Jan 18

Bolshoi chief injured in acid attack

Posted on January 18, 2013 by lebrecht

Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, is being treated in hospital after an attack outside his Moscow home around midnight last night.
A man approached and flung acid in his face, before running off. Motive and identity are unknown. Filin, 43, suffered third-degree burns and doctors are working to save his eyesight. A former stage star, he was promoted to artistic director in March 2011. Read more here.

Bolshoi Ballet in ‘Cinderella’ Royal Opera House, London, UK, 7 August 2006. Svetlana Zakharova, Sergei Filin.
© Dee Conway / Lebrecht Music & Arts

Dec 18

Dance to the music of Tchaikovsky for the 120th Anniversary of the Nutcracker ballet

Posted on December 18, 2012 by lebrecht

The 120 th anniversary of the world famous ballet ‘Casse-Noisette’ or ‘The Nutcracker ‘ is celebrated on 18th December. The music was composed by Russian composer Tchaikovsky and choreography was arranged by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. The premiere took place at the Mariinsky theatre on a wintry Sunday in St Petersburg. Unfortunately, the story drawn from ETA Hoffmann’s ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ was not an immediate success – although the twenty-minute Nutcracker Suite did strike the right chord with the audience . By the 1960s the whole Nutcracker ballet had become an essential part of popular repertoire, particularly during the Christmas season.

Lebrecht Music & Arts carries photos from the original 1892 production and also many famous Sugar Plum Fairies such as Margot Fonteyn, Tamara Karsavina and Daria Klimentova. Irek Mukhamedov and Harold Turner are dancers remembered for their performances in this ballet. And, of course photographs of many of the great Bolshoi productions and with a more modern twist, the Matthew Bourne dance company.

Andy Durante as ‘Sugarplum Fairy’, Peter Mallek as ‘Nutcracker’. Vienna Festival Ballet, 26/10/1981
© Peter Mares/Lebrecht Music & Arts

Piotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ at the Mariinsky Theater, 1 June 1892.
© RIA Novosti/Lebrecht Music & Arts

Apr 16

Tamara Rojo has been named English National Ballet’s new Artistic Director!

Posted on April 16, 2012 by lebrecht

Check online at www.lebrecht.co.uk for a large selection of Tamara Rojo performance pictures.

Jan 25

Ukrainian ballet dancer, Sergei Polunin, in shock resignation from the Royal Ballet

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lebrecht

: Sergei Polunin with Tamara Rojo in El Corsario

: Sergei Polunin in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – production by the Royal Ballet

Search online at www.lebrech.co.uk for a full range of images of the 21-year-old principal dancer.

Oct 03

Obituary pictures for Alexander Grant, New Zealand-born dancer, 22 February 1925 – 30 September 2011

Posted on October 3, 2011 by lebrecht

: Alexander Grant directing a rehearsal

: Nadia Nerina and Alexander Grant in ‘Wedding Bouquet’ by Sadler’s Wells Ballet

: Alexander Grant (right) and Sasha Agadzhanov, marking out steps for Carlos Acosta using their hands during rehearsal

Sep 28

New book by ballet dancer, Deborah Bull

Posted on September 28, 2011 by lebrecht

Deborah Bull is speaking at the Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy in London on 30 September to celebrate the publication of her book, The Everday Dancer, on 6 October 2011. Lebrecht photographer, Laurie Lewis, has provided the cover for this new publication and we have wonderful portraits of Deborah Bull available at www.lebrecht.co.uk.