Dada Masilo’s Modern Fairy Tale

By Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, 04 February 2016

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“raucous, rambunctious and heartfelt”

Reviewed at Joyce Theater, New York City on 2 February 2016

Swan Lake (Dada Masilo)

Communion of Light: Joburg Ballet makes a promising UK debut

Deborah Weiss, 30th October

Joburg Ballet makes a promising, if somewhat initially tentative, UK debut with a programme of five works, four by South African choreographers.

***11

Dada Masilo's The Sacrifice was powerful and magical dance theatre

Graham Watts, 21st February

An African reimagining of The Rite of Spring, it combines solos that fizz with electric currents and ends with an unforgettable, arresting experience.

*****

Giselle retold as a story of lust, indifference and revenge

Graham Watts, 4th October

A South African Giselle of spell-binding intensity at Sadler's Wells.

****1

Dada Masilo’s Giselle Reclaims her Power

Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, 3rd April

Dada Masilo’s Giselle is about her redemption, not his.

****1

William Kentridge’s miscellany hour

Rebecca Lentjes, 24th October

William Kentridge’s chamber opera Refuse the Hour emerged amid a hurricane of clashing out-of-sync metronomes, frenetic choreography, African drumming, brass glissandi, and sound-making contraptions.

***11

Dada Masilo's Swan Lake

Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros, 18th June

Dada Masilo's Swan Lake combines modern gestures and Beyonce-esque booty twerks with classical ballet phrases. At Sadler's Wells as part of Sadler's Sampled.

****1

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Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn

Andrew is currently a professional chef in New York City but he began life as a ballet dancer with the Hartford and Ohio Ballet companies. His writing also appears on the Huffington Post Blog and BroadwayWorld.com. His latest work, nominated for a James Beard Award, is “Return to the Rivers”, a Himalayan cookbook.

Dada Masilo’s Swan Lake, a Modern Fairy Tale