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2001/2
last season's highs and lows

the results of
Ballet.co's annual poll

2001/2 Poll entries

Last Year's Poll Results




This year for the first time we decided to run the poll to cover the season rather than a calendar year - so we're looking at things that happened roughly between mid-September 2001 and mid-August 2002.

In a season without a long London visit from one of the big international companies, the Royal Ballet dominated the voting.


Best production overall: The Royal Ballet's Onegin

Two old favourites came next, with the RB's Romeo and Juliet second, and their Giselle in third place.


Best new production: No doubt about this one - Christopher Wheeldon's Tryst for the Royal Ballet.

The RB's Onegin came second, and third was Christopher Hampson's Double Concerto for ENB.


Best revival: I wouldn't have guessed this one - the RB again, but this time for La Bayadère.

Onegin, again, came second, but third was another slight surprise - Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated for the RB.


Best staging: The Royal Ballet's Giselle

La Bayadère came second in this category, with Onegin third..


Best home company: A walkover, more or less, by the Royal Ballet - though it was interesting that a number of people voted for them with some reluctance.


Best visiting company: The Kirov - presumably for the two gala programmes they gave at Covent Garden in the spring.

The Mark Morris company came second, with a tie for Alvin Ailey and the Trocks in third place.


Best male dancer: Johan Kobborg by a long way - he won our last poll, too

Angel Corella was in second place, with Jonathan Cope in third..


Best female dancer: No surprise at all to see Alina Cojocaru winning this category very easily

Darcey Bussell was second and Miyako Yoshida third - not bad for someone who was seen so rarely during the season!


Best partnership: A very easy win for Cojocaru and Kobborg

ENB's Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur were next, followed by Cojocaru again, this time with Corella.


Most promising male dancer: Another repeat win: Ivan Putrov of the Royal Ballet

The RB's Edward Watson came second, and Johannes Stepanek (also RB) was third.


Most promising female dancer: The Royal Ballet's Marienela Nunez

Second was Laura Morera, with Mara Galeazzi and Lauren Cuthbertson tied in third place.


Worst production: Don Quixote for the Royal Ballet

PNB's Silver Lining came second, with a tie in third place for two of the RB's imports, Beyond Bach and Por Vos Muero.


Comments People had a lot to say about the ups and downs of the Royal Ballet - some wonderful performances, by those mentioned above and others such as Zenaida Yanowsky and Vanessa Palmer; and particular praise for Darcey Bussell, showing a new maturity on her return to the stage. The brief pas de deux for Lauren Cuthbertson and Martin Harvey in Cathy Marston's Between Shadows seems to have made a huge impact. But much criticism of the company, too, especially of the way Ross Stretton used the dancers. The Golden Jubilee Gala was definitely not liked.

Adam Cooper's admirers enjoyed watching him both in Onegin at Covent Garden and in On Your Toes, and the return of Gary Avis was also welcomed. It's good to notice someone from abroad starting to register: Friedeman Vogel of the Stuttgart Company sounds one to watch out for. And the Hamburg Ballet sounds to be in good form - might we hope to see them in London some day?

For the last 2 or 3 years we've given the prize to whoever got closest to naming all the winners. However as someone based in London is always going to win under those rules, we've looked for variety instead this year, and the Manon CDs go to Paola Rodriguez, who managed to nominate seven different companies in various categories. Please e-mail Bruce, Paola, to claim your prize.

Thanks again to everyone who voted; and as usual - next year, more please!

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