ClassicalSource.com
Gerald Dowler
April 24, 2013
'The ballet teams with character parts, vignettes that all contribute to this rich collage against which MacMillan set his tale of downfall, depravity and death. Laura Morera (recovered from surgery) was the sparkiest of Mitzi Caspars; Ricardo Cervera a characterful Bratfisch, whose jaunty solos were tinged with undoubted sadness; and Gary Avis all British duplicity as the Empress’s lover Bay Middleton.'

DanceTabs
Jan Parry
April 22, 2013
'That Elisabeth is capable of warmth she reveals in her affair with Bay Middleton (gallant Gary Avis).'

Londonist.Com
Lise Smith
April 21, 2013
'Zenaida Yanowsky, who seems to be gradually taking on the roles of everyone’s mother at the ROH, gives a performance of cool fortitude as Empress Elisabeth, melted only by her lover “Bay” Middleton, Gary Avis'

Ballet.co
Paul Arrowsmith
November 2009
'The froideur between the Franz Josef and Elisabeth of Gary Avis and Christina Arestis would freeze over the Danube. Avis had real menace.'

The Observer
Luke Jennings
Sunday 11 October 11, 2009
'but Gary Avis is impeccable as "Bay" Middleton, her exquisitely shallow English beau' [Close]

Mark Ronan's Theatre Reviews
Mark Ronan
May 15, 2013
'Huge emotional commitment too from Gary Avis as the High Brahmin desperately protesting his love to Nikiya when he finds she’s involved with Solor.'

DanceviewTimes.com
Judith Cruikshank
April 13, 2013
'As the High Brahmin, Gary Avis ranged wondrously though the action his navel adorned with undoubtedly the largest ruby in the world.'

British Theatre Guide
Vera Liber
April 11, 2013
'As the High Brahmin Gary Avis, dressed to the nines, red ruby in belly button, gives a reading of the role so rich and over the top that the upper slips can have no problem understanding it.'

The Metro
Siobhan Murphy
April 9, 2013
'Gary Avis is magnificent as the corrupted, lust-fuelled High Brahmin and Alexander Campbell’s brief, explosive, final act turn as the gilded Bronze Idol is breathtaking with its lightning spins.'

londonDance.com
Graham Watts
April 8, 2013
'Each of the key scenes involving Marquez were full of dramatic tension, not least as she rejects the lascivious advances of the High Brahmin, (yet another substantial acting achievement by Gary Avis).'

The Telegraph
Mark Monahan
April 8, 2013
'On the up side, Gary Avis was a commanding High Brahmin and Akane Takada the standout Shade.'

The Arts Desk
Ismene Brown
April 7, 2013
'Gestures are all-important in this ballet, much more than in the familiar, later classics. Gary Avis had huge fun as the lustiest of High Brahmins, adapting his costume to expose more than usual of the holy man’s tum, and semaphoring his character in unmistakable colours: he gropes Nikiya, she rejects him, he sees her with Solor, he vows to ruin them, etc.'

DanceTabs.com
Bruce Marriott
April 2013
'Gary Avis’s High Brahmin – torn between religion and fancying a temple dancer – is beautifully rendered in his conflicted sadness.'

Ballet.co.uk
Ian Palmer
January, 2009
'One of the reasons to adore Bayadere is surely its extended use of mime and in Gary Avis the Royal Ballet must have one of the finest virtuoso mimes performing today. His gift, as with the Kirov's great veteran Vladimir Ponomarev, is in the clarity of his expression, so that even in the smaller role of the Rajah, character was vivid. Watching Avis, you regret that Makarova did not include all the mime passages that were present in the Imperial bayadere and which we saw in London a few years ago.'

The Sunday Times
David Dougill
January 18, 2009
'Gary Avis, always a commanding character artist, makes much of the melodramatic High Brahmin, the fourth player in the love rivalries. If some of his oomph had rubbed off on others, this Bayadère might have taken off more.'

