E Mag Ballet2000 N 253 English Edition

the international dance magazine ENGLISH Edition • n°253
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Sylvie Guillem
The Final Round
4,90
www.ballet2000.com
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Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding –
Het Nationale Ballet: “Variations for Two Couples”,
c. Hans van Manen (ph. M. Haegeman)
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pub@ballet2000.com 38 On Stage : Ballet Nice Méditerranée: “En Sol”
n° 253 Juin / Giugno / June 2015 Ballet Nice Méditerranée
The Royal Ballet: Hofesh Shechter
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e-mail: info@ballet2000.com 54 Photo Gallery The Royal Ballet: “Swan Lake”
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AUSTRIA Staatsballett Berlin
23, 25, 26, 28. VI: La Bayadère
– c. M. Petipa (V. Malakhov) –
Innsbruck Staatsballett Berlin
Tanzsommer Komische Oper
Dogana 1, 3, 22, 29. VI, 12, 27. IX:
18-20. VI: Cie Jant-Bi: Afro-Dites Vielfältigkeit – Formen von Stille
– c. G. Acogny und Leere – c. N. Duato –
21. VI: Urban Dance Theater Staatsballett Berlin
26, 27. VI: Cloud Gate Dance
Company: Rice – c. Lin Hwai- Dresden
min Semperoper
2-5. VII: Compagnie DCA: Pa- 12, 17, 19. VI, 3, 7. VII: Im
norama – c. P. Decouflé anderen Raum – c. P. Lidberg;
Walking Mad – c. J. Inger; Cacti
Wien – c. A. Ekman – Dresden Ballet
Staatsoper 8. VII: Palucca Hochschule
15. VI: La Sylphide – c. P. Lacotte 5, 8. VI, 5. VII, 9, 11, 17. IX:
– Wiener Staastballett Impressing the Czar – c. W.
10, 12. VI: Adagio Forsythe – Dresden Ballet
Hammerklavier – c. H. van 26, 28. VI: Le Lac des cygnes
Manen; Cacti – c. A. Ekman; – c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov (S.
Bella Figura – c. J. Kylián – Watkin) – Dresden Ballet
Wiener Staatsballett 6. VII: Tristan + Isolde – c. D.
28. VI: Nureyev Gala – Wiener Dawson – Dresden Ballet
Staatsballett 24, 27. IX: Theme and
18, 22. IX: Don Quichotte – c. Variations – c. G. Balanchine;
R. Nureyev – Wiener Staatsballett Neue Suite – c. W. Forsythe;
Volksoper Sie war Schwarz – c. M. Ek –
3, 11. VI: Giselle Rouge – c. B. Dresden Ballet
Eifman – Weiner Staatsballett Festspielhaus Hellerau
2, 9, 17. VI: “Junge Talente des 4-7. VI: creation – c. F. Mazliah
Wiener Staatsballetts II” – Dresden Ballet
6, 19, 25, 27. VI: Carmina Burana
– c. V. Orlic; Nachmittag eines Duisburg
Fauns – c. B. Nebyla; Boléro – Theater der Stadt
c. A. Lukacs – Wiener 19, 26. VI: Illusion – c. Young
Staatsballett Soon Hue; Lonesome George
– c. M. Goecke; Voices Borrowed
Olga Esina, Kirill Kourlaev – Wiener Staatsballett: “Giselle Rouge”,
BELGIQUE c. Boris Eifman (ph. A. Taylor)
– c. A. Miller – Ballett der
Deutschen Oper am Rhein
5, 13, 19, 25. VII: 7 – c. M.
Anvers Ballet Pause-Silence – c. J. Kylián – Schläpfer – Ballett der
Theater’t Eilandje 19, 20, 27. IX: Le Lac des cygnes Staatsballett Berlin Deutschen Oper am Rhein
5, 6, 7. VI: Dialogue – c. J. – c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov – Prague 13, 14. VII: Staatlichen
Brambants; In Flanders Fields National Theatre Ballet Balletschule Berlin Düsseldorf
– c. R. Amarante; Forgotten Land National Theatre Deutsche Oper Opernhaus
– c. J. Kylián; Der Grüne Tisch 16, 17. VI, 26, 29. IX: Brel; 5, 7. VI, 30. IX: La Belle au bois 21, 23, 25. VI: Symphonie g-
– c. K. Jooss – Ballet Royal de Vysotsky; Kryl/Solo for Three dormant – c. N. Duato – Moll – c. M. Schläpfer; ... adónde
Flandres – c. P. Zuska – Prague National
Ballet
Bruxelles 20. VI: Czech Ballet Symphony
Théâtre de la Monnaie II – c. J. Kylián – Prague National
29. VI-4. VII: Sidi Larbi Ballet
Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet: Babel 2, 4. IX: Krabat – c. J. Kodet –
(words) Prague National Theatre Ballet
Estate Theatre
CZECH REPUBLIC 10, 26. VI, 6. IX: Valmont – c. L.
Vaculík – Prague National Ballet
Prague DEUTSCHLAND
State Opera
12, 14. VI, 10, 12. IX: La
Bayadère – c. M. Petipa (J. Torres) Berlin
– Prague National Theatre Ballet Schiller Theater
28, 29, 30. VI: Romeo and Juliet 13. VI: White Darkness;
– c. P. Zuska – National Theatre Creation – c. N. Duato; Click-
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vas, Siguiriya? – Capricho
Flamenco – c. B. L. Merki; Rättika
– c.M. Ek – Ballett der Deutschen
Oper am Rhein
3, 6. VI: verwundert seyn – zu
sehn; ein Wald, ein See – c. M.
Schläpfer; Moves – c. J. Robbins
– Ballett der Deutschen Oper
am Rhein
Frankfurt
Bockenheimer Depot
18-21. VI: creation – c. F. Mazliah
– The Forsythe Company
Hamburg
Staatsoper
3, 4, 5, 6. VI, 2. VII: Tatjana – c.
J. Neumeier – Hamburg Ballet
11, 12. VI, 4. VII: Shakespeare
Dances – c. J. Neumeier –
Hamburg Ballet
28, 30. VI, 30. IX: Peer Gynt –
c. J. Neumeier – Hamburg Ballet
29. VI: Romeo and Juliet – c. J.
Neumeier – Hamburg Ballet
1. VII: Napoli – c. A. Bournonville Courtney Richardson, Fabien Voranger – Dresden Ballett: “Tristan und Isolde”, c. David Dawson
(L. Riggins) – Hamburg Ballet (ph. I. Whalen)
3. VII: The Little Mermaid – c. J.
Neumeier – Hamburg Ballet Hamburg Ballet Staatsballett Wuppertal
5. VII: Tod in Venedig – c. J. 16, 23. VI, 4. VII: Paquita – c. A. Opernhaus
Neumeier – Hamburg Ballet Leipzig Ratmansky – Bayerisches 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19. VI:
7, 8. VII: Houston Ballet: Oper Staatsballett Vollmond – c. P. Bausch –
Tapestry; Maninays; Velocity – 20, 21, 26, 27, 28. VI, 2, 3, 4, 5. 19. VI: Artifact II – c. W. Forsythe; Tanztheater Wuppertal
c. S. Welch VII: West Side Story – c. J. The Exiles – c. J. Limón; Zugvögel 25, 26, 27, 29, 30. VI: Kontakthof
9. VII: Winterreise – c. J. Robbins – Leipziger Ballett – c. J. Kylián – Bayerisches – c. P. Bausch – Tanztheater
Neumeier, Hamburg Ballet Staatsballett Wuppertal
10. VII: Giselle – c. J. Coralli, J. München 7. VII: Ein Sommernachtstraum
Perrot, M. Petipa (J. Neumeier) Nationaltheater – c. J. Neumeier – Bayerisches ESPAÑA
– Hamburg Ballet 12. VI, 21, 29. IX: Metric Dozen; Staatsballett
11. VII: Othello –c. J. Neumeier In A Landscape; Unitxt – c. R. Prinzregententheater
– Hamburg Ballet Siegal – Bayerisches 10, 11, 12. VII: Das Triadische Barcelona
12. VII: Nijinsky Gala XLI Staatsballett Ballett – c. G. Bohner; Le Sa- Gran Teatre del Liceu
20, 22, 24, 27. IX: A Cinderella 14. VI, 1. VII: Onegin – c. J. cre du printemps – c. M. 23, 24, 25, 26. VI: Ballet Nacional
S t o r y –c . J . Neume i e r – Cranko – Bayeriches Wigman – Bayeriches de España: Sorolla
Staatsballett Festival Grec
Teatre Grec
Bayerisches Staatsballett: “Le Sacre du printemps”, c. Mary Wigman Stuttgart 1, 2. VII: La Veronal: Vorònia –
(ph. W. Hoesl) Opernhaus c. M. Morau
2, 4, 17, 19. VI: A Tramway Antic Teatre
Named Desire – c. J. 2.-5. VII: Clara Tena, Ohiana
Neumeier – Stuttgart Ballet Altube: Este lugar entre: Prethink
6, 7, 9. VI: Onegin – c. J. Cranko and Free Action – c. B. Fernández
– Stuttgart Ballet 17. VII: Ritme en el Temps:
11, 12, 14, 18, 20, 23, 26, 27. Faintasies d’un temps
VI: Konzert for Flöte und Harfe; Mercat de Les Flors
Aus Holbergs Zeit; Opus1; 3-5. VII: Jordi Cortés/Associació
Initialen R.B.M.E. – c. J. Cranko Kiakahart: Fuck-in-Progress
– Stuttgart Ballet 6-8. VII: Cía Sol Picó: W.W. (We
4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16. VII: L’Oiseau Women)
de feu – c. S. L. Cherkaoui; 14, 15. VII: Peeping Tom: À
L’Histoire du Soldat – c. D. Volpi; louer
Le Chant du Rossignol – c. 17, 18. VII: Noname Sosu,
M. Goecke – Stuttgart Ballet Sungsoo Ahn Pick-up Group,
22,-29. VII: La Belle au bois Company SIGA: Not I; Body
dormant – c. M. Petipa – Concerto; Rest
Stuttgart Ballet 22, 23. VII: María Muñoz, Pep
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Revelations – c. A. Ailey
11. VII (2): Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater: Polish Pieces
– c. H. van Manen; After the Rain
Pas De Deux – c. C. Wheeldon;
Pas de Duke – c. A. Ailey; The
Hunt – c. R. Battle; Grace – c.
R. K. Brown
13. VII: Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater: LIFT – c. A.
Barton; Awassa Astrige/Ostrich
– c. A. Dafora; Bad Blood – c.
U. Dove; Minus 16 – c. O. Naharin
Dance Theater: Night Creatu-
re; Pas de Duke; The River;
Revelations – c. A. Ailey
Dance Theater: Four Corners
– c. R. K. Brown; After the Rain
Pas De Deux – c. C. Wheeldon;
Bad Blood – c. U. Dove; Home
– c. R. Harris
Dance Theater: Exodus – c. R.
Harris; Four Corners – c. R. K.
Ballet Nacional de España: “Sorolla” (ph. S. Belyaevsky)
Brown; Takademe – c. R. Battle;
LIFT – c. A. Barton
Ramis, Mal Pelo: El cinquè Lausanne: Suite Barocco; 17. VI-13. VII: Cie José Montalvo: 17. VII: Alvin Ailey American
hivern Boléro – c. M. Béjart; Kyôdaï; ¡Y Olé! Dance Theater: Polish Pieces
Museu d’Arqueologia Trois danses pour Tony – c. G. Théâtre Chaillot (Grand Foyer) – c. H. van Manen; Strange
8-10. VII: Sabine Roman; Histoire d’eux – c. T. 3-6. VI: Australian Dance Humors – c. R. Battle; D-Man
Dahrendorf,Josep Sanou: Fabre Theatre: Multiverse – c. G. in the Waters – c. B. T. Jones;
Epíleg d'un inici (El secret de 24. VII: Sylvie Guillem: Life in Steward Takademe – c. R. Battle; Home
les meduses) progress Théâtre Chaillot (Salle Maurice – c. R. Harris
Teatre Lliure 13. VIII: Compañía María Pagés: Béjart) 18. VII (1): Alvin Ailey American
9-11. VII: Cie Adrien M, Claire Yo, Carmen 3-6. VI: Stephanie Lake: Dual Dance Theater: Night Creatu-
B: Hakanaï Atelier de Paris – Carolyn Carlso re; Pas de Duke; The River;
14, 15. VII: Thomas Hauert, FRANCE 20. VI: Marco Da Silva Ferreira: Revelations – c. A. Ailey
Group La Bolsa: La mesura del Hu(r)mano; Kát Válustur: Ah, 18. VII (2): Alvin Ailey American
desordre oh! – a contemporary ritual Dance Theater: Exodus – c. R.
22, 23. VII: Zero Visibility Corp: Paris Les Étés de la danse Harris; Grace – c. R. K. Brown;
The Guest – c. I. C. Johannessen Opéra Garnier Théâtre du Châtelet LIFT – c. A. Barton
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. VI: Les Enfants 7. VII: Alvin Ailey American Dance 20. VII: Alvin Ailey American
Granada du Paradis – c. J. Martínez – Theater: LIFT – c. A. Barton; After Dance Theater: Bad Blood – c.
Festival Internacional de Música Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris the Rain Pas De Deux – c. C. U. Dove; After the Rain Pas De
y Danza de Granada 29, 30. VI, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, Wheeldon; Four Corners – c. Deux – c. C. Wheeldon; Grace
Teatro del Generalife 13, 14. VII: La Fille mal gardée R. K. Brown; Revelations – c. – c. R. K. Brown; Revelations –
20, 22. VI: Wiener Staatsballett: – c. F. Ashton – Ballet de l’Opéra A. Ailey c. Ailey
“Gala” de Paris 8. VII: Alvin Ailey American Dance 21. VII: Alvin Ailey American
27. VI: Nowegian National Ballet: 22, 25, 26, 28, 30. IX: Opus 19 Theater: Polish Pieces – c. H. Dance Theater: Polish Pieces
Carmen – c. L. Scarlett – c. J. Robbins; Theme and van Manen; Strange Humors – – c. H. van Manen; Strange
4. VII: Ballet Nacional de España: Variations – c. G. Balanchine; c. R. Battle; D-Man in the Waters Humors – c. R. Battle; After the
Alento – c. A. Najarro création – c. M. Millepied – Ballet – c. B. T. Jones; Takademe – Rain Pas De Deux – c. C.
9. VII: Ballet Víctor Ullate: de l’Opéra de Paris c. Battle; Grace – c. R. K.Brown Wheeldon; The Hunt – c. R.
Samsara – c. V. Ullate Opéra Bastille 9. VII: Alvin Ailey American Dance Battle; Home – c. R. Harris
4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16. VII: Theater: gala 22. VII: Alvin Ailey American
Madrid L’Anatomie de la sensation – 10. VII: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Night Creatu-
Teatro Real c. W. McGregor – Ballet de Dance Theater: Home – c. R. re – c. A. Ailey; After the Rain
15-19. VII: Nederlands Dans l’Opéra de Paris Harris; After the Rain Pas De Pas De Deux – c. C. Wheeldon;
Theater: Sehnsucht; Théâtre de la Ville Deux – c. C. Wheeldon; The Exodus – c. R. Harris; Minus
Schmetterling – c. P. Lightfoot, 13-21. VI: Cie Rosas: Golden Hunt – c. R. Battle; Minus 16 – 16 – c. O. Naharin
S. León Hours (As You Like it) – c. A. T. c. O. Naharin 23. VII: Alvin Ailey American
De Keersmaeker 11. VII (1): Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Polish Pieces
Peralada 7-11. VII: Peeping Tom: Vader Dance Theater: LIFT – c. A. – c. H. van Manen; Awassa
Auditorum Jardines del Castillo Théâtre Chaillot (Salle Jean Barton; Pas de Duke – c. A. Ailey; Astrige/Ostrich – c. A. Dafora;
10, 11. VII: Béjart Ballet Vilar) Four Corners – c. R. K. Brown; D-Man in the Waters – c. B. T.
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Jones; Takademe – c. R. Battle; Lycée Aubanel
Grace – c. R. K. Brown 13-17. VII: Fabrice Lambert:
24. VII: Alvin Ailey American Jamais assez
Dance Theater: Night Crea- La FabricA
ture; Pas de Duke; The River; 12-15. VII: Hofesh Shechter
Revelations – c. A. Ailey Dance Company: Barbicans
25. VII (1): Alvin Ailey American Festival d’Avignon Off
Dance Theater: LIFT – c. A. Théâtre du Balcon
Barton; Exodus – c. R. Harris; 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20,
Revelations – c. A. Ailey 22, 24, 26. VII: Cie Octavio De
25. VII (2): Alvin Ailey American La Roza: Voulez-vous danser,
Dance Theater: Grace – c. R. Gainsbourg? – c. O. De la Roza
K. Brown; After the Rain Pas 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21,
De Deux – c. C. Wheeldon; 23, 25. VII: Cie Octavio De La
The Hunt – c. R. Battle; Minus Roza: Night club mother – c.
16 – c. O. Naharin O. De la Roza
27. VII: Polish Pieces – c. H.
van Manen; Pas de Duke – c. Bagnolet
A. Ailey; Strange Humors – c. Le Colombier (Rencontres
R. Battle; Four Corners – c. Chorégraphiques)
R. K. Brown; Home – c. R. 1-3. VI: Alice Ripoll, Camilla
Harris Moura: O princípio a casa dos
28. VII: D-Man in the Waters – pombos; Son Hyejeong:
c. B. T. Jones; Takademe – GUNGJI-dilemma; Moto
c. R. Battle; Exodus – c. R. Takahashi: KIBOU ga doutoka;
Harris; Minus 16 – c. O. Naharin Malika Djardi: Sa prière
29. VII: Bad Blood – c. U. Dove;
After the Rain Pas De Deux – Biarritz
c. C. Wheeldon; The Hunt – Gare du Midi
c. R. Battle; LIFT – c. A. Barton 2. VI: Ballet Biarritz: Silhouette;
30. VII: Night Creature; Pas de Nocturnes; Estro – c. T. Melissa Hough, Aarne Kristian Ruutu – Norwegian National Ballet:
Duke; The River; Revelations Malandain “Carmen”, c. Liam Scarlett (ph. E. Berg)
– c. A. Ailey 5, 6. VIII: Ballet Biarritz: Silhouette;
31. VII: Grace – c. R. K. Brown; Nocturnes; Estro – c. T. Lyon Sarabande – c. B. Millepied
After the Rain Pas De Deux – Malandain Maison de la Danse 4. VII: Cie Rosas: Rosas danst
c. C. Wheeldon; Bad Blood – 10, 11. VIII: Ballet Biarritz: 2-5. VI: Cie Grenade: Welcome Rosas – c. A. T. De Keersmaeker
c. U. Dove; Minus 16 – c. O. Magifique – c. T. Malandain – c. J. Baïz 16. VII: Ballet du Capitole: Valser
Naharin 11, 12. VI: Jeune Ballet du – c. C. Berbessou
I. VIII (1): Polish Pieces – c. H. Bordeaux CNSMD de Lyon Théâtre Joliette-Minoterie
van Manen; Awassa Astrige/ Grand-Théâtre Les Nuits de Fourvière 3. VII: Cie Grenade: Quatuor
Ostrich – c. A. Dafora; Takademe 26, 28, 29, 30. VI: Le Lac des Théâtre Romain de Fourvière Béla – c. J. Baïz
– c. R. Battle; Four Corners – c. cygnes – c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov 9, 10. VI: Cía María Pagés: Yo, La Criée
R. K. Brown; Home – c. R. Harris (C. Jude) – Ballet de l’Opéra Carmen 25, 26. VI: Hofesh Shechter
I. VIII (2): LIFT – c. A. Barton; de Bordeaux 29, 30. VI, 1, 2. VII: Sylvie Guillem: Dance Company: Cult;
Grace – c. R. K. Brown; After Life in progress Fragment; Disappearing Act
the Rain Pas De Deux – c. C. Carcassonne 9. VII: Wim Vandekeybus/Ulti-
Wheeldon; Revelations – c. A. Festival de Carcassonne Marseille ma Vez: What the Body Does
Ailey Théâtre Jean-Deschamps Festival de Marseille Not Remember
8. VII: Cie Antonio Gades: Fuego, Grand Studio du Ballet de 12. VII: Groupe Grenade: Guests
Avignon l’Amour sorcier Marseille – c. J. Baïz
Festival d’Avignon Jardin du Musée des Beaux- 2, 3. VII: Cie Rosas: Verklärte
Salle Benoît XII Arts Nacht – c. A. T. De Keersmaeker Montauban
4-8. VII: Cie Emmanuelle Vo- 12. VII: KD Danse: One – c. K. 6, 7. VII: Cie Daniel Linehan: Montauban en Scènes
Dinh: Tomboucton déjà-vu Debrock Un Sacre du printemps Place Nationale
Gymnase du Lycée Saint- Château Comtal Théâtre National de la Criée 9. VII: Cie Alain Marty: Dans le
Joseph 11. VII: “La Nuit de la Jeune 10-12. VI: Ballet Preljocaj: Empty regard de l’autre
14-21. VII: Gaëlle Bourges: À Chorégraphie” Moves I, II, III – c. A. Preljocaj
mon selon désir KLAP Montreuil
15-21. VII: Cie Eszter Salamon: Noisy-le-Sec 20, 21. VI: Candoco Dance Nouveau Théâtre (Rencontres
Monumet 0: Hanté par la guer- Théâtre des Bergeries Company: Let’s Talk about Dis Chorégraphiques)
re 5. VI: Sylvain Prunenec: Vos Théâtre Silvain 12, 13. VI: Mélanie Perrier:
Cloître des Carmes jours et vos heures 8. VII: Cía Manuel Liñán: Lâche; Cie Laurent Chétouane:
16-23. VII: Cie Fatou Cissé: Le Nómada Bach/Passion/Johannes
Bal des cercles Lille Le Silo
Cour du Palais des Papes Opéra 17, 18. VI: Ballet de l’Opéra de Montpellier
17-25. VII: Ballet Preljocaj: Retour 11-13. VI: Cie Daniel Linehan: Lyon: Steptext; One Flat Thing, MontpellierDanse
