Ballet.co Magazine
For December 2008

Previous Ballet.co magazine - November 2008
Next Ballet.co magazine - January 2009

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Quick Links for this magazine
Interviews, Features, In the Galleries, Reviews, Postings Reviews, External Reviews, Photographic Copyright and Credits

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Interviews and Features


Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova 50th Anniversary Gala

Bolshoi Ballet Gala: Margaret Willis

"And then there were the multiple curtain calls for all the dancers and the two stars came on stage and thanked each and everyone personally. They had also made a thank-you clip of all the famous faces who had been part of their dancing lives which was shown, giving some poignant memories. The applause was thunderous and continued on stage after the audience had left and at the reception across the street which went on until the wee hours. But not too late, as both stars had regular work schedules the next day awaiting them. "Nado rabotat", said Katia, "we must work."



Svetlana Adyrkhayeva
Bolshoi Ballet
A ballerina from the 'golden age' of the Bolshoi Ballet talks at length to Natasha Dissanayake


Ekaterina Chtchelkanova
Kirov Ballet, ABT, Broadway star and Ballet Mistress
Laura Cappelle talks to Ekaterina Chtchelkanova, the Ballet Mistress of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, about her ever changing life


Gillian Revie
Royal Ballet
Guest Principal Character Artist
The much loved Gillian Revie was a guest of the Ballet Association back in August 2008...


Liam Scarlett
Royal Ballet
Choreographer and Dancer
The Royal Ballet choreographic rising star wasa guest of the Ballet Association back in June 2008...

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Diaries and weblogs


Dane Hurst weblog...
Phoenix Dance Theatre
'Happiness in Uncertain Times!'...
"I take my hat off to everyone at Phoenix, especially Ana Lujan Sanchez, without her, the company would probably not have been on tour right now. Despite the current situation, everybody, dancers, admin and technical crew have been giving 100 percent without fail, we don't know which way the company will swing but at present all that matters is making the best of what is at hand."
(weblog home)


Jarkko Lehmus weblog...
the Scottish Ballet dancer who tells it like no other... now, new and improved with life-change talk...i
'The Dog Ate It, Miss"'
"After the tour was wrapped up, I popped down to Guildford for the first weekend seminar of the BA(Hons) Theatre conversion course I'm doing at the moment. I was a bit concerned, having doubts about my vocabulary and generally just feeling like I'd destroyed too many brain cells over the years to make any sense of the course material." (weblog home)


Madame Galina weblog...
As Told To Mrs. Beverley Snodgrass...: '‘Recently I’ve been playing nicely with others on Variety bills in London, and on Halloween the brilliant London Magician said something similar about a Capetonian sleight-of-hand-jobbing peer. ‘Just because you entertain old people and kids doesn’t mean you have to give it all the crimplene trousers and long Warlock hair nonsense…’"   (Weblog Home)


Rym Kechacha weblog...
In August 2008 Rym joined Northern Ballet Theatre after training at the Central School of Ballet in London and where she kept a weblog for us - great to see her continue to write as she joins her first company.
'Every pier in England.........'
"We are at the beginning of the long winter tour of Nutcracker. Last week was the last week of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a while, and this got me thinking about this well-loved, brilliant ballet. I have always been a voracious reader, and among the books I love reading are old ballet books..." (weblog home)

Other Weblog writers
Carole Edrich
Daniel Jones

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In the Galleries

Currently our Images Gallery contains over 5100 images.


Royal Ballet
Voluntaries, The Lesson, Infra
London, Covent Garden
photographed by John Ross


Rambert Dance Company
Eternal Light
London, Sadler's Wells
photographed by John Ross


Royal Ballet
Ondine
London, Covent Garden
photographed by John Ross


English National Ballet
Sleeping Beauty
Oxford, New Theatre
photographed by Dave Morgan

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Reviews
Ballet.co reviews entered between 01/11/2008 and 30/11/2008 are included here...

USA Reviews

Merce Cunningham

'Craneway Event' and Zellerbach Hall progs: Renee Renouf

"I came away with the strong impression that if we enjoyed duchies and principalities in the historic baroque fashion, Cunningham and his ensemble would be the recipient of a sinecure of the very best."


Atlanta Ballet

'Swan Lake': Pamela Gaye

"To enter the world of Atlanta's Swan Lake is to enter one where too many interpretations seem available through a swan kingdom conceived as a world of eerie psychological invention. Its invitation to multiple layers of interpretation sometimes perplexes the viewer, an obstacle not needed in viewing a classical performance."


