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Found 9 results

  1. As ENB's Our Voices programme opens this week, I thought I would start a thread for people to comment on the performances but also to give some further information on the casting, which Aaron Watkin has agreed I can make public, and I hope it will help those who have yet to buy their tickets to decide which performance/s to see. As always, there is the caveat that casting is subject to change. As well as the principal couples, listed on the website, and the corps de ballet, "Theme and Variations” has four demi-soloist couples. There are three casts for this. As they do not always dance with the same principal couple, I will list them by performance: Bueno, Otani, Adams, Suzuki, Snyder, Woolhouse, Jakonis, Saruhashi (21st, 22nd, 23rd eve, 28th eve, 30th eve) Wood, Kang, Evrard, Nevzorova, Martin, Nakaaki, Souza, Maievskyi (23rd mat, 26th, 28th mat, 30th mat) Velicu, Lizardi, Keneally, Choi, Maidana, Durand, Yeomans, Fuchiyama (27th, 29th). I must confess I have never seen a complete performance of this ballet but I was lucky enough to watch Victoria Simon stage it for Royal Swedish Ballet when I was in Stockholm last October and, of course, I attended her very informative masterclass for ENB recently which really whet my appetite. Having seen the stunning tutus being made in the workshop and had glimpses of them in the trailers released by ENB, I think it really will be a glittering opening to the evening! I have always considered Nijinska's "Le Noces" to be a masterpiece and so it will be interesting to see Andrea Miller's completely different take on the Stravinsky score, linking it to his earlier "Le Sacre du printemps" although not to any particular choreographic version of it. I had the privilege of seeing a model of the set a few months ago, dominated by an extraordinary staircase designed by the late Dame Phyllida Barlow. The ballet has a single cast of eight female and nine male dancers. As well as those listed on the website, this includes Emily Suzuki, Erik Woolhouse and Junor Souza. David Dawson's "Four Last Songs" has two casts of six males and six females, with Erina Takahashi, Ivana Bueno and Lorenzo Trossello appearing in both casts. For anyone who does not know Richard Strauss's song cycle (his last masterpiece, premiered posthumously here in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall in 1950), I would recommend reading a translation of the poems by Eichendorff and Hesse, which can be found at www.lieder.net, to fully appreciate the glorious soundscape Strauss created. As I always say, mixed bills are excellent value for money because they provide a chance to see almost all of a company's leading dancers in one performance, and this is certainly the case with this triple bill, which will also probably be the biggest musical feast since the days of the company’s Ballets Russes programmes. Playing works by three titans of classical music will give the English National Ballet Philharmonic a chance to shine, complementing the starry line-up onstage, and I cannot wait to experience this fascinating programme.
  2. David Dawson is one of our leading choreographers but British ballet goers usually have to travel to see his work. That is because he is Associate Artist with the Dutch National Ballet and resident choreographer with the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden. I am on my way back from Amsterdam where I saw the Dutch National Ballet dance Dawson, a double bill consisting of David Dawson's "Legacy Variations" and "The Four Seasons". I have attended some great shows since the world's companies emerged from lock down: Like Water for Chocolate and Mayerling by the Royal Ballet and the last programme of the Dutch National Ballet's van Manen festival to name just three. Yet Sunday's performance of Dawson was the highlight of my year. Legacy Variations was performed by James Stout, Edo Wijnen and Joseph Maseralli. The Four Seasons was a much longer piece with 16 dancers. I have reviewed the double bill in Terpsichore for anyone who may be interested. I mention it here because nobody else seems to have done so. There are still a few more performances. If you happen to be in Amsterdam and can get a ticket I am sure you will enjoy it.
