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7 hours ago, Paul Arrowsmith said:

Circles?

 

You just have to look at Ashton's choreography - Sleeping Beauty waltz, Cinderella, Daphnis among more - to appreciate how magical circles can be.

 

 

In the stagings I've seen, Giselle has a magical circle too. Of course, it's being used to murder someone. So, from a aesthetic point of view "good" magic; from a plot point of view...not so much.

 

The dim/dark lighting of many new works fills me with dismay. I'm a pretty "happy" ballet fan -- that is, ready to enjoy a lot of different things. But when I see a ballet lit as if for an audience of cats, I all but want to walk out.

 

On a less grumpy note:

 

I was able to watch the youtube video of the rehearsal of this Bernstein program, and I've enjoyed reading about it here. I couldn't help but be struck by the fact the Royal Ballet is doing an all Bernstein program this spring and, say, American Ballet Theater isn't.  But perhaps there will be something in the Fall. New York City Ballet is pretty focused on its Robbins festival in the spring and will be dancing Fancy Free as part of that.

 

I'll add that I liked the Age of Anxiety when the Royal brought it to the U.S. a few years ago. Musical theater? Sure...I'd have said very good musical theater that only ballet artists could pull off quite so well. The revisionary relationship to Fancy Free made it more not less interesting to me. I'd have to see it again to judge how I thought it held up...

 

Watching the rehearsal, I found myself also rather curious about Wheeldon choosing the same piece of music for his ballet as Ratmansky did for his Serenade after Plato's Symposium which premiered in 2016. I can speculate that Wheeldon would say, if asked, that this was coincidence. And, of course there are a finite number of dance-able Bernstein scores etc. But it is still interesting to me especially since the Ratmansky was very well-received -- I thought deservedly so, and it's hard for me to believe that choreographers of that stature aren't sometimes aware of, and sometimes even responding to, each other. But in this case, who knows? (This isn't a knock I expect serious artists to be aware of others in their field and responding to them.)

 

Edited by DrewCo
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Still no sign of casting updates: I find this very frustrating, because I'd appreciate an opportunity to catch both casts in various parts of the bill.

 

I got a shock when I checked up on cinema pricing the other day: my "local" is charging almost 4 times as much as I've paid for any of my tickets to see this one live.  So why on earth would I bother spending all that money to go and see it in the cinema?  These prices are getting totally ridiculous.

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On 17/03/2018 at 00:22, Bruce Wall said:

 

What saddens me perhaps most - well, at this point a tad - is that they could have done Robbins' FANCY FREE in place of The Age of Anxiety - which itself was not greeted with great critical (or audience) response either in the UK (London only of course) or on the east coast of the USA when it was featured there.  Again, it is the centenary of Bernstein and Robbins both - and Robbins was the man who got Bernstein into ballet in the first place - and this was the resultant first ballet for both and Robbins of course had a closer active association with the RB than Bernstein ever did I think.  (It's running time is shorter than the Scarlett as well.)  It was the success of this ballet that was to lead to their Broadway triumph of 'On the Town' - which was so stunningly recreated recently in Regent's Park.  That stunning bar set from Age of Anxiety (one of its key attributes) could have been adapted for the Robbins (if the Estate would allow it) I'm sure.  Would have been great to have KO'H as the bartender too.  There are the same number of dancers in both casts - only the gender mix is equal in the Robbins.  With so many talented young men at the Royal I would have thought you could have had endless combinations.  For those who haven't seen the ballet - here is a historic recording for NYCB)  [Item of Trivia - Kipling Houston in this film noted below was in fact British born.  I remember him telling me so himself one day.]

 

 

I love this so thank you very much for posting it.  Are there any commercial DVDs of it?  I would love to buy one for my mother as she has fond memories of this era.

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The ROH now have a helpful webpage for the cinema relay, including accessing the free programme.

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/catch-the-royal-ballets-bernstein-centenary-live-in-cinemas-on-27-march-2018

 

Would be good to include a link to the Insight programme and only four press reviews are noted.  As Alison says still poor casting information for the later performances but the new page is much better and timely for the cinema relay.

