The Royal Ballet "Unknown Soldier" Triple Bill November 2018

[Sim]

27 minutes ago, Coated said:

EGY was known to JUT FR  but other JFF DEHP did BB UHF dishwasher EG

 

Or as my grandmother used to say, TMA (too many abbreviations)

Clearly a dig at me. I used two abbreviations because I was posting on my phone, on a bus, just before my stop.  So in case anyone didn’t get what I was referring to, A-R is Anna-Rose and US is Unknown Soldier.  I assumed that people would get it.  

[alison]

10 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Forgive me if the above comment was meant to be tongue in cheek, but I thought it worth noting that a synopsis for an abstract work isn’t a conflict of terms. In the absence of any plot or storyline, it can be useful to know the motivation behind the choreography. Listening to Wayne McGregor discussing Infra in the live rehearsal last week, a few observations of this ilk can offers a way into a work . 

 

And I'd say the discussion in the insight evening was rather more, down-to-earth, shall we say? than the usual McGregor programme notes.

[Xandra Newman]

6 hours ago, annamk said:

 

.....whereas I felt that Naghdi & Ball were too princess/princely for the characters they were portraying.

 

 

First of all I want to make clear that I full respect your opinion.

 

I saw more of the young Romeo&Juliet couple in them, not at all a Princess Aurora (or Sugar Plum) and her Prince.

[annamk]

34 minutes ago, Xandra Newman said:

 

First of all I want to make clear that I full respect your opinion.

 

I saw more of the young Romeo&Juliet couple in them, not at all a Princess Aurora (or Sugar Plum) and her Prince.

 

Thank you for saying that although I am not at all offended by any alternative view  

 

I suppose I used princely/princess to try to convey that to me they felt like beautiful, stylised, ballet dancers, which is lovely in itself, but did not seem to be connected with Billington/Patch.

[LinMM]

Perhaps this is similar for example to a simple love song often being sung better ......in the sense of communicating the essential emotion of that song....by just a really good singer as opposed to a really operatic singer! 

For example I would rather hear Shirley Bassey sing "send in the clowns" than a singer like Montserrat Caballe ......even though the latters voice would probably .....let's say definitely ....be more musical in an overall sense.

Am not putting down operatic voices .....just that some songs don't require them ....but of course you can be blown away by such voices in the context of an Opera.

 

Sorry this not making as much sense as I hoped .....but I think ( hope) I do get what annamk is trying to say re the dancers in this piece.

Perhaps I should see it first though!!! 

 

 

 

 

[JohnS]

Train journey home and chance to catch up on some of the recent posts and think a little more about Friday's performance.  

For Unknown Soldier there was an opportunity to portray Ted/Florence's story (love, parting, fear, death, anguish etc) through dance but I found that there was simply too much material, archive as well as staging, that got in the way.  Harry Patch's testimony is so eloquent and deeply affecting but it doesn't in my mind help with the Ted/Florence narrative.  Introducing Harry Patch as a member of the cast I think was a mistake as it suggests that Ted is the fatally wounded soldier Harry Patch cradled and who called to his mother not girlfriend.  That to me jars terribly with the Ted/Florence story (we see Ted and his other unknown soldier companions with their girlfriends) and much as I'm moved by Harry Patch's testimony I just don't see how it fits the ballet.  Similarly I think too much use is made of stage devices etc for a 30 minute ballet (and what a contrast with Symphony in C and also with Infra which was much more disciplined, even allowing for the Julian Opie figures which I know some people find distracting).    

I think my concerns about the production may have coloured my views of the choreography.   On reflection there were some passages I enjoyed, particularly Ted, Florence and the Telegraph Boy, but overall the dancing seemed thin and the music not memorable.  There is so much choice of music from around the time that would have been much more evocative.  Look at the care and imagination that went into the recent Ian Bostridge/Antonio Pappano 'Requiem, Pity of War' compilation, including songs by George Butterworth and Rudi Stephan, both composers who lost their lives in the First World War - not that I'm saying these songs would be appropriate for Unknown Soldier , it's more an example of the care taken to select music that works for the project.

[LinMM]

The music is SO important in a ballet for me.

Sometimes going for an "original" score can be a mistake. 

Its nice to work with people you know et etc ....and should be wonderful to have the composer there at the creation with the dancers ....but what if you felt that inspite of this the new music wasn't quite what you really wanted. Very difficult!!  You might be locked into something  that you can't really change .....especially if there are time constraints. It seems much more of a risk to me in a way to have both things created  simultaneously!! Although of course great when turns out very successfully. 

 

Im not saying this has happened in this ballet ....but it must happen on occasions!! 

For Dance working with known music that you love and can be certain will create the mood that you want seems infinitely easier than starting from scratch. 

But horses for courses etc

I must refrain from commenting further until I've seen it now....I may love the music ...and think it's very apt ....but have to say in recent years have been rather disappointed by new ballet scores and not just for the Royal. 

 

 

[Richard LH]

10 hours ago, LinMM said:

The music is SO important in a ballet for me.

 

And for me.

I think there is a lot in what you say Lin -  it is great when choreographers can find  a whole piece of music that inspires them (e.g. Balanchine using Bizet's  SIC), or can successfully select  music to embellish a concept they already have (e.g. MacMillan using various different Massenet pieces for Manon - although in that case it seems later  tweaking by Martin Yates was needed to improve the orchestration). Relying on a wholly new score at the outset must involve a good deal of risk. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by Richard LH

[bangorballetboy]

42 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

(e.g. MacMillan using various different Massenet pieces for Manon - although in that case it seems later  tweaking by Martin Yates was needed to improve the orchestration). 

 

I think whether Yates’s changes were an improvement is a matter of opinion and a lot of the opinion is negative.

