Janet-Street-Porter on the three ballerini: Polunin, Proietto and Putrov break the mould

The Three Tenors, says Janet-Street-Porter, brought opera to an entirely new audience, using popular material performed in arenas, not concert halls. Can former Royal Ballet star Ivan Putrov do the same for ballet?

His brilliant idea is an evening of spectacular dancing, Men in Motion. The biggest draw, after a tumultuous week in which he walked out of starring in the Royal Ballet's next production, was 21-year-old Sergei Polunin, in Narcisse, a spectacular tour de force that showed off his athleticism to perfection. Ivan Putrov is a lyrical performer, who, like Polunin, came to find the Royal Ballet too restricting. He is enchanting in a solo set to Gluck and in a new work, designed by Gary Hume, which he also choreographed.

The show-stealer is the subtly hypnotic Daniel Proietto, in the beautiful AfterLife (Part One). The running order is a bit odd and the event needs to end on more of a high note, but it's a step in the right direction, and shows that classical ballet needn't focus around anorexic women in tutus. Ivan's concept can easily be expanded with other soloists and merits a wider audience.

Polunin is ballet's next rock star.

via The Independent 

Photo: from left Daniel Proietto, Sergei Polunin, Ivan Putrov

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.