à Berratham Un Sacre du printemps Reproduced – c. W. Forsythe; Théâtre La Vignette
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– c. C. Berbessou Sadler’s Wells Theatre
22. VII: Cie XY: Il n’est pas encore 4-6. VI: Les Ballets C. de la B.:
minuit... Coup fatal
24. VII: Cie Accrorap: The Roots 9-13. VI: Eastman: Milonga –
– c. K. Attou c. S. L. Cherkaoui
27, 28. VII: Les 7 doigts de la 16-18. VI: Cie DCA: Contact –
main: Cuisine et confession c. P. Decouflé
20-28. VI: Paco Peña Flamenco
Versailles Dance Company: Flamencura
Festival de Versailles 30. VI-5. VII: Akram Khan, Israel
Château de Versailles Galván: Torobaka
24, 25. VI: Les Ballets de Mon- 7-11. VII: Dancers of The Royal
te-Carlo: Roméo et Juliette – Ballet and Rambert: Ladysmith
c. J.-C. Maillot Black Mambazo – c. M. Baldwin
14. VII-9. VIII: New Adventures:
Vitry-sur-Seine Carman – c. M. Bourne
Théâtre Jean Vilar 4, 5. IX: National Youth Dance
12. VI: Sketches From Company and Guest
Chronicles – c. M. Graham; 8, 12. IX: English National Ballet:
Sounddance – c. M. No Man’s Land – c. L. Scarlett;
Cunningham; Steptext – c. W. Second Breath – c. R. Maliphant;
Forsythe – Ballet de Lorraine Dust – c. A. Khan
19. IX: Royal Academy of dance
GREAT BRITAIN Peacock Theatre
15-26. IX: Les Ballets
Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Birmingham Coliseum
Festival de Marseille: Cie Daniel Linehan: “Un Sacre du printemps” Hippodrome 8-11. VII: Het Nationale Ballet:
(ph. Bart-Grietens) 17, 18, 19, 20. VI: The King Cinderella – c. C. Wheeldon
Dances; Carmina Burana – c. 17, 18. VII: “Ardani 25 Dance
25, 26. VI: Bouchra Ouizguen: 29, 30. VI: Raimund Hoghe: D. Bintley – Birmingham Royal Gala”
Ottof Quartet Ballet 22. VII: “Ballet Folclórico de
6, 7. VII: Luis Garay – HTH and 3, 4. VII: Fabrice Ramalingom; 24, 25 26, 27. VI: Sylvia – c. F. México de Amalia Hernández”
Co: Cocooning Benoît Lachambre: Ashton – Birmingham Royal 28. VII-2. VIII: Sylvie Guillem:
Studio Bagouet/Agora Hyperterrestres Ballet Life in progress
27, 28. VI: Cie David Wampach: 4-8. VIII: Australian
Urge Nice Edinburgh Queensland’s Ballet: La
3-6. VII: Kerem Gelebek: C’est Théâtre de Verdure Sylphide – c. A. Bournonville
l’oeil que tu protèges... – c. C. 3, 4. VII: Ballet Nice Méditerranée: Edinburgh International Festival 17-21. VIII: St Petersburg Ballet
Rizzo Troy Game – c. R. North; Con- The Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre: Le Lac des cygnes
Opéra Berlioz certo Barocco – c. G. Balanchine; 20-22. VIII: Ballett am Rhein: 7 22-23. VIII: St Petersburg Ballet
24, 25. VI: Ballet de Marseille/ En sol – c. J. Robbins – c. M. Schlapfer Theatre: La Bayadère
IckAmsterdam: Extremalism, le 27-29. VIII: Ballet Zurich: Kairos
corps en révolte – c. E. Greco Saint-Denis – c. W. McGregor; Sonett – c. Manchester
27, 28. VI: Akram Khan, Israel La Chaufferie (Rencontres C. Spuck Manchester International Festival
Glaván: Torobaka Chorégraphiques) Festival Theatre Opera House
30. VI, I VII: Batsheva Dance 6, 7. VI: Aline Correa/Eleanor 8-10. VIII: Sylvie Guillem: Life 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10. VII: Random
Company: Last Work – c. O. Bauer: (Big Girls Do Big Things) in progress Dance/Ballet de l’Opéra de
Naharin 19-21. VIII: Israel Galván: Lo Paris: Tree of Codes – c. W.
Opéra Comédie Strasbourg McGregor
Real / Le Réel / The Real
7, 8. VII: Cie Maguy Marin: BIT Salle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Royal Lyceum of Dance
Opéra Comique 5, 6, 7, 9. VI: Boléro; La Chambre 17, 18. VIII: TAO Dance Theatre: GREECE
26, 27. VI: Cie Phia Ménard: Noire – c. S. Thoss; Marbre – Weight X 3 – c. Tao Ye
Belle d’hier c. M. Morau – Ballet du Rhin Greek Festival
3, 4. VII: Va Wölfl – Neuier Tanz: London
Chor(e)ographie Toulouse Athens
4, 6. VII: Farruquito: Pinacendá Halle aux Grains Royal Opera House Peiraios 260
Théâtre de l’Agora 24-28. VI: Ballet du Capitole: 1, 4. VI: Afternoon of a Faun; In 2-4. VI: Cie Maguy Marin: Bit
25, 26. VI: Cie Trajal Harrell: Walking Mad – c. J. Inger; Can- the Night – c. J. Robbins; Song 7-8. VI: Hellenic Dance
Le Fantôme de Montpellier tata – c. M. Bigonzetti of the Earth –c. K. MacMillan – Company: Open Frontiers
rencontre le Samouraï The Royal Ballet 9-10. VI: Cie Maguy Marin:
1, 2. VII: Raimund Hoghe: Tenir Vaison La Romaine 12. VII: The Royal Ballet School Singspiele
le temps VaisonDanse 27, 28, 29, 31. VII, 1. VIII: Carlos 13, 14. VI: Cie Catherine
7-9. VII: Cie Rosas: Golden Théâtre antique Acosta: “Cubanía” Diverrès: Penthésilées
Hours (As you like it) – c. A. T. 15. VII: Cie Dada Masilo: 19, 22, 24, 26. IX: Romeo and 25-26. VI: Lenio Kaklea: Margin
De Keersmaeker Carmen Juliet – c. K. MacMillan – The Release
Théâtre des 13 vents/Gramont 19. VII: Ballet du Capitole: Valser Royal Ballet 27, 28. VI: Tania Carvalho:
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Weaving Chaos de Danza BolzanoDanza 23. VII: Anastasia Kostner: Into
29, 30. VI: Griffón Dance co.: Teatro Comunale Another Body
Forest & Taboo – c. I. Portolou Bergamo 13. VII: Ballet du Rhin: Ombra 24. VII: Co. Cristina Rizzo:
7, 8. VII: Young Greek Festival Danza Estate leggera – c. I. Cavallari; BoleroEffect
Choreographers Teatro Sociale Untouched – c. A. Barton; Boléro
27, 29. VII: Antonis Foniadakis: 7. VI: Compagnia Naturalis – c. S. Thoss; Without – c. B. Cagliari
Priority Labor: Romeo y Julieta Tango Millepied Teatro Massimo
Odeon of Herodes Atticus – c. L. Padovani 16. VII: Ballet du Nord: Les 18, 19. VII: Roberto Bolle and
3-4. VI: Sylvie Guillem: Life in 19. VI: Cie Daraomaï: TiraVol mémoires d’un seigneur ou Friends
progress 21. VI: MM Contemporary Dance l’homme disparu – c. O. Dubois
Company: Carmen; Bolero – 21. VII: L’A. / Rachid Ouramdane: Civitanova Marche
HUNGARY c. M. Merola Tenir le temps Civitanova Danza
24. VI: One Thousand Dance: 23. VII: Alessandra Ferri, Teatro Rossini
Siamo alla frutta Herman Cornejo: Evolution 18. VII: Ballet du Nord: Les
Budapest 26. VI: Dacru Dance Company: 27. VII: Rocío Molina & Rosa- mémoires d’un seigneur ou
Hungarian State Opera Sakura Blues rio La Tremendita: Afectos l’homme disparu – c. O. Dubois
20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. VI: 30. VI: Evolution Dance Theatre: Teatro Studio 28. VII: Alessandra Ferri,
The Karamazovs – c. B. Eifman Electricity 14, 15. VII: Carolyn Carlson Herman Cornejo: Evolution
– Hungarina National Ballet Chiostro di San Francesco Company: Short Stories: All that 8. VIII: Cie Heddy Maalem: Éloge
13. VI: ABC Allegra Brigata falls, Density 21.5, Mandala – du puissant royaume
ITALIA Cnematica: q.b quanto basta c. C. Carlson Teatro Cecchetti
14. VI: Ersilia Danza: 16. VII: Moreno Solinas: Tame 18. VII: Cie Philippe Saire:
Cappuccetto rosso – c. L. Corradi Game Neons
Bari 18, 19. VII: Cie Écart: Pop Up – 8. VIII: Mara Cassiani: Justice
Teatro Petruzzelli Bologna c. A Clouet Teatro Annibal Caro
25-27. IX: Compañía Nacional Teatro Comunale 20. VII: Cie Nacera Belaza: Le 18. VII: Co. Enzo Cosimi: Pau-
de Danza: Sub – c. I. Galili; 25. VI-1. VII: Perm Tchaikovsky Cri; La Traversée ra
Falling Angels – c. J. Kylián; Opera Ballet: Romeo and Juliet 21. VII: Mara Cassiani: Euro- 8. VIII: Collettivo Cinetico:
Herman Schmerman – c. W. – c. K. MacMillan pa Miniballetto n. 2
Forsythe; Minus 16 – c. O. 22. VII: Co. Roy Assaf: Six years
Naharin – Compañía Nacional Bolzano later; Girls Como
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– c. P. Kratz; Pression – c. M. Spoleto
Bigonzetti; Antitesi – c. A. Festival dei Due Mondi di
Foniadakis Spoleto
18-21. VI: Aterballetto: Certe Notti Teatro Romano
– c. M. Bigonzetti 27, 28. VI: Cía María Pagés:
Teatro dell’Arte Voces, suite flamenca
11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 3-5. VII: Eleonora Abbagnato:
20. IX: Mikhail Baryshnikov: Soirée Roland Petit
Letter to a Man 9-11. VII: Ballet du Capitole de
Toulouse: Dans les pas de
Napoli Noureev
Napoli Teatro Festival Italia Teatro Carlo Melisso
Castel Sant’Elmo 8-12. VII: Mikhail Baryshnikov:
3-5. VI: Cie Paco Dècina: La Letter to a man
Douceur Préalable de la Rosée Teatro La MaMa
8, 9. VI: La Veronal: Russia – c. 9-11. VII: Cie Afshin Varjavandi:
M. Morau toPRAY
17, 18. VI: Ballet Black: Second
Coming – c. M. Bruce; A Dream Torino
Within A Midsummer’s Night Teatro a Corte
Dream – c. A. Pita Teatro Astra
Teatro Mercadante 30. VII: XL Production/Maria
17, 18. VI: Ballet de Marseille: Clara Villa Lobos: Mas-Sacre
Teatro a Corte: XL production: “Mas-Sacre”, c. María Clara Villa Extremalism – c. E. Greco 31. VII: Association W: Pleurage
Lobos (ph. S. Magnone, Z. Graton) et Scintillement
Palermo Ridotto Teatro Astra
Como Città della Musica 10-14. VI: Les Ballets Teatro Massimo 17, 18. VII: Cie Jann Gallois:
Arena Teatro Sociale Trockadero de Monte-Carlo 17-23. VI: Coppélia – c. A. Amodio P=mg
11. VII: Compagnia LiberiDi: 23-28. VI: Ailey II – Balletto del Teatro Massimo 30, 31. VII: Kenji Ouellet: Le
In_evolution 5. VII: Sylvie Guillem: Life in di Palermo sacre du printemps: a haptic
15. VII: Kim Yong Geol Dance progress rite
Theater: gala Ravenna Stupinigi – Palazzina di Cac-
17. VII: Kim Yong Geol Dance Marina di Pietrasanta Ravenna Festival cia
Theater: Inside of Life – c. Yong- Festival La Versiliana Teatro Alighieri 18. VII: Andrea Costanzo Martini:
geol Kim Teatro La Versiliana 26. VI: Aterballetto: e-ink; Upper- Site Specific Project
18. VII: Compagnia DCE: East-Side – c. M. Di Stefano; Reggia di Venaria
Ferrara Carmen – c. A. Amodio Tempesta/The Spirit – c. C. Rizzo 25. VII: Reale Delreves:
Teatro Comunale 23. VII: Co. Naturalis Labor: 30. VI: Aterballetto: Lego – c. Guateque
16, 17. VI: Cie 111: Plan B – c. Romeo y Julieta Tango – c. L. G. Spota; Antitesi – c. A. Agliè – Castello
A. Bory Padovani Foniadakis 26. VII: Arké: Italy; Cie Lunatic:
1. VIII: Alessandra Ferri, Herman 2-5. VII: New Adventures: Fileuse
Firenze Cornejo: Evolution Carman – c. M. Bourne Rivoli Castello
San Pietro a Sieve – Villa le 12. VIII: Momix: W Momix Palazzo Mauro De André 1. VIII: Billy Cowie: Art of
Mozzete Forever – c. M. Pendleton 13. VI: Michael Clark Dance Movement; Satchie Noro, Silvain
21. VI: Kaos Balletto di Firenze 20. VIII: Artemis Danza: Tosca Company: animal/vegetable/ Ohl: ORIGAMI; Sol Picó: One -
Fabbrica Europa X – c. M. Casadei mineral Hit Wonders
Teatro Goldoni Seravezza – Teatro delle Scu- 17. VI: Dance Theatre of Harlem:
26, 27. VI: Korea National derie Granducali Dancing on the Front Porch of Venezia
Contemporary Dance 30. VI: MK: Robinson – c. M. Di Heaven – c. U. Dove; Contested Teatro La Fenice
Company: Bul-ssang – c. Stefano space – c. D. Byrd; Return – c. 15-17. VII: Hamburg Ballet: Dritte
Aesoon Ahn 7. VII: Collettivo Cinetico R. Garland Sinfonie von Gustav Malher
Palazzo Strozzi 14. VII: Balletto Civile: Ruggito 9. VII: ICKamsterdam: I sopra- 22, 23. VII: Gala di danza
4. VI: Aline Corrêa: Cicatriz – c. M. Lucenti no – c. E. Greco
Le Murate Verona
5. VI: Malika Djardi: Sa prière; Milano Roma Arena
Claudia Catarzi: Sul punto Teatro alla Scala Teatro Argentina 22. VII: Roberto Bolle and
6. VI: Son Hye-jeong: Giung Ji 11, 13, 16, 18, 21, 25. VII: 24, 25. VI: Mats Ek, Ana Lagu- Friends
– Dilemma Excelsior – c. U. Dell’Ara – Balletto na, Susanne Linke, Dominique
del Teatro alla Scala Mercy: “Quartet gala: divi diver- MONACO
Gardone Riviera Teatro degli Arcimboldi samente giovani”
Festival del Vittoriale 9. VI: Gala Eleonora Abbagnato Terme di Caracalla
Anfiteatro del Vittoriale Teatro Strehler 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. VI: Balletto Monte-Carlo
8. VII: Sofia Ballet: La Belle au 4-6. VI: Carolyn Carlson Dance dell’Opera di Roma: La Rose Grimaldi Forum
bois dormant Company: Short Stories: malade; Pink Flyod Ballet – c. 3, 5. VII: Béjart Ballet Lausanne,
Immersion, Li, Mandala – c. C. R. Petit The Tokyo Ballet: La Neuvième
Genova Carlson 27. VII: Roberto Bolle and Symphonie – c. M. Béjart
Teatro Carlo Felice 11-14. VI: Aterballetto: SENTieri Friends Opéra Garnier
14
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16-19. VII: Les Ballets de Monte- Formas de silencio y vacío –
Carlo: Tales Absurd – c. N. c. N. Duato – Mikhailovsky Ballet
Horecna; Summer’s Winter 17, 18, 19, 20. VI: La Fille mal
Shadow – c. P. Lidberg; True gardée – c. F. Ashton –
and False Unicorn – c. J. Mikhailovsky Ballet
Verbruggen 27, 29, 30. VI, 5. VII: Giselle – c.
J. Coralli, J. Perrot, M. Petipa –
NEDERLAND Mikhailovsky Ballet
7, 8, 10, 11. VII, 15, 16, 17, 19.
IX: Le Lac des cygnes – c. M.
Amsterdam Petipa, L. Ivanov (A. Gorsky, A.
Het Muziektheater Messerer) – Mikhailovsky Ballet
17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27. VI: 14-17. VII: Romeo and Juliet –
Chroma – c. W. McGregor; c. N. Duato – Mikhailovsky Ballet
creation – c. C. Wheeldon; 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
creation – c. D. Dawson – Het 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. VIII:
Nationale Ballet Konstantin Tachkin’s Ballet
9. IX: Gala –Het Nationale Ballet Theatre: Le Lac des cygnes –
12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 25, 26. IX: c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov
Live; Metaforen; Two; Two Gold 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 23, 25, 26. IX:
Variations – c. H. van Manen – Le Corsaire – c. M. Petipa, P.
Het Nationale Ballet Gusev, K. Sergeyev (M.
Messerer) – Mikhailovsky Ballet
Den Haag
Lucent Danstheater Moscow
12, 13, 17, 18, 19. VI: “Up and Bolshoi Teatr (I)
Coming Choreographers” 3, 4, 5, 6. VI: Le Lac des cygnes
– c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov – Bolshoi
NORWEGIA Ballet
30. VI, 1, 2, 3. VII: Giselle – c. J.
Perrot, J. Coralli, M. Petipa (Y.
Oslo Grigorovich) – Bolshoi Ballet
Opera Anastasia Stashkevich, Denis Savin – Bolshoi Ballet: “Hamlet”, Bolshoi Teatr (II)
4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, c. Radu Poklitaru (ph. D. Yusupov) 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. VI: Hamlet –
20. VI: Cinderella – c. B. c. R. Poklitaru – Bolshoi Ballet
Stevenson – Norwegian Mariinsky Teatr (I) 31. VII: Bambi; In the Junge – 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. VI: La Sylphide
National Ballet 2, 24. VI, 28. VII: The Fountain c. A. Pimonov – Mariinsky Ballet – c. A. Bournonville – Bolshoi
19, 22, 25, 26, 29. IX: Manon – of Bakhchisarai – c. R. Zakharov Mariinsky Theatr (II) Ballet
c. K. MacMillan – Norwegian – Mariinsky Ballet 1. VI: La Belle au bois dormant 22-26. VII: Hero of our Time –
National Ballet 3. VI: Jewels – c. G. Balanchine – c. M. Petipa – Mariinsky Ballet c. Y Possokhov – Bolshoi Ballet
– Mariinsky Ballet 6, 7, 28, 29. VI: Cinderella – c.
POLAND 4, 5, 19. VI: Don Quichotte – c. A. Ratmansky – Mariinsky Ballet SUISSE
M. Petipa, A. Gorsky – Mariinsky 10, 11. VI: The Little
Ballet Humpedback Horse – c. A.
Warsaw 11. VI: Final Graduation Per- Ratmansky – Mariinsky Ballet Lausanne
Teatr Wielki formance of the Vaganova 19. VI: Anna Karenina – c. A. Patinoire de Malley
2, 6, 7. VI: Casanova in Warsaw Academy Ratmansky – Mariinsky Ballet 17-21. VI: La IX Symphonie –
– c. K. Pastor – Polish National 12, 13. VI, 26. VII: Raymonda 20. VI: Jewels – c. G. Balanchine c. M. Béjart – Béjart Ballet
Ballet – c. M. Petipa – Mariinsky Ballet – Mariinsky Ballet Lausanne
17. VI: Giselle – c. J. Coralli, J. 23. VI, 29, 30. VII: Romeo and
ROMANIA Perrot, M. Petipa – Mariinsky Juliet – c. L. Lavrovsky – Mariinsky Zürich
Ballet Ballet Opernhaus
20, 21. VI: A Midsummer Night’s 1. VII: Spartacus – c. L. 4, 7, 14, 25. VI: The Four
Bucarest Dream – c. G. Balanchine – Yacobson – Mariinsky Ballet Temperaments – c. G.
Bucarest National Opera Mariinsky Ballet 2, 5. VII: Le Corsaire – c. M. Balanchine; Frank Bridge
11, 14, 21. VI: Giselle – c. J. 26, 27. VI: The Legend of Love Petipa (P. Gusev) – Mariinsky Variations – c. H. van Manen;
Kobborg, E. Stiefel – Ballet of – c. Y. Grigorovich – Mariinsky Ballet Falling Angels – c. J. Kylián –
the Bucarest National Opera Ballet 14, 17. VII: Le Parc – c. A. Ballet Zurich
24, 28. VI: La Bayadère – c. M. 3, 4, 20. VII: La Bayadère – c. Preljocaj – Mariinsky Ballet
Petipa – Ballet of the Bucarest M. Petipa (V. Chabukiani) – 22, 23. VII: Le Lac des cygnes SWEDEN
National Opera Mariinsky Ballet – c. M. Petipa, L. Ivanov (K.
7, 8. VII: Astana Ballet Sergeyev) – Mariinsky Ballet
RUSSIA 12, 13. VII, 1, 2. VIII: Casse- Mikhailovsky Theatre Stockholm
Noisette – c. V. Vainonen – 9, 10, 11, 13. VI: Don Quichotte Opera
Mariinsky Ballet – c. M. Petipa, A. Gorsky – 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12. VI: Don Quichotte
St. Petersburg 24. VII: Sylvia – c. F. Ashton – Mikhailovsky Ballet – c. R. Nureyev – Swedish Royal
Stars of the White Nights Mariinsky Ballet 23, 24, 25. VI: Multeplicidad, Ballet
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Les Étés de la Danse, Paris: Alicia Graf Mack, Jamar Roberts – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: “The River”, c. Alvin Ailey (ph. P. Kolnik)
Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robert Wilson (ph. L. Romano)
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Next month’s BALLET2000

