Category: dance

“Your whole self image is ballet, it’s a very narrow minded profession… your whole world is about ballet, and if you have a bad class or don’t get that part, your whole world comes crashing down.”

“Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes sparked a revolution in taste after the first world war, taking modernism out of the salon and into the music hall. … [But] less well documented is the spell he cast over British film.” That spell led to a couple of tantalizing near-misses.

“The popularity of all things dance has helped the Australian Ballet finish the year on a high. Audiences, income, education programming and, of all things, merchandise sales are up on last year. But so are costs.”

“Over the past two decades, dozens of dancers … have left the Caribbean island, without assurance of the ability to return … Today they hold principal positions in many of the United States’ top ballet companies. The distinctive Cuban style – which emphasizes speed and athleticism, as well as theatricality – has colored technique standards from New York to San Francisco.”

“What is it that makes a great dancer? It’s that the body is somehow illuminated. There’s something expressive that’s coming through. It’s that that makes a great dancer – not whether they have perfectly turned out legs or a very thin body.”

“Of course, Macaulay is absolutely in the right. If critics must judge according to the self-esteem of the performers rather than the merits of the production, then there is no point in publishing. Friends and family can write the reviews. … [I]ntegrity and intensity of response is the critic’s gift. And it is the critics who bring in the audiences as well as putting them off.”

Alastair Macaulay reports on the merchandise he’s seen in the lobbies on his tour of American Nutcrackers: Mouse King cookies in Seattle, Drosselmeyer action figures in Denver, tiers of Nutcracker soldiers in Houston. But there’s one seemingly obvious item he hasn’t yet seen in any of the gift shops …

“Oakland has had a tough time of it; everybody can agree with that. I want to establish artistic credibility as well as demonstrating viability.”

“Up on stage, as well as in the wings, there’s as much chatter during the performance as you’d find in any neighborhood pub.”

“The Rambert Dance Company’s dream of a state-of-the-art home on the South Bank has moved a huge jump closer thanks to a £7million Lottery boost.”