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8 hours ago, loveclassics said:

I love this so thank you very much for posting it.  Are there any commercial DVDs of it?  I would love to buy one for my mother as she has fond memories of this era.

 

I am not aware of any filming of Fancy Free that is commercially available.  You might enjoy this compilation of Robbins in his own voice talking about the art of choreography that was published on line yesterday.  The direct simplicity he is able to interject - so succinctly - is surely core to his genius.   At heart it both defines and borders - without extortion or embellishment - all his best work.  

 

 

Edited by Bruce Wall
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Saw this on Friday. I felt that I had paid a lot of money to see one rather enjoyable ballet, the McGregor. Beautifully danced and I even liked the costumes. Age of Anxiety doesn't do a thing for me in spite of marvellous dancing from  Campbell, Dyer and Lamb. And especially good to see Ben Gartside dancing a role that involves proper dancing! I'd forgotten what an excellent dancer he is. I think I might have enjoyed the Wheeldon more if it hadn't been for those awful costumes. Looked like a collection of old bras for the women, not helped by the see-through skirts, and all those black bits flapping around got very irritating. I quite enjoyed the dance, terrific cast, loved Sambe and Magri particularly. I would be happy to see it again with different costumes. One thought occurred to me -how about a revival of Cranko's Brandenburg Concertos? We've got so many superb dancers now, of all ranks, and the Cranko  would suit them so well.

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I really like the McGregor. I occasionally read statements along the lines of 'McGregor might be the choreographer to rejuvenate ballet and drag it into the 21st century'. I feel it's the other way around, with ballet making McGregor a better choreographer on the occasions where he allows ballet to influence his creation, as he did with Woolf Works and now Yugen.

 

I don't really have anything positive to say about the other two pieces, apart from the overall quality of the dancing itself. 

 

For me, the design, choreography and music of a creation need to complement each other. If it's a storyballet the plot needs to be clear and of interest. If I can't guess what the ballet is about without cliff notes, I regard it as abstract and the dancing needs to talk for itself.

 

I generally like Scarlett''s design choices, but Anxiety seems like set design over substance and I guess this won't chance if there are further outings.

 

Wheeldon's design aesthetic usually leaves me fairly underwhelmed, but he managed to disappoint my fairly low expectations with his line-destroying flappy-strap abominations. Sure, Erdem designed the costumes, but seeing that flapping fabric is a recurring theme in Wheeldon's pieces  (the inexplicable fringe cardigan worn by Perdita being a prime example) I suspect that the blame doesn't belong to Erdem alone.

 

The dancing filled the stage busily, but for me there was little of interest. By the time there was something like a chorus line shaking its legs in the back, I just wanted it to be over. 

 

I have no idea how the dancing relates to Plato, but then I have the same issue with ballets expressing maths, haemoglobin or geology.

 

Taste and mileage obviously vary widely, but for me this might have been the ballet where I say goodbye to spending money on Wheeldon for good.

 

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Just back from cinema relay in Munich. Loved the MacGregor even more than at ROH in person, got more out of the Wheeldon too...but the surprise was how much I enjoyed Age of Anxiety! The detail Scarlett put into this piece is amazing and the acting by all is incredible. Sarah Lamb outstanding. Pieces like this (also MacMillan’s Different Drummer and a few others) don’t work at ROH. Somewhere like the Roundhouse would be far better. 

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And I'm just back from Saffron Screen in Saffron Walden - a pretty full house and, apart from one young girl who looked as if she'd been brought straight after ballet class, hard to see anyone there under 50.  No Darcey tonight, just Ore Oduba on his own. He did well and was clearly enjoying his talks with Bernstein's biographer, Humphrey Burton.

