The trocks continue to delight London

By Graham Watts, 20 September 2018

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“This Les Sylphides is like asking Rowan Atkinson to play Hamlet both as Maigret and Mr Bean”

Reviewed at Sadler's Wells: Peacock Theatre, London on 18 September 2018

Les Sylphides

Napoli (August Bournonville)

Raymonda Adagio (Asami Maki)

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Irresistible: Justin Peck’s The Wind-Up premieres at NYCB

Carla Escoda, 29th January

Never has Justin Peck seemed more compositionally assured, and paradoxically freer, than in his latest ballet, breaking the mold of past work that mostly celebrated the camaraderie of his generation.

****1

Royal Danish Ballet bounce through Bournonville's A Folk Tale

Zoë Anderson, 17th October

Though Bournonville himself saw A Folk Tale as his finest work, it’s rarely performed outside Denmark. The Royal Danish Ballet bring fleet-footed buoyancy to it all.

****1

Pure Bournonville bounce: Johan Kobborg's La Sylphide in Prague

Deborah Weiss, 14th May

The Czech National Ballet bears all the hallmarks of a group of dancers who are hungry to learn and to embody whatever is offered to them.

*****

BRB2 in Carlos Acosta's Classical Selection is full of vitality

Graham Watts, 25th April

With five founding dancers in BRB2, this inaugural dance salad was embellished with other ingredients including the addition of seven members from the main company.

****1

A roller-coaster of diverse dance as ENB celebrates its 70th

Graham Watts, 17th January

A slick and stylish celebration at the Coliseum of this great company's achievements over 70 years.

****1

The Royal Danish Ballet "an expression of joy" in New York

Ivy Lin, 9th July

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.

*****

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Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.

The Trocks continue to delight London