American Ballet Theatre in London

[jacob]

The ABT are playing at Sadler's Wells this week.

This interview with the ABT's Thomas Forster gives an insight into the life of a male dancer in 2011. He is from London and his pathway could be followed by certain of our Billys?

http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/ ... s-Forster/

[ERinVA]

Were people surprised when you decided to be a ballerina?
A little bit as a kid. It was tough doing ballet because it’s not the ‘normal’ thing. It’s not strange but in South-East London I was the only one doing that, so I definitely did take a little bit of slack. But everyone also was quite understanding and I never got any real bother with it, just a few snide remarks here and there or a few handbag fights but nothing at all serious – I don’t think I need counselling for it!

A ballerina? I thought he was a ballerino, or a danseur.

[jacob]

A ballerina?

Thomas is definitely a danseur and not a ballerina

http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=169

[jacob]

Sadler's Wells Saturday February 5th mat

This was the ABT's programme Two from their London schedule. It comprised three fabulous pieces together with the Act II Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker. As a whole we saw the the strength in depth of the New York company with its roots in classical ballet and branches in 20th century choreography.

Theme and Variations, a Balanchine piece started the afternoon Show. Apparently this was composed as an homage to the the Imperial Russian ballet and with a cast of 26 it gave a stunning illustration of the Company's technical strengths. There was no narrative as such but it had a visual impact in the classical genre. For me Yuriko Kajya was a little lacking in attack with her solo dancing.

Probably the most anticipated work was Jardin aux Lilas. This was created by the late Antony Tudor with music by Ernest Chausson (Poeme) and costumes by Peter Cazalet. It was set in the garden of an Edwardian house party where estranged lovers come to terms with the hopelessness of their feelings. I am always fascinated by costumes. The ladies wore long frocks with white gloves. Bride to be Caroline's fiancee wore a high necked black suit. The costumes helped to evoke the period and the repressed longings of the four principals. Sensitively conducted by Ormsby Wilkins, Lilac Garden is a beautifully conceived piece of ballet and the knowledgeable audience received it with the accolade it deserved.

The Pas de Deux was danced by Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes two of the ABT's principal dancers. Part is from St.Petersburg and Gomes from Manaus, Brazil. This pas de deux was taken from Alexei Ratmansky's new production which received its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2010. This was a delightful show of classical technique.

The programme closed with Plan B something completely different. Paul Taylor's piece was danced to songs sung by The Andrews Sisters and evoked the nostagia of America in the 1940s. The dancing was a mix of jazz, swing and a touch of ballet. The songs ranged from the up beat Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy to the languid There will never be another you. Interestingly, it showed a good deal of humour which left the audience in high spirits. We saw the full cast once again and we were left with the feeling that we had seen one of the world's top dance Companys.
It was good to see them in a relatively small dance theatre.