Ivan Putrov, former principal of The Royal Ballet who conceived and produced the Men in Motion galas starting in 2012 — which he continues to produce — has a new venture. Against the Stream, a one-off gala performance, will celebrate some of ballet’s greatest pioneers. The evening will celebrate some of the remarkable choreographers who […]
Ivan Putrov
Ivan Putrov’s Men in Motion at the London Coliseum in pictures
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sergei Polunin loses his right to work in the UK
Sergei Polunin has had his UK work permit revoked. The Ukrainian-born star, 22, automatically lost the right to work in the country following his surprise resignation as the company is legally required to alert the UK Border Agency as soon as any of its foreign dancers resign. A Royal Ballet spokesperson said, Having resigned, Sergei […]
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 […]
Ex-Royal Ballet dancer Ivan Putrov states that the company’s dancers are not artists, but defecting colleague Sergei Polunin is…
Commenting on Sergei Polunin’s surprise exit from the Royal Ballet, fellow Ukrainian and ex-Royal principal Ivan Putrov, has probably upset a number of his dancer colleagues. In an interview with the BBC he said, Being in a company has this element that you are sometimes told what to do. If you want to be part of the […]
The BBC will transmit the Pet Shop Boys ballet with Ivan Putrov on July 1
As part of its weekend of contemporary dance performance, BBC Four will broadcast The Most Incredible Thing, the new, full-length dance piece which premièred at Sadler’s Wells in London earlier this year, featuring music by electronic pop legends the Pet Shop Boys and choreographed and directed by Javier de Frutos. The programme will go out […]
