Dance

It's possible to have nothing but admiration for Mark Morris as a choreographer, yet his actual dances I often find pedestrian with a limited vocabulary. The works are interesting to see once, to see what he can do with classical music that has no obvious dance rhythms, but I rarely want to see them again.

The program notes include a quote by August Bournonville that says, "The Dance ... is essentially an expression of joy." And in this short but sweet program the company proved that it can still give a master class in showing the joy of The Dance.

The Bolshoi delivers a big, bold, and explosive Spartacus in the way that only the Bolshoi can.

The Bolshoi are beautiful but uncertain dancers of Balanchine in Brisbane.

If the audience response was not very enthusiastic, it's because Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty four years after its premiere still comes across as more of a museum piece than a living, breathing ballet. This is a Beauty that never really wakes up.