is “Festivals Special”
The next issue (No. 254) of BAL-
LET2000, towards the end of June,
will be the special “seventh issue”
of the year, i.e. the “Festivals Spe-
cial” that complements the 6 regu-
lar bi-monthly issues. This novelty
is a truly exceptional issue as it will
present not only the full pro-
grammes, with dates and venues, of
all the principal (classical and con-
temporary) dance festivals in Eu-
rope, but also highlight shows,
creations, and leading artists, in
other words provide an inside look
at the dance world’s news and top-
ics. And, as always, with the best
photos of dancers in both known
works and new creations.
The following issue thereafter will
be the regular July/August issue,
No. 255.
End of season revivals Myriam Ould Braham, Josua Hoffalt – Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris: “La Fille mal gardée,
c. Frederick Ashton (ph. H. Soumireu-Lartigue)
Between late May and early June the Paris
Opéra Ballet is reviving Les Enfants du Paradis
(“Children of Paradise”), created for the com- At the end of June the season continues with a pher is once again on their billboards with his
pany in 2008 by José (Carlos) Martínez (at the touch of humour and another revival, this time Anatomie de la sensation (“Anatomy of Sensa-
time an étoile at the Parisian theatre). This ballet of La Fille mal gardée, Frederick Ashton’s fa- tion”) which he created for them in 2011 draw-
is based on the screenplay that poet Jacques mous 1960 ballet which has been in the Opéra’s ing his inspiration from the disquieting art of
Prévert wrote for the celebrated and homony- repertory since 2007. And whilst awaiting a new Francis Bacon.
mous film directed by Marcel Carné (1945) which creation by Wayne McGregor for the Paris Opéra
is set in the world of theatre and street artistes. Ballet (December 2015), the English choreogra-
Summer in Paris with Ailey
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater of New
Aurélie Dupont leaves York returns to Paris as a guest of 11th edition of
the stage but stays on at Les Étés de la Danse and, from 7 July to 1 Au-
the Opéra gust, will be giving no less than 27 performances
at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Each year this Paris-
On 18 May French étoile ballerina ian festival invites a single troupe of interna-
Aurélie Dupont bade adieu to her tional renown to showcase all the facets of its
stage career at the Paris Opéra having repertoire thanks to a long and varied programme.
reached the age-limit of 42. She Founded by Alvin Ailey in 1958, this company
danced the role of Manon in is chiefly the custodian of the great American cho-
Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet by the reographer’s oeuvre, but its repertoire is much
same name, alongside Roberto Bolle vaster and comprises a total of some 200 works
whom she invited for the occasion. by over 80 different choreographers. On this oc-
The performance was relayed live casion it will be offering various ‘classics’ or well-
to cinemas (stay tuned for a review known works by Ailey (such as Night Creature,
in our next issue). However, Aurélie Revelations, Pas de Duke and The River), as well
Dupont will not be leaving the Paris as works by highly diverse choreographers like
Opéra, having been invited to stay Robert Battle (who has been at the company’s
on as the company’s ballet mistress helm since 2011), Aszure Barton, Ronald K.
by its new artistic director Benjamin Brown, Asadata Dafora, Ulysses Dove, Rennie
Millepied. Harris, Bill T. Jones, Ohad Naharin, Hans van
Manen and Christopher Wheeldon.
Aurélie Dupont greets the
audience after Kenneth A rendezvous with Bausch
MacMillan’s “L’Histoire de May brought a double rendezvous in Paris with
Manon” at the Paris the Tanztheater Wuppertal, the company of Pina
Opéra (ph. J. Benhamou) Bausch. Firstly at the Théâtre du Châtelet
19
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ration with Peter Pabst, followed by a more re-

cent work from 2002, Für die Kinder von gestern, De Keersmaeker gets the
heute und morgen (“For the Children of Yester- Golden Lion
day, Today and Tomorrow”), a sort of ode to
fantasy and imagination. The season at the The 2015 Lifetime Achievement in Dance
Théâtre de la Ville continues with Anne Teresa Golden Lion, awarded by the Venice
De Keersmaeker and her recent creation, Golden Biennale goes to Belgian choreographer Anne
Hours (As you like it), to music by the innovator Teresa De Keersmaeker. The formal pres-
of “Ambient music” Brian Eno whose early in- entation of this prize will be held on 27 June
fluences were John Cage and Steve Reich. The in Venice. On that occasion De Keersmaeker
second part of this work’s title makes it clear that herself will dance Fase, four movements to
De Keersmaeker has also been inspired by Shake- the music of Steve Reich, her very first cho-
speare. reography (1982). In the past Merce
Cunningham (1995), Carolyn Carlson (2006),
Pina Bausch (2007), Jirí Kylián (2008),
Preljocaj: a contemporary epic William Forsythe (2010), Sylvie Guillem
Angelin Preljocaj continues to explore the rela- (2012) and Steve Paxton (2014) have been
tionship between dancing and writing and is cur- honoured with the Biennale’s Lifetime
rently in the process of creating a new work for Achievement in Dance Golden Lion. Moreo-
his Ballet Preljocaj dancers. In this case he is col- ver, over four days in late June the results of
laborating again with writer Laurent Mauvignier the Biennale College, the workshops that
with whom he had already worked on Ce qu’on 16 choreographers are conducting with pro-
appelle oubli (2012, “What I Call Oblivion”) and fessional dancers, teenagers and senior citizens
from whom he has now commissioned a sort of (and non) of Venice, will be presented to the
“contemporary epic tragedy” entitled Retour à public. The choreographers involved include
Berratham (“Return to Berratham”). It is the story Xavier Le Roy, Laurent Chétouane, Emanuel
of a man who returns to his homeland after a war Gat, Boris Charmatz, Cesc Gelabert and Virgilio
to find the love of his youth; the creation involves Sieni (director of the Biennale’s Dance Sec-
both dancers and actors and is to debut this July tion). The latter will be debuting his Quadri
in the context of the Festival d’Avignon (France), dal Vangelo secondo Matteo (“Tableaux from
in the Courtyard of the city’s Papal Palace. the Gospel According to Saint Matthew”).
Fourvière with Guillem and Pagés

Tanztheater Wuppertal: “Nelken”,
c. Pina Bausch Sylvie Guillem’s farewell tour set sail from Italy
at the end of March (see this issue’s cover-story).
The show, entitled Life in progress (consisting of
works by Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant,
and later at the Théâtre de la Ville where the William Forsythe and Mats Ek) will reach the
troupe returns at the end of each season. This Théâtre des Champs-Élysée in Paris next Sep-
year they performed Nelken (1982) with its fa- tember but will get its French première before
mous carpet of carnations conceived in collabo- then, at the Nuits de Fourvière festival in Lyon in
Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon: “One Flat Thing, Reproduced”, c. William Forsythe

(ph. M. Cavalca)
June and July. Life in progress will in fact be the

only dance show at the festival, along with Yo
Carmen by and with María Pagés, a flamenco
work inspired by the Carmen story, with music
ranging from arias by Georges Bizet to traditional
folk music.
From Lyon to Marseilles

The Lyon Opera Ballet inaugurated the 20th
edition of the Festival de Marseille, one of the
first summer festivals in France that takes place
from 14 June to 17 July. As everyone knows, the
Lyon troupe, directed by Yorgos Loukos, is now
specialised in the oeuvre of William Forsythe:
indeed on this occasion the company will per-
form two Forsythe ballets – One Flat Thing, Re-
produced (2000), with its big metal tables, and
Steptext (1985), to a Partita by Johann Sebastian
Bach. Completing the programme is a work by
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the new director of the Paris Opéra Ballet,

Benjamin Millepied, which the Lyon Opera Bal-
let has been dancing since 2011: Sarabande, to a
string of music by Bach.
MontpellierDanse kicks off with

Emio Greco
Another of the early summer festivals, and also
one of the most important in France, is
MontpellierDanse (now into its 35th edition and
held in the French city from 24 June to 9 July).
Stay tuned for further information in
BALLET2000’s ‘Festivals Special’ issue next
month; in the meantime you may wish to note
that MontpellierDanse opens with the first crea-
tion made by Italian choreographer Emio Greco
and Dutch regisseur Pieter C. Scholten for the
Ballet de Marseille since they were jointly ap-
pointed directors in 2014. The work is entitled
Extremalism (a fusion of the words “extremism”
and “minimalism”) and examines how humanity
is responding to present-day crises.
Inger and Bigonzetti at the

Capitole
After its “Amour Amour” programme which in- Lauren Kennedy, Shizen Kazama – Ballet du Capitole: “Les Liaisons dangereuses”,
cluded Les Liaisons dangereuses (“Dangerous Li- c. Davide Bombana (ph. D. Herrero)
aisons”) by Davide Bombana and L’Amour
Sorcier (“Love the Magician”) by Thierry Inger, Walking Mad (2001), in which the Swedish lowed by Cantata (2001) by Italian choreogra-
Malandain, the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse choreographer (who is Associate Choreographer pher Mauro Bigonzetti, to Italian traditional folk
(France) wraps up its season at the end of June at Nederlands Dans Theater) deploys all his ab- music.
with a programme entitled “Eh bien, dansez surd humour, to a collage of music by Maurice
maintenant!” that opens with a work by Johan Ravel and Arvo Pärt. Inger’s work will be fol-
The Ninth in Monaco
Of all the Maurice Béjart works that the Béjart
Polunin at La Scala: Albrecht’s melancholia Ballet Lausanne has recently restaged the most
important is undoubtedly La Neuvième
The audience were on their feet last April, their applause hearty and unending, for Natalia
Symphonie (to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth
Osipova and Sergei Polunin in Giselle at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. While Osipova has
Symphony); it was originally created in 1964 for
been a regular guest at La Scala during the recent seasons, this was a ‘first’ for Polunin
the Ballet du XXème Siècle and had not been
(called in to replace an injured David Hallberg).
performed for 15 years. Revivals of this ballet are
The 25-year-old Ukrainian dancer, who three years ago unexpectedly quit The Royal Bal-
to be performed in Switzerland at the end of June
let in London to open up a tattoo shop, came preceded by his rebellious reputation and
(at the Patinoire de Malley) and at the Grimaldi
the media’s inappropriate comparisons with Rudolf Nureyev – though there can be no
Forum in Monaco at the beginning of July. Of
doubt that when it comes to type of dancer/impact on the public, Polunin and Nureyev are
note is the fact that the BBL ensemble will be
incomparable.
joined by that of the Tokyo Ballet, as well as by
With his long hair and romantic Neo-Gothic air, looking like (so we might imagine) Oscar
the musicians of the Lausanne Sinfonietta and the
Wilde’s Dorian Gray, Polunin danced with
choir of the Lausanne Opera House, making for a
the Olympian purity of the old Russian
total of 250 artists on stage.
school, but listlessly, as if flaunting his mal
de vivre and boredom with dancing. It seems
that this was his personal ‘take’ on Albrecht: Montalvo Olé!
a melancholic aristocrat afflicted by roman-
A new creation by José Montalvo will be show-
tic mal du siècle. However it was not easy
ing at the Théâtre de Chaillot de Paris this
to grasp this.
summer, between June and July. After drawing
In truth, Polunin’s “dark” mystique was up-
his inspiration from Cervantes’ masterpiece for
staged by the unrestrainable Natalia Osipova
his Don Chisciotte du Trockadéro, the French cho-
whose personality spills over, to say the least.
reographer of Spanish descent is presenting Y Olé!
Entirely heedless of the Romantic style, when
Which he describes as a “choreographic diptych”:
on stage the Russian ballerina does whatever
the first part is a jubilant celebration of life to the
her fancy dictates, bedazzling most specta-
notes of The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky,
tors with her technical and dramatic flamboy-
while in the second part, to pop and folk music
ance. Undoubtedly exceptional. But Giselle
from all over the world, Montalvo endeavours to
is a different story.
retrace and synthesize all those things that have
Cristiano Merlo
influenced his choreographic oeuvre.
21
kicks off in the USA (Los Angeles) and will even-

