Birmingham Royal Ballet - Arcadia programme - London - Autumn 2017

[George C]

Any views or comments about BRBs Arcadia at the Wells from anyone who hadn’t seen it at Birmingham or BRBs version of Basier come to that?. There were quite a few comments from Birmingham viewers at the time but I would love to read comments from those who saw it in London?

[Jan McNulty]

Judith Mackrell's review (which will be in the Links tomorrow):  https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/05/birmingham-royal-ballet-review-sadlers-wells-michael-corder-david-bintley

[George C]

Thanks Janet. I stopped the Guardian sometime ago as it has got so perishing expensive ! Can’t abide Ms Mackrell but always glad to read a press review of BRB. I think most of the nationals no longer bother with exhausting trips to Birmingham !

[George C]

I hang my head and ear humble pie - that’s a pretty fair review I think. Would still like to read comments from any other viewers.

[Blossom]

Absolutely loved it last night, in fact, the whole programme was excellent. I was seriously concerned after having seen Aladdin which had zero highs and which made the company look rather lacklustre.

 

I took my daughter to the performance which was her first foray into the non-classical world and it was great to see her engaged and literally leaning forward during this piece. The music went from bringing to life the discord between Pan and his followers which wasn't so pleasing to the ears (!) to a more harmonious sound by the end of the piece which helped to bring together the story telling. The sets were striking and beautiful, costumes added further dimension to the setting and the dancing was top class.  It was full of the energy needed to open up the triple bill and couldn't fault the quality of the dancing (which I very much had done with Aladdin).  

 

Le baiser de la fee was a beautifully delivered classical piece. Loved Corder's choreography and there was a traditional full pas de deux which included male and female solo piece, allowing for a little showing off which I always enjoy. Loved the way the set slotted in and out of place during the performance, taking us from the forest to the village etc.  When the fairy (of the kiss) lured the man away from his bride at the end,  the choreography really demonstrated the hold the fairy had over him. The fairy costumes and headdresses were incredibly striking - beautiful but not pretty for the fairies were quite dark characters and of course there's an unhappy ending.  Interestingly my daughter

 

Penguin café... I have wanted to see this since I was about 10 which is the age my daughter is now.  We both adored it - music, costumes, set - and it left us hungry for more, as well as contemplating the serious message around animals at risk of extinction.  Not quite sure how the flea being at risk of extinction is a bad thing - interestingly, I read that Bintley wrote to some museum/archive to find out if any fleas had become extinct and received a reply to say that no-one has ever bothered to find out!.  Loved how each animal was brought to life in dance with authentic animal like movements and the moments of humour which accompanied them. Hard pushed to pick a favourite piece within the ballet, but if pushed, would be between the witch-doctor-like Zebra and his vogueing lady zebras, the hilarious morris dancing flea tying the morris dancers up in knots and the fluid and lyrical rainforest people. Stunning dancing, loved the flow from piece to piece and left the theatre on a complete high.

 

Overall a very enjoyable night with a little bit of everything - from contemporary/classical to true classical dance to something which I can't categorise at all.  A delight to enjoy with the fresh eyes of a 10 year old also and to learn what excited her - less of the classical and more contemporary please.  Previous expeditions have been to Nutcracker and Giselle - will definitely play it less safe in future!!

 

[George C]

Lovely review Blossom. It sums up beautifully with comments from the audience in Birmingham and what little press coverage there has been.

i am seriously puzzled about your Aladdin review. At it’s premiere in Birmingham I was very underwhelmed but at it’s revival recently I modified my views somewhat. It will never be a great ballet but it has a lot of good points. I haven’t got the Thursday cast to hand so can’t comment on the dancers. The strange thing is that auduence comments from Salford,Birmingham and Plymouth plus a few press reviews have al stressed the excellent costumes,some beautiful pas de deux( Rubies- stunning and the bath house scene - exquisite) and the brilliance of the dancing from Aladdin to the Djinn so I am very interested to know what went wrong on Thursday. Suggestions from any others present would be welcome.

[serenade]

I saw it on Friday night...I was really looking forward to seeing it as I saw Penguin Cafe about 5 years ago and loved it so I was pleased for the opportunity to see it again.

 

Unfortunately I actually really disliked Arcadia.  Brandon Lawrence was Pan- he was great, everyone danced well of course.  It was just a combination of the music and the choreography that did it for me.  I think the music was slightly worse than the choreography...I think it was the worst ballet score I've ever heard!  I definitely think my opinion was not the norm as people around me were really positive and the saxophone player (who also composed it I've just noticed) got a massive cheer (not that he shouldn't have of course, nothing wrong with his playing!) so I don't know what happened, I splashed out on great seats right at the front so maybe I got a bit too close for comfort to the saxophone!  The choreography was for me not the best, it was all just a bit flat and nothing special.  Of course there was still positives- the dancers as I said were great, the set designs were really beautiful and so were the costumes.

