Unassuming audience members were in for a shock when 12 male dancers from Scottish Ballet performed Angelin Preljocaj’s MC 14/22 (Ceci est mon corps) at the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival. The work explores virility and violence through a series of biblical allusions. Striking in its harshness and punishing physicality, it at times seemed almost cruel […]
Jeanette Kakereka competing for last year’s Emerging Dancer Award. Photo by ASH via ENB. It’s one thing to receive a nod of approval from your boss, but imagine how special it must feel to be validated by your fellow company members. Tomorrow, six English National Ballet dancers—Isabelle Brouwers, Jeanette Kakereka, Rina Kanehara, Erik Woolhouse, Daniele […]
Iain Webb is bringing international recognition to Sarasota Ballet. Iain Webb describes himself as “a total bunhead.” To prove it, he takes out his iPhone and brings up a photo of Michel Fokine’s death mask, explaining that it’s part of his personal ballet library in his home. Also in that collection? A photograph of Webb […]
New York City Ballet performs The Sleeping Beauty. The Kirov dedicates an evening to Balanchine and Robbins. The Royal Ballet keeps Wayne McGregor on contract as resident choreographer. In today’s globally integrated dance world, it’s no longer enough to find one style that suits you and stick with it. Ballet companies are trying to keep […]
Since being named chief dance critic of The New York Times more than four years ago, Alastair Macaulay has become one of the most talked-about people in dance. His reviews, whether passionate or critical, generate instant buzz. Before his move to New York, Macaulay was chief theater critic for London’s Financial Times, and covered dance […]
Royal Danish Ballet Tackles Twelfth Night Nikolaj Hübbe is setting the Shakespearean classic on some of the company’s youngest dancers. Shakespeare seems to be on choreographers’ minds these days. In addition to Christopher Wheeldon’s new Winter’s Tale for The Royal Ballet (p. 39) and American Ballet Theatre’s reprise of Alexei Ratmansky’s recent Tempest (p. 42), […]
Dancer: Sarah Van Patten Company: San Francisco Ballet Ballet: Marius Petipa’s Swan Lake San Francisco Ballet principal Sarah Van Patten always commands the stage in roles that call for dramatic depth and musicality. But because she is not usually thought of as a strong technician, she was a long shot to be cast as Odette/Odile […]
That Ricardo Rhodes would become a professional dancer might once have been considered improbable. Introduced to the art at age 7 through Boston Ballet’s inner-city outreach program, Citydance, he admits his original attraction was getting out of school one day a week. But he quickly fell in love. After graduating from Boston Academy of the […]