Archives - 2004

is appearing at both Sadler's Wells and the Royal Opera House, in two very different forms. Louise Jury finds out more. Posted: 29 Dec 2004

partner to Esther Rantzen and Leslie Garrett in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing series. Elizabeth Grice talks about her first ballroom dancing lesson with Anton du Beke,
"A vast wall of unforgiving mirrors reveals that Anton Du Beke, arch seducer of the dance floor, has me in his considerable grip and is practising the dark art of chest projection."
Telegraph, 21 Dec.04  Posted: 21 Dec 2004

Ismene Brown reviews the highs and lows of 2004. "The death this month, at 94, of Alicia Markova, the magical woman who inspired the two greatest geniuses of 20th-century ballet, George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton, capped a year of a particularly illuminating kind of nostalgia."
Telegraph, 18 Dec.04 Posted: 21 Dec 2004

This evening marks the return of the English National Ballet to the London Coliseum. The company will perform The Nutcracker, with choreography by Christopher Hampson and designed by Gerald Scarfe. Posted: 21 Dec 2004

Darcey Bussell describes a typical day combining her roles of mum and principal dancer with the Royal Ballet "Rehearsals can go on until 6.30pm, but if I'm not called and don't have a performance, I go home in the afternoon. Bath time is 5.30, and Zoe goes to sleep at 6.30, when I read to Phoebe."
Sue Fox, Sun.Times, 19 Dec.04 Posted: 21 Dec 2004

The Royal Festival Hall, London Youth Dance and Youth Dance England have collaborated to create The Big Youth Dance Weekend being held 22 & 23 January 2005. Posted: 21 Dec 2004

The Department for Culture Media & Sport announces a freeze in funding, amounting to a cut of £30 million.  Posted: 15 Dec 2004

has been 'too Russian, too intelligent and sometimes just too tall for the great classical roles.' with the Royal Ballet. But this season she has been dancing the lead role in Ashton's Sylvia.  She talks to Judith Mackrell in the Guardian, 15 Dec. And Debra Craine in the Times, 18 Dec.04 Posted: 15 Dec 2004

'..the Royal Ballet's brilliant production of Ashton's Cinderella has an exquisiteness that has no connection to the thrust of life in Britain today; it seems to be an enchantment within an enchantment, a form of art that runs against the grain of our generation's addiction to reality.' Andrew O'Hagan argues in the Telegraph, 11 Dec  What do you think?
Send us your views and we'll post in our Interact pages Posted: 15 Dec 2004

will be dancing as Artists in Residence at the South Bank Centre. Posted: 13 Dec 2004

The final of the BBC1 celebrity dance competition was watched by 10.6 million viewers on Saturday night. Posted: 13 Dec 2004

Uk wide, 250,000 people are due to see a variety of Nutcrackers this year. Londoners have at least two to choose from... Posted: 13 Dec 2004

Leigh Zimmerman is a dancer, actress, and singer, who has starred in productions on Broadway and the West End. Jonathan Sale finds out about the training and education that helped her to achieve the career she has today.
Independent, 9 Dec.04 Posted: 10 Dec 2004

 - firmly established as the UK launch pad for new choreographic talent - returns to The Place next month. Posted: 9 Dec 2004

Nominations have just been announced. Posted: 8 Dec 2004

Laura Thompson has been commissioned to make a film for BBC4, Back to the Barre, in which she will dance. She talks about coming back to ballet after a break of 20 years, and how it felt to perform again 'I realised how moved I had been by the experience, how ballet was truly about more than the pursuit of physical perfection,'
Telegraph, 6 Dec.04 Posted: 7 Dec 2004

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, famous for its all-male cast of swans, is currently showing at Sadler's Wells over Christmas and into the New Year. Judith Mackrell talks to its stars past and present, Guardian, 7 Dec.04 Posted: 7 Dec 2004

Figures show a 13% decline in West End audience numbers, with drama faring particularly badly. Musical are proving a more reliable bet for promoters and for the first time ever they outnumber straight plays. Sun.Times, 5 Dec Posted: 6 Dec 2004

Last years show won an Olivier Award, but accolades aren't the point for creator Simon Casson.  “What we do is performance art, which is boring, meets showbiz, which is vacuous,” says Casson. “Where they meet is great.”  Times, 4 Dec Posted: 6 Dec 2004

Dame Alica Markova, one of the most influential figures in British dance, has died at the age of 94. Posted: 3 Dec 2004