 

I really enjoyed La Baiser...I just really liked the story and the way it was told.  Jenna Roberts was the fairy, Lachlan Monaghan was the young man and Momoko Hirata was the bride- they were all strong, great- Jenna Roberts really formidable.  When she pretends to be the bride at the end, ah- I loved it.  Some really great moments and the ending was brilliant  I loved the Stravinsky score.  I can't believe the whole thing was 45 mins, it felt like it was over so quickly.  I've never seen the MacMillan version, it's a shame I missed it this time round.  I will be interested to see it in the future.

 

Penguin Cafe did not disappoint...it's one of my absolute favourites.  It's hard to sum up why it's so special...I just love it.  Everyone danced brilliantly, music was amazing, the zebra's entrance is just about one of my favourite things ever, and the whole thing is just so unique.

 

So all in all a mostly great night!

 

[Beryl H]

I saw Friday's performance too, although I missed Penguin Café which was already not due to end until 10.25pm, SW is becoming less enjoyable for me to go to these days, the heat in the second circle whilst waiting for ages to go into the auditorium was unbearable, still I'm glad I did go as I enjoyed the first two ballets very much, Celine Gittens and Brandon Lawrence were the main dancers in Arcadia, couldn't quite work out the scenario but just enjoyed the dancers, music and scenery, would have liked the lights up a bit more. A strange coincidence seeing two versions of Baiser after such a long gap, I think the Macmillan choreography was better, although Lachlan Monaghan had a great solo in Michael Corder's, in both ballets the Young Man seemed the main character.

[Sim]

I was at the matinee on Saturday and really enjoyed all three pieces.  I think Arcadia shows great promise on the part of Ruth Brill, and for a first attempt at a proper piece of ballet I think it's darn good.  She is blessed by having a pool of wonderful dancers to choose from, any one of whom would make the choreography sing.  I was lucky enough to see Brandon Lawrence (on whom the role was created), as Pan, with Celine Gittens (sublime) as the Moon Goddess.  Brandon is such an exquisite dancer and he moves like a panther as he roams the stage, staring at the nymphs and thinking that it is his right to do so.  After being cajoled by the Moon Goddess, he calms down and realises that he should perhaps give the nymphs a break and just be nice.  Whatever the story is supposed to be,  I really enjoyed the dancing, the sets, the lighting and the music.

 

The same can be said for Baiser.  I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting to, but again when you have dancers like Jenna Roberts, Momoko Hirata and Lachlan Monaghan interpreting the steps and the drama, it can't go wrong.   

 

Penguin Cafe.....I loved it all over again.  I first took my daughter to see it when she was a little girl and she loved it then.  She was with me on Saturday, is now 26, and was as gleeful to see it then as she was when she was six.  Some people really dislike this ballet;  personally I can't see what's to dislike, but of course to each their own.  I left the theatre feeling happy and uplifted.   I made sure I didn't watch the news that night so that I could keep the feeling going for as long as possible.  Thank you BRB!

[Don Q Fan]

I arrived too late to get in to see Arcadia so watched a bit on the TV screen - the music certainly was not for me and the picture on the screen not very big to see the dance so I can't really make any comment.  I really went to see Basier and I was not disappointed it is a lovely piece with amazing costumes, beautifully danced by a lovey cast.  I left after that as I am on eof those who can't bear Penguin Cafe!  A couple of Basier curtain call pics.

 

[Sim]

It was lovely to see you DQF, albeit too briefly!  Thanks for posting the fab photos.  

[Lizbie1]

I was there too on Saturday afternoon and, briefly: agree that Ruth Brill shows real promise; enjoyed Corder's Baiser more than MacMillan's (especially loved the designs, and without having read the cast sheet instantly recognised them as John Macfarlane's work - roll on Swan Lake!); and was completely won over by Penguin Cafe, which I came prepared to dislike - I feared it would be preachy, but it's much cleverer than that.

 

As for performances: Brandon Lawrence was pretty magnificent (and my, doesn't he have long arms!); Hirata and Roberts were both fabulous; and if I have to single someone out in Penguin Cafe it would be Edivaldo Souza da Silva's Zebra - as charismatic in his entrance as any rock star (as he shimmied downstage, I was reminded of David Bowie), which of course makes his fate all the more shocking.

[alison]

I'd heard the Baiser score a number of times in the past, but it's only been in the last couple of weeks that I've realised just how many Tchaikovsky pieces it quotes which are used in Onegin!