Royal Ballet
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... |
Obsidian Tear / Marguerite and Armand / Elite Syncopations, Royal Opera House review - an evening of high-performance mismatchMonday, 16 April 2018
One day someone will come up with an algorithm for the perfectly balanced triple bill. Until then ballet directors will have to make do with hit or miss. The Royal Ballet’s latest three-part offering would appear to tick the boxes: something old,... Read more... |
Manon, Royal Ballet review - glitter and betrayFriday, 30 March 2018
"Massenet feels it as a Frenchman, with powder and minuets," declared Puccini in annoucing his own operatic setting of the Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut. "I shall feel it as an Italian, with desperate passion." That's the usual Kenneth... Read more... |
Bernstein triple bill, Royal Ballet review - epic ambitions unfulfilledFriday, 16 March 2018
The Royal Ballet last night presented an evening of Bernstein-scored ballets, two of them premieres by Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon and the other a revival of Liam Scarlett's 2014 Age of Anxiety. Celebrated and accessible composer;... Read more... |
Giselle, Royal Ballet review - beautiful dancing in a production of classic good tasteSaturday, 20 January 2018
The run of Giselle that opened at the Royal Opera House last night was completely sold out before it even started, and no wonder. Pair Sir Peter Wright's eerie production with some very fine casts and the reliable classiness of the Royal Ballet's... Read more... |
Best of 2017: DanceSaturday, 30 December 2017
With forelock-tugging celebrations of a choreographer who died 25 years ago and a summer visit by the Mariinsky the highest-profile events in the calendar, 2017 may not be remembered as a vintage year for British dance. But there were striking... Read more... |
The Nutcracker, Royal Ballet review - superb start to the festive dance seasonWednesday, 06 December 2017
For some people, the festive season starts with The Nutcracker. And as it happens, this year the opening night of Sir Peter Wright’s production for the Royal Ballet was also the performance beamed live to hundreds of cinemas around the UK and... Read more... |
Sylvia, Royal Ballet review - Ashton rarity makes a delicious eveningFriday, 24 November 2017
On paper, the appeal of a Sylvia revival is questionable. If even the choreographer (Frederick Ashton) wasn't sure his 1952 original was worth saving for posterity, do we really want to watch a 2004 reconstruction posthumously pieced together from... Read more... |
Triple Bill, Royal Ballet review - Arthur Pita's 'Wind' is a howling successTuesday, 07 November 2017
Of all the stories Arthur Pita could have chosen to wrangle for his new narrative ballet, he chose one about wind, perhaps the trickiest element of all to represent on a live stage. Tricky because of course you can’t see wind, you can only see its... Read more... |
Kenneth MacMillan, Royal Opera House review - a sprite proves mercilessFriday, 20 October 2017
There are different ways of celebrating a great artist’s legacy, and I suppose they have to coexist. One approach is raptly to admire his or her acknowledged masterpieces, the equivalent of making straight for Guernica or the Mona Lisa. The other... Read more... |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Royal Ballet review - a feast of visual delightsThursday, 28 September 2017
I can imagine Monica Mason, the artistic director who commissioned Christopher Wheeldon's 2011 Alice, feeling pretty pleased with herself as she looked around the Covent Garden auditorium last night at an audience buzzing with excitement for the... Read more... |
Ashton triple bill, Royal Ballet review – fond farewell to Zenaida YanowskySaturday, 03 June 2017
Nicely covering the many bases of Frederick Ashton's genius, the Royal Ballet triple bill which opened last night is a chance to see both the company and its founder choreographer on top form. The Dream shows Ashton at his narrative best, handling... Read more... |
