Swan Division

When Swan Lake meets Joy Division.  A stunning mash-up from motion graphics designer & editor Evol  of the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake starring Ulyana Lopatkina, with Joy Division's 'Transmission'.  Demi-pliés and Mancunian post-punk go hand in hand for a culture clash.

BalletBoyz Hit New York

If you prefer your ballet when it is not all cluttered up with skinny ballerinas in pink tutus then you will love The Ballet Boyz : The Talent.  This celebrated rather stunning group of contemporary Brit dancers are just finishing their current US Tour with a week performing at The Joyce Theater in New York.

The show features two commissions from leading British choreographers: The Murmuring by Alexander Whitley and Mesmerics by Christopher Wheeldon. The cast of 10 dancers have been receiving rave reviews for their pyrotechnic performances which is part of the  newer, more approachable presentation that their Company has earned its reputation on.  

BalletBoyz; The Talent is the brainchild Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt who met when they were principal dancers with Britain's prestigious Royal Ballet.  Now 12 years later loaded with a stack of Awards, the Company appearances have continued to attract enthusiastic young audiences that are completely new to ballet and who can relate to unconventional, often sensual male-male partnering.  

The BalletBoyz are at The Joyce Theater through to February 28th . For tickets and information click here

What Lies Beneath

Photographer Rick Guest's second series on the world on ballet focuses on the beautiful and brutal realm of that the dancers live and work in and is titled 'What Lies Beneath', an absolutely stunning exhibition on view at the Hospital Club Gallery in London until January 31st.

'I wanted to make a series of portraits of the dancers themselves, as opposed to dancers dancing. 'I wanted to see how their art has both shaped and etched itself into their bodies.'  explained Guest.  And he does just exactly that working with stylist Olivia Pomp and using dancers from The Royal Ballet and The English National Ballet and others.

A number of limited edition prints will be on sale during the exhibition, as well as an accompanying book designed by Loose Joints, which also features an essay by art editor Sarah Crompton. 

 Photography @Rick Guest

For further  information .......
Exhibition : http://www.thehospitalclub.com/
Book: http://rg-books.com/products

Is the the real life? Is this the fantasy?

To mark the 40th Anniversary of Queen's iconic song Bohemian Rhapsody the English National Ballet teamed up with the Royal Academy of Music to create this totally stunning ballet. With choreography created by ENB soloist James Streeter, he video features two talented (and absolutely gorgeous) dancers from the English National Ballet : lead principal Erina Takahashi and first soloist James Forbat.

P.S. Freddie Mercury actually performed the song with The Royal Ballet back in 1979, and here is a shaky recording of that performance