Ballet San Jose

'The Toreador': Renee Renouf

"Ballet San Jose offered a marzipan delight...Toreador provides small gems for the company's soloists, jewels for its principals."


Lines Ballet

'The Radius of Convergence' bill: Renee Renouf

"The pas de deux highlighted Maffre's angular capacities and the magnificent reach of Scott-Gilbert; their excitement rose less from their height than from the grand full use of their stature. Merely standing on stage, they create excitement."


Montgomery Ballet

'Coppelia': Pamela Gaye

"Through stunning displays of acting and technical brilliance, Lazar created a Coppelia modeled in large part upon the original St. Leon choreography, yet with unique choreographic innovations that enhanced the ballet while not distracting from the dancing."


Dohee Lee

'Flux': Renee Renouf

"In Flux Lee and her collaborators created a fusion of Korean traditional music instruments, Korean musical styles with Western cultural influences, Korean War images and her own and Sherwood Chen's dancing interwoven with the I Ching trigrams, explained in a program insert. The mixture was a stunner deserving further widespread viewing."


Nashville Ballet

'The Four Temperaments, The Bell Witch' bill: Pamela Gaye

"Nashville Ballet's season opener at the lush TPAC auditorium in downtown Nashville blended the elegance of a Balanchine classic with dance inspired by folk roots of Appalachia."


Diablo Ballet

'Evening on Broadway': Renee Renouf

"...mostly tasteful dancing to some of Broadway's best musicals. ...Despite its various Emmy nominations, the clunker was Lynn Taylor-Corbett's Swing."


Theatre Flamenco

'Flamenco programme': Renee Renouf

"This is my first Theatre Flamenco season seen since Carole Zertuche assumed artistic direction; the ensemble has shifted from essentially a community-oriented emphasis to one leaning heavily on professional aspirations, limited to five dancers, and doing well by the change."

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German Reviews

Malakhov and Friends

'Malakhov and Friends': Don Q fan

"I have just returned from a trip to Berlin to see “Malakhov and Friends” by Staatsballett Berlin. Wow what a night! Top class dancers and a fabulously varied programme with something for every taste – from classic to modern, serious to humourous."

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Italian Reviews

Mikhailovsky Ballet

'Giselle': Don Q fan

"Just saw Giselle in Venice at La Fenice Theatre - The Mikhailovsky were a "replacement" for the Kirov who cancelled their tour of Italy and what a fine replacement they were."

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UK Reviews

Sadlers Wells - A Celebration of 10 Years

'Sadlers Wells - A Celebration of 10 Years': Graham Watts

"Where were all the people whose ticket purchases have made Sadler's Wells a success over the past decade? It was like having a birthday party without your friends, just with any random people who can buy you a big present. What a shame!"


Royal Ballet

'Infra' bill: Jeffery Taylor

"Every move she makes quivers with the music's spiritual striving. Marianela Nunez and Voluntaries, set to Poulenc's Organ Concerto, looks as though choreographer Glen Tetley made the 1973 piece with her in mind."

'Infra' bill: Lynette Halewood

"This work - Infra - needs more than one viewing to get to grips with. I will be interesting to see this on the screen on 22 November and see how differently it reads there. At the time I felt I needed to stop and rewind to get to grips with what was going on, so maybe I will be able to do so."

'Infra' bill: Paul Williams

"But even with the duets I didn't understand (in Infra), I found the dance, the setting and the music never less than arresting and curiously compelling. Something I cannot honestly say about Voluntaries."

'Infra' bill: Paul Arrowsmith

"Infra is a self-indulgent work. It's small in how it uses the ROH stage, small in how it projects into the auditorium. It's small too in its chosen few cast of dancers. It's a work that doesn't challenge or extend the work of the company as a whole, as the work of a resident choreographer can."

'Infra': AlexP

"For Art's sake, for ballet's sake and given the status, talent, resources and obligation of such a (publicly part-funded) company as the RB and the ROH as a whole I think we should be expecting and demanding more than this."

'L'Invitation Au Voyage' bill: Jeffery Taylor

"A balletic gem (L'Invitation Au Voyage), nearly 30 years old, all but walked away with the honours in the Royal Ballet's latest evening of romantic neo-classical dance."

'L'Invitation Au Voyage' bill: Paul Arrowsmith

"L'invitation reflects a generation when the RB moved with a classicism grounded in greater lyricism, a flowing sculptural physicality and poise. These are the qualities that Corder has captured in L'invitation au voyage and were the qualities best expressed by Melissa Hamilton and Federico Bonelli. The rest of the cast did not look so convinced by their task and their lack of conviction was more damaging than even the designs."

