Giselle, a Royal New Zealand Ballet favourite, returns for May–June 2021
Giselle is back: the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s acclaimed ballet from 2012, which toured the world after its première in Wellington, and which became a 2013 feature film by Toa Fraser, will return in May and June 2021. Conceived by former RNZB artistic director Ethan Stiefel and choreographer–director Johan Kobborg, Giselle was praised by […]
A welcome return to the ballet, with RNZB’s The Sleeping Beauty
Stephen a’Court Top: Kate Kadow as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Above: Kate Kadow and Laurynas Vejalis as Prince Désiré. Kirby Selchow as Carabosse and Sara Garbowski as the Lilac Fairy. Kirby Selchow. Kirby Selchow and Clytie Campbell as the Queen. How fortunate we are in Aotearoa New Zealand to be able to attend […]
Royal New Zealand Ballet to broadcast Hansel & Gretel online from Friday, April 3
Commencing Friday, April 3, the Royal New Zealand Ballet will broadcast performances, originally recorded live, through Facebook Première—and you don’t even need a Facebook account to watch them. Hansel & Gretel, which premièred in Wellington last November with the support of Ryman Healthcare, is first up, with performances taking place on Friday, April 3 […]
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Hansel & Gretel: a family ballet where creativity fires on all cylinders
Nicola Edmonds Stephen A’Court Garth Badger; make-up by Kiekie Stanners Hansel & Gretel, the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s newest production, answers an important question: what can be made when you have every creative firing on all cylinders? Here we have Loughlan Prior (right) with his first full-length ballet, based on the Grimm Brothers’ collected […]
Stephen A’Court The 21st century is full of reimaginings. We see movie series rebooted with new actors and, often, new plots. Producers insist they’re not remaking things, but reimagining them. They take something that we might already know well, and put a twist on it. And if that’s in the Zeitgeist for film, then it […]
Abigail Boyle to retire from Royal New Zealand Ballet in March
Evan Li Ross Brown Top: Boyle in Swan Lake in 2011. Above: In a promotional image for the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 2018 season. The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s principal dancer, Abigail Boyle, has announced that she will retire from the company after appearing in Artemis Rising, which runs from March 1 to 9. […]
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s The Nutcracker gets into a festive mood
Stephen A’Court Top image: Nicholas Schultz as Herr Drosselmeier and Katherine Minor as Marie Stahlbaum. Above, from top: Fabio Lo Giudice as the Nutcracker Prince, before he wins his fight against the Mouse King. Katherine Minor and Fabio Lo Giuduce. The waltz of the flowers. Almost to the day eight years ago, we reviewed the […]
Ross Brown The Royal New Zealand Ballet premièred four new works tonight at the State Opera House, marking 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, the first country where women won the right to vote. Introduced by artistic director Patricia Barker, who had personal connections with each of the choreographers, the Strength & […]
Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Strength and Grace commemorates 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage
Ross Brown The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Strength and Grace season commemorates the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, the first country where women won the right to vote. Four female choreographers will première works for the season, curated by RNZB artistic director Patricia Barker. The season also marks the company’s 65th […]
The Last Dance is the pièce de résistance in Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Dancing with Mozart
Stephen A’Court Top: Dancers representing the Antarctic near the beginning of The Last Dance. Centre: Katherine Minor and Fabio Lo Guidice in Petite Mort. Above: Tristan Gross and Massimo Margaria in Sechs Tänze. The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Dancing with Mozart had its première in a different location: at the State Opera House, rather than […]
