10 March 2014
02 March 2014
mid-winter ballet
National Ballet of Canada
mixed programme
mixed programme
26 February - 2 March 2014
Watch Her
chor. Aszure Barton (2009)
an ensemble ballet of “mood, atmosphere, and suggestion" [Michael Crabb, TS, 27/2/2014]
It’s crowded choreography of little interest. Identically suited men abruptly appear through multiple doors, and just as suddenly disappear. A woman in red stands out, but so does one in blue. There is certainly emotion visible, even distress, but nothing lasts. A man throughout is watching.
Contemporary ballet need not tell a story, though I feel there is one here, all too hidden.
Contemporary ballet need not tell a story, though I feel there is one here, all too hidden.
A Month in the Country
chor. Sir Frederick Ashton (1976)
staged by Sir Anthony Dowell
with Aleksander Antonijević (Aleksei Beliaev) and Greta Hodgkinson (Natalia Petrovna)
libretto based on the play by Ivan Turgenev (1855), Месяц в деревне
It’s a quiet and very comfortable country house in appearance where disparate ages, however, suggest dysfunction. The tutor (Aleksandar Antonijević) and chatelaine (Greta Hodgkinson) dance some beautiful moments fraught with emotion while the boy of the house (Skylar Campbell) cavorts and ward Vera (Jillian Vanstone) flirts and throws tantrums. The performance I saw (1 March 2014) was completely engaging.
With retirements imminent this was probably the last time Aleksandar and Greta would be together in these emotive roles. There were cheers and not a few tears in the theatre.
Aleks and Greta with Sir Anthony Dowell
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