2011 - The Year in Dance

January - March

April


* Richard Alston Dance Company - The Lowry - 12 April [Dance Moves] ****
Read my review for The Public Reviews here
Richard Alston's company are reliably watchable with their trademark extreme musicality and pure contemporary classical approach. Best of the 3 pieces on show was Martin Lawrance's Lie of the Land.
* Midnight Tango - Vincent Simone & Flavia Cacace - The Lowry - 18-23 April [Dance Moves]
Strictly's Vincent and Flavia manage to pull off an authentic tango experience with their first theatrical tour. Read my review for The Public Reviews here

May

* Abandoned Things: A Static Change Project - Joseph Lau - greenroom - 6 May ***
* Ballet Central 2011 - The Lowry - 23 May ***
Read my review for The Public Reviews here
* Khaos / Lay Me Down Safe - Scottish Dance Theatre - Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield - 24 May *****
A successful first experience with SDT. Both pieces were wonderful.
* Romance Inverse and By Singing Light  - National Dance Company Wales - The Lowry - 25 May *****
Another great first experience with NDCW. Romance Inverse was good but Stephen Petronio's By Singing Light was breathtaking. Really great company of dancers. Wonderful.
* Verve 2011 - The Lowry - 31 May  ****
Read my review for The Public Reviews here

June
 
* Coppélia - Birmingham Royal Ballet - The Lowry - 8-11 June *****
Read my review for The Public Reviews here

July

* Carlos Acosta - The Lowry - Sun 24 July - Mon 25 July ***
Read my review for The Public Reviews here

September

* Turning Twenty - Candoco - The Lowry - 14 September ***
Read my review for The Public Reviews here
* Chapter One - Paul Bayes Kircher - The Lowry Studio - 27 September ****
Read my review for The Public Reviews here


October
 
* Happy as Larry - Shaun Parker & Company  - The Lowry - 18-19 October ****
Read my review for The Public Reviews here

November
 
* Cruising, Clubbing, Fucking - Joseph Mercier - Unity Theatre, Liverpool (Homotopia) - 2 November ****
Bold, imaginative, sexy, multi-layered and witty, Joseph Mercier's Cruising, Clubbing Fucking was a refreshing, challenging and unashamed look at gay men's socio-sexual behaviour. Nice pants too.
* At Swim Two Boys - Earthfall - Unity Theatre, Liverpool (Homotopia) - 8 November *****
Powerful, beautiful, elegant, romantic, violent and sad. A beautifully water-staged performance by two outstanding young performers of Jamie O'Neills' wonderful book.
* Gameshow - Company Chameleon - The Lowry - 16-17 November (Preview and World Premiere) ***
Hugely ambitious step-up from Company Chameleon. Anthony Missen and Kevin Turner are as distinctive and appealing as ever but I personally found the game show construction over-conceived and the show has too much dialogue and not enough dance. Powerful moments but also capable of being annoying and irksome.

December

* Romeo & Juliet - Peter Schaufuss Ballet - Brighton Dome - 30 December ***
A nice opportunity to see the Frederick Ashton 1954 choreography (with sort of updated costumes and no sets to speak of) but Romeo & Juliet performed by a cast of 9 is a strange affair.  Reasonably effective in the smaller domestic scenes and the final scenes, the group scenes lacked impact or coherence - no knights, no townspeople, no courtiers, no partygoers - and it was almost comical to see Juliet with parents and nurse no older than her and the nurse doubled by a Japanese dancer in some scenes and a European dancer keeping her back to the audience in others crossed that line.

* This post makes no claim to show definitive listings for Liverpool or Sheffield. I will list events in Liverpool and Sheffield (or elsewhere) if the shows are (1) not available in Manchester or (2)  are an excellent opportunity to see something major again. Listings for Manchester venues are intended to be as complete as possible. Please let me know if I miss anything.