dance

The King Dances, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

Jenny Gilbert Saturday, 17 October 2015

For an art form with a marked penchant for looking over its shoulder, it’s surprising how rarely ballet has exploited its own origins story – not least given the fabled opulence and style of its leading character. The Sleeping Beauty makes a nod to Louis XIV and the court of Versailles in its final moments, but in most ballet goers’ mental archive that’s just about it.

Comment

Swan Lake, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Swan Lakes are not created equal. In fact they are not even created the same: ballet is the art form with the evanescent repertoire, in which First Folios – or any folios – are singularly scarce. Even with a classic as beloved as Swan Lake, there is no stable text apart from Ivanov's lakeside choreography for Act II and Tchaikovsky's score (though not even all of that).

Raven Girl/Connectome, Royal Ballet

Jenny Gilbert Wednesday, 07 October 2015

Wayne McGregor wasn't anyone's idea of a ballet man when he was appointed choreographer in residence at the Royal Ballet in 2007. Before then, and since, his work has been abstract, spiky, verging on dysmorphic. His interest lay not in human stories but in the snap of synapses and the speed with which the brain can relay messages to a hyper-flexible body.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Prog 2, Peacock Theatre

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 24 September 2015

If the Trocks didn't exist, we would have to invent them. Every genre needs its loving parodists, treading the fine line between homage and dommage, and an art form as stylised and convention-governed as classical dance is riper for it than most - as evidenced by the continuing worldwide success of this all-male comedy troupe after more than 40 years.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Peacock Theatre

David Nice Thursday, 17 September 2015

If you don’t know the steps or the stars being semi-spoofed, will you laugh? Yes, though perhaps not as much as anticipated. The best parody needs to be as good as the original, and “the Trocks”, as Tory Dobrin's New York-based company has been known in its 40-plus years to date, take their Petipa and Ivanov very seriously.

The King Who Invented Ballet, BBC Four

Hanna Weibye Monday, 14 September 2015

Someone more unlike Louis XIV than David Bintley is hard to imagine.

Comment

Lest We Forget, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 09 September 2015

When English National Ballet premiered Lest We Forget in April last year, to enthusiastic reviews, they were ahead of the pack with First World War commemoration, and the ambitious modern programme was the first sign of Tamara Rojo's determination to make the company's repertoire more contemporary.

McGregor/Spuck, Ballett Zürich, Edinburgh Playhouse

Hanna Weibye Friday, 28 August 2015

New Edinburgh Festival director Fergus Linehan has made it clear he wants to offer things people actually want to see. So including Wayne McGregor - prolific, popular, energetically self-promoting doyen of contemporary dance - in the dance programme for the first time makes plenty of sense.

Seven, Ballett am Rhein/RSNO, Edinburgh Playhouse

Hanna Weibye Friday, 21 August 2015

When the Royal Opera House told Kenneth MacMillan that Mahler was unsuitable for ballet, he went – where else? – to Germany. Though the success of MacMillan's Lied von der Erde for Stuttgart Ballet led to its happy adoption into Royal Ballet repertoire, making ballet to Mahler still seems to draw German companies more than others – whether because the orchestras, audiences, or state subsidies are better, who knows?

Lo Real, Israel Galván, Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 20 August 2015

It is an axiom of Israel Galván criticism to say the Spaniard is wired differently. He's the "Bowie of flamenco" - leggy and intense, unpredictably sparky, intemittently brilliant, and sometimes incomprehensible.