 

To my surprise, the McGregor piece seemed best, confirming an earlier impression that 10 years working with the RB has softened his approach, whatever may be happening at Company Wayne McGregor.  It did, of course, benefit from working over Chichester Psalms.  Scarlett's Age of Anxiety lived up to its title, but once will probably be enough for me.  The story was carried as much by the faces of the main quartet as anything.  Five minutes less would have been good but I guess they had to go with what Bernstein wrote.  Ditto in the Wheeldon, with the costumes entirely off-putting.  Huge applause for the dancers, whose hearts went into everything in all three pieces.

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On 23/03/2018 at 10:38, alison said:

 

I got a shock when I checked up on cinema pricing the other day: my "local" is charging almost 4 times as much as I've paid for any of my tickets to see this one live.  So why on earth would I bother spending all that money to go and see it in the cinema?  These prices are getting totally ridiculous.

 

Because for those of us who don't live in London it's cheaper and more convenient than going to the ROH and I get a much closer view.  I go to the ROH quite a lot but if I'd gone to this programme I wouldn't have got home until 1 o'clock (for  one and a half hours worth of dancing!). As it is I went to my local cinema 20 minutes drive away and was home by 10.45. I mainly agree with everyone's comments on the programme but, although not having seen Age of Anxiety before, I suspect it came over better in the cinema than the theatre. I was particularly impressed with Tristan Dyer but none of the facial expressions would have come over in the Amphi.

Edited by Pulcinella
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Back from the screening in Brixton. I also enjoyed Yugen most - I think the music is absolutely thrilling, I found the sets very effective in their dignity and simplicity, and the choreography was comparatively gentle and at times almost beautiful. Though I was a bit disappointed in that it seemed a bit too restrained for the music and subject matter, and perhaps rather repetitive, as if McGregor had run out of ideas at times. But my sister loved it, and she has excellent judgement! I'm seeing it live at the ROH next week so I will see if it looks different there. I wonder if the angle and shots of the filming might have been a bit unhelpful. I didn't much like the costumes (I don't think that purple and red go together, and they looked quite tatty, too much like contemporary sleepwear).

 

The Age of Anxiety is a perplexing work. Very ambitious but also strikes me as the work of someone very young (I know Scarlett is comparatively young, but mounting major works at the ROH is a mature activity!). I agree with Vanartus that the ROH probably isn't the right venue for it (as with Acosta's Carmen). Beautiful designs and wonderful performances, but I neither understood nor cared about any of the characters and the theme/s didn't resonate with me at all.

 

I found it very difficult to watch Corybantic Games because the costumes were so dire. If the designer is keen on underwear, that's his own business; but to dress the dancers in this way was an appalling failure of judgement on his part, and on the part of Wheeldon for allowing it. The women's costumes were particularly repellent (and also unsuitable, with trailing ribbons spoiling whatever line may have been aimed at). How the dancers managed to maintain their dignity I don't know, but they did - they were all outstanding, especially Tierney Heap who was sensational in the last movement. I found it difficult to assess the choreography in these circumstances, but I loved the music.

 

(And, since I have been particularly negative in the paragraph above, I will add my full name in accordance with Forum rules!).

 

Bridie Macmahon

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Oh and I thought Humphrey Burton was terrific! Really interesting and illuminating about Bernstein and the music. All the interviews were good in fact, and they really get the crème de la crème! together for these screenings! One of the reasons they're so enjoyable. (Costumes notwithstanding...).

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1 hour ago, Pulcinella said:

 

Because for those of us who don't live in London it's cheaper and more convenient than going to the ROH and I get a much closer view.  I go to the ROH quite a lot but if I'd gone to this programme I wouldn't have got home until 1 o'clock (for  one and a half hours worth of dancing!). As it is I went to my local cinema 20 minutes drive away and was home by 10.45.

 

Yes, I know.  I was careful to say "I" :)  But I still don't think I'd have paid £24 for it, even last year when I was struggling to get out at all.  For some bills I might have, but certainly not for this one.

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1 hour ago, Ian Macmillan said:

No Darcey tonight, just Ore Oduba on his own.

