Press Release

"00:00", by David Dawson, nominated for Zwaan 2003/2004

The dance jury of the VSCD (Vereniging van Schouwburg en Concertgebouw Directies) has nominated 00:00, by choreographer David Dawson, for the Zwaan for the best dance production 2003/2004. The other nominated productions are Bestseller, by Meekers uitgesproken dans, First Form, by Bruno Listopad/Korzo Producties and Four for Nothing, by Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. The winner will be announced on Friday 1 October, during the Dutch Dance Days in Maastricht.

The jury:
David Dawson is one of the few young choreographers who is able to supply classical ballet with excellent contemporary choreographic works. His amazing feeling for aesthetics, use of space and composition makes 00:00 one of the unforgettable performances of last season. Het Nationale Ballet has a great asset in Dawson.

David Dawson’s latest creation for Het Nationale Ballet, Morning Ground, can be seen from 9 to 26 September in the performance Droom (Dream).

Het Nationale Ballet is subsidized by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the City of Amsterdam, and is sponsored by Euronext.

http://pers.het-ballet.nl

I just got a copy of a DVD with the Dutch National Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty with Sofiane Sylve dancing Aurora. It's the Sir Peter Wright production of the ballet. Sets and lighting are gorgeous, as is the music playing. Sofiane's formidable technical abilities are pretty apparent, though her immense stage presence which basically dominated the stage in her recent appearances here with NYCB doesn't come across well on video. I haven't seen this company before, but they're a very nice-looking company: clean positions and very easy dancing.

There's also a bunch of extras on the second disk (Prologue and Act I are on disk 1, while Acts 2, 3, and the extras are on disk 2), including a short interview with Sofiane. Some excerpts of her dancing include a short Vertiginuous excerpt, more incredible turning from the Black Swan variation, a short excerpt of her Dewdrop premiere with NYCB, and some center work from what appears to be a NYCB class. There were some pretty darn impressive moves being pulled off in that class excerpt, too. Other extras include interviews with Sir Peter on mime, and other aspects of the ballet.

I got mine from Amazon UK, but it's region-free and in NTSC video format, so American fans can watch it here without a special DVD player. Apparently, it will be released in the US on November 16, 2004.

More info can be found on the Opus Arte website:

http://www.opusarte.com

--Andre

<small>[ 02 November 2004, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: Andre Yew ]</small>

Press Release

Amsterdam, 17 november 2004

Sofiane Sylve dances title role in Ted Brandsen's Firebird

In December 2004 and on 1 January 2005 Sofiane Sylve dances the title role in Ted Brandsen's new version of the ballet Firebird, featured in the Russian Fairy Tales programme. Former Dutch National Ballet soloist Sofiane Sylve joined the New York City Ballet last year and is creating a furore as principal dancer. She returns regularly to Amsterdam, however, to appear as guest soloist with the Dutch National Ballet.

The French-born Sofiane Sylve (1976) has had an impressive dance career. Trained at the Académie de Dance in Nice, she won first prize at the international dance competition in Grasse. At the age of fourteen she launched her dancing career as principal dancer with the ballet company of the Karlsruhe Stadttheater. In 1993, at the age of sixteen, she made her debut with the Dutch National Ballet. In 1997 she was promoted to soloist and at the beginning of the 1998/1999 season she became the youngest principal in the history of the Company. Sofiane Sylve received the Alexandra Radius Prize at the beginning of 1998 and in 2003 she was awarded the Society of Concert and Theatre Directors (VSCD) Gouden Zwaan. In the course of her fourteen-year career Sofiane Sylve has risen to the very top of her profession. Choreographers who have worked with her praise her talent, the speed with which she learns, her dedication and not least her discipline. Sylve's remarkable talent has also attracted international attention. In 2003 Sofiane was invited to guest with the New York City Ballet where her outstanding qualities created such an impression that she was offered a contract as principal dancer at the start of the 2003/2004 season. Sofiane Sylve has maintained her ties with the Dutch National Ballet as regular guest soloist.

The Dutch National Ballet is subsidized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and the City of Amsterdam, and sponsored by Euronext.

I've consolidated two topics:

ERP posted 04 March 2005 06:30 AM
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Let me introduce you to the dutch national ballet:

www.het-nationale-ballet.nl

Just if someone is interested
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Stuart Sweeney posted 04 March 2005 07:01 AM
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Thanks ERP, but we do have quite a bit of material on Dutch National Ballet. Here is the current topic:

http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=001026

I will move your post to the forum above.

If you search (top right), you will find quite a few previous topics. There is quite a lot of material on their last visit to London:

http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000564

Do you have a particular interest in Dutch National Ballet, ERP.

<small>[ 04 March 2005, 07:12 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>