#katja khaniukova

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Alina Cojocaru and Ivan Putrov organise Dance for Ukraine Gala

Ivan Putrov and Alina Cojocaru announce event featuring artists from Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet.

Among the artists participating are Marianela Nunez, Mathieu Ganio, Federico Bonelli, Fumi Kaneko, Natalia Osipova,  Francesco Gabriele Frola, Isaac Hernandez, Reece Clark, Katja Khaniukova, Emma Hawes and Alina Cojocaru.

Programme TBA.

At the London Coliseum – 7PM, Saturday 19 March 2022

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Katja Khaniukova and Jeffrey Cirio in Cinderella.

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Cesar Corrales and Katja Khaniukova dancing a pas de deux from Don Quixote (English National Ballet, 2017)

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Katja Khaniukova | Julian MacKay

Photo by Nicholas MacKay

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Katja Khaniukova in Le Corsaire, English National Ballet – Emerging Dancer Competition 2015. © Dave Morgan.

Khaniukova already has experience dancing Gulnare for ENB, and the sunny role suits her well: she has a lovely smile and nimble feet, perfect for the extract’s complicated footwork and many pique turns. Her fouettés at the end were a real treat and drew enthusiastic applause, just as intended.

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English National Ballet announces promotions, joiners and leavers for the 2019-2020 season

English National Ballet announces promotions, joiners and leavers for the 2019-2020 season

Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, announced promotions within the company and new joiners (and leavers) for the 2019-2020 season.

Promotions

Aitor Arrieta in the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

The following promotions have been made within the Company:

Aitor Arrieta, Katja Khaniukova and Ken Saruhashi have been promoted to First Soloist.

Julia Conway, Daniel McCorm…

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Review 2019 - The Dance Year from Dance Europe on Vimeo.

A collage featuring some of the wonderful dancers and companies photographed by Dance Europe during the past 12 months.

Photographs: The Nutcracker, Mariinsky Ballet - Kimin Kim and Maria Khoreva; Le Parc ch: Angelin Preljocaj- Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo; Beauty and The Beast ch: David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton; Yaoqian Shang; Faun ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Paris Opera - Juliette Hilaire and Marc Moreau; Les Noces ch: Pontus Lidberg, Paris Opera; Blue Moon ch: Aletta Collins, The Royal Ballet; Odissi Solo - Mavin Khoo; What is BirdGang? - BirdGang; Don Quixote pr: Carlos Acosta, The Royal Ballet - Marianela Nuñez; Swan Lake pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Germain Louvet and François Alu; Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet; Bon Voyage, Bob... ch: Alan Lucien Øyen - Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Hotel - Cirque Éloize; Swan Lake, Dutch National Ballet - Maia Makhateli and Daniel Camargo; Le Reveil de Flore - Mariinsky Ballet; Frankenstein ch: Liam Scarlett, The Royal Ballet - Federico Bonelli and Wei Wang; Russian Ballet Icons Gala - Marcelino Sambé; Julian MacKay; Romeo and Juliet ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Lauren Cuthbertson; Victoria ch: Cathy Marston, Northern Ballet - Pippa Moore; Marguerite and Armand ch: Ashton, Mariinsky Ballet - Diana Vishneva and Xander Parish; Push Comes to Shove ch: Twyla Tharp, Mariinsky Ballet - Victor Caixeta; Canto de Ossanha ch: Joonhyuk, The Royal Ballet; Medusa ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Natalia Osipova and Matthew Ball; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet - Elena Yevseyeva and Victor Caixeta; Maria Khoreva; Mayerling ch: MacMillan, Stuttgart Ballet - Friedemann Vogel; Giselle, Abay Kazakh Ballet; The Birds ch: MacMillan, Central School of Ballet; My First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty, English National Ballet School; The Great Gatsby ch: David Nixon - Kevin Poeung and Ashley Dixon; Mayerling ch: MacMillan - Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen; The Two Pigeons, Paris Opera Ballet School; Dracula ch: David Nixon - Javier Torres and Antoinette Brooks-Daw; The Sleeping Beauty, Mariinsky Ballet - Xander Parish; YAGP New York, Grand Prix recipient - Gabriel Figueredo; Hummingbird ch: Liam Scarlett - San Francisco Ballet; Cinderella ch: Christopher Wheeldon - Emma Hawes and Katja Khaniukova; Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández; Birthday Offering ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Fumi Kaneko; Coppélia ch: de Valois, The Royal Ballet - Gary Avis; YAGP Paris, Grand Prix recipient António Casalinho; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet, Chloë Réveillon; Dracula ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Kevin Poeung and Joseph Taylor; Paquita, Dutch National Ballet Academy - Emma Mardegan and Philippe Magdelijns; The Nutcracker, English National Ballet - Matthew Astley; The Firebird, The Royal Ballet - Yasmine Naghdi; Raymonda, pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand; Giselle, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales; Giselle, Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa; Dada Masilo’s Giselle; Legend of Love, The Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa and Timur Askerov; Manon ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Francesca Hayward; Cinderella, Christopher Wheeldon, English National Ballet - Shale Wagman; Rasputin, Polunin Ink - Sergei Polunin and Johan Kobborg; Raymonda, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Powerhouse Rhumba ch: David Nixon - Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor; Bespoke ch: Stanton Welch, San Francisco Ballet - Angelo Greco; Spartacus ch: Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet - Anastasia Denisova and Denis Rodkin; A Month in the Country ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet - Oxana Skorik and Xander Parish; Boléro ch: Mats Ek, Paris Opera - Niklas Ek; The Red Shoes ch: Matthew Bourne, New Adventures - Ashley Shaw and Adam Cooper; Cinderella ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Ashley Dixon. © Emma Kauldhar 2019.

