Q&A When did you start dancing? I was 8 years old. My father was teaching me in the backyard of our house. Why did you start dancing? We are a big family — 11 children — my parents had only what they knew to offer us at that point and Ballet was that gift. Which dancer […]
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Interview: For The Royal Ballet’s Yasmine Naghdi it’s “Ready, Steady, Go”!
Interview with Yasmine Naghdi as she dances in the world premiere of Alastair Marriott’s The Unknown Soldier – with photos by Dasa Wharton I last interviewed Yasmine Naghdi in September of 2015 when she and Matthew Ball were preparing to dance Romeo and Juliet together. They were dancing the roles for the first time — […]
The impeccable Bolshoi dancers in Maillot’s slick Taming of the Shrew at La Scala
Lots of empty seats were available for the Bolshoi Ballet at La Scala in The Taming of the Shrew. La Bayadère – great; Swan Lake – ooh yes; Giselle – lovely; Taming of the Shrew? – err. Word of mouth did its bit after the opening night, but with just three consecutive performances there wasn’t […]
Preview: Nureyev the film is a glorious celebration of an exceptional life
Nureyev is an important new documentary about Rudolf Nureyev’s extraordinary life which will be shown in cinemas around the UK from 25 September. BAFTA nominated directors Jacqui and David Morris have interviewed Nureyev’s colleagues from the dance world – Alla Osipenko, Ghislaine Thesmar, Dame Antoinette Sibley, Clement Crisp, Meredith Daneman – but sensibly don’t fill […]
Lindsay Kemp dies at 80
The English dancer, mime artist and choreographer Lindsay Kemp died this morning in Livorno (Leghorn) in Italy, where he had his home. He was 80. Kemp formed his own dance company in the early sixties and first attracted attention with an appearance at the Edinburgh Festival in 1968. Kemp’s stage performances included Pierrot In Turquoise, Flowers, Salome, Mr Punch’s Pantomime, A Midsummer Night’s […]
Meet Francesco Gabriele Frola — National Ballet of Canada and English National Ballet’s new Principal Dancer
Italian ballet dancer Francesco Gabriele Frola has been promoted to Principal Dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and at the same time becomes a Principal at English National Ballet. Dance is in his DNA. His parents, both former dancers, run a dancing school, Professione Danza, in Parma, the city where Gabriele spent the first […]
Pia Russo and the art of teaching ballet
Pia Russo is a highly respected Italian ballet teacher, currently working at the Ballet School of Teatro San Carlo in Naples, one of the world’s oldest ballet schools, founded in 1812 by Salvatore Taglioni, uncle of the celebrated Maria. She is known for her passion, dedication and meticulous preparation. After her dancing career ended, she […]
James Hobley, Britain’s Got Talent’s autistic dancer, now 19 leaves ENB’s school to join Scottish Ballet
James Hobley, first known to the general public as a Britain’s Got Talent finalist in 2011, has graduated from English National Ballet School and has a contract to start his professional career with Scottish Ballet. I wrote about his story three years ago, because it is extraordinary and reads like a fable. Here is the […]
Photo Album and full casting – Bolshoi dancers in Milan
After an 11-year absence, the Bolshoi Ballet returns to Milan. In 2007, the company came with La Fille du Pharaon and The Bright Stream. From 7 to 13 September they will be at La Scala with La Bayadère in the Grigorovich production, and Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew. Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Rodkin, […]
Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino make extraordinary role debuts in Don Quixote at La Scala
There was a buzz in the air at La Scala for the last in the short run of Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote. Martina Arduino was to dance Kitri for the first time. Since Alexei Ratmansky pulled her out of the corps to be his Odette/Odile when she was 19, (just a year after graduating from […]
