British choreographer Christopher Wheelan’s latest creation ‘The Two of Us’ opens the show, a piece for two dancers set to four songs by singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
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We’re more than half-way through 2020, which has been pretty bleak. But digital streaming performances, hosted by generous dance companies and theaters, have been a much-needed silver lining during quarantine. During this time, we’ve watched Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Terrain from Australia, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s Moon Water and even Michael Flatley’s Celtic Tiger over the 4th of […]
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During lockdown, the English National Ballet has provided weekly ballets on Wednesdays, spoiling audiences around the world with their #ENBAtHome program, whose previous performances included Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon and August Bornonville’s La Sylphide. To close their generous program, the non-profit ballet organization has broadcast Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella ballet at Royal Albert Hall (available from July 8 – […]
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With many theaters shut down for the foreseeable future, it is a blessing to be able to watch online dance showcases from companies around the world. The San Francisco Ballet released a recording of their 2020 gala, called SPELLBOUND, as part of their SF Ballet @ Home program. Recorded January 16, 2020 by Rapt Productions, the San […]
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La Sylphide (not to be confused with Les Sylphides) is a famous ballet from the Romantic era. Although it was first choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, August Bournonville’s version from 1836 has been better preserved by the Royal Danish Ballet. However, many other ballet companies from around the world also perform the work. For instance, Eva […]
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Manon, like many beloved ballets (Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen and Swan Lake, for example), is laced with romance but ends in tragedy. The scandalous Manon ballet synopsis is based upon the book, Manon Lescaut by Antoine Francois Prevost, published in 1973. Manon falls in love with Des Grieux, before dabbling with the wealthier Monsieur GM. […]
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With plenty of real-life doom and gloom surrounding the world, a ballet – particularly a comedic one – provides a very welcome escape. Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée story is based upon a French ballet from 1789 by Jean Dauberval and loosely translated as The Wayward Daughter. Ashton infused his love of the Suffolk […]
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Streaming dance shows from the comfort of home has been tiding us over, while the theaters remain shut. But while cameramen often skillfully capture choreography on film, there’s a distinct difference between dance that is preserved in a recording and that which is created specifically for a recording in a screendance format. Balletboyz Romeo and Juliet […]
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Dutch National Ballet & ISH Dance Collective’s GRIMM ballet, choreographed by Ernst Meisner and Marco Gerris, displays a potpourri of dance styles in a fairy tale mash-up, much like Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods film. Members of the Het Nationale Ballet Junior Company perform alongside ISH Dance Collective professionals in a dynamic show that features beloved characters […]
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Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Creole Giselle plucks the classic tale from rural Germany and places the plot in Louisiana.
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Royal Opera House The Cellist by British choreographer Cathy Marston inspects the life of famed musician, Jacqueline du Pré. We meet her as a child and follow her journey from discovering the cello to a life in the spotlight and her personal struggle with multiple sclerosis. The Cellist brings Jacqueline du Pré’s biography to life – […]
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The Royal Ballet’s Anastasia juxtaposes the charmed life of Tsar Nicholas II’s youngest daughter with Anna Anderson’s haunting experience in an asylum. The three-act production by Kenneth MacMillan originally premiered as a one-act ballet, created on Berlin’s Deutsche Oper in 1967. After assuming the position of Artistic Director with the Royal Ballet in London, MacMillan added […]
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