The Royal Ballet: New Swan Lake Production, Summer 2018

[Fonty]

Slightly off topic, I suppose, but in the clip above with Wayne Sleep and Rosemary Taylor, I am fascinated by the shoes they are wearing.   She looks as though she is wearing very soft pointe shoes.  In fact, I was wondering if she had removed the shank completely, they look so flexible.  

[Geoff]

5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

They're out of shot but they certainly sound present in this (1970s?) film:

 

1980 Makarova

 

And very wonderful they are too!

 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Geoff

[LinMM]

Thanks for that clip Lizbie 1 ....took me back a bit...that dance is knackering but particularly liked Sleep in this role and had forgotten about Rosemary Taylor. There's another dancer he danced it with quite a bit whose name is on the tip of my tongue!! 

[LinMM]

Forgot just wanted to say something about Guillem 

She was one of those dancers who could "get away" with hyper extensions and still look really good.

Am not sure if it was her who set the trend for this but unfortunately many other dancers don't have Guillems lucky body and can look quite ugly. 

I love  the strength of an extension rather than necessarily the height. If you are standing close to someone at the barre who has had say Royal Ballet training standard ( just as an example) you can feel the power of it and the strength and classical line make it beautiful for me. 

I know this has been thrashed out before but as its been mentioned I'd rather see say Lopatkina in Swan Lake than Zakharova for reasons above. 

[BeauxArts]

21 hours ago, MRR said:

 

 

Alina Somova has all the hyperextension in the world but her placement, turn-out, and shape of her feet are very poor, and her extensions have a floppy quality to them where she never sustains a position she hits.  But Sylvie Guillem's legs were some of my favorite in ballet because she had tremendous strength and control to manage her hyperextension, not to mention great turn-out and beautiful feet.  

 

 

 

Exhibits A and B!:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgtSUzhDZQM

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6giEqgyiQUo

 

A slight diversion from Swan Lake, but always good to see Sylvie..

[aliceinwoolfland]

Yasmine Naghdi has posted a picture of herself in her Odette tutu on her Instagram stories!

[MRR]

On 25/05/2018 at 10:49, Lizbie1 said:

 

They're out of shot but they certainly sound present in this (1970s?) film:

 

 

 

Thanks for linking--what an exciting Neapolitan danced to an incredibly fast tempo.  Sleep's batterie was exceptional (I believe he's the only danseur credited with completing an entrechat douze).  Even the battu work done on the ground (starting at 0:41) is so clear.  And I'm amazed with such a high jump that he could always get down in time.

 

I love the character dances in Swan Lake because they act as the "calm before the storm."  And one can't do better than Ashton's Neapolitan, which is so perfectly choreographed.

[Ivy Lin]

Lopatkina definitely does have hyperextended knees. She just has more control of her joints so she never looks floppy.

 

 

As for the ending of the White Swan Adagio I like the dip however I think that when done right the arabesque penchée can be very beautiful. For one, it's a return to bird form. Odette becomes someone Siegfried can no longer entirely own as her face looks at the ground. I think this quality of "I can't really own her" drives Swan Lake so I think the penchée is a good post-Petipa alternative:

 

 

[Fonty]

1 hour ago, MRR said:

Thanks for linking--what an exciting Neapolitan danced to an incredibly fast tempo.  Sleep's batterie was exceptional (I believe he's the only danseur credited with completing an entrechat douze).  Even the battu work done on the ground (starting at 0:41) is so clear.  And I'm amazed with such a high jump that he could always get down in time.

 

I love the character dances in Swan Lake because they act as the "calm before the storm."  And one can't do better than Ashton's Neapolitan, which is so perfectly choreographed.

 

I loved this as well.  Please tell me they still do it at that speed?  And is it still the Ashton choreography?  

 

It has been so long since I saw the RB's Swan Lake, I have lost track of how much of the Ashton stuff has survived. 

 

 

 

[MRR]

3 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

I loved this as well.  Please tell me they still do it at that speed?  And is it still the Ashton choreography?  

 

It has been so long since I saw the RB's Swan Lake, I have lost track of how much of the Ashton stuff has survived. 

The Ashton Neapolitan has survived, but this is the only choreography of his in Liam Scarlett's Swan Lake.

