Monday, June 20

[dirac]

A review of New English Ballet Theatre by Sanjoy Roy in The Guardian.

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The Royal Ballet’s Next Generation festival is a platform for youth and early career dance artists, and a natural home for New English Ballet Theatre, founded in 2010 to nurture young classical dancers, frequently through newly commissioned choreography. Their very full programme – six works, plus backstage film interviews – gives the stage to female choreographers. Ruth Brill’s Domino opens the evening, its chic tunics in Mondrian patterns and sharp Ryuichi Sakamoto score imparting a stylish modernist ambience; but both dance and dancers seem awkwardly self-conscious among the arch angles of the jigsawing choreography.
 

 

[dirac]

Q&A with Aurelie Dupont.

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Q: Why this surprise resignation?

A: It's not a sudden decision. I've worked at the Paris Opera for 40 years. I'm very proud to leave the company in great shape, with a programme set until July 2025. (Six years) is more than I spent at the Dance School as a "petit rat" (a nickname given to students). I had always told my team that I would leave at 50. There is also a desire to live differently.

 

 

[dirac]

A review of the Australian Ballet  in "Harlequinade" by Susan Bendall for Dance Australia.

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Brett Chynoweth as Harlequin was lithe and whip-fast. His light and airy dancing was punctuated with effortless batterie and cheeky glances. He channeled an air of old-school athleticism, more than that of a 21st century ballet dancer, thus capturing a softer, looser movement idiom. As Columbine, Benedicte Bemet was a natural - sweetly passionate but displaying a crisper physicality than her beloved. Pierrot, the sad-faced clown, was played with doltish delight by Callum Linnane. Sharni Spencer as Pierette played her role as far too spunky for the droopy, easily manipulated Pierrot. Pierette was also ably partnered by Jarryd Madden in Act One.

Chantal Nguyen reviews the company for Bachtrack.

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There is the pretty Columbine (Sharni Spencer), guarded by her money-minded father Cassandre (Steven Heathcote in a welcome return to the stage). He is helped by his servant, the hapless baggy-sleeved Pierrot (Jarryd Madden), whose flailing efforts are undermined by his coquettish wife Pierrette (Amy Harris). Our hero is the vibrant Harlequin (Chengwu Guo), who is smitten with Columbine and tries every trick in the book to win her. Such is his dedication that he journeys to death’s door and back – but all ends well when the Good Fairy (Ingrid Gow) comes to the rescue with a set of magic slap sticks. The ballet ends with a joyous wedding where all misunderstandings are resolved and, as the cherry on the (wedding) cake, it actually rains money. As I watched the dancers exalting in the downpour of bank notes, all I could think was “weirdly, in the hands of Petipa, this sort of makes sense.” What can I say, you had to be there. 

 

[dirac]

A review of the New English Ballet by Donald Hutera in The Times.

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New English Ballet Theatre was founded in 2010 by Karen Pilkington-Miksa as a means of increasing opportunities for emerging classical dancers, dance-makers and other artists. Into the Spotlight, the umbrella title for NEBT’s latest programme, is a mixed bill of work by six female choreographers. It was presented this past weekend as part of the soon-to-finish 2022 edition of the Royal Ballet’s Next Generation Festival, a showcase for talent from junior companies and top-rank dance schools in the UK and abroad. The result was a generously mixed bag — nothing groundbreaking but all of it mainly creditable, and performed to a fairly high standard by a baker’s dozen of young professional dancers.