Sadler's Wells
Balletboyz, The Talent, Sadler’s WellsTuesday, 29 March 2011
Well, if you’re going to headline yourself in the title of your show "the talent", you’d better have some: audiences aren’t forgiving. William Trevitt and Michael Nunn, ex-Royal Ballet dancers headlining their own company for the last decade, have... Read more... |
The Most Incredible Thing, Sadler's WellsWednesday, 23 March 2011
There was not likely to be much ballet here, despite the Pet Shop Boys’ proud use of the word to distinguish their substantial three-act score. This delivers a richly James Bond-ish ride through big pop tunes, opulent filmic moments and some nice... Read more... |
Q&A Special: Choreographer Javier de FrutosMonday, 21 March 2011
Born in Venezuela 48 years ago, de Frutos has never been the fairytale type, at least not overtly. His 20-year career of choreography has been a career of unstoppable fecundity, violent flamboyance, extreme, even grotesque exhibition, outrageous... Read more... |
The Centaur and the Animal, Sadler's WellsTuesday, 01 March 2011
To achieve a black stage that emits or reflects no light is a hell of an achievement. To place a huge black horse with black rider onto that stage, without the slightest noise, and to contrive a black shadow on the black, is to create an image found... Read more... |
I Don't Believe in Outer Space, The Forsythe Company, Sadler's WellsTuesday, 22 February 2011
An audience favourite has a USP that fills the house as long as they maintain the suspense - with William Forsythe, it’s the quality Diaghilev prized: unpredictability. When he set out in Germany in the 1980s he evolved an extreme classical ballet.... Read more... |
Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena, Sadler's WellsSaturday, 19 February 2011
There are gifted dancers and there are creatures of the stage. You know the difference immediately. The latter have something shamanic about them, ageless at any age, almost eccentric in their power. Eva Yerbabuena is one of those very rare... Read more... |
Estrella Morente, Sadler's Wells Flamenco FestivalTuesday, 08 February 2011
Every February the Sadler’s Wells flamenco festival summons the illusion of Spanish sun onto our chilled, grateful backs - this year singers are getting almost as much prominence as dancers. But what sun, I ask, at Estrella Morente’s dark, often... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Madrid: Nuevo Flamenco Comes of AgeSunday, 06 February 2011
I am far from the first - and in very good company - to worry about the over-commercialisation of flamenco. As far back as in 1922 Manuel de Falla and Federico Garcia Lorca, respectively Spain’s greatest composer and poet of the time, decided to... Read more... |
American Ballet Theatre, Prog 2, Sadler’s WellsWednesday, 02 February 2011
Jardin aux Lilas is one of ABT’s great calling cards, and it was danced with great seriousness of purpose and devotion by an admirably schooled cast. This short ballet, to "Poème" by Chausson (admirably played by a pick-up orchestra), is one of... Read more... |
American Ballet Theatre, Prog 1, Sadler's WellsTuesday, 01 February 2011
Was it the worst-played and worst-danced performance of Duo Concertant I’ve ever seen? I can’t remember a direr in my experience of quite a few DCs. But then the opening night of American Ballet Theatre’s London tour was a set of fine promises... Read more... |
Sadler's Wells Theatre, 2011 SeasonFriday, 07 January 2011
The 2011 season at Sadler’s Wells features attractions including horses and mass nudity on stage, the Pet Shop Boys' first ballet, William Forsythe, New York's American Ballet Theatre, the usual hip hop, flamenco and tango seasons, and generous... Read more... |
Matthew Bourne's Cinderella, Sadler's WellsFriday, 10 December 2010
What a stunning show Matthew Bourne has created in his Blitz-era Cinderella - truly a magical ride created from what was in its original 1997 form a pumpkin waiting to be transformed. This must be the most heartwarming and sophisticatedly rewarding... Read more... |