Photos of The Royal Ballet courtesy of the Royal Opera House.

Curtain Calls Dutch National Ballet, Gala, National Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam

Mariinsky Ballet, Don Quixote, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Abay Kazakh Ballet, Rediscovering Bach/Boléro, Almaty

Paris Opera, Raymonda, Opera Bastille, Paris

Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, Royal Opera House, London

Mariinsky Ballet, The Nutcracker and Marguerite and Armand Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

Music - ‘An Orchestra’ licensed by Envato

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Titel: Review 2019 - The Dance Year Text: A photographic collage recalling some of the wonderful dancers and ballets photographed by Dance Europe during the last 12 months. Photographs: The Nutcracker, Mariinsky Ballet - Kimin Kim and Maria Khoreva; Le Parc ch: Angelin Preljocaj- Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo; Beauty and The Beast ch: David Bintley, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton; Yaoqian Shang; Faun ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Paris Opera - Juliette Hilaire and Marc Moreau; Les Noces ch: Pontus Lidberg, Paris Opera; Blue Moon ch: Aletta Collins, The Royal Ballet; Odissi Solo - Mavin Khoo; What is BirdGang? - BirdGang; Don Quixote pr: Carlos Acosta, The Royal Ballet - Marianela Nuñez; Swan Lake pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Germain Louvet and François Alu; Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet; Bon Voyage, Bob... ch: Alan Lucien Øyen - Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Hotel - Cirque Éloize; Swan Lake, Dutch National Ballet - Maia Makhateli and Daniel Camargo; Le Reveil de Flore - Mariinsky Ballet; Frankenstein ch: Liam Scarlett, The Royal Ballet - Federico Bonelli and Wei Wang; Russian Ballet Icons Gala - Marcelino Sambé; Julian MacKay; Romeo and Juliet ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Lauren Cuthbertson; Victoria ch: Cathy Marston, Northern Ballet - Pippa Moore; Marguerite and Armand ch: Ashton, Mariinsky Ballet - Diana Vishneva and Xander Parish; Push Comes to Shove ch: Twyla Tharp, Mariinsky Ballet - Victor Caixeta; Canto de Ossanha ch: Joonhyuk, The Royal Ballet; Medusa ch: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Natalia Osipova and Matthew Ball; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet - Elena Yevseyeva and Victor Caixeta; Maria Khoreva; Mayerling ch: MacMillan, Stuttgart Ballet - Friedemann Vogel; Giselle, Abay Kazakh Ballet; The Birds ch: MacMillan, Central School of Ballet; My First Ballet: Sleeping Beauty, English National Ballet School; The Great Gatsby ch: David Nixon - Kevin Poeung and Ashley Dixon; Mayerling ch: MacMillan - Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen; The Two Pigeons, Paris Opera Ballet School; Dracula ch: David Nixon - Javier Torres and Antoinette Brooks-Daw; The Sleeping Beauty, Mariinsky Ballet - Xander Parish; YAGP New York, Grand Prix recipient - Gabriel Figueredo; Hummingbird ch: Liam Scarlett - San Francisco Ballet; Cinderella ch: Christopher Wheeldon - Emma Hawes and Katja Khaniukova; Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández; Birthday Offering ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Fumi Kaneko; Coppélia ch: de Valois, The Royal Ballet - Gary Avis; YAGP Paris, Grand Prix recipient António Casalinho; Don Quixote, Mariinsky Ballet, Chloë Réveillon; Dracula ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Kevin Poeung and Joseph Taylor; Paquita, Dutch National Ballet Academy - Emma Mardegan and Philippe Magdelijns; The Nutcracker, English National Ballet - Matthew Astley; The Firebird, The Royal Ballet - Yasmine Naghdi; Raymonda, pr: Nureyev, Paris