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Matthew Ball gets the award for best comedic acting tonight! His reactions were hilarious. 

 

On the other hand, now I know what people meant by Roberto Bolle's gurning. 

 

Wonderful farewell for Zenaida. I think I'm dehydrated now. The only other farewell I've seen was Roberta Marquez's and she got a flower through but that's all. This was epic! Do they usually have all the principal men etc bring flowers? It was so touching. 

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For those in the audience tonight, did you hear a very raucous hooping from offstage after Kevin O'Hare's words to Zen?  If you did and wondered about the source, it was Mme Bussell, by then clearly keen to get rid of her microphone as the livestream ended and get in amongst her old colleagues.  

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5 minutes ago, alison said:

I hope someone did.  Please post - I'm gutted to have had to miss this :(

Never mind - there will be the encores at the cinema on June 11th & 13th in London.  I may go slightly mad and see it even though I'm seeing it on Saturday too.

 

Linda

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20 minutes ago, alison said:

I hope someone did.  Please post - I'm gutted to have had to miss this :(

If you go on Instagram and follow bstix_brunell or Nela they have posted photos from tonight.

what a wonderful night, Dream was a dream, Takada is a gem, Steven was Steven, the other roles were lovely too. SV was a total joy, such precision and control was amazing, Nela and Vadim are some pairing, M & A with Zen was the cherry on the top. And finally a wonderful send off for her, I am sure others can fill in the all those. On stage I saw Ed, Frederico, Steven,, from the past Anthony, Jonathan and Carlos, Monica was there and Kevin made a lovely speech. The cheering and applause was loud and long. What a night, Wonderful.

 

yes, I have gushed, but I don't care.

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Alison and anyone who missed it,  it was a very splendid show- the biggest send-off I have seen for years- the RB know how to do this, my word! The stage was a carpet of flowers, the throwing done very cleverly to keep it going throughout, in addition to the outstandingly lovely bouquet presented to Zenaida at her first bow and then so many more- then the curtain pulling back to reveal all her ex partners and many colleagues from the RB: there was a big cheer from the audience when Carlos appeared, and each gave her another floral tribute, lining up one by one a la Sleeping Beauty - it was most beautifully and graciously choreographed- of course! culminating in Antony Dowell with a lavish bouquet of red roses who then hugged Zen throughout- and Kevin came on last with a very swagger bouquet of huge pink peonies (I think?) and gave an excellent speech, brief and to the point, ending with the hope that he might use his charm to tempt her back on stage ( here the camera moved to Zenaida's beaming tearful face and she raised eyebrows and smiled more perhaps meaning, Yes)

The camera also moved to show us her husband Simon Keenlyside and the children in a box- delightful.

 

Oh, and there was some ballet before all this.

 

 

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Apologies but I can't be more articulate than to say that it was a wow of a night !  The send-off was quite emotional and wonderful! Last night was the first time I've ever felt emotional at the end of M&A and I'd seen the Osipova performance on Monday. Perhaps it was because of the moment.

My shoulders grew weary from applauding and I think I might have teared up a bit too. I'm getting much too sentimental in my more mature years ...it was just lovely!!

Back again tonight for my last dose of the triple bill.

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I embarrassed myself by crying my eyes out in the cinema. :wub: Last night was the first time I had seen SV and M&A and the whole evening was both a delight and heartbreaking.  

 

I thought "The Dream" was enchanting.  Wonderful dancing from all concerned, and terrific comedic acting from the four lovers.  The fairies were fleet of foot and very other-worldly.  I thought McRae and Takada were exceptional (his chainée turns! :o) and despite the very obvious head change, I loved Bennet Gartside's sympathetic portrayal of Bottom (and kudos for his excellent pointework).  Not a weak performance in the whole cast.  

 

I found a few problems with SV - camera work didn't show off the patterns, I needed two extra pairs of eyes to watch everyone at once because the whole cast was just exceptional, and it was over too quickly!   Absolutely super dancing by all but my eyes were repeatedly drawn to Nuñez's footwork, Muntagirov's lines and grace, and Naghdi's stunningly beautiful arms, hands and musicality.  I could happily watch that cast again and again.

