ballet cymru and mara galeazzi newport riverfront & London

[jules_skichick]

well made my way to newport riverfront for the first time tonight to see ballet cymru's new tim podesta piece with mara galeazzi in it. i had checked online and plenty of tickets left so i rolled up in a rush after parking issues to be told it was the wrong night - dress rehearsal today and performances tomorrow and saturday - dozy me!!

 

anyway the lovely box office lady said - oh you can go in and watch the rehearsal now if you like so i did!! thanks ballet cymru for your generosity in allowing some of us in to your final rehearsal - it was most interesting. mara galeazzi was amazing - she always was - some excellent dancers in the welsh troupe as well.....the music was not to my taste really but there was much to commend this performance and watching Mara close up is worth the ticket money anyway. choreo was rather Mr McGregor style in many ways so also not really to my taste...cant beat the good old Royal Ballet, ENB or BRB in my book - shame none of them bother to come to Wales

 

anyone wanting a good look at mara galeazzi and some modern dancing in an intimate venue with excellent facilities then do go tomorrow and saturday - there are still tickets available and newport is quick to get to

[zxDaveM]

I have my ticket for Sunday at the Lilian Baylis  in Sadlers Wells :-)

[jules_skichick]

you will enjoy this Dave - Mara in splendid form still......

 

[RMM1]

12 hours ago, jules_skichick said:

...cant beat the good old Royal Ballet, ENB or BRB in my book - shame none of them bother to come to Wales

 

 

BRB do go to Cardiff every so often and are there in March 2018 with Sleeping Beauty.

[aileen]

Is that a 'private hire' at Lilian Baylis? I can't see it on the website unless there's a problem with my device.

[Quintus]

2 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

I have my ticket for Sunday at the Lilian Baylis  in Sadlers Wells :-)

Ditto. I saw Ballet Cymru there with Cerys Matthews, which was excellent, and have never seen Mara Galeazzi, so very much looking forward to it.

[zxDaveM]

2 hours ago, aileen said:

Is that a 'private hire' at Lilian Baylis? I can't see it on the website unless there's a problem with my device.

 

I booked through Sad Wells site - though last time i looked there were only 5-6 places in the back row left

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Quintus said:

Ditto. I saw Ballet Cymru there with Cerys Matthews, which was excellent, and have never seen Mara Galeazzi, so very much looking forward to it.

 

Yes, that was a terrific show I thought (not biased at all by being a huge Cerys fan!!)

[jules_skichick]

4 hours ago, RMM1 said:

 

BRB do go to Cardiff every so often and are there in March 2018 with Sleeping Beauty.

oh whoopie do - once in a blue moon - when was the last time?? wait until march 2018 - not exactly overenthusiastic especially considering that there are at least 3 nutcracker in london in december _RB at ROH - BRB at RAH and ENB at Coli - could not ONE of these National Companies spend some time in Cardiff ,Newport or Swansea for a few days??? Political i say - we pay taxes to the UK too

[aileen]

I believe that the Arts Council dictates where the touring companies tour to. Does Northern Ballet not tour to Wales?  I don't know if any of the large English companies tour to Scotland either. 

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet tour to the New Theatre in Cardiff.  I've just checked and they are performing Cathy Marston's terrific Jane Eyre there in April 2018.

 

Since the restructuring of the Arts Councils a few years ago companies either have to go "at their own risk" or apply for special funding to go from England to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (and, of course, companies based in those countries have similar issues).

[jules_skichick]

1 hour ago, aileen said:

I believe that the Arts Council dictates where the touring companies tour to. Does Northern Ballet not tour to Wales?  I don't know if any of the large English companies tour to Scotland either. 

yes but scotland has Scottish ballet in wales there is nowt on the scale of any of these and where do NB go to and how often???

[Jan McNulty]

52 minutes ago, jules_skichick said:

yes but scotland has Scottish ballet in wales there is nowt on the scale of any of these and where do NB go to and how often???

 

 

Cardiff, annually.  As stated above, they are in Cardiff next April with Cathy Marston's wonderful Jane Eyre.

 

I don't get much opportunity to see Ballet Cymru but when I have I have always enjoyed the performances.  I have also enjoyed the contemporary company National Dance Company Wales.  I agree that they are not on an equivalent scale of the other companies you mention.

[zxDaveM]

5 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

  I have also enjoyed the contemporary company National Dance Company Wales.  

 

Think they are on telly over the weekend...

[RMM1]

Yes, BBC4  10.40pm on Sunday 5th November. A reworking of Parade by the National Dance Company of Wales.

[Quintus]

Really enjoyed this last night, and having Mara Galeazzi and Tim Podesta stay on for Q&A afterwards was a great bonus.  Ballet Cymru danced their socks off  - in particular Beth Meadway, who is a recent recruit and not a very experienced dancer, took a lead role and shone in it.  The choreography started off being rather derivative of McGregor but then developed more of its own voice, and there were some very effective passages. I thought for a small company, they were generally punching above their weight - the presence of a heavy hitter must have been very beneficial (Tim said he told them "she's really good - if you don't give it everything she'll make you look like students").  Dare I say it, and it may well be down to the assigned choreography rather than the dancers, but there were times when I preferred the young dancers' performances to Mara's, where I thought there was some initial stiffness around the head and neck - again that may well have been interpretation rather than limitation. Anyway, an evening that delivered beyond expectation and I hope this collaboration continues.

[zxDaveM]

I think Mara's passages were meant to be like that - and possibly why it made it so hard, as she described it. Agree though, it was a marvellous performance from the young company's dancers; I think they made it look easier than it was. 

Think we should have asked if they planned to do more with that team (dancers, choreographer, choreographer's muse) - hope they do!

[Quintus]

Yes on reflection you’re right. More programme notes would have been useful for me in making the roles clearer,though given the programme was free I can hardly complain.. It would be interesting to hear how the company dancers found the whole experience too.