Ballet.co Magazine
For September 2007

Previous Ballet.co magazine - August 2007
Next Ballet.co magazine - October 2007

---

Magazine specials...




Bolshoi in London



Edinburgh Festival

---

Quick Links for this magazine
Interviews, Features, In the Galleries, Reviews, Postings Reviews, External Reviews, Photographic Copyright and Credits

---

Features and Interviews




Michael Smuin
13 October 1938 - 23 April 2007
The 'Song for a Dead Warrior' Memorial recorded by Renee Renouf

---

Dame Beryl Grey
Dame Beryl was a guest of the Ballet Association last year and a full report for posterity has emerged. A legend in her own lifetime and still busy in dance too...



Robert Parker
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Just before he retired the much loved Robert Parker was interviewed by the Ballet Association...


Morphoses
/The Wheeldon Company
'Off and running and very modern'
Bruce Marriott reports on a new company with high ambitions and about to debut in London

---

Diaries and weblogs


Jarkko Lehmus weblog
the Scottish Ballet dancer who tells it like no other...
'Quiet Nights And Graceful Headbutts' - Jarkko in London and then the low down on Scottish Ballet's well received Edinburgh Festival performances... 'Getting paid for being a self-centred performance junkie is not an entirely bad existence'.  (weblog home)


Madame Galina weblog...
The great lady has 4 entries in her Doings Diary this month... from her early years in British Youth Opera, through to Bolshoi networking - there is no stopping her...  (Weblog Home)

Daniel Jones weblog...
'Diana and her Dancers' - Daniel recalls Diana's love of ballet  (Weblog Home)



Carole Edrich Weblog...
'Courageous images' and Hilary Shedel - you have to go read (it's not long).  (Weblog home)

Other Weblog Writers
Ballet Central
Tiit Helimets and Molly Smolen

---

In the Galleries

Currently our Images Gallery contains approximately 3450 images.


Bolshoi Ballet
'The Bright Stream'
London, Coliseum



Bolshoi Ballet
'Class Concert', 'Elsinore', 'In the Upper Room'
London, Coliseum



Bolshoi Ballet - 'Don Quixote'
London, Coliseum



Bolshoi Ballet - 'Spartacus'
London, Coliseum



Bolshoi Ballet - 'La Bayadere'
London, Coliseum



Paco Pena
'A Compas! To the Rhythm'
London, Sadler's Wells

---

Reviews
Ballet.co reviews entered between 01/08/2007 and 31/08/2007 will be included here...

USA Reviews

San Francisco Ballet

'SFB at Stern Grove': Renee Renouf

"...reassuring renditions by principals and soloists who don't usually headline San Francisco Ballet's annual Stern Grove performance. ...The audience approval was vociferous."


Paul Taylor Dance Company

'Sunset' bill: Oksana Khadarina

"In light of current events in Iraq, Sunset has a special meaning for an American audience. The superb performance of the cast, equally passionate and immediate, contributed immeasurably to the emotional impact and poignancy of this work."


Iguan Dance Theatre

'Displaced Persons': Rachel Straus

"Unlike Ivanov and Gasteva who mostly walked, posed and sat, her - Kadruleva - everything-but-the-kitchen sink, seamlessly performed solo encapsulated the different kinds of dancing she and the directors are doing against the grain of the Russian classical ballet legacy."


Vladimir Golubev

'Not Unsteady Support': Rachel Straus

"...another Russian experimental choreographer, sang guitar, lassoed his supple body on the floor like a teenage break dancer and pulled a condom on his head to become a perambulating, life-size, safe-sex penis..."


French Reviews

Ballet Nacional de Cuba

'Giselle': Sheila Cross

"But impressive though the principal dancers were, they were matched by the superb corps, who moved in unison, dancing with an eerie uniformity..."


English National Ballet

'Swan Lake': Norman Reynolds

"This was an event, an occasion to be remembered. You might think the ballet would be in danger of being consumed by the setting, but that did not happen: the two set each other off and each enhanced the other."