 

I was already crying halfway through M&A.  A word for Gary Avis and Christopher Saunders as "A Duke" and Armand's Father; wonderful acting from both.  I found the chemistry between Bolle and Yanowsky breathtaking.  I'm not even sure I have words with which to do Yanowsky's extraordinary performance justice.  She deserved every cheer and every flower, and more.  

 

I was so glad that the broadcast continued long enough for us to witness Zenaida's farewell and her leading men coming on one by one with flowers.  It was a privilege to share in her farewell. 

 

If the ROH doesn't release a DVD of the entire thing I am tempted to start a petition. :)

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I also cried in the cinema!

 

I have nothing to add to the above except to single out Valentino Zuchetti who I thought was just amazing.

 

Wonderful send off for Zenaida, what a truly beautiful gracious lady who will be much missed.

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I cried in my living room earlier this morning :blink::huh::wacko:, just from watching a number of pictures and short videos of the send off for Zenaida Yanowsky, and in reading the above posts. Thank you so much for posting about last night!

 

Tempted to go to an encore screening (there are far fewer over here unfortunately) though I would probably flood the place.  Will miss her terribly.

 

 

 

 

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Duck,  do go if you possibly can -  it is a wonderful evening.

 

I am still removing sodden hankies from my handbag. Not just for Zenaida, but, it was the last evening of the season for me, and seeing so many of these fabulous dancers on stage made me think of all the pleasure and joy they have given me this year-it has really been outstanding, so crying for joy really.

 

A short flm of Henry Danton talking about SV-now 98 and still full of beans!- also added a few tears to the mix.

 

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3 minutes ago, alison said:

Hoping nobody had any transmission problems if they saw the broadcast?

 

We had a couple - "channel not available" early on in the evening (only lasted about 30 seconds) and a couple of moments with no sound.  

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Wonderful that the cinema relay stayed until the end so we could all enjoy the emotional farewell, although I'd seen the same cast on Friday I'm so glad I went, The Dream looked a bit murky again, but the camera work and lighting was splendid for the other two ballets, liked the absence of the wigs but noticed Matthew Ball's striped trousers looked odd this time instead.

 

The interviews were well done too, apart from constantly plugging next season.

 

Excited at the thought of seeing two different casts tonight and Saturday, next week is going to be so boring!

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I cannot say how much I was looking forward to last night but I did have some reservations about the cinema relay.  With all her slips I found Darcey's enthusiastic enjoyment very infectious but, please, someone shoot Ore Orduba.  He is just getting worse and worse.  Added to that, as the evening went on he seemed to take up more and more of the screen pushing Darcey almost into the wings.

 

My second reservation was there were far too many close up shots which - for me - destroyed some of the magic.  I thought Steven McRea looked smug rather than powerful and Akane Takada had enough problems with the dreaded blonde wig without the camera zooming in on her at the end of the pas de deux.  Her gasping for air made her look like a landed salmon.  She didn't deserve that and a longer shot would have been much better. 

 

The ballet was fabulously danced but I had to adjust to a right turning Oberon and a left turning Puck.  This all sounds a bit carping but the point I am trying to make is that the performances were exemplary and should have been allowed to speak for themselves without Ross MacGibbon showing off.

 

The Symphonic was so wonderful I found myself welling up.  Admittedly Marianela Nunez can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes, especially when dancing with Vadim Muntigurov and the performance was filmed far more sensibly.  I really enjoyed but but I am not convinced it was better than the ones BRB gave when they last did it.  I did love it and I can only echo that it is a true masterpiece.  Interesting to hear Henry Danton looking amazing at 98.  I thought his point about the dancers in 1946 being malnourished and how this affected his dancing was worthy of much thought.

 

I was bowled over by Zeneida Yankowsky but here again I thought the close shots made the ballet look even more over dramatic than ever.  She is a spectacularly beautiful woman but she didn't need the camera up her nose so often.   Bolle looked wonderful but I wasn't that swept away by him.  The absence of the men's wigs was a vast improvement but I found Christopher  Saunders too lightweight as Armand's pure. 

 

I am so glad they kept filming to the end.  Incidentally, Fonteyn had that tribute when all the men in the company came forward to give her a red rose.  Very appropriate for such a great Aurora.  I remember Wayne Ealing particularly.  He was wearing a T-shirt which said 'Margot Daces OK'.  Now, that was style.

 

I want my DVD and I want it NOW!

