Memorable Performances of 2018 – London
Semperoper Ballett Dresden were another new visitor in the summer, with a programme of Forsythe works, some not seen here before. But Forsythe is a theme this year in himself.
2018 National Dance Awards – Announcement of Nominations
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle is pleased to announce the nominations for the 19th National Dance Awards…
5 Questions to Dane Hurst about his creative life and dancing in Didy Veldman’s The Knot…
I’m really enjoying being different things throughout the year. Sometimes a dancer, then choreographer and teacher and most recently I had a go at acting again in a feature film by Clara Van Gool…
William Forsythe – A Quiet Evening of Dance – London
★★★★✰ Forsythe is surprising himself and his audience with new discoveries of what bodies and ballets can do.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (Trocks) – Les Sylphides bill – London
★★★★✰ The curtain calls for Robert Carter’s “Dying Swan” are nearly as long as the ballet itself and just as funny.
Semperoper Ballett – In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Neue Suite, Enemy in the Figure – London
★★★✰✰ Semperoper’s dancers distort the classical ballet line more than the Paris Opera Ballet’s (or ENB’s) and don’t bother much with fifth positions or precise épaulement for Forsythe’s endless tendus. They seem contemporary dancers rather than étoiles being outrageous.
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer 2018 Competition – 5 Questions to 6 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 11 June and ahead of the that we talk to the finalists – Precious Adams, Fernando Carratalá Coloma, Giorgio Garrett, Daniel McCormick, Francesca Velicu and Connie Vowles…
Interview: Melissa Hamilton, First Soloist, The Royal Ballet
“I knew that I had to seize my only chance to have a ballet career. Masha Mukhamedov agreed to teach me privately six days a week for ten months…”
English National Ballet – Voices of America bill – works by Forsythe, Robbins & Barton – London
★★★★✰ Altogether, a cunningly judged programme that shows off the company at its most engaging…
Gallery – English National Ballet in Voices of America bill – works by Forsythe, Robbins & Barton
Works by William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins and Aszure Barton. Gallery by Dave Morgan…
Interview – Emily Molnar, Ballet British Columbia’s artistic director, on their work and UK tour
Next month (March 2018) Ballet British Columbia, or Ballet BC as they are commonly known, tour the UK. Diane Parkes talks to artistic director Emily Molnar about the company and the works they are touring which includes a piece by the ultra-hot Crystal Pite…
5 Questions to George Williamson – freelance choreographer and recipient of the first BRB Ballet Now commission
Ballet Now is an initiative between Birmingham Royal Ballet and Sadler’s Wells to develop the (classical) choreographers, composers and designers of the future. It’s a 5-year programme with 2 commissions each year, made possible by the Oak Foundation, matched BRB funding and driven by a Creative Consortium.
American Ballet Theatre – Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, I Feel the Earth Move, Daphnis and Chloe – New York
★★★✰✰ The choreographer and L.A. Dance Project director Benjamin Millepied is a mover and a shaker, a clever curator, a man of taste, a force in the dance world. But is he good choreographer?
5 Questions for Avatâra Ayuso, Dancer, Choreographer and Director
Graham Watts catches up with the well connected Avatâra Ayuso who has just been appointed Associate Artist at Shobana Jeyasingh Dance…
Company Wayne McGregor – Autobiography – London
★★★✰✰ Each performance of Wayne McGregor’s Autobiography will be different, since its composition is to be determined by an algorithm based on his genetic code. …whatever a reviewer describes will never be the same again.
Royal Ballet – Opening the New bill – Hull
★★★★✰ 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…
Royal Ballet – Woolf Works – Brisbane
★★★★✰ For the Royal Ballet, there could not have been a better start to their Australian tour than Ferri’s performance as Clarissa Dalloway in the first act of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works.
Sadler’s Wells Elixir Festival – KnowBody II – London
★★★✰✰ Mats Ek’s “Axe” could be the beginning to a new Scandi Noir TV series. There is a man, an axe, a huge pile of wood that he starts to chop with repressed intensity and a visibly distressed wife. It doesn’t look like it will end well.
Dutch National Ballet – Shostakovich Trilogy (European premiere) – Amsterdam
★★★★✰ This little trip made it abundantly clear we need to see more Ratmansky in the UK and Europe…
