A danced puzzle: Les Beaux Dormants

By Graham Watts, 26 November 2019

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“the work is simultaneously baffling and absorbing”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House: Linbury Theatre, London on 24 November 2019

Les Beaux dormants (Hélène Blackburn)

Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin

Céline Nunigé, Dancer

Alain Trividic, Dancer

Valentin Thuet, Dancer

Blackburn's futuristic Coppélia makes these robots hard to love

Vikki Jane Vile, 1st February

Bleak adaptations of ballet classics are somewhat of a ballet trend at present, with Matthew Bourne’s gothic Sleeping Beauty playing to sell out audiences over Christmas

**111

International Draft Works at the Linbury brought much to delight

Amanda Jennings, 16th April

The Royal Ballet's International Draft Works proved to be an excellent opportunity to see dancers and budding choreographers from around the world.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

Ballet Black at 25: irrepressible talent

Maggie Foyer, 4th March

Ballet Black presents a double bill at the Linbury that showcases the strengths of its very fine dancers as well as the depth of choreographic innovation in its vast repertoire.

****1

An alternative Royal Ballet cast of Pierrot Lunaire proves compelling

Deborah Weiss, 11th February

Another cast debuts in Glen Tetley's Pierrot Lunaire and shows us that, more than 60 years on, it's every bit as watchable as when it premiered.

****1

Pierrot Lunaire at The Royal Ballet: highly expressive performances

Jonathan Gray, 10th February

The Royal Ballet marks the centenary of the birth of Glen Tetley with a revival of his greatest work, Pierrot Lunaire, not seen at the Royal Ballet and Opera for nearly 20 years.

****1

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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.

A danced puzzle: Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin: Les Beaux Dormants