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Irmgard

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  1. From the video, I spotted Erina Takahashi with Aitor Arrieta, Emily Suzuki with Fernando Carratala Coloma, Ivana Bueno with Francesco Gabriele Frola and Minju Kang with Rentaro Nakaaki. There is a couple rehearsing in the background who I assume were some of the dancers from Australian Ballet who have been rehearsing with the company.
  2. Attending the opening night of this programme, I found bits to enjoy in all four works but I felt only one was worthy of permanently entering the Royal Ballet’s repertoire. “Boundless”, by Gemma Bond, was set to an almost relentlessly frenetic, percussive score by Joey Roukens and this was mirrored in the equally frenetic choreography which, at times, seemed to be a free-for-all with everyone doing their own thing at such a pace that it was impossible to notice any movement in particular. It is always a pleasure to watch the elegant Yasmine Naghdi and Ryoichi Hirano but I found their pas de deux too frequently marred by the inelegant lifts they were asked to perform. Things were not helped by the unflattering costumes for the ladies, being the shortest, flattest tutus I have ever seen on the opera house stage. Joshua Junker’s “Never Known” began well, with all the dancers en bloc moving in harmony in stylish movements which did not challenge their technique but then the volume of the soundscape was increased too much to be comfortable for me and, by the time we got to the third section (I had no idea the wonderful Icelandic pianist, Vikingur Olafsson was also a composer), I had lost interest as Junker appeared to have run out of choreographic steam, but I do hope he will continue his choreographic explorations. I found Jessica Lang’s “Twinkle” to be very twee and, in many ways, seemed to be more representative of children at play than Gemma Bond’s piece, even though Bond had declared, in the short film preceding it, that was her inspiration. William Bracewell looked elegant in the first part of the piece set to Brahms’s lullaby, and Fumi Kaneko sparkled, as she does in everything, but this was not enough to persuade me that I would like to see this piece again, despite the commitment of everyone onstage, including Kate Shipway playing her piano on a very high platform at the back of the stage, like a goddess on Mount Olympus. It was “For What It’s Worth” by Mthuthuzeli November which made the evening for me. With gorgeous lighting designs by Zeynep Kepekli which evoked either an African sunrise or sunset, colourful costumes by Yann Seabra, and a score by Alex Wilson and November himself, inspired by the great Miriam Makeba who, for me, represented the voice of African music during my childhood, this was a very accomplished piece even before considering the choreography. November’s choreographic language for this piece was an ingenious fusion of ballet and traditional African dance which showed off his cast to perfection, especially Mayara Magri in her opening solo. Looking stunning in a flowing green dress, she was the epitome of grace and spirituality, her headdress, based on a traditional African headdress, taking on the effect of a halo. Changing into a shorter, brightly coloured dress of the same design as the other ladies (and I wonder if Marianna Tsembenhoi’s dress in Ukrainian colours was a happy accident or a tribute to that country), she joined them and the three gentlemen in inventive and uplifting choreography which was a wonderful celebration of life and the human spirit, and their joy in performing it was both palpable and infectious. This was definitely a piece I could watch again and again, and it made me very keen to see more works by November.
  3. Firstly, huge congratulations to Henry Dowden and Ross Freddy Ray for bringing together so many organisations which work tirelessly to make dance accessible to all and for spotlighting them in an extremely well-organised evening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. I think what I will most remember from this evening was the absolute joy emanating from all those onstage, which was delightfully infectious. And how wonderful to have this joy reflected in the new works instead of the expressionless or angst-filled experience favoured by most modern choreographers for professional companies! The stand-out performance for me in the first half of the programme was “Tight Textures” by Lucy Bennett and performed with huge enthusiasm by Stopgap Dance Company who reminded us that not all disabilities are visible. This piece was delivered with great panache in a humorous and, quite frankly, life-affirming way, beautifully reflecting the rhythms created by Lily Norton’s delivery of the witty text. A word for budding choreographer Maia Rose Roberts of the Royal Ballet School, who created a very charming pas de deux for RBS students Emile Gooding and Tianie Finn-Grainger, danced with great style. Unfortunately, “The Owl Falls” by Sebastian Kloborg left me cold. Apparently it was meant to “begin where the 1895 libretto of Swan Lake ends” but, apart from the fact that we heard the final bars of Tchaikovsky’s score before Anna Meredith’s music began, and the grey striped costumes which I suppose could have been meant to indicate the owl, or Von Rothbart, the choreography appeared to have no direction and certainly did not show Daniil Simkin or, especially, Maria Kochetkova at their best. The second half of the programme started with a film of rehearsals, mainly for the ballroom scene, of “Romeo and Juliet”, a joint project by Parable Dance, National Youth Ballet and All In!. Sadly, the whole company did not participate in the live performance but we did have a section of the ‘balcony’ pas de deux danced by wheelchair-performer Grace Thompson and 15-year-old Zak Smith who is a student at the Place. The choreographer is not credited in the programme but this was a very tender portrayal of young love. In fact, there were three duets for wheelchair performers and able-bodied dancers included in the evening, each illustrating different relationships between the performers. I particularly loved the joie de vie of “Reunion”, danced by Denecia Allen and Alice Bellini. Of the solo work by wheelchair performers, perhaps the most striking was by Joseph Powell-Main who choreographed and performed “Passionately Defiant” which reflected his journey to continue his career as a dancer after severe injury through sheer determination which can see him able to gather enough strength and courage to rise from his wheelchair, throw away his crutches and pull off a series of pirouettes à la seconde. This inspiring evening ended with a gala favourite, the showcase pas de deux from “Le Corsaire” which was much more suited to Daniil Simkin’s talents. His last-minute Medora was the always spectacular Shiori Kase of breathtaking balances and firecracker fouetté turns, all delivered with effortless grace.
