WINTER & SPRING 2014- dance news from the south of France

The New Year promises to be an enjoyable one in the south of France with several visiting companies presenting unusual programmes. Three of these are not dance companies at all, but could only be performed by trained dancers, all are a mixture of dance, mime, acrobatics and all sorts of magical and illusionary images. Philippe Genty visits Grasse with Forget Me Not in February, Aurélia Thierrée presents her magical performance Murmurs in Nice in March, and another of Chaplin’s grandchildren, James Thierrée comes from a season at Sadler’s Wells to the Grand Theatre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence in April.

There is also much  dance to be seen with Ballet Preljocaj performing their latest work, Nuits based on the Arabian Nights in Cannes and the Ballet National de Perm present Swan Lake in Toulon in February. In April the Ballet Nice Mediterranée are giving a new programme of ballets by Alvin Ailey, Jiri Kylian and Ben Stevenson. and the Monaco Dance Forum includes visits from the Ballet de Geneve and the European premiere of Jiri Kylian’s latest production.  Christina will be kept busy reviewing all of these for the Dancing Times and from this year also for the popular website DanceTabs.