dance

Swan Lake, Royal Ballet

David Nice Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Is there an art-form more tied to bad as well as good tradition than classical ballet? Yolanda Sonnabend’s unatmospherically if expensively kitsch designs for this Swan Lake wouldn’t have lasted more than a season or two in the worlds of theatre and opera, yet here they still are in Anthony Dowell’s soon-to-be-retired homage to Petipa and Ivanov, first seen in 1987 and due to take Swan Lake at Covent Garden past the 1000^th performance in the present run.

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The Associates, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Sunday, 08 February 2015

The Associates is not the title of a new Scandi crime drama, though in dance world terms we’re perhaps approaching that level of Event. Associates are what Sadler’s Wells, London’s dance powerhouse, calls the selected band of dancemakers it deems serioulsy interesting, and worth co-commissioning.

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One Flute Note/Body Not Fit for Purpose, Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Tuesday, 03 February 2015

One of the dance world's better-kept secrets is the existence of a brilliantly inventive comic double-act consisting of two paunchy, balding 50-something men.

Onegin, Royal Ballet

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 29 January 2015

The habit among ballet critics of being simultaneously down on John Cranko's 1965 Onegin and up on Kenneth MacMillan's 1974 Manon is a curious one.

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Richard Alston Dance Company 20th Anniversary Performances, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Testament to the work of Richard Alston Dance Company (RADC) over the 20 years since its foundation was not just the première-filled celebratory programme performed at Sadler's Wells last night, but the enthusiastic audience there to see it.

Young Men, BalletBoyz, Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 15 January 2015

Having gathered an excellent cadre of dancers and forged them over years into a fine company (The Talent), the BalletBoyz Michael Nunn and William Trevitt – two of the most astute artists in dance – must have known they needed to go further, to tackle something bigger than the 20-minute abstract pieces that are the staple of contemporary mixed bills.

Royal Danish Ballet Soloists and Principals, Peacock Theatre, London

Jenny Gilbert Saturday, 10 January 2015

“A link in the chain of beauty” – that’s how the choreographer August Bournonville, in the 1840s, wanted every dancer in the Royal Danish Ballet to regard their art. And, remarkably, the chain of beauty we now call the Bournonville style has remained unbroken ever since.

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Swan Lake, English National Ballet, London Coliseum

Hanna Weibye Thursday, 08 January 2015

The twelve days of Christmas may be over, but I have good news for ballet fans in London: a whole new batch of presents for you has washed up at the Coliseum, and it's overflowing with lords-a-leaping, ladies dancing, and swans-a-swimming.

Romeo and Juliet, Moscow City Ballet, Cambridge Corn Exchange

Hanna Weibye Monday, 05 January 2015

The question with Moscow City Ballet is: should I judge them on what they are, or on what they claim to be? The touring company, a self-supporting private enterprise, takes productions of classic ballets (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake et al) round provincial theatres in this and a few other countries.

Best of 2014: Dance & Ballet

Hanna Weibye Wednesday, 31 December 2014

You usually know a good piece or performance when you see one, but sometimes you only identify a great one as such significantly after the fact. What better way to test a work's durability, then, than by seeing what remains of it in the memory after six or 12 months? I admit this "best of" exercise is pretty subjective, but 2014 was such a rich year for dance that I've had to be ruthless: an item only makes my list if I still feel excited when I recall it.