| SWAN LAKE | Jan & Jul 95 |
| "She has arrived at an understanding of the role so personal and so true that she defines the whole atmosphere of the ballet within it ... As Odile, Bussell casts an implacable commanding spell ... Yet her greatest moments may be in Act IV where her Odette becomes fully human" | Judith Mackrell
The Guardian
7 Jan 95 |
| "Bussell wisely chose to present her Odette as a mournful creature, rather than a vulnerable one ... Her Odile was triumphant: disdainful, seductive, grandly glamorous, her voluptuous legs used like velvet-gloved weapons of deception" | Debra Craine
The Times
9 Jan 95 |
| "Darcey Bussell ... is a lovely dancer - lyrical, long--limbed and intrinsically glamorous" | Martin Bernheimer
Los Angeles Times
8 Jul 95 |
| THE SLEEPING BEAUTY | Jan & May 97 |
| "Darcey Bussell [danced] a glorious Rose Adagio, holding those awesome arabesques as only she can ... the great Bussell's greatest role ... No one can equal Bussell's combination of bold attack and creamy fluidity or that rosy open-heartedness" | Ismene Brown
The Daily Telegraph
14 Jan 97 |
| "Bussell produced a most ravishing display of bountiful classicism, exiting in its ambition and breathtaking in its realisation. Her self-possession as a performer is always impressive: on Saturday night it was little short of miraculous. She was a radiant, gleaming Aurora, a ballerina who embraced Petipa's demanding choreography with rapture and confidence. The Rose Adagio balances were .... drawn out to such an extent that Victor Fedotov almost ran out of music to conduct [as if] she wanted to cherish each and every balance; the effect was ... sheer magic as she made the mark. Her solo was no less wonderful: nimble footwork, voluptuous extensions and dazzling backbends" | Debra Craine
The Times
14 Jan 97 |
| "The sight of Darcey Bussell lavishing perfect balances on one, two, three, four suitors in the Rose Adagio can still bring you to your knees ... More than ever, Bussell's remarkable stillness - her ability to seem always in repose while flowing through the most challenging step combinations in classical dance - projects a central idea of British classicism as majestic scale" | Lewis Segal
Los Angeles Times
22 May 97 |
| TOWARDS POETRY | Nov 98 & Mar 99 |
| "Darcey Bussell relished choreography that exploited her leggy athleticism and predatory glamour - hardly a new side to Bussell but a side one cannot see too often" | Louise Levene
Sunday Telegraph
7 Mar 99 |
| "Baldwin sees things in [Bussell] that others often ignore. He may exploit her familiar power and scale, but he also plays games - letting her fall off balance with an abandon that makes the world stop, giving her phrases that seem sleek as double cream, but are spiked will chilli. She looks sexy, spiteful and funny" | Judith Mackrell
The Guardian
6 Mar 99 |
| "Towards Poetry is clearly enamoured of Bussell's unique talents but doesn't take them at face value. Instead, Baldwin produces a ballet of real bite, with a sly Bussell posing as the girl next door with a real mean streak ... and a catty interplay between Bussell and her spirited opponent" | Debra Craine
The Times
9 Mar 99 |
| "Bussell led Mark Baldwin's Towards Poetry, performing a quirky pas de deux and a long solo that displayed her yawning jump. Her deliberate, challenging air of narcissism slotted into the piece's eccentric atmosphere" | Nadine Meisner
The Independent
9 Mar 99 |
| "Darcey Bussell was utterly magnificent throughout the difficult solo" | Giannandrea Poesio
The Spectator
7 Nov 98 |
| "It was left to Darcey Bussell to fulfill the ballet's eastern promise with her arch little stampings and handclaps, and a sensuous, almost languid drag in the body" | Jenny Gilbert
Independent on Sunday
8 Nov 98 |
| "The centre of this piece were Darcey Bussell and Igor Zelensky. Bussell's feet alone could turn an entire audience into fetishists" | Jennifer Delaney
Sunday Business
8 Nov 98 |