 

As for the speed, I thought only Hinkis/Sambe on opening night approached the tempo of Taylor/Streep in the 1980 production.  

[Sim]

Meryl Streep can do ballet?!!  😳

[Lizbie1]

It looks like some forum members weren't the only ones not to spot the final "vision" of Odette on opening night: this is from the review in today's Sunday Times.

 

"Scarlett opts for Odette’s self-sacrifice and Siegfried’s surviving to retrieve her body from the lake in lonely grief. Presumably, on the first night, the choreographer himself sensed a vacancy: two days later he added in a final vision of Odette, living on in spirit."

 

Those of us who did see it must have imagined it

[Bruce Wall]

6 hours ago, Sim said:

Meryl Streep can do ballet?!!  😳

 

Sim, I know a few people who think Meryl Streep can do ANYTHING!!!

[JohnS]

44 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

Those of us who did see it must have imagined it 

 

Thanks Lizbie1 - rather worrying that even if David Dougill missed the vision on the first night, he prefers to presume that Liam Scarlett would rethink the ending in two days and didn't think it worth checking.

[Lizbie1]

I know! And what an odd, even arrogant, assumption to make in the first place.

[Rob S]

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

It looks like some forum members weren't the only ones not to spot the final "vision" of Odette on opening night: this is from the review in today's Sunday Times.

 

"Scarlett opts for Odette’s self-sacrifice and Siegfried’s surviving to retrieve her body from the lake in lonely grief. Presumably, on the first night, the choreographer himself sensed a vacancy: two days later he added in a final vision of Odette, living on in spirit."

 

Those of us who did see it must have imagined it

 

I think the only reason I saw the final vision was because I read about it here, I knew there was something happening somewhere other than Seigfried cradling Odette so actively searched for it , the person sat in front of me (I was in the second row of the stalls) completely blocked that area of the rock.

Clearly the reviewer didn't have the insight on the first night but you would expect a professional reviewer to check such a claim

[John Mallinson]

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Those of us who did see it must have imagined it 

 

Which seems appropriate given that she's a spirit!

 

She is very high up in the flies: a friend sitting the upper Amphi only managed to see her feet and I'm sure she's not visible from several parts of the house. 

 

[JohnS]

Sorry to labour the point John but would the Sunday Times critic be in such a restricted view seat for opening night when reviewing the performance and isn't it incredibly presumptuous to take the view that because he saw something he hadn't seen first time round it must have been added?

[Lizbie1]

Sure, but my point is that faced with a choice between assuming:

1. the choreographer had had a re-think and changed things around (including getting the necessary machinery in place) within two days; or
2. he himself hadn't noticed it first time round

wouldn't most people go for option 2? There's no shame in not spotting everything on first viewing, it's one of the reasons many on this forum are making multiple trips.

[Rob S]

23 minutes ago, John Mallinson said:

 

Which seems appropriate given that she's a spirit!

 

She is very high up in the flies: a friend sitting the upper Amphi only managed to see her feet and I'm sure she's not visible from several parts of the house. 

 

 

Really!? From what I remember on Wednesday, sat in my second row stalls seat, she's not much higher than the top of the rock....unless, having spotted the vision that I'd read about, my gaze returned to Seigfried and Odette and missed her fly off towards the flies 

Edited May 27, 2018 by Rob S

[Lizbie1]

On the subject of reviews, I see that the Observer has some rather bracing opinions about the corps' performance today. I'll admit to bridling at the NYT's rather negative comments on the subject, but one of the things that has made me trust Luke Jennings above other newspaper reviewers is that he takes the trouble to explain why he's not happy: in this case he cites "issues of line, placement and pull-up". Are the latter two things that would have been more apparent from the stalls, or is it just something that would have passed a layman like me by?  (I'm aware of what they are, but never having had to worry about them personally I wouldn't be switched on to them unless they were causing more general problems.)

[Timmie]

I managed to miss the final vision on opening night. I'm in the same seat plus 1 for tomorrow's matinee, where should I look please? And is the vision the actual lead lady or a double? Apologies if this is detailed somewhere in the thread - I've read it through once but don't remember seeing it. I attach a rather rubbish picture showing the view from front and centre amphi.

