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Irmgard

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Everything posted by Irmgard

  1. Myrtha only has the one long diagonal with veil on, and then bourrées across the back, having removed her veil. Mary Skeaping also disliked the lilies in Act 2 but they are part of the David Walker designs and she had to defer to him about those, but she said it looked like Albrecht had stopped off at the local florist on is way to the grave. She also thought it should look like he had gathered wildflowers - and her comment to me predated Gielgud's "Steps, Notes and Squeaks". I agree that Albrecht should not take his eyes off Giselle on those crossings and I think I managed to convince at least one of my casts to do this but obviously note the one you saw.
  2. Thank you very much. The unsigned parts were a joint effort between the Marketing Department and me.
  3. Just to point out that Khaniukova and Arrieta did the dress rehearsal the night before opening night, meaning that they actually gave three full performances of the ballet on three consecutive nights, as they danced full out at the dress rehearsal. I salute them for this amazing achievement and am very grateful to them for leading the company for Mary Skeaping's "Giselle", and in such an exemplary and selfless way.
  4. It will definitely be Frola dancing with Kase tomorrow afternoon as, sadly, Saruhashi has not recovered enough from his minor injury to perform.
  5. I have not been bothered by the laughing at the various stage effects at most of the performances (I am at all of them) as it has been quite gentle, as if they are laughing with delight rather than finding anything particularly funny. In fact, it is much as audiences reacted in the baroque era -they expressed their delight quite noisily at the various stage effects.
  6. Usually I feel it would be inappropriate of me to 'review' casts in this production as I have been so heavily involved with it and with all of the dancers but I have to say that I was extremely proud of Shiori Kase making her debut (!) as Giselle tonight with a partner with whom she had had about half an hour's rehearsal. She gave a highly accomplished performance, and Frola was there, supporting her all the way, partnering her as if they had been dancing together for years. The camaraderie of the dancers in this company is awe inspiring!
  7. Yes, the last time Mary Skeaping's production was performed in London, prior to Derek Deane taking over as Artistic Director, was 1991 at Royal Festival Hall. It was brought back by in 2005 by Matz Skoog. Aaron Watkin appeared in it as a member of the corps de ballet in 1991, hence his desire to present it during his first season as Artistic Director. Skeaping went with Pavlova's version regarding the sword, in that it is a shiny thing which Giselle, in her demented state, sees as a toy to play with and will not let the villagers take it away from her but, yes, Takahashi's Hilarion was a bit slow off the mark in snatching it from her last night! The joys of live performance!
  8. Cojocaru was on maternity leave during the Belfast performances.
  9. Just to answer a couple of points. Skeaping follows the original scenario written by Gautier and Vernoy St. Georges which calls for Bathilde to present Giselle with the necklace on becoming entranced by her and finding out that she, too, is engaged. It is almost as if she is presenting her with a dowry. Amongst Gautier's musings on the plot is Bathilde's wish to take Giselle back to the castle with her as a lady-in-waiting (obviously highly improbable in real medieval times as ladies-in-waiting had to be of high birth, but just one of Gautier's many flights of fancy). In the original outline of the action for the ballet, there is no solo for Giselle to dance for Bathilde either before or after she gives her the necklace. Therefore, it is up to the producer to decide whether or not to include the interpolated solo (to music generally attributed to Minkus) in the ballet and where it most usefully serves a dramatic purpose. Gautier makes no mention of Giselle committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide. It is much more in keeping with the ethos of the Romantic era for a heroine to die of a broken heart but, again, it is up to the producer to decide which approach to take. Skeaping followed the leads of Pavlova, Spessivtseva and Nicholas Sergueyev in having Giselle die of a broken heart. The fact that Giselle is buried in a woodland glade is also from the Gautier scenario and does not signify that she is buried in unconsecrated ground but, rather, gives a beautiful setting for Act 2. There is always some suspension of disbelief in ballet or opera plots of this era but, even today, it is not unknown for people to be buried in places other than cemeteries. As per my previous post, in the original scenario, there were two separate groups of men appearing in Act 2: the gamekeepers and then peasants returning home from a party. Presumably for budgetary reasons, Skeaping combined the two in her later versions of her production, with the instruction that the gamekeeper who have fled from the first vision of the Wilis have been rounded up by other Wilis haunting the woods. With regard to the fugue, this is an essential element of the original score and scenario to show that Myrtha's power is being challenged by Giselle, who constantly thwarts her until the sunrise which does break her power. It also shows that the Wilis' power is not stronger than the cross, conflict between the religious and the supernatural being another favourite element of the Romantic era. When the Wilis fail to draw Albrecht away from the cross (his protecting factor), Myrtha commands Giselle (who must still obey Myrtha) to dance seductively to lure Albrecht away from the cross, which is exactly what happens.
