May 2010
Susan & Darren at Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells
Reviewed: 11 May _*Susan & Darren* _may have started out as a simple idea, a show about a guy and his mum, but when you scratch beneath the surface and go deeper than small talk, everyone has a story to tell… Continue Reading
'The Mind is a Muscle'
The Mind is a Muscle…was the title of a recent workshop at Tate Modern examining the relationship between the visual arts and dance. Catherine Hale writes: High-profile collaborations between visual artis… Continue Reading
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
“Scarlett handles soloists and corps de ballet with some distinctive touches”
Lost Dog in Salvage at The Place
There is a refreshing simplicity about this latest work from Lost Dog…it uses a basic mix of text and movement to tell a simple and perfectly formed short story.”
Akram Khan Company in Gnosis at Sadler's Wells
“the purity of Khan’s movement, the way his body becomes an instrument in itself, with extraordinary contrasts of softness and speed, intensity and calm.”
Ballet Nacional de Espana in Dualia / Romance de Luna / La Leyenda at London Coliseum
“though the massed troupes of stamping and clicking dancers can never fail to be thrilling; in La Leyenda, individual moments shine, but there is little variation of energy and very little partnering work.”
Breakin' Convention at Sadler's Wells
The charged energy of Phase T and Hilty & Bosch providing a dynamic shift from the haunting introspective work of Mickael ‘Marso’ Riviere and Renegade‘s dance artwork that closed the progra… Continue Reading
Companhia de Danca, Deborah Colker in Cruel at Touring
‘This is an incoherent production, though vigorously danced.’
Breakin' Convention at Sadler's Wells
‘The fare, as ever, was variable, from the brilliance of France’s Pro-Phenomen to the calculatedly naff rusticity of Just 4 Funk, a west country b-boy crew who spin and freeze to the Wurzels’ “Combine Harvester” song, and the sternness of AD…
Compagnie Marie Chouinard in bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_ vARIATIONS at Sadler's Wells
‘She could be saying something about pointe-shoe dancing being a type of fetish, and beautiful though it is, the dancers are often in pain. She could also be alluding to ideas of choreography controlling the dancers to set the audience free, but either way, her mea…
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
‘A classicist at heart, but spicing up this vocabulary with all manner of idiosyncratic contemporary inflections, Scarlett instinctively knows when to echo his lead couple with a triptych of similar partnerships to one side, or at the rear of the stage, or on both …
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
‘The 23 minutes of his ballet are packed with incident, and the kind of densely patterned busy-ness that ravishes the eye, while setting out a strong case for the endurance of classical dance in the Ashton mould. This isn’t a young man who feels a need to sma…
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
‘The first cause for delight was the choreographic debut on the main stage by Liam Scarlett (aged 24 and a member of the company) announcing a talent for making dances of true classical style, musically apt, and assured.’
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
‘This would be a significant piece from someone twice his age – as it is, Scarlett displays a precocious sophistication both in his musical responses and in the way he handles his own, underlying theme of mortality.’
Royal Ballet in Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen at Royal Opera House
‘Perhaps most importantly, at this critical moment in the Royal Ballet’s history (director Monica Mason’s contract ends in 2012, and no successor has yet been named), Asphodel Meadows demonstrates that the way ahead for large-scale classical companies d…