[Rob S]

2 minutes ago, Timmie said:

I managed to miss the final vision on opening night. I'm in the same seat plus 1 for tomorrow's matinee, where should I look please? And is the vision the actual lead lady or a double? Apologies if this is detailed somewhere in the thread - I've read it through once but don't remember seeing it. I attach a rather rubbish picture showing the view from front and centre amphi.

 

In the area of the top of the rock, I have read on here somewhere that the vision is the actual lead and the woman Seigfreid cradles isn't.

 

[Richard LH]

The vision is the lead lady -

Just now, Rob S said:

 

In the area of the top of the rock, I have read on here somewhere that the vision is the actual lead and the woman Seigfreid cradles isn't.

 

That is correct ! The vision remains in Swan tutu mode, but the body of Odette now has non-swan clothing - it would have to be someone else as there wouldn't be time for the  change. 

[Timmie]

Thanks Rob S and Richard LH, I think the double thing is part of my problem - I was concentrating on the 'drowned' Odette as I could see she was wearing a dress rather than a tutu, and I failed to look up.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Timmie

[Xandra Newman]

I am pretty sure that in the opening/Act 1 and in the Vision scene a double stands in for O/O

[Richard LH]

46 minutes ago, Xandra Newman said:

I am pretty sure that in the opening/Act 1 and in the Vision scene a double stands in for O/O

Yes, we open with the human Odette played by one of the corps, and with a rather nifty slight of hand Von Rothbart reveals her as a swan, played by the leading Principal. Q

[Kate]

Just wishing anyone lucky enough to be going to the double Swan Lake bill today a fantastic day and night.

Looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on both casts later.

[James]

If the tweets are correct, looks like Gary Avis will make his debut as Von Rothbart this afternoon.

[penelopesimpson]

Does anyone know is in tonight's cast apart from Osipova and Ball?

[Lizbie1]

4 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Does anyone know is in tonight's cast apart from Osipova and Ball?

 

Avis again as von Rothbart, Campbell/Mendizabal/Stix-Brunell in the Pas de trois.

[John Mallinson]

On 27/05/2018 at 11:17, Rob S said:

 

Really!? From what I remember on Wednesday, sat in my second row stalls seat, she's not much higher than the top of the rock....unless, having spotted the vision that I'd read about, my gaze returned to Seigfried and Odette and missed her fly off towards the flies 

 

I'm sure in the General that she was high up. This afternoon certainly hovering around the top of the rock. Maybe they changed it?

 

[Blossom]

I've been reading everyone's comments  with anticipation ahead of my visit to the ROH today.  I really enjoyed Scarlett's storytelling, the addition of context. Loved the new designs and the costumes too.  Benjamin Ella was a superb Benno and a favourite for me, my daughter and our friends today. In terms of Siegfried's sisters, enjoyed Gasparini's dancing as always although I found something just wasn't quite right with Tierney Heap  in the pdt in act 1 although I didn't feel this again in act 3. She's very tall and regal so maybe was just a mismatch for me with the smaller and more delicate Gasparini. Maybe I just prefer Heap  in the more fiery roles - she was wonderful in the Insight rehearsal in the Spanish dance (and  today I just didn't feel that Gina Storm-Jensen gave it the same attack).

 

Nagdhi was the perfect Odette/Odile - so fragile in white and so devious in black.  Kish was a generous partner in their pdd's, particularly Odette scenes, but he is quite a hammy actor and his jumps were missing the fire they needed, seeming just too careful (not the same as precise, more that they seemed to intentionally lack attack), so came across pretty lacklustre in comparison to Ella.

 

One of my favourite things about Swan Lake is all of the character dancing in Act 3 particularly enjoyed this section.  It was clever how various holes in the story have also been filled by Scarlett - where Rothbart has come from, how Odette becomes a swan, the pressure of marriage in order for Siegfried to take the throne, how Rothbart uses Siegfried and Odette/Odile to seize the crown and the final scene where Odette is in human princess form again (albeit dead). It remains true to historical versions while tuning up the storytelling which also gives the story some modern day pace.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed despite what looks like endless criticism above - I really do like Tierney Heap for so many reasons but act 1 pdt was just a little awkward to watch...  Kish just not for me.  I look forward to reading what others thought. I don't usually manage to squeeze in multiple casts but am looking forward to seeing this one again at the end of the run with Osipova/Ball - felt like a must after seeing him swiftly stand in for Hallberg in Giselle a few months ago.