Hong Kong Reviews

Hong Kong Ballet

'Swan Lake': Natasha Rogai

"At the Saturday matinee, two young Australian dancers, Brett Simon and Chantel Elizabeth Roulston, made astonishingly assured debuts as Siegfried and Odette/Odile. Both tall, with elegant, long-limbed physiques, they were well matched physically and although dancing together for the first time, had remarkable rapport."


Other International Reviews

Bermuda Civic Ballet

'La Fille Mal Gardee' bill: Michael Carpenter

"Bethany Keating and Martin Harvey both excelled in a finely acted and beautifully danced performance. If Martin had worries about the stage, this did not show as he gave a dramatic and full-out performance."

---

UK Reviews

Scottish Ballet

'Ride The Beast' bill: Ian Palmer

"...though an afternoon of Stephen Petronio, Trisha Brown and Ashley Page is hardly going to excite the traditional balletomanes (amongst whose number I include myself), there is no doubt that it places Scottish Ballet, newly resuscitated and energized, at the forefront of contemporary ballet."

Jarkko Lehmus
Scottish Ballet Edinburgh weblog
(weblog home)


Trisha Brown Dance Company

'Set and Reset' bill: Ian Palmer

"...one of the most enhancing, beautiful, haunting and, at times, touching evenings of dance I have seen in a long while."

'Set and Reset' bill: Lynette Halewood

"The strap line for the publicity material for many of these year's events has been “Timeless stories, spectacularly told” which may have been a little misleading for the cool formality and abstraction that the company presented."


Royal Ballet of Flanders

'Impressing the Czar': Ian Palmer

"I cannot begin to tell you what William Forsythe's Impressing the Czar is all about, nor do I think it matters."


Pasodos Dance Company

'Sorry Love!': Graham Watts

"'Sorry, Love' deserves to be seen. It ought to win prizes."


2FaCeD DaNcE

'State of Matter': Graham Watts

"...it's a shame that the hype got it so badly wrong because in all other respects this wasn't a bad show at all; it just wasn't what it said on the tin."


Do-Theatre

'Hangman': Ian Palmer

"Exactly the kind of show we expect and want to see at the Edinburgh Fringe. It was a mini-marvel."


Ballerina Who Loves A B-Boy

'Ballerina Who Loves A B-Boy': Graham Watts

"What is certain is that the thunderous buzz created by this astonishingly gifted group of dancers, in such a crowded house, was infectiously exciting. It's certainly going to be one of the hits of this year's Festival."


Choreographers Showcase

'37th International Choreographers' Showcase': Graham Watts

"Twelve works were listed but one of the later billed performances failed to appear without announcement, leaving eleven in a programme that lasted just a little short of two hours. ...It was again a very mixed bag, with three of the works certainly worthy of further viewing..."


X Factor Dance

'Ragnarok, Morceaux Choisis' bill: Graham Watts

"X Factor dance company is one of Scotland's very best kept dance secrets..."


Nottingham Youth Dance

'Razor Edge': Graham Watts

"...I'm sure that there are a few that will go on to full-time vocational training. I'm certainly glad I stumbled upon them."


Zoo Nation


'Into The Hoods': Graham Watts

"This was a sell-out, winning rave reviews and awards. It's back, bigger and, if it's possible, even better than before."


Lia Rodrigues Companhias de Dancas

'Incarnat': Ian Palmer

"The images she shows us are both gross and beguiling – and in their repugnant beauty we find a fascination, which draws us in to these tragedies of Brazilian reality."


Burklyn Youth Ballet

'Alice in Wonderland': Ian Palmer

"When they return next year, it is your duty (as a lover of ballet) to go and see them. They offer morning delights and (in light of the ballet-starved Festival) the only opportunity for Edinburgh audiences to enjoy Classical Ballet. Congratulations to them."

