dirac Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 A review of the National Ballet of Japan by Naomi Mori for Bachtrack. Quote The role of Alice is a demanding one, hardly off-stage during all three acts. The choreography is difficult, with lots of off-balance poses and a lot of duets. Opening night Alice Yui Yonezawa played the role with a natural approach, existing on the stage as the curious Alice herself, while dancing with pure clarity, elegance and excellent musicality. Alice shrinks and expands, races with strange animals, swims into a sea of tears, runs through the chaotic kitchen where a baby transforms into a pig and the hysterical cook manufactures sausages while flinging her knife. Alice's sweetheart, Jack, who transforms into the Knave of Hearts, is danced by Takafumi Watanabe. It is not a rewarding role but Watanabe partnered Yonezawa well, his boy-next-door character a good match and with a few opportunities to show his virtuoso technique. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 A review of the English National Ballet in "Giselle" by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times. Quote Akram Khan’s “Giselle” isn’t so much a remake of a treasured ballet as it is an impressionistic proposition: Is there a way that “Giselle” could be sensed or felt instead of seen or heard? Certainly, it’s dark. You start to think that its lighting designer, Mark Henderson, is sentimental about caves. Link to comment
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