  3. I'm back from Munich and was lucky to see both Triple Bill performances which opened the Ballet Festival Week. Here are some impressions: The 3 pieces complimented each other. Dawson's "Affairs of the heart" is an essence of " l'art pour l'art" for me. "Pictures at an exhibition" by A. Ratmansky showed a colorful interpretation of life, with a strong political reference to the war in Ukraine, and Marco Goecke's "Sweet bones melody" had a more subtle, very touching message about the need for peace. Affairs of the heart" by David Dawson (world premiere on Saturday) The beautiful and haunting music by Marjan Mozetich (violin concert, same title as choreo) served the breathtaking beauty of the choreography in perfection, and vice versa. Stage setting was just a wall with geometric forms and changing colors from yellow, pink, blue to grey. All dancers were dressed in lightblue/grey leotards (with long legs for the men). 4 couples, three female and 2 male soloists presented this new creation. The program book contains insightful interviews with Dawson and dancers Shale Wagman, Carollina Bastos and Emilio Pavan about the process of creating this piece, that is a wonderful addition to the performance. I felt indeed the heart all dancers put into this piece. They danced it with so much, grace, elegance and dedication (abandon ? I struggle with translation here ), it really made me forget the outside world. Soloist Shale Wagman was a kind of a virtuous and elegant cupido, inspiring and spreading love across the stage and between the couples. He had 2 solos alone onstage as well. His fluidity in dancing and excellent classical technique, e.g. long manege jumps, illuminated the stage, and I am very grateful to David Dawson that he saw and "used" Shale's artistry to the maximum. On the Staatsballett website is also a 7 minutes video with interviews and dance clips about this production. "Pictures at an exhibition" by A. Ratmansky (created in 2014 for NYC ballet). Music: M. Mussorgski, piano: D. Mayboroda Stage setting was also just a wall with video projections of partial Kandinsky paintings. The costumes complimented these projections, for the ladies with featherlight transparent dresses with color patterns, their male partners in sleeveless shirts and long pants w matching color patterns. It was pretty colorful onstage, lol. A highlight was seeing Amar Ramasar, former dancer with NYC ballet. He was only meant to coach in this production but ended up onstage as replacement for Osiel Gouneo who was ill. Prisca Zeisel, principal dancer, danced the solo parts but was obviously already injured (although I noticed it only at curtain call). For the second night, Rebecca Horn from Wiener Staatsballett jumped in for her, which was another blessing to see her very strong, mischevious solo. I should know the paintings/musical parts Amar and Rebecca interpreted but I'm so tired...sorry. I also noticed some choreographic nods to Ballet Russes. My favorite part was the PDD danced by Jinhao Zhang and Kristina Lind (who jumped in for Madison Young, she is injured). Very tender, light and lyrical. In the very end, the Ukrainian flag was projected on stage wall, as final picture. It was a strong signal, and raised of course lots of applause. For curtain call, Ratmansky held the Ukrainian flag above his head, again and again and again. I know that Munich is partner city for Kijev, but I had a hard time accepting that he used this evening as a political statement in such an overwhelming manner. It caused a lot of applause just for this statement and distracted from the piece and the dancers, imo. But well. On second night, the applause was dedicated to the dancers. "Sweet bones' melody" by Marco Goecke (world premiere on Saturday) Sorry I cannot describe what pulls me into Marco Goecke's pieces. It's certainly an "either you love it, or you hate it" stuff he creates. Here, we had a dark foggy stage, dark confetti (like ashes) falling from the "sky", costumes dark long wide trousers and dark top with glitter. I wonder why none of the dancers stumbled because the trousers were far too long. Top solo by Jonah Cook and ehm...yes Shale Wagman😀. I literally searched for the ice skates he must have had on his feet (not, of course). The many many whirlwind turns across the stage were executed with SUCH a speed and precision, it was unbelievable. My neighbors in row gasped. And then he stopped dead where/when he had to and moved on with his solo...boah. Altogether, I applause all dancers who trip, run, bend, cramp etc in the usual speedy, hasty Goecke moves. It's a marathon from A to Z, but I hear the dancers love his pieces. Well me too but I can sit. The magic moment was when all dancers were on stage, standing heads down immobilized, and from the off, Florian Sollfrank's voice whispered a poem by Else Lasker-Schueler, "Weltenende". OMG that was so moving. Could have been the end of the piece, but it wasn't. The piece went on then a bit more, and in the end, a single dancer emerged from the dark back with a white dove in his hands. For premiere night, the bird even flapped the wings a bit but was attached to the dancers hand by a string, so it could not escape. It was the final scene, a far more subtle but very moving and powerful longing for peace and hint what has been lost in so many parts of the world. A very very wonderful new triple bill for Bayerisches Staatsballett, if you can, go see it. Check out the videos on their website, and or instagram/Facebook. The company is in top form (minus the poor injured) and have a great week ahead. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
