Ballet meets folk
A conversation with Debbie Norris, founder and artistic director of Ballet Folk, whose The Tears of Jenny Greenteeth is on in London on February 2
David Mead
Four choreographers, four works: Gauthier Dance in Swan Lakes
An homage to the familiar ballet. But while each of the four works was inspired by the classic, each is decidedly contemporary and different.
Stuttgart Ballet’s new family-friendly Nutcracker
By Edward Clug, with sets and costumes by the acclaimed Jürgen Rose. And it’s the 85-year-old Rose’s designs that stick most in the memory
Badisches Staatsballett: Ruß – Eine Geschichte von Aschenputtel (Soot – A Retelling of Cinderella)
Bridget Briner’s complex, impressive version that relocates the story and tells it from the perspective of Livia, one of Cinderella’s stepsisters
Clean, sleek, stylish: Badisches Staatsballett in David Dawson’s Giselle
Modern yes, but still a ballet driven by emotions and imperfect people…and that in Act II especially, touches in all the right places
Delving into the recesses of Prospero’s mind: Dance Theater Heidelberg in Island
Outstandingly performed, sadness and melancholy pervades in Pérez’s intense, magnetic work that puts a new face on Shakespeare’s drama.
A Nutcracker with a difference. Christian Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig for Ballett Zürich
Complex and a real puzzle, for a while, Spuck’s ballet is very disorienting although it does become increasingly clear as the familiar starts to emerge
Real and of today: Pontus Lidberg’s Giselle
The setting may be updated but this is very much a Giselle still full of powerful feelings that reach out and touch
ACE Dance and Music: Unknown Realms
The quality and physicality of the dancing could not be faulted. The togetherness in unison moments was exceptional.
Glistening, glowing and a riot of colour: Birmingham Royal Ballet’s reinvigorated Nutcracker
The refurbishment hasn’t just freshened the ballet up, it’s completely reinvigorated it… The perfect pre-festive treat for old and young alike
