Ian Macmillan

I finally caught up with the film this afternoon, and very much enjoyed it. Having no particular memory of the stage show, I took no objection to the style used here at all. Perhaps there was no surprise after seeing the trailer online? The experienced actors did all that was asked of them, particularly Ian McKellen and Judi Dench - and on the evidence of today plus that in R&J - Beyond Words, there's no denying that Francesca Hayward is a compelling young lady in closeup. We need not be surprised if other Directors come calling for her. Robert Fairchild and Steven McCrae kept their ends up really rather well, and overall the film looks to have been an excellent gig for a fair number of dancers. Can't think why there was such a negative reaction at its release.

For the record, no streaming problems into Saffron Screen - where there was the customary full house of relatively older citizens. The show went down well and my wife, with lots of prior experience of the production in days gone by, was highly complimentary and with only very minor observations to make. The very late substitution must have made it a very special night for Fumi Kaneko and she reacted magnificently. And I'd agree with others who seem to feel, like me, that Gary Avis watched over her with more than customary attention during the Rose Adagio. (And on something else already mentioned - has the RB ever promoted someone on stage after a show? As the end approached, I was wondering if it might happen. Oh, and a bit of pre-emptive applause suggested that a number of folk seemed not to know that the show isn't over till we get Vive Henri Quatre for a big final tableau to rival that in Firebird.) And a real extra for me was to see Cathy Marston in the second Interval, with jazzy hairdo, talking about creating The Cellist with Darcey and Anita Rani, who was not at all in her Countryfile rig. Roll on 17 February!

From the letters page in today's Times:

He certainly had quite an eye. My desktop picture is one of his - from a session in his earlier days with my wife. And some more V&A Images: https://www.vandaimages.com/results.asp?W=2&F=0001&Step=1

Links – Saturday 11 January, 2020 Reviews – English National Ballet, Le Corsaire, London: Jenny Gilbert, Arts Desk Graham Watts, Bachtrack David Mead, SeeingDance Feature (delayed?) – Royal Ballet’s Yasmine Naghdi on Swanilda and more: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Preview – Peeping Tom, Child, London: Laura Cappelle, Financial Times What’s On: London & Birmingham: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian (Scroll down) Los Angeles Area: Matt Cooper, LA Times London Previews: All by Teresa Guerreiro Royal Ballet, Onegin: Culture Whisper Kidd Pivot/Crystal Pite/Jonathon Young, Revisor: Culture Whisper Holly Blakey & Others, Cowpuncher My Ass: Culture Whisper

Links – Friday 10 January, 2020 Reviews – English National Ballet, Le Corsaire, London: Debra Craine, The Times Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Emma Byrne, Evening Standard Zoë Anderson, Independent Jenny Gilbert, The i Mark Monahan, Telegraph Anna Winter, The Stage Vera Liber, BTG Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper John O’Brien, London Theatre 1 Features: - How Ballet is reimagining problematic classics: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian - Breaking NYCB’s Nutcracker colour barrier: Zita Allen, NY Amsterdam News Reviews – Northern Ballet, 50th Anniversary Gala, Leeds: David Mead, SeeingDance Yvette Huddleston, Yorkshire Post Review – Faye Driscoll, Thank You for Coming: Space, New York: Brian Seibert, NY Times What’s On – New York, Next Week: Brian Schaefer, NY Times Tour Review – St Petersburg Classic Ballet, The Nutcracker, Sheffield: Velda Harris, BTG Preview – ReLoCate, 4 Solo Works, Montreal: Roger Levesque, Montreal Gazette

Links – Thursday 9 January, 2020 Reviews – London: Laura Freeman, Spectator - Arthur Pita, The Little Match Girl - Matthew Bourne/New Adventures, The Red Shoes Exhibition Preview – Backstage at the Ballet: Photos by Colin Jones, Oxford: Tora Baker, Creative Boom Preview – Russell Maliphant, maliphantworks3, London: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Documentary Review – Cunningham: Chandler Levack, Globe and Mail Tour Review – St Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre, The Nutcracker, Sheffield: Ray Taylor, Reviews Hub Choreography Features: - Flannery Gregg: The new Little Women film: Karla Peterson, LA Times - Camille A. Brown: Porgy and Bess at The Met: Christopher Browner, Playbill Review – Billy Elliot, The Musical, Adelaide: Maggie Tonkin, Dance Australia Review – Animals of Distraction, Frontera, Sydney: Jill Sykes, SMH Who knew? Romanian Bear Dancers: Imogen Tilden, Guardian

