Opera Ballet Vlaanderen: how to win over an audience

Shane Urton and Towa Iwase in Kirsten Wicklund's Field

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Kirsten Wickland's Field

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Ohad Naharin's Minus 16

By Deborah Weiss, 15 December 2024

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“it was nevertheless pushed along by the sheer brilliance of the dancers”

Reviewed at Opera Vlaanderen, Ghent, Ghent on 13 December 2024

Field (Kirsten Wicklund)

Minus 16 (Ohad Naharin)

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Ivania Carpio, Set Designer

Irina Shaposhnikova, Costume Designer

James Proudfoot, Lighting Designer

Symfonisch Orkest Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Avi Yona Bueno, Lighting Designer

Ohad Naharin, Costume Designer

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago on the road, dancing impeccably

Carla Escoda, 25th March

A mixed bill with mixed results from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at the Joyce Theater in New York.

***11

Batsheva Dance Company in Ohad Naharin’s Momo: pure energy

Katja Vaghi, 16th January

In Batsheva’s German premiere of Momo, there is no narrative to be found, but rather a series of atmospheric sequences, creating a texture of inputs as ambiguous as reality itself.

****1

Flickers of human fragility: Staatsballett Berlin’s superb double bill

Katja Vaghi, 28th October

Dancers as athletic poets: Staatsballett Berlin in Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16 and Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar’s Saaba.

****1

Batsheva Dance Company: Hora swaggers with tenacity and confidence

Erin Bomboy, 1st March

Naharin’s Gaga technique is this delicious, ooey-gooey, melting morass where sensation rather than skill guides the phrases

***11

Go Gaga for Ohad Naharin's Decadance in Sydney

Chantal Nguyen, 7th January

Sydney Dance Company excels in Decadance, a rare chance for Australian audiences to see work by Ohad Naharin, founder of the Gaga method.

****1

Three Masterpieces in Zurich

Sarah Batschelet, 11th October

In a three-bill programme that opens its season, the Zurich Ballet celebrates works of three choreographers who all pioneered new genres in contemporary dance.

****1

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Deborah Weiss

Deb joined Bachtrack in 2022 and commissions reviews and writing on ballet and dance. She was Royal Ballet School-trained and is a former principal dancer for companies including London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) and Bayerisches Staatsballett. She has been writing for more than 30 years – publications have included Dancing Times, DanceTabs, Dance for You and Dance Europe. She also interviews for Voices of British Ballet, an oral archive of people who have worked in the industry in the UK. In addition to her writing, since 2016 she has been facilitating programmes that support victims of domestic abuse. Deb is passionate about her rescue dog, Bruce, and daughters (not in that order), swims a mile at least five days a week and is an avid reader.