The Spectator
Giannandrea Poesio
January, 2009
'Still, she needs to master the correct range of facial expressions that must accompany each of the complex 19th-century ballet mime gestures — something that Gary Avis, as the lustful and villainous High Brahmin, seems to have mastered perfectly.'

The Sunday Times
David Dougill
January 18, 2009
'Gary Avis, always a commanding character artist, makes much of the melodramatic High Brahmin, the fourth player in the love rivalries. If some of his oomph had rubbed off on others, this Bayadère might have taken off more.'

The Times
Debra Craine
January 15, 2009
'It would be easy to play Bayadère as a hokey melodrama (as the Russians sometimes do) but the Royal Ballet handles it with the utmost respect. You can see that in the way Gary Avis presents the High Brahmin, a man driven by his lust for Nikiya. In a role that could so easily descend into silly exaggeration, Avis makes him real. Like Avis, Tamara Rojo, who led the first cast, knows how to give the ballet its dramatic heart.'

The Financial Times
Clement Crisp
January 15, 2009
'For passion, anguish we looked to Gary Avis’s High Brahmin, a portrait drawn in lightning strokes of feeling, of gesture torn from his heart, of admirable stylistic understanding.'

Independent
Zoë Anderson
January 15, 2009
'The first scene, between Carlos Acosta's hero Solor and Gary Avis as the High Brahmin, did get it right. Their mime gestures have a grand conviction. Acosta carries his head nobly, with an easy breadth to each sweep of his arms. Avis is intelligent, scheming, completely at home in this stylised language. The whole ballet needs that authority.'

TheTelegraph
Mark Monahan
January 14, 2009
'Gary Avis was a hugely authoritative High Brahmin.'

Ballet.co
Bruce Marriott
October 2007
'Gary Avis as the High Brahmin brings vivid life to a role that is normally about standing and staring, as does Genesia Rosato as the servant Aya (if it's mostly about bowing and scraping for her). '

The Times
Debra Crain
October 9, 2007
'And Gary Avis brings a remarkable dignity to the High Brahmin, a character role that he imbues with a magnetic power.'

The Financial Times
Clement Crisp
October 9, 2007
'There were commandingly good portrayals of the High Brahmin (Gary Avis, torn by passion as Nikiya rejects him, hand raised to his head in a wonderfully expressive arc)'
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LondonDance.com
Josephine Leask
March 19, 2013
'The performers inhabit their characters with conviction and verve. Captivating acting blends with effortlessly executed choreography as they eagerly transport us to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, the crazy Duchess’s kitchen or the Queen of Heart’s rose garden.....Gary Avis's Duchess troubles and amuses with his manic head shaking......a pantomime dame on speed.'

The Stage
Sarah Frater
March 18, 2013
'He (Christopher Wheeldon) has also created strong performance for the character roles - especially the Queen (Zeneida Yanowsky) and Duchess (Gary Avis) - all of which were expertly danced on opening night and all enhanced by Bob Crowley’s vivid set and costume designs.'

The Daily Telegraph
Sarah Crompton
March 17, 2013
'Alexander Campbell’s tap-dancing Mad Hatter and Gary Avis’s Duchess are sharp comic creations.'

The Arts Desk
Matthew Paluch
March 16, 2013
'Gary Avis’s Duchess is the most tasteful Dame I’ve ever come across...proving that pantomime, if done discerningly, has its place in the world’s greatest opera houses too.'

The Financial Times
Clement Crisp
March 20, 2012
'I thought Ricardo Cervera a splendidly fussy White Rabbit, and Gary Avis gave the Duchess a vicious bravura.'

