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Although I had a ticket for last Saturday's matinee, I couldn't make it at the last minute, so last night was my only chance to see this mixed bill. 

 

I hadn't seen Vertiginous for years, so I was thrilled to see it again, and so well danced.  Once again Akane Takada stepped in at the last minute, and once again she has shot way up in my estimation.  I don't know why, but for some reason, until this season, I never really warmed to her.  But, after the season she has just had, I am liking and appreciating her more and more.  I loved her in SB with James Hay, I loved her in Rubies, sadly I missed her turn in Mayerling, and I loved her last night in this short piece.  I can't wait to see what she makes of Titania.  I thought all five of the dancers gave a great account of this most difficult ballet, and didn't make me feel like I'd missed something by not seeing the 'first' cast...although of course I would have loved to!

 

Tarantella was a lot of fun, especially with the sunny radiance of Yasmine Naghdi and Valentino Zucchetti emanating from the stage up to the rafters.  Not only were they technically wonderful, but they brought that sunny Italian spirit to the piece, which made all the difference,  and the audience loved it. 

 

And now to Strapless.....oh dear.  I was very tempted to join the large crowd of regulars who sat this one out on the terrace in the warm evening air, having cocktails and glasses of wine or water.  However, one of these regulars offered us his seats in row A of the stalls, and as I can never afford to sit there it was an offer I couldn't refuse.  Also, I thought "let me be broad-minded and try it again, especially since cuts have been made."   Well, despite being so close to the 'action', and despite any changes that might have been made, after less than ten minutes I started feeling bitter and resentful towards my friends enjoying themselves up on the terrace.  Although all the dancers did their best with what material they had, I'm afraid that my opinion from the first run hadn't changed by the end of the piece.  I find it boring, a narrative failure and choreographically bland.  The music is ok although after a while it starts becoming background sound instead of being an integral part of the piece.  Sitting right behind Koen Kessels was a great experience, and I often found myself watching him and the orchestra instead of the stage.  It was also wonderful to be so close to Watson and Osipova....what a great partnership this is;  they are both so compelling to watch.  What a shame their talents and chemistry are wasted here.  I think that it is now time to put this piece to bed, never to be awoken again. 

 

Hmmm....Symphonic Dances.  I'm afraid I feel a bit 'meh' about this one, and it's a shame I won't have the opportunity to see it again this run.  I love Laura Morera, but I don't feel she had the stage presence in this ballet that Zen would have had.  There was much to like here;  the lighting was very effective, the music was beautifully played, that red dress was gorgeous, the choreography held my attention in certain parts.  Once again Yasmine Naghdi shone like a bright light out of the dark redness of the piece.  How many turns was that from a standing start?  Four? Five?  Wow.  Rovero and Ball were also wonderful, one worshipping the Lady in Red, the other every inch her equal in the pdd.  However, I felt that much of this was derivative:  Obsidian Tear, various Rites, etc.  I also don't feel that we needed any more red;  what was the point of all those red projections?   Although this sounds a bit negative, I didn't dislike this ballet;  I just didn't come out saying 'wow' like I did when I saw Flight Pattern, or Obsidian Tear, for the first time.  If it comes back again I will definitely have another look. 

 

Four very different pieces, and the dancers excelled in all of them, whatever I may think of the actual production.  The RB is in such a good place at the moment that nothing seems to be too much of a challenge for all the young dancers in the company.  Long may it continue. 

 

 

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it was five turns! :-)

 

I loved the piece though - in fact I think its the best Liam has done at ROH

 

The red projections were a swirling dress - and a live camera feed above the dancers' heads onto the grid thingy. That bit was quite cool I thought

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43 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

it was five turns! :-)

 

I loved the piece though - in fact I think its the best Liam has done at ROH

 

The red projections were a swirling dress - and a live camera feed above the dancers' heads onto the grid thingy. That bit was quite cool I thought

 

It's not a live feed, as I've noticed slight differences between what's on stage and what's on screen.

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Really glad I saw the second cast of Symphonic Dances last night, after feeling so-so about the opening night, it seemed like a different ballet, Laura Morera's dancing was so strong and dramatic, and I couldn't believe there was another cast of equally exciting young men, David Donnelly was outstanding, also Giacomo Rovero and Matthew Ball, who partnered Laura Morera, have no idea what it was about

but was able to just experience the whole thing! I think the ending is probably the same but it matters when the lighting goes on and off, Laura Morera seemed triumphant.

 

Tarantella had another great cast too with Yasmine Naghdi and Valentino Zucchetti. I still didn't like the Forsythe, too manic, noticed Francesca Hayward was missing, Akane Takada took over again. Feel sad about Strapless, although it is tighter, the revisions seem to have sapped the emotion away. The music needed to be more sensual and swoony (Debussy perhaps) for such an overwrought story.

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1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

It's not a live feed, as I've noticed slight differences between what's on stage and what's on screen.

 

You undoubtedly had a better view of it than me - first time I saw it, I thought it was 'pre-recorded' but 2nd time it looked more like Laura than I remembered from the first, so that's why I thought it might be 'live'

 

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Sorry if I’m a bit late to the party, but I went to see the quad bill last night (31/5), with Sambe, Takada replacing Hayward, Mendizabal, Hay and Stix-Brunell in Vertiginous, Naghdi and Zucchetti in Tarantella, Osipova, Watson, Ball and Bonelli in Strapless and Laura Morera in Symphonic. I decided to go not because of the programme but because of the casting, this seemed a good opportunity to see many of my favourites in one go!

 

With Vertiginous, I really liked the green tutus and Sambe was wonderful as usual. However, the highlight for me was Akane – definitely wasn’t expecting her to stun me like she did, I saw a bit of her once before but I was floored this time round! A super fast thrilling ballet, like Tarantella – Zucchetti’s jumps, swagger and musicality were great and Naghdi’s pirouettes from fifth, batterie and attitude turns were so good. Lovely cute humorous piece.

 

Strapless was boring but Osipova danced well. Wanted to see the Watson-Ball relationship develop a bit more. Symphonic was my absolute favourite – such an amazing dance. I’ve seen Morera twice before (Anastasia and R+Juliet) and she was so stunning in this. Loved Luca Acri and Rovero was so so good, loved that an Aud Jebsen dancer was paired with a principal. No surprise that he’s entering the company next year (according to the website). From what I heard people really enjoyed the night, as did I. Would have gone to see it again had it not been the last run!

 

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Just thought I should get a few brief thoughts down on the limited amount of this bill which I actually did see, before it vanishes too much further down the page ...

 

Firstly, let me say that I thought Symphonic Dances was the best thing I've seen from Scarlett in some considerable time: some very interesting and often different movement especially in the first two movements, although I did feel that the third was rather less original.  I look forward to seeing it again, presumably the season after next, if KOH sticks to his usual practice.

 

My reaction to my first viewing of Tarantella was: "Funny, I thought I liked this ballet".  The reaction to the second, with a different cast, was that I had been right in the first place :)  No such hesitation about The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude: thoroughly enjoyable with both casts, although I'd forgotten quite how fast it was.  Some slight lack of synchronisation at times, presumably owing to late casting changes, but as others have already commented it was impressive how together McRae and Muntagirov were despite their different heights and proportions and musical responses.

 

I did keep having flashbacks to the previous showings of this ballet, though: Yanowsky, Watson and Cojocaru, although possibly not all in the same cast.  Does that sound familiar to other people?

 

 

 

 

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