The reviews may have been less positive for Ivan Putrov’s Men in Motion than past editions — in 2012, Judith Mackrell for The Guardian wrote that the programme was “one of real intelligence and surprising moments of passion” — but the evening got off on the wrong foot. Daniel Proietto’s monologue was an introductory piece but, as Luke Jennings pointed out in The Observer, One … [Read more...]
Susana B Williams and her Choreographers’ Showcase return to Edinburgh
Susana B Williams has been bringing her Choreographers’ Showcases to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for 15 years. Her company, Dance-Forms, will have managed 72 such events by the time the doors open at the Emerald Theatre on 15 August having produced Showcases from Chile to Croatia, Greece to Guatemala, Monaco to Mexico. I asked her how she got the idea. In 1993, attending … [Read more...]
Svetlana Zakharova’s Gala brings the Ukraine to the heart of Russia
Last night, Svetlana Zakharova's Gala Ballet without Borders took place on the Bolshoi stage in Moscow. Ballet stars danced in support of young dancers in war-torn Ukraine. This politically sensitive event was Zakharova's idea: she is Ukrainian and also a People's Artist of Russia, completing her training in Kiev and now a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre, so her feet are … [Read more...]
Men in Motion’s magic under the Tuscan sky
In 2012, Ivan Putrov had the conceit to produce an all-male gala where Don Q variations were banished, Le Corsaire’s jetés outlawed, and Albrecht’s entrechats six forbidden on pain of death. It short, he wanted to do something different in forming Men in Motion: a celebration of male dancing from Nijinsky to now. Putrov assembled an impressive group of dancers at the La … [Read more...]
Men in Motion at La Versiliana Festival: classics, premières and surprises
The latest incarnation of Ivan Putrov's Men in Motion comes to Italy's La Versiliana Festival. Men in Motion was first presented at Sadler's Wells in 2012 and has since been performed with great success in Moscow and at the Ravenna Festival, Italy. This version, first presented in London at the Coliseum in January of this year, devised by Putrov, is an exploration of the … [Read more...]