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Music: Sergey Prokofiev Director: David Bintley CBE Choreography: Kenneth MacMiIllan Reviewer: Peter Jacobs The Public Reviews Rating: I’m sure enough people are sufficiently familiar with the tale of the star-crossed lovers across the socio-political divide whose simple desire to be together is thwarted at every turn for me not to need to recount the story of Romeo and his Juliet. One of the great romantic tragedies, there are several versions of Romeo and Juliet in the repertoire of the large-scale classical ballet companies. Manchester audiences were treated to the Northern Ballet Theatre’s version at the Opera House in May 2009 and the English National Ballet bring their Nureyev-created 1977 version to the Palace in October 2010. The Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production was originally choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan in 1965 and was overhauled in 1992 with a completely new production design by Paul Andrew, shortly after the company relocated from London to Birmingham and changed their name. Blessed with one of the all-time great ballet scores courtesy of Prokofiev – although it was considered undanceable when presented to the Bolshoi by the composer in 1935 – how does this version play today? This production makes the most of the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s strengths: massive staging, sumptuous costumes, an enormous ensemble cast and a depth of talent in their principals, soloists and artists that enables them to present different casting for each performance at The Lowry. That’s no fewer than six Romeos and Juliets, Mercutios, Tybalts, Benvolios etc., all supported by that tremendous music superbly played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy. The production design is complex and stunning, at times breathtakingly beautiful with the appearance of a Renaissance painting come to life so rich is the use of style and colour in the costumes, the positioning of the artists and the [...]

Music: Sergei Prokoficv Choreographer: Michael Corder Conductor: Alex Ingram Reviewer: Emily Daughtery The Public Reviews Rating: I was particularly thrilled to be in the audience of the English National Ballet’s Cinderella because I last viewed it from the stage as I stood as the page boy in Act II ten years ago. Consequently I settled down with much anticipation to watch as the enchanting fairytale unfold before me at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. Cinderella is tormented by her cruel stepmother and two stepsisters, desperately wanting to attend the Prince’s ball but with only rags to wear she is left behind. Suddenly Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother transforms her into a beautiful Princess, where she travels in a magical coach to the ball and falls in love with her handsome Prince. As the clock strikes midnight she flees, leaving one slipper behind. The devastated Prince visits Cinderella’s family and although the two stepsisters try desperately to make the slipper fit; only Cinderella’s foot does. The Prince and Cinderella live happily ever after. The added joy of watching a ballet with this well known storyline is that children and the uninitiated will immediately understand the plot and so are free to enjoy the superb dancing rather than wondering what is happening. The quality of the music conducted by Alex Ingram was particularly outstanding. From the moment the music swelled out of the orchestra pit I was hooked. The music compliments the choreography by Michael Corder beautifully and is particularly enjoyable because instead of the words outlining the narrative each note assists in portraying the storyline The costumes were eye-catching and elegant. They complemented the dancers, adding to the magical atmosphere, which had already been emphasised by the lighting, designed by Paul Pyant. The lighting used in the woodland scene was particularly effective because although simple [...]

Writer: Prokofiev Director/Choreographer: Michael Corder Conductor: Alex Ingram Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace The Public Reviews Rating: It’s a special year for English National Ballet. It’s sixty years since the company made its debut and what better way to celebrate than with this revival of Michael Corder’s sumptuous and award winning 1996 production of Prokofiev’s classic Cinderella. The tale is a familiar one. Cinderella, the down trodden and put upon beauty is treated with disdain and made to work as a servant girl by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. When the Prince hosts a gala ball poor Cinderella, with only rags for clothes, is left behind. Hurrah for the Fairy Godmother who transforms Cinderella into a beautiful princess and sends her off to the ball in beautiful coach. But she is warned, she must leave by midnight otherwise the spell will be broken. At the ball meets and falls hopelessly in love with the prince but at the strike of midnight flees leaving only a glass slipper behind. The distraught Prince visits the home of Cinderella family and both stepsisters try on the glass slipper, but to no avail as the slipper will only fit Cinderella’s feet. Happy ending! As is the case with a lot of classical ballet not a great deal of time is devoted to telling the story and it all happens very quickly indeed which inevitably means there is a huge amount of pointless padding. But, frankly, in a production as good as this who cares? There’s no denying the quality of Prokoviev’s score. Whilst it does lack the accessibility and memorable tunes of the likes of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake or Nutcracker, in many ways it outshines both these other works in terms of style. There are plenty of recurring themes associated with each character and a dark …