  10. The lovely Erina Takahashi was on maternity leave during the last run at the Coliseum in 2017 but made it back onstage within three months of her son's birth to perform Giselle in Belfast in June 2017 with the fabulous Cesar Corrales as her Albrecht.
  11. It was not that she did not like the production, it was just that there were elements she did not embrace, such as the mime scenes, preferring to do her own thing which could be rather disconcerting for her colleagues onstage. It would be lovely to have a proper film of the production - the late, great Eva Evdokimova planned to do so in the 1980s but sadly it never happened.
  12. ENB's website has finally been updated to show that Frola will dance with Khaniukova this evening. This is not due to any injury to Arrieta. Arrieta has graciously stepped aside to allow Frola to have a second performance, as he had to miss his show last Friday. Khaniukova would have done the same for Oliveira but she is still injured. I love the wonderful camaraderie amongst all these dancers🥰 ! Khaniukova and Arrieta will dance the last show together (21st) as planned.
  13. In the Skeaping production, the castle and all the surrounding lands belong to the Prince of Courland and his daughter, Bathilde, so Albrecht (Duke of Silesia, which is not in the Rhineland) is on an extended visit to his fiancee (perhaps for the actual wedding ceremony) which is why no-one in the village recognises him (and there would be many villages attached to the Prince's lands so some of the villagers may never have seen the Prince or Bathilde before, either). HIs resourceful squire, Wilfred, would have ascertained that there was an empty hut or cabine in Giselle's village for Albrecht to use when he is escaping from the Court. In Skeaping's production, there is no lock on the door (it is too humble a dwelling to have such a thing) but, as Albrecht closes the door, the rusty latch sticks, which is why Hilarion has to use his knife to gain entry. Of course, the audience does not know about the latch sticking, but that is the dramatic motivation given to Hilarions when rehearsing the scene.
  14. "Stupid idiot" is exactly what Albrecht says to himself in Skeaping's production when he realises he is still wearing his cloak and sword 😁. He's so anxious to see Giselle that he's forgotten to take off his cloak and sword before he gets to the village. Wilfred arrives after Albrecht has hidden his cloak (not an expensive one in this production) and sword in the hut (referred to by Gautier as a "cabine") to tell him to stop this folly and come back to the castle with him...
  15. I am completely baffled as well, as I am sure Theophile Gautier who wrote the scenario would be!!!
  16. Cupid out of his Humour was actually commissioned from Mary Skeaping and the Royal Swedish Ballet by the King of Sweden for Queen Elizabeth's state visit to Sweden in 1956 but has been performed many times since then for the general public at Drottningholm and, in the 1950s, it was toured to Bath and the Edinburgh Festival.
  17. Mary Skeaping also studied with Margaret Craske and taught at her studio in West Street, taking it over with Peggy van Praagh when Craske departed for an ashram in India at the start of World War 2 before settling in the USA.
  18. 😂 to your Hammer Horror images! Yes, the Wilis are supposed to dance their victims to death but, so that we do not have poor Hilarion's corpse onstage for the rest of Act 2, he is chased out of the glade and falls into the pond and drowns because of his exhaustion (slight artistic licence here as we cannot magic up the water splashing as he hits it!). I, too, feel sorry for Hilarion, especially as in this production he is a nice guy, understandably concerned for Giselle although obviously jealous of Albrecht. However, that is the way of the Wilis- they are out to avenge themselves on any man, guilty or not!
