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

Cupcakes & Conversation with Ty King-Wall, Principal, The Australian Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? Absolutely nothing! I get up at 8.30am….Not a morning person! If ballet chose you, as many dancers say it did, what is it that has made you stick with it ? Insanity, and a certain level [...]

THE ROYAL BALLET TAKES ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, SWAN LAKE AND A GALA PROGRAMME TO JAPAN   Friday 5 to Sunday 14 July 2013   The Royal Ballet returns to the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo with three exciting programmes including the Asian premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Anthony Dowell’s production of [...]

The Royal Ballet’s Olivia Cowley | Pointe Shoes & Plasters There is nothing remotely glamorous about being a professional ballet dancer. As Olivia Cowley, a dancer in her 10th season with The Royal Ballet tells me, “people think it’s blisters but actually it’s not. It’s the nails, the bed of the nails, no matter how [...]

LEANNE BENJAMIN TO RETIRE AFTER 20 YEARS AS A PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH THE ROYAL BALLET After an outstanding 21 years dancing with The Royal Ballet, Principal Dancer Leanne Benjamin has announced her intention to retire in July 2013, at the end of the current season.  Her last performance will be in Tokyo on 10 July in [...]

THE ROYAL BALLET SUMMER SEASON MAY – JUNE 2013 RAVEN GIRL / SYMPHONY IN C Wayne McGregor / George Balanchine Conductor: Koen Kessels / Georges Bizet   Evening Performances at 7.30pm: Friday 24, Tuesday 28, Wednesday 29 May, Monday 3 June, Saturday 8 June Matinee performances: Wednesday 29 May 2pm, Saturday 8 June 1.30pm Raven [...]

London Coliseum to host tribute to Vaslav Nijinsky Russian Ballet Icons Gala and Dinner 2013   Grand annual gala to celebrate the life and work of the legendary dancer   The Russian Ballet Icons Gala 2013, a grand gala evening dedicated to Vaslav Nijinsky will be held on the 10th March 2013 on the stage [...]

The Royal Ballet in Brazil The Royal Opera House is to expand international links with Brazil through performances, education work and skills training in the city in Rio de Janeiro later this month. A two day symposium links dance teachers, schools, professional dance companies and others from Rio, in a partnership with Theatro Municipal and the [...]

Ballet News Reviews | Titian | Metamorphosis: A collaboration between The Royal Ballet and The National Gallery It’s not often that a book comes along that is so compelling that you find yourself totally absorbed within its pages for hours at a time. Titian | Metamorphosis is one such rarity. If you missed the Imagine : Dancing with Titian programme, [...]

Cucpakes & Conversation with Erin Pritchard, Corps de Ballet, Tulsa Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? Definitely a nice cup of coffee On Mondays, I feel like it’s a fresh start to a new week. I always try to give myself a goal for the week. For example, it could [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Sarah Van Patten, Principal, San Francisco Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? If Monday is the start of a new ballet then it’s always exciting to see what will be created. I love seeing what can evolve from nothing. I’m also always excited, not only by the [...]

Ballet News Previews : Imagine, Dancing with Tititan The Royal Ballet’s recent run of Metamorphosis : Titian 2012 is the subject of a documentary screened tomorrow evening as part of Imagine on BBC One. Going backstage to the start of the collaborative process instigated by out-going Artistic Director Monica Mason, the programme looks at each [...]

The Royal Ballet | Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 Currently in rep at the Royal Opera House, Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 is a unique collaboration set up by the Royal Ballet’s out-going Artistic Director Monica Mason as a bold way of looking to the future of dance (though she is not actually ‘leaving’ and will return next season part time as a [...]

Leading international artists surprise in London 2012 Festival events across the UK   10 July 2012 – Wayne McGregor, Compagnie Carabosse, Gilles Peterson, Sébastien Tellier, Shobana Jeyasingh, Hofesh Shechter, Kronos Quartet, Oscar Muñoz in unusual places; and Alan Ayckbourn, Jeremy Irons, Julie Walters, Tom Hiddleston, Richard Eyre, Soweto Kinch, Chris Ofili, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Rachel [...]

Wayne McGregor’s Big Dance Trafalgar Square 2012 spectacular finale for Big Dance Wayne McGregor’s spectacular new dance piece, BIG DANCE TRAFALGAR SQUARE 2012, involving 1,000 performers from 30 London groups will take place on Saturday 14 July in Trafalgar Square, as the finale of Big Dance 2012. The performance will be part of a whole [...]

BIG DANCE ON TELEVISION AND ON SCREEN Big Dance and Channel 4 in association with BAFTA will release Big Dance Shorts, five specially commissioned short films made by rising young choreographers and film-makers, chosen by competition and made with the support of leading film luminaries. The films will be broadcast as part of the Random [...]

MAYOR OF LONDON LAUNCHES BIG DANCE 2012 Kate Prince sets the nation dancing St Pancras Station the stage for dancers from every part of the UK Part of the London 2012 Festival Today, dancers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and from across England, converged on the platforms of St Pancras International Station for the Mayor [...]

MAYOR OF LONDON LAUNCHES BIG DANCE 2012 Kate Prince sets the nation dancing St Pancras Station the stage for dancers from every part of the UK Part of the London 2012 Festival Dancers from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and across England, will converge on the platforms of St Pancras International Station on Thursday 5 July [...]

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 [...]

National Ballet of Canada | Smash Hit Chroma Onstage June 13 | Presented with Elite Syncopations and Song of a Wayfarer | Aleksandar Antonijevic Celebrates 20th Anniversary May 29, 2012… Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the casting for the summer mixed programme featuring Chroma with Elite Syncopations & Song of [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Piotr Stanczyk, Principal, National Ballet of Canada Piotr will dance the title role in Hamlet, which makes its North American premiere on June 1 in Toronto, Canada at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. He will also perform in Chroma by Wayne McGregor, June 13 to 17, 2012.   [...]