 

What, no Darcey?  I bet a few people will be disappointed with that, although no comments as yet on the ROH website.  A shame they couldn't have used one of the current or former dancers instead along with Oduba.

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I think I counted 11 of us in my cinema! Having had a hacking cough and missed opening night (and have to admit to not being exactly bitterly disappointed) I really appreciated getting the chance to see this before going to the ROH next week.

 

Like many others I loved Yugen - in fact I would go as far as to say I was bowled over by it (perhaps an unfortunate expression in the light of the cricket scandal!). Like Woolf Works I found I was really moved simply by the quality of the movement - I really like this 'kinder, gentler' McGregor (Woolf Works, Obsidian Tear, Yugen) and will be interested to see how Infra, which I liked at the time, now looks in comparison. Always good to see the up and coming dancers get their chance which Calvin Richardson seized wonderfully. I also really linked the staging and the costumes looked great against the beautiful set.

 

I didn't dislike Age of Anxiety and seeing it close up really does help but don't feel it is one for repeated viewings.  Alexander Campbell was again very charismatic but all the cast were excellent. It's quite hard to judge in the cinema but it seemed to be particularly well received by the audience. Loved the was Sarah, as is her won't, gave a rose from her bouquet to all her leading men.

 

Unfortunately I have to add my voice to the chorus of disapproval for the costumes in the Wheeldon. I don't want to see dancers in underwear ever again! It was particularly disappointing because in all the interviews leading up to the premiere, the focus had been on the costumes. When I heard Christopher Wheeldon say that Erdem had wanted to use velvet but it didn't work for the dancers, I had visions of some rich, lush, beautifully coloured equivalent rather than the unflattering and unattractive actuality. As for the ballet itself, there seemed to be an awful lot happening and I am looking forward to seeing it again on the stage because I couldn't really get a proper sense of it. I liked the three pas de deux all happening at the same time although you couldn't then watch any of them in their entirety, especially in the cinema where you don't get to choose where to look. Great dancing from the whole cast but it was Lauren who really caught my eye. She is a dancer I don't always book for (with no rational explanation for that) but I find she sometimes has a wonderful serene quality that works particularly well on the big screen.

 

Can't wait to see Yugen again next week - hope second viewing confirms initial reaction and lives up to what are now considerable expectations.

 

 

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For me, everything was new – and I liked it much more than I thought I would, after reading all the reviews. I wish I could see it all over again, especially Yugen and the Wheeldon.

 

I was very impressed by Yugen, visually and emotionally. Beautifully flowing movement, changing from liquid to surprising stops and little poses. Lovely loose shoulders and arms and expressive backs, particularly Calvin Richardson in his solo. I can imagine it to be quite unusual for a classically trained dancer to take the momentum for a movement from varying and always quickly changing places in the body. As always, there is so much to see, and so much happening in different spaces that one can’t be satisfied by just one viewing. And the beautiful stage, the lighting and the soft red costumes.

I think combining voice and movement can be difficult, sometimes dangerous, even when one doesn’t understand the words, sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was overreacting. But the music hits you where your heart is (or wherever) as soon as people move – I’d like to imagine the dance without music and the music without the dance to see clearly here – if there were a video, I could switch the music off… you see, I haven’t fully digested the ballet, please bear with me here. Need to see it more often.

 

Same with the Corybantics…I was happy to see most of my favorite dancers even if they were dressed in the most fussy and annoying costumes I’ve seen for a while (although the skirts were cute). I liked a lot of what they were doing, even if I couldn’t see it all because of the width of the stage and the selective view of the camera. What caught my eye was how clever Wheeldon works with groupings in space, you really can see Petipa as the grand master of spacing here… how a group develops a sequence, and another group joins them and then a variation happens and how it is all connected, and suddenly there’s a breakup. Very intelligent, sometimes witty and many small surprises along the way. Fabulous, fabulous dancers. What a company.

