The company has three As in its title but, to my mind, this programme sets the case for it to have four, because the profundity of the African American cause is so central to this fine pair of works that it certainly seems in the hinterland of being culturally inappropriate for me – a white Englishman – to comment on the content or the narrative.I can see the references to … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in London
Dasa Wharton
English National Ballet announces promotions, joiners and leavers for the 2019-2020 season
Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, announced promotions within the company and new joiners (and leavers) for the 2019-2020 season.PromotionsThe following promotions have been made within the Company:Aitor Arrieta, Katja Khaniukova and Ken Saruhashi have been promoted to First Soloist.Julia Conway, Daniel McCormick and Erik Woolhouse have been … [Read more...] about English National Ballet announces promotions, joiners and leavers for the 2019-2020 season
Backstage at The Royal Ballet: Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales
Dasa Wharton took her camera backstage to glimpse Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales preparing for a performance of Romeo and Juliet at The Royal Opera House. She was also there to capture moments of the ballet from the wings, and to take shots from behind the curtain during Hayward and Corrales’s triumphant curtain call.Romeo and Juliet 5 pmGetting readyFrancesca … [Read more...] about Backstage at The Royal Ballet: Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales
Photo album: She Persisted with English National Ballet and photos by Dasa Wharton
She Persisted, the new triple bill from English National Ballet, has generated a plethora of four and five-star reviews. It is rare to find a shrivel of critics so unanimous.She Persisted follows on from She Said, ENB’s first all-female choreography programme in 2016. Broken Wings (the Frida Kahlo work) was created for that occasion and returns in the new all-female evening. … [Read more...] about Photo album: She Persisted with English National Ballet and photos by Dasa Wharton
Photo Album: Backstage at Beauty and the Beast – Birmingham Royal Ballet
Beauty and the BeastIn David Bintley's glorious Gothic ballet, witness transformations, wild waltzes, soaring birds and a relationship between Belle and the Beast that is at first terrifying, but ultimately serene and beautiful. Dasa Wharton takes her camera backstage to see the preparations and the view from the wings.Belle - Yvette Knight The Beast - Brandon … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Backstage at Beauty and the Beast – Birmingham Royal Ballet
Photo Album: Beauty and the Beast – Birmingham Royal Ballet 2019
Beauty and the Beast - Birmingham Royal BalletA cruel Prince, cursed to spend the rest of his life living in a fantastical castle with the animals he callously hunted, finds salvation in the heart of a beautiful girl.Caught stealing a single rose, Belle’s desperate father exchanges his youngest daughter’s freedom for his own life. In his distant castle the Beast, stripped … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Beauty and the Beast – Birmingham Royal Ballet 2019
Matthew Ball in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Luke Jennings – The ObserverFrom the moment of his first entrance, it’s Ball’s show. As well as being an assured technician, he’s a dance actor of real charisma. As the Swan, he’s dangerous and commanding, all sinew and hissing aggression; and as the Stranger he’s as disdainful as he is sexually predatory, cutting a ruthless swath through the female courtiers before finally, … [Read more...] about Matthew Ball in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
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 WhartonI 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 — she was a Soloist and he a First Artist.Time passes … [Read more...] about Interview: For The Royal Ballet’s Yasmine Naghdi it’s “Ready, Steady, Go”!
Photo Album: In the Upper Room and Embrace with Birmingham Royal Ballet
In the Upper Room and Embrace were part of a triple-bill programme by Birmingham Royal Ballet called Polarity & Proximity. Embrace, a new ballet commissioned from choreographer George Williamson as part of Ballet Now, Birmingham Royal Ballet's five-year programme, run in conjunction with Sadler's Wells, to develop choreographers, composers and designers to create … [Read more...] about Photo Album: In the Upper Room and Embrace with Birmingham Royal Ballet
English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty – a photo album, dedicated to Elisabetta Terabust
Italian ballerina Elisabetta Terabust, who died in February this year at her home in Rome after a long illness, was a star of the London Festival Ballet, now English National Ballet, from 1973 until 1988. ENB dedicated this season's performances of Kenneth MacMillan's The Sleeping Beauty to her memory.Alina Cojocaru was Princess Aurora, Joseph Caley played Prince … [Read more...] about English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty – a photo album, dedicated to Elisabetta Terabust
