Category Archives: Ballet

Making hay while the sun shines: glorious Fille opens Royal Ballet season

Hérold: La Fille mal gardée **** The Royal Ballet, 27th September 2016 With little fanfare, other than a cockerel crowing from the pit, the Royal Ballet crept to life for its new season. As rosy dawn fingered the horizon and … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Making hay while the sun shines: glorious Fille opens Royal Ballet season

Bolshoi reflections: creaky drama and a rising star in London

Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Taming of the Shrew, Le Corsaire We’re over a month into the BBC Proms season, yet I’ve only attended one concert thus far. What gives? Apart from a week away at Verbier Festival and Dorset … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Kiss me, Katya: Bolshoi’s Shrew a slinky, sexy delight

Shostakovich: The Taming of the Shrew ***** Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House, 3rd August 2016 “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” Thus the feisty Katharine warns off Petruchio in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, but he’s irresistibly … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Kiss me, Katya: Bolshoi’s Shrew a slinky, sexy delight

Lady of the Lake: Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake glides back to London

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake *** The Australian Ballet, Coliseum, 14th July 2016 “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” Princess Diana’s wry words resonate in Graeme Murphy’s reworking of Swan Lake for The Australian Ballet, premiered in 2002 seven … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lady of the Lake: Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake glides back to London

Augurs of Spring: strong Mariinsky double bill in Cardiff

Mariinsky Ballet: Concerto DSCH/Sacre **** Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 17th April 2016 It’s difficult to know what shocked Parisian audiences more when The Rite of Spring caused a near riot at its 1913 première: was it Stravinsky’s music – pounding dissonances … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Augurs of Spring: strong Mariinsky double bill in Cardiff