Choreography: Marcus Petipa & Peter Wright Reviewer: Iris Beaumont The Public Reviews Rating: Sleeping Beauty the well known and loved childrens fairy tale comes to life on the stage of The Lowry theatre thanks to The Birmingham Royal Ballet and what a tremendous performance it was. Having only seen amateur productions of Sleeping Beauty before, I have to say I felt highly privileged to be asked to review this production and I was not disappointed. The story of a King and Queen whose first child Aurora is being christened is where Sleeping Beauty starts. All the fairies in the Kingdom have been invited to this joyous occasion to be Godmothers to the Princess, unfortunately the Fairy Carabosse has been forgotten and to say she is not impressed is an understatement, she arrives on stage greatly insulted and vows that Aurora shall on the occasion of her 21st Birthday prick her finger on a spindle and die, luckily The Lilac Fairy still has her gift to bestow and so she saves the day by promising that Aurora will only sleep for a hundred years and not die. The curtains open to reveal the set of the Palace Ballroom highly decorated with huge swags and tails draping from the ceiling to the great urns on very large plinths, giving the stage the feeling of great splendour and panache. It continues this way throughout the whole show and Philip Prowse the designer has given thought to all aspects of the grandeur and opulence one would expect of a fairy tale palace. The Costumes were elegant and intricately designed showing of the glamour and affluence associated with Kings and Queens and for this wardrobe lead by Lili Sobieralska deserve a special mention. Every dancer gave an outstanding performance, bringing the energetic and inspiring choreography by Marcus Petipa & [...]

Artistic Director: Davis Nixon Composer: Claude-Michel Schonberg Orchestrator: William David Brohn Reviewer: Sarah Lyth The Public Reviews Rating: Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is famous for its raging passions amidst the bleak backdrop of the moors. The wild winds of the soul and of the changing seasons on the hills within the narrative of one of my most beloved books made me wonder how the Northern Ballet Theatre would translate such wildness into the most graceful of forms that make up the dance of ballet. Opening with a terrifically evocative overture from the orchestra, rolling and pouring from the pit across the audience like the mists of the hills they convey, the curtain rises to show a creatively presented scene of the moor that is reminiscent of the beauty and luminescence of a Turner masterpiece. And suddenly in comes Heathcliff. A raging, brooding figure encapsulating all that makes up the highs and lows of love, loss, passion and despair. Yes, both the young and older Heathcliff were incredibly graceful and beautiful in their eternal pursuit for the elusive Cathy. Tobias Bately as the older Heathcliff conveyed the tremendously dark and overpowering emotions of Heathcliff in dance that was pure, heartbreaking poetry. The moments of his stillness, of his looks of longing and of his uncontrollable waves of emotion meant that it was the heart of the audience that was actively involved with the scene and not the head, heart ache often coming from places we cannot control. We too felt our personal heart ache along with the wild man of the moors. The pivot of the whole of the narrative comes when Cathy, so long the faithful companion of the small and dark boy her father brought home from one of his visits to the port of Liverpool when she was small, makes a [...]