Bolle here, there and everywhere tually reach Italy, stopping in Cagliari (Sardinia), Acosta and Cuban friends
After dancing beside Aurélie Dupont at the Paris the Arena in Verona, the Teatro Grande at Carlos Acosta who turns 42 this year
Opéra in Histoire de Manon by Kenneth Pompei, the Terme di Caracalla in Rome, at has announced that he will be leaving
MacMillan (on the occasion of the French balle- Sanremo and the Teatro Bellini, Catania (Sicily). The Royal Ballet of London at the be-
rina’s farewell performance at the Opéra), ginning of next season with a farewell
Roberto Bolle is busy in May and June at the performance in Carmen (his second crea-
Metropolitan in New York with American Bal- Awaiting Beauty at La Scala
tion for The Royal after his version of
let Theatre (where he is still a Principal Dancer). After briefly touring Lodz (Poland), in July the Don Quixote), to be offered in the con-
He will be dancing in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet Ballet Company of La Scala, Milan returns text of a mixed bill in October/Novem-
and Swan Lake. After which, in July, the to its home-stage in Excelsior, the late 19th-cen- ber. Whilst awaiting this event, his nu-
“Roberto Bolle and Friends” summer season tury “ballo grande” danced nowadays in the 1967 merous London fans will be able to see
him at Covent Garden in July in an
Roberto Bolle: “Excelsior”, c. Ugo Dell’Ara (ph. L. Romano) evening entitled Cubanía, featuring vari-
ous artists from Cuba (but not only),
accompanied by a Cuban band.
Carlos Acosta, Pieter Symonds:

“Derrumbe”, c. Miguel Altunaga
(ph. B. Cooper)
version choreographed by Ugo Dell’Ara. Alina

Somova of the Mariinsky Theatre of St
Petersburg is to guest in the role of Civilisation.
After the summer break, the programme resumes
at the end of September with the season’s most
significant novelty: a new Sleeping Beauty staged
by Alexei Ratmansky, the same production that
American Ballet Theatre has already performed
in California and, notably, at the Metropolitan
in New York in May and June. It is a La Scala/
ABT co-production. In Milan the roles of Au-
rora and Princee Désiré will be danced by Svetlana
Zakharova and David Hallberg.
Baryshnikov dancer/actor
Mikhail Baryshnikov’s presence at the Festival
dei Due Mondi di Spoleto (Festival of the Two
Worlds, Spoleto, Italy) in July has been con-
firmed: the “drama” section features a show by
American director Robert Wilson, Letter to a
Man, based on The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky and
starring the great Russian (albeit Latvian-born)
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dancer. The play will also be performed at the

Teatro dell’Arte in Milan next September (no
longer in July, as had been previously an-
nounced). In the meantime it transpires that
Baryshnikov is also to star in a new show, in-
spired by the verses of Joseph Brodsky who is
considered one of Russian’s greatest 20th-cen-
tury poets; this work is to be premièred in Oc-
tober in Riga (Baryshnikov’s birthplace) and
toured internationally.
Petit at Caracalla
As announced in our previous issue, Eleonora
Abbagnato is the new director of the Rome
Opera Ballet. Expectation builds vis-à-vis her
plans as the ballerina will have to conciliate her
new position with her commitments as étoile at
the Paris Opéra. Meanwhile, the company will
be performing, as it does every summer, at the
Terme di Caracalla (Baths of the Emperor
Caracalla). At the end of June they will be offer-
ing a Roland Petit programme consisting of Pink
Floyd Ballet, the work the French choreographer
created in the 1970s to music by the famous
rock band, together with La Rose malade, a duet
to the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony of
Gustav Mahler, probably with (as yet unan-
nounced) guest artists. Silvia Azzoni, Carsten Jung – Hamburg Ballet: “The Little Mermaid”, c. John Neumeier
(ph. H. Badekow)
Hamburg Days
The Ballet Days, brought to life by John ogy, the first part of which (Barbarians in Love) reography): Orphée et Eurydice by Christoph
Neumeier and “his” Hamburg Ballet, have been was presented last February at the Sadler’s Willibald Gluck (i.e. the French version), billed
held in Hamburg from June to July for the past Wells Theatre, London’s key dance hub. In the to open The Royal Opera House London’s
41 years. As anticipated in our previous issue, meantime it has been announced that the Lon- 2015/2016 Season in September.
this year’s highlight will be the new version of an don-based Israeli choreographer will be direct-
old Neumeier ballet, Peer Gynt, based on the ing his first opera (as well as providing the cho-
play by Henrik Ibsen. The ballet was originally Ratmansky on the shores of the
created in 1989 with Ivan Liška and Gigi Hyatt Lake
in the leading roles, to specially-commissioned Eleonora Abbagnato: “Cheek to Cheek”, Russian Alexei Ratmansky is an eclectic chore-
music by Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. c. Roland Petit (ph. G. Gastel) ographer who ranges with the utmost ease from
Other ballets by Neumeier are being scheduled, story-ballet to pure choreography, having also
including his most recent creation, Tatiana, based made his own versions of 19th-century ballet
on Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse, Eugene classics, aided by choreologists who have thus
Onegin; offerings also include two classics from enable him to go back to period notations and
the Romantic period, Giselle (Neumeier version) not rely solely on “tradition”. In issue No. 251
and Napoli by August Bournonville (re-staged BALLET2000 reported on Ratmansky’s full
and partly recreated by Lloyd Riggins, one of version of Paquita for the Munich Opera House
Hamburg Ballet’s principal dancers, formerly which resuscitated Petipa’s long-lost original
with The Royal Danish Ballet). This year’s guest choreography. In May American Ballet Thea-
company is Houston Ballet, presenting three tre performed the Ratmansky Sleeping Beauty
works by their director Stanton Welch. As cus- at the Metropolitan in New York (the produc-
tomary, the “Days” will close with a gala tion will also be performed at La Scala, Milan
evening in honour of Vaslav Nijinsky. in September). In the past Ratmansky has made
versions of Don Quixote for the Dutch National
Ballet and Le Corsaire for the Bolshoi Ballet of
Hofesh Shechter and the Moscow (in collaboration with Yuri Burlaka).
Barbarians The big novelty of the next season will be
Having recently created for The Royal Ballet Ratmansky’s Swan Lake, co-produced by the
of London (see review in this issue), Hofesh Zurich Opera House and Teatro alla Scala,
Shechter, currently one of the most popular Milan, to be premièred in Zurich, February
contemporary choreographers on the dance 2016 (the Milan dates have not yet been an-
scene, is working on a creation to be presented nounced). Scenery and costumes are being de-
at the Berliner Festspiele and then at the Avi- signed by Dutch choreographer Toer van
gnon Festival in July. To be precise, it will be Schayk (79) who is also appreciated as a
the final part of Schechter ‘s Barbarians tril- scenographer.
23
The Ambrosoli Foundation Frankenstein in ballet Ferri between London and Italy
The Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation of Switzer- The Royal Ballet of London has announced In issue No. 254 we’ll be reporting on
land is celebrating its 25th anniversary on the its 2015/2016 Season during which the com- Alessandra Ferri’s May comeback at Covent
evening of June 8 at the Rigiblick Theatre, Zu- pany’s three resident choreographers will Garden, London where she began her bril-
rich. Under the aegis of Daniela Ambrosoli present a creation apiece. Christopher liant career over thirty years ago when, at age
(daughter of Sonja Bragowa/Gertrud Elsa Wheeldon will be the author of a triptych in 19, she was appointed a principal at The
Knieser, a dancer with Mary Wigman), the Foun- February 2016 made up of a new work and Royal Ballet. In May she debuted in a crea-
dation has allocated many scholarships enabling two previous ones (After the Rain, made for tion by the company’s Resident Choreogra-
talented musicians and dancers to study at rec- New York City Ballet in 2005 and Within the pher Wayne McGregor inspired by the char-
ognised schools all over the world and then begin Golden Hour, made for San Francisco Ballet acters in the novels of Virginia Woolf. It has
their careers. Some of them will be onstage for in 2008). Wayne McGregor is presenting a also been announced that the Italian ballerina
this event, including Zaloa Fabbrini of the Ballet creation inspired by the Greek goddess of the will be in London again next September/Octo-
Nice Méditerranée, Maya Roest of Scapino Bal- night, Nyx, to music by the Finnish composer/ ber (at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Covent
let, Rotterdam, John Lam of Boston Ballet, as conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Last but not Garden) in Chéri a ballet by American chore-
well as others who are still in training at the Tanz least and true to his dark vein, the youngest of ographer Martha Clarke based on Colette’s
Akademie Zürich, the School of Physical Thea- the triumvirate, Liam Scarlett, will be taking homonymous novella. It was in this ballet that
tre, Codarts/Rotterdamse Dansakademie, etc. Full his inspiration from one of the most famous Ferri made her stage comeback in 2013. Mean-
details on the celebrations underway and the novels in English literature, Frankenstein by while last Spring in Italy, Ferri danced in a
Foundation’s activity are available at Mary Shelley, and creating a full-evening bal- programme entitled Trio ConcertDance (stay
www.ambrosoli.org. let to be performed at the close of the season. tuned for a review in BALLET2000), partnered
Dance Click by Luca Ruzza
One would be mistaken in thinking that barre exercises are an exclusive prerogative of dance
(prevalently classical) pupils and professionals. This instalment of DanceClick, quirky curiosities 6 7
on the Internet, shows that things are quite different.
Dancers’ daily exercises are considered an efficacious way of improving coordination, shap-
ing lines, increasing flexibility and improving physical form. Whether of their own free will or
because they are encouraged to do so by their directors, many artists from different walks –
theatre, cinema, even opera – sign up for barre courses or centre exercises. One might conclude
one needs to learn how to move elegantly in order to be in the performing arts.
Clearly this doesn’t apply to all and sundry; it would be difficult, for example, to imagine
Monserrat Caballé with her jambe à la barre or Pavarotti doing petits sauts; however, one
should not regard the body as the limit. Suffice it to think that the various film stars who have
done barre exercises have included a young, though by no means featherweight, Arnold
Schwarzenegger (7), the American actor/politician who became famous playing roles such as
Terminator. We see him, bending but not breaking, in a photo from the 1970s with ballerina 5
Marianne Claire teaching him to do a plié. We also find some of Hollywood’s most stunning
beauties of the ‘Fifties and ‘Sixties: Marilyn Monroe (4) takes a class with teacher Nico Charisse
(1949); Audrey Hepburn (1) wearing Betty Boop shorts does tendus (1953); Sophia Loren (2)
extends into jambe à la main (1950s) while a few years later another icon, the blonde and sexy
Brigitte Bardot (3), demonstrates a lovely arabesque on pointe (1950s). But to get back to the
hunks, here is photo of “Rebel Without a Cause” James Dean (5) – who became an undying
legend by dying prematurely – concentrating on his ronds de jambe which is being corrected
(1955). Another (more contemporary) beau, Jude Law (6), is portrayed as he does batteries in
the centre.
To conclude: if many famous actors have decided to “go to the bar...re”, there must be a
pretty good reason.... Shall we dance?
4
1
2 3
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by Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Thea-

tre. She will be in Italy again this summer with
Cornejo and other dancers in a show entitled
Evolution (with choreographies by Frederick
Ashton, Lar Lubovitch, Angelin Preljocaj,
Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor,
Alejandro Cerrudo and Daniel Proietto), which
will be performed at the Civitanova Danza
festival, at the Auditorium della Musica in
Rome e at La Versiliana, Marina di Pietrasanta
(see Calendar for dates). Readers will recall
that we pre-announced a creation by John
Neumeier on Eleonora Duse, with Alessandra
Ferri in the role of the great actress: the new
work will be premièred in December at the
Hamburg Opera House as the highlight of the
Hamburg Ballet’s season.
Bintley, two decades at

Birmingham Royal Ballet
The month of June at Birmingham Royal Bal-
let is dedicated to English choreographer
David Bintley: twenty years have gone by
since he succeeded Peter Wright at the helm
of the company. A first programme at the
Hippodrome in Birmingham is a double bill
consisting of Bintley’s ballet to Carl Orff’s
Carmina Burana (1995) and his latest crea-
tion, King of Dances, inspired by the figure
of the Sun King and the origins of academic
dance at Versailles in the 17th century. Bintley
wraps up the season with performances of
his Sylvia to music by Léo Delibes: a ballet Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli – The Royal Ballet: “Woolf Works”, c. Wayne McGregor
which he mulled over for a long time and fi- (ph. T. Kenton)
nally presented in 2009.
order to join San Francisco Ballet, are the win- won the Choreographic Prize for his creation
ners of the 11th Erik Bruhn Prize, an award District.
Erik Bruhn Prize organised by the National Ballet of Canada,
Hannah Fischer (20) of the National Ballet of Toronto (and named for the great Danish dancer
Canada and Carlo Di Lanno (22) who left La who was the company’s artistic director in Dancing at the Coliseum
Scala Ballet company in Milan last year in the 1980s). Yury Yanowsky of Boston Ballet There will be much dancing at the London Coli-
seum in July and August. There is eager expec-
tation for Sylvie Guillem in Life in progress
Erik Bruhn Prize: Yuri Yanowsky, Hannah Fischer, Carlo Di Lanno (ph. B. Zinger) (see cover-story), in one of the major stops on
her farewell tour. Then, for the Dutch National
Ballet of Amsterdam in Cinderella, a recent
popular work created by English choreographer
Christopher Wheeldon for the Dutch troupe and
San Francisco Ballet in 2012, to the Sergei
Prokoviev score and with scenery by English
designer Julian Crouch. Mark your diaries also
for “Ardani 25 Dance Gala”, produced by New
York-based Armenian impresario Sergei Danilian,
that brings together various leading lights of male
ballet today – Ivan Vasiliev, Marcelo Gomes,
Edward Watson, Joaquín De Luz, Denis
Matvienko, Friedemann Vogel – with one sole
ballerina: Natalia Osipova.
Random and Opéra dancers

side-by-side
Wayne McGregor’s new creation for his
Random Dance debuts at the Manchester In-
ternational Festival in July. As has been an-
nounced, McGregor will be using his group along
25
Bombana’s ballet is an evening-long work in

Armenians dancing eleven scenes, to music by various contempo-
Forceful Feelings is the name of a group rary choreographers and costuming by Rosalie
of Armenian dancers, almost all of whom who is a very well-known costume-designer in
trained at the Yerevan Opera House (Arme- Germany.
nia), which has a good school steeped in the
Russian tradition. They are scattered in vari- White Petersburg
ous companies around the world and come
together to dance on special occasions, the The White Nights Festival of the
next of which is on 22 June at the Carl Orff Mariinsky Theatre of St Petersburg begins
Saal in Munich (Germany) to mark the cen- on 27 May and takes place purposely during
tennial of the genocide of the Armenian peo- the season of the midnight sun in which the
ple, massacred by the Ottoman Empire in sun never sets and night-time is shrouded in
1915. Actually, there will be only three Ar- a sort of twilight. The festival offers a pro-
menian dancers: Tigran Mikayelyan (of the gramme of ballets, operas and concerts which
Bavarian State Ballet, Munich) who has or- in actual fact does not differ all that much
ganised the evening, Vahe Martirosyan and from the regular programmes of the
Arsen Mehrabyan (both with The Royal Mariinsky’s two theatres (the old theatre and
Swedish Ballet); their partners are Sarah the ultra-modern one recently built beside it).
Brodbeck, Mariko Kida and Mia Rudic. The This year the ballet programme features
programme features works by various cho- mostly 19th-century classics (with a section
reographers, including Mats Ek and Heinz devoted to Tchaikovsky on the 175th anni-
Spoerli. versary of his birth), together with some So-
viet classics and other more recent titles.
Mark your diaries for a performance by the
with dancers from the Paris Opéra Ballet (in- Laclos considered a masterpiece of 18th-cen- graduates of the Vaganova Academy, the thea-
cluding étoiles Marie-Agnès Gillot and Jérémie tury libertine literature. The ballet, which was tre’s historic and renowned school, currently
Bélingard), an unprecedented teamwork. The twinned with L’Amour sorcier (“Love the directed by Nikolai Tsiskaridze.
work is entitled Tree of Codes and was cre- Magician”) by Thierry Malandain, lasts about
ated in collaboration with visual artist Olafur an hour and is set to music by Jean-Philippe
Eliasson and remix artist/composer Jamie XX. Rameau and a contemporary Swiss composer, Possokhov at the Bolshoi
Walter Fähndrich. It revolves around the “sen- In July the Ballet Company of the Bolshoi
sual” relations between various characters and, Theatre of Moscow will be presenting a crea-
Bombana and literature therefore, abounds with duets. Another work tion by Ukrainian choreographer Yuri
Italian choreographer Davide Bombana is tack- by Bombana was performed at the Badisches Possokhov, Heroes of our Times, to music
ling literature. Recently the Ballet du Capitole Staatstheater in Karlsruhe (Germany): Der by a contemporary Russian composer called
de Toulouse (France) presented his creation Prozess (“The Trial”) based on Franz Kafka’s Ilya Demutsky. Possokhov, Choreographer
Liaisons dangereuses based on “Dangerous Li- seminal 20th-century homonymous novel about in Residence at San Francisco Ballet, is at
aisons”, an epistolary novel by Choderlos de contemporary Man’s existential guilt. home at the Bolshoi having trained at the Cho-
Mariinsky Ballet, St Petersburg: “The Nutcracker”, c. Vassili Vainonen (ph. N. Razina)
26
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side Roberto Bolle, with Reyes taking the

evening performance with Herman Cornejo.
Later on, at the end of June, one of the compa-
ny’s most popular ballerinas, Julie Kent will
give her farewell performance as Juliet, in
Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet (also
partnered by Bolle). Meanwhile, a company
soloist is on the rise: 32-year-old Afro-Ameri-
can Misty Copeland who recently made the
cover of TIME magazine, the famous weekly
choosing her as one of “100 most influential
people” of the year. Copeland will presently
be dancing the roles of Juliet and Gamzatti (La
Bayadère).
The Sylphide flies over the

