Polina and Friends gala wins Berlin balletomanes

By Katja Vaghi, 19 May 2018

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Reviewed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden: Apollosaal, Berlin on 17 May 2018

Le Corsaire (excerpt) (Anna-Marie Holmes, Marius Petipa)

Mopey (Marco Goecke)

Giselle (excerpt) (Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot)

Intimate Distance (Jiří Bubeniček)

The Sleeping Beauty (excerpt)

Manon (excerpt) (Sir Kenneth MacMillan)

All Long Dem Day (Marco Goecke)

Without Words (Nacho Duato)

Swan Lake: excerpts (Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov)

Degunino (Marcos Morau)

Cantata (Mauro Bigonzetti)

Staatsballett Berlin

Polina Semionova, Dancer

Daniel Camargo, Dancer

Friedemann Vogel, Dancer

Danielle Muir, Dancer

Konstantin Lorenz, Dancer

Ksenia Ovsyanick, Dancer

Dmitri Semionov, Dancer

Maria Kochetkova, Dancer

Carlo Di Lanno, Dancer

Ivan Zaytsev, Dancer

Svetlana Gileva, Dancer

Firecrackers at the 15th Ballet Icons Gala

Margaret Willis, 26th January

An evening of sparkle and bravura at London's international ballet gala.

***11

A piratical carry-on: English National Ballet revives Le Corsaire

Graham Watts, 8th January

The spectacular dancing of Erina Takahashi, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Jeffrey Cirio is the principal reason to catch ENB's revival of this creaky swashbuckler.

***11

Wildly offensive, but wildly entertaining too: ABT's Le Corsaire

Ivy Lin, 11th June

Perhaps ABT's disclaimer in the program notes should have simply said: "When you watch Le Corsaire, prepare to be both offended and entertained. We hope you'll be more entertained than offended."

****1

“The spirit of Margot” celebrated in The Royal Ballet's Fonteyn gala

Graham Watts, 8th June

A memorable and important event in the history of British ballet, sensitively and sentimentally performed.

****1

San Francisco Ballet's 85th Season Gala

Carla Escoda, 18th January

San Francisco Ballet gives a rousing account of Justin Peck's ground-breaking Rodeo, newcomers Ana Sophia Scheller and Ulrik Birkkjær make waves, and Carlo DiLanno wins my vote for MVP at this season's gala.

***11

A Surprise Corsaire Debut

Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, 5th June

There was complete assurance in Skylar Brandt's performance and there’s no doubt that she’s a bona fide contender for a future slot as a principal dancer.

****1

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Katja Vaghi

With a background in Dance Studies, Literature and Linguistics (MA English Studies from Zurich University and PhD in dance philosophy from the University of Roehampton in London) and a formation as a modern dancer (Ballet Arts, NYC), Katja is a freelance dancer, choreographer, dance researcher and dramaturge currently living in Berlin.