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A mix of world class performances and interesting new choreography is a bit of a magnet for ballet-goers.

Carla Escoda reviews Diablo Ballet's mixed bill, Emotions into Movement, at the Shadelands Art Center in Walnut Creek, California, featuring work by Ben Stevenson, Mário Radačovský, David Fonnegra, Robert Dekkers, and the classic Esmeralda pas de deux.  

It would be hard to find someone who has not heard of Anna Pavlova. The name alone conjures up words such as elegant, visionary, iconic. Her acclaim results from a career in ballet spanning over 30 years, in which she had a tremendous influence over the world of classical dance and earned her place as one of the finest Russian ballerinas in history.

In these tough economic times, it is a rare thing for ballet companies to consider staging a new full-length dramatic production. But Staatsballett Berlin has been brave enough to take the plunge, and on April 9th premiered La Esmeralda, an old-fashioned Russian masterpiece, and proved that their decision had been a good one.