Links – Wednesday 8 January, 2020 Review - Northern Ballet, 50th Anniversary Gala, Leeds: Graham Watts, Bachtrack Review – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Recent Season, New York: Robert Gottlieb, NY Observer Photo Feature – Best of 2019: Staff, Pointe Magazine Feature – Mariana Valencia and her new solo Air: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Feature – Sydney Festival – despite the bushfire smoke: Josh Dye, SMH News – Ausdance National rises from the ashes: Karen Van Ulzen, Dance Australia News – Gibney Dance: a $2m grant to become a Repertory Company: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Preview – Istanbul State Opera & Ballet, Bolero, Spring, Judith, Istanbul: Daily Sabah

Dave: I think you may be right about Chrome. I keep myself continuously logged-in but have recently had occasions when, on returning, that doesn't happen. The issue clears in time but can be a temporary nuisance.

Links – Tuesday 7 January, 2020 Northern Ballet, 50th Anniversary Gala, Leeds: - Historical Feature – Anna Winter, The Stage - Review - Donald Hutera, The Times Review – Sarasota Ballet & Guests, 29th Seasonal Gala, Sarasota: Carrie Seidman, Herald-Tribune Feature – Hofesh Shechter: Creating a Legacy: Olivia Ansell, Limelight Feature – My Best 20 for 2020: Mark Monahan, Telegraph Film Review – Cats: A Dance & Theatre Critics’ View: Lyndsey Winship & Arifa Akbar, Guardian Interview – Yulia Arakelyan, Erik Ferguson, Directors of Wobbly: Brett Campbell, Oregon Artswatch News – San Francisco Ballet School & SF Conservatory of Music Partnership: Staff, BWW SF Still catching up ..... Review – Boston Ballet, The Nutcracker (4 performances): Carla DeFord, Critical Dance

Links – Monday 6 January, 2020 Review – Scottish Ballet, The Snow Queen, Glasgow: Lorna Irvine, Fjord Review Feature – Scottish Ballet’s therapeutic dance project: Maggie Ritchie, Glasgow Herald And as the Christmas season recedes ..... Review - San Francisco Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet: Heather Desaulniers, Critical Dance Feature – Growing up with The Nutcracker: Dan Rottenberg, Broad Street Review

Tonight's news that Cathy Marston has a second premiere with San Francisco Ballet in March this year serves to remind me that watching her reputation grow as an internationally-acclaimed choreographer has been a highlight of this past decade for me. At its start she was still Director of the small company in Bern that I was delighted to see twice out there and in each of its visits to the Linbury in the ROH. Her tenure there ended in 2013, after which she went on to develop a growing reputation within Europe in Germany and Denmark, and later in North America, starting with San Francisco Ballet. In the UK, within the decade, she created Jane Eyre and Victoria for Northern Ballet and the award-winning The Suit for Ballet Black. Next month will see a long-awaited main stage premiere on the ROH main stage - The Cellist, based on Jacqueline Du Pre, followed a month later by Mrs Robinson in San Francisco. I could bang on indefinitely about her, but will leave things there and allow her achievements to speak for themselves. On the downside, but with some inevitability, I note with regret the end of the stage careers of Zenaida Yanowsky and Begoña Cao - in my eyes, two remarkable dance actresses.

With thanks to Bruce Marriott via Twitter, I discover that Cathy Marston has been working again with San Francisco Ballet on a retelling of the Mrs Robinson story from the later-60s film, The Graduate. It is due to premiere out there in March, just a month after her The Cellist for the Royal Ballet in London. SFB has announced it here: https://sfballet.blog/2020/reconsidering-mrs-robinson/ An ideal start to 2020 from my point of view!

Oh dear - I think you may find all the comment that's needed by clicking on the embedded Tweet.

Well I disagree with practically everyone on this. I wouldn't argue with any of the Directors' choices on camera placing - indeed, I thought these heightened the drama and Ms Hayward in closeup was really most impressive.

Other companies being available, I'll put in a mention for the Opening Night of Cathy Marston's Victoria with Northern Ballet.

A fair programme, I thought. But as a 'review' of the past decade, I also found myself thinking about what wasn't there - eg Lauren Cuthbertson, whose Alice is somewhat incidental to that Mad Hatter tap scene that, in turn, was all we saw of Steven McCrae. And how old was that Mayerling extract with Ed Watson and Mara Galeazzi? Have they missed so much through injury that their recorded presence is brief? And did I really hear Wayne McGregor refer to his 'alien aesthetic?"