---

La Scala Ballet

'The Sleeping Beauty': Kevin Ng

"The wonderful shapes made by Sarafanov's legs and arms really made this solo most beautiful and expressive, and his dancing was enhanced by his smooth and creamy phrasing. Sarafanov danced impeccably the difficult series of six double assembles en tournant at the end of this solo."


Paco Pena

'A Compas!': Jeffery Taylor

"From the moment the three dancers, Angel Munoz, Charo Espino and Ramon Martinez, join in the opening celebrations you realise with a jolt how enmeshed are their bodies with the music."

'A Compas!': Carole Edrich

"A thoroughly enjoyable evening, the performers' familiarity with each others' styles and the music enabled a synergy and depth that is rarely achieved. Enthusiastic audience participation added to the zest of the production and left us thrilled well after its end."

---

Bolshoi Ballet

Bolshoi Season roundup...: Charlotte Kasner

"...the spirit of 1956 and the company's first triumphant visit to the UK has been revived this season. The dancers and the orchestra have painted the town red with enthusiasm unmatched for years and the critics and fans have not been far behind in their reactions."

'The Bright Stream': Jeffery Taylor

"The grand finale gathers up all the dangly bits and everyone ends with the right lover, an idyllic resolution to an exhilarating evening of dance. We have watched the Bolshoi Ballet visit our shores for half a century, surviving cataclysmic political, financial and social upheavals. Never has the company looked so full of talent, hope and the joy of dance as they have these past three weeks..."

'The Bright Stream': Ian Palmer

"If you are looking for everything the Bolshoi Ballet wasn't, choreographically, during its years under Grigorovich you are likely to find it here in Ratmansky's masterpiece."

'The Bright Stream': Charlotte Kasner

"At ninety minutes, the work is just the right length and a rollicking good end to a fine season."

'Triple Bill': Ian Palmer

Elsinore: "The remarkable thing is perhaps less the work itself, and more that the work should exist at all: that Bolshoi dancers have opened themselves out to this kind of anti-Bolshoi work. How this develops over time, will be fascinating to watch."

'Triple Bill': Charlotte Kasner

Class Concert: "...quibbles aside, this is a stupendous tour de force that perhaps only the Bolshoi could pull off with such panache."

'Triple Bill': San L

"A mixed bill indeed."

'Don Quixote': Ian Palmer

"Together they (Osipova and Vasiliev) feed off one another's high dramatics, commanding one another to better, to bolder. They dance one more performance on Saturday afternoon and you miss it at your peril. She flirts, he plays, they rage, they kiss – has the love of Kitri and Basilio ever had such a rocky course?"

'Don Quixote': Celine Tan

"WOW! What an exhilarating evening of outstanding performance from everyone. Vibrant and commendable work from the company. Every dancer seemed to be in their individual character and showed that they are enjoying every moment on stage."

'Don Quixote': San L

"All in all it was a performance in which everything came off just about perfectly, one of those that you think you will never see."

'Don Quixote' and 'Spartacus': Jeffery Taylor

Osipova/Vasiliev: "How do you describe the status after best? Genius is the only word left."

'Spartacus': Charlotte Kasner

"...Vassiliev gave us the thinking Spartacus, Lavrosky the warrior, Mukhemedev the passion and power. Acosta managed to combine all these qualities and added an animal magnetism that again made one believe that the course of history would change and that Spartacus would win..."

'Spartacus': Ian Palmer

"If we must see this work as a Soviet allegory, can we not also see it as a Cuban boy's struggle to dance and lead the world?"

'Spartacus': Charlotte Kasner

"Denis Matvienko is a beautiful dancer, with exquisite line and precision in turns, but he doesn't project over the footlights in the way that other dancers have in the role."

'Spartacus': Wulff

"I see this as a highly manipulative piece of theatre, and to those who would say that it represents a profound theatrical experience I would say, "Sorry folks; you've been conned.... By a master manipulator"

'Spartacus': Leonid

"When Spartacus was first seen in London, I was among those who contributed to the great eruption of applause and bravos that occurred at the end of the first act. There was no doubt that this dance work reached places that other dance works do not reach..."

