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The Royal Ballet: Giselle, Feb-April 2016


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People aren't allergic to smells as such, but to elements within certain perfumes, anti histamines deal with most of them. I find some perfumes can trigger a migraine attack though others don't.  The O/P's claim that she was "asphyxiated " simply by being in the same building as people using hairspray suggests to me she needs medical help.  Hopefully she will never encounter my teenage niece on her way to a night's clubbing, nor a boyfriend whose love of aftershave is akin to chemical warfare.  Parma violets?  No idea but this pensioner is mighty keen on Parma ham.

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Anti histamine tablets that deal with almost all kinds of allergy are available at all chemist shops, supermarkets etc.

 

 

Not aware that they work on smells, though?  In fact, I doubt they do, otherwise a certain young lady I know of wouldn't have ended up having to be hospitalised at her own wedding.

 

 

People aren't allergic to smells as such, but to elements within certain perfumes, anti histamines deal with most of them. I find some perfumes can trigger a migraine attack though others don't.  The O/P's claim that she was "asphyxiated " simply by being in the same building as people using hairspray suggests to me she needs medical help.  Hopefully she will never encounter my teenage niece on her way to a night's clubbing, nor a boyfriend whose love of aftershave is akin to chemical warfare.  Parma violets?  No idea but this pensioner is mighty keen on Parma ham.

 

 

 

I've got a friend whose husband has got severe allergy issues and, yes, antihistamines can help however not against perfume aromas that could spark off a severe asthma attack.  Needless to say my friend has a horror of perfumes, potpourri, air-freshener and the like herself now.

 

I myself love perfume but many of the ones that "fix" immediately give me a headache so I have to be much more careful than I used to be.  I think most people (from the young to the ancient) do not realise how much they are spraying on themselves and how much that can affect the people around them.  I had always understood that if a perfume really suits you, you cannot really smell it on yourself and I know people who spray more on because of that.

 

Having gone completely off-topic I think we should go back to discussing Giselle.

 

I've been thinking about my experience at the cinema and wondered if things like clapping are much more evident in the cinema because the microphones pick up everything and cannot filter out, as our ears would in the live performance.  Perhaps the seemingly (to me) over the top clapping at the the entrance of Albrecht and then Giselle did not sound nearly as loud and intrusive in the theatre.

 

Going back to Giselle's return to her grave, IIRC in BRB's version (Samosa/Bintley) she was originally placed on the grave by Albrecht and disappeared down into it.  

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.Perhaps the seemingly (to me) over the top clapping at the the entrance of Albrecht and then Giselle did not sound nearly as loud and intrusive in the theatre.

 

 

I experienced the 'entrance applause' (in which, I confess, I participated) as no more than a ripple. But I shall be interested to hear how it sounds at the cinema encore next weekend.

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Sorry to go off topic again but I just wanted to say that I do understand where Fiz is coming from! I once stayed in a small hotel & woke up during the night feeling incredibly unwell. The culprit was a plug- in air freshener. The point I was trying to make was that perfumes, hairspray etc are not just used by elderly people & it's unfair to blame them.The old get blamed for everything, from living too long & costing the government too much money in pensions!

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Sorry to go off topic again but I just wanted to say that I do understand where Fiz is coming from! I once stayed in a small hotel & woke up during the night feeling incredibly unwell. The culprit was a plug- in air freshener. The point I was trying to make was that perfumes, hairspray etc are not just used by elderly people & it's unfair to blame them.The old get blamed for everything, from living too long & costing the government too much money in pensions!

Well, talking of smells (!) this pensioner feels physically sick every time some youngster gets on the train and proceeds to eat either a hamburger and fries or a kebab.  Ghastly.  But thats the price you pay for having public transport and until I can afford my own helicopter, I'll have to live with it if I want to go to the ballet.

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Looks like our best endeavours to persuade the powers that be to release a DVD have fallen on deaf ears. So disappointed.

 

On the website this morning, in answer to a comment :-

 

 

Mel Spencer (Content Producer (Social Media and News)) responded on 11 April 2016 at 10:29am

Hi Elia,

We're so glad you enjoyed the performance as much as we did. Unfortunately there are no plans to release a DVD, but we will of course announce on our social channels if this changes.

Thank you for your support!

All best,

Mel

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SusanR, I have severe allergies and when I went to see Romeo and Juliet, it was extremely difficult for me stay in the cinema to watch. I have never been affected like this in other screenings with a different audience mix. I am also rapidly approaching pensionable age.

Reminds me of one of the House Rules for Stockholm's Royal Opera House...patrons are requested not to wear perfume or other pungent scents!

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One can understand her wish to concentrate on creating Elizabeth and not to lose out on a second broadcast. Particularly sad re the Giselle though, although I understand Takada has been doing wonderfully well....

Edited by Jamesrhblack
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Looks like our best endeavours to persuade the powers that be to release a DVD have fallen on deaf ears. So disappointed.

 

On the website this morning, in answer to a comment :-

 

 

Mel Spencer (Content Producer (Social Media and News)) responded on 11 April 2016 at 10:29am

Hi Elia,

We're so glad you enjoyed the performance as much as we did. Unfortunately there are no plans to release a DVD, but we will of course announce on our social channels if this changes.

Thank you for your support!

All best,

Mel

Whatever happened to listening to their customers? I think I have rarely seen such demand for something. Ridiculous!

 

They were talking about streaming content, though, so perhaps it may happen that way....

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Whatever happened to listening to their customers? I think I have rarely seen such demand for something. Ridiculous!

They were talking about streaming content, though, so perhaps it may happen that way....

