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.
Translating a divergent body
David Agudelo Restrepo on a work that asks how translatable is the disabled experience to those who do not inhabit bodies with such limitations
Brilliant, high-intensity theatre: Ruination by Lost Dog
Ben Duke has found a sweet spot to set his trial of Medea. The kingdom of Hades, across the River Styx but not yet in Elysium, is just right
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
A Christmas treat: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty: A Gothic Romance
With some of Bourne’s best choreography in the detail of the variations, the passion of the duets and strong ensemble numbers.
Thrilling theatre: Norwegian National Ballet in The Hamlet Complex Redux
Simply too much to absorb in one viewing, but the brilliant stage pictures and the fine performances make for total immersion in thrilling theatre
B.DANCE in The Cell: a mesmerising look at self conversation in a time of chaos
Riveting choreography. By looking at the madness we…have gone through, Tsai Po-Cheng invites the audience to let go, explore our deeper feelings
ACE Dance and Music: Unknown Realms
The quality and physicality of the dancing could not be faulted. The togetherness in unison moments was exceptional.
Freaky Bones: Israel Galván’s La Consagración de la Primavera
Goes far deeper than the spectacular or technique for technique’s sake. One comes out feeling awed and moved