'L'Invitation Au Voyage' bill: Carmela

"On a second viewing, I liked the ballet (L'Invitation au voyage) less than on the first viewing. It's a nice idea, but it doesn't quite come off, it's too disjointed and if it were to work, it needs longer than the 24 minutes... Also someone should give Bonelli a medal for agreeing to wear that costume!!!"

'Manon': Diandri

"I think Rojo is a natural MacMillan dancer, but since Jonathan Cope retired it has been tricky finding a partner for her in this ballet especially. Individually her Manon is probably the most complex of the RB's various dancers in terms of presentation, motivation & dancing. She takes what MacMillan has created & adds a lot of details & moments that other dancers don't."

'Manon': Carmela

"Regarding the pdds... I have to say that I was surprised, that considering Roberta and Ivan are such a regular partnership, they didn't seem very comfortable with each other."

'Manon': Michael LL

"I thought Tuesdays Manon led by Marquez and Putrov was an outstanding performance. It was a good example of the power of this ballet, and the genius of Macmillan, when competlely different interpretations can re-invigorate and refresh it."

more reviews in Postings Reviews section


Savion Glover

'Bare Soundz': Rachel Straus

"To be in the presence of a dance genius is one thing. To be in the presence of a dance genius who exudes joy from every pore of his body is plain miraculous."


Royal Ballet of Flanders

'Impressing the Czar': Charlotte Kasner

"This was a glorious evening that illuminated Forsythe for me. This is dance that demands solid classical training, but really does take it into new territory. It was hard to believe that this is the same Company that brought London the period version of Fille Mal Gardee. Let us hope that it is not too long before they pay us another visit."

'Impressing the Czar': Diandri

"RBFlanders are a very good company & they thoroughly deserved the amazing curtain call they got. When they return I would highly recommend seeing them."


Mark Morris Dance Group

'Romeo and Juliet - On Motifs of Shakespeare': Graham Watts

"Instead of being a worthy historical recovery of the original collaborative vision for using Prokofiev's score, these scenes made it seem like a pastiche, a parody of Romeo & Juliet, which, without a Balcony or Crypt scene and turned – at the very last minute – from tragedy to farce ultimately made it seem nothing like Romeo & Juliet, at all."


Birmingham Royal Ballet

'Stravinsky Programme': Lynette Halewood

"Corder's new Baiser de la Fee contained some very promising ingredients without ever coming together as an involving or moving work. I might have liked it more if it did not seem so similar in concept and designs to his Snow Queen for ENB.."

'Stravinsky Programme': Libby Costello

"Birmingham Royal Ballet gave audiences a chance to see some of the lighter ballets from the Ballets Russes repertoire - choreographies which every dance lover should try to view..."

'Beauty and the Beast': Jeffery Taylor

"Bintley cannot be bettered telling a story in dance, tragedy is perfectly balanced with the ridiculous, fantasy with reality. ...the work's real liability is Glenn Buhr's commissioned score."

more reviews in Postings Reviews section


Batsheva Dance Company

'Mamootot': Libby Costello

"This choreographer (Naharin) should be the ambassador for post modern and contemporary dance, as his eloquent answers and intelligent questioning responses left you with a sense of discovery and yearning for a second viewing."


English National Ballet

'Manon': Jeffery Taylor

"The posters said Manon, they forgot to mention near genius, or issue guidelines on tissue requirements. Thomas Edur, ENB's principal male dancer, gave one of the most powerfully moving performances I have ever seen on any stage."

'Manon': Ian Palmer

"In Daria Klimentova and Friedemann Vogel, ENB has two of the finest interpreters of these roles, each shaping their characterizations within the work's dramatic arc, following the luscious contours of Macmillans' lyrically fluid choreography."

'Manon': Alison Penfold

"Berlanga, I had noticed, had already been starting to gain mentions in reviews, but I was very pleasantly surprised by his Des Grieux. A slender, long-legged dancer - advantageous in this role because of the amount of arabesques and adagio dancing required - from the moment he began his tricky first solo and his courtship of Manon he had my attention..."

'The Sleeping Beauty': Bruce Marriott

"At this stage in their career Tom and Ag have nothing to prove and like a proud Lord and Lady of the Manor they easily show us around their domain, putting us at ease, impressing us with aristocratic tricks and making us believe in 100 years sleeps and the power of a kiss. Theirs is easy, un-showy good grace..."

