1,004 stories by "Judith Mackrell"
Despite claims that he's on the straight and narrow, the talented young dancer has quit a new show days before opening night. Is ballet culture itself to blame? Continue reading...
Nijinsky set it in tunics, Pina Bausch as a brutal battle of the sexes " so just how do you dance to Stravinsky's most violent score? Judith Mackrell talks to Akram Khan, Javier de Frutos an…
Coliseum, London Continue reading...
Matthew Bourne relocates a 19th-century ballet to drug-fuelled Glasgow, Sadler's Wells celebrates the centenary of the Rite of Spring, and National Ballet of Canada returns to the UK Continu…
Sadler's Wells, LondonDance companies around the UK are waking up to the importance of the family audience. Yet in contrast to English National Ballet's My First Cinderella or Northern Balle…
Coliseum, LondonThe Mikhailovsky's Giselle is very old-school: charmingly staged and with carefully detailed mime that tells you everything you need to know about the plot. I don't know of a…
Sadler's Wells, LondonAs a dancer, Israel Galván is touched by the kind of genius that puts him into a category of his own. The Seville-born flamenco artist throws out such a variety of r…
One romantic, the other demonic " the two very different Giselles danced by Olesya Novikova and Natalia Osipova make for a fascinating up-close comparison Continue reading...
One romantic, the other demonic " the two very different Giselles danced by Olesya Novikova and Natalia Osipova make for a fascinating up-close comparisonReading this on mobile? Click here t…
The Place, LondonHow do we watch dance? How do we become engaged with what's on stage? Choreographer Ben Wright makes a bold stab at answering those questions, attempting a work that co…
He might be a soloist with the Royal Ballet, but McRae has a dark secret: he's also a genius at tap-danceReading this on mobile? Please click here to view videoChristopher Wheeldon's Alice i…
Last week a Bolshoi dancer confessed to ordering a vicious attack on the company's director. His colleagues aren't convinced. Judith Mackrell reports from St Petersburg on the in-fighting an…
Grand Theatre, LeedsStory ballets are the bread and butter of Northern Ballet's repertory, and it's easy to see why choreographer David Nixon was tempted by The Great Gatsby. The clothes, th…
Linbury Studio theatre Continue reading...
Linbury Studio theatreBallet Black may struggle against an inexplicable lack of state funding, yet it continues to make a heroic investment in new choreography. This season its adventurous p…
Goodbye tutus and tights, hello dancing demons " Tamara Rojo now leads a company with a new look and feel, and the critics are wrong to complainWhen Tamara Rojo took over English National Ba…
Sadler's Wells, London"I'm young. My ears hear promise, my eyes see dreams …" The opening words of Azusa Seyama's monologue set the tone for Vollmond (Full Moon), one of the last works ev…
Bausch's riff on Bartók's murderous tale is a watershed moment " full of dark, poisonous themes that would increasingly obsess herWhen Pina Bausch died in 2009, no one knew whether her wo…
Sadler's WellsIf Oscars were awarded to dance actors, Dominique Mercy would surely have a shelf full of them by now. As an affable drunk with a leery wink and a lurching gait, a martyred spi…
At 47, Sylvie Guillem continues to defy the rules of ballet " and gravity. She talks to Judith Mackrell about her new work, losing her temper " and her fight to save the world's fishI am wai…
The Print Room, LondonHubert Essakow's multimedia dance work puts a new spin on immersive performance. Waterproof capes are handed out as we enter the tiny Print Room theatre, and by th…
Barbican, LondonTatyana is by far the most absorbing work Deborah Colker has made " with one qualification: you have to know the plot of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, or at least pay for a progra…
He's never run a major company, and his chief claim to fame is Black Swan. Can Millepied cut it at one of the world's most famous dance troupes?The Paris Opera Ballet is only a Eurostar ride…
Linbury Studio, LondonWriters have a thousand ways of portraying end-of-the-world angst: Shakespeare's Lear ranting into the storm; Beckett's Winnie, chatting blithely into the void. For dan…
Watford Palace theatreBalletBoyz: The Talent started out as a project to offer new professional experiences to young male dancers. Over the last two years it has been a pleasure to watch the…
