Ballet

Scottish Ballet at 2011 Edinburgh International Festival

Ashley Page and Jorma Elo on the EIF programme

25 Aug 2011

Ashley Page maintains that, when putting together Scottish Ballet’s new double bill for the Edinburgh International Festival, pairing the legendary Scottish choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s neo-classical 1965 piece Song of the Earth with a completely…

The Ballet Ruse

Sneaking a cheeky peek at the secret lives of ballerinas

11 Aug 2011

2011 has been quite a year for peeking backstage at the ballet, with the BBC documentary series The Agony and the Ecstasy and Darren Aronofsky’s thriller Black Swan. The Ballet Ruse is an altogether more irreverent look at the painstaking discipline…

Rock the Ballet

Pop-rock ballet makes for pure entertainment from Rasta Thomas’s Bad Boys

7 Aug 2011

Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance have come to town and swapped tights and Tchaikovsky for snug black trousers and an unashamed pop-rock soundtrack. New York-based ballet dancers they may be, but there’s not a whiff of neurotic Natalie Portman about them…

Interview - Muirne Bloomer and Emma O’Kane of The Ballet Ruse

Ballerinas swap the barre for the bar

29 Jul 2011

The origins of The Ballet Ruse, by seasoned Irish dancers Muirne Bloomer and Emma O’Kane, are simple. ‘In 2009 we were both single and decided to make a groundbreaking piece about dating,’ remembers Bloomer. But things took a turn in the studio. ‘We…

Rock the Ballet incorporates multiple dance styles

Ballet gets a rock and pop makeover at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

28 Jul 2011

If the word ballet leads you to thoughts of starched white tutus and tight buns, then Rock the Ballet is here to disabuse you of that notion. For although there will indeed be tight buns on stage, they’re considerably lower down than your average prima…

Edinburgh International Festival 2011 IN festival membership scheme

EIF and The List deal for half-price tickets, events and freebies

24 May 2011

Edinburgh International Festival - in association with The List magazine - are offering members of an innovative and exclusive membership scheme a whole host of half-price tickets, event passes and freebies for the 2011 Festival season. Membership to…

Alonzo King Lines Ballet

Modern classical dance with an Indian beat

14 Aug 2010

It’s part of our make-up to search for the meaning in things. So it’s no surprise that when an audience sits down in front of a piece of modern dance, the big question in most people’s heads is ‘what’s it all about?’. Bringing two works to this…

Tony Tanner’s Charlatan

Russian Ballet’s controversial founding father brought to life

8 Aug 2010

The life and times of Russian ballet’s undisputed godfather, Sergei Diaghilev, is a fascinating story, riddled with controversy, rule bending and boundary pushing. Here Diaghilev recounts his legacy from beyond the grave, no doubt spicing things up a…

Five questions: Natalie Trewinnard of Scottish Dance Theatre

SDT's shows Drift, NQR and other Fringe dance highlights

3 Aug 2010

Give us five reasons to come and see SDT’s two Fringe shows Three contrasting works of total theatre; powerfully athletic; SDT dancers have individuality and personality; groundbreaking work; thought-provoking. Tell us four more Fringe dance shows…

Festival collaboration unites Alonzo King Lines Ballet with Zakir Hussain

EIF show fuses Indian classical music and contemporary American ballet

16 Jul 2010

Zakir Hussain was always destined for musical greatness: one look at his childhood bedtime routine will tell you that. For years he would come home from school and go straight to sleep, only to be awakened by his father at midnight to rehearse through…

BalletLORENT's Blood, Sweat and Tears

Quirky, emotive dance theatre from Newcastle-based group

16 Jul 2010

Despite being a mere stone’s throw away from Scotland, we see tragically little of Newcastle-based balletLORENT. Easily one of the most interesting female choreographers in the world today, Liv Lorent produces quirky, emotive dance theatre that always…

Edinburgh, My Home: Jonathan Mills

22 Mar 2010

Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan Mills on the virtues and indiscretions of his adopted home

John Adams and Lee Breuer among Edinburgh International Festival 2010 highlights

22 Mar 2010

As the programme is launched for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, we cast an eye over the highlights

Gelabert Azzopardi Companyia de Dansa

Works of total theatre from Cesc Gelabert

23 Aug 2009

Catalan choreographer, Cesc Gelabert is back at the Edinburgh International Festival after a five-year absence. He’s been missed, and the two new works he delivers in this double-bill show exactly why. These are works of total theatre, where music…

Dance hitlist

23 Aug 2009

Everything Must Go, Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break, Michael Clark, Scottish Ballet, Zeitgeist

Scottish Ballet

23 Aug 2009

Three diverse works from our national ballet company, all of which will put these increasingly powerful dancers to the test. Reportedly his own personal favourite, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Scenes de Ballet opens the night with style and sophistication.

Scottish Ballet's updated Petrushka

Choreographer Ian Spink breaks new ground

13 Jul 2009

It’s not an overstatement to say that Ian Spink is one of the most important figures in British contemporary dance. Yet there’s every chance, especially if you’re on the youthful side, that you’ve never even heard of him. Starting a dance career in his…

Nina Ananiashvili

7 Aug 2008

Having just turned 45, the days in which Nina Ananiashvili can perform moves like this must surely be numbered. So now’s the time to catch one of the finest prima ballerinas of her generation. A dancer with the Bolshoi for many years, Ananiashvili now…

Edinburgh International Festival programme unveiled

2 Apr 2008

This year’s Edinburgh International Festival will take the changes and challenges facing contemporary Europe as its theme, it was announced today. Highlights of the programme include the world premiere of Matthew Bourne’s new dance work ‘Dorian…

Hitlist - the best Festival dance

23 Aug 2007

Ballerina Who Loves A B-Boy The finest Korean breakdancers in town – treat yourself to headspins, streetdance and a wee bit of ballet in this five star show. clubWEST@Hilton, 0772 028 5550, 7.45pm, until 24 Aug, £12 (£9). Trisha Brown Dance Company…

Impressing the Czar

16 Aug 2007

‘You’re going to get really lost,’ predicts Aki Saito, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She’s talking about the average person’s reaction to William Forsythe’s three-act extravaganza, Impressing the Czar. ‘You won’t know what to…

Ballerina Who Loves a B-Boy

16 Aug 2007

Although it’s been crammed into a hotel function room better suited to the cringey frugging of a wedding disco, this gleeful little production is the most assured and exuberant of the cluster of Korean breakdance shows infesting the Fringe this…

Sorry, Love!

9 Aug 2007

Isobel works in PR, Ramon’s a hotel bellboy. They fall in love and get a mortgage. Her boss calls too often; she’s sad when he comes home late. It’s interesting to see a piece of dance theatre using ballet and the sexy flourishes of tango to express…