Reviews

“But New York has seen nothing of Kathleen Breen Combes, who just this year at Boston Ballet has emerged as a ballerina of colossal scale and boldness, dancing the soloist role in “Rubies” and the ballerina role in “Diamonds” in February, and then, in May, an ice-and-fire Siren in “Prodigal Son”. She, Ms. Delgado and Ms. Körbes should be ranked among the country’s foremost Balanchine exponents.
    -New York Times, Alastair Macaulay  

“Although it’s just October,  the debut of Kathleen Breen Combes in the title role of Boston Ballet’s revival of “Giselle” at Sunday’s matinee is likely to be the most discussed event of the dance season. Recently promoted to principal dancer, Combes has been a vivid presence in a number of ballets, but her characterization of Giselle proves that she is more than capable of carrying a full-length work on her slender shoulders.”
    -Patriot Ledger, Iris Fanger  

“I confess to having fallen more than a little for Kathleen Breen Combes in its middle movement (Symphony in 3 Movements): She is beautiful, elegant, her every action inevitable, the dance generously alert”
    - Financial Times, Clement Crisp

“Kathleen Breen Combes, who danced the Siren, seems to go from strength to strength. I feel lucky to have caught her in five Balanchine and Petipa roles in three months. Her Siren — astonishingly confident in her facial and physical allure — was bold, demanding, rapacious, at once icy and hot. And the powerful stretch of her physique is sensational.”
    -New York Times, Alastair Macaulay 

“Kathleen Breen Combes as the soloist (Rubies) is unbelievable. She's as charged as a rocket, drawing the eye smack to her powerful limbs even as she entices with her jutting hips and rippling back. When four men dive at her, manipulating her parts this way and that, you have no fear: you know she'll come out on top.”
    -Boston Globe, Thea Singer 

“This concurrence was newly absorbing when Kathleen Breen Combes performed the role on Friday, the second night of Boston Ballet’s new production of “Jewels.” She is a soloist rather than a principal with the company, but on Thursday’s opening night, as the second female lead in the trilogy’s centerpiece, “Rubies,” she gave the evening’s best and most remarkable performance. She is tall, with beautiful legs and the small head long associated with the archetypal Balanchine ballerina, but above all she has piquant rhythm and a style made up of major contrasts (big, small; closed, open).
In “Rubies,” she was commanding, gleeful, sly. In “Diamonds” her grand, bold sweep had already elicited two waves of applause before she reached the walking-on-point passage. Here she offered an arresting image of the heroine’s driving need, bringing to it something of the momentousness of the role’s originator, Suzanne Farrell.”
    -New York Times, Alastair Macaulay

“All the dancers perform with gusto, but Kathleen Breen Combes’ style and attack, marked by a glorious freedom in the upper body, is particularly thrilling. The Second Detail is something she can really sink her teeth into, and she emerges as an exciting contemporary ballerina.”
    -Dance Magazine, Wendy Perron 

“As for Combes, words fail me.  I’ve rarely seen such effortless and brilliant technique, such seamlessly liquid dancing, such penetrating acting.  Moments and passages that I had previously thought flat or uneventful blossomed into something rich, layered, nuanced.  There wasn’t a nook or cranny of Juliet’s character that Combes hadn’t plumbed to great effect.  This was simply the best Juliet I’ve ever seen, and it’s no exaggeration to say that Combes is now one of the finest ballerinas in the United States.”
    -Critical Dance, Alan Helms

“As Dew Drop, Kathleen Breen Combes’s phrasing was exquisite. Her expansive port de bras, the way she took her time and stretched movements beyond the beat, made her a mesmerizing presence. I found myself wondering what she would do next, how she would handle the coming musical sequences. In collaboration with McPhee, Breen Combes and Kuranaga were creating the grand illusion of the ballet: that their infinitely disciplined movement was actually the spontaneous outpouring of their souls.”
    -Ballet Magazine, Carla Deford 

“The Boston dancer I currently most hunger to see, Kathleen Breen Combes (promoted last year to principal status), a brunette, danced Choleric in “Temperaments.” Though she was returning to the stage after an injury, her attack and fullness of tone were gorgeous to behold. She’s a natural Balanchine stylist, with qualities of wit, voluptuousness and even glee that make her gifts of attack and sweep become multifaceted. She has the role’s explosiveness; but she also highlights little moments of jazziness with an irrepressible twinkle.”
    -The New York Times, Alastair Macaulay 

“As for Breen Combes, I’ve rarely seen a more glorious dancer. This time I was struck by how the way she uses her hands and arms can make you swoon. Beautiful, charismatic, confident, she conveys intimations of otherworldliness. I find her so mesmerizing that I lose all sense of time and place, often forgetting to take notes. Arrais was a capable partner, attentive and cavalier and modestly retiring. At my second performance, Breen Combes danced Dew Drop with her usual brilliance.”
    -Dance Tabs, Alan Helms