 

And I quite liked the Age of Anxiety, too. I have so many remembrances of old American films and musicals, I think this ballet is perfect for the screen. I even liked the occasional close-ups this time. I would have appreciated it even more if the “darker” moments when the straight storytelling stops and we have a look “inside” the characters were longer or more elaborated. Lots of small and interesting details, coming and going very quickly. I can imagine them to just disappear when you see the ballet from the Amphi. Bennet Gartside fantastic but everybody very remarkable. How does the incredible Sarah Lamb manage the switch from Yugen to Anxiety in just twenty minutes??

 

On the whole I think the evening was again a proof of how beautiful and versatile and dedicated the RB dancers are and I can’t wait to see them again (soon!).

 

 

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We finally made it to this triple bill at The ROH although, if we hadn't had a meeting beforehand,  may seriously thought about giving it a miss.

 

What a wonderful place this forum is and how I value your opinions /insights/prejudices and observations. Sometimes I agree and sometimes I don't, but I always find something of interest. Without this thread I would have missed Yugen which we absolutely loved. So fluid,  lyrical and un-McGreggor like in movement and such lovely music. Thrilled Joseph Sissons was given a prominent role as I adore watching him dance. I could watch the whole thing over and over.

 

Anxiety we have seen before. I enjoyed it, but lovely dancer that she is, Sarah lamb just does not have the sass Morera brought to the role. The music has grown on me and, while it will never be a favourite, I find it pefectly watchable. It certainly seemed to evoke a lot of emotion on social media so I hear what you are all saying about it benefiting from a cinema showing. It all seemed rather small and pretty remote from our amphi seat!

 

Prior to the performance I had downloaded the music for the Wheeldon piece and didn't like it much. I had followed all the publicity  links to the Erdem costumes and absolutely hated them. I will also willingly own up to the fact that the only Wheeldon ballets I have ever liked are Trepass and Alice and was bored to tears at Winter's Tale the other week. 

 

Now comes the confession and I now have to thank you all again. I read all your reviews and comments and we decided it was not worth staying over another hour for Corybantic Games and not get home until after 1am. It could have been even later as there were severe delays on the tube journey to where we park our car. We enjoyed what we saw and will probably go to the cinema encore on Sunday, but thanks for all the insights that led to a decent night's sleep!

 

PS we won't be leaving early for Manon!!!!!!

 

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I enjoyed this triple bill more at the cinema than I did at the ROH, probably because there was something to watch during the long intervals, picture and sound quality was better than usual too ,and  I did get some  insights about Bernstein's music lending itself to dance. There was some wonderful choreography for Calvin Richardson in Yugen, also Joseph Sissens, which were the best parts, I don't like McGregor's work for the ensemble so much, where everyone is doing something different. The Age of Anxiety looked better on screen but there isn't enough dancing for me. The costumes for Corybantic Games did look odder closer up but this is my favourite of the three, shame the dance for Mayara Magri and Marcelino Sambe is so short, was able to see the ending properly last night, not seen by people sitting on the left. I generally  prefer Wheeldon's abstract ballets, the choreography always seems more inventive than his narrative ones, glad to hear Within the Golden Hour will be back soon.

 

 

 

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The cinema is great value, I think, although as previously mentioned the choice of casting is  limited. Also the choice of close up  shots is a matter of individual taste.  Still, with this production  virtually all the main RB leads were on show, and they all danced superbly, and the filming was really good quality. It felt like you were on stage with them at times. 

There seems to be a  lot of love for Bernstein out there  (it was good to see Humphrey Burton again, giving his personal, heartfelt  insights into Bernstein)  but I  do struggle with most of his music. Much of it seems like a wandering series of notes and rhythms in search of a theme. Yugen, however, was lovely, perhaps because  the music  was a choral work, and because the dance was so well choreographed and performed. 

I particularly liked the force of nature that Tierney Heap became  in the last piece! Also loved Sambe throwing Magri off stage left (or is it right ? - not sure) flying through the air.

And some of the tableaus created when the dancers were grouped together were brilliant. 

I thought Ore Oduba hosted very well; he genuine appeared to be in his element. 

