The Yearbook 2009

 The best-loved ballet classics
presented by Eva-Elisabeth Fischer

 In what sense classical?
A brief survey of the history of this thoroughly ambiguous term by Dorion Weickmann

 Hélène Bouchet
dances an elfin being with thoroughly contemporary confidence in John Neumeier's Hamburg company. A portrait by Klaus Witzeling

 Men in tights
are ballerina holders with a bad reputation. But today things are different, as Ivan Liska and Alen Bottaini tell Katja Werner

 Timeless beauty
The story ballet tells of growing up, rites of passage, and belonging. Ballet is relevant to today's teenagers, then, writes Dorion Weickmann

 Ballet conductor André Presser
talks to Eva-Elisabeth Fischer about the unchanging nature of ballet music and the second fiddle it supposedly plays

 Oh, sweet slave Leila
The appeal of exotic ballets lies in the cultural differences. But they are still colonial power fantasies, says Michaela Schlagenwerth

 Passing on
old ballets is a complicated job. Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer are two intrepid specialists of reconstruction. By Julia Danila

 The copy of history
John Neumeier, Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer in conversation,
moderated by Edith Boxberger

 "Giselle ou le wilis"
On the discovery of a manuscript by Henri Justamant

The tutu from the Sylphides to the catwalks
The bun Balanchine's legacy?
The colour pink and why little girls love it so much
The pointe shoe a tribute by Katja Werner

 Mary's movement
Did modern expressionist dance really declare war on romantic classicism?
Dorion Weickmann doesn't think so

 How antique are the classics?
Arnd Wesemann reports on dance's struggle for recognition against church and theater

 Cold War
Creating peace by cultural means: How East met West on pointes and were reconciled in Helsinki. By Tim Scholl

 Dead or alive
The 'Sylphides', the oldest Romantic ballet, measured against contemporary dance criteria. By Thomas Hahn

 A dancer disappears
Dorion Weickmann finds Marie Taglioni, to whom pointe shoes are still sacrificed, in a cemetery in Paris

 The winners are…
The international critics' survey

The dancer of the year
The choreographer of the year
The performance of the year
Most promising newcomers

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