Dance
DVD: Love TomorrowTuesday, 17 December 2013
It’s very unusual to hear ballet dancers talk. The extent of ballerina acting is normally a flamboyant point at a ring finger to announce a wedding, dramatically wiping away tears to express sadness or furrowing a heavily pencilled brow to portray... Read more... |
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Sadler's WellsFriday, 13 December 2013
In 1995 a new avian species with unfamiliar markings, the Bourne swan, drew unexpectedly large crowds to a run-down old Islington theatre. I remember it well: seats in the gods were being worn so tight then that feet attached to long legs couldn't... Read more... |
Nutcracker, English National Ballet, London ColiseumThursday, 12 December 2013
This production of Nutcracker, the 10th in English National Ballet's 60-year history, has come in for some stick in the three years since its première. Wayne Eagling, the company’s then director, produced the choreography in rather... Read more... |
The Nutcracker, Royal BalletWednesday, 04 December 2013
When dealing with the big beasts of the classical repertoire, the Royal Ballet has a history of both playing it straight and playing it very, very well. Peter Wright’s venerable production of The Nutcracker is a case in point: although sticking... Read more... |
Opinion: How can the Bolshoi rise again?Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Money, love, professional jealousy - the three undying motives for personal crime, and all three were present in the Bolshoi Ballet acid trial. An international public that scoffed happily at the OTT ballet horror-show that was the film Black Swan... Read more... |
The Taming of the Shrew, Stuttgart Ballet, Sadler's WellsSunday, 24 November 2013
“Comedy in ballet can be notoriously difficult to get right.” So warns the programme note for The Taming of the Shrew, choreographer John Cranko’s 1969 adaptation of Shakespeare, with which Stuttgart Ballet chose to end their run at Sadler’s Wells... Read more... |
Made in Germany, Stuttgart Ballet, Sadler's Wells TheatreTuesday, 19 November 2013
Stuttgart Ballet, one of Europe's most highly respected companies, is clearly determined to show London its best sides – all of them. Thirteen pieces in one performance is less a mixed bill than a tasting menu, and one that aims to impress: this... Read more... |
Chroma/ The Human Seasons/ The Rite of Spring, The Royal BalletSunday, 10 November 2013
This triple bill is of works commissioned for the Royal Ballet: Kenneth MacMillan’s The Rite of Spring was first performed in 1962, Wayne McGregor’s Chroma had its debut in 2006 while this is the world premiere of David Dawson’s first ballet for... Read more... |
Milonga, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sadler's WellsFriday, 08 November 2013
Can tango ever really be interesting as a pure dance stage show? After all, like most forms of social dance, its truest incarnation is in the fleeting and contingent encounters of the dance hall, the public ball, the open-to-all-comers late night... Read more... |
Sadler's Wells, 2014 Highlights announcedTuesday, 05 November 2013Crystal Pite returns to Sadler's Wells as their 16th Associate Artist, with a UK premiere of her The Tempest Replica, in April.29-30 January: Borish Charmatz's enfant.7-16 February: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returns with 1980: A Piece by... Read more... |
Sadler’s Wells, Ambitious New PlansTuesday, 05 November 2013Alastair Spalding, Sadler’s Wells’ Chief Executive and Artistic Director, today announced that the theatre is looking for a fourth London venue, which it hopes will open in just four years’ time.Not content with two proscenium spaces (the main stage... Read more... |
The Bolshoi acid trial begins - vitriol promisedFriday, 01 November 2013
Even by the grand Guignol standards of Russian ballet 2013, this week has been eventful. The trial of the Bolshoi dancer for attacking his boss with acid finally began on Tuesday, and with incredible, tension-ratcheting synchrony, the controversial... Read more... |
