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Scottish Ballet in Christopher Hampson’s “Cinderella.” Photograph by Andy Ross
REVIEWS | Par Lorna Irvine

Grace and Pistachio Flavour

Chief executive and artistic director of Scottish Ballet, Christopher Hampson, has spoken of a desire to reimagine the classic fairytale as being a place populated by people who are “not defined by material things, or by who they have married.” Job done. It's an idiosyncratic, witty foray into scenes evocative of MGM's golden age, with a pinch of film noir at the start and an undercurrent of German Expressionism also thrown in, but moreover, his main remit is to weave a morality tale of eschewing worldly goods for inner beauty. The disparity between rich and poor is alluded to in...

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Troy Schumacher
REVIEWS | Par Madison Mainwaring

Growing Pains

This fall, NYCB’s bill of newly commissioned works was something of a gamble. Save for Justin Peck, the choreographers were dark horses, relative unknowns outside of their company and locale. I suspect this has to do with age more than anything else; four of the five (the exception being Kim Brandstrup) have yet to reach their thirtieth birthday. Peck, Myles Thatcher, Robert Binet, and Troy Schumacher are young men with corps de ballet experience (Peck was only recently promoted to the soloist rank) who have been given a platform, one of the most prestigious in the ballet world, in order...

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The Nutcracker
REVIEWS | Par Victoria Looseleaf

A New Nutcracker

It’s no secret that “The Nutcracker,” a children’s book written by E.T.A. Hoffman and originally choreographed in 1892 by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to the glorious music of Tchaikovsky, has been a cash cow for ballet troupes worldwide—at least since George Balanchine created his beloved version in 1954 for New York City Ballet, with other major (and minor) companies following suit.

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New Breed
REVIEWS | Par Claudia Lawson

New Breed

“New Breed” is the brain child of Sydney Dance Company's artistic director Rafael Bonachela. Now in its second year, the “New Breed” programme gives four up-and-coming choreographers the opportunity to create works on the dancers of the Sydney Dance Company. For these chosen four, “New Breed”provides a springboard to transition from dancer to choreographer. The initiative comes with all the creative support and infrastructure of the Sydney Dance Company—the choreographers have access to dancers, studios, costume and lighting design, and all four works premiere at Sydney’s Carriageworks theatre. The concept is beautifully simple, but still astonishingly rare in performing arts.

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Russell Maliphant
REVIEWS | Par Rachel Elderkin

Dancing in the Light

“Conceal | Reveal” marks the twentieth anniversary of the collaboration between choreographer Russell Maliphant and lighting designer Michael Hulls. The programme featured two new works alongside their past work, “Broken Fall” originally performed by Sylvie Guillem and BalletBoyz. Bayerisches Staatsballett also makes a guest appearance with “Spiral Pass,” a work Maliphant was commissioned to create on the company in 2014.

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Bangarra Dance Theatre
REVIEWS | Par Claudia Lawson

Ochres

“Ochres” was a watershed production for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Australia’s first Indigenous dance company. First performed in 1994, it was a defining moment for the then fledgling company, leading to sell-out shows and critical acclaim. At the time, the work was a bold statement, blending traditional and contemporary dance, while bravely highlighting modern day struggles overlaid on a rich cultural history. Two decades later, and the company’s artistic director, the indomitable Stephen Page, has revived the iconic work in to mark both the production and the company’s 21-year milestone.

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Camille A. Brown
REVIEWS | Par Victoria Looseleaf

Social Dance

Small but mighty is an apt description for the spitfire dancer/choreographer, Camille A. Brown, whose latest work made its West Coast debut last weekend in the City of Angels. (The piece, currently on a 10-city tour, bowed in September at New York’s Joyce Theater to kick off that venue’s fall season.) Drawing upon childhood games, nursery rhymes and call-and-response chants, as well as being inspired by Kyra D. Gaunt’s book, The Games Black Girls Play, Brown, who also directed the cast of six women, explores black female identity and empowerment.

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Royal New Zealand Ballet
REVIEWS | Par Rachel Elderkin

A Passing Cloud

Royal New Zealand Ballet returned in November to the UK for the first time in four years with a mixed programme celebrating New Zealand’s heritage and culture. The four works switch effortlessly between contemporary and classical dance showcasing the versatility of this young and energetic company of dancers.

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Nora
REVIEWS | Par Sara Veale

Womanpower

Together self-declared “dance artists” Eleanor Sikorski and Flora Wellesley Wesley are Nora, a spirited double act with a deliciously irreverent feminist streak. The pair studied together at London Contemporary Dance School and recently premiered their first evening-length programme, a triple bill of duets they conceived in conjunction with four guest choreographers: Jonathan Burrows, Matteo Fargion, Simon Tanguy and Liz Aggiss.

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Brian Reeder
REVIEWS | Par Apollinaire Scherr

The intrigues of Brian Reeder

When American Ballet Theatre principal Michele Wiles founded BalletNext with New York City Ballet alum Charles Askegard shortly after decamping from ABT in 2011, the plan seemed to be the usual ballet-star vanity project: gala fare alternating with good to terrible contemporary vehicles for the dancer-directors and their guests. This proved true for the first season. But by 2014 Wiles, now alone at the helm, had largely given up on other choreographers, taking on the job herself with an assist from Brooklyn flexmeister Jay Donn in a cartoonish play of opposites.

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Christian Rizzo
REVIEWS | Par Rachel Elderkin

Subtle Shifts

Christian Rizzo’s “d’après une histoire vraie” is based on Rizzo’s personal memories of a Turkish folk dance he saw at a festival in Istanbul. These memories are carried into the steps of his dance and captured in the informal, communal spirit between the dancers on stage.

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Phoenix Dance Theatre
REVIEWS | Par Rachel Elderkin

Dance Lab

Phoenix Dance Theatre returned for the fourth time to the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House London with a triple bill of new and recently commissioned works. Phoenix is a company with a diverse repertoire and while a programme will always exhibit the technical strength of their dancers, it’s a pleasure to not quite know what to expect.

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