'The Sleeping Beauty': Ian Palmer

"And its crowning glory is Elena Glurdjidze, surely the finest Aurora in the UK, whose dancing bespeaks her Vaganova heritage, but coloured with vivid dramatic nuance."

more reviews in Postings Reviews section


Rambert Dance Company

'Eternal Light' bill: Charlotte Kasner

"The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Mikaela Polley's and Alexander Whitley's tribute to former Artistic Director Norman Morrice. Miguel Altunaga is a riveting dancer..."


'Eternal Light' bill: Jeffery Taylor

"...Baldwin's current bunch of dancers is simply a joy to watch."


Ballet Boyz

'Greatest Hits': Bruce Marriott

"...time marches on quickly for dancers and Greatest Hits as a title has a feeling of something towards the end. I hope it doesn't come soon because the boys are such rare beasts, able to enthuse fans and non-fans alike and do this based for the most part on *new* work that is not another take on Swan Lake."


Sankai Juku

'Kinkan Shonen (Kumquat Seed)': Graham Watts

"Although it is unquestionably a long and occasionally tedious journey, there are isolated landmarks of visual magnificence along the way where, so long as our eyes are open enough to accept the challenge, the simple enigmatic beauty of the Kumquat Seed is overwhelming."

'Kinkan Shonen (Kumquat Seed)': Jeffery Taylor

"...an utter waste of space. ...Never had the exhaust fume filled streets of Islington smelled so sweet when the exit doors finally offered escape."


Australian Dance Theatre

'G': Ann Williams

"Australian Dance Theatre's 'G', a loose reinterpretation of 'Giselle', is a mighty long hop and skip from that burnished old gem of romantic ballet. ...Even so, the choreography is never less than watchable in its gripping theatricality..."


Carrie Cracknell

'I Am Falling': Emma Stevenson

"Some, like the guy next to me, were clearly baffled and shook his head disapprovingly throughout. Whereas the woman on the other side of me was in tears by the end, the issues clearly resonating with her. Either way, it had an impact and lingered on my mind for some time after."


Rosemary Butcher

'Episodes of Flight': Charlotte Kasner

"I have my doubts about the Judson group - how much was Emperor's new clothes? - but at least it took place at a time of genuine exploration and iconoclasm in dance. That is no longer the case and this just seemed dull, a minimal use of an interesting dancer's body that I wanted to see running and jumping and balancing and truly evoking the joys of NYC."


Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company

'Yesterday': Graham Watts

"Far from being entertained, I felt more like a confused onlooker at a private party for an exclusive set. They were certainly having more fun than me."


Ballet Ireland

'Swan Lake': Ursula Kelly

"I adore going to the ballet and have been fortunate enough to see performances by world class companies, including the Bolshoi, Royal Ballet and Kirov, and would just as gladly add Ballet Ireland to my list of favourites as I would these."

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Postings Reviews section
Royal Ballet 'Infra' bill: DaveM
Royal Ballet 'Infra' bill: Diandri
Royal Ballet 'Infra' bill: Mijosh
Royal Ballet 'Infra' bill: Jill Gibbs
Royal Ballet 'L'Invitation Au Voyage' bill: Paul N
Royal Ballet 'Manon': Anna Merrick
Royal Ballet 'Manon': Simonetta Dixon
Royal Ballet 'Manon': Mijosh
Birmingham Royal Ballet 'Stravinsky Programme: Le Baiser de la fee, The Firebird': Ian Macmillan
Birmingham Royal Ballet 'Stravinsky Programme': Robert
Birmingham Royal Ballet 'Stravinsky Programme': Michael LL
English National Ballet 'Manon': Janet McNulty
Dirty Dancing 'Dirty Dancing': Mandy Kent

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External Review Links
Each day Ballet.co scour the world for Review links (and news and interviews ones too) and put them in our database along with our own reviews. You can see the last few days' links on the:
TodaysLinks page

In the period from 1 November to 30 November (last update of this page) we have 345 links for you.

Alternatively try searching for exactly what you are after with our: Reviews Advanced Search page

All our links list dancer details, a full list of pieces performed and a brief quote that gives the flavour of the review. Sadly not all papers maintain their links and so we cannot absolutely guarantee any particular URL. Enjoy, and if you think we have missed a review do send us a link.

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Photographic Copyright and Credits

All photographs are copyright and cannot be taken and/or used elsewhere. Click on an image to be taken to the associated page where appropriate credits are stated.

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