2011 may feel like a blur already, but looking back – what a rollercoaster it has been for ballet. From the Black Swan controversies to Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev’s “defection” to the Mikhailovsky on the eve of the reopening of the Bolshoi’s historical stage, the ballet world has had its fair share of drama over the past 12 months, but the live action was even better. From Petipa to Forsythe, Balanchine to Ratmansky, it’s been a year of superlative performances, and I was lucky to see very different dancers and companies at the top of their game or on the way up in Paris, London, Milan, Amsterdam or Moscow. My best of 2011 in 8 ballet moments:

• Miami City Ballet’s Paris tour (July)

A year ago, few in Paris had even heard of Miami City Ballet. And yet last summer they took the capital by storm, a company refreshingly vibrant, youthful and musical, performing American masterpieces every night at the Théâtre du Châtelet. The sheer vitality of Balanchine’s Western Symphony, the dancers’ accents in The Four Temperaments, their way of showing us the music in Square Dance, their unfailing enthusiasm: I kept going back for more, and by the end of the three-week run the house was nearly sold-out every night. Among the Principals, the Delgado sisters particularly stood out: Jeanette’s Square Dance, Patricia’s third pas de deux in In The Night were world-class performances. Here’s hoping they’ll be back in 2014 as promised.

» My review for the Financial Times
» Behind-the-scenes blog: MCB corps member Rebecca King (Tendus Under A Palm Tree) on the tour

Jeanette Delgado & Renan Cerdeiro in Square Dance © Kyle Froman

• Vikharev’s Raymonda reconstruction for La Scala Ballet (October)

Reconstructions have their detractors, but Sergei Vikharev’s staging of Petipa’s Raymonda for La Scala Ballet this year was one of the most successful attempts at recreating a period “ballet experience” yet. The sheer scale and grandeur of the production, which I saw in Milan in late October, are something to behold, and the different pace allows the characters to breathe: the story may be thin, but the ballet fully succeeds in creating an entire world on stage, where harmony is metaphorically threatened then restored.  This Raymonda also helped La Scala Ballet, a usually problematic company, pull together, and it is up to them now to build on this success.

» Vikharev’s Raymonda on Bella Figura (review, photos and additional comments)
» The full ballet (Italian TV broadcast) on Youtube

Olesya Novikova and Friedemann Vogel in Raymonda © Marco Brescia & Rudy Amisano

• Forsythe’s Impressing the Czar (December)

At a time when contemporary ballet often seems stuck trying to deconstruct what has already been deconstructed, William Forsythe’s 1988 Impressing the Czar remains one of the masterpieces of the genre. Has anyone tackled ballet history quite so brilliantly in performance since? From the classical and modern worlds colliding in Potemkin’s Signature to Bongo Bongo Nageela, where an ensemble dressed as schoolgirls seems to mock yet bow to the sheer power of corps de ballet work, it’s an evening of dazzlingly clever invention.  The Royal Ballet of Flanders gave it their all in Paris, and as in Artifact the week before, their sharpness highlighted the high-definition extremes Forsythe took the ballet vocabulary to. The first cast gave a particularly electric account of the work’s centerpiece, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, with the diminutive Aki Saito literally slicing through the air in the final pas de deux. The most exhilarating performance of 2011.

» Promotional video for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, with footage from Artifact and Impressing the Czar (from 4:15)

Aki Saito & Wim Wanlessen in Impressing the Czar © Royal Ballet of Flanders

• Ulyana Lopatkina in London (August)

If the ballet world had a queen, it would be the Mariinsky’s Ulyana Lopatkina. At 38, she seems to be dancing better than ever, imbuing the smallest steps with meaning, and she was a glorious presence in London last summer. The level of detail and emotion she brought to Ratmansky’s Anna Karenina redeemed the ballet, and her Nikiya in La Bayadère, a portrayal of exquisite musicality and spirituality, is a memory I cherish. If you have the opportunity to see her in 2012, take it.

» Video: Ulyana Lopatkina and Sergei Berezhnoi in Anna Karenina (Youtube)

Ulyana Lopatkina & Yuri Smekalov in Anna Karenina © Natasha Razina

• The Bolshoi Ballet’s tour to Paris (May)

Last spring was a simpler time for the Bolshoi Ballet. Months before the Bolshoi’s historical stage reopened and the Osipova/Vasiliev duo stunned the ballet world by leaving for the Mikhailovsky Ballet, the company triumphed in Paris with two fiery ballets, Don Quixote and Flames of Paris. The supersonic Osipova and Vasiliev had the Palais Garnier screaming at their every turn, but the rest of the company matched them in style, with extraordinary performances from the larger-than-life Maria Alexandrova, newcomer Vladislav Lantratov and Nina Kaptsova, not to mention a Don Quixote matinée for the ages led by Ekaterina Krysanova and Viacheslav Lopatin.

 » Video: Ekaterina Krysanova and Viacheslav Lopatin’s Don Quixote Grand Pas on May 14 (Youtube)

• Aurélie Dupont & Evan McKie in Onegin (December)

Partnerships are a tricky business, and one the Paris Opera Ballet hasn’t really excelled at in recent years. Aurélie Dupont had made only a modest impression in John Cranko’s Onegin when the ballet entered the company’s repertoire two years ago, but when Nicolas Le Riche, her original partner, injured himself two weeks before opening night this season, an unexpected guest changed everything. Her performances with Stuttgart Ballet Principal Evan McKie had the ballet world abuzz with excitement, and rightly so – their instant chemistry made for a heartrending reading of the ballet.

» My review for the Financial Times + photos
» Video: Act III pas de deux (Youtube)

Aurélie Dupont and Evan McKie in Onegin © Michel Lidvac

• Jean-Guillaume Bart’s La Source for the Paris Opera Ballet (October)

No review as I attended a number of rehearsals for research purposes, but former POB Principal Jean-Guillaume Bart has done a tremendous job for his first full-length creation. The rich, musical classical choreography he devised is a departure from the current Paris Opera repertoire, and the ballet is likely to become one of the company’s hits once the dancers settle into it.

» Video: La Source on the Paris Opera Ballet’s website

• Ratmansky’s On the Dnieper and Psyché (February/September)
  

His full-length Lost Illusions for the Bolshoi Ballet and Anna Karenina (Mariinsky London tour) may not have lived up to his usual standards, but Alexei Ratmansky still provided some of the choreographic highlights of 2011. The Dutch National Ballet acquired his On the Dnieper, a stunningly rich narrative work, in February, and he collaborated with the Paris Opera Ballet for the first time in September. Psyché wasn’t universally loved, but I fell for its fluid, quietly beautiful first scene, quirky ensembles and ambitious soloist work. Dorothée Gilbert and Matthieu Ganio shone as Psyché and Eros.

» My review of On the Dnieper (Dutch National Ballet, A la russe triple bill)
» Video: Trailor for Dutch National Ballet’s A la russe triple bill
» Video: Aurélie Dupont & Stéphane Bullion in Psyché on the Paris Opera Ballet’s website

Anna Tsygankova & Casey Herd in On the Dnieper (Dutch National Ballet) © Angela Sterling

Runners-up include Evgenia Obraztsova’s debut in Swan Lake and Svetlana Lunkina & Vladislav Lantratov in Lost Illusions in Moscow last April. Bring on 2012 now… Happy New Year everyone!