Mariinsky Ballet – Paquita – Washington
★★★✰✰ This three-act three-hour-long Paquita is a brainchild of Smekalov, who is a second soloist with the company. He wrote his own libretto, largely borrowing from the Cervantes novella La Gitanilla…
The Bolshoi Ballet in London, Summer 2019 – All you need to know (and more!)
The Bolshoi Ballet are in London this summer with Spartacus, Swan Lake, The Bright Stream and Don Quixote. One of the world’s greatest companies, here are Jann Parry’s thoughts on an important visit…
Bolshoi Ballet – Jewels: Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds – Brisbane
★★★★★ As you would expect Diamonds was the highlight of the three part Jewels.
St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre – Swan Lake – London
★★✰✰✰ Although the first night audience was moved to a standing ovation, Swan Lake can and should be so much more than this stylised ritual…
Mariinsky Ballet – Carmen Suite, Infra, Grand Pas from Paquita – London
★★★✰✰ When Maya Plisetskaya commissioned a Carmen-based ballet from Alberto Alonso, co-founder of the National Ballet of Cuba, she wanted to shake up Soviet ballet conventions…
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.
Les Ballets de Monte Carlo – La Belle – Monte-Carlo
★★★★✰ Maillot has succeeded in giving perhaps the most authentic retelling of Perrault’s story in dance with his tale of love overcoming the darkest evil…
Macedonian Ballet – Cleopatra in rehearsal – Skopje
How do you review a world premiere that you have spent seven hours flying to, and then find that it has been postponed until you are back home after another eight hours of travel?
Mikhailovsky Ballet – Le Corsaire – Costa Mesa
★★★★✰ On Saturday, Nov. 19, at Segerstrom Hall, Southern California audiences experienced our era’s ultimate executor of Le Corsaire’s balletic thrills, Ivan Vasiliev…
Film: “Dancer” – Sergei Polunin documentary
“Dancer” has been given a few screenings in London, most recently as part of the BFI London Film Festival, with Polunin and the director, Steven Cantor, in attendance for Q&A sessions…
Mariinsky Ballet – Raymonda – Washington
The Mariinsky Ballet brought Raymonda to Washington where Oksana Khadarina saw the opening night and gave it ★★★. A night later the performance got ★★★★ – different ballerinas, different result…
International Ballet Festival 2015 Dance Open and Tsiskaridze at the Vaganova Academy – St Petersburg
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…
Mariinsky Ballet – Swan Lake, Stepanova/Parish cast – London
Xander Parish, making his British debut at Saturday’s matinee, proved that he has been transformed into a true Mariinsky prince. His achievement is a reproach to the Royal Ballet, who failed to value him as a danseur noble.
Bolshoi Ballet – Swan Lake – New York
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.
Perm Ballet – Serenade, Concerto Barocco, The Second Detail – Paris
The Perm Ballet has become a regular fixture in France over the past six years… the company embarks every winter on a countrywide tour akin to a Ballets Russes expedition. This year, they visited 19 different venues…
Zhukov Dance Theatre – Enlight, Spider on a Mirror – San Francisco
At times the choreography doesn’t seem to fit this space… Nonetheless, the dancers do a remarkable job with what they are given.
Two Guest Artists – lana Salenko & Evgenia Obraztsova – Announced For The Royal Ballet’s Autumn Season
Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, is delighted to announce that two Guest Artists will be performing with the Company this Autumn – Evgenia Obraztsova and lana Selenko
Mikhailovsky Ballet – The Flames of Paris – St. Petersburg
There is a lack of egotism to Messerer’s work that is immensely appealing, too: unlike Nureyev or Grigorovitch, he never appears to be coercing the music or the steps into fitting his idiosyncratic vision.
Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet – Roland Petit’s Coppelia – London
The pleasure lies in the quality of dancing rather than interpretation. Petit was an expert at animating a stage, a musical-theatre choreographer who delivered what audiences expected…
International Ballet Festival 2013 – Dance Open – St Petersburg
The 12th International Ballet Festival – Dance Open – was held over 4 days in St Petersburg. Margaret Willis (our Ms Expressivity) was there to report on much ballet and not a little award giving…