Opera - Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand; Giselle, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales; Giselle, Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa; Dada Masilo’s Giselle; Legend of Love, The Mariinsky Ballet - May Nagahisa and Timur Askerov; Manon ch: MacMillan, The Royal Ballet - Francesca Hayward; Cinderella, Christopher Wheeldon, English National Ballet - Shale Wagman; Rasputin, Polunin Ink - Sergei Polunin and Johan Kobborg; Raymonda, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Powerhouse Rhumba ch: David Nixon - Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor; Bespoke ch: Stanton Welch, San Francisco Ballet - Angelo Greco; Spartacus ch: Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet - Anastasia Denisova and Denis Rodkin; A Month in the Country ch: Ashton, The Royal Ballet - Vadim Muntagirov; Swan Lake, Mariinsky Ballet - Oxana Skorik and Xander Parish; Boléro ch: Mats Ek, Paris Opera - Niklas Ek; The Red Shoes ch: Matthew Bourne, New Adventures - Ashley Shaw and Adam Cooper; Cinderella ch: David Nixon, Northern Ballet - Ashley Dixon. © Emma Kauldhar 2019. Photos of The Royal Ballet courtesy of the Royal Opera House. Curtain Calls Dutch National Ballet, Gala, National Opera and Ballet, Amsterdam Mariinsky Ballet, Don Quixote, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg Abay Kazakh Ballet, Rediscovering Bach/Boléro, Almaty Paris Opera, Raymonda, Opera Bastille, Paris Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, Royal Opera House, London Mariinsky Ballet, The Nutcracker and Marguerite and Armand Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg Music - ‘An Orchestra’ licensed by Envato, Hochgeladen von: Dance Europe, https://ift.tt/35dstrR

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Katja Khaniukova and Julian MacKay in The Flames of Paris (English National Ballet/Mikhailovsky Ballet, 2019)

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Katja Khaniukova in Radio and Juliet (English National Ballet, 2019)

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Cesar Corrales and Katja Khaniukova dancing a pas de deux from Don Quixote (English National Ballet, 2017)

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Eleonora Abbagnato,Teatro Massimo di Palermo @ Marco Glaviano

There are many, many Italian dancers scattered around companies throughout the world. Some are in the corps de ballet, others are principal dancers, but all continue the tradition that made Italian dancers some of the most famous of all. Even leaving the men aside, we have Pierina Legnani (noted as ‘maybe’ being the first to perform 32 fouetté turns) who was a prima ballerina assoluta at the Mariinsky; Giuseppina Bozzacchi who created the role of Coppélia for the Paris Opera Ballet when she was 16; Fanny Cerrito and Carlotta Grisi (together with Marie Taglioni – herself half Italian – and Lucile Grahn) who created the roles in Perrot’s Pas de Quatre in London; Virginia Zucchi (for whom Petipa created La Esmeralda pas de six), Carlotta Zambelli (the star of the Paris Opera Ballet for three decades), and more recent exports: Fracci, Ferri, Galeazzi, Durante, Savignano, Abbagnato and others who have become principal ballerinas with major international companies.

Eleonora Abbagnato in Puccini by Julien Leste © Rolando Paolo Guerzoni 01

Eleonora Abbagnato in Puccini by Julien Leste © Rolando Paolo Guerzoni

It is Paris Opera Ballet’s Eleonora Abbagnato (also director of the Rome Opera Ballet company) who heads the bill of Daniele Cipriani’s latest starry gala, this time for the 62nd edition of the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, a town which has seen many of the world’s most famous dancers pass through over the last half-century.

