Dance

A new manifesto for Rambert under new management of Benoit Swan Pouffer. 

Harlequinade shows Ratmansky's usual scrupulous care when reconstructing Petipa's ballets. His attention to detail and obvious love for the art form are to be admired. But these ballets are also living, breathing works and they need strong performances to be viable in the repertory.

The dance company of the Konzert Theater Bern recently staged a programme showing two perspectives on the imagination of the great Swiss-born artist, Paul Klee (1879-1940).

The ending of Stars and Stripesis a sure-fire applause machine. The lowering of the flag while all the regiments march and salute onstage is so corny that only Balanchine could have choreographed it with a straight face. And yet it worked in 1958 and it works in 2019. 

Ballets live and die by their scores – as Balanchine knew when he kept returning to Stravinsky. His Symphony in Three Movements will live forever, as will Justin Peck's The Times are Racing, to Dan Deacon's America.

Modern dance choreographer Pam Tanowitz' first commission for New York City Ballet proved unruly yet fascinating, sandwiched between George Balanchine's enduring Valse-Fantaisie and Western Symphony.