contemporary ballet
Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works, Royal Ballet review - the impressive range and reach of Christopher Wheeldon's craftMonday, 19 May 2025
Ballet is hardly a stranger to Broadway. Until the late 1950s every other musical had its fantasy ballet sequence – think Cyd Charisse in Singin’ in the Rain, or Laurey’s dream in Oklahoma!, whose first interpreter was its choreographer Agnes de... Read more... |
The Forsythe Programme, English National Ballet review - brains, beauty and bravuraTuesday, 15 April 2025
It’s hard to think of anyone even half as persistent as William Forsythe in changing the conversation around ballet. The American choreographer first came to notice with what became the defining dancework of the late 1980s.In the Middle, Somewhat... Read more... |
Light of Passage, Royal Ballet review - Crystal Pite’s cosmic triptych powers backFriday, 21 February 2025
“Cry sorrow, sorrow, but let the good prevail”. The refrain of Aeschylus’s chorus near the start of the Oresteia is alive and honoured in Henryk Górecki’s rhetoric-free symphonic memorial and Crystal Pite’s response to the dynamism under its... Read more... |
Legacy, Linbury Theatre review - an exceptional display of black dance prowessSaturday, 02 November 2024
In the foyer of the Linbury Theatre is an exhibition which gives a very upbeat account of the presence of black dancers in British ballet. Photographs dating back to the 1950s, 60s and 70s show practitioners of extraordinary physicality and verve,... Read more... |
Untitled, 2023 / Corybantic Games / Anastasia Act III, Royal Ballet review - a magnificent end to the seasonSaturday, 17 June 2023
Is it a cop-out for an artist to label a piece of work “Untitled”? Painters and sculptors make a habit of it, reasoning that they want to leave the viewer free to bring to the experience what they will, unhampered and unlimited by prior information... Read more... |
The Weathering/Solo Echo/DGV, Royal Ballet review - the dancer as chameleonWednesday, 30 March 2022
Of all the expectations one might have of a new ballet from a choreographer raised on street dance who has made work about the American prison system, serene loveliness isn’t one of them. The name Kyle Abraham is not new to Royal Ballet... Read more... |
The Dante Project, Royal Ballet review - a towering achievementSaturday, 16 October 2021
Unless you happen to be a student of Italian language or culture, the significance of the 14th-century poet Dante Alighieri’s insights into the human condition may have passed you by, albeit that this year marks 700 years since his death. Where... Read more... |
Creature, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - bombastic and unreadableFriday, 24 September 2021
If a new ballet can be doomed by the weight of expectation, then Creature didn’t stand a chance. First scheduled to appear in the spring of 2020, then again last autumn, the publicity drive over the past weeks has had the air of marketing a used car... Read more... |
Rumpelstiltskin, Sadler's Wells Digital Stage review - spins an engaging yarn for young audiencesMonday, 06 April 2020
The latest in Sadler’s Wells’ Digital Stage programme – an impressively assembled online offering to keep audiences entertained during the shutdown – is balletLORENT’s family-friendly dance-theatre production Rumpelstiltskin. It was... Read more... |
Carlos Acosta: A Celebration, Royal Albert HallThursday, 04 October 2018
Ballet superstar Carlos Acosta returned to the Royal Albert Hall this week, accompanied by the youthful dancers of his company Acosta Danza, for yet another show celebrating his long career. Photographer Bill Knight of theartsdesk captured... Read more... |
Elizabeth, Barbican review - royal romance under scrutinyThursday, 17 May 2018
Everyone knows that Elizabeth I was a monarch of deep intelligence and sharp wit. Fewer know how good she was at the galliard. This was a virile, proud, demandingly athletic dance, usually performed by the men at courtly gatherings, and the fact... Read more... |
Voices of America, English National Ballet review - a punchy programme of contemporary balletSaturday, 14 April 2018
A new William Forsythe ballet is quite a coup for English National Ballet; the choreographer hasn't made a piece in Britain in 20 years. Premiered last night as part of ENB's Voices of America triple bill at Sadler's Wells, Forsythe's Playlist (... Read more... |
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