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Imogen's Creative Fire Blog
February 7th, 2013
'The two final pas de deux - between Tatyana and her husband (Prince Gremin), gravely loving and trusting of one another, a distillation of everything one would hope married love could be for a lass with such a rocky start to her emotional life; and the frenzy of the farewell between her and Onegin, hurling themselves into one another's arms and tearing themselves apart repeatedly - were both absolutely mind-blowing. Hurrahs, deservedly, at the curtain call, for Gary Avis's gentlemanly, strong Prince Gremin, Federico Bonelli's powerful and sexy Onegin, and above all for Laura Morera who, for me, simply is Tatyana.'

classicalsource.com
G.J Dowler
January 26, 2013
'Gary Avis exuded patrician authority as the Prince Gremin who is immediately smitten by Tatiana at their first meeting, despite her eyes only being for Onegin at the time. Their Act Three pas de deux was tender and loving, a warm, comforting duet when all that have gone before have been characterised by heightened emotion.'

SorrowPennefatherblogspot
January 25, 2013
'However, cad or no cad, I'm not surprised that Tatiana found happiness with her husband, Prince Gremlin. Morera's and Gary Avis' sweet depiction of their relationship was both intimate and affectionate and an absolute joy to watch.'

Mark Ronan Theatre Reviews
Mark Ronan
October 8, 2010
'Add to that a wonderful pas-de-deux at the ball with Gary Avis, and you have a remarkable performance of Tatiana’s role. Avis showed superb stage presence, as ever, and made an unbeatable Prince Gremin. His charming re-introduction of Onegin and Tatiana in Act III, before he sweeps her out of the room, was a masterpiece of skilful timing and savoir faire.'

Imogen's Creative Fire Blog
October 12, 2010
'Still, on the ornamental front, I'll take Prince Gremin - my favourite, Gary Avis, giving his usual superbly nuanced and detailed performance.'

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The Dancing Times
Jonathan Gray
February, 2013
'Gary Avis' Kostchei was a malevolent presence who quivered with rage and poked his head out from under the cloak that covers his humped back like an evil tortoise.'

Dance Europe
Maggie Foyer
February, 2013
'Gary Avis as Kostchei eerily conveyed the terrified vulnerability of those who believe they are immortal.'

The Times
Debra Craine
January 7, 2013
'Gary Avis stormed the stage in his final performance of the evildoer Kostchei.'

The Sunday Times
David Dougill
December 30, 2012
'...Gary Avis was potently loathsome as Kostchei.'

chataboutballet.blogspot.co.uk
Rana Moussaoui
December 29, 2012
'Gary Avis, the indispensable character artist in most of Royal Ballet's works, is unbeatable as Kostcheï, the evil magician who has cast a spell on all the travellers who pass his castle, and his mime is so in tune with Igor Stravinsky's exuberant and colorful music.'

Daily Express
Neil Norman
December 28, 2012
'In pour characters and monsters led by The Immortal Kostchei, Gary Avis, a kind of Russian Freddy Krueger.'

LondonDance.com
Lise Smith
December 27, 2012
'A joyful performance is topped off with superb character dancing from Gary Avis as Koschei, who went down a treat with the younger audience members'

classicalsource.com
G.J Dowler
December 24, 2012
'Gary Avis's deliciously evil yet twinklingly camp Kostchei, his makeup and costume a delight of dance design.'

MarkRonan.wordpress.com
Mark Ronan
December 22, 2012
'Gary Avis gave a fine portrayal of Kostchei the deathless, whom the prince vanquishes by breaking the egg that contains his heart.'

The Sunday Times
David Dougill
May 10, 2009
'Gary Avis, however, in the fabulous costume and make-up of Koschei, is chilling, evil incarnate.'

The Financial Times
Clement Crisp
May 6, 2009
'Gary Avis is a superb (thoughtful, resourceful, vivid in mime) Kastchey - I love the way he prods his supine retinue in the hope of finding some response before his demise.'

Ballet.co
Bruce Marriott
May 2009
'The hit however was Garry Avis's Immortal Kostchei and if you have need of a cantankerous evil magician in a spooky costume he's undoubtedly your man.'

The Times
Debra Craine
May 6, 2009
'Gary Avis had fun as the Immortal Kostchei, the nasty magician who doesn’t want anyone to be happy but him.'

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