Saturday, November 23

[dirac]

An NPR story on the death of Vladimir Shklyarov.

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There is reportedly an official investigation into Shklyarov's death. But it is also hard not to see his demise alongside the dozens of occasions in recent years when people who have questioned the Putin regime have reportedly fallen out of windows. Pavel Antov, the politician; Ravil Maganov, the oil magnate; Valentina Bondarenko, the economist; Grigory Kochenov, the IT chief; and more — quite a few more.

 

[dirac]

English National Ballet prepares a new Nutcracker.

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Hopes are high that the Watkin-Smith collaboration will do just that and produce something vastly superior to Wayne Eagling’s dreary, dispiriting version, which the company has been performing for almost 15 years (it’s been seen by almost a million people apparently). Indeed, giving ENB a fresh Nutcracker was top of Watkin’s wish list when he took over as artistic director last year.

 

[dirac]

A TV preview of Nashville Ballet's Nutcracker.

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It is a Nashville tradition and it's coming back to TPAC! The Nashville Ballet & The Nashville Symphony are coming together for the special holiday event, with a Music City twist. Plus, there is a snow zone! Get your tickets now! Nashville's Nutcracker runs from December 6-26.

 

[dirac]

A review of the Royal Ballet and Pina Bausch by Rupert Christiansen for The Spectator.

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If this sounds intriguing, I can only say that it represents the very maximum of sense that I could draw out of the extended synopsis in the programme – I haven’t a clue where Blanco or Blackbeard or the Painballers or Pigoons fit in – and that’s because McGregor has everyone moving in the same idiom, with contortions made up of violent stretching and pelvic jerking. The result is that it’s impossible to work out whose side one is meant to be on, or indeed what emotion anyone is feeling. Dance is wonderfully and bottomlessly expressive, of course, but it cannot bear the weight that this scenario dumps on it.