Mea maxima culpa! The perils of dabbling in areas in which one has limited knowledge.

Links – Saturday 28 December, 2019 Obituary – Jeffery Taylor, Dancer & Critic: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Review – Rambert & Selfridges, Rambert x Future Fantasy, London: Brice Taupin, SeeingDance Feature – Choreographer Crystal Pite: Cathy Levy, Globe and Mail (Premium access) What’s On: - Around the UK: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian (Scroll down) - In Los Angeles: Matt Cooper, LA Times Best of 2019 & Looking Forward: - In Australia: Jill Sykes, The Age - Paris Opera Ballet to visit QPAC in July: Valerie Lawson, dancelines And as 2019 nears its end: New Year Honours List, 2020 KBE - David Bintley CBE CBE – Shobana Jeyasingh MBE and Stephen Mear OBE – Mirella Bartrip and David Toole MBE – Judith Palmer and Ashley Wheater

Katherine: Many thanks for drawing attention to Ms Wheater's award. It appears on the separate Diplomatic Service and Overseas List.

A quick trawl of the New Year Honours List produced the following Dance-related awards. The list may not be exhaustive. The Cabinet Office list is here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/855178/New-Year-Honours-2020.pdf It was searched using the term 'dance;' nothing came up using 'ballet.' New Year Honours List KBE - David Bintley CBE CBE – Shobana Jeyasingh MBE CBE – Stephen Mear OBE – Mirella Bartrip OBE – David Toole MBE – Judith Palmer I have modified the thread title accordingly.

Links – Friday 27 December, 2019 Review – Smuin Contemporary Ballet, Christmas Ballet, San Francisco: Rita Felciano, Danceviewtimes Best of 2019: - In New York: Marina Harss, DanceTabs - In London: Debra Craine, The Times (Scroll down) What’s On – In New York, Next Week: Brian Schaefer, NY Times Catch-up Review – Dimitris Papaioannou & others, The Great Tamer, New York: Leigh Witchel, dancelog.nyc

Links – Thursday 26 December, 2019 Review – Arthur Pita, The Little Match Girl, London: Sara Veale, DanceTabs Feature – Jacqueline Green: That Goddess Quality? This Ailey Dancer’s Got it: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Feature – Boston Ballet dancers – an average workday: Olivia Vanni, Boston Herald News – French Arts honour for Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: Staff, Flanders Today Feature – How Scottish Ballet made five wishes come true: Staff, BBC News Feature – Scottish Ballet Principal, Bethany Kingsley-Garner: Murray Scougall, Sunday Post

Links – Wednesday 25 December, 2019 Review – Dorrance Dance, The Nutcracker Suite, New York: Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times Interview – Linda Celeste Sims, Alvin Ailey company on dancing Cry: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Feature – NYCB’s youngest and liveliest Nutcacker audience: Julia Jacobs, NY Times Feature – Wendy Whelan – her essentials: Kathryn Shattuck, NY Times Book Review – Royal Academy of Dance: Celebrating 100 Years: Graham Watts, DanceTabs Best of 2019 – In London: Emma Byrne & Zoe Paskett, Evening Standard Review – Boston Dance Theater, 4-Bill, Boston: Jessica Lockhart, Arts Fuse And at Paris Opera Ballet, a strike with a difference: France24 Twitter/Emmanuel Tixier

Links – Tuesday 24 December, 2019 Review – Paris Opera Ballet, Raymonda, Paris: Laura Cappelle, Financial Times -- Why Paris Opera dancers & singers are protesting: James McAuley, Washington Post Catch-up Review – Maya Beiser, Wendy Whelan, Lucinda Childs, David Lang, The Day, New York: Leigh Witchel, dancelog.nyc Review – Protein Dance, The Little Prince, London: Louise Levene, Financial Times Review – Staatsballett Berlin, SUNNY, Berlin: Katja Vaghi, Bachtrack Best of 2019 – In Australia: Jo Litson & Rhys Ryan, Limelight Opinion – Blackface in ballet highlights a global divide: Alex Marshall, NY Times And on the Night Before Christmas …. Review – Dorrance Dance, The Nutcracker Suite, New York: Sheila Kogan, TheaterScene (+ All Good Things Come to an End) Gallery – Dance Centre Kenya, The Nutcracker, Nairobi: Yasuyoshi Chiba, Guardian Feature – Peter Dala and Tchaikovsky’s score with Alberta Ballet: Janet Smith, Straight.com Feature – NYCB’s educational Nutcracker Project: Terry Trucco, Playbill