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Min

Interview – Mathilde Froustey, San Francisco Ballet

Posted on June 1, 2017

Cloud & Victory brought San Francisco Ballet principal dancer and former Paris Opera Ballet soloist, Mathilde Froustey, to Singapore in April to teach a series of ballet masterclasses. During her time here, we sat down with her to have a dialogue about her perspectives on ballet, her career and the realities and responsibilities of being a professional ballet dancer.…

Ballet Reviews

Review – Coppelia, Singapore Dance Theatre

Posted on March 21, 2017

coppelia-singapore dance theater - chihiro uchida

[Reviewed on 18 March 2017. This article was originally written for and published on the Straits Times (print edition).] Coppelia is a fluffy confection of a ballet, a light-hearted piece that combines comedy and pantomime with classical dance. It tells the story of two young lovers, Swanilda and Franz. Their road to the altar is threatened by Franz’s affection for a mysterious girl in the balcony – Coppélia – who turns out to be a doll. Hijinks and mayhem ensue.…

Mental Health

Ballet Breakfast Club

Posted on March 6, 2017

As part of Eating Disorders Awareness week (February 26 – March 4, 2017), I asked dancers at different stages of their career from companies around the world to send in a picture of a breakfast meal they had recently, which I posted on C&V’s social media with the hashtag #balletbreakfastclub. Eating Disorders are insidious, life-destroying illnesses that affect people from all walks of life. Ballet dancers especially face demands on their body, not just physically but aesthetically. That doesn’t negate the…

Posts

A Very C&V Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2017

At C&V, we’re always looking for ways to mashup ballet with everyday things and special occasions. This Valentine’s, we’ve created a series of 5 Valentine’s Day greetings filled with some of our favourite ballet dancers – and puns, of course! What better way to tell the ballet lover in your life how much you cherish them than with a well-chosen ballet pun or two?…

C&V Ladies Mental Health

C&V Guest Sessions – Surviving Nutcracker with Jeanette Kakareka, English National Ballet

Posted on January 20, 2017

Outwit, outplay, outnut. In this guest post, English National Ballet corps member Jeanette Kakareka shares her tips on surviving a gruelling 48-show season of Nutcracker during the holidays.…

Ballet C&V Ladies Interviews

Interview – Elinor Jagodnik, Stattsballett Berlin

Posted on December 12, 2016

The ballet world rippled with intrigue when it was announced that Staatsballett Berlin’s artistic director, Nacho Duato, would be replaced in 2019 by a duo of Johannes Öhman (current director of the Royal Swedish Ballet) and Sasha Waltz (who heads her own company, Sasha Waltz & Guests). A co-directorship raised eyebrows, but it was the appointment of Waltz, a decidedly avant-garde choreographer whose expertise lay in dance-theater around whom controversy swirled. It was nothing short of a bold move to appoint an…

Ballet Reviews

Review – The Nutcracker, Singapore Dance Theatre

Posted on December 12, 2016

[Reviewed on 7 December, 2016. This article was originally written for and published on the Straits Times (print and web edition).] The Nutcracker has been considered one of ballet’s most beloved yet most controversial pieces. Russian audiences in the 1800s might have found it acceptable, but in a globalised, culturally aware age, its Eurocentric fetishisation of Eastern cultures has raised eyebrows. Some artistic directors have tried to argue that the ballet’s play on stereotypes is “traditional”, not “racist”. But in…

C&V Ladies Interviews

Interview – Hannah O’Neill

Posted on October 31, 2016

Hannah O’Neill is a rare gem indeed. A dancer of supreme elegance and grace, she possesses not only the talent, but the mettle to become one of the few foreigners to be accepted into the world-renowned Paris Opera Ballet. She has not just survived, but succeeded as a POB dancer, rising to become a soloist after weathering a rough few early years and the exacting cauldron of POB’s concours, their annual competition on which careers and promotions hinge – it’s…

Posts

Quickfire Questions – Hannah O’Neill

Posted on October 31, 2016

Hannah O’Neill answers our fun quickfire questions.…

C&V Ladies Interviews

Live Interview: Joy Womack & Miko Fogarty

Posted on October 7, 2016

It’s not just an interview, but a live video interview! This August, I had the pleasure of bringing my friends Joy Womack and Miko Fogarty to Singapore to collaborate with C&V in a series of masterclasses and for the C&V Fall/Winter ’16 lookbook, as well as to spend time catching up with them. For those who didn’t live in Singapore and didn’t have the chance to learn from them in the masterclasses, I hosted a live Q&A with these lovely ladies…

Ballet Interviews

Interview – Ashley Ellis

Posted on July 15, 2016

There’s a lot that separates Boston Ballet’s Ashley Ellis and I. A couple of oceans, for one thing. And there’s the small fact that she’s a principal dancer in a top ballet company, talented and graceful and whipping out complex choreography with elegance and ease, while I can barely remember the adage combinations as I fumble through my weekly ballet classes. When I spoke to Ashley, we talked first about the rigorous life of a ballet dancer. I am aware…

Ballet Interviews Quickfire Questions

Quickfire Questions – Ashley Ellis

Posted on July 15, 2016

Ashley Ellis answers our fun quickfire questions.…

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