Friday, November 26

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Berlin State Ballet cancels the Nutcracker permanently.

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Christina Theobald, the acting artistic director of Germany’s most prestigious ballet company, said the €1.5 million production, based closely on the 1892 original which was choreographed by Marius Petipa and adapted from ETA Hoffmann’s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, contained racist elements.

 

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The Arabian Dance in the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker gets a makeover.

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Sir Peter Wright, now director laureate of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, has made changed to his original choreography, specifically, the Arabian Dance, which takes place in Act II. Instead of a dance involving three female dancers, and one male, the new choreography, which debuted on Tuesday night, is performed with one female dancer and one male.

 

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A review of "Twyla Now" by Gay Morris for DanceTabs.

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The duets offered contrasting moods and approaches to movement. Cornbread was virtuosic, Second Duet tension filled, and Pergolesi, a reminder of Tharp at the height of her powers. Tiler Peck was teamed with Roman Mejia for the good natured Cornbread, choreographed in 2014. This duet combined folk and square dance elements, like flexed feet and sashaying walks, with balletic technique. The piece was crammed with enough movement for a three-act ballet, much of it executed at a dizzying pace. Peck, who was on pointe, executed the demands with apparent ease. Mejia matched her in a series of athletic feats, while both looked like they were enjoying every challenge. There was, however, one odd moment in the dance, when the hoedown atmosphere (the music was by the Carolina Chocolate Drops) suddenly switched to something more akin to seductive Middle Eastern rhythms. This slow section included shimmying shoulders and swaying hips, a puzzling interjection in an otherwise exuberantly American dance.

 

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A review of Australian Ballet's Celebration Gala by Chantal Nguyen for Bachtrack.

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The exquisitely meditative pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan’s 1966 Concerto followed. This was my favourite of the evening, danced by Robyn Hendricks and Callum Linnane with a gorgeously refined lyricism. Hendricks and Linnane both have long, expansive lines and searing, introspective intensity, well-suited to each other and to the choreography. One of Concerto’s recurring motifs was famously inspired by MacMillan watching his muse, Lynn Seymour, warming up at the barre. Hendricks poured herself into this motif of long stretches and melting backbends with a liquid suppleness that was moving in its elegance. 

Jansson J. Antmann's review for Limelight.

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Hallberg has succeeded in curating a program of pas de deux that accentuates the emotional outpourings of the selected pieces and capitalises on the fact that they are no longer bound by their original and often fairy-tale narrative constraints. This is further enhanced by his unwavering eye for detail and understanding of the difference made by the placement of a hand on the hip, or the tilting of an axis. Anyone who watched Hallberg rehearsing with the company during the recent World Ballet Day broadcast, or followed preparations for this gala online, will have seen his ability to transform a well-known piece and elevate it to a higher plane, where gravity is breathtakingly defied. The result feels tantalisingly dangerous and leaves audiences on the edge of their seats.

 

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New Mexico Ballet Company presents its Nutcracker.

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Karr has been dancing for more than 20 years, but the music from The Nutcracker makes her feel like a little girl again. She's not the only one who feels that way – Isadora Lyola and Jose Sebastian are guests artists from the American Ballet Theatre in New York City and they will be featured in the second act alongside New Mexican dancers.

 

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Scottish Ballet's "Starstruck" will be streamed on Marquee TV.

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Starstruck was inspired by Kelly’s legendary work in Hollywood and in this immersive, theatrical experience, audiences around the world can escape to the glamor and grace of 1960s France, from the comfort of their own home. Set to Gershwin’s captivating Concerto in F, with extracts from Chopin, Starstruck offers an uplifting evening of entertainment, ideal for these unsettling times.

 

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Newly discovered photos of Princess Diana visiting ballet schools.

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It was Harold King, a diminutive South African-born choreographer, who charmed Diana into joining his independent company.

And it is his photographs of their collaboration, which only came to light after his death aged 70 last year, that are being sold by Colchester-based auctioneers Reeman Dansie, which specialises in royal memorabilia.

 

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Ben Rudisin of the National Ballet of Canada talks about getting back onstage after the pandemic layoff.

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“It was great to get back to something approaching our normal schedule—a 10 a.m. class followed by six hours of rehearsals. Taking class in studio every day helped me to get back into my body, and to feel like I was capable of doing what I could before the pandemic. I had to build my stamina back to get through long rehearsal days. Big jetés and tours require a great deal of physical power, and it took a while to build up the strength to execute those moves again.