News Clipping: Gentleman Jack, Hannah O'Neal on first Paris Opera Ballet dancer with The Royal Ballet since Guillem
- Ikuko
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Northern Ballet's Gentleman Jack by choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa finally premiered in its hometown Leeds, the UK, on 7th March 2026. And it received rave reviews from critics. The Telegraph gave it four out of five stars, saying "It’s a sexy delight." The Guardian also gave it four out of five, describing it as "both progressive and conventional." The newspaper also said, "This is some of the sexiest choreography I’ve seen in a while," referring to the main pas de deux in the ballet. The New York Times published a preview article ahead of the world-premiere, giving an in-depth look into the creation based on the life of Anne Lister, the 19th century Yorkshire landowner often considered as the first modern lesbian. (Subscriptions required)
Here is Gentleman Jack's trailer on YouTube. To me, the depiction of Lister's coded diaries are gob-smacking. The viewers are screaming for streaming in the comment section. Hopefully, it will be online-broadcasted because I want to watch it, too.
Gramilano published an interview with Paris Opéra Ballet Étoile Hannah O’Neill on 14th March ahead of her debut as Giselle with The Royal Ballet a couple of days later. She became the first Paris Opéra Ballet dancer to dance with the company since Sylvie Guillem. She told that she watched her first Giselle with the Star Dancers Ballet in Japan, that her Giselle journey started with Myrtha, and that being coached by Darcy Bussell was "another little girl's dream." Her Albrecht was Reece Clarke.
On The Royal Ballet's Giselle, The Guardian newspaper praised Marianna Tsembenhoi, the company's First Artist who has also debuted as the title role, in a review published on 19th March. Her Albrecht, Principal Joseph Sissens, also made a role debut.
Gramilano published another interview on 5th March with the anonymous dancer who runs Ballet Moods on Instagram. The ballet memes account has almost 65,000 followers but no one knows who runs/run it. But Gramilano says it is run by "professional dancers" in plural.
Ballet memes - Source: Ballet Moods The Telegraph newspaper published an interview with Russell Maliphant ahead of his show at Sadler's Wells East in London. The part which caught my eye was that Art Council England cut off funding to his eponymous company in 2023. He told the newspaper that it would be better to distribute supports rather than cutting some established companies off funding and giving it to new comers. The newspaper praised the show in a review published on 12th March, titled "At 64, Russell Maliphant is still a marvellous dancer, in a must-see show". For dancers and artists at his level, age does not really matter, does it?
The same The Telegraph was not happy with English National Ballet's mixed bill, Body and Soul. It said on 20th March that "An ill-judged new work by one of Taylor Swift’s former backing dancers surely ranks among the worst creative misfires of 2026."
The Kennedy Center board of trustees unanimously voted on 16th March in favour of the plan to shut the performing art institution down for a two-year renovation. The New Yorker said in its article titled, An elegy for The Kennedy Center dated 19th March, the board of trustees "capitulated" to U.S. President Donald J. Trump's plan.