Legend has it that “Cloud Gate” is the name of the oldest known dance in China, a ritualistic dance which was supposed to have been performed more than 5000 years ago. In 1973 the choreographer Lin Hwai-min used this classical name for the company he founded, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of...
For the American dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931–1989) dance is an international art form which, since it did not need to rely on the medium of the word, could reach out to everyone. No matter where in the world the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre appeared, its solo performers thrilled...
One of the most exciting choreographers on the modern dance scene today, Hans van Manen’s work is characterised by a supreme musicality and striking versatility. The ballets in this double bill, recorded under studio conditions at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, reflect his choreographic...
Czech-born Kylián was inspired by the beautiful music of his compatriot, Janáček, to create this fluid, spacious, romantic ballet which has become a milestone in contemporary choreography. The forceful fanfares of Janáček’s music are matched by a ceaselessly energetic and exuberant display of...
Some theatrical events live on in popular memory to become legends - such were Nijinsky's appearances in Diaghilev's early Saison Russes in Paris. Mikhail Fokine was Diaghilev's chief chroegrapher and his choreography marked a departure from many of the rigid rules and forms of classical ballet and...
Léo Delibes was 30 years old when he achieved his critical breakthrough in France’s musical metropolis. Having made his debut with the music for the ballet La Source (The Source), he was immediately entrusted with the commission of writing a ballet composition that would fill an entire evening...
The ballet Solushka (Cinderella), by Sergei Prokofiev, was written as a commissioned work for the famous ballet company of the Kirov Theatre in what is now St Petersburg. Its premiere, however, actually took place in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre on 21 November 1945. The work achieved international...
P. I. Tchaikovsky is considered to be Russia’s great symphonic composer. In his music he achieved a synthesis of the national musical language of Russia and the compositional forms of the western European Romantics. His most famous ballets enjoy a position of honor in the Classical Ballet...
The onset of the First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917 had drastic consequences for Stravinsky in his Swiss exile: his property was confiscated, and he thereby lost the rights to his works and the associated income, leaving him in a situation which isolated him as an artist. His...
