All stories by Judith Mackrell on BroadwayStars

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Is digital ballet as good as the real thing? " open thread by Judith Mackrell

Can any film replicate the emotional and physical impact of a live dance performance? Tell us which you prefer: stage or screenA new dance company has been launched this week " but Crystal B…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Venice Dance Biennale: in praise of the small-scale festival by Judith Mackrell

The surge in popularity of smaller summer gatherings ensures a platform for fringe companies " and a return to the kinds of venue in which modern dance blossomedThe British dance summer has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:21AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 29, 2013

This week's new dance by Judith Mackrell

Boston Ballet | Strictly spin-offsBoston Ballet, LondonThese sparky Americans visit London for the first time in 30 years, with a showcase of their trademark neo-classical and contemporary b…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 28, 2013

Blood " review by Judith Mackrell

Royal Opera House, LondonJean Abreu (below) has marvellous hands " big, blunt and tactile " and in Blood they're possibly the most expressive part of his performance. At regular in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:47AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 27, 2013

MoveTube: meet ballet's brilliant Yanowskys by Judith Mackrell

Some people are born to dance, as this trio of talented siblings " Yury, Zenaida and Nadia " effortlessly demonstrateReading on mobile? Click here to watch on YouTubeDynastic inheritance is …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:17PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Rosas & Ictus: Drumming " review by Judith Mackrell

Sadler's Wells, LondonThere can be no better bargain on the British stage right now than a ticket to the Sampled season at Sadler's Wells, and especially to its two performances of Anne Tere…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:09PM[SHARE]

Which ballet dancers do you wish you'd seen? " open thread by Judith Mackrell

I wish I'd been able to catch the young Rudolf Nureyev " just one of many dancers I'd kill to have seen. Who's on your personal if-only list?In late July, English National Ballet will be giv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 23, 2013

Dance and digital projection: bring on the virtual rhinos by Judith Mackrell

It's disturbing. It's hallucinatory. And it could be the shape of things to come. Judith Mackrell watches a show that turns dance into a digital dreamscapeIn a converted industrial space on …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 22, 2013

This week's new dance by Judith Mackrell

Jean Abreau: Blood | SampledJean Abreau: Blood, LondonJean Abreu has always been a performer of rare intensity, but in his latest production Blood he moves into ambitious new terrain. Twent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 21, 2013

Britten Dances " review by Judith Mackrell

Snape Maltings, AldeburghBenjamin Britten wrote very little for ballet. But as this programme of new, Britten-inspired dances reveals, the rhythmic detail of his music, the vibrancy of his o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:10PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Ballet is in the teeth of a dilemma by Judith Mackrell

I should be focusing on their feet " but lately I can't stop staring at dancers' over-whitened teeth. Is it dentistry? Is it just, er, me?Dancers' bodies are the instruments through which th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:44AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 17, 2013

Royal Ballet: Mayerling " review by Judith Mackrell

Royal Opera House, LondonBy a coincidence of programming, all four principals who have left the Royal this season have given farewell performances in Kenneth MacMillan's Mayerling. Compared …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:33PM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 15, 2013

This week's new dance by Judith Mackrell

The Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet Flanders: Britten Dances | The Forsythe Company: Study #3The Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet Flanders: Britten Dances, SnapeBenjamin Britten only choreographe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 13, 2013

English National Ballet: Swan Lake " review by Judith Mackrell

Royal Albert Hall, LondonThe poetic core of Swan Lake is the act two pas de deux, that perfect lost-in-the-forest encounter in which Odette and Siegfried unfold the secrets of their hearts t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:52PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Young ballet dancers: are we trying to catch a swan before it hatches? by Judith Mackrell

Videos of sweet children dancing is one thing " but watching ever-younger kids attempt an adult artform is questionableReading on mobile? Click to view.Bess Kargman's First Position, which w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:20AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 10, 2013

Bolshoi shows Nikolai Tsiskaridze the stage door by Judith Mackrell

After the acid attack on Sergei Filin, the outspoken principal dancer has been told his services are no longer required. But he's unlikely to go quietly ...Nikolai Tsiskaridze, the hugely po…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:40PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 7, 2013

