This week's #ThrowbackThursday focuses on the Romantic-era two-act ballet La Sylphide. Act I begins in a farmhouse, where a young Scotsman, James, is sleeping in front of the fire. A Sylph enters, dancing around his chair. She kisses him and vanishes when he suddenly wakes. James wakes his friend Gurn, who denies seeing the Sylph and reminds James that he is about to be married. James promises to forget the incident. The Royal Ballet James' betrothed, Effie, arrive with her m

It's that time of the week - here's Elena Lobsanova as Princess Florine in Act III of the National Ballet of Canada's The Sleeping Beauty. Isn't her tutu gorgeous? - Selene

Despite a slight delay, this week's Spotlight Saturday focuses on ballet master and choreographer Jules Perrot. Jules-Joseph Perrot was born 18 August 1810 in Lyons, France. He began his dance career by imitating popular comic dancer Charles Mazurier. For this, he was engaged at the Gaite Theatre in Paris in 1823. He then moved to the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, where he studied under Auguste Vestris. He successfully debuted at the Paris Opera in 1830, and within a year had b

Today's #ThrowbackThursday focuses on A Midsummer Night's Dream, a ballet unusual for one reason: there are two of them. New York City Ballet The former work is George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The two-act piece was choreographed to music by Felix Mendelssohn (who was, in turn, inspired by the Shakespeare play of the same name). In creating the work, Balanchine also used incidental music from Mendelssohn's other works, including Athalie, Son and Stranger, The Fa

Here's Anastasia Soboleva of the Mikhailovsky Ballet in La Fille Mal Gardee. - Selene

Our students were very lucky on Tuesday to have the Royal New Zealand Ballet's Education Officer visited the studio for two workshops! Pagan from RNZB demonstrating a plie Both classes took class, both at the barre and in the centre (there were some lovely port de bras exercises). Junior Barre The Junior students practised their 'Spanish walks' and acted out the bandit scene from the ballet Carmen. 'Spanish Walks' The Bandits The Senior students were taught two pieces of repe

This year's Royal New Zealand Ballet season will feature the ballet Romeo and Juliet, also the subject of this week's #ThrowbackThursday article. Steven McRae and Alina Cojocaru, Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet is, of course, based on the Shakespeare play of the same name. The familiar tale of the star-crossed lovers, kept apart by families which hate each other and tragically dying in their attempt to be together, is also taken from the famous tragedy. The original ballet was

Here's Dorothee Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio of the Paris Opera Ballet in The Nutcracker - isn't her tutu stunning? - Selene

Today's Spotlight Saturday focuses on Danish Romantic ballerina Lucile Grahn. Lucile Alexia Grahn-Young studied ballet from a young age at the Royal Danish Theatre School in Copenhagen. Her teacher was famous ballet master and choreographer August Bournonville, responsible for ballets such as La Sylphide and Napoli. In 'la Cachacha', popularised by Fanny Elssler Her official debut came in 1834 at the Royal Danish Theatre, and she soon succeeded to leading roles, performing As

This week's #ThrowbackThursday focuses on one of my favourite ballets: The Pharaoh's Daughter, or La Fille du Pharaon. Rarely performed outside Russia, the ballet follows the story of the English Lord Wilson, who is travelling in Egypt. To escape a sandstorm, he and his servant, John Bull, and their guide take shelter in a pyramid. The guide asks them to be quiet out of respect for the Pharaoh's daughter, who is buried in a sarcophagus somewhere in the pyramid. To pass the ti