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I liked your post with the exception of "please shoot Ore Oduba", 2P - firstly because I really enjoy Ore's presenting (he works particularly well with Kristen McNally) and secondly because although in jest, "please shoot him" is OTT and in light of recent events, rather insensitive. In my humble opinion, of course.

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1 minute ago, Anna C said:

I loved your post with the exception of "please shoot Ore Oduba", 2P - firstly because I really enjoy Ore's presenting (he works particularly well with Kristen McNally) and secondly because although in jest, "please shoot him" is OTT and in light of recent events, rather insensitive. In my humble opinion, of course.

I am sorry Anna.  You are quite right, suggesting he should be shot is distasteful at the moment.

 

Please may I ask that he is removed from the building and never allowed to return.

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I was at the cinema yesterday and I've not quite recovered yet.

 

Last night’s SV felt like being inside a sphere of sanity floating above an increasingly insane world. What a safe haven ballet can be.  I believe watching this work once a day will lower your blood pressure, increase your breathing capacity and protect your mental health. (Jan McNulty, I can truly relate to your tagline now).

 

This is Perfection: no superfluous embellishments, everything crystal-clear and ever-changing. Some moments even looked somehow “Cunningham-esque” – the quick changes of focus and direction and the unusual angles, and everything is performed with great calmness and serenity. When Muntagirov executes double tours he’s drilling a hole upward into the air, it’s wondrous how he manages to come down to the earth in time with the music.

The way Yasmine Naghdi’s back suddenly melts after that long line of rapid little steps. Or when they grab each other’s hands, do a little run and suddenly stand still in three perfectly posed pairs.

 

I’m baffled how I can be bowled over by a ballet after several decades of watching dance.

 

Then again, Dream was a different kind of perfection: also a joy to watch, at times a perfectly timed slapstick comedy, and I love the otherworldly qualities of the fairies and their King and Queen, they are not only beautiful but also somehow menacing and quite complex personalities. The Lovers were hilarious but not overdone, excellent acting by everyone!

 

M&A – I haven’t decided yet if I’d care to ever watch it again, I’ll have to keep thinking. Aside from Zenaida the Great I didn’t find much in it, but that’s probably because I don’t care very much about Bolle as an actor. For me it just doesn’t come together. I’m hoping for a DVD, very often my opinion changes after several viewings.

 

On the whole, I was very happy with this cinema broadcast, it was great that they brought 98 years old Henry Danton and Julie Kavanagh (I wish they’d given her more time) and the send-off at the end was fantastic and highly emotional!

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I couldn't make the cinema showing because of rehearsals and no ones doing an encore around here. Not happy, since its one of the things this year I most wanted to see: there'd better be a DVD at least!

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14 minutes ago, nycitybird said:

I don't get the Ore Oduba hate. He's professional, natural and enthusiastic and actually pronounces all the names correctly! What's the problem? 

 

*Shrugs* - beats me, I think he's great! 

 

Wasn't the interview with Henry Danton wonderful? 

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I know that there are people on here who saw Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in Marguerite and Armand and who believe that the ballet should have been archived after their era. But, unfortunately, the film of them dancing it does not do them justice and to leave this work on the shelf would have deprived us of some truly wonderful performances over the years – none more affecting than the stupendous Marguerite of Zenaida Yanovsky.

 

Until last week, the best interpretation of Marguerite I had seen was from Elena Glurjidze (former ENB Lead Principal) dancing with Ivan Putrov in Tblisi in 2013. Last Friday, Zen joined her in ‘first place’ – although the two ballerinas couldn’t be more different.  The emotion generated by Zen (I actually felt it more at her first show) was high octane and very, very affecting. She didn’t just have the male admirers on stage at her feet; the entire audience was there too. It was a perfect role for her last show not only because it reminded us all of her extraordinary talent and artistry but also because, when the male Principals and others came on with bouquets, it felt almost as if Marguerite’s story was continuing. In common with others, my shoulders ached  from clapping but it was such a privilege to be there.

 

I was also very taken with Natalia Osipova’s Marguerite. She seemed older than her years and surprised me by being less frenetic than she sometimes appears. She was a really believable character with a tangible depth of feeling. But I do wish she hadn’t been so smiley at the very first curtain call. I was still wrapped up in the story and needed her to give me more time to ‘come round’.