Choreographer: Freddie Opoku Addaie, Paul Roberts, Russell Maliphant Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace The Public Reviews Rating: Set up by former Royal Ballet principal dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, Sadler’s Wells based Balletboyz is a dance company that has been quietly been gaining momentum and status across the country since its inception in 2001. It’s a shame that this current tour doesn’t show the true capabilities of this vibrant company. The Talent brings together into one performance three short dance pieces; B-Banned choreographed by Freddie Opoku Addaie, Alpha choreographed Paul Roberts and Torsion choreographed by Russell Maliphant. Balletboyz may be the name of the company, but these three pieces are far from traditional ballet and there is a distinctly contemporary theme running throughout which may not be to everyone’s taste. Furthermore, those people who do appreciate this type of dance may find The Talent lacking in diversity and originality. Whilst all three pieces do contain some excellent choreography, they all appear to be from the same ilk, which quickly becomes somewhat dull. Things aren’t helped by the dancers, none of whom possess the stage presence required to capture and hold the attention of the audience for the duration of the performance. There’s no doubting the physical talent of these eight dancers, but it takes more than just being able to move well to succeed and these young men appear at best unable to engage with the audience and their fellow dancers and at worst, bored. There’s a lot of dancing in The Talent but very little performing. Each of the three pieces is danced without any set, but simple and effective lighting designs by Andrew Ellis and Michael Hulls go a long way to creating the required atmosphere and tongue in cheek video footage of the cast is used to good effect to introduce [...]

Music: Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky Director/Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Reviewer: John Roberts The Public Reviews Rating: For over 15 years Matthew Bourne’s sensational production of Swan Lake has been wowing theatre and dance lovers the world over and tonight at the Lowry Theatre was no different, bringing the 2000 strong audience spontaneously to their feet in rapturous applause. Taking Tchaikovsky’s original ballet and making it more accessible for a modern audience is no easy task, but Matthew Bourne yet again proves that he has magic hands when it comes to bringing dance to a You Tube generation. He weaves a masterly stroke at contemporising the story line and brings a needed edge and vigour to proceedings by making the usually feminine role of the Swan Odette into a powerful and vivacious male lead, but at the heart of this production still lies the universal desire to be loved and how even the smallest of moments spent in the presence of something/someone so amazing and wonderful can change our point of view forever. Dancing the part of The Swan on press night was Richard Winsor, who manages to wow the audience with a performance that is full of strength and versatility, yet at the same time light and graceful, bringing a range of emotions through his athletic lines and predatory and animalistic physicality. Winsor also oozes sexual tension in every scene, something which carries over well from his lead performance in Matthew Bourne’s production of Dorian Gray and adds a dangerous and unpredictable edge to his performance. Dominic North gives a delightfully warm and heartfelt performance as the Prince who is so desperate to be loved, in what seems to be a rather cold and regimented life. His only real chance to express this desire is brought wonderfully to life in the magical midnight duet between [...]

Artistic Director : Smirnov-Golovanov Principal Ballet Mistress : Ludmila Nerubashenko Music: Sergei Prokofiev Reviewer: David Griffiths The Public Reviews Rating: Moscow City Ballet was accompanied by the Moscow Ballet Orchestra, giving the audience an evening of vibrant colour and excitement together with a number of amusing moments. The ballet was performed in three acts, perhaps starting off a little slowly, but just getting better and better, thus holding the audience’s full attention. Despite the fact that the stage was probably somewhat smaller than many that the company will have performed on, (the stage in St Petersburg was at least twice the size), this did not in any way detract from the performance, which was entirely spectacular, fast moving and thoroughly enjoyable. There were many individual performances of incredible delicacy and precision and the entertaining duet from Romeo & Juliet at the end of Act 1 clearly portrays the joys and thrills of first love! Possibly the energetic duels to the death in Act 11 may have been a little protracted, but this did nothing to really detract from the enjoyment of the evening. Sadly the killing of Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) by Romeo to avenge the death of his friend Mercutio, results in Romeo being banished from the Kingdom by the Prince of Verona, before Romeo and Juliet are able to declare their secret marriage earlier that day by the Friar, who marries them in the hope that this will bring peace to the two warring families. Act iii has again wonderful performances by the lovers trying to forget the terrible events of the day knowing that they will need to part before day break. When Paris arrives with a wedding gown for Juliet, the ballet expresses clearly her refusal to marry him, which leads her parents to threaten to abandon her. Her onlyescape [...]