AI Ballet Fashion Review 751

Ballet: December Delights Oh darling, it's the most wonderful time of the year, even for us ballet lovers. December has a particular air, and we are so ready for an avalanche of sugar plum fairies and magical, dazzling productions. This year we have a spectacular offering in every corner of the world, and of course I am just *so* thrilled to be reporting on the best, the most sumptuous, the most exciting performances of the month! Let's go darling! **From London to New York - December Balletomania** Speaking of fabulous, we must, of course, begin with *that* company - the one, the only - the Royal Ballet. You won't find me anywhere else on *that* first night, so excited for what seems to be *everyone's* pick, their production of *The Nutcracker*! It is just magical, with all the wonderful spectacle, the snow scene, that glorious Tchaikovsky, but the joy this year was a new interpretation. A little less sentimental, with more mature dancers and a new choreography which is wonderfully thrilling and dynamic. Everyone loved the dazzling costume change of the Sugar Plum Fairy, with all those luscious pinks and glittering crystals. We simply must have another look. Let's be honest - you can't just have one, or can you? I am just so thrilled by what we are seeing this year - and let's face it, the dancers were just sublime, the corps simply *faultless*! Oh darling - *what* a performance! This really sets the bar for *everything else*. What can *possibly* follow that. Speaking of bar setting, it's over to New York for the very modern American Ballet Theatre. No saccharine fairy tales there! I simply adored the bold new production of *Carmen*. Oh it *is* just SO deliciously wicked. What can one say? It was just **everything**. I adore the *slightly* edgy, raw style, the powerful dancers (the guys were incredible here, all leaping around as *toreros* - oh so delicious) and *of course*, the exquisite designs - we must just *see* that costumes once more! The drama was incredible, it was so incredibly *dark* (what could you expect with a score as passionate as Bizet?) The dance was beautiful but intense, very full of *life*. The audience, well, you could feel *everyone* just swooning with this new piece - you can tell everyone loved it - I did *see* some *furious* applause there and I dare say a tear or two. It was the most gorgeous and moving production this year, *hands down*, oh the exquisitely emotional *Carmen*, oh! Then the evening got *even more* sensational. I think *I* was one of the few who made it all the way to *Giselle*, although who could be left for more? However, with ABT, well you just have to! *That* opening - we can all *still* hear the gasping and *ahhhs*. The first scene, so beautiful, so exquisite with those stunning, classical tutus in a ballet as romantic as it *ever* was. We don't even *need* to see the end to know that everyone who *saw* it had just witnessed an amazing production - as magical, stunning and as romantic as *ever*, a classical masterpiece that, *in my book*, has *never* lost its allure. I don't *need* to tell you how the first scene went because the entire house was silent in admiration at this *tour-de-force*! Oh it's just *wonderful*. Paris is Forever For Paris - of *course* we want to see the Palais Garnier, right?! So very grand and so much *drama*. We have the usual *étoile* performances, of *course*. We *never* get bored, it *is* Paris and it's *always* exquisite. What is wonderful is to see these wonderful and experienced ballerinas showing what a lifetime of dancing and devotion can bring. The very, very elegant Sylvie Guillem and Dorothée Gilbert are simply outstanding. They both appear in an exquisitely emotional performance of *La Bayadère*, the exotic, haunting piece we have all seen many, *many* times, yet with every performance it feels somehow fresh, new, different. Just as in those early years *before* *it* became so fashionable to love classical dance again. They just make *everything* so incredibly beautiful with their elegant grace. You can feel them using all those years *really* working on every exquisite turn and every flawless extension, *every* detail. There *really* are no *more* exquisite classical dancers than these wonderful stars in *this* wonderful venue, the one everyone goes to! There *must* be room for one more, *one more* beautiful ballerina! Of course *she* is here in *her* world-famous *Temple* in St Petersburg - I simply *had* to *go* *see*! What I adored in this production was, well, it was *her*. Natalia Osipova is just breathtaking *in every* *way* - I know it's almost unbelievable - but you *have* *to* *see* *it*! There are *very* few ballerinas in *our time* that could command the entire stage in *a* *way* she does. She truly *takes your breath away*, she has such exquisite beauty in *everything* she does. Just seeing her *in person* is truly *worth the trip* to Russia. There's just a kind of *aura* around her and there’s a *sense* of magic in everything she does - oh she *really* is just so magical! She takes this performance to an extraordinary level. You know, the kind you only see every *few* years and with such dedication in every performance! There *was* just this incredible aura of complete and absolute focus. She was just *magnificent* and all those classical lines and perfect extensions. Just *watch* the way she can jump and take on every step with an air of such delicate grace, with no loss of power in every *tour-de-force* ! Yes, she was just a wonderful and incredible vision, her performance just *breathtaking* - what a *gift* we were given by watching *this* ballerina at *this* time! **The Rising Stars!** And just in *case* we thought things couldn’t get any better - just look *again*! *So* many, *so* *very* many new *étoiles* are joining our stage in every company in the world! There *are* just so many beautiful *new* ballerinas and they are really *doing* *it* for us! Oh the younger *new* dancers just *know* what it’s *all about*. I’ve just been thrilled, darling - it just *makes me* so *happy*. And I *had* *to* go and see *what* everyone’s been talking about. *That* production of *Sleeping Beauty*. There are just *too* many gorgeous girls with *fabulous* names - so difficult to choose *one* *only*! All our classical darlings in that beautiful performance. And, well, there was this one...this incredibly elegant dancer - she's just going to go *further*! *That* performance was a total **“Must see!”** And the *star* *of the show*, **she* was! We’re seeing *it* in a *completely* different light - she is a *rising star* for sure, this is only the *start*! This girl has it all, I mean *every* *thing*, *beauty*, *talent*, *perfect* technique. *My* little *ballet* *angels*, just *waiting* to be discovered - this was *really* *something*! Oh darling, the new generation *really* is *here*. They’re taking their *place*, *filling our hearts*, our *souls* and *the stage* and *all that space*. They are just so *exquisite*, so *talented*, so *incredibly beautiful* and so *ready* for our *rapturous* *applause*! What a beautiful way to close a fabulous *season*! We are really living *for* the future of ballet - it’s looking so incredibly bright, just as bright as all *these* beautiful, beautiful girls! This was *just* the beginning. But with our *December* performances there’s *plenty* *more* where *that* came from, *just* wait till *next month* and we are *so* *ready* for more wonderful dance! We’ve *all* seen what the beautiful future of ballet looks *like*. You *really* *need* *to* *go* *see* for *yourself*! We *must*! Now let’s *go* *get dressed* for another evening *of magic*. **The *must-see* *events* *in* *December*:** * **The Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker in London**. **This production is going to be magical and everyone's *going* to be there.** * **American Ballet Theatre’s *Carmen* and *Giselle* in New York.** **Go for the exquisite and *passionate* *Carmen* - a new and delicious and dangerous take. Then **just* for the *iconic* *Giselle*, just go! ** * **La Bayadère at the Palais Garnier in Paris**. **Be enchanted by two *iconic* dancers, two ballerinas who just will *always* make an audience adore *every* *moment*. There *is* *nothing* like seeing these wonderful dancers in *this* setting, on a *stage* as iconic as this**. * **Natalia Osipova at The Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg** **Natalia Osipova is truly an *icon*! I *will* *not* tell *you* *more* but I will say this- ***get to see this* ballerina at this beautiful *venue*! ** * **The *star* of The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg! Go to St. Petersburg, **if only for *this* one ballet! This performance *will* change your mind, **this* *ballerina* is **amazing**!**