The Terpsichore Titles: Outstanding Young Dancers of 2016

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In The Year of the Swans: My Review of 2016 27 Dec 2016 I wrote:

"Every so often one spots a dancer with what I call the wow factor. Michaela DePrince had it when I first saw her in Amsterdam in 2013 and described her as "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while" (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013)."

I have already mentioned Michaela DePrince. Xander Parish stood out in much the same way when I saw him for the first time in York in July 2007.  The outstanding young dancer title is for a young man or woman who impresses me in very much the same way as they did. Such performances do not grow on trees. For many years it may be impossible to make a selection.

Also, such a selection will always be very unfair. As readers can see from the above YouTube clip, all the young dancers in the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company are excellent and they are just one company. Because I live near Manchester most of the performances that I see are in Britain or the near continent. There must be so many great performances that I do not see in Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union, in the United States the other great powerhouse of dance, not to mention China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba and the rest of South America and the entire continent of Africa. Indeed, as I live 200 miles north of London, 250 south of Glasgow and at least 100 from Birmingham there will be many breathtaking performances in my own country that I never get to see.

This year there are two dancers who stand out in the way that Parish did in 2007 and DePrince in 2013 and I want to acknowledge them both.

One is the young Brazilan dancer, Daniel Robert Silva, who began Ernst Meisner's No Time before Time at the Meervaart Theatre on 14 Feb 2016 (see Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016), in Lausanne where the ballet was premiered and at the opening gala of the Dutch National Ballet's season. I saw Silva again as the bronze idol in La Bayadere and he impressed me again even more (see Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere 14 Nov 2016).

The other is Gwenllian Davies of Ballet Cymru. In the Riverfront Theatre on the banks of the Usk in Newport on Guy Fawkes night, I witnessed something extraordinary (see A Romeo and Juliet for our Times 7 Nov 2016). I have seen many of the world's greatest ballerinas dance Juliet. Technically and indeed artistically their performances were brilliant. But when I saw them dance I knew that I was watching Seymour, Tereshkina and Cojocaru. When Davies danced I saw only Juliet. That is why her performance was spellbinding. Perhaps on another night it would not have been but magic was wrought that night.

I want to express my appreciation and gratitude to all the excellent young dancers whom I have admired but not yet acknowledged in this way and to wish them all the very best in their careers and lives.

Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere

Sasha Mukhamedov and Jozef Varga

(c) 2016 Team Terpsichore: all rights reserved

Dutch National Ballet, La Bayadere, Stopera, 13 Nov 2016, 14:00

There were gasps, sighs and murmurs from members of the audience as the image of Nikiya appeared momentarily before a disconsolate Solor. Nobody tried to shush them. They could not help themselves. The scene was just so beautiful. I've seen a lot of ballet in my time but I can't (for the moment at any rate) think of a more beautiful production than the Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere. 

The version of the ballet that the company performed was by Natalia Makarova.  She had created it for American Ballet Theatre in 1980. It is the version that the Royal Ballet danced in 2013 (see La Bayadere on the Royal Opera House's website). The story in Makarova's production differed in several important respects from that of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre which is the only other performance that I have ever seen (see the synopsis on the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's website and my review Blown Away - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere 24 Aug 2015). In Makarova's version, Solor is killed (presumably by falling masonry) when the temple collapses just as he is about to marry Gamzatti. In the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's, he actually marries her but kills himself in a fit of remorse. St Petersburg Ballet Theatre transposes Solor's dream of the kingdom of the shades to the last act whereas in Makarova's that scene occurs in the second.

Yesterday Sasha Mukhamedov danced Nikiya, Jozef Varga Solor, Vera Tsyganova Gamzatti and Nicolas Rapaic the Brahmin. Mukhamedov had danced Nikiya with Daniel Camargo in an extract from La Bayadere at the opening night gala on 7 Sept 2016 (see Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence 8 Sept 2016) and she had impressed me with her grace and sensitivity. She showed those qualities again yesterday and I became an even bigger fan. Varga partnered Mukhamedov brilliantly. He also dances with great sensitivity but shows strength and Speed in the solo roles. Consequently, he is thrilling to watch. I had not followed Vera Tsyganova until yesterday but I shall do so from now on. Another exciting dancer but also an accomplished actor expressing eloquently the wide range of emotions that her role demanded. The young Brazilian dancer, Daniel Silva, who had impressed me in the Junior Company's Ballet Bubbles on 14 Feb 2016 (see Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016) and who has recently joined the main company as an "eleve" danced the bronze idol. It was good to see him in that role and, indeed, good to see so many of the other young dancers whom I have tried to promote in this blog on stage. We saw several of the company's rising stars such as Michaela DePrince and Floor Eimers as well as many recent and current members of the Junior Company. I congratulate each and every one of those beautiful young dancers on their contribution to a magnificent performance.

The performance was magnificent not just for its choreography and dancing but also for its scenery, costumes, lighting and special effects. As in the Royal Ballet's production, the sets were designed by Pier Luigi Samaritani, costumes by Yolanda Sonnabend and lighting by John B. Read. Some of Read's lighting effects were very clever. By way of example, immediately after Nikiya had been bitten by a snake she appeared in a bluish light giving her an ashen appearance. I do not know who designed the special effects but he or she deserves special commendation. The images of falling debris in the destruction of the temple and Nikiya's fleeting appearance in Solor's dream were spectacular.

The Dutch seem to cherish their National Ballet in a way that few other countries do and the company responds by making its dancers accessible to the public.  Immediately after a gruelling performance Mukhamedov and Varga, still in full costume, sat at a desk at the bottom of the stairs to sign autographs and shake hands with their fans. In other cities members of the audience have to queue up outside the stage door in the rain to glimpse the stars but in Amsterdam the stars welcome the fans.  "So sweet and so typically Dutch", I thought.

Having recently attended a three-day workshop in Manchester to learn bits of the choreography from Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy I had a personal interest in this ballet (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016). As the experts performed the steps that Jane had taught us my fingers traced the steps.  It was like the icing on the cake, the fulfilment of last August's intensive. I felt even more chuffed with myself for attending the intensive than I did in August,

Wie Lange Noch

Thomas van Damme and Emilie Tassinari

Photo Michel Schnater
Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet
Reproduction licensed with kind permission of the company
All rights reserved

Dutch National Ballet Junior Company, Meervaart Theatre, 14 Feb 2016


One of the most thrilling parts of the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company's Ballet Bubbles programme on 14 Feb 2016 was Krzysztof Pastor's Wie Lange Noch to the music of Kurt Weill. Pastor is probably best known in this country for his Romeo and Juliet for Scottish Ballet which I reviewed in Scottish Ballet's Timeless Romeo and Juliet 18 May 2014.

This work featured two of my favourite young dancers: Thomas van Damme who had delighted me the previous year with his performance of Ernst Meisner's Embers with Nancy Burer in 2015 (see Junior Company's New Season 6 Feb 2015) earning Meisner my personal choreographer of the year award for 2015 (see Highlights of 2015 29 Dec 2015) and Emilie Tassinari who had impressed me and many others in Cinderella at the Coliseum (see Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015). Those two have really blossomed since I first met them just over a year ago and I am sure that they can both look forward to a glittering future.

So, too, can Joseph Massarelli and Daniel Robert Silva who appear below.

Joseph Massarelli and Daniel Robert Silva, 

Photo Michel Schnater, Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet. Reproduction licensed with kind permission of the company,All rights reserved

Those chaps were also in that piece. As they have only just joined the company this was the first time I had seen them. I am very impressed and will follow their careers with interest.

You will find my review of the show in Ballet Bubbles on 16 Feb 2016.