21 June 2019

The Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo is bringing the very best of UK culture to Colombia as part of a year-long program to host the United Kingdom as its Guest Nation of Honor. Starting with the first-ever performance in the country by the Academy of Ancient Music to the much-anticipated concert in May of the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, and recent piano recital by Benjamin Grosvenor, the main stage of the Teatro Mayor is also the venue for representatives of other artistic genres; including theatre with a romping – almost tribal – take on Dickens’ Oliver Twist by the Avant Guard Dance Company, and on June 22, the double bill “Ritualia/TuTuMucky” by the Scottish Dance Theatre.

Based in Dundee, Scotland, the Scottish Dance Theatre is also marking its first performance in Colombia with a work by Colette Sadler inspired by Bronislava Nijiaka’s ballet Les Noces and set to the music of Igor Stravinski. The second performance of the evening is TuTuMucky by the London choreographer Botis Seva.

With its focus on the physicality of dance, the Scottish Dance Theatre delivers an energetic production. Adding to a narrative that elevates classical dance with avant-garde sequences, Ritualia celebrates gender and the body as an extension of the natural world. “There is also the idea of the body as a way to gain power, to empower ourselves,” states Joan Clevillé, the theatre’s artistic director. “I think there’s a sense of urgency, of moving in a very visceral way and finding a very urban language. It’s a very different contrast between the two pieces.”

Read the full article in the City Paper Bogata.

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Unleashed review – ravishing risk-taking

By Laura Joffre

16 June 2019

We are used to seeing Birmingham Royal Ballet in traditional classical productions, in which they always excel. But this mixed bill sees the company in a more contemporary mode, experimenting with distinctive styles in pieces by three female choreographers.

Jessica Lang’s Lyric Pieces, created for the company in 2012, illustrates Edvard Grieg’s piano suites with pure classical ballet. It is not the most innovative work, but harmonious ensembles and flawless dancing, particularly from elegant Yvette Knight and sharp and precise Maureya Lebowitz, raise the overall effect.

Read the full review in The Guardian.

By Lyndsey Winship

5 April 2019

In 2016, English National Ballet director Tamara Rojo took a stand with She Said, a programme of all-female choreographers. She Persisted reassures us that Rojo is serious about showcasing women’s work, and it appears in a landscape that already shows signs of cultural shift.

This time there’s only one new work, by Stina Quagebeur, a dancer Rojo is nurturing from within ENB’s ranks. Nora is a stripped-back version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, intended to illustrate the eponymous heroine’s emotional journey. It gets caught up tussling with the plot over Nora’s loan (various bits of paper passed back and forth) but as Nora, Crystal Costa morphs from blithe young woman to stifled, conflicted wife and finally to a woman of firm resolve, even if we don’t quite see why.

Quagebeur creates a distinct feel for the movement: urgent surging phrases, endless spooling circles. The speed is deftly handled by Costa and Jeffrey Cirio as her husband Torvald; he is a dancer of great finesse who never leaves a frayed edge. The whole piece is rather hampered by its score, Philip Glass’s Tirol Concerto, which so relentlessly implores us to feel something that it becomes meaningless. Nonetheless, Quagebeur has interesting ideas and – unlike her titular character – a clear sense of her own voice.

Alongside Nora is the return of Broken Wings, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida Kahlo ballet from the original She Said, slightly reworked. Katja Khaniukova brings spirit and sorrow to Kahlo, and, aside from a costume incorporating a stuffed monkey, the highs all come with the pas de deux, fully human and full of spark between Kahlo and philandering husband Diego Rivera (Irek Mukhamedov, playing him as a wild-eyed, soft-hearted old fool).

Read the full review in The Guardian.

San Francisco Ballet announced on June 5 that Kelly Tweeddale will take over as the company’s new Executive Director. Tweeddale, who comes by way of Seattle and Vancouver, will assume the position from Glenn McCoy, who held that position for over 30 years.

This news means that America’s three largest ballet companies are all led by women in the Executive Director position.

Read an excerpt from the company’s press release below:

SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, June 5, 2019—San Francisco Ballet Board of Trustees has named Kelly Tweeddale as the organization’s next Executive Director. The search committee, led by Chair of the SF Ballet Board of Trustees Carl F. Pascarella, made the unanimous recommendation to the Board after a five-month international search. Tweeddale has held previous executive positions at Seattle Opera and currently serves as President of Vancouver Symphony and VSO School of Music. Kelly Tweeddale assumes her new role at San Francisco Ballet on September 3, 2019.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Kelly joining the Ballet in this critical role. Her vision and track record in leading major strategic projects that propels arts organizations into a future with growing audiences, community involvement, and sustained revenue will lead SF Ballet into an expanded era of financial and operational growth,” says Pascarella. “On behalf of the Board of Trustees I sincerely welcome Kelly to join us in furthering our mission, to share the joy of dance with the widest possible audience, to provide the highest caliber of dance training in our School, and to further our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the field of dance.”

Speaking from the Company’s current engagement at Sadler’s Wells in London, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson shared: “I am very pleased to welcome Kelly to San Francisco Ballet. She brings an impressive caliber of arts leadership experience to oversee the administrative and operational aspects of the organization.” Tomasson added, “I look forward to working closely with her as we continue to grow the mission and artistic reputation of the Company.”

Read the full announcement here.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is proud to announce a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the multi-awarding Ballet Black, a company dedicated to increasing diversity in ballet, founded and directed by Ballet Now Creative Consortium member, Cassa Pancho. Dancers of both Birmingham Royal Ballet and Ballet Black will appear in this exciting triple bill.

The bill opens with the fourth Ballet Now commission, from young choreographer and Queensland Ballet dancer Jack Lister and composer Tom Harrold. Second is Cathy Marston’s moving tale of a broken marriage, the critically acclaimed and National-Dance-Award-winning ballet The Suit, in its first UK performances outside London. The bill will close with Twyla Tharp’s sizzling tribute to Old Blue Eyes, Nine Sinatra Songs.

Learn more about the exciting initiative here.