Narrative knots entangle Northern Ballet's Dangerous Liaisons

By Graham Watts, 10 June 2021

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“the knots in the narrative were difficult to untangle and only became knottier”

Reviewed at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London on 8 June 2021

Dangerous Liaisons (David Nixon)

Northern Ballet

Alastair West, Lighting Designer

Abigail Prudames, Dancer

Joseph Taylor, Dancer

Antoinette Brooks-Daw, Dancer

Rachael Gillespie, Dancer

Matthew Koon, Dancer

Northern Ballet's The Great Gatsby unfolds at breakneck pace

Graham Watts, 16th May

Those unfamiliar with the great American story will need to read the extensive synopsis in the programme to keep up with the whizz-bang comings and goings on stage!

***11

The Nutcracker is a hit with the audience in Leeds

Viki Westall, 5th January

A farcical, entertaining Mouse King limbers up atop his cheese!

****1

Northern Ballet at 50: a gala celebration in Leeds

Graham Watts, 4th January

Northern Ballet reaches its half-century with a gala at Leeds Grand Theatre featuring highlights from its "greatest hits".

***11

Nixon's Little Mermaid is a Masterpiece

Kirsty Morgan, 22nd March

A fantastic score, wonderful costumes, brilliant dancing and stunning choreography coalesce beautifully in David Nixon’s magical The Little Mermaid for Northern Ballet.

*****

A magical Midsummer Night's Dream from Northern Ballet

Margaret Willis, 28th September

The lady at the bus stop announced that she had just been to the ballet, and commented: “I didn’t really understand it but I loved it”. The ballet was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by Northern Ballet, and yes, it was somewhat confusing, though highly enjoyable and very funny.

****1

Northern Ballet's The Great Gatsby at Sadler's Wells

Hanna Weibye, 14th May

Goodness, Northern Ballet are an appealing company. Their dancers are cheerful, charismatic and talented; their ethos one of hard work and unflagging dedication to outreach, bringing the delights of ballet to as wide an audience as possible across their mostly northern catchment area. A new full-length story ballet based on F.

***11

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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.