ocean
At the beginning of May a new production
(by Peter Martins for New York City Bal-
let) of August Bournonville’s 1836 master-
piece La Sylphide was premièred. This con-
stitutes yet another link in the relationship
between the great company founded by
George Balanchine and the Danish ballet.
NYCB director Martins himself is Danish,
was groomed according to the pure
Bournonville School and began his career at
Sterling Hyltin, Joaquín de Luz – New York City Ballet: “La Sylphide”, c. August Bournonville the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. Martins
(ph. P. Kolnik) has a previous version of La Sylphide to his
name, made in the 1980s for Pennsylvania
reographic Ballet Academy in Moscow and cipal ABT ballerinas will be leaving the troupe. Ballet. In New York his new Sylphide was
joined the Bolshoi Ballet upon graduating. On exactly the same day at the end of May, performed together with Bournonville Diver-
Subsequently, he was a principal with The Argentinian Paloma Herrera and Cuban tissements, a series of excerpts from
Royal Danish Ballet before joining San Fran- Xiomara Reyes will bid New Yorkers adieu in Bournonville’s ballets, including the famous
cisco Ballet. A previous ballet of his, Giselle. Herrera is to take the matinee, along- Flower Festival at Genzano pas de deux.
Cinderella (created in 2006 to the score by
Sergei Prokofiev) is in the Bolshoi repertory.
Exit “Luigi”, the master of the jazz dance
Diaghilev Festival Eugene Louis Facciuto, more familiarly known as “Luigi”, passed away last April in
New York at the age of 90. He was a worldwide jazz dance celebrity: a dancer, cho-
On the ‘dance map’ the city of Perm in cen- reographer and, especially, a dearly loved and highly sought-after teacher of stage
tral Russia is not only noted for its ballet and film dancing in New York and Hollywood. The special technique which he in-
company, based at the Opera House and vented, known as the “Luigi technique”, was developed for his own rehabilitation
named in honour of Tchaikovsky, nor for its after suffering paralysing injuries in a car accident. In spite of the doctors’ diagnosis
renowned school, founded during the Second that he would never even be able to walk again, Luigi succeeded in dancing again.
World War when the Kirov Ballet was evacu- Born to Italian immigrant parents, as a child he performed on street corners and sang
ated to Perm, but also for being the birth- and danced in vaudeville, later also taking ballet classes with Bronislava Nijinska.
place of Serge de Diaghilev. Every other year The turning-point in his life was when, after the accident and rehabilitation, he audi-
the Perm Opera House (whose construction tioned for Gene Kelly. In spite of Luigi’s facial paralysis, Kelly was so impressed
was partly financed by the Diaghilev family) by his dancing that he chose
dedicates a festival featuring ballet, operas him for the musical On the
and concerts to this towering figure in the town. This was the beginning
history of Russian art, ballet and music. The of a special friendship during
festival opens at the end of May with tribute which Kelly became Luigi’s
to Dmitri Shostakovich that includes his op- mentor. Luigi’s New York
era Orango plus a creation by choreographer classes became the talk of the
Alexey Miroshnichenko (director of the Perm town and his exercises highly
ballet troupe), to the 1931 orchestral suite popular with dancers and
entitled Hypothetically Murdered, a rarely- members of the jet set in
performed work by the Russian composer. America... and beyond.
ABT farewells
It’s a farewell season at American Ballet Thea-
Luigi in New York
tre. During the usual Spring Season at the
in the 70s
Metropolitan, New York (May-July) three prin-
27
Farewell, divine Maya
For one day almost all the world’s newspa-
pers forgot their proverbial disinterest in dance
and published obituaries on the passing of the
great ballerina Maya Plisetskaya who can be
described as a “diva” of ballet in the 20th cen-
tury. According to her husband and artistic
partner of over 50 years, the famous Russian
composer Rodion Shchedrin, Plisetskaya died
unexpectedly on 2 May following a heart-at-
tack in her home in Munich while she was pack-
ing for a trip to one of the many cities that
was organising celebrations for her forthcom-
ing 90th birthday.
The official announcement of the demise of
the grand dame of ballet was given by the di-
rector of the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, while
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a state-
ment of condolences.
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya was born in
Moscow into a Jewish family of famous paint-
ers and actors. Growing up during the Stalin
era she had endured its repression: her father
had been executed and her mother, an actress,
interned in a concentration camp. The young
Maya’s talent emerged early on when she ap-
peared on stage with her aunt Sulamith
Messerer, a celebrated Soviet ballet teacher. She
studied with Messerer and, above all, with
Elizaveta Gerdt, who cultivated her noble bear-
ing and accentuated the extraordinary supple-
ness of her arms. At 11 years of age Plisetskaya
was already dancing as one of the fairies in The
Sleeping Beauty at the Bolshoi; at 16 she danced
the Grand Pas from Paquita and was the Dryad
Queen in Don Quixote. The legend had begun.
In 1948 she was raised to prima ballerina
and on one occasion stood in for Galina Ulanova
Maya Plisetskaya in her ballet “The Lady

with the Lapdog”, 1985
(ph. Henri Soumireu-Lartigue)
Maya Plisetskaya (ph. Serge Lido, 1961)
in Swan Lake, a ballet which became one of a unique spirit in the history of ballet, Carmen
Plisetskaya’s pièces de résistance. represented a woman’s irrepressible desire to
Plisetskaya was one of the few Bolshoi stars triumph over cannon and conventions.
allowed to perform abroad by the Soviet au- Maya Plisetskaya exerted an authoritative in-
thorities and was naturally the ‘jewel in the fluence over an entire era of classical ballet and
crown’ of the Bolshoi’s tours to the USA and hallmarked her most significant roles with her
Britain during the Cold War years. incomparable personality.
She was always faithful to her sole religious She also branched out in choreography and
and political creed – the excellence of ballet – as a ballet company director, taking the helm
and thanks to her exceptional talent was able for a period at the Ballet del Teatro Lírico Nacional
to win over the implacable bureaucracy of the in Madrid and at the Rome Opera Ballet.
great Muscovite theatre and thwart the various Among the numerous prizes and orders of
attempts that were made to ostracise her ca- distinction bestowed all over the world on Maya
reer. Plisetskaya we are honoured to remember
Her indomitable spirit transpired particularly the ”Irène Lidova Lifetime Achievement Prize”
in Carmen (1967), a ballet made to measure for which our magazine awarded her on the occasion
her, at her request, by Cuban choreographer of Les Étoiles de BALLET 2000 gala at the Palais
Alberto Alonso, to music by Rodion Shchedrin des Festivals, Cannes in 2004.
based on Bizet’s famous opera. To Plisetskaya, Roger Salas
28
EN COUVERTURE
Sylvie bids adieu holding her

head (and leg) high
Sylvie Guillem retires from the stage at fifty years of age. Her swan song is a
“contemporary signature show” (Forsythe, Ek, Khan, Maliphant) that debuted in
March at Modena’s Teatro Comunale (Italy) and is currently touring – ports of call
include the Sadler’s Wells in London, the “Nuits de Fourvière” in Lyon and, last stop
(December) Tokyo. It has been said of Guillem that she is beautiful and perfect, yet
cold; certainly she is haughty, intolerant and nonconformist, at least judging from
her own words – words that she has dispensed sparingly in interview, though not
always. Valeria Crippa has been interviewing her for twenty years and is able to
portray her through those words
A farewell tour, a ‘last dance’ is a strange rite. The The more one shines at the end of one’s career,
worldwide public funeral of an outstanding career. the more one will continue to glow in the memories
A one-off exclusive rite, celebrated in a specific theatre, of those who were there. That is usually the feature
in a specific town, for the benefit of spectators thrilled of a farewell tour – but not of Sylvie Guillem’s, the
by the gripping emotions aroused by the étoile’s fi- French ballerina having chosen the exact opposite for
nal curtain. Forever farewell. Yet it is an event that her farewell tour. The world début took place on 30
can be virtually replicated endlessly, on demand, in March at the Teatro Comunale in Modena, an un-
another part of the world, before a different, albeit derstated and ballet-loving Italian town. No pomp
equally moved audience, thrilled to think that their and circumstance, Mademoiselle Guillem opted for
favourite star is bidding farewell to them and them a shabby-chic format: great choreographers (Forsythe,
alone. Farewell all over again. Ek), minimalist sets and contemporary works by the
All over the world there is a tradition for the fu- trendiest dance makers of the moment (Khan,
Sylvie neral service of a brilliant career on pointes: gener- Maliphant).
Guillem and ally the exiting star will regale the public with his/ Snobbery? But of course. However… Let us go back
Rudolf her bravura pieces. If the star is a lady, she is usu- to 1999 and to issue No.45 of BALLET2000: “Sylvie
Nureyev in ally partnered by a handsome dancer, there will be Guillem, the Icy Divine” was the title of an blister-
the 1980s (ph. value-added scenography and an adornment company ing article written by the doyenne of Italian critics,
Eurofotocine) (possibly) in tears. Vittoria Ottolenghi (a great friend of Nureyev’s) who
confessed without reserve the irritation, “unreason-
able lack of appreciation, if not animosity” that she
felt vis-à-vis the Parisian star right from the days of
her early appearance at the Varna Competition: “re-
gal, very beautiful, and detached”. Certainly these are
appropriate adjectives for an artist who measured her
stage career in units of rigour and perfectionism, who
was generously blessed by nature with stunning and
refined beauty – all gifts which bewitched Rudolf
Nureyev and Maurice Béjart (who said about her “she
has a unique talent and a multifaceted personality,
clear and elusive, like everything that goes beyond
the rules and reaches that mysterious place from where
great poets set sail on their ‘Drunken Boat’) in her
early days, and William Forsythe and Bob Wilson
later on.
Audiences and critics have either venerated or de-
tested Sylvie Guillem. There were even those who
rejoiced for her quite unique slip-up in The Sleeping
Beauty with The Royal Ballet – profusely viewed on
Youtube and ballyhooed as “Sylvie Guillem is hu-
man!” – an attempt to use that flaw to make this
untoward dancer seem more accessible, her disposi-
tion having always been a challenge within an insti-
tutional company, whether the Paris Opéra Ballet or
30
Sylvie Guillem: “Bye”,
c. M. Ek (ph. L. Leslie-Spinks)
31
same goes for that stupid and superficial Gamzatti. Other
roles I don’t like? La Sylphide, a total idiot, I could
never dance her. I save only Giselle, a character who
has dignity and achieves inner growth through suffer-
ing.”
Her choreographic version of Giselle, created for
the Finnish National Ballet, was performed at La Scala
in 2001: “All too often, when I was dancing amidst
the courtiers in the original version, I used to feel
like an ugly duckling surrounded by decked out and
unreal people. My Giselle is alive and real, she isn’t
a puppet.” Ten years later, in 2011, her rendering of
MacMillan’s Manon was a masterpiece of intelligent
theatrics, preceded by a fierce row with the Milanese
theatre which later closed its doors on her: “They
got the revamping wrong, those in charge don’t re-
spect the artists’ requisites,” she blurted out.
No matter: in 2012 the Venice Biennale awarded
her the Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion “for having
re-drawn the figure of the ballerina, defying the laws
of physics.” The account of her career which she her-
self gave during an interview on that occasion was
far less highfalutin: “I could have ended up like a cork
floating on water at the mercy of the currents,” she
confessed, “instead I preferred to take the steering
wheel of my life into my own hands and go for the
open sea. When Nureyev promoted me to étoile at
the Paris Opéra I was only 19; for many dancers that
would have been a goal, but not so for me. Nureyev
was intransigent, I learnt a lot from him. Too much
security and comfort is an enemy to art. It’s far bet-
Sylvie Guillem The Royal Ballet. ter to walk constantly on the razor’s edge. I rely on
in her My personal impression of Sylvie Guillem, built up the support of Sadler’s Wells in London to organise
“Giselle” in in years of interviews for Il Corriere della Sera, is not my activity. But I’m not into marketing and I don’t
London in of an icy and haughty diva, but of a creature from an- dance for the purpose of being recognised on the
2001 with La other planet, forward-looking and intolerant of the sys- street. One must dance for the sake of it.”
Scala Ballet tem. Difficult, but primarily towards herself with her innate She has been coherent right up to her retirement
(ph. J. Moatti) need to move continually forward, never one of the pack which was announced a few months before the fare-
but far better off on her own. The theme of women’s well tour kicked off from Modena: “I can’t go any
emancipation surfaced clearly in a conversation we had higher than this, so I might as well stop and say good-
in 1999 at the Grand Hotel et de Milan (the Milanese bye to dancing. It was a difficult decision, but I pre-
hotel where Giuseppe Verdi died): amidst the stuccos fer to be the one to take it freely, before my body Below,
and mirrors Guillem emerged looking like Lara Croft in begins to play up. I don’t want the public to notice some self-
shorts, boots and a long Titian red plait, smoking Lucky before I do. It’s better to make a clean cut and have portraits for
Strike cigarettes: “Bayadère? She’s nothing but a naive a clean wound rather than pain that eats away like the
doll, with neither psychological depth nor dramatic logic”, poison. This way it will be easier to heal.” Straight- magazine
she declared unhesitatingly on the eve of her début in talk for a cold and perfect princess, is it not? “Vogue”
the Makarova version of the ballet at La Scala: “The Valeria Crippa (2000)
32
Sylvie Guillem, Massimo Murru –
Balletto del Teatro alla Scala:
“L’Histoire de Manon”, c. Kenneth
MacMillan (ph. M. Brescia, 2011)
33
Brigel
Gjoka,
Riley Watts:
“Duo”,
c. William
Forsythe
(ph. B.
Cooper)
Sylvie Guillem danced the entire ballet repertoire: nar-

The last dance rative, concertante, classical, modern, post-classical.
Following which, as from 2004, she decided to turn over
Sylvie Guillem has chosen a banale but clever title, a different leaf and devoted herself to a carefully-se-
Life in Progress, for her worldwide farewell tour that lected portfolio of creations by influential, contempo-
kicked off from the Teatro Comunale in Modena (Italy) rary, global, non-academic choreographers. She ap-
at the end of March, is to be performed in London and proached these creations with the precision that classical
to end in Tokyo next December. Life goes ahead, the ballet puts into every single gesture. Now, at 50 years
body changes, the dancing changes: no one knows this of age and more conscious than ever of herself and her
better than Guillem who defined ballet in the last thirty art, she has decided to quit while still on top – and has
years with her exceptional physicality and extreme “natu- chosen how to go out. Guillem’s career has been that
ral” potential, self-confident as she was, verging on a of a champion; and while there have been others (tech-
gelid detachment (as has been remarked). nically-speaking) in her league, she has always been the
Sylvie, whose public statements have been few and absolute mistress of her career, building it up as befit-
far apart, as carefully controlled as her image (entrusted ting of a dancer such as herself, one who could afford
only to photographers and directors of her choosing), is the luxury of accepting or rejecting whatever came her
a unique case of stardom ‘against the grain’. Blessed with way. Sylvie
the exceptional physique of a highly flexible gymnast or In a way, the subtitle of Life in Progress could be Guillem:
a pedigree top model, she is proudly French and has an Sylvie and friends: but we are a long way off from the “Techne”,
entirely contemporary air. She hails from the great tradi- usual gala between dancer ‘friends’. In this case the ‘fare’ c. Akram
tion of the Paris Opéra, trained at the school, joined the served up is a reflection of Guillem’s collaboration with Khan
company in 1981 and was nominated étoile by its then a number of choreographers: Mats Ek, William Forsythe, (ph. R. P.
director, Nureyev, when she was only 19 years old. Akram Khan and Russell Maliphant, cherished creators Guerzoni)
34
who played a role in her career. Cowton, light designs by Michael Hulls. Sylvie
The amazing Sylvie is still in impeccable shape. This The programme closes with acclaimed work Bye by Guillem,
was clear at the Modena world première of Techne by Mats Ek, to music by Beethoven: the self-portrait of a Emanuela
Akram Khan: there she was lying on her stomach and woman and a ballerina, an eternally restless girl dealing Montanari:
moving like a spider, one leg after the other; she lifts with her feelings, ghosts and the images that cross her “Here and
herself up to converse with a “microphone”, a lumi- mind and can be seen in a black-and-white video by After”,
nous spotlight that only partly obeys her (have we be- Elias Benxon. c. Russell
come an extension of our own technology gadgets?) to Here Sylvie’s beautiful physique and face reveal her Maliphant
a soundtrack that mixes Indian tablas, voices, violins introspective and actorial qualities. (ph. R. P.
and laptops. Each detail, pose, line is perfectly intelli- It is worth noting that she has cleverly used her rav- Guerzoni)
gible, underlining the humour in the “beauty and the ishingly gorgeous looks as an effective tool of “cultural
beast” relationship (i.e. that between the dancer and the policy”: in a milieu dominated by male choreographers
unruly machine). and artistic directors, Guillem was able to impose her
The male Duo choreographed by Forsythe in 1996 own choices, those of a “feminist” or, rather, of a self-
and danced by Brigel Gjoka and Riley Watts (both from determined artist tout court; one of these was when,
The Forsythe Company) shows us two-way correla- exasperated by the Opéra’s contract rules that she was
tion, movement in space, time-variation, the unreeling no longer prepared to abide by, she caused a sensation
of positions and academic movement, both right-way- by quitting Paris and crossing the Channel to go over
round and back-to-front – a perfect mechanism, mar- to The Royal Ballet in London as Principal Guest Art-
vellously devised and danced. ist.
Here & After, a creation by Russell Maliphant, in- Sylvie is to be admired for always refusing to an-
stead shows us the potential of a female duet, Guillem swer those inevitable questions about love, marriage,
and her shadow and cover Emanuela Montanari (of La motherhood that a woman gets asked in indiscreet in-
Scala). Glowing and supple, the two lithe figures se- terviews; whenever she chose to speak out it was in
duce us with their gracefulness as they form spirals – favour of whales and of the joy of dancing that pre-
reminding us vaguely of the Orientalist dances of the vails over muscle pains, or against bureaucracy and un-
“spiritual” Ruth Saint Denis – and inter-exchange en- ionization in theatres.
ergy and meditative sweetness. Music is by Andy Heedless of the (prevalently negative) opinion of crit-
35
Sylvie
Guillem:
“Bye”,
c. Mats
Ek (ph.
L. Leslie-
Spinks)
ics, in 1998 she created her own chic, glossy and cin- astrous yet fascinating influence persists. Sylvie Guillem
ematographic version of Giselle, asserting a specific right is what she is but let it be clear that she is not perfec-
to this ballet and its title role based on first-hand knowl- tion in ballet, nor the pinnacle of that canon devised
edge (having, she claimed, personally suffered on her by Blasis and Petipa that continued to develop in the
own body the pain it recounts). 20th century. Sylvie Guillem’s natural giftedness and
She herself has stated of her 2015 farewell tour: “it effortless execution meant that the technical material
will be my last world tour as a dancer”. The state- of classical ballet had to be stubbornly adapted to herself.
ment is open to interpretation as one could deduce Here we are far from the correct idea that ballet is an
that although she no longer intends to dance, this doesn’t ever-changing art that must, nevertheless, endeavour
mean she will be retiring from the stage, from the thea- to maintain – in delicate balance – the aesthetic crite-
tre, from show business. Time will tell what THE bal- ria that transcend pure physicality, that a unique physi-
lerina who bewitched Béjart and Forsythe, revolution- cal aesthetic must be swathed by the artist’s stylistic
ised the tastes of the public and – for better or for conscience. Subversion of the rules cannot be merely
worse – imposed a new aesthetic model for pointes, despotic conceitedness. And the gifts of a single art-
tutus, bare feet and socks has in store for us next. ist should be at the service of her art, not vice-versa.
Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino Roger Salas
Six o’clock: the fateful hour

