dirac Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 A review of the Royal Ballet by Zoe Anderson in The Independent. Quote With coaching by Anthony Dowell, the first Oberon, it’s a gorgeous revival, bringing out the depth and colour of both steps and storytelling. (Dowell’s curtain call with Antoinette Sibley, his original Titania, was greeted with a roar of affection: the love and sense of theatre are both very Ashton.) Joshua Junker is a sweet-tempered Bottom, with Daichi Ikarashi a long-limbed, angular Puck. Olivia Cowley was a witty Helena, with a “don’t bother me now” air of distraction as yet more magic turns her life upside down. Barry Wordsworth conducted a glowing account of the Mendelssohn score. Lyndsey Winship reviews the program for The Guardian. Quote Another gorgeous set is the wooded glade of The Dream (1964). The Shakespeare ballet is considered a masterpiece by many, so it may be sacrilegious to say it always seems a tad long. However, tonight it is so well danced. Royal Ballet legend and original Oberon Anthony Dowell has coached the principals and, stepping into his shoes, Marcelino Sambé rises to the role, with mystery and scheming behind his eyes. Francesca Hayward is the haughty Titania he spars with. Joshua Junker makes a great Bottom, full of personality even when wearing an ass’s head, but Daichi Ikarashi’s properly puckish Puck steals it, with his spiky, spritely leaps, not of the human world. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 A review of New York City Ballet by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc. Quote Partnering Nadon, Aarón Sanz was off-form that afternoon, with fidgety turns. But Nadon was monumental. Whirling, then stopping sharply and standing defiantly, her percussive, free musicality could stand on its own, without reference to Farrell. Nadon spun through a risky combination of inside turns spotting front, then a clap, a spin and it was all done. She embodied the the spirit of the vagabond, as Balanchine saw Farrell. The ballet is not really about being a gypsy. It’s about being unownable. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 A review of Oregon Ballet Theatre by Lindsay Dreyer for Oregon ArtsWatch. Quote The Newmark Theatre in downtown Portland seemed to buzz with curiosity Thursday night, as the audience anticipated Oregon Ballet Theatre’s second installment of Made in Portland, an end-of-season production featuring three world premieres by guest choreographers. The evening also served as the penultimate performance for the first year of new Artistic Director Dani Rowe’s seemingly reinvigorated vision for the company, one that seems to be asking OBT’s dancers to hone their versatility, while asking their audiences to dive in. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 A review of the Hungarian National Ballet by Ilona Landgraf in her blog, "Landgraf on Dance." Quote Boris Eifman’s The Pygmalion Effect took my breath away. The dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet whizzed through two, at times terrifically fast, acts and then appeared at the curtain call as if they had merely finished warming up. Hats off! Budapest’s audience has loved the ballet, which was created for Eifman’s home company in St. Petersburg in 2019 and has been in the Hungarian National Ballet’s repertory since June 2023. At Saturday’s matinee, the house was packed to the roof. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 Mavis Staines retires from the directorship of the National Ballet of Canada's school. Quote Meanwhile, Staines — not without some opposition — oversaw a sweeping reassessment and broadening of the school’s ballet curriculum to open it to fresh influences and align it with the realities of a changing profession in which stylistic versatility was non-negotiable. Link to comment
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