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[dirac]

An interview with Alastair Campbell by Adam Fulton in The Sydney Morning Herald.

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At England's Birmingham Royal Ballet, where Campbell has danced for the past six years, Australia is mentioned regularly. ''They say, 'gee, you've got a lot of Aussies','' he said. ''But it's never a bad thing. They always comment on how the Australians are all so strong when they come over.''

On being offered a Royal Ballet contract, however, Campbell kept the London company guessing for a day. ''I apologised at the time to the director. I said, 'Can I just have a bit of a think about it?' '' Campbell said. Take your time, she replied. But ''I walked out the door and within 30 seconds I'd realised that's what I wanted to do''.

[dirac]

An interview with Edward Villella by Linda Hervieux in The New York Daily News.

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Villella grins. He was one of the world's biggest stars when he danced with the New York City Ballet, taking his cues from his mentor, George Balanchine. But here on stage in Paris, he is simply a beloved teacher leading a class.

Just shy of 75, and looking a dozen years younger with floppy dark hair, Villella still resembles the scrappy street kid from Bayside who wore ballet tights under his baseball uniform.

[dirac]

A review of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet in "Swan Lake" by Zoe Anderson in The Independent.

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Uliana Lopatkina is the Mariinsky's reigning ballerina. She's best known for the classical repertory, sticking to the refinement of roles such as Swan Lake. On opening night, she danced a simpler, clearer Swan Queen, dropping the exaggerated mannerisms that had distorted her performance. Her limbs still unfold with smooth authority, but with a lot less art nouveau twisting. She even responds to her partner, the warmly attentive Daniil Korsuntsev.

As the betrayed heroine Odette, she dances with mournful softness, her phrasing long and steady. As Odette's wicked double, the black swan Odile, she spins with fierce accuracy. In one whirling sequence, there's a burnished precision to the way she flings up one curved wrist.

[dirac]

A baby hippo's ballerino moves make him a hit on the Internet. Video.

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Little Adhama - whose name means "honour" or "glory" in Swahili - is said to regularly strut his stuff pulling pirouettes, backflips and tumbles in his enclosure at San Diego Zoo.

Now the six-month-old calf and his 26-year-old mother Funani have now become a web sensation after a video of their antics was uploaded to YouTube.

[dirac]

New Bedford Ballet performs this month.

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"The Littlest Matryoshka" is an original children’s ballet based on a children’s book by Massachusetts author, Corinne Demas Bliss. This charming story describes the journey of the smallest doll of a Russian Matryoshka doll set who becomes separated from her sisters. This "littlest" doll embarks on a big and exciting adventure before she is able to be reunited with her sisters. This picturesque adaptation of Bliss’s book features choreography by New Bedford Ballet artistic director, Rebecca Waskiel-Marchesseault, and New Bedford Ballet instructors James Brown and Alivia Cram.