Debuts in "The Nutcracker"
by Susan Reiter
The asterisks that indicate a debut on the New York City Ballet’s weekly casting announcement are usually a spare few during the lengthy “Nutcracker” portion of the winter season. But for a Sunday matinee about midway through the run of performances, there was a flurry of asterisks, as young dancers made debuts in just about every adult featured role. For that performance, the dozens of children in the cast, having settled into the run, must have felt like the veterans helping the neophytes through their paces. READ MORE
Dancer in Trouble
by John Percival
A problem at English National Ballet: principal dancer Simone Clarke has been named by newspapers as a member of the British National Party. That organisation resists being called fascist but is far-out right wing and among other questionable policies it fiercely opposes immigration, a view that Clarke is quoted as vehemently supporting. READ MORE
"Giselle" Revived in Paris
by Marc Haegeman
To our great pleasure the Paris Opera Ballet closed the year at the Palais Garnier with a run of “Giselle”, in the agreeably traditional staging by Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov. As becomes the company which gave us “Giselle” in 1841, the choreography of this version goes back, by way of Marius Petipa’s productions in Russia, to the Urtext by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, while dramatically it is equally as sound as may be expected. READ MORE
Fairies and Swans in Zurich
by Rita Felciano
The Zuercher Ballet's recent productions of "Swan Lake" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" went some way to explain why this company has become, maybe not a major, but at least respectable player in European ballet. Artistic director and choreographer Heinz Spoerli is an unabashed neo-classicist, embracing the basic tenets of the academic vocabulary and making extensive use of point work. While this might him label as a conservative in some circles, his concept-driven ballets are anything but old-fashioned. Spoerli also is an astute and sensitive musician, choreographing such 20th century composers as Gyorgi Ligeti, Lucano Berio and Alfred Schnittke as well as more familiar scores by Bach, Mozart and Brahms. At the very least, his choreographies, as is the case with "Swan Lake" and "Midsummer Night's Dream," ask challenging questions about translating ideas into contemporary expressions by way of classical ballet. READ MORE
Swans and Fishermen
by Eva Kistrup
When Peter Martins created his version of "Swan Lake" to the Royal Danish Ballet it was performed on the Old Stage. Last year, through a generous donation, Copenhagen and The Royal Theatre received a top notch Opera house with a larger stage, and although the plan originally was to gain a new custom built "Swan Lake" in a few years time, the ballet luckily chose the obvious solution: to restage the Martins ballet and to restage it now.
Luckily, because it is probably the last chance for some of our top dancers to shine in the classic (they are steadily approaching 40) and it is a good challenge for the full company. READ MORE
A Washington "Nutcracker"
by Lisa Traiger
What is it that keeps us returning, year after year, to “The Nutcracker”? In this, the 21st century’s, era of electronica, if a gift doesn’t contain a chip, video component or cartridge; if it doesn’t bleep, blink or vibrate, it’s not Christmas-tree worthy. Yet, audiences of all ages and stripes still can’t seem to get enough of a 19th-century ballet called “The Nutcracker”. Legions of families regard an annual visit a de rigeur part of the holiday season. READ MORE