Wednesday, January 29

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Liam Scarlett is suspended from the Royal Ballet amid charges of sexual misconduct.

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Liam Scarlett, 33, has been banned from the ballet company while an inquiry is carried out by independent investigators. The Royal Opera House, home to the Royal Ballet, said it was made aware of the allegations in August last year and had suspended Scarlett.

Related.

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A former student alleges that Scarlett asked him to send nudes and would comment on dancers’ genitalia, touch their backsides and walk in while they were changing.

 

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A review of the National Ballet of Canada by Sarah L. Kaufman in The Washington Post.

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When the National Ballet of Canada seized the Kennedy Center Opera House stage on Tuesday with so much swift, extreme movement, I was almost dazed by intermission. I found myself hoping the dancers had hot baths and big dinners waiting for them after those first challenging works: William Forsythe’s “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude” and “Approximate Sonata 2016.”

George Jackson's review for danceviewtimes.

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Even without seeing The National Ballet of Canada’s “Sleeping Beauty”, I feel confident in thinking that this a major company. Some dancers, such as Guillaume Cote, are Canadian trained. Others come from elsewhere, for example: Svetlana Lunkina was trained in Russia and danced with the Bolshoi Ballet before joining National of Canada. The company’s director, Karen Kain and such members of the coaching team as Magdalena Popa, Christopher Stowell, Lindsay Fischer, and Peter Ottmann keep the dancing clean, even, unmannered and lively. I wish there had been more opportunities to see this display of contemporary choreography.

 

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A review of New York City Ballet by Susanna Sloat for DanceTabs.

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New York City Ballet is off to a fine start when it opens the winter season with a very well-danced all Balanchine, all Stravinsky program. This year it began with lots of color and a semi-novelty, Danses Concertantes. First, Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford introduced Baily Jones, who is the 2019-20 Janice Levin Dancer, an annual honor for a member of the corps. Jones, who spoke briefly, was in her bright green costume for Danses Concertantes, letting us know that while DC may not have Balanchine’s most immortal choreography, it won’t be, like the succeeding pieces, in bare black and white.

 

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An interview with Pacific Northwest Ballet's milliner, Terry Frank.

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.....While his duties include other costume elements as well — hats, boots, hairpieces, large crafted pieces such as Mother Ginger’s skirt in “Nutcracker” — the intricate assembling of tiaras is his favorite task. He loves the challenge of creating something of gossamer beauty that’s nonetheless strong enough to endure for many years of wear, and light enough so that a ballerina’s head isn’t weighed down by its presence.

“It’s really fun,” he said, showing visitors around his tight workspace at PNB’s Phelps Center costume shop recently. “I like working with bling.”