  4. When mentioning debuts, English National Ballet makes a distinction between the proscenium and the in-the-round version of Deane's "Swan Lake" because of course Hawes, Arrieta, Trossello and Frola all took the leading roles in the proscenium version in the 2022/23 season.
  5. The finalists for the Emerging Dancer award 2024 were announced this afternoon: Emerging Dancer 2024 Finalists 24 May 2024, Sadler's Wells Congratulations to our six finalists! We look forward to the return of this special event, which celebrates the talent, artistry and individuality of our artists at every rank of the Company. Six finalists have been selected by their peers, and will work with mentors from within the Company on classical pas de deux and contemporary works. One artist will receive the Emerging Dancer Award, chosen by esteemed judges Amanda Britton, Freddie Opoku-Addaie, Edward Watson MBE and Monica Zamora. The event will be hosted by our Artistic Director, Aaron S. Watkin, and will take place at Sadler’s Wells on Friday 24 May, 2024. If you haven't yet booked your tickets, you can do so via the Sadler's Wells website or Ticket Office. The evening will feature a performance by 2022 Emerging Dancer Award winner Eric Snyder and 2022 People’s Choice Award winner Precious Adams. This year’s People’s Choice Award (voted by our audiences) and Corps de Ballet Award (chosen by the Artistic team) will also be presented. Anna Ciriano joined the Company in 2022. Anna has danced Spanish in Eagling’s Nutcracker and appeared in repertoire including Khan’s Giselle, Rojo’s Raymonda and Deane’s Swan Lake. Breanna Foad joined ENB in 2018. Breanna's notable roles include the Chosen One in Ek’s The Rite of Spring: she went on to dance the role of Chosen One in the world premiere of Miller’s Les Noces: Ascent to Days. Shunhei Fuchiyama joined ENB in 2021. Roles with the Company include Freddie and Cossack in Eagling’s Nutcracker and peasant pas de deux in Skeaping’s Giselle. Jose María Lorca Menchón joined ENB in 2022. Jose's repertoire includes Eagling’s Nutcracker, Rojo’s Raymonda, Dawson’s Four Last Songs and Quagebeur’s Take Five Blues. Thiago Pereira joined the Company in 2022. Thiago has appeared in works such as Khan’s Giselle, Rojo’s Raymonda, Deane’s Swan Lake, and Balanchine’s Theme and Variations. Anna-Babette Winkler joined ENB in 2018. Notable roles include Lead Winter in Wheeldon’s Cinderella in-the-round, Lead Snowflake in Eagling’s Nutcracker, and Moyna in Skeaping’s Giselle.
  6. This is because "Carmen" is a new production for the company. As I said, dancers have been selected for all the roles but, because Mr. Inger does not know the company, he will put the casts together once he has seen them in rehearsal and will cast the performances from that. It was completely different for me with "Giselle" as I knew the company so well and was able to put the casts together months in advance of rehearsals. Likewise, "Swan Lake" is a regular in the repertoire and thus able to be cast well in advance of the performances.
  7. The company only started learning the piece on Tuesday so it is far too soon to be able to announce casting. Of course, a number of dancers have been selected for each role but it will be up to Mr. Inger as to which of them are actually given performances. However, let us hope the announcement will be a little bit earlier than that for the triple bill last autumn!
  8. Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw are definitely dancing in this gala ("Giselle" Act 2 pas de deux). Shiori Kase will now replace Yaoqian Shang in the 'Corsaire' pas de deux as Shang is no longer able to participate. (Henry Dowden has just posted this change of cast on Instagram.)
  9. Thank you so much for all the kind comments about my posts on this thread. I am delighted if I have been able to enhance your enjoyment of the beautiful Mary Skeaping production which I am so lucky to look after.
  10. Glad you noticed Anna-Babette Winkler, who has such a lovely, serene quality to her dancing. She also made a beautiful Bathilde, and I cast her in that role on the strength of her Mother in "Nutcracker", as I thought she made the most wonderfully gracious hostess in the party scene.
  11. The other men in black were Skyler Martin with Emma Hawes and Vsevolod Maievskyi with Sangeun Lee. Souza accompanied the other Giselles. It would be lovely to acknowledge them on the cast list but of course that would definitely shatter the illusion!
  12. If you wish to donate for air ambulances in Ukraine, it is still possible through the organisation Donate to Evacuate (details on Instagram).
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