In 2017 the New Adventures company is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Younger dance fans will know Bourne for his iconic Swan Lake, Nutcracker!, gothic themed Sleeping Beauty and most recently The Red Shoes but here Bourne revisits some popular works from the early years. The triple bill features a comparatively small cast and harks back to some more simplistic concepts that still remain hugely entertaining. The evening starts with a brief visit down memory lane in Watch with Mother, a … [Read more...]
Irina Kolesnikova, Her Name was Carmen at the London Coliseum
It is not often one has the opportunity to see a ballet which primarily aims to raise awareness of the present Syrian refugee crisis, however this was the key aim of Irina Kolesnikova’s brave new take on Carmen. It is a story widely performed in both opera and ballet, most recently tackled by Carlos Acosta with varied success and Kolesnikova’s version unfortunately suffers from an identity crisis in trying to portray a sultry, magnetic protagonist against the backdrop of brutality in a war torn … [Read more...]
Sally Phillips and Lily Bevan: Talking To Strangers – Review
Sally Phillips and Lily Bevan are both successful writers and actors in their own right. Bevan is a RADA graduate and Phillips is of course renowned for her roles in Miranda and Smack the Pony. In Talking to Strangers, they are free to work to their own rules in a series of one-woman sketches featuring an eclectic collection of female characters in a variety of social situations. The characters are just as niche and original as one would hope from these two performers and Bevan opens the … [Read more...]
Review of Qutb – Silent Echo – Run, Mary, Run at Sadler’s Wells
Tickets for this short run of new work featuring Natalia Osipova have been sold out for months. Add into the mix bad-boy of ballet and real life partner Sergei Polunin and the buzz has been so intense, one wonders whether the content of the work is even relevant when the majority simply want to say “I was there”. Classical dancers are understandably keen to express themselves and the three works featured here fall more into the dance-theatre category than anything else, however this rebel … [Read more...]
Review of LA Dance Project at Sadler’s Wells
LA Dance Project was formed by Founding Director Benjamin Millepied following his new found stardom as in 2012’s Black Swan as Natalie Portman’s dance partner. He went on to marry Portman and relocate to Los Angeles where he found himself free to call the creative shots at the helm of a new company. In this triple bill, two of the pieces are choreographed by Millepied himself including one world premiere, One the Other Side. On a first viewing of the company, both works have their roots … [Read more...]