contemporary dance
Uninventive and far too polite: BRB’s Black Sabbath – The Ballet reviewed
Not being an aficionado of the heavy-metal genre, I snootily suspected that I would rather be standing in the rain…
Striking but not altogether successful: ENB’s Our Voices reviewed
Aaron S. Watkin, an affable bearded Canadian, is the new artistic director of English National Ballet. He arrives from Dresden,…
Same old, same old: Wayne McGregor’s Untitled, 2023, at the Royal Opera House, reviewed
My witty friend whispered that Wayne McGregor’s new ballet Untitled, 2023 put her in mind of Google HQ – it’s…
Stunts, gimmicks, tricks, hot air: snapshots from the edge of modern dance
This month I’ve been venturing into the further reaches of modern dance – obscure territory where I don’t feel particularly…
Touching, eclectic and exhilarating: Rambert Dance is in great shape
Rambert ages elegantly: it might just rank as the world’s oldest company devoted to modern dance (whatever that term might…
Why is dance so butch these days?
For an art form that once boldly set out to question conventional divisions of gender, ballet now seems to be…
Swings between violence and comedy: Pina Bausch's Kontakthof, at Sadler's Wells, reviewed
When you take in the richness of a Pina Bausch production — the redolent staging, the eloquent, eccentric twists of…
Rojo’s choreographic updating is a visual feast: English National Ballet's Raymonda reviewed
Velvet waistcoats, technicolour tulle and some very spangly harem pants — English National Ballet’s atelier must have been mighty busy…
Skirt-swishing and stomach-dropping: Ukrainian Ballet Gala, at Sadler's Wells, reviewed
Like musical supergroups and Olympic basketball teams, ballet galas tend to prize individual gifts over group cohesion. A recent one…
An awesome and hilarious display: Rambert's Rooms reviewed
Social distancing continues to put the kibosh on large-scale productions, but Jo Stromgren has a nifty workaround in Rooms, which…
Gripping – if you skip the non-stop Yentobbing: Dancing Nation reviewed
Thank God for the fast-forward button. Sadler’s Wells had planned a tentative return to live performance last month but the…
Tranquil, silky and serene: Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Lazuli Sky reviewed
When Carlos Acosta was named artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet in January of this year, he announced ambitious plans…
Sensual and silky: the Royal Ballet returns to Covent Garden
Wayne McGregor’s Morgen! and Frederick Ashton’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits are the first pieces of live dance — streamed…
Watching dance online is an advantage, not a concession: BalletBoyz – Deluxe reviewed
Another day in isolation, another bid to find joy in my lone state-sanctioned walk. (Pro tip: stay out longer than…
Manon can be magnificent, this one was merely meh
Manon: minx or martyr? There are two ways to play Kenneth MacMillan’s courtesan. Is Manon an ingénue, a guileless country…
Still far from perfect but chaps will like it: Royal Ballet’s Frankenstein reviewed
Choreographer Richard Alston is now 70 and his latest outing at Sadler’s Wells is a greatest hits medley. As with…
Almost triumphs over the absurdity of its premise: Northern Ballet’s Victoria reviewed
Blame Kenneth MacMillan. The great Royal Ballet choreographer of the 1960s, 70s and 80s was convinced that narrative dance could…
William Forsythe on the day the US government threatened to arrest him
William Forsythe has been called a lot of things in his four decades as a dancemaker: wilful provocateur, ‘pretentious as…
Reducing the lead to an demented rape victim is just what ballet needs: The Wind reviewed
A kindly cowboy, an East Coast bride, adultery, murder and madness. The Wind, Dorothy Scarborough’s 1925 Texas gothic novel (and…
Gorgeous, visionary sights from Akram Khan at the Roundhouse
How much of a compromise does a fashionable choreographer loved by all have to make with his paymasters? When he’s…
A legendary piece of iconoclastic dance returns. Does the piece still stand up?
Funny how things turn upside-down with time. A work of contemporary dance that made an iconoclastic splash decades ago is…
