December 2006
Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House
“Caroline Duprot, surely a future principal, was a particularly dainty Clara and Gary Avis’s Drosselmeyer was as drolly commanding as ever.”
English National Ballet in The Nutcracker at London Coliseum
“it’s an energetic production, tweaking rather than changing the Hoffmann tale and bursting with energy and eye-popping sweetie colours.”
New Adventures in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells
‘Bourne somehow rediscovers plenty of brooding drama in Tchaikovsky’s score and he pushes all the right buttons in the show’s powerful ending. This one genuinely deserves to be a perennial.’
News: Khan meets Kylie
Akram Khan has choreographed a new section for Kylie Minogue’s new Showgirl Homecoming tour, which comes to the UK in January. Four songs – Finer Feelings, Confide in Me, Cowboy Style and Too Far … Continue Reading
News: Contemporary dancer up for Breakthrough
Jonathan Goddard – dancer with the Richard Alston Dance Company has been nominated for this year’s The Times/South Bank Show Breakthrough Award. It’s the first time that a contemporary dance ar… Continue Reading
Akademi in The Nutcracker at Camden People's Theatre
‘Against a montage of images of Judy Garland, perhaps the ultimate symbol of a child figure controlled by drugs, and controlling screams of ‘take your pills’, the young performers enact a chaotic but often moving series of tableaux, culminating in the s…
Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House
‘…to sit at Covent Garden with Tchaikovsky’s music scaling peak after peak, and to see the walls of the Stahlbaum’s drawing room dissolve, the boundaries of reality slide away, and the first wind-borne snowflakes come dancing on, well, that’…
English National Ballet in The Nutcracker at London Coliseum
‘Nothing is going to transform the company’s current seasonal offering from gaudy Quality Street into a Chocolate Society hamper.’
New Adventures in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells
‘…the impact of this vibrant staging is undiminished; if anything it’s even stronger.’
New Adventures in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells
‘The chorus of male swans, the Eurotrash princesses, the clubbers and the courtiers have lost none of their deviant humour, yet they are danced this season with more precision than I have ever seen, pulling the thread of murderous suspense even tighter.’
News: Wayne McGregor
talks about his new role at the Royal Ballet. “Becoming the resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet wasn’t in my game plan… It was off the radar. But when we talked about it, it made so much… Continue Reading
Review: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells
Matthew Bourne’s annual occupation of Sadler’s Wells for the Christmas Season continues unabated with yet another revival of his ‘Swan Lake’, first performed in 1995. The tumultuous stand… Continue Reading
Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House
‘I do not know of a better Nutcracker than Peter Wright’s staging for the Royal Ballet.’
Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House
‘It may be childhood’s favourite ballet but as realised by Wright this is a Nutcracker to touch the adult heart.’
Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House
‘Much of the credit goes to Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs – which are like the ideal Christmas decorations, dusted off every year, yet always more fabulous than you remembered.’