dance

Swan Lake, Australian Ballet, London Coliseum

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 14 July 2016

Graeme Murphy's 2002 Swan Lake for Australian Ballet stitches together plot elements from Swan Lake, Giselle and Lucia di Lammermoor, among other things. No bad thing, that; such mash-ups can work well (see Moulin Rouge), and Matthew Bourne proved way back in 1995 that Swan Lake's story can be totally reconfigured and still work gloriously (we do not talk about the 2011 film Black Swan).

Natalia Osipova, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Friday, 01 July 2016

Why does Natalia Osipova, one of the world's best classical, dramatic ballerinas, want to start a sideline in contemporary dance in the middle of her career?

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Betroffenheit, Sadler's Wells/Ballet BC, Birmingham Hippodrome

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 02 June 2016

I could tell you what the German word "Betroffenheit" means by giving a dictionary definition, etymology and connotations and so on. But I won't, because this dance-drama hybrid by Jonathan Young and Crystal Pite is precisely not about pinning down definitions or making sense through words in a descriptive, iterative sort of way, but about capturing feelings or states of being in a much more metaphorical, experiential, immersive way.

The Invitation/Obsidian Tear/Within the Golden Hour, Royal Ballet

Hanna Weibye Monday, 30 May 2016

It shows you just how much Kenneth MacMillan changed ballet in this country that 1960's The Invitation, with its onstage rape, sexual grooming and child abuse, can act as the reassuring classic at the heart of the new Royal Ballet triple bill which opened on Saturday.

Jekyll & Hyde, Old Vic

Jenny Gilbert Friday, 27 May 2016

From time to time theatre managements hit on the idea that danced drama should be part of their remit. Nick Hytner flirted with it at the National in his day with a run of productions for Lloyd Newson and his company DV8. Now Matthew Warchus, his feet barely under the desk at the Old Vic, has commissioned a show from a young choreographer who has Matthew Bourne’s crown in his sights.

Carlos Acosta: A Classical Farewell, Birmingham Hippodrome

Hanna Weibye Saturday, 07 May 2016

Appearing before theatres full of middle-aged women in just your underpants is certainly one way to throw a retirement party. It may not be everybody's choice, but then Carlos Acosta is not like everybody, and never has been.

Frankenstein, Royal Ballet

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 05 May 2016

Another year, another new full-length story ballet from one of the Royal Ballet's in-house choreographers.

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BalletBoyz, Life, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Friday, 22 April 2016

Hearing that both Javier de Frutos and rabbit heads appear in the new BalletBoyz bill might give you pause. A choreographer so unafraid of graphic content that he started his career with naked one-man shows, and later made a piece about the Pope so sexually explicit and offensive that he got death threats – do the rabbit heads mean we're in for some kind of furvert orgy?

Mariinsky Ballet: Concerto DSCH, Sacre, Wales Millennium Centre

Nadine Meisner Sunday, 17 April 2016

On Thursday the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra swooped into Cardiff for the ballet company’s only UK dates this year. Appearing at the Wales Millennium Centre for just four ballet performances, plus a family concert of Peter and the Wolf, the Mariinsky’s arrival does seem an extravagant indulgence by its backers, especially with the decision to show exclusively contemporary, Western-style, ballet programmes.

She Said, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells

Jenny Gilbert Friday, 15 April 2016

Why are there so few female choreographers? Tamara Rojo, bugged by the fact that in 20 years on the ballet stage she had never danced anything choreographed by a woman, has stopped wondering and started doing something about it.