John Cranko School and Stuttgart Ballet: Aktion Weinachten
With all ticket proceeds from which go to the charity, this year’s edition of established favourites and new work was a festive feast of fine dance
Europe
An epic voyage: Zephyr by Mourad Merzouki and Compagnie Käfig
Dance at its very best. A fabulous, fabulous seventy minutes of marvellous theatre. A real spectacle that holds you from start to finish
Stuttgart Ballet: Creations XIII-XV
The highlight of the evening was Vittoria Girelli’s Sospesi, an effective visualisation of ideas and coming together of music and movement
Dance Theatre Pforzheim: Nutcracker and the Mouse King
A hugely enjoyable interpretation told with lots of imagination. A convincing telling that sends you away with a big, happy smile
Heinz Bosl Foundation Autumn Matinée with the Bavarian Junior Ballet
A fine showcase of young talent including Heinz Bosl Prize winner Serhii Zharikov with Kaela Tapper in Uwe Scholz’s sublime Sonata
Bayerisches Staatsballett: Schmetterling
Silent Screen and Schmetterling sit together comfortably, sharing Lightfoot and Léon’s distinct movement vocabulary and strong sense of theatricality
A beautiful confession: Alessandro Marzotto Levy’s Irene
Dedicated to a dear departed friend, the work developed out of the loss and dismay he went through after her death
A dance of seduction: Bayerisches Staatsballett in Le Parc
Prelocaj deals with love and attraction, sexual desire and seduction. It’s very much a ballet of suggestion, of desire that’s only realised in Act III
Tanzkomplizen: Ich Kann’s Nicht Lassen
A participatory family-friendly piece where the spectators became protagonists themselves, each performance thus being unique.
A tale of dashing pirates and sensuous slave girls: Royal Swedish Ballet in Le Corsaire
José Martínez has given the ballet a make-over. With the important dance intact but the libretto trimmed, it is destined to become a new favourite.
A dance of dreams: Zürich Ballett in Marcos Morau’s Nachtträume
A mesmerising piece from the dark realm of dreams inhabited by genderless creatures and a drag-queen in black sequins and a towering tiara