  19. She danced in it in 2017 but was not interested in embracing many of the elements unique to Skeaping's production, unlike last-minute guest artist Jurgita Dronina who was keen to embrace all of them.
  20. Skeaping went back to Gautier's original conception of Albrecht not as a cad but as a young man caught between two loves (a very Romantic notion). Indeed Gautier in his musings has Albrecht wonder why he cannot marry them both! Skeaping therefore reinstated the complete pas de deux for Giselle and Albrecht in Act 1 (Pas des Vendanges) and, as far as I am aware, is the only choreographer/producer to have done so, as it is really an expression of their love for each other. Of course, it is up to the individual as to whether they portray Albrecht as totally smitten with Giselle or as a pleasure-seeking cad, but I know which one Skeaping preferred!
  21. Sadly, Cojocaru did not embrace the Skeaping production.
  22. In the section you refer to in Act 2, Myrtha commands Giselle to get Albrecht up after he has fallen to the ground. The mime Giselle says is "You remember how we loved and how we danced" in the hope that this will get him to his feet again, as she knows she must keep him dancing until dawn or the Wilis will kill him. The beautiful supported series of temps levées following his next solo are again to keep him moving. The sharp-eyed in today's audience may have noticed a slight limping by Oliveira towards the end of the mad scene and this is unfortunately why she had to withdraw from the rest of the ballet, as she had a problem with her calf which sadly prevented us from seeing her beautifully ethereal Act 2. Heartfelt thanks to Erina Takahashi for taking over! In Giselle's first Act 1 solo (she has two in the Skeaping production), there is an alternative to the diagonal of hops which Oliveira did today and Khaniukova did on Thursday and Friday which I actually prefer as it makes this interpolated solo (from around 1880) slightly more Romantic in feel and less of a show-off number. And yes, dancers who choose to do the whole sequence of hops can use either diagonal, for whichever supporting leg is stronger. Myrtha does not have to appear baleful or menacing in her first solo. Wilis, when mortal, had an overwhelming love of dance, and, in death, this passion is indulged. Therefore, this solo (longer in the Skeaping version than in any other because it uses Adam's music for this almost in its entirety) is meant to portray this passion, building to an almost ecstatic climax, and is what Gautier intended. Myrtha becomes menacing only when confronting potential male victims. In the 'travelling arabesques' (a much nicer description than Alistair Macaulay's reference to them as cow-hops!), the Wilis look to the audience to indicate that they hypnotise/seduce their potential victims with their beautiful eyes. Therefore, the arms are in third arabesque, rather than first, to allow the head to turn to the audience.
  23. The second appearance of the gamekeepers is in Adam's original score (and there are wonderful stage direction notes in the 1842 piano reduction of that) and was reinstated by Mary Skeaping (long after it had been jettisoned in Russian productions) to reinforce Heine's point that the Wilis are out for revenge on any man who crosses their path, not just those who have wronged women! Never fear, the gamekeepers are not killed but are just used for sport by the Wilis! In fact, in the original scenario (and Skeaping's original 1953 production), they were actually a different group of men (villagers returning from a party), accompanied by an older man who, realising they are becoming enthralled by these beautiful creatures whom he recognises as Wilis, tells them all to flee. Skeaping probably changed it to the same group of men in her 1971 production for budgetary reasons (i.e. not so many costumes to make!), as well as a tighter storyline.
  24. The original lighting in 1971 was by Charles Bristowe and was recreated a few years later by David Mohr. It is now under the supervision of ENB's chief lighting technician, David Richardson. The lighting has always been quite dark at the beginning of Act 2 and then there is meant to be a special effect when the gamekeepers return, with the Wilis being lit from the waist up to give the illusion of flying around the gamekeepers. However, the computer-led technology of the 21st century does not seem to be able to be as accurate as the traditional lighting board of the 20th century!
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