The programme, curated by Cipriani, ranges from the great classical repertoire to pieces by important contemporary choreographers, as well as original creations by young Italian dance makers.

Joining Abbagnato in the line-up are Davide Dato, from Biella, who since 2016 has been First Soloist with the Vienna State Ballet (who will dance in George Balanchine’s Tarantella, which the company has in its repertoire); Gabriele Frola, from Aosta, who became principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and, at the same time, of the English National Ballet in 2018; and Rachele Buriassi, a soloist at Boston Ballet.

Davide Dato 2017 © Cositore

Rachele Buriassi in Don Quixote © Stuttgarter Ballett

Davide Riccardo

Gabriele Frola © Aleksandar Antonijevic

There is also 18-year-old Davide Riccardo, from Messina, who graduated from the School of American Ballet and, since August 2018, has become the first Italian at the New York City Ballet (and will present Jerome Robbins’s Andantino as a tribute to the NYCB choreographer who also had strong links with Spoleto); as well as six Italian dancers from the Stuttgart Ballet: Fabio Adorisio, Daniele Silingardi, Alessandro Giaquinto, Matteo Miccini, Vittoria Girelli and Elisa Ghisalberti.

Coincidentally, the gala – on Sunday 30 June – coincides exactly with the tenth anniversary of the death of Pina Bausch, and Damiano Ottavio Bigi, who dances with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in Germany, will present his own creation dedicated to the great choreographer and interpreter.

Contemporary choreographers are represented by Claudio Cangialosi, from the Vlaanderen Opera Ballet, who will dance a piece by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Sasha Riva and Simone Repele, formerly at John Neumeier´s Hamburg Ballet and now at the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, will perform a work by Marco Goecke.

Sasha Riva and Simone Repele

Claudio Cangialosi

Sasha Riva and Simone Repele

Damiano Ottavio Bigi

Rachele Buriassi in Jiří Kylián’s Wings of Wax © Rosalie O’Connor

There are also national premieres by young Italian authors whose talent has been acknowledged abroad: Alessandro Giaquinto and Fabio Adorisio, of the Stuttgart Ballet, present two creations, especially for the Spoleto Festival, danced by the six Italian dancers from the same company. Tommaso Beneventi from the Royal Swedish Ballet will dance with Buriassi (together with Giacomo Castellana of the Rome Opera Ballet) in a world premiere by Francesco Ventriglia on the music of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre.

Among the (non-Italian) guest artists who complete the lineup are Nikisha Fogo and Liudmila Konovalova from the Vienna State Opera who will dance the Le Corsaire pas de deux along with the young dancer from La Scala, Mattia Semperboni, who set the stage alight in Milan recently as the slave. There’s also Friedmann Vogel from Stuttgart, Megan LeCrone from the New York City Ballet, Katja Khaniukova from English National Ballet and Nancy Osbaldeston from the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

Not only is there a fancy lineup – and quite unique – but the gala will be performed in the Piazza del Duomo with the stage backdrop being Spoleto’s stunning cathedral.

Nancy Osbaldeston 1

Nancy Osbaldeston 2

Liudmila Konovalova © Fotografia Massimo Danza 01

Liudmila Konovalova © Fotografia Massimo Danza

  Eleonora Abbagnato con le Stelle italiane nel mondo – Sunday 30 June at 21.30.

Some tickets are still available: Festival Di Spoleto – Abbagnato.

Eleonora Abbagnato at Teatro Massimo in Palermo @ Marco Glaviano

Dance in Italy – Spoleto Festival’s Dance Gala with Abbagnato, Vogel, Frola, Dato and many more on 30 June There are many, many Italian dancers scattered around companies throughout the world. Some are in the corps de ballet, others are principal dancers, but all continue the tradition that made Italian dancers some of the most famous of all.

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Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

She Persisted, the new triple bill from English National Ballet, has generated a plethora of four and five-star reviews. It is rare to find a shrivel of critics so unanimous.

She Persisted follows on from She Said, ENB’s first all-female choreography programme in 2016. Broken Wings (the Frida Kahlo work) was created for that occasion and returns in the new all-female evening. In 2017 Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) was performed by the Company and returns here after 2017’s sold-out performances.

