The Ballet Bag

Reflections

Have you heard of Reflections, a new dance project featuring dancers trained at the Bolshoi and some of the best choreographers around?

Time Has Told Me: Reconstructing Ballet

Linda looks at ballet reconstructions and concludes retro is "in"

5 Things We Can Expect from Black Swan

Trailer for Black Swan is now out: what can we expect from Aronofsky's movie?

Russian Doll: Katya Krysanova

Ekaterina Krysanova talks to us about life as a senior soloist in one of the world's most prestigious ballet companies

The Bolshoi Ballet

The Bolshoi: new chapter in our ongoing series of Ballet History articles

Reflections

September 1, 2010

Besides team Black Swan vs. team Mao’s Last Dancer, one of the most talked about dance topics of the last few weeks is Reflections, the Bolshoi/Orange County Performing Arts Centre collaboration. A number of Russian dancers are currently in California rehearsing for the project which will premiere early next year. When we spoke to Katya [...]

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Time Has Told Me: Reconstructing Ballet

August 27, 2010

Last month I attended the opening night of Laurencia by the Mikhailovsky Ballet. This Chabukiani ballet, very popular with audiences in the Soviet era and a vehicle for Russian virtuoso performers, had been dropped out of repertory somewhere around the seventies. For a while all that was left of it were selected extracts performed in [...]

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5 Things We Can Expect from Black Swan

August 20, 2010

The Black Swan trailer has finally been unveiled (it has featured in our video of the week box since Tuesday) and the internet is awash with commentary and dissection. While NY Magazine’s Vulture blog thinks the movie looks like a chic version of “Single White Female” with a bit of “Mommie Dearest” thrown in, Natalie [...]

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Russian Doll: Katya Krysanova

August 17, 2010

The many displays of audience appreciation for the last Bolshoi performances in London included a flower throw for two of the company’s most gifted leading soloists, Andrei Merkuriev and Ekaterina Krysanova. Having just captivated us with their chemistry as Basilio and Kitri, they acknowledged the sunflowers that poured from the Royal Opera [...]

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The Bolshoi Ballet

August 12, 2010

New chapter in our ongoing series of Ballet History articles, Linda looks at what the Bolshoi is made of:

Bolshoi means big, an adjective that perfectly describes this ballet company. As the recent London season proves, they are bold, stylish and know how to put on a show. They are also resilient, having lived through revolutions, [...]

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Bolshoi in London Roundup

August 7, 2010

Following a 3-year gap London ballet audiences finally got the Bolshoi back in town for summer. A long season at Covent Garden meant we had plenty of time to see an enticing mix of well-crafted reconstructions, heritage ballets, contemporary pieces and world class performers. Here we recap on our favorite moments of the tour:
Linda saw: [...]

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