  4. Good morning all As many subscribers to this website know, I have a particularly soft spot for the Dutch National Ballet, I was attracted to it originally by the recruitment of Michaela De Prince to the Junior Company. Over the years I have got to know other members of the company. I had hoped to visit Amsterdam next month for Rachel Beaujean's new production of "Raymonda" but I injured myself in Powerhouse Ballet's "Waltz of the Flowers" intensive. I underwent emergency surgery in Leeds General Infirmary 2 weeks ago. While recuperating from the operation I contracted coronavirus which has prevented me from going anywhere, I have had to miss Hannah Bateman's last show in Northern Ballet's "Casanova", Ballet Cymru's "Made in Wales", in Newport and Ballet Black at The Barbican as well as "Raymonda". "Well" as the Sergeant-Major in "It ain't half hot Mum" used to say: "Oh Dear!", "How Sad!" "Never Mind!" And the reason I am not too sad is that HNB has just published its new programme which includes: "Celebrations" a mixed bill with works by Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Ted Brandson in September Peter Wright's "Sleeping Beauty" between October and January Another mixed bill in November with works by Balanchine, Van Manen and Aeques A David Dawson double bill which includes a new ballet by Dawson to be called "Dawson" in December A nationwide tour by the Junior Company Rudi van Dantzig's "Swan Lake" between 11 May and 16 June "Verdi's Requiem" in conjunction with the Dutch National Opera in February, and "Dporian" a joint ballet/hip hop production based on the Oscar Wilde story by Ernst Meisner. Anybody who wants more details including links will find them in "Terpsichore". I am particularly looking forward to "Dawson" as I am a massive David Dawson fan. Dawson's "Swan Lake" for the Scottish Ballet impressed me greatly. I don't generally like reinterpreting my favourite ballets, I have never really liked David Nixon's "Swan Lake" or Akram Khan's "Giselle" (though I respect the opinions of those who think otherwise. I think Dawson got "Swan Lake" right, With best wishes
  5. I’m sharing information about this interesting gala taking place on 23 October 2021 in a venue new to me, the Lanterns Studio Theatre in London E14. It is curated by dancer Henry Dowden, of English National Ballet, and is the first of what he hopes will be a series of performances mixing the old with the new. For those who missed Francesco Gabriele Frola’s spectacular Acteon in Ivan Putrov’s gala last week, this is the chance to see him in another gala favourite, the pas de deux from “Don Quixote”, partnering his ENB colleague, Katja Khaniukova, whose performance of this at the 2017 Emerging Dancer Awards, with the 2016 winner Cesar Corrales, brought the house down. ENB’s Jeffrey Cirio and his sister Lia (principal with Boston Ballet) have an experimental group called the Cirio Collective which comes together each summer in the USA to produce new work but I believe this is the first time his choreography will be seen in the UK. He has created a solo to music by Chopin which will be played live by Viktor Erik Emanuel. Luke Ahmet will dance a solo from “Communion” in tribute to the late Robert Cohan, and Constance Devernay and Barnaby Rook Bishop will perform the Act II pas de deux from David Dawson's "Swan Lake". The evening will also feature new choreography from Daniel Davidson, Kennedy Muntanga Ft, Olivia Grassot and Hannah Rudd. Seating is unreserved but we are assured that there are excellent sightlines from all seats (priced at £45, or £60 for the front row). I hope people will consider supporting this enterprising new venture. Unfortunately I have been unable to upload on here the flyer I received but I believe it can be found by logging onto the ticket website. Tickets are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/BalletNights and I found the booking process very straightforward.
  6. A bit early to be starting a thread on this yet, when the run doesn't start until Thursday, but I wonder if anyone has splits yet for the programme (and/or can confirm that the running order is as above)? All the ROH website says is running time 2 hrs 35 minutes, and my reminder from the ROH was simply tacked on to an email about my last Sleeping Beauty booking, and didn't give the split times. I'm guessing there will be significant intervals. I'm also stunned to see that 8 performances of this are scheduled, schools' matinee included. Perhaps that partly explains why there seem to be so many seats left.
  7. I saw the opening night performance of the new Swan Lake last night at the Liverpool Empire. I didn't like it one bit it was all too minimalist and grey not helped by drab costumes, wishy washy lighting and a very loud orchestra! The dance was so so but the first Act had some very messy choreography and I could not see any acting going on, so had I not read the synopsis I would have been clueless as to what this version was attempting to convey. Never have I wished a Swan Lake to be over before. Trying to find a positive the best bit was Act 4 and there were some good big lifts throughout. Others that I have spoken to liked it and it got a 4 star review (really?!) but it wasn't for me I'm afraid. Interested to hear any other views.
  8. it would be really interesting to know what first nighters thought of this programme. I only attended the rehearsal so comment from me would be inappropriate at present.
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