Sylvie Guillem has been an exceptional ballerina in
many ways, from the physique with which nature en-
dowed her to the way in which she played out the
career she is about to wrap up.
More than two generations of would-be ballerinas
have grown up with a poster of Sylvie on their bed-
room walls, dreaming of looking like her, of having her
strength and physique, her popularity and fame. Bal-
let teachers have contributed to the emulation craze
of this atypical creature by having their pupils exces-
sively stretch their lines and muscles, teaching them a
bag of tricks to resemble the iconic and almost unreal
image of the youngest-ever ballerina to be raised to
the highest rank at the Paris Opéra (thanks to Rudolf
Nureyev) and who became a world star, overly and
continually acclaimed.
Even an entire legion of Russian ballerinas have ne-
glected the Soviet ballet legacy of virtuoso and style
in order to elongate their silhouettes into Gothic-like
spires and accentuate the aesthetic – as opposed to
technical – value of an unnatural instep.
And then there was that Rolex advert with the slo-
gan “They call this position six o’ clock”, followed
by a clarification: “But Sylvie Guillem’s Rolex calls
in five fifty-eight and seventeen seconds precisely”.
The deluxe watchmakers’ inveterate tradition of always
presenting their watches with the hands on 10:10 had
been broken.
History and time, that supreme regulator, will put
things back to normal sooner or later. Today, her dis-
36
37
reviews • critics • reviews ON STAGE ! reviews • critics • reviews
Ballet Nice Méditerranée
Eric Vu-An in Nice: the

audacity of memory
La Sylphide – chor. August Bournonville
(restaged by Dinna Bjørn), mus. Herman S.
Løvenskjold; En Sol – chor. Jerome Robbins,
mus. Maurice Ravel
Nice (France), Opera House
Five years have gone by since we began fol-

lowing the early progress of the Nice Opera
House’s company (Ballet Nice Méditerranée)
which has been directed since 2009, and with
clearly good results, by Eric Vu-An. Today the
company has almost 30 dancers, most of whom
fairly young, and is amongst the very few com-
panies in France able to sustain a classically-
based international repertoire. Paradoxically this
is an extremely audacious, indeed almost blas-
phemous, transgression against the dogma of
an exclusively contemporary (and French) pro-
duction.
Thus, with the passing of the years Vu-An Marie-Astrid Casinelli, Alessio Passaquindici – Ballet Nice Méditerranée: “Pas de Dieux”,
has become increasingly daring in imposing his c. G. Kelly (ph. D. Jaussein)
serious and eclectic artistic vision: a few early
cracks with choreographers of today (of the BALLET2000 has dutifully reported on almost “modern” Les Deux Pigeons (“The Two Pi-
“dancing” kind, however, like Giorgio Mancini all the above challenges. geons”), also by Mérante, revived later by
or Luciano Cannito), then the modern ‘greats’ Thence began an operation of “rediscovery”; dancer/choreographer Albert Aveline who, to-
(Maurice Béjart, Lucinda Childs, José Limón, in the more advanced worlds of music and opera gether with “Grande Mademoiselle” Carlotta
Glen Tetley, Alvin Ailey) and even a grand, similar innovating operations began a few dec- Zambelli, was actually the teacher of Eric Vu-
but inescapable, test such as Balanchine – which ades ago and have had a lasting (and continu- An’s teachers – Vu-An himself having danced
the company passed most honourably. Then ally-evolving) influence on conductors, singers a late revival of this ballet while at the Paris
onwards with Jirí Kylián and Nacho Duato. and régisseurs. Suffice it to consider the redis- Opéra Ballet School.
covery of the Baroque, or of Rossini, or of the Eric Vu-An was one of the favourite pupils
French mid 19th-century repertory: all phe- of Claude Bessy, who directed the Opéra Ballet
Eric Vu-An – Ballet Nice Méditerranée:
nomena that have marked contemporary mu- School for three decades, and was his point of
“Pas de Dieux”, c. G. Kelly
sic culture. Choreographic art, on the other
(ph. D. Jaussein)
hand, doesn’t have such a rich “living” history
of readily-available works – we have to recog-
nise as much without vain illusions or pretence
– but there are still some surviving recollec-
tions that it is imperative to tap into urgently,
before they disappear altogether from human
and stage memory. The 19th century is a long
way back but, for example, French ballet from
the first half of last century is still partly avail-
able through the generational chain.
Suite en Blanc and Roméo et Juliette by Serge
Lifar, re-surfaced as extremely interesting cho-
reographies, aside from being a tribute to a
giant of French 20th-century ballet, and
should not be neglected in any dance rep-
ertory that is conscious of its history.
Afterwards, Vu-An staged his own
suite from Sylvia, going back to Louis
Mérante’s original ballet of 1876 at the
Paris Opéra of which a few traces re-
main, handed down from teacher to
teacher… The result was a touching
study in the choreography of the late
Romantic period. The same can be
said of the albeit slightly more
38
reference when he embarked on this rediscov-
ery operation.
A mixed bill has featured Soir de fête cre-
ated by Léo Staats in 1925, to music by Léo
Delibes, which stayed in the Paris Opéra’s rep-
ertory until quite recently and offers us an his-
torical ‘clue’: George Balanchine must have seen
Soir de fête during his young days in Paris and
one would be hard put not to recognise in this
ballet’s format (which today we would term
as “abstract”), and in its relationship with the
music, a concept that – even though it may
not have directly influenced Balanchine – one
can without hesitation define as “pre-
Balanchinian”.
In the same programme Claude Bessy her-
self restaged – as was her rightful prerogative –
the revival of an unusual ballet, Pas de Dieux,
created for her in 1960 by famous American
dancer/choreographer Gene Kelly, star of so many
film musicals. Broadway and Hollywood are not
exactly up the Opéra’s street but Kelly’s sense
of theatrics and movement make this wacky story
of modern Olympian gods most enjoyable. For Céline Marcinno, Claude Gamba – Ballet Nice Méditerranée: “En Sol”, c. Jerome Robbins
this production – and to the delight of his fans (ph. D. Jaussein)
– Eric Vu-An made a stage comeback, albeit in
a minor role, suited, nonetheless, to his ever- ish choreographer, a style in which dancing and
excellent physical condition. has proved to be the troupe’s most prominent
elegant mime alternate, but choreographic in- dancer also in other productions during recent
The latest show I saw in Nice was the com- vention proper prevails: and it is of such
pany’s most ambitious to date insofar as its seasons. His technique is spot-on, he cuts a
beauty, richness and perfection that it still star- fine figure as a “smitten youth”, vaguely tem-
main offering was a 19th-century ballet mas- tles us today. The composition’s values are
terpiece that has remained alive in the interna- peramental and self-centred, and is a very con-
crystalline transparency and fantasy, “genu- vincing James.
tional repertoire – hence the company was open ineness” of expression, elegance and refined
to the risk of comparison with the great troupes Our attention was caught by an unexpect-
technique, musicality and the legato of each edly original Madge the witch, none other than
that have processed the choreography’s style. combination of steps.
And “style” is indeed the key word when it Eric Vu-An himself, reminding us that also in
A challenge for any company and an almost Denmark this characterization is entrusted to
comes to La Sylphide, of which Auguste unachievable test for the leading dancer and her
Bournonville’s 1836 choreography has remained older dancers, male or female (legendary Madges
partner. Yet the Niçois dancers were more than of the past having included Niels Bjørn Larsen,
in the repertory of The Royal Danish Ballet; satisfactory, especially the female corps de bal-
in Nice it was restaged by Dinna Bjørn, rec- Sorella Englund and even Erik Bruhn).
let in their long tutus during the second act. The two acts of La Sylphide are relatively
ognised all over the world as a Bournonville The principals on the evening I attended were
specialist. short and it is customary to pair them which
the feminine and romantic Alba Cazorla Luengo, a short ballet of a different genre; in this case,
And we were able to recognise in the Nice who had the correct jump and batterie (essen-
restaging the poetics and style of the great Dan- it was a gem of modern ballet, En Sol by Jerome
tial to this role), and Alessio Passaquindici who Robbins (the original title of this 1975 work
being In G), to the Piano Concerto in G Ma-
jor by Maurice Ravel.
“Jerry” Robbins, born in New York to Rus-
sian Jewish parents, was a genius in blending
genres and techniques, mixing them very freely.
Here the basic technique is academic but the
‘syntax’ is original: the turns end in an unex-
pected manner, the dancers run backwards and
their ports de bras become enigmatic gestures…
There are no story or feelings as such; this cho-
reography conjures up beach games, yet against
a strange and dreamy background.
The entire company confirmed that it is in-
deed, at this point, a company in the true sense
of the word and the principal couple, Céline
Marcinno and Claude Gamba, delivered with
confidence the lovely, long pas de deux that
Robbins rolls off to the Adagio from the Ravel
Concerto.
Alfio Agostini
Ballet Nice Méditerranée:

“La Sylphide”, c. August
Bournonville (ph. D. Jaussein)
39
Luca Acri, James Hay, Matthew Ball – The Royal Ballet: “Untouchable”, c. Hofesh Shechter (ph. T. Kenton)
The Royal Ballet portunity to develop himself as an artist by turned to composer Nell Catchpole who cre-
taking inspiration from the classically trained ated a middle-eastern-flavoured score played
bodies of his dancers. Such interaction between with gusto by the Opera House orchestra. He
different movement styles and vocabularies also chose 20 dancers from the company’s
A one-off sandwich can produce superb work, but here Shechter lower ranks, who clearly relished the experi-
retreated into what he knows, meaning that ence of not having to place themselves with
Untouchable – chor. Hofesh Shechter, mus. Untouchable looked very much like all his other classical correctness – they certainly did eve-
Nell Catchpole work. In truth, it came across as a little tame rything that Shechter asked of them and did
London, Royal Opera House – Political Mother was an overwhelming, ear- it so well that they moved like Shechter’s own
splitting theatrical experience, but here Shechter dancers, which was not perhaps the best use
In perhaps the most surprising act of his
directorship of The Royal Ballet so far, Kevin Giuliana Bottino, Michael Banzhaf – Staatsballett Berlin: “Multiplicidad. Formas de silencio y
O’Hare commissioned Hofesh Shechter, the vacío”, c. Nacho Duato (ph. F. Marcos)
contemporary choreographer du moment, to
create a new work for the company. Shechter’s
star has been in the ascendant for some time
now and he has moved rapidly from small-
scale, experimental works to large productions
with his own eponymously named company
in a matter of a few years. On the basis of
some of his works, such as Political Mother,
Uprising and In Your Rooms, his success has
been justified – he has developed a distinc-
tive movement vocabulary characterised by
a rolling gait and clear gesture, and shown a
real talent for creating organically shifting en-
semble, as well as a soundscape which he him-
self composes.
The stakes were undeniably high, because
inviting Shechter in the first place to choreo-
graph for The Royal Ballet ruffled many feath-
ers in the UK ballet world, and secondly be-
cause his new work was to be sandwiched
between two undisputed heavyweight mas-
terpieces of the twentieth century: Balanchine’s
still frighteningly modern The Four Tempera-
ments and MacMillan’s intense Song of the
Earth. To be compared to such masters would
be a tall order for any of today’s choreogra-
phers. In truth, Shechter seems to have been
a little overawed by it all, and missed the op-
40
of them. The initial novelty of seeing these
ballet thoroughbreds moving in such a way
quickly passed and what emerged was an over-
long and increasingly confused work which
seemed to run out of ideas about half way
through. It certainly did not stand up to com-
parison with the two other ballets and it was
difficult to see the internal logic in O’Hare’s
programming – the pairing of the Balanchine
and MacMillan is difficult to understand in
the first place. Inviting Shechter was most cer-
tainly an experiment worth making, but per-
haps not worth repeating; in a world where
classical dance struggles to maintain its place,
such ‘cross-over’ projects serve merely to di-
lute further what needs every help to survive.
Gerald Dowler
Staatsballett Berlin
Duato’s Forms
Vielfältigkeit – Formen von Stille und Leere
– chor. Nacho Duato, mus. Johann Sebastian
Bach
Ballet de l’Opéra de Bordeaux: “Tam-Tam et percussion”, c. Felix Blaska (ph. S. Colomyès)
Berlin, Komische Oper
The new director of the Staatsballet Nacho Here and there the movement reminds one belonged to a generation that continues to be
Duato is introducing Berliner spectators to his of Mark Morris, there is something naive, in- neglected for the simple fact that it came just
oeuvre with two mixed bills (sharing the pro- deed banal, about it; yet the structure denotes before the one known as “French Nouvelle
gramme with William Forsythe and Marco considerable inventiveness. A tousled energy Danse”, the generation which got all the at-
Goecke or with Jirí Kylián) and two full- runs through the ballet, the first part of which tention.
evening ballets: The Sleeping Beauty, which proceeds at a great speed. Logically, the sec- The fact that a choreography by Blaska is
he created for the Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet ond part is more grave and proceeds at a more in the repertoire of the Bordeaux Opera Bal-
of St Petersburg in 2011, and Vielfältigkeit – measured pace. The evening opens with a let is therefore good news, especially consid-
Formen von Stille und Leere (original Span- Goldberg Variation and ends sublimely with ering that the work in question does not show
ish title: Multiplicidad. Formas de silencio y the Art of the Fugue. its age at all. Tam-tam et percussion is a tribute
vacío) from 1999, a gem of the Compañía The 20 dancers – including Polina Semionova to African dancing, the energy of which Blaska
Nacional de Danza di Madrid’s repertoire. The who, however, could have been put to better discovered during a tour of South Africa.
choreographer gives a highly liberal visual in- use – parade along platforms, part of the clever Blaska, of Russian descent, was a pure prod-
terpretation of Bach’s music, to which set by Jaffar Chalabi. A beautiful finale. uct of classical ballet but was bewitched by
Vielfältigkeit (Multiplicity) and Formen von Jean Pierre Pastori the vitality and precision of African move-
Stille und Leere (“Forms of Silence and Emp- ment and rhythm; he brought all these ele-
tiness”) are danced. Ballet de l’Opéra de Bordeaux ments together in Tam-tam et percussion, cre-
The score is a patchwork of recorded in- ated in 1970.
strumental and vocal pieces, the advantage of The work begins with a male solo, a sort
this being that it features top-notch interpre- of catalogue of the classical vocabulary. But,
tations, in particular by: Glenn Gould, Blaska, timeless vintage little by little, the rhythm of the drums takes
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sigiswald Kuijken, hold of the dancer and intensifies when a
Reinhard Goebel, Gustav Leonhardt, Jordi Tam-tam et percussion – chor. Felix Blaska, group of men and women, also swept along
Saval and Ton Koopman. In harmony with mus. Pierre Cheriza and Jean-Pierre Drouet; by the irresistible beating of the tom-toms,
the music, Nacho Duato’s choreography con- If To Leave Is To Remember – chor. Carolyn cross the stage to join up with him. A slower
veys the variety of sentiments reflected in the Carlson, mus. Philip Glass; Au-delà des grands duet, danced to the ringing of bells and cym-
excerpts of the first part (Vielfältigkeit) and espaces – chor. Hamid Ben Mahi, mus. Alain bals, makes for a calmer movement before the
the spirituality of those of the second that Bashung; Minus 16 – chor. Ohad Naharin, mus. final bacchanal in which ballet and African
bear the seal of death (Formen von Stille und Various steps mix together vigorously. The music is
Leere). Bordeaux (France), Opéra National played by two musicians on stage; movement
A recurring character, wearing a wig (Bach, and music being so closely-entwined, the danc-
most likely) comes on at regular intervals, ei- There are some choreographers who have ing seems literally to emerge from the
ther conducting the music, or stroking his bow dedicated little attention to their images and percussions.
over a dancer-cello… He is often accompa- careers and consequently their talents have not It was also an excellent idea to take If To
nied by a woman in black wearing a white always received due recognition. One of these Leave Is To Remember by Carolyn Carlson
mask (Death). is Felix Blaska who danced for Roland Petit into the repertory. This work for 12 dancers
Indeed the whole ballet is clothed in black: in the 1960s before setting up his own com- was created for the Munich Opera House in
costumes and scenery alike. But this darkness pany, working for a while in the USA and 2006 and, despite its appeal, has been danced
is often illumined by flashes of colour, while then returning to free lance in Europe. In ad- in France very rarely. It is inspired by Philip
the choreography is enlivened by numerous dition one must also bear in mind that – like Glass’s String Quartet No.3; Carlson exam-
humorous touches. Anne Béranger or Jacques Garnier – Blaska ines separation and loss but, as always, she
41
his dancers, all in black and wearing a hat,
sit in a semicircle, with an electric shock
passing from one body to the next; each
dancer falls before regaining consciousness
and resuming his seated position. The mu-
sical arrangement, by Naharin himself, is of
the Hebrew cumulative song sung on the
first night of Passover, Echad Mi Yodea,
with a new line being progressively added
on so that each verse is longer that the pre-
ceding one. Naharin builds up his choreog-
raphy in the same way, adding a new ges-
ture before repeating the preceding ones. It
has the air of being a religious ceremony but
soon turns into a frenzy when the dancers
take off their clothes and shoes, throw them
violently into the centre, and end up in noth-
ing but vests and pants. Another memora-
ble moment is when the dancers invite spec-
tators to join them onstage: improvisation
thus creeps into a highly-structured chore-
ography, merging generosity and talent.
Danza Contemporánea de Cuba: “Reversible”, c. Annabelle López Ochoa (ph. Y. Nórido) Sonia Schoonejans
Danza Contemporánea de Cuba

