Ballet News | Straight from the stage – bringing you ballet insights

ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET TO PREMIERE LE CORSAIRE English National Ballet will premiere a new production of Le Corsaire (The Pirate), one of the great 19th Century classics, in October 2013.  English National Ballet will be the first UK company to perform the complete work which will open in Milton Keynes.  The production will tour Southampton, [...]

The Royal Ballet announces 2013/14 season Today saw the launch of Artistic Director Kevin O’Hare’s second season at The Royal Ballet, and he was characteristically understated but also quietly confident that as his first season is going very well - the company is selling almost all of the tickets it offers - and is excited about the new season. Has [...]

The Royal Ballet’s Steven McRae & Royal Danish Ballet’s Alban Lendorf to dance with ABT in Spring 2013 as part of artist exchange programme Principal Dancer Cory Stearns to Appear with The Royal Ballet and Soloist Isabella Boylston to Perform with the Royal Danish Ballet as Exchange Artists American Ballet Theatre has announced an exchange [...]

South African Mzansi Ballet announces plans for 2013 The founding of a new ballet company is a historic event and with the establishment in 2012 of the South African Mzansi Ballet (SAMB) this has been a landmark year for the entire SA ballet community. Highlight of 2012 was the first SA production of the classic, [...]

THE WASHINGTON BALLET ANNOUNCES 2012.2013 SEASON: SEDUCTION   THE WASHINGTON BALLET SEASON OVERVIEW   Dracula (1996) – October 24 – November 4, 2012 (Company Premiere) One of the entertainment events of the year, The Washington Ballet presents Michael Pink’s chilling blockbuster Dracula. This wildly theatrical and voluptuous ballet is a breathtaking story of passion, yearning, [...]

Ballet News Previews | The Southbank Show – The Male Dancer Billed as “an exploration of the role of the male dancer, developed within classical ballet over the last century,” the welcome return of The South Bank Show puts the spotlight on three of the best male dancers who have made the biggest impact on ballet – Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Angela Malan, Senior Principal dancer, Ballet Mistress and Coach, South African Ballet Theatre  What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? I am motivated by the constant, yet unobtainable strive for perfection! Why ballet ? Ballet is the only thing that feeds all I need: my soul, my body, [...]

Mzansi Productions and The South African Ballet Theatre present the first-ever production in South Africa of the great ballet classic Le Corsaire A Ballet in two Acts 19 to 29 July 2012 An exotic tale of love and adventure and a glittering showcase of virtuoso dancing in classical ballet’s grandest style, Le Corsaire brims with breath-taking spectacle, [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Burnise Silvius, Principal dancer, The South African Ballet Theatre What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? I love being active, it’s become a way of life. I look forward to getting into class, especially after a two-day break. It is wonderful to get back into the studio and [...]

Russian Ballet Icons Gala London Coliseum Sunday 4th March 2012 What a night. The thing about this Gala series is that you don’t get standard gala fare – Don Quixote, Swan Lake etc,. Galas can present the kind of difficulties that you don’t find in the standard repertory and arise out of a lack of rehearsal [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Joseph Phillips, Corps de Ballet, American Ballet Theatre What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? My passion for dancing has been my main motivation and drive ever since I can remember. Attending class is my favorite part of the morning it sets me up for the whole day. The [...]

Ballet News | Prix de Lausanne Gala in pictures To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Prix de Lausanne organised a Gala performance on Sunday, February 5th, 2012, at 5 pm, with 25 artists, most of them prize winners. The programme consisted of : Aki Saito · Wim Vanlessen Sonate nº 5 · Choreography Maurice Béjart Music [...]

ETHAN STIEFEL TO RETIRE AS PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE Ethan Stiefel, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 1997, will retire from the Company at the conclusion of the 2012 Metropolitan Opera House season in New York City, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.  Stiefel will give his farewell [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Herman Cornejo, Principal, American Ballet Theatre What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? I have to admit that I’m not a morning person, but I feel very lucky to live out my dream as my job. Sometimes there’s not one specific motivation to go into the studio every morning [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Vanessa Zahorian, Principal, San Francisco Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? What motivates me at 8am to wake up on a Monday is dancing itself. Knowing that I get to work in a job that consists of my passion and love -ballet - and getting to dance [...]

For a few months and across continents I’ve been catching up with Claudia Dean, one of this years graduates of The Royal Ballet School.  Dean begins work this month with The Royal Ballet, one of only three students in her year to be awarded contracts with the company. I mentioned Dean in both my reviews of [...]

PRINCIPAL DANCER LARISSA PONOMARENKO APPOINTED BALLET MASTER WITH BOSTON BALLET AFTER 18 ILLUSTRIOUS YEARS ON STAGE WITH THE COMPANY BOSTON, MA – May 19, 2011 – Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced today that principal dancer Larissa Ponomarenko has been appointed Ballet Master for Boston Ballet. She has decided to retire from the stage [...]

THE WASHINGTON BALLET COMPANY PREMIERE OF LE CORSAIRE TWB mounts Anna-Marie Holmes’ interpretation of the classic story about pirates and pashas WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Ballet (TWB) mounts the classic story ballet Le Corsaire (The Pirate), a swashbuckling adventure of pirates, pashas and slave girls, April 6 through 10 at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower [...]

It’s very easy to write about ballet using the terminology, French as it is, talking in a very codified way that mostly exists within the rehearsal studio, which can be hard for newcomers to penetrate.  It’s much harder to knuckle down and focus on the nuts and bolts that you take for granted that everyone will understand [...]

BOSTON BALLET OPENS 2010-2011 SEASON WITH NIGHT OF STARS AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE    Company’s International Roster Showcased in New Works and Repertoire Favorites with Guest Stars Laëtitia Pujol and Alessio Carbone of Paris Opera Ballet  BOSTON, MA – September 15, 2010 – Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced today the complete program and casting [...]