dance

Diana Vishneva, On the Edge, London Coliseum

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 15 April 2015

Diana Vishneva's last solo show was called Beauty in Motion, a pretty safe bet under the Trade Descriptions Act, since the Mariinsky prima ballerina and ABT guest star is unfailingly, remarkably beautiful. The new one, which came to the Coliseum last night 18 months after its première in California, rejoices in the much more ambiguous title of On the Edge. On the edge of what? Nervous breakdown? Retirement? Being less than beautiful?

A Streetcar Named Desire, Scottish Ballet, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 01 April 2015

Your mum told you (or at least, I hope someone did) that it wasn't about being pretty, it was about having personality. True wisdom though this is, you probably also noticed that there are some jobs where it appears to be necessary to conform to a certain model of style or appearance. Playing the princess roles in ballet is one of these, though it's not about prettiness: for practical reasons you have to be shorter and considerably lighter than the men who will partner you.

The Four Temperaments/Untouchable/Song of the Earth, Royal Ballet

Hanna Weibye Saturday, 28 March 2015

After the second piece of last night's triple bill, Hofesh Shechter's Untouchable in its world premiere, my friend asked me why it had been put on the programme with the first piece, George Balanchines 1946 Four Temperaments. He wondered if there was some structural or thematic connection that he had missed between the two wildly different pieces.

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Bayadère - The Ninth Life, Shobana Jeyasingh Company, Linbury Studio Theatre

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 26 March 2015

The premise of last night’s world première made so much sense that one almost wondered why nobody had done it before now.

Serenade/Carmina Burana, Birmingham Royal Ballet, London Coliseum

Judith Flanders Friday, 20 March 2015

Serenade seems to be one of George Balanchine’s most evanescent works, a floating, delicate skein of movement that is over almost before it begins, leaving nothing but memory behind. In reality, it is tough as old boots, a warrior of a ballet, one that endures, survives – and enchants over and over.

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The Pursuit of Now, Sadler's Wells

Matthew Wright Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Even for a dancer of Akram Khan’s sublime gifts, “Now” is an evasive concept to convey. During last night’s Sadler’s Wells extravaganza of Azerbaijani jazz and contemporary dance, “The Pursuit of Now”, Khan and his co-performer, the German-Korean dancer Honji Wang, mesmerised in a series of vignettes, gorgeously choreographed and lit.

Modern Masters, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 12 March 2015

Reviews of English National Ballet in which I rave about what Tamara Rojo is doing for the company are getting to be the norm round here.

Say Yes To Another Excess - TWERK, Sadler's Wells

Heidi Goldsmith Saturday, 07 March 2015

"The music will be loud," the slender usher warns on entry to altered natives' "Say Yes To Another Excess" – TWERK, as a Grime bassline shakes the flimsy theatre floor. She hands over a text-heavy programme and does not frisk me. This is no London Bridge warehouse, although bouncers giving out freesheets on the door could be a great way to get the middle classes down to a rave. For now regular Rinse FM DJs Skilliam and Elijah are coming to the ballet.

Nómada, Compañía Manuel Liñán, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Monday, 02 March 2015

"Sprung from pure flamenco, Manuel Liñán exudes purity from himself and his dance - he is life, freshness and passion." Leaving aside the need for a better copywriter, or at least translator, what does this, the opening line of the flamenco performer's biography in the programme for the Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival, tell us about him? That he's not afraid of making big claims, certainly. That he may have a teeny bit of a god complex ("sprung from"?

Eva Yerbabuena/Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Tuesday, 24 February 2015

The Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival is cunningly scheduled for that particularly dreary fortnight in late February when winter has been going on forever, spring is still just out of reach, and half term brings the dismal realisation that we're only just halfway through the school year and summer holidays are still at least five months away.