 

I can’t explain why but Alessandra Ferri came across to me as quite ‘hard’. I recognise her considerable strengths as a dance-actress but I couldn’t identify with her. Understandably, she seemed too ‘careful’ and over-reliant on her arm movements rather than expressing feeling through her whole body.

 

Bolle, Bonelli and Shklyarov all have the advantage of being very handsome and having amazing physiques. So they are half way there with Armand the moment they hit the stage. Clearly, the opening sequence is hard to master but, once that was out of the way, they all gave us beautiful dancing and assured partnering. I have always found Roberto Bolle’s acting to be somewhat wooden but, although he still did not convince me entirely, he seemed more ‘in role’ as Armand – especially last Friday. Federico Bonelli and Vladimir Shklyarov both showed us what high-calibre dance-actors they are: they made me believe. Federico started his 2016/17 very shakily and it is great that he has finished it so strongly both now and in Mayerling.

 

Shklyarov is, of course, a very welcome visitor and I think that Kevin O’Hare made the right call in inviting another guest to dance Armand in the wake of Polunin’s withdrawal. However, I still wish that both roles had been cast from the outset from within the Royal Ballet. Nunez/Muntagirov are surely prime candidates when the ballet returns next year and there must be many other ballerinas lining up, not least Morera and Cuthbertson. Matthew Ball (as the striped-trousered admirer) pays early homage to Marguerite in a manner which is tantamount to auditioning to play Armand next season! Bonelli has now had, I think, three outings in the role and could be ‘rested’ in favour of another up and coming young man. But I have rambled on too long already so I must resist the temptation to list all the ‘possibles’.

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We had one or two issues at the cinema last night.  It stopped twice, once during an interview, so that the sound and action got out of sync, and once at the start of Symphonic Variations, which brought a groan from the audience.  Fortunately, the latter was only a momentary hitch.  Otherwise I might have been tempted to demand back the £22 I paid for my ticket. 

 

I have never seen The Dream before, which astonishes me, considering I have been going to the ballet since I was a child.  I was really looking forward to it, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Yes, the transformation scene was clearly obvious, and the rustics looked as though they should not be allowed out without a suitable adult to care for them.  Did Ashton really intend them to be portrayed with such doddery ineptness?  Fortunately, their appearance was brief, and apart from that the whole ballet had the same joyous feel to it as Fille.  I loved it.

 

Obviously I can’t really comment on the individual performances, as I have nothing to compare them to.  I am not really a huge fan of McCrea, because I think he seems to pull the same expressions no matter what part he is playing.  However, I really liked him as Oberon.  I would expect nothing less than fabulous dancing from him, but I thought he displayed just the right touch of masculine arrogance as he exerted his powers.  He and Takada looked really good together.  In fact, I prefer this partnership to the one with Lamb, and I hope they are cast together more frequently in the future. 

 

Symphonic Variations is one of my favourite ballets, and I make a point of seeing at least one performance every time it is on.  I always try to watch this from above, so that I can appreciate the overall pattern and flow of the dance, so I wasn’t expecting it to look its best at the cinema.  It was no surprise to me that I was very slightly disappointed, because it all felt a tiny bit flat.  I found the close ups of the dancers’ faces annoying, as the camera would switch rapidly from Nunez looking slightly tragic to Naghdi smiling happily.  And some of the other camera angles were odd as well.  I know that is the nature of these cinema broadcasts, but this is one of those ballets where you need to see the whole, rather than parts.  I heard several people in the audience comment afterwards that it was quite pretty, but they couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.  It made me want to march up to them and say, “You need to see it live!”  

 

Finally, M & A.  I think there must be something wrong with me.  I’m afraid I found the whole thing rather tedious after the first 10 minutes.  I was astonished to see it is 20 minutes shorter than The Dream.  It felt much longer.  It was wonderful to see Yanowsky, of course, who is a sensational actress, but apart from that I am not sure I will be rushing to see it again. 

 

The final curtain calls, however, were something else.  What a wonderful send off for her.  Acosta got a huge cheer in the cinema, but some of the camera angles made it difficult to see the faces of the other men, as they were hidden by bouquets of flowers.  I was amused to see that Campbell looked shorter than her.  And yes, Bussell was whooping from the side of the stage. 

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