Edited by Richard LH
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I wasn't able to watch this triple bill, alas, but can I just weigh in on the Erdem costumes that some of you have been criticising? I totally get that you might not want to see dancers in underwear, but this particular kind of underwear is the height of fashion, at the moment. I'm not sure what your grannies were wearing, but if they were wearing this, they were very 2018! Take a look at any of the underwear styles in any reasonably fashinable store at the moment, it's all high waisted, square shaped, boxy loveliness. I, as a young woman, am all for it. Far more comfortable , and, I think, stylish, than those tiny lacy (scratchy) triangular "bikini" like things women had to wear in the 2000s and 90s (when I was too young to wear bikinis, but that's another story). Anyway, this is not at all a serious post. Just to say, Erdem is fantastic, and his designs for this ballet are - perhaps inappropriate for dancers in public - but very gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned!

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3 hours ago, SMballet said:

I wasn't able to watch this triple bill, alas, but can I just weigh in on the Erdem costumes that some of you have been criticising? I totally get that you might not want to see dancers in underwear, but this particular kind of underwear is the height of fashion, at the moment. I'm not sure what your grannies were wearing, but if they were wearing this, they were very 2018! Take a look at any of the underwear styles in any reasonably fashinable store at the moment, it's all high waisted, square shaped, boxy loveliness. I, as a young woman, am all for it. Far more comfortable , and, I think, stylish, than those tiny lacy (scratchy) triangular "bikini" like things women had to wear in the 2000s and 90s (when I was too young to wear bikinis, but that's another story). Anyway, this is not at all a serious post. Just to say, Erdem is fantastic, and his designs for this ballet are - perhaps inappropriate for dancers in public - but very gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned!

I find Erdem pretty Marmite.  Some of his collection is eye-catching and eminently covetable, but since he has become the darling of the fashionistas (and he definitely is), there is a whiff of Emperor's new clothes about some of his stuff.  I also think he designs for himself rather than for any particular person or event.  Personally, I thought his clothes for the Bernstein bill were pretty awful and the fuss that was made about his work almost laughable given what he eventually produced.

 

The Duchess of Cambridge is a good example of where his stuff doesn't work.  Lately she has been persuaded into a lot of his stuff, most notably a recent tour to Sweden, where she wore two of his dresses, both of which were universally panned.  He managed to make this beautiful and somewhat self-effacing woman look like she was wearing her Granny's curtains.  Kate is small boned and petite and oversized florals do nothing for her.  That, for me, is the difference between fashion and style.  The RB designs may have been fashionable but they certainly weren't stylish or pleasing to the eye.

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4 hours ago, SMballet said:

I wasn't able to watch this triple bill, alas, but can I just weigh in on the Erdem costumes that some of you have been criticising? I totally get that you might not want to see dancers in underwear, but this particular kind of underwear is the height of fashion, at the moment. I'm not sure what your grannies were wearing, but if they were wearing this, they were very 2018! Take a look at any of the underwear styles in any reasonably fashinable store at the moment, it's all high waisted, square shaped, boxy loveliness. I, as a young woman, am all for it. Far more comfortable , and, I think, stylish, than those tiny lacy (scratchy) triangular "bikini" like things women had to wear in the 2000s and 90s (when I was too young to wear bikinis, but that's another story). Anyway, this is not at all a serious post. Just to say, Erdem is fantastic, and his designs for this ballet are - perhaps inappropriate for dancers in public - but very gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned!

 

I did assume that they were the height of fashion, given the amount of publicity given to Erdem; their gorgeousness or otherwise is of course a matter of taste! (Fashion does have this bizarre habit of going round and round in circles; I did indeed think of my late beloved mother when I saw what they were wearing. And I don't think she would have thought her underwear either comfortable or suitable for wearing on stage.)  

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I don't think it's a question of what's in fashion, more of what actually works as costuming in the context of the ballet, which I haven't as yet seen, so I'll hold fire on how they work when a dancer is in motion.

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