling. Jann Parry with a detail report for DanceTabs..
Gallery – Royal Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty
Lead Casting: Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball. Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Giselle – London
★★★★✰ …exemplary performances from Momoko Hirata as Giselle and César Morales as Albrecht make for a richly rewarding and moving experience.
Natalia Osipova – Pure Dance bill – London
★★★✰✰ Once again, Osipova gave it her all – and Osipova’s all is quite something to behold.
Royal Ballet – Concerto, Enigma Variations, Raymonda Act III – London
★★★★✰ It is all too easy to assume that the first triple bill of the Royal Ballet’s autumn season celebrates its creative heritage from the 1960s. In fact, two of the ballets were made for other companies…