'Le Corsaire' and 'La Bayadere' bill: Jeffery Taylor

Bayadere: "Zakharova gives a text book demonstration of the physical range and spiritual depth of her art form. Tsiskaridze simply lays himself on the line and brings the house down."

'La Bayadere': Graham Watts

"I can't help feeling that the Grigorovich Bayadère is looking just a little tired, especially when following on from the opulent extravagance of the Bolshoi's new 'Corsaire'. ...Nothing, however, should detract from the many awesome performances which have added up to a premium evening of ballet."

'La Bayadere': San L

"With two strong leading ladies, Vladimir Neporozhny was a somewhat subdued Solor: perhaps it was due to his warrior pals having snaffled the last of the masculine warrior garb..."

'Le Corsaire': Charlotte Kasner

"This Corsaire is too much of a marathon for me to feel that I could see it often, but it should not be missed and has got the London season off to a fine start."

'Le Corsaire': Ian Palmer

"It seems impossible to think that the company which was dancing Spartacus last week is that which is dancing with such classical ease this week."

'Le Corsaire': Amelia

Alexandrova and Tsiskaridze: "After having seen two Le Corsaire performances I came to a conclusion, IMHO, that the opening night took place tonight."

'Le Corsaire': San L

"If Le Corsaire was not quite as boisterous as it could and should have been, it certainly provided a great classical ballet fix, and who better to do that than the Bolshoi?"

more reviews in Postings Reviews section

---

Postings Reviews section
Bolshoi Ballet 'Don Quixote': Leonid
Bolshoi Ballet 'Don Quixote': Paul Williams
Bolshoi Ballet 'Don Quixote': Ursula Kelly
Bolshoi Ballet 'Spartacus': Ian Palmer
Bolshoi Ballet 'Spartacus': CatherineC
Bolshoi Ballet 'La Bayadere': Gretchen K
Bolshoi Ballet 'Triple Bill': Leonid
Bolshoi Ballet 'Triple Bill': Beryl Harrison
Bolshoi Ballet 'Triple Bill': CatherineC
Bolshoi Ballet 'Triple Bill': Bruce Marriott
Bolshoi Ballet 'The Bright Stream': San L

---

External Review Links
Each day Ballet.co scour the world for Review links (and news and interviews ones too) and put them in our database along with our own reviews. You can see the last few days' links on the:
TodaysLinks page

In the period from 1 August to 31 August (last update of this page) we have 390 links for you.

Alternatively try searching for exactly what you are after with our: Reviews Advanced Search page

All our links list dancer details, a full list of pieces performed and a brief quote that gives the flavour of the review. Sadly not all papers maintain their links and so we cannot absolutely guarantee any particular URL. Enjoy, and if you think we have missed a review do send us a link.

---

Photographic Copyright and Credits

All photographs are copyright and cannot be taken and/or used elsewhere. Click on an image to be taken to the associated page where appropriate credits are stated.

The ballet.co Screensaver

What professional site would be complete without a screensaver! Courtesy of Louis we bring you the ballet.co screensaver and its absolutely free.

You need to be running Windows 95 and we can deliver it in 2 ways depending on if you have the capability to handle zip files (or not). Zip files are smaller and hence load much quicker, but you need special software to decode them. If you are not sure best to use the larger exe file.

Once its on your machine, double click on install.exe, it will tell you the screensaver is installed, then go into the control panel, double click on display and follow your nose to the screensaver section where you should find our ballet one listed. Here are the links to get the screensaver;

      ballet.co screensaver as an zip file (1132Kb)
      ballet.co screensaver as an exe file (2293kb)

These are not small files and might take more than a few minutes to load. The screensaver has been produced using professional software and as such should work on all (Windows95) machines. We can't however offer guarantees (though we would be gob-smacked if there are any probs). Enjoy!