January 2008
Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion in Three Duets at Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler's Wells
‘…simple material becomes quietly spectacular.’
Hiroaki Umeda at The Pit, Barbican
‘Visual art, dance, mime – the definitions are redundant in Umeda’s brave new world.’
Hiroaki Umeda at The Pit, Barbican
‘Time and again Umeda struggles to assert his organic self against the power of his electronically-generated image.’
Beautiful games
Graham Taylor, one time manager of the England football team was a guest speaker at last weekend’s Rural Retreat – the DanceEast organised meeting of ballet directors from around the world. To prepa… Continue Reading
English National Ballet in Swan Lake at London Coliseum
‘English National Ballet’s smaller production is handsome, direct and danced with clarity.’
The Gate Theatre in I Am Falling at The Gate
‘The choreography, by Anna Williams, has the strong, clean lines of Scandinavian furniture, and its locking embraces are straightforwardly expressive of the parents’ mutual love. When the piece moves into more elegiac territory, however, Williams can’t …
The Gate Theatre in I Am Falling at The Gate
‘Words tells stories, abstract movement can’t. What it can do is absorb and transmute emotion, giving it pace and propulsion.’
The Gate Theatre in I Am Falling at The Gate
‘Make no mistake, this is not physical theatre; it takes its place proudly alongside the dance-theatre experiments of artists such as Maxine Doyle and Wolfgang Hoffman, but is entirely itself in its urge to find a new, expressive language.’
Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion in Three Duets at Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler's Wells
‘The joy of these duets is that they deliver dance and music in ways we never expect.’
Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion in Three Duets at Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler's Wells
‘Like the audiences in the 36 countries to which they’ve taken this triple bill, these established collaborators are abundantly aware of the comedy in their work, which redefines the relationship between dance and music in often deliriously ridiculous ways.’
The McMaster Report & dance
*Supporting Excellence In The Arts*, commissioned by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and written by James McMaster, former Director of the Edinburgh Festival, was published this week. Introducing th… Continue Reading
The Gate Theatre in I Am Falling at The Gate
‘I am Falling is a sensitive miniature, a moving story intriguingly told.’
Cirque Du Soleil in Varekai at Royal Albert Hall
‘Cirque du Soleil does have impressive performers, acts that really can make you catch your breath.’
The Gate Theatre in I Am Falling at The Gate
‘Choreographer Anna Williams, a former dancer with Ricochet who has recently worked with Aletta Collins at Opera North, meets the challenge of working within the confined space of the tiny Gate stage by purposefully mining the same seam of movement over and over.’
English National Ballet in Swan Lake at London Coliseum
‘So, what went so right in act four? Put simply, everything. Here, Deane’s update on Petipa’s original is just lovely – a lyrical, gossamer-light start for the swans, a heartbreaking little duet of reconciliation for the central couple.’