‘suggests’ rather than ‘states’. Her language are the basis of my work, enabling body lan-
remains fluid, delicate, the mood is vaguely guage to express itself”. Thank goodness for
melancholic. Having worked extensively on Bashung’s music, played live by Yann Péchin,
Carlson’s style and with various choreogra- which allows us to watch Au-delà des grands Contemporary Havana
phies of hers in their repertoire, the dancers espaces with our eyes closed.
approach this piece as specialists. Fortunately the evening ends with a new Mercurio – chor. Julio César Iglesias, mus.
The disappointment comes with the pro- entry into the repertoire: Minus 16 by Ohad various; Identitad – chor. George Céspedes,
gramme’s only creation about which we re- Naharin, Batsheva Dance Company’s bril- mus. Alexis de la O Joya, Edwin Casanova
ally do not know what to say. Indeed Au-delà liant choreographer. Minus 16 is a condensed Gonzalez; Reversible – chor. Annabelle López
des grands espaces (“Beyond Great Spaces”) version of Deca Dance which, in turn, is a Ochoa, mus. various
is also beyond any comment: all one can do compendium of ten years of the Israeli cho- Havana, Teatro Mella
is lament that good dancers have been wasted reographer’s work, in which he brings to-
on such poor choreography – if we can use gether various extracts – on a changing ba- Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, the mag-
such a word to described all that flapping sis, depending on the performance venue. nificent company directed by Miguel Iglesias,
about. And yet its author Hamid Ben Mahi Thus we find in it the well-known sequence celebrated its 56th birthday with a triptych
had announced that “strength and tenderness... from Naharin’s ballet Anaphaza in which which we saw in Havana. First of all a crea-
Batsheva Dance Company: “The Hole”, c. Ohad Naharin (ph. G. Dagon)
42
Yae Gee Park –
Compañía Nacional
de Danza:
“Don Quixote”
(ph. J. Vallinas)
tion: Reversible by Belgian-Co-

lombian choreographer
Annabelle López Ochoa who has
already created Celeste for the
Ballet Nacional de Cuba and
Sombrerímo for the Ballet
Hispanico of New York – both
works having been performed to
acclaim at the ballet festival of
Havana in 2014. The programme
also included Mercurio by Cu-
ban Julio César Iglesias and
Identidad by the group’s former
dancer George Céspedes, win-
ner of the Premio
Iberoamericano de Coreografía
2002 and a leading light on the
Caribbean contemporary dance
scene.
Mercurio, a work for three
couples who are mirrors of each
other, is a thread of high-speed
movements that create circular or square forms past, Ohad Naharin, the charismatic director/ ment contains a meaning per se.
in space, allowing the dancers to show off that choreographer of the Batsheva Dance Com- Hole was made in 2013; however, given
bursting energy that distinguishes the “non- pany, Israel’s most important troupe, has the difficulty of transporting the set (which
classical” Cuban dance style. created multiple versions of the same work. allows for only a limited number of specta-
Identitad by Céspedes displayed another face Hole is, first and foremost, an extraordi- tors), it has only been performed in Tel Aviv,
of Cuban choreography which aspires to open nary set that envelops the spectators. At the in the venue occupied by the Batsheva com-
up to the present’s now globalised style, al- centre is an octagonal stage with 8 openings pany at the Suzanne Dellal Center, a hub of
beit without forsaking the “Dancing Island” at the base from which the dancers emerge, Israeli choreographic creation.
’s distinctive identity and the potential of and around which the public is seated in a Sonia Schoonejans
“dancing dance”. circle, in turn encircled by other dancers. Each
In Reversible, the title being in line with the of these occupies a glowing niche which they Compañía Nacional de Danza
underlying idea, La Ochoa added a European leave to be suspended above the stage and
touch to the company. She explored the male/ crawl along a grid near the ceiling.
female principle: skirts for men and trousers The first version has the men on the in-
for women, with chaste naked chests. She dar- side and women on the outside. The second A “suite” of Don
ingly steered between vigour, at one end, and version is the opposite: women on the in- Quixote’s misfortunes
romanticism, at the other, and was acclaimed side and men on the outside. Generally the
by an enthusiastic public. Soul has no gen- two versions are presented on the same Don Quijote Suite – chor. José Carlos
der: this consideration was admirably embod- evening allowing one to note how the energy Martínez after Marius Petipa and Alexander
ied in the intensely-performing bodies of these quality differs, depending on whether the Gorsky
dancers who are highly individual yet, at the same gestures in the same choreography are Murcia (Spain), Auditorio Villegas
same time, cohesively connected to the DCC carried out by women or men. In the first
unit; on this occasion they danced to music version, the compact mass constituted by The Compañía Nacional de Danza di Ma-
which was neither ethnic nor folk, but uni- boys unleashes a real warrior force and the drid presented a suite from Don Quixote
versally pertinent, indulging of curiosity and girls all around seem to be watching over them in Murcia (Spain); choreography was by
the desire to explore, unhindered by cultural like protective goddesses, like Athena watch- its artistic director, José Carlos Martínez,
or social barriers. ing over Odysseus. In the second version, based on the ballet by Marius Petipa (1869)
Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino the girls in the middle make for a more frag- and its reworkings by Alexander Gorsky,
ile group that the boys observe, protectively as from 1900. One should point out that
Batsheva Dance Company or threateningly depending on the spectator’s it is actually Gorsky who is chiefly respon-
imagination. sible for the ballet seen nowadays (and on
There is one constant, however: Naharin’s which Martínez’s version is based): it was
body language permanently exploring move- Gorsky who invented the roles of Espada
Naharin’s two circles ment and interpreted by peerless dancers. the Toreador and his companion Mercedes
One finds in Israeli dancers a maturity that (sometimes called “Street Dancer”), as well
Hole – chor. Ohad Naharin, sound Maxim derives, perhaps, from military service –com- as the soloist role of the Dryad Queen in
Waratt pulsory for all in the country – or from a the white act. And it was Gorsky who
Tel Aviv, Susanne Dellal Center political situation that allows no letting down called on Franco-Russian Anton Yulevich
of one’s guard or getting distracted. No use- Simon (1850-1916) to beef up Ludwig
As he has been known to do often in the less motion, no embellishment, each move- Minkus’s original score.
43
Cristiana Morganti: is every bit as strenuous as when one is young,
“Jessica and Me” but simply doesn’t go as high as it did then;
or the nightmare of not being slender, which
leads to a recommendation that one leave ac-
tive dancing to become a teacher, a critic, maybe
a choreographer. In the meantime Cristiana
Cristiana Morganti dances, runs, jumps, dons a red crinoline, to
echoes of music that range from Giselle to The
Rite of Spring. A charming test of uncommon
self-deprecating maturity, acclaimed by Bausch
Cristiana, Jessica fans and non-Bausch spectators alike.
and Pina Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino
Jessica and me – chor. Cristiana Dorky Park

Morganti, mus. assembled by
Kenji Takagi and Bernd
Kirchhoefer
Pistoia (Italy), Il Funaro and on Macras for everything
tour
Open for everything – chor. Costanza Macras,
“No, the path is full of mean- mus. Various
ing, no!”: it is with these funny Udine (Italy), Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine
words that Cristiana Morganti’s
clever and delightful cabaret of self- For some years now, the works of acclaimed
consciousness begins. The Italian and provocative director/choreographer
brunette with her Mediterranean Constanza Macras have aimed at being “to-
looks comes from the Wuppertal tal” theatre, shows where rough, vigorous and
Tanztheater of Pina Bausch, a non-graceful dancing blends with highly-evoca-
teacher who marks you for life. tive musical collages and acid texts recited by
How, then, can one find one’s marginal or twisted characters. Individuals that
own personal space and defend one- have a predilection for the ‘Rocker’ look in the
self from the sway of an extraor- loudest of colours. Intense and droll people,
dinary artist whom her company in alienating and violent urban environments.
used to indicate with the typical Born and bred in Buenos Aires, where she
Martínez chose to set the entire suite of gesture of smoking? There was
dances taken from the first and third act no need to mention the name of
inside a tavern. the chain smoker, the gesture
Don Quijote Suite is Martínez’s most am- sufficed (smiling, Cristiana
bitious and demanding work since he took mimes it). Jessica and her im-
over as director of the CND three years aginary eponymous alter ego in
ago. He has two years to go before his con- the title recount (in multiple lan-
tract runs out, it is renewable so we shall guages) and dance “the truth”
see what happens. On the other hand, what about how the group lived, the
the future may hold in store for Spanish girls’ non-conventional feminin-
dance and ballet companies is today a mys- ity, “Pina” ’s petulant inter-
tery. The Don Quixote Suite is a teaser of views, body pains, studies and
the full ballet, a new production of which careers.
is to debut at the Teatro de La Zarzuela To presumptuous questions
in Madrid next December. by conceited journalists,
The tone of this show was hardly ex- Morganti and/or Bausch reply
ulting – and exultation is something this “no, at Wuppertal we don’t all
ballet thrives on. Generally-speaking, it live together: we work together
was danced with little élan and no virtuoso. then everyone goes home; no
The Mursia Symphony Orchestra, con- we’re not staging our private
ducted by Gonzalo Berná, played Minkus’s world, nor making it look pretty
score in a manner stylistically at odds with or ugly, nor are we living in a
classical ballet or with how it is played by psycho-drama; no we don’t all
other opera house orchestras where Don smoke, I don’t for one, Pina
Quixote is a staple of the repertoire. As gave me private lessons on how
for what went on onstage, the most suc- to replicate onstage the move-
cessful thing was the tavern scenery that ments of a smoker”.
respected tradition. How were the charac- Irresistible, as is the demon-
ter dances (fandangos, seguidillas, aires de stration of an arabesque, which
bolero) rehearsed? How did they render
their rhythmic essence and, above all the
stylistic accents and arm work that Rus-
sian ballet historian Elizabeth Souritz de- Dorky Park: “Open for
fines as “pseudo-Spanish”? All questions Everything”,
that remain unanswered. c. Costanza Macras
Roger Salas (ph. P. Tauro)
44
studied ballet and fashion design, Macras then
studied with Merce Cunningham in New York;
later she founded her Dorky Park company
in Berlin. Her frenzied and seemingly messy
works are in no way happenings: they are
in fact extremely solid structures, characterised
by a special style of “organised disorder”
where theatrical ideas always abound.
Open for everything, which was performed
last April in Udine, the company’s sole port
of call in Italy, testified just this. For the
occasion the Dorky Park group worked with
nineteen Roma musicians and dancers selected
by Macras in the Czech and Slovak Repub-
lics and in Hungary. It seems a miracle that
Macras managed to keep such a lively, wild,
hilarious and melancholic bunch together in
her fixed choreographic project. Brought up
with strictness, these authentic individuals
express themselves poetically and with a
sense of humour: they tell us about their
dreams and their culture (which reflects their Cie Philippe Saire: “La Nuit transfigurée” (ph. P. Weissbrodt)
nomadic existence) and the prejudices that
afflict them. Yet there are no pietistic or ex-
plicitly political undertones in Open for Eve- ond part to Schönberg’s music and in the Stuttgart Ballet
rything. lively finale to an extract from L’Estro
A car circles around on stage like a wild armonico (“Harmonic Inspiration”) by
animal in a cage; in the centre is a garage- Antonio Vivaldi.
shed that houses stray tenants and which con- The choreography is also varied, with the Unknown Cherkaoui
verts into an alcove or a chapel full of reli- dancers dancing separately or in a group, spin-
gious icons. A “Romany musical”, driven by ning or jumping slowly. In a particularly suc- Le Chant du rossignol – chor. Marco Goecke,
captivating live music, from which a vision cessful passage the boys carry the woman in mus. Igor Stravinsky; L’Histoire du soldat –
of the “outsider” emerges. Confessions of slow-motion figurations. Portés alternate with chor. Demis Volpi, mus. Igor Stravinsky;
love and pains in gypsy camps mix with dancing at floor level. When Schönberg’s mu- L’Oiseau de feu – chor. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui,
bursts of hip-hop dances, acrobatics and in- sic reaches its climax the dancers remain mo- mus. Igor Stravinsky
terludes of uplifting chorality. When the tionless. Stuttgart (Germany) Opera House
show was over the spectators continued In the space of an hour the spectator ex-
dancing in the stalls and the foyer for an amaz- periences different emotions and emerges en- The Stuttgart Ballet’s Strawinsky Heute
ingly long time. Such are the surprises that riched. (“Stravinsky Today”) programme featured
Costanza Macras’s dance theatre manages to Emmanuèle Rüegger some Stravinsky ballets recreated by present-
pull off.
Leonetta Bentivoglio
Heather Macisaac, Roland Havlica – Stuttgart Ballet: “Le Chant du rossignol”, c. Marco
Goecke (ph. Stuttgart Ballet)
Cie Philippe Saire
Transfigured lovers
La Nuit transfigurée – chor. Philippe Saire,
mus. Arnold Schönberg, Antonio Vivaldi
Zurich, Hochschule der Künste (Swiss
Contemporary Dance Days)
50-year-old Swiss choreographer Philippe

Saire, works in Lausanne with the company
he founded in 1986.
For his La Nuit transfigurée (“Transfig-
ured Night”), commissioned by the Lausanne
Opera House, Saire went straight to the source
of Arnold Schönberg’s music: a poem by Ger-
man writer Richard Dehmel written in 1896
which tells of a couple walking in the night,
with the woman confessing to the man she
loves that she has been unfaithful to him.
He forgives her and the two lovers are thus
transfixed through their love.
It is danced by five dancers (a girl and four
boys) and is in three parts. At the begin-
ning the dancers dance to silence, in the sec-
45
day choreographers.
The evening was opened by a
work created for the Leipzig Bal-
let in 2009 by German choreog-
rapher Marco Goecke, one of the
resident choreographers of the
Stuttgart Ballet (and of the
Nederlands Dans Theatre). His un-
mistakable style is ideal for Igor
Stravinsky’s Chant du rossignol
(“Song of the Nightingale”) score.
Indeed the dancers’ arm move-
ments remind us of the flapping
of birds’ wings. The choreography,
consisting in minute, quick move-
ments, taut muscles and swiftly
twisting bodies (with the girls tak-
ing meticulous, tiny steps), de-
mands virtuoso dexterity of the
dancers, led by the remarkable Dan-
iel Camargo and Heather MacIsaac.
Next came a creation by Ar-
gentinian Demis Volpi, the Ger-
man company’s other, younger
resident choreographer. Although
Volpi’s version of L’Histoire du
soldat uses Stravinsky’s Suite,
without the text, it fluctuates be-
tween dance and theatre. Every-
thing revolves around Alicia
Amatriain in the role of the Devil.
But having good dancers is not
enough, this work is unconvinc-
ing. The duet of the Soldier and
the Devil seems unending.
Amatriain, wearing a white cos-
tume that doesn’t suit her,
squirms on the ground and
around the Soldier. We all know
that Amatriain is very lithe but
what we see is not dancing.
Martí Fernández Paixa does his
best as the Soldier.
We were eager to find out what
sort of work Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
had created for a prestigious clas-
sical ballet company like the Stutt-
gart Ballet, particularly since he
has now been called in to direct
The Royal Ballet of Flanders in
Antwerp though actually being
a foremost figure on the global
contemporary dance scene. The
least we can say is that it is a
surprising piece, embellished with
pirouettes, batteries and lovely
portés. The girls, on pointe, wear
billowing costumes. There are
some modern passages too, es-
Alicia Amatriain, Martí

Fernández Paixá –
Stuttgart Ballet:
“L’Histoire du Soldat”,
c. Demis Volpi
46
Marianela Núñez, Thiago Soares – The Royal Ballet: “Swan Lake” (ph. A. Pennefather)
pecially for the boys (Friedemann Vogel de- ing seven contracted female principal danc- politan Dance to be performed, a decision
serves a mention) but what we saw was a ers, the company has needed to import two only rescinded after his death by his lega-
Cherkaoui we had never seen before. He ig- Russians to assure performances, the di- tee. One can thus appreciate that Swan Lake
nores the story of The Firebird and is in- minutive Evgenia Obraztsova (a delightful presents a particularly thorny problem for
spired only by the music. And it shows: Odette but rather less impressive as Odile) The Royal Ballet, especially as the current
the work is highly musical and keeps the and Iana Salenko (technically strong but production is now irredeemably out of date,
spectator with bated breath. A sole criti- missing a great deal in characterisation). In- with Yolanda Sonnabend’s fussy sets and
cism: the work begins with a veil dance that deed, the Royal Ballet has recently felt se- costumes jarring to the eye.
is so complicated it doesn’t bode well. But riously russified with the two most excit- Liam Scarlett, the rising star of British
this criticisable start is misleading. ing dancers being Natalia Osipova (in choreography, is rumoured to have the com-
Emmanuèle Rüegger coruscating form) and the impossibly elegant mission for a new production (date as yet
and accomplished Vadim Muntagirov. unconfirmed) and already fears and concerns
The Royal Ballet And there are even more unsettling clouds are being expressed. Scarlett is promising
on the horizon with increasing talk of a new indeed, but he has no experience of creat-
production. Swan Lake is one of the cor- ing a three-act ballet or indeed staging a clas-
nerstones of the repertoire in London and sical work, and his own exposure to Swan
New Lake on the there is a proud tradition of performance Lake as a dancer has been exclusively in the
horizon stretching back to when the former Impe-
rial Ballet régisseur Nicholas Sergeyev first
current production as a corps de ballet mem-
ber or demi-soloist. There are calls for this
Swan Lake – chor. after Lev Ivanov and set it from his notes smuggled out of Rus- ballet’s rich local performing heritage to be
Marius Petipa, prod. Anthony Dowell, mus. sia. In 1987 Anthony Dowell turned his restored, with Ashton’s interpolations re-
Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky back on a great deal of the ballet’s local her- vived, but the chances of that happening are
London, Royal Opera House itage by producing his own staging – not frankly slight, given that Scarlett will never
only did the company dance a fairly ‘au- have seen them. Crucially, under director
The Royal Ballet dusts off Anthony thentic’ version, but it had also accumulated Kevin O’Hare, the winds of change have
Dowell’s veteran production of Swan Lake choreography from Frederick Ashton includ- been keenly felt at Covent Garden and what
one more time for an extended run, ensur- ing the Act I waltz, a scintillating pas de is more likely is a radical revision – a new
ing a full theatre and money in the bank. quatre and the most lyrical of fourth acts. Swan Lake is a once in a generation event
However, not all is necessarily well; the So offended was the veteran choreographer for a company like The Royal Ballet – his
corps de ballet are going through a good pe- that all his choreography was to be jetti- decisions on it will be felt for years, even
riod, with a pleasing uniformity, but prob- soned that he is alleged to have refused per- decades, to come.
lems arise at principal level. Despite hav- mission even for his quicksilver Act III Nea- Gerald Dowler
47
B a l l e t Tu b e
This column compares a selection of videos of the same piece danced by different artists, encouraging readers
to go and see for themselves... This month, we take a look at the “entrée” of Russian Kitris in “Don Quixote”
on the web. The videos mentioned can be found on YouTube channel: magazineBALLET2000.
Enter Kitri
The first eagerly-awaited moment in a reper-
tory ballet is the entrance of the leading balle-
rina. That of Kitri in Don Quixote is undoubt-
edly one of the most spectacular of such
moments: a large portion of the ballet’s verve
and female virtuoso ‘cache’ is served up here
as an hors-d’oeuvre which smacks of a main dish.
Various videos of this famous entrée can be
seen on YouTube and one of the possible itin-
eraries we can follow is that of comparing dif-
ferences between the two great branches of the
Russian balletic tree: the Moscow branch
(Bolshoi) and the Leningrad/Petersburg branch
(Kirov-Mariinsky).
And the welcome toast will be like a fire-
work display if the cup is raised by none other
than Maya Plisetskaya. We see her in a black
and white film from the 1950s, to the sound
of spontaneous applause by a delirious pub-
lic. The great Maya’s entrance is sensational,
her port de bras is wide and generous as if in
offering to the spectator; her energy is daz-
zling, her jump is grandiose, the quality of her
Natalia Osipova in the entrée of “Don Quixote” with Australian Ballet (ph. J. Busby)
movement is straightforward and direct, its terse ders coordination, the épaulements/cambrés
brushstrokes do not dwell on detail. counterpoint and that of the fan and the skirt
Let us linger in Moscow and come down a whose flounces Terekhova tactically lifts. Such
few generations to the Bolshoi-trained balleri- meticulous attention to detail does not prevent
nas who still follow in the footsteps of their her from flaunting a top-notch technique, in-
predecessors, one of whom is Nina Ananiashvili. cluding a terrific jump. Virtuoso brio and aca-
Her parcours, the ability to fill the stage space demic rigour are blended together into a whole
with broad movements (“well-travelled”, so to that is harmonious and truly dansant.
Maya Plisetskaya speak), is truly remarkable, natural and extraor- Along this same formal and “analytical” line,
dinarily all-embracing. It seems evident that her bearing the Vaganova Academy ‘hallmark’, is
role model is Plisestkaya. Evgenia Obraztsova (who trained at Vaganova
Fast-forward to the present, one cannot fail and joined the Mariinsky, though she is now
to find videos on the Natalia Osipova phenom- a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi in Moscow).
enon. In spite of whatever reservations the purist Given that she is not what one would call a
observer may interject (especially vis-à-vis the “virtuosa” – i.e. she does not have the strong
music in this case) the very least one can say technique of the aforementioned ballerinas –
about her entrance is that is also akin to a fire- one might conclude that she is unsuited to Don
work display, one to which it is hard to remain Q. Yet she has such irresistible stage vitality
indifferent. The lightning speed of her move- and her dancing is so sparkling (albeit in a dif-
ments are laced with eccentric folly and a non- ferent way to what we are accustomed nowa-
Tatiana Terekhova
chalance that easily borders on blotchiness. days), that she seems – at least in spirit – to
As one views the various videos one will notice have scraped all the Soviet strata off her Kitri
variations vis-à-vis the traditional choreography: and given the heroine back a vague fragrance
in the three above-mentioned videos the bril- of Romantic academicism à la Petipa.
liant manège of assemblés en tournant at the I would have wished to conclude this foray
end of the first part stands out. with Ekaterina Maximova. However the selec-
As we go north from Moscow to Petersburg, tion of videos of her in this role available on
the mood changes altogether. There is a price- the Internet is sadly lacking the entrée. I shall
less video of Tatiana Terekhova, a splendid have occasion to discuss her delightful and bub-
Kirov virtuosa from the 1970s through to the bly Kitri when we take a look at other mo-
‘Nineties. Each single movement is painstak- ments from “DonQ”.
Nina Ananiashvili ingly chiselled, especially the head-arms-shoul- Cristiano Merlo
48
MultiMÉDIA
Cinema WEB reographed Diana Vishneva’s hair for Kerastase

