August 2016
Irina Kolesnikova - Her Name Was Carmen - London Coliseum
. . . the storytelling is simplistically (and pleasingly) clear, with straight-backed police officers, kindly volunteers with arms wafting like doves of peace, and a peppy press corps, looking self-satisfied as the refugees pour out their stories from twisted bodies.
Irina Kolesnikova - Her Name Was Carmen - London Coliseum
While there is no doubting her technical prowess – she is as comfortable en pointe as most of us are slouched in an armchair – there is a soulless narcissism about her performance that keeps the audience at arm’s length.
News: Joie de Vivre Dance Film winners announced
Pavilion Dance South West's competition was set up to celebrate dance by, with and for older people. Watch the winning entries here... Continue Reading
Irina Kolesnikova - Her Name was Carmen - London Coliseum
Is making a ballet the right response to Europe’s refugee crisis? After visiting refugees in the Balkans with Oxfam, Russian ballerina Irina Kolesnikova thought so. She and choreographer Olga Kostel have set their retelling of Carmen in a refugee camp to bring atte…
News: New Adventures Choreographer Award showcase
2016 winner Jamaal Burkmar shows three new works at the Platform Theatre from 21 - 24 September... Continue Reading
News: Tackling gender disparity in dance
2Faced Dance Company's programme The BENCH enters its second year, supporting the work of seven female choreographers in a career development programme Continue Reading
Review: Metta Theatre - Jungle Book - London Wonderground, Southbank Centre
Performance reviewed: 17 August, matinee You can barely see a thing in the dim London Wonderground Spiegeltent, coming in out of the boiling sun. Usually the place for raucous cabaret, it’s an unexpected venue… Continue Reading
Review: Shanghai Ballet Company - Echoes of Eternity - London Coliseum
The classes of Director Xin Lili are exceptionally challenging and so it comes as no surprise to witness the all-around technical strength throughout the company.... Continue Reading
News: ZoieLogic Dance Theatre selected for Elevate Award from Arts Council
All-male contemporary dance/theatre company ZoieLogic Dance Theatre has been selected to receive a prestigious Elevate Award from Arts Council England which substantially increases its funding status Continue Reading
Shanghai Ballet Company - Echoes of Eternity - London Coliseum
The dancers are little short of astonishing. Combining elements of tai chi with occasional flying leaps and the fierce power of bodies anchored to the ground, there are passages of ethereal gracefulness and athletic energy.
Metta Theatre - Jungle Book - Southbank Centre
There’s impressive work from the small cast, creating characters and scenes with little in the way of set or props on the small thrust stage of the Spiegeltent
Bolshoi Ballet - Le Corsaire - Royal Opera House
The Act II jardin animé sequence, in which the company forms a complexity of patterns while holding miniature rose arbours, is a sublime spectacle, almost worth the price of admission alone.
News: 52 Portraits - video series capturing dancers' fears and freedom
The Guardian's Judith Mackrell features '52 Portraits', a digital project by Jonathan Burrows, Hugo Glendinning and Matteo Fargion . . . Continue Reading
Review: Ballet National de Marseille - Body. Dance. Nation. City. - Southbank Centre
“How can classical ballet be turned into a playground, or rather a battlefield, where the individual and the group meet?” This, according to the company website, is what the Ballet National de Marseil… Continue Reading
Review: Bolshoi Ballet - The Taming of the Shrew/The Flames of Paris - Royal Opera House
Periodic visits from The Bolshoi Ballet have enlivened and enriched the London Summer over the past 60 years. These visits by the biggest and brashest of the world’s great ballet companies have invariably b… Continue Reading