I hate bring told 'there's no demand for X' when I've just proved that statement wrong by asking if X was available

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Well, I'm continuing the argument with them online. Their latest reasoning is that "The time it takes to arrange a DVD release ahead of a performance is significant - to decide, after a broadcast, to release a DVD is an equally long process."

 

My recollection is that they had not planned an Osipova/Golding DVD of Swan Lake, but quickly decided to release it due to "demand" - so what's the problem with this one given that demand is so high?

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Well, I'm continuing the argument with them online. Their latest reasoning is that "The time it takes to arrange a DVD release ahead of a performance is significant - to decide, after a broadcast, to release a DVD is an equally long process."

My recollection is that they had not planned an Osipova/Golding DVD of Swan Lake, but quickly decided to release it due to "demand" - so what's the problem with this one given that demand is so high?

It's possible that one of the dancers who had a bad night and a wardrobe malfunction might not wish the experience to be preserved for posterity and universally distributed ....

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I hate bring told 'there's no demand for X' when I've just proved that statement wrong by asking if X was available

It reminds me of the old joke: "you are the 300,000th person I have told today- there is no demand"

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It's possible that one of the dancers who had a bad night and a wardrobe malfunction might not wish the experience to be preserved for posterity and universally distributed ....

 

Modern technology should be able to sort this. And what about the feelings of the two main characters, one of whom has posted support for a DVD to be issued.

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Well, I'm continuing the argument with them online. Their latest reasoning is that "The time it takes to arrange a DVD release ahead of a performance is significant - to decide, after a broadcast, to release a DVD is an equally long process."

My recollection is that they had not planned an Osipova/Golding DVD of Swan Lake, but quickly decided to release it due to "demand" - so what's the problem with this one given that demand is so high?

It really irritates me when the ROH sees fit to tell its customers whether or not there is "sufficient demand". I find it quite patronising, to be honest, especially when there is such inconsistency in how many different dvds they produce of the same ballet. I was told there is "no demand" for an updated dvd of Manon even though the only RB versions available are Penney/Dowell and Rojo/Acosta.

 

Yet they happily released another cast of Fille on DVD; there are two? RB Swan Lakes, two or three Sleeping Beautys (should that be "Beauties"?), two R&Js, two Giselles etc all currently on sale. I am quite sure I am not the only person who would snap up a new blu ray of Manon with Muntagirov as Des Grieux, am I?

 

With regards to the wardrobe malfunction and "bad night", don't they record on two evenings for such incidents?

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Clement Crisp (in a longer piece also focused on Takada's Giselle, which he admires) says: " In every role, Muntagirov offers technical clarity matched by emotional - even spiritual - grace, and a dramatic sense that speaks of his dignity and intelligence as an artist. ....................     It is an interpretation of unfailing elegance and acutely judged expression".

 

The ROH/RB just isn't acting as if it appreciates the jewel (well, of course, jewels) in its midst.

 

 

[Edited to risk adding a further sentence about Muntagirov's Albrecht.]

Edited by capybara
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Clement Crisp (in a longer piece also focused on Takada's Giselle, which he admires) says: " In every role, Muntagirov offers technical clarity matched by emotional - even spiritual - grace, and a dramatic sense that speaks of his dignity and intelligence as an artist. ....................     It is an interpretation of unfailing elegance and acutely judged expression".

 

The ROH/RB just isn't acting as if it appreciates the jewel (well, of course, jewels) in its midst.

 

 

[Edited to risk adding a further sentence about Muntagirov's Albrecht.]

Clement Crisp is such an eloquent writer as well as hugely experienced critic: I was so pleased to read his wonderful words about Takada. I've not yet managed to see her in a full length role but have really enjoyed her work in smaller roles and have been baffled by what seems a general lack of enthusiasm on this site for her work. I very much hope to see her in a full length role next season and am fairly confident that she will be appointed a principal from next season.

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Sorry Laura not doing Giselle. She danced beautifully at the Frankenstein Insight. Is she really saving herself for Frankenstein?

 

Yes - the injury would have prevented proper rehearsal time for such a major role as Giselle, as the run already under way. Probably same applies for Winter's Tale sadly. I would have thought that creating a new role, and the huge amount of rehearsal time that takes, would be a priority, especially when coming back from a nasty injury.

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so ended the run of Giselle last night, and once again, young Akane Takada was utterly glorious. I was sad that Laura Morera couldn't do her Giselle shows, but Akane was certainly more than adequate compensation. Earlier in her career I was really taken with Ms Takada, but then for some reason, she seemed to lose a lot of spark (an injury perhaps, or slow recovery from one?). Anyway, that seems to have passed now and her performances this run have been breathtakingly great. No sign of ego, as in, this is dancer X dancing Giselle - no, she WAS Giselle. I can't think of a higher complement than that. Definitely my favourite Giselle of the run

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I've just been to the Encore showing at Wimbledon Odeon. Wonderful to see the close-ups (and the backcloth which I never see much of from the Amphi). Nunez and Muntagirov absolutely stunning, again! I found the presenter very patronising, but exciting interviewees and rehearsal footage, including several comments I'd never heard before: Peter Wright saying that the sword takes control of Giselle, and chases her - very interesting concept!; and Nathalie Harrison saying that one of the 'poses' of the Wilis is as if they're holding the babies they never gave birth to, from marriages that never happened. Unbearably moving. Not a very large audience, but clearly very absorbed. These screenings really are brilliant.

 

Oh and another thing that really struck me was Muntagirov right at the end - his expression of exultation, relief, love, joy. Not grief or shame, now; he is experiencing the joy of redemption AFTER the guilt and agony. Which was so beautiful. If Albrecht is still only grief-stricken at the end, it doesn't convey the whole point of the ballet.

Edited by bridiem
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