Category Archives: Ballet

Starry, starry night: Birmingham Royal Ballet’s celestial Cinderella provides magic

Prokofiev: Cinderella ***** Birmingham Royal Ballet, Mayflower, Southampton, 25th January 2017 Compared with his raw, heartrending music for Romeo and Juliet, Prokofiev composed a sassier, slinkier score for Cinderella and this has given choreographers licence to lend the ballet a … Continue reading

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Ethereal Alina Cojocaru a heartbreaking Giselle for English National Ballet

Adam: Giselle ***** English National Ballet, Coliseum, 11th and 14th January 2017 It’s bold artistic leadership by Tamara Rojo for English National Ballet to programme its classic Giselle in the same season as Akram Khan’s pulsating rewrite. Mary Skeaping’s production … Continue reading

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Imperial grandeur: a sumptuous Sleeping Beauty at The Royal Ballet

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty **** The Royal Ballet, 21st December 2016 Based on Tchaikovsky’s most symphonic ballet score, The Sleeping Beauty is less a fairy tale and more the apex of Russian imperial style. It has a very special place nestled … Continue reading

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Confusion in the chocolate box: a return for Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker at ENB

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker ** English National Ballet, The Coliseum, 14th December 2016 The Nutcracker was the entry point for many into ballet, either via excitable school trips or through benevolent relations. It’s the perfect length, Tchaikovsky’s chocolate box music is … Continue reading

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Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker: still casting a Christmas spell

Along with chestnuts, turkey and Carols from King’s, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without The Nutcracker. It has become a staple part of the festive season and one of the joys of any performance is in watching the excited reactions of children … Continue reading

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