Captivating kaleidoscope
When Philippe Decouflé first introduced the idea of sheer fun into the deadly serious business of postmodern dance-making, sceptics predicted…
Mixed bag
Last year I raved about Birmingham Royal Ballet, their artistic drive, their freshness, their impeccable artistic eclecticism and, not least,…
Twin peaks
According to an old ballet commonplace, no one can beat the Russians when it comes to Swan Lake. Biased and…
American beauty
Tragically, the number of ballet directors who can orchestrate good programmes and good openings is dwindling these days. Helgi Tómasson,…
Grim realities
It was somewhat weird that Pina Bausch’s Palermo Palermo opened on the same night as Spain’s victory over Italy in…
New world order
When World Cities 2012 — better known as the current Pina Bausch season — was first presented, questions were raised…
Tales of the city
Last Wednesday two of the three live pooches that appeared in Pina Bausch’s Viktor did onstage what most dogs do…
Unconditional love
Not many dance-makers have had their art celebrated in major, award-winning feature films. Pina Bausch has. Wim Wenders’s 2011 Pina…
Me and my shadows
Shadows and reflections have always triggered all sorts of fantasies. Theatre itself, in the words of many playwrights and theorists,…
Celebrating identity
Last year, when I reviewed The Sum of Parts, the community-oriented piece produced by Connect, Sadler’s Wells Creative Learning department,…
Magic chemistry
Artifact was the first work that the groundbreaking dance-maker William Forsythe created in 1984 for the legendary Ballet Frankfurt. It…
Triple triumph
Not many ballet companies convey young love as credibly as Birmingham Royal Ballet. And I am not talking about select…
Succulent pleasures
It was about time a dance-maker exacted revenge on dance academics. In Alexander Ekman’s 2010 Cacti, a voiceover explains the…
On the ropes
‘Aerial’ ballets were all the rage in late-Victorian London. It mattered little that they were more circus acts than actual…
Star turn
At first sight, the new Royal Ballet double bill might come across as an odd coupling: Ashton’s sparkling The Dream…
Saved by the Bel
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s and Jérôme Bel’s 3Abschied is the latest addition to a long and historically well-established series of…
Original sin
Nothing beats the buzz that precedes the debut of a rising star in a big, known role. Double it and…
High hopes
For more than 40 years, Scottish Ballet has been one of the most vibrant and interesting companies on the UK…
