Search the Community

An unexpected (given their scheduling) pleasure to have O'Sullivan/Hay dance the General Rehearsal today I didn't catch all the cast changes, can anyone confirm who danced the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain ?

The RB gave us Act III of Raymonda relatively recently (just looked it up and it was last on Christmas 2012/13, how time flies). What's the rest like, indeed what was the reason for dropping the first two acts? Most grateful for some background on this.

I apologise for the length of this post but would be interested to hear others’ opinions. Swan Lake is my favourite ballet. Maybe the reason is similar to that of a duckling attach itself to its earliest memory, whether it be a human or a wellington boot. It was the first ballet I ever experienced (at London Festival Ballet), and since then I’ve been hooked. And the sublime music was the first LP I ever bought. But there are so many Swan Lakes! I am about to see another next Saturday – I couldn’t resist the Zakharova/Rodkin combination even though this version isn’t my favourite. It is more abstract, with minimal mime and a rather abrupt ending, but I am sure the dancing will be transcendent and it will probably be my last chance to enjoy beautiful Svetlana in the role, given that she has passed her fortieth birthday. The best version I’ve seen is by (what was then) the Kirov, in their own theatre. Their scenery was just magical with a very realistic looking lake glimmering in the moonlight. The whole production was like an exquisite poem, with dancing to match. I still have the cast list somewhere but at the time didn’t recognise any of the names even though I can read Cyrillic script. The only thing I didn’t like was the overly happy ending. I thoroughly enjoyed the Royal Ballet older versions. Liam Scarlett’s new SL has some strong points (MacFarlane’s scenery is gorgeous) but I find Benno, Siegfried’s friend, irritatingly omnipresent whilst visually resembling some kind of bellboy. (For this role I prefer the Bolshoi jester who is terrific albeit perhaps less true to the original production.) I’m not sure about the late C19th costumes; for what is a fairy story I’d prefer the era to be more ambiguous. And why is Von Rothbart so visible at court, glowering melodramatically at the Prince who must surely be his social superior? And the ending is tragic but inappropriately uses the music which signifies triumph and positivity where Tchiakovsky changes the swan theme to a major key (suited to an Apotheosis). Then there is 26-year-old Nureyev’s version in which he dared to change a great deal of the choreography, and for which he and Fonteyn got a legendary 89 curtain calls in Vienna. This I have only seen on video of course. There have been many, many other productions by different companies all over the world, and I have seen a few of these too but none remains lodged firmly in my memory. None is perfect but all are worth watching for this Tchaikovsky addict. I never tire of this ballet. Do YOU have a favourite ‘Lebedinoye Ozero’? And if so, why?

I finally read the whole thing. A long, worthy read. Nadine Meisner has really done her research and it shows. Full review here: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/07/marius-petipa-biography-royal-danes-and.html

Apologies if this information has already appeared elsewhere on the Forum but the discovery is perhaps important enough to warrant its own topic. Drawings of Sleeping Beauty Act III PDD by the first Prince Désiré, Pavel Gerdt, were discovered in Moscow in 2018. Some of the drawings have since started to come into circulation as they were recently used by Ratmansky for the latest revival of his Sleeping Beauty reconstruction for ABT. Thanks to others I have found a few links which show a little of this new found treasure: https://tinyurl.com/yxdvku3o https://petipasociety.com/2018/12/16/sketches-by-pavel-gerdt-released-by-the-bolshoi-theatre-museum/?fbclid=IwAR1hn4B3T_1tvEUnCE5fLLVoPUksOqCm0gw9FvIbvWorrEiPzoOxTEGdL_I http://oteatre.info/petipa-ps/ It would be great if the full set of drawings was properly online somewhere, does anyone know if this has been done? The last link (the Russian one) apparently credits one snapshot to otzyv.ru but that doesn't seem to lead anywhere (however I may well have misunderstood) Any further information very gratefully received. Short of a video from 1890 (!) this is as good and as early as has been discovered to date when it comes to at least one part of this ballet.

For those who are interested in ballet and its history and are curious about the recent spate of reconstructions using the Harvard archive of Petipa's ballets recorded in the Stepanov notation a website devoted to Marius Petipa and his works may be of interest. The website includes accounts of Petipa's ballets and some clips from Ratmansky's reconstructions of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake using material in the Harvard archive danced in period appropriate performance style. There is a great deal of fascinating information on the site, Those who saw the recent Royal Ballet revival of Sleeping Beauty may find the Fairy Variations and the account of Bluebird and Princess Florine to be found there of particular interest. In the reconstruction they are far more connected to their music and far less obviously showy. I shall be interested to read your comments on the contents of the site and performances to be found on there.

The Petipa celebrations at the Mariinsky begin on 8 March 2018 with a performance of the Vikharev reconstruction of The Sleeping Beauty. On 11 March there is a Petipa Gala, perhaps rather perversely featuring only one actual piece of choreography by Petipa himself (Act 3 Sleeping Beauty - Vikharev); a new ballet by Konstantin Keikhel and Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Unusual choices, you may think.. The gala will be broadcast live on Mezzo TV: http://www.mezzo.tv/nos-programmes/soiree_hommage_a_marius_petipa_theatre_mariinsky_11032018 No casting available as yet, but an educated guess for Act 3 SB might be Tereshkina/Shklyarov, who dance the first night on 8 March.