to demonstrate that it is possible to obtain
“smooth, disciplined hair, even in motion”.
A Lake on the big screen The critic-spectator online On the other hand it would be impossible to
count the times in which hair has been seen
The Royal Opera House and Dreamlight Is the age-old cat-and-mouse game between to dance onstage, from Pina Bausch onwards!
Entertainment relay operas and ballets live from artists and critics becoming more complicated In closing, a mention of Galeries Lafayette
Covent Garden London to cinemas. One of or more simple thanks to Facebook, Twitter who have commissioned dances and non-
these was Swan Lake in the version choreo- and social media generally? The revival at Teatri dances by well-known choreographers for a
graphed by Anthony Dowell, England’s great- di Vita, Bologna (Italy) of Solo Goldberg Im- video filmed in its revamping work sites in
est dancer who was interviewed during the provisation to music by Bach, an early work Paris.
interval (by an ever-elegant and ever-lovely from 2001 by Virgilio Sieni (currently “Ita- E.G.V.
Darcey Bussell) in front of a British cup of ly’s trendiest choreographer”), has given rise
tea. The video is also to be released on DVD. to a “blog for analysis, information and re- DVD
(See Reviews where this Swan Lake is also views” which is also going to be active for
discussed from another perspective, Editor’s the other shows in
note). Bologna: nellepieghedelcorpo.wordpress.com. Bolshoi, four in one
The big attraction of this production, how- One can already read comments on The Rite
ever, is not the company (which is anything of Spring, also by Sieni. Is this sort of (po- The Great Ballets from the Bolshoi – DVD
but stellar) but exclusively the two lead danc- tentially) planetary opinion forum that car- Bel Air classiques
ers. Natalia Osipova is obviously more at ries remarks of every stripe narcissistic, self- The Great Ballets
home in the role of the Black Swan which referential and insouciant, or is it conducive from the Bolshoi is a
she attacks with flamboyance – amazing to critical thought on the part of writers and box-set of four
virtuosa that she is – but also with the mis- readers? And will it help promote theatre-go- DVDs released by
chievous countenance required. Matthew ing? Bel Air Classiques
Golding has incredibly fast turns and light There is not much point in asking ourselves, and containing: The
jumps considering how extremely tall he is, seeing as these fora exist and are used. Let Nutcracker by Yuri
but has a lacklustre expression. As for Yolanda they who subscribe to them decide for them- Grigorovich, The
Sonnabend’s costumes and scenery, inspired selves. Sleeping Beauty and
by Russia at the time of Tchaikovsky, they The Montpellier Festival invites spectators Giselle (Grigorovich
are unknowingly ultra kitsch: at times they of the Opéra Berlioz/Le Corum’s programmes versions) and The
are a burlesque version of Gothic-Baroque to write their own critiques and submit them Flames of Paris by
(Rothbart, with his bird-of-prey appearance, to a “selection board” (who is on it?) which Alexei Ratmansky.
would have been rejected even in a second- will then choose the best ones to be published Obviously when we say Bolshoi (which sim-
rate horror show) and the feathery skirts (in in daily “Midi Libre”, the festival’s media part- ply means “big” in Russian – hence there are
lieu of tutus) assassinate the lines of the cho- ner. Further details are available on a large number of “Bolshoi” theatres in Rus-
reography. Talking of which, Ashton’s Nea- montpellierdanse.com and midilibre.fr by click- sia) we mean that of Moscow.
politan dance in Act 3 (that seems taken from ing on “Soyez critique!”. Once upon a time BALLET2000 has already discussed each of
Bournonville or Balanchine) and a highly-agi- it used to be said that everyone was a born these videos, both when they were relayed
tated waltz in Act 1 (staged by David Bintley) critic when it came to soccer and cinema, but live to cinemas (by Pathé Live) and when the
are piled onto the ballet’s Petipa-Ivanov base. music, dance and gossip are now also the vir- single DVDs were released. So I shall only
What is the point in hanging onto such an un- tual talk of the town. comment on them briefly.
successful production (dated 1987, when E.G.V. The “Tsarina of ballet” Svetlana Zakharova
Dowell was the director of The Royal), with towers over Grigorovich’s abridged 2011 ver-
its overly-long fourth act which ends miser- sion of The Sleeping Beauty; her numerous fans
ably as the lovers jump to their deaths from a Dancing for publicity will be able to find here all the qualities they
scaffold situated at the back on the stage on love about Zakharova and which her critics
the left? There are many different ideas as to what consider flaws. Dancing alongside her is David
To top it all, on the cinema screen during dance is and what it’s for; but what message Hallberg who has already gone down in his-
the intervals we watched Twitter messages comes across via advertising? Fashion is par- tory as “the first American at the Bolshoi”
come in, all highly positive, from people who ticularly fascinated by dancers and makes ex- and is highly popular in Moscow despite being
have never seen a ballet in their lives, express- cellent use of this fascination. Suffice it to see (or perhaps precisely on account of this) the
ing their surprise at not being bored one bit Diesel’s amusing A-Z of Dance which takes quintessence of a dancer who is anything but
and praising every single detail, including Boris us, in alphabetical order, through the genres: Muscovite in style.
Gruzin’s conducting – which was expeditious from krump to pole dance, from twerk to In Giselle, a recording from 2010, the title
to say the least. What is the point in dis-edu- vogueing, via ballet and hip hop. Issey role is danced by Svetlana Lunkina who no
cating a planetary public who are well-dis- Miyake has instead enlisted Carlotta Sagna longer belongs to the troupe. Albeit somewhat
posed to love good ballet? It is all very well as the star of its elegant and sheer ad for the “understated”, her performance is admirable
to make money and to self-finance oneself with new collection (visible on Vimeo). Levis has from a stylistic point of view. Albrecht is
these relays, to request a £ 39/€ 54 “good- enlisted a slender couple from the Korean Dmitry Gudanov, with his elegant and soft-
will” contribution towards the dancers’ bal- National Ballet to publicise its stretch-to-fit quality movement.
let shoes and to sell digital programmes on jeans for the Far East market (YouTube). New In The Flames of Paris one can appreciate
www.roh.org.uk/publications, but the same creativity website Nowness has called on the the unique technique and interpretation of
cannot be said about bamboozling paying au- talent of Benjamin Millepied to choreograph Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vassiliev when the
diences with slyly-selected puerile tweets. Haut Vol which has received a huge number two were still with the Bolshoi in 2010.
Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino of viewings online. Carolyn Carlson has cho- Osipova’s frenzy and passion in the Basque
49
Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg
– Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow:
“The Sleeping Beauty”
(ph. D. Yusupov)
Books
Pina – Walter Vogel – L’Arche

“Pina” is a book by German photographer
Walter Vogel who was Pina Bausch’s friend
and faithful admirer from beginning to end and
followed her artistic career for almost forty
years; after being published in Germany and
Great Britain, it has now also been published
in France by L’Arche, Paris.
It is mostly the early period of the famous
choreographer’s career – the least known and
most mysterious – that emerges from Vogel’s
book and he is able to reveal anecdotes and
images that differ entirely from the exten-
sively-circulated ones everyone is familiar
with and that make her look like a ghostly
priestess. The text, like a “travel log” of
Vogel’s long friendship with Pina Bausch,
is personal, authentic, packed with information
and written in a tone that is warm and con-
fidential, yet at the same time full of rever-
ence. It is especially the spectacular photo-
graphs that dominate this volume, many of
which cover years prior to the founding of
the Tanztheater Wuppertal.
We see Pina as a young and fascinating
dancer, heavily made-up and fancying her-
self as a femme fatale: rehearsing with her
dance, wearing character shoes and a tricouleur Nureyev’s repertory. But, like almost all ga- teacher Hans Züllig at the Folkwang Acad-
skirt, is irresistible and does the Bolshoi’s great las, its downside is that it comes across as emy (Hochscule) in Essen, the legendary pow-
tradition of danseurs de caractère proud. fragmented in its motley sequence of pieces, erhouse of central European Free Dance
But the real gem of this box-set is Nina with excerpts from story- ballets deprived of where the young versatile dancer (who also
Kaptsova in The Nutcracker. She is refined their correct mood and sumptuous grands pas had a penchant for the pointes of classical
and musical, her movements are both swift reduced to simple pas de deux (e.g. Raymonda ballet) trained; in
yet adorned with finely-chiselled detail and Act Three) or even adages for two (e.g. “the duets beside Jean
she has impeccable coordination and the gift White Swan” or “The Kingdom of the Shades” Cébron; at the
of sprezzatura, that is to say the ability to from La Bayadère). The projections on the Metropolitan,
face the thousand and one technical challenges backdrop attempt to recreate the atmosphere New York, in
of Grigorovich’s complex choreography with of the ballets in question but are in such bad 1960 in Gluck’s
prodigious ease. taste that they merely succeed in making things Alceste, with cho-
Cristiano Merlo worse. reography by
The dancers (which the DVD describes as Antony Tudor
Tribute to Nureyev, once more “world famous ballet stars”, though such a (whom Pina
definition is befitting only of few) include: Bausch adored)
Nureyev and Friends, a gala tribute – DVD Tamara Rojo with Federico Bonelli or Rupert and in ballets
Wienerworld Pennefather in an English reper- with Kurt Jooss,
In 2013, on the occasion of toire (Ashton and MacMillan), the father of Ex-
the 75th anniversary of Rudolf Evgenia Obraztsova with Dmitry pressionist dance. And, of course, there are
Nureyev’s birth – an anniversary Gudanov in the pas de deux photographs of her taken during pauses, un-
always provides a good pretext from Sleeping Beauty, Aurélie failingly smoking a cigarette. During the 1960s
– a ballet gala in tribute to the Dupont and Mathias Heyman in Pina often posed as a model for Walter Vogel
great dancer was performed at the Raymonda, Iana Salenko, Evgeny and his photos depict her as breezy, mischie-
Palais des Congrès, under the Ivanchenko, Vadim Muntagirov vous and unexpectedly sexy, or splendidly
auspices of the Rudolf Nureyev etc. Heyman, in a tormented lithe and chic like “Audrey”. Flowing hair, diva-
Foundation. A DVD of that gala “Sturm und Drang” solo from like sunglasses, slender, statuesque, startlingly
has now been released by Manfred (one of Nureyev’s origi- topless. The overall portrait that this book
Wienerworld. nal, though lesser-known, bal- paints of the “Grande Dame” of Wuppertal
The gala tried to provide a lets), deserves a mention . is unusual and poetic.
synthesis of a significant part of C.M. Leonetta Bentivoglio
50
51
programmes • programmi • calendar • programmes TV programmi • calendar • programmes • programmi
Classica
www.mondoclassica.it
3, 14. VI: The Neighbour – c. Jo Strømgren
– JS Company
3, 12, 14. VI: Danza in scena: “Matteo Levaggi”
5, 7. VI: Danza in scena: “Roberto Bolle in
Onegin”; Danza in scena: “Emio Greco e
Peter Scholten”
10, 19, 21. VI: Fuenteovejunas – c. Anto-
nio Gades – Compañía Antonio Gades
17, 26, 28. VI: Coppélia – c. Maguy Marin
– Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon
24. VI: The Moiseyev Ballet
Aurélie Dupont, Hervé Moreau:

“Daphnis et Chloé”, c. Benjamin Millepied
(ph. A. Poupeney)
Moiseyev Dance Company: “Suite of Moldavian Dances”
Mezzo Mezzo live HD
www.mezzo.tv www.mezzo.tv
1, 10, 13. VI: Puccini; Roméo et Juliette – c. 5, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 29, 30. VI, 3. VII: Le
Julien Lestrel – Cie Julien Lestrel Lac; Le Songe – c. Jean-Christophe Maillot
3, 6. VI: Shéhérazade; Dust and Light; Triangle – Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
of Squinches – c. Alonzo King – Alonzo King 6, 8, 9, 12, 22, 23, 26, 27. VI: Icare; L’Après-
Lines Ballet; Alonzo King, le poète de la danse midi d’un faune; Suite en blanc – c. Serge
(docum.) Lifar; Eau – c. Carolyn Carlson – Ballet de
5, 8, 17, 20. VI: Le Palais de Cristal – c. George l’Opéra de Bordeaux
Balanchine – Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, int.
Amandine Albisson, Mathieu Ganio, Ludmila
Pagliero, Karl Paquette; A Midsummer’s Night
Dream – c. George Balanchine – Balletto
del Teatro alla Scala, int. Alessandra Ferri,
Roberto Bolle, Massimo Murru
12, 15, 24, 27. VI: “Soirée de ballet à l’Opéra
de Paris”; Ma mère adorait la danse (docum.)
16. VI, 1. VII: L’Histoire de Manon – c. Kenneth
MacMillan – Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, int.
Aurélie Dupont, Roberto Bolle: Daphnis et
Chloé – c. Benjamin Millepied – Ballet de
l’Opéra de Paris, int. Aurélie Dupont, Hervé
Moreau
22, 29. VI: Dances at a Gathering – c. Jerome
Robbins; Siddharta – c. Angelin Preljocaj –
Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, int. Nicolas Le
Riche, Aurélie Dupont
3. VII: Le Spectre de la Rose; Une dernière
chanson; Magifique – c. Thierry Malandain –
Malandain/Ballet Biarritz; À propos de Magifique
(docum.)
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo:

“Le Lac”, c. J.-C. Maillot
(ph. A. Sterling)
52
53
PHOTO GALLERY
Sylvie Guillem, Michele

Satriano: “Steptext”,
c. William Forsythe
(ph. M. Borrelli)
54
Sylvie Guillem: “Boléro”,
c. Maurice Béjart
5 LUGLIO
OPUS BALLET (Firenze)
55
Evgenia Obraztsova, Steven McRae – The Royal Ballet: “Swan Lake”, c. Anthony Dowell (ph. T. Kenton)
American Ballet Theatre: “La Belle au bois dormant”, c. Marius Petipa, Alexei Ratmansky
56
57
Victoria Marr, Tyrone Singleton –
Birmingham Royal Ballet:
“Carmina Burana”,
c. David Bintley (ph. B. Cooper)
FOTO
58
Edward Watson – The Royal Ballet: “The Four Temperaments”, c. George Balanchine (ph. T. Kenton)
Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Tokyo Ballet: “La Neuvième Symphonie”, c. Maurice Béjart
59
FOTO
Vaison Danses: Ballet du Capitole: “Valser”, c. Catherine Berbessous (ph. D. Herrero)
Montpellier
Danse: “Golden
Hours
(As you like it)”,
c. Anne Teresa
De Keersmaeker
(ph. A. Van
Aerschot)
60
61
Karina
Gonzalez,
Charles-Louis
Yoshiyama –
Houston Ballet:
“Maninyas”,
c. Stanton Welch
(ph. Amitava
Sarkar
Alisa Sodoleva,
Mikhail
Venshchikov –
Mikhailovsky
Ballet:
“Le Lac des
cygnes”
62
Stuttgart Ballet:
“L’Oiseau de feu”,
c. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
FOTO
63
Paloma
Herrera,
Roberto Bolle
– American
Ballet
Theatre:
“Giselle”
(ph. G.
Schiavone)
Ö
Xiomara
Reyes,
Herman
Cornejo –
American
Ballet
Theatre:
“Giselle” (ph.
M. Sol).
ÖÖ
Julie Kent –
American
Ballet
Theatre:
“Romeo and
Juliet”,
c. Kenneth
Guido Sarno – Prague MacMillan
National Theatre Ballet: (ph. R.
“La Bayadère” O’Connor).
(ph. P. Hejny) Ö
64
Adieux
FOTO
65
66
11
12

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the international dance magazine ENGLISH Edition • n°253

Next month’s BALLET2000

ration with Peter Pabst, followed by a more re-

Fourvière with Guillem and Pagés

Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon: “One Flat Thing, Reproduced”, c. William Forsythe

June and July. Life in progress will in fact be the

From Lyon to Marseilles

the new director of the Paris Opéra Ballet,

MontpellierDanse kicks off with

Inger and Bigonzetti at the

kicks off in the USA (Los Angeles) and will even-

Carlos Acosta, Pieter Symonds:

version choreographed by Ugo Dell’Ara. Alina

dancer. The play will also be performed at the

Dance Click by Luca Ruzza

by Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Thea-

Bintley, two decades at

Random and Opéra dancers

Bombana’s ballet is an evening-long work in

Mariinsky Ballet, St Petersburg: “The Nutcracker”, c. Vassili Vainonen (ph. N. Razina)

side Roberto Bolle, with Reyes taking the

The Sylphide flies over the

Maya Plisetskaya in her ballet “The Lady

Maya Plisetskaya (ph. Serge Lido, 1961)

Sylvie bids adieu holding her

Sylvie Guillem danced the entire ballet repertoire: nar-

Six o’clock: the fateful hour

Ballet Nice Méditerranée

Eric Vu-An in Nice: the

Five years have gone by since we began fol-

Ballet Nice Méditerranée:

Danza Contemporánea de Cuba

Batsheva Dance Company: “The Hole”, c. Ohad Naharin (ph. G. Dagon)

tion: Reversible by Belgian-Co-

Jessica and me – chor. Cristiana Dorky Park

50-year-old Swiss choreographer Philippe

Alicia Amatriain, Martí

Cinema WEB reographed Diana Vishneva’s hair for Kerastase

Pina – Walter Vogel – L’Arche

Aurélie Dupont, Hervé Moreau:

Moiseyev Dance Company: “Suite of Moldavian Dances”

Mezzo Mezzo live HD

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo:

Sylvie Guillem, Michele

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