It was a memorable few days for Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers Ana Gallardo Lobaina and Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson. When they made their debuts as Odette/Odile and Siegfried at the May 2 evening performance of RNZB’s Swan Lake they were both soloists at the time. Not for long though. After the May 4 matinee – their second performance…
Tag: Hamish McKeich
Hansel & Gretel, Royal New Zealand Ballet
Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland, December 5. It is no small thing to make a full-length narrative ballet that wins its place in a company’s repertoire. Many are attempted and many end up as red lines on a balance sheet unless sets and costumes can be sold or repurposed. Most happily, Loughlan Prior’s Hansel &…
Romeo and Juliet, RNZB
St James Theatre, Wellington, August 16. Francesco Ventriglia was artistic director of Royal New Zealand Ballet when he proposed making a new Romeo and Juliet to replace Christopher Hampson’s highly regarded version, made in 2003 to mark RNZB’s 50th anniversary and revived for four more seasons. Ventriglia’s tenure didn’t quite work out as planned and…