dance

Royal Danish Ballet Soloists and Principals, Peacock Theatre, London

Jenny Gilbert Saturday, 10 January 2015

“A link in the chain of beauty” – that’s how the choreographer August Bournonville, in the 1840s, wanted every dancer in the Royal Danish Ballet to regard their art. And, remarkably, the chain of beauty we now call the Bournonville style has remained unbroken ever since.

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Swan Lake, English National Ballet, London Coliseum

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 08 January 2015

The twelve days of Christmas may be over, but I have good news for ballet fans in London: a whole new batch of presents for you has washed up at the Coliseum, and it's overflowing with lords-a-leaping, ladies dancing, and swans-a-swimming.

Romeo and Juliet, Moscow City Ballet, Cambridge Corn Exchange

Hanna Weibye Monday, 05 January 2015

The question with Moscow City Ballet is: should I judge them on what they are, or on what they claim to be? The touring company, a self-supporting private enterprise, takes productions of classic ballets (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake et al) round provincial theatres in this and a few other countries.

Best of 2014: Dance & Ballet

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 31 December 2014

You usually know a good piece or performance when you see one, but sometimes you only identify a great one as such significantly after the fact. What better way to test a work's durability, then, than by seeing what remains of it in the memory after six or 12 months? I admit this "best of" exercise is pretty subjective, but 2014 was such a rich year for dance that I've had to be ruthless: an item only makes my list if I still feel excited when I recall it.

The Nutcracker, Scottish Ballet, Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Hanna Weibye Sunday, 28 December 2014

Every Nutcracker has its day, and every day has its Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker, English National Ballet, London Coliseum

Jenny Gilbert Monday, 15 December 2014

Unusually, English National Ballet’s Nutcracker finds itself in an empty field this year. Three Decembers ago, the second time out for Wayne Eagling’s production, it had to contend with Matthew Bourne’s version and the Royal Ballet’s, not to mention the fallout from a BBC fly-on-the-wall series that had brutally exposed its difficult conception.

Edward Scissorhands, New Adventures, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 11 December 2014

For those who’ve seen one too many Nutcrackers, nothing says Christmas better than a Matthew Bourne production at Sadler’s Wells. A man whose mantelpiece is overflowing with Tony and Olivier awards is a safe bet for entertainrment – even when the production in question looks at first glance unlikely: Bourne’s 2005 danced version of Edward Scissorhands, the 1990 Tim Burton movie which is part Gothic fairy tale, part moral fable, part 1950s soap opera.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2014), Royal Ballet

David Nice Sunday, 07 December 2014

Christopher Wheeldon’s hard-working mix of skewed classical ballet, vaudeville and Victorian theatrical magic achieved through state-of-the-art technique wasn’t much liked by theartsdesk’s critics on its first and second outings. Marvelling at it on DVD as I worked on the notes for that release, I wondered why. Now it’s clearer that many of the special effects and characterisations work best in close up.

Sacred Monsters, Khan/Guillem, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 26 November 2014

There is a special poignancy to these performances of Sacred Monsters, Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan's terrific 2006 joint show.

Don Quixote, Royal Ballet

Jenny Gilbert Wednesday, 26 November 2014

The 1871 ballet that goes by the name of Don Quixote has always been a challenge to stage. Barely a tenth of its two hours-plus concerns the titular knight and his crackpot wanderings. The rest is fixed like a town hall security camera on the non-events of a square in Barcelona, where a flighty barmaid and a feckless barber fall in and out of love every few seconds while the townspeople stand about and watch.