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I can just see the critics (well, this one aka yours truly anyway) going "Will do for Swan Lake what Shine did for Rach 3". I'm talking about the front-runner for the upcoming Academy Awards, the Natalie Portman vehicle, Black Swan, which I have just caught and was totally blown away ( Read more... )

Ballet Galas are only as good as they are bad. Good in that an evening of choice selections from the repertory and canon are featured and danced by the cream of leading primas and primos culled from the top companies worldwide. Bad in that the concept in working with highlights removes the reference of a story and is akin to canary fancying in ( Read more... )

A five-hankie weepie I certainly did not expect the movie to be. Mao's Last Dancer is one of those movies that will not interest or attract the limited and selected niche audience it was made for. All the more a pity when it is as good as it gets.

Chronicling the life story of Chinese ballet star, Li Cunxin from when providence plucked him from ( Read more... )

The thing with putting men in tutus in a show like Men in Tutus (like, d'uh) is the inevitable exaggeration and unintentional humour, even when none is intended. And so it was that laughter was milked from the audience that lapped up the parody and comedy with wanton glee ( Read more... )

I don't know why I waste my money like this, but after The Royal Ballet, it's a bit anti-climactic and redundant to watch any lesser company or production of a ballet, especially a perennial favourite and classic staple in Swan Lake ( Read more... )

Most, if not all modern practitioners of the art of dance, have a background and foundation in classical ballet, and thus which dance festival would omit an evening showcasing the very epitome of the grace and polish of poetry in motion. However, when taken out of context and presented in highlights without the storyline, the distinction blurs and ( Read more... )

When it comes to ballet, the nosebleed seats aren't necessarily the worst seats in the house. True, the dancers are the size of ants on stage, but then again, where and how else can the full spectacle of their artistry be appreciated? Leg extensions held aloft high above heads, elevated lifts and jumps that seem suspended on invisible wires, sky- ( Read more... )

Mention ballet and most people, even the non-cognoscenti, will conjure up images of white swans gliding gracefully across the stage, so inextricably linked is Swan Lake to the art and repertoire.

Little wonder then that the Swan Lake segment in the evening's lineup of ballet excerpts was the crowd pleasing favourite, the Act 3 scene and black swan ( Read more... )

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