3 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Reviews of the English National Ballet in "The Sleeping Beauty."

The Financial Times

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And it does not cheat on incidents both vital and beautiful: the crucial hunting scene that opens Act II with its court dances and farandole is admirably done, very elegant in its black costumes that intriguingly suggest a court in mourning. Everywhere the ideal proportions of Petipa’s structure (Beauty is perfectly organised theatrical engineering) are respected. This ENB version, for all its need to cut a few artistic corners with excisions to the score, is handsome.

The Telegraph

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Wednesday night also provided the fascinating – not to mention ravishing – spectacle of ENB’s new dancer-director leading from the front. Having taken the post only months ago, Tamara Rojo seemed to be delivering a masterclass to her troupe, as well as a kind of mission statement to the audience. And what a glorious Aurora she makes.

The Independent

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Rojo can do quadruple pirouettes, so she does, even if the orchestra has to wait while she finishes spinning. She holds long balances in the Rose Adagio, but looks at the audience rather than at her partners. Her best moments come in the last act, where she phrases her final solo with more lightness and variety.

She also lacks connection with Vadim Muntagirov, ENB’s young star.....

[dirac]

A review of the ENBby Lyndsey Winship in The Evening Standard.

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The costumes, by Nicholas Georgiadis, are amazing: sumptuous and extravagant, in a palette of dusky pastels, everything tastefully gilded — although some of the boys might have balked when they saw the shiny peach skintight breeches. And when the court wakes up after 100 years, their Elizabethan ruffs have been miraculously replaced by powdered wigs.

[dirac]

Moscow City Ballet presents "Swan Lake."

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The members of the corps de ballet showcase their talents in the sometimes overlong divertissements and Siegfried (Talgat Kozhabaev) is outshone by the dynamism of the master of ceremonies.

...as does the Russian State Ballet of Siberia, in Bristol.

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With a flamboyant conductor, Alexander Yudasin, determined to bring out all the drama and power in this wonderfully melodic score, and colourful sets and costumes by Maria Smirnova-Nesvitskaya, everything was set fair for the first of the productions, Swan Lake.

This music just begs to be interpreted in a dramatic mix of power and passion – but not all of Sergei Bobrov's revised choreography, based on Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's original work, took advantage of these invitations.

[dirac]

A preview  of the National Gallery of Art's upcoming exhibition, “Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced With Music."  Thanks to kfw for sending in the link!

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A version of the exhibition originated at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2010, but the National Gallery’s adaptation will include more than 50 additional pieces on loan from museums around the world, including Dansmuseet in Sweden and the National Gallery of Australia.

“We’re not reprising the show but using it as inspiration,” Powell said. “We’ve added a lot of fine art to it — it’s truly a multimedia show.”