| APOLLO | Nov 1995 |
| "Darcey Bussell ... was serenely marvelous as Terpsichore. She dances Balanchine choreography as to the manor born, and in her solo and the pas de deux was everything the most carping of her audience could possibly have wished for" | Nicholas Dromgoole
Sunday Telegraph |
| "To watch Bussell walking on pointe - each step a huge 180-degree upward swing of the leg followed by a eurythmically coalescent thrust of the pelvis - made you realise how extraordinary both she and this 67-year old ballet are" | Sophie Constanti
The Independent |
| BIRTHDAY OFFERING | Oct/Nov 98 |
| "Birthday Offering's Petipa-inspired virtuosity remains as demanding as ever (but) Darcey Bussell delivered a magnificent balance" | Debra Craine
The Times |
| "Darcey Bussell danced the lead with an almost beta-blocked calm" | Louise Levene
Sunday Telegraph |
| "The cast was led by Darcey Bussell, splendid in the Fonteyn role" | Edward Thorpe
Hampstead & Highgate Express |
| CINDERELLA | |
| "Bussell's dancing is often astonishing, as she shapes every step and chain with caressing clarity. She made me think of herald-angels, transmitting the tale of the humble dreamer to us" | Ismene Brown
The Daily Telegraph
27 Dec 96 |
| "Darcey Bussell was a joy as Cinderella, dancing with an expertise that seemed incomparable, leaving the mind vibrating with echoes of her beauty long after she left the stage" | Nicholas Dromgoole
Sunday Telegraph
29 Dec 96 |
| "When the remarkable Darcey Bussell ... and her partner Jonathan Cope made their local debuts in Frederick Ashton's Cinderella it was a magic time at the Met ... So far as both theater and dance went, this was undoubtedly the festival's singular pinnacle ... Any quibble dissolved in the face of Bussell's magisterial warmth, impish humor and grave style" | Clive Barnes
New York Post
29 Jul 97 |
| "Bussell's incomparable sweetness as a dancer makes her an ideal Cinderella, one whose beneficence of spirit is unusually tangible and true ... The extraordinary amplitude of her dancing is as exhilarating as ever ... Her phrasing was positively exultant, as if she were flirting with the almost tactile themes of Provokiev's velvety score. Above all else we were reminded of Bussell's unique ability to illuminate a stage. No matter where she is placed, no matter what else is going on, you only have to sense her beaming presence to feel the invigoration of Ashton's ballet" | Debra Craine
The Times
12 Jan 98 |
| "Bussell gives out a radiance that makes the stage glow ... She took risks with the timing and found a new logic in familiar steps that startlingly rekindled the choreography. She also mined deep into the ballet to bring out its magic, making us believe that the world of Ashton's charming little fairy tale was, right then, the only one that mattered" | Judith Mackrell
The Guardian
21 Jan 98 |
| "The thing that made the opening performance cause for rejoicing was the Cinderella of Darcey Bussell. I have seen almost every incumbent of the role ... and I treasure grateful memories of each of them. Very few, though, since the early years have played the role with so touching a sense of physical fulfillment ... The sweep of Bussell's dancing, the radiance of her physical presence ... With what gentle innocence did she play the girl, and with what delicious precision set out the little dances - the broom sole a giggle incarnate. But it was at the ball that she claimed the ballet for her own. Her technique is, of course, exceptionally well-rounded, commanding. Her musical feeling seems unerring. Her way with the dance appears, at first, the expression of an all-conquering grace of means. Yet how lightly are steps set out, and with what bright outlines. The great variation told us that Bussell was enjoying the choreography, that she understood how it was made and, with a loving delight, was showing us both its external shape and its inner motivation. It was, in one sense, an analytical performance - analysis done by an artist who lived every moment to the full. I have never seen it danced with such an irresistible combination of technical frankness and joy, and 9it was a marvel. So, indeed, was every aspect of her performance. How pathetic the tiny moment when she plucked at her skirt in sadness. How endearing (and how like Fonteyn) her secret delight when she realises that the shoe in her pocket proves that her dreams of happiness were not dreams: she seemed to hug her joy to herself. I thought it a triumphant interpretation" | Clement Crisp
Financial Times
20 Dec 98 |
| "Darcey Bussell was Cinderella and Jonathon Cope her Prince, both of them on magnificent form, dancing with marvelous grandeur and expansiveness" | Edward Thorpe
Hampstead & Highgate Express
8 Jan 99 |
| "Darcey Bussell as the fairytale's heroine, gave one of the best contemporary interpretations of the role I have ever seen. She combined an extraordinary multifaceted dramatic interpretation with an irreproachable technique. Her Cinderella ... stood out for an intriguing mixture of sorrow-induced maturity and joyful childish naivety. Such a reading revealed a deep understanding as well as a stunningly up-to-date adaptation of the way Ashton conceived the character. Paradoxically as it may sound, he wanted her to be a mistreated, ragged child and a diva-like ballerina at the same time" | Giannandrea Poesio
The Spectator
9 Jan 98 |