Lyndsey Winship, Guardian:

In 2016, English National Ballet director Tamara Rojo took a stand with She Said, a programme of all-female choreographers. She Persisted reassures us that Rojo is serious about showcasing women’s work, and it appears in a landscape that already shows signs of cultural shift.

The new piece is Nora, created by Stina Quagebeur, a First Artist of the Company. It is inspired by the character in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House… “a woman on the path to independence”.

World Premiere

Nora

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

Choreography Stina Quagebeur

Music Philip Glass Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

Soundscape D.J. Walde

Assistant to the Choreographer Nicola Henshall

Design Louie Whitemore

Lighting Design Trui Malten

Choreographic Mentor Kerry Nicholls

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

CAST

Nora Crystal Costa

Torvald Jeffrey Cirio

Krogstad Junor Souza

5 Voices Adela Ramírez. Angela Wood, James Forbat, Francisco Bosch, Henry Dowden

Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper:

The bulk of the ballet is danced to Philip Glass’s Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; and Quagebeur takes her cue from the music, creating elegant, fluid and fluent dance that shines in the two pas de deux between Nora and Torvald: at first, Nora is childish, playful, the wife Torvald expects her to be; after the fateful revelation she becomes her own woman, and the choreography acquires a darker urgency.

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 04

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 05

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 02

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 09

Zoë Anderson, Independent:

Crystal Costa is a vital Nora, from flowing, lively dances to frozen shock. As her husband Torvald, Jeffrey Cirio whips through spins and jumps, explosive movement suggesting reproaches bursting out of him. Costa sinks slowly into her chair, stiff with horror, before her own anger comes whirling out of her. Nora is an impressive step forward from a choreographer to watch.

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 08

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 07

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 03

Debra Craine, The Times:

It’s a work that reflects the fierce aspect, bright surrealism and high colour of Kahlo’s art, while graphically illustrating the pain of her life, from the hideous traffic accident that skewered her body to the disastrous marriage with a philandering Diego Rivera that broke her spirit. At 45 minutes it’s too long, but there’s never a dull moment. Dancing the central role, Katja Khaniukova inhabits an emotional journey from playful innocence to agonised maturity. As Rivera, Irek Mukhamedov shambles around the stage like a clown, a loveable yet hopeless husband.

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

Broken Wings

Choreography Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Music Peter Salem La Llorona sung by Chavela Vargas

Scenography Dieuweke van Reij

Lighting Design Vinny Jones

Dramaturg Nancy Meckler

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 18

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 16

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 14

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 15

CAST

Frida Kahlo Katja Khaniukova

Diego Rivera lrek Mukhamedov

Young Boy Barry Drummond

Diego’s Mistress Alison McWhinney

Skeletons, Birds, Female Deer and Male Fridas Artists of the Company

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 06

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 05

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 02

Lisa Allardice, The Observer:

Mexican skeletons, male dancers in the flamboyant dresses of her self-portraits, dancing monkeys and deers speared with arrows – comic touches capture the surreal playfulness of Kahlo’s art alongside the darker incidents of her story: the bus accident she suffered in her teens and the terrible injuries and miscarriages she endured as a result, all imaginatively and harrowingly suggested. The whole is both sexy and sad.

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 11

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 13

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019 08

Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper:

[Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s relationshaip] was a tempestuous love match; and in Broken Wings it’s subsumed in an extended pas de deux between Frida, danced by the remarkable ENB soloist Katja Khaniukova and Irek Mukhamedov.

As performed by Khaniukova and Mukhamedov, always a profoundly expressive dance actor, this pas de deux is up there with the most affecting in the entire ballet canon. Danced to a poignant Mexican folk song La Llorona, it encapsulates the full gamut of emotions that went into that relationship: love, abandon, sex, jealousy, break up and reconciliation, to the point where you feel your heart might explode.

Broken Wings by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack:

With English National Ballet on such irresistible form, She Persisted continues She Said’s important dialogue.

Nora by Stina Quagebeur, photo by Dasa Wharton, English National Ballet 2019

Photo album: She Persisted with English National Ballet and photos by Dasa Wharton She Persisted, the new triple bill from English National Ballet, has generated a plethora of four and five-star reviews.