Untrained " review by Judith Mackrell

Southbank Centre, LondonThe four male performers in Lucy Guerin's Untrained have to be changed at unusually regular intervals: the work's premise is to put two entirely novice dancers onstag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:17PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Clod Ensemble: Zero " review by Judith Mackrell

Sadler's Wells, LondonClod Ensemble has always been the joint project of choreographer-director Suzy Willson and composer Paul Clark. In their new production, however, it's the music th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:40PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 3, 2013

Royal Ballet loses Cojocaru and Kobborg " huge roles to jump into by Judith Mackrell

Suddenly two of the Royal's biggest stars are leaving the company. Why are they going " and who will replace them?Much of the UK ballet world is in mourning today, following the announcement…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:19AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Oracle " review by Judith Mackrell

Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonVaslav Nijinsky didn't perform in his own ballet, The Rite of Spring. Yet the miraculous prowess of his dancing and the troubled mystery of his genius have become…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:30AM[SHARE]
Saturday, June 1, 2013

This week's new dance by Judith Mackrell

Clod Ensemble: Zero | Northern Ballet Mixed BillClod Ensemble: Zero, LondonMixing up dance, art installation and music theatre, the Clod Ensemble can always be guaranteed to transform whatev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 31, 2013

What's your fantasy story ballet? " open thread by Judith Mackrell

Ballets with plotlines are back in fashion. Which story would you love to see danced on stage?As I've written elsewhere on the site today, most of the story ballets in the repertory are base…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AM[SHARE]

When ballet loses the plot with narratives by Judith Mackrell

While contemporary dance has experimented brilliantly with new narrative techniques, classical choreography has been stuck in a rutThe story ballet seems to be on the brink of a renaissance.…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:21AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 30, 2013

Akram Khan Company: iTMOi " review by Judith Mackrell

Sadler's Wells, LondonThe genius of Stravinsky's 1913 ballet, The Rite of Spring, looked two ways: embodying the atavistic impulses of human nature and the shattering birth pangs of modern a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:49PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Rite of Spring reimagined, 100 years on by Judith Mackrell

A century on from its Paris premiere, the creative aftershocks generated by Stravinsky's work continue " as Jay Bacal and Stephen Malinowski's digital visualisation of the score showsReading…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:57AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 27, 2013

Royal Ballet: Raven Girl " review by Judith Mackrell

Royal Opera House, LondonIt has a bird woman and a prince, love and transformation, but Wayne McGregor's first fairytale ballet is light years away from the world of Swan Lake. His narrative…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:39PM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 26, 2013

The best dance for summer 2013 by Judith Mackrell

Sadler's Wells' annual taster programme promises to be mouthwatering " and the Bolshoi arrives in London with an inspiring mixture of established stars and vibrant new talentBritten DancesBe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:40PM[SHARE]
Saturday, May 25, 2013

This week's new dance by Judith Mackrell

Akram Khan: iTMOi | Meryl Tankard: The OracleAkram Khan: iTMOi, LondonSadler's Wells continues its String Of Rites season with Akram Khan's response to the Nijinsky-Stravinsky ballet The Rit…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 23, 2013

Bern Ballett: Witch-Hunt " review by Judith Mackrell

Royal Opera House, LondonIn 1782, as Europe was embracing the spirit of Enlightenment, a small town in Switzerland tortured and killed a woman for witchcraft. An eight-year-old girl, Annamig…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:21PM[SHARE]

What would you like Pina Bausch's company to perform? - open thread by Judith Mackrell

Tanztheater Wuppertal has appointed a new artistic director to take the company in a different direction and commission new works. But can anyone live up to Pina Bausch?When Pina Bausch died…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mary Wigman: a dance pioneer with an awkward past by Judith Mackrell

Would this modern dance pioneer be better known had she not fallen in step with the Nazis?Reading on mobile? Click here to view.As the debate gathers around the current imbalance between mal…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:22AM[SHARE]

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