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Rina Kanehara and Aitor Arrieta performing the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara and Aitor Arrieta were announce as joint winners of English National Ballet’s 2017 Emerging Dancer Award, at the end of last month.

Rina Kanehara and Aitor Arrieta performing the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara in the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

Aitor Arrieta in the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara in the Esmeralda pas de deux © Dasa Wharton

Finalists performed a pas de deux and a contemporary solo in front of a live audience at Sadler’s Wells and the event was also streamed receiving 89,000 views worldwide.

Rina Kanehara and Aitor Arrieta were selected as this year’s winners by a judging panel consisting of the Company’s Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, Laura Connor, Dmitri Gruzdyev, Marguerite Porter MBE, Alfreda Thorogood and Graham Watts OBE.

Rina Kanehara dances Blind Dreams by Raimondo Rebeck © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara dances Blind Dreams by Raimondo Rebeck © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara dances Blind Dreams by Raimondo Rebeck © Dasa Wharton

Rina Kanehara dances Blind Dreams by Raimondo Rebeck © Dasa Wharton

Kanehara danced Raimondo Rebeck’s Blind Dreams set to music by Philip Glass and Arrieta performed SelF, a new piece by Aleix Mañe. The pair performed together in the Esmeralda pas de deux, making the result even more special for them.

Aitor Arrieta dances SelF by Aleix Mane © Dasa Wharton

Kanehara  said,

I’m so pleased to win this award. Performing with Aitor has been amazing, we are great friends and have had lots of fun working on this together. I’m thrilled to be sharing this award with him.

Arrieta said,

I am so honoured to have won this award. This was the first time I have danced Esmeralda and I really enjoyed performing it with my friend Rina to the audience at Sadler’s Wells and viewers online.

Last year’s winner of the Emerging Dancer and People’s Choice Award, Cesar Corrales, performed the pas de deux from Don Quixote with Katja Khaniukova during the evening.

Cesar Corrales and Katja Khaniukova in Don Don Quixote © Dasa Wharton

Cesar Corrales and Katja Khaniukova in Don Don Quixote © Dasa Wharton

Cesar Corrales and Katja Khaniukova in Don Don Quixote © Dasa Wharton

Sarah Kundi received the Corps de Ballet Award, acknowledging her exceptional work on and off-stage over the last year, while Georgia Bould was awarded the People’s Choice Award, voted by the audience.

Madison Keesler in La Sylphide © Dasa Wharton

Madison Keesler in La Sylphide © Dasa Wharton

Madison Keesler in La Sylphide © Dasa Wharton

Guilherme Menezes in La Sylphide © Dasa Wharton

Madison Keesler and Guilherme Menezes performing La Sylphide © Dasa Wharton

The other Emerging Dancer finalists were Isabelle Brouwers, Madison Keesler, Guilherme Menezes and Emilio Pavan.

Isabelle Brouwers and Emilio Pavan performing Paquita © Dasa Wharton

Isabelle Brouwers and Emilio Pavan performing Paquita © Dasa Wharton

Isabelle Brouwers and Emilio Pavan performing Paquita © Dasa Wharton

Isabelle Brouwers in Paquita © Dasa Wharton

Tamara Rojo commented,

Emerging Dancer is one of my favourite evenings in the season. I am so pleased that we have this opportunity to celebrate the young dancers of English National Ballet. Having this platform allows us to continue our commitment to nurture the stars of the future, and develop them artistically.

I am incredibly proud and absolutely thrilled with all the performances, the standard this year was so high that making a decision was very difficult. Rina and Aitor are two very charismatic and extremely gifted dancers who both have great careers ahead of them.

  Emilio Pavan dances Proprioception by Kirill BurloMane © Dasa Wharton

Guilherme Menezes dances Flight Mode by Sebastian Kloborg © Dasa Wharton

Isabelle Brouwers dances Drift by Sidi Larbi Cherhaoui © Dasa Wharton

Madison Keesler dances We Move Lightly by Myles Thatcher © Dasa Wharton

Photo Album: English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer Award 2017 Rina Kanehara and Aitor Arrieta were announce as joint winners of English National Ballet's 2017 Emerging Dancer…

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Katja Khaniukova and Fernando Bufalá rehearsing Adagio Hammerklavier (English National Ballet)