[Sim]

18 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

I think whether Yates’s changes were an improvement is a matter of opinion and a lot of the opinion is negative.

Yes, like mine!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Yes, like mine!

And mine!

[Douglas Allen]

5 hours ago, Richard LH said:

(e.g. MacMillan using various different Massenet pieces for Manon - although in that case it seems later  tweaking by Martin Yates was needed to improve the orchestration).

 

As the following replies suggest, I don't think many people would agree that the Yates' orchestration represents an improvement on the Lucas version. That's not to suggest that Leighton Lucas's work is particularly praiseworthy.

 

When Manon was being created, the selection of the pieces of music was initially undertaken by Macmillan with suggestions by Hilda Gaunt who was the rehearsal pianist for almost the whole of the creative process. Lucas, I believe, made a few suggestions but was primarily brought in to create the orchestrations quite some time into the work. Almost all of the rehearsals were done to piano and the cast rehearsed with the orchestra  only quite late in the whole procedure. I remember how pleased the company were with the music as rehearsals proceeded (played and elaborated by Hilda Gaunt) and how shocked they were when they first heard the orchestral  version which many of them thought somewhat heavy handed and lacking in melodic subtlety.

[Esmeralda]

Finally I can write down some of my thoughts about yesterdays Triple bill...

 

I am not sure about the Unknown Soldier. I didn´t hate it but I wouldn´t also say it is a must seen...it was alright. I have no problem with it to see it again next week (especially with a new prinicpal cast) but it doesn´t need to be stage again after this run (which is a pity because there is gone a lot of money). A friend of mine said he absolutely didn´t like the corps scene and found only the pdds between Ted and Florence moving - for me it was completely the other way around. Not the individual destiny but to see how many young, anxious and proud men died, how many women lost their loved ones and didn´t even hear about what happened to them, how many desperate parents were waiting for news of mabe their only child...

Naghdi and Ball danced beautiful absolutely, but - there was something missing for me. Someone said like Prince and Princess but I don´t necessarily agree with this, but they weren´t also Romeo and Julie to me. More like from a vague dream, like a fantasy and not real people. I am curious to see if this will be different to O`sullivan and Bracewell.

I liked the music, but had my problems with the interviews and memories (though this was very moving for me!) and the scrim...Also it was quite a lot of  story for 30 minutes, maybe the story with more time to express it would have been better. The choreography was mostly nice though I found the choreography for the Telegraph boy very irritating - you could have thought that he would bring news about the end of the war! I was sad by the end but to be honest I am always quite moved by memories of the/a war so this doesn´t mean too much...

 

I have seen Infra only once and it was with the Original cast - I loved it then and I was very curious to see how I would react with this complete new cast for me. I have to say: I loved it even more! Maybe because I appreciate McGregor even more then at that time, maybe because the new cast made a little softer approach to the choreography, maybe because they made it completely to their own! It just worked and it was very fascinating to see how the different couples mastered the really challenging choreography. The whole thing moved me much more than the Unknown Soldier did. A special kudos to  Naghdi/Richardson, their final pdd was so brilliant and lovely, so caring and tender and so hopeful after the whole drama from the Unknown Soldier and Infra. And I am happy that I can see this fantastic cast two more times (though I really would have loved to see the second cast too!)

 

And then Symphony in C as the final Act! I am being honest, it is not my absolute favourite piece by Balanchine and I think it has some lenghts but lFriday night it was just fascinating and great! The Corps was superb, the Principals amazing on their own and also the smaller solos were fantastic danced! It smoothed out the not ideal beginning of the evening. And it showed how much talent is in the company through all the ranks, a real show -off! My second kudos goes especially to all the dancers (not only the principals) who appeared in two or even in all three pieces and presented how well they can adapt the very different styles!

 

All in all it was a wonderful evening and I am looking forward for the next two performances!

 

[Richmondhill]

It’s odd how something you previously felt indifference towards - Infra - now shines, partly due to last night’s cast, but also in comparison to it’s first near neighbour on triple bill. I’m talking of course of The Unknown Soldier which felt weak in depth and gravitas compared to the McGregor. Doubly sad given the source material.

 

An issue I have with much new commission at the RB is the often distractingly lavish over-staging and the consequent reliance on multi-media to either tell the story or fill in the gaps. Yes, the backstory to ‘Soldier is moving but we don’t need the constant interpolation of video interview to convey this - most annoyingly in being told about the dread of the telegram arriving. Dance should convey all, of nearly all, of this. The McGregor, for all my issues with some of his earlier pieces, was danced through: movement conveyed meaning and emotion. The habit of over-staging marred much of Frankenstein, Alice... and The Wind to name but a few where flashy pyrotechnics (brilliant though they often are) fill in the story where steps or movement should be telling it. Other than that it was a rather ho-hum piece with some decent ideas - the ghostly dead especially - worthy of rework. Nghadi was a lyrical delight as ever.

 

Symphony was a delight too with Lamb wonderfully deft and Osipova emphatic but clear and clean. It’s also another demonstration of the barest bones staging allowing the dance to tell everything - no hiding places here.

 

 

[Richard LH]

3 minutes ago, Richmondhill said:

It’s odd how something you previously felt indifference towards - Infra - now shines, partly due to last night’s cast, but also in comparison to it’s first near neighbour on triple bill. I’m talking of course of The Unknown Soldier which felt weak in depth and gravitas compared to the McGregor. Doubly sad given the source material.

 

I think Infra does bear repeat viewing - the Richter music is hypnotic (although I would like  the screechy bits to be toned down as they hurt my ears) and the dancing is thought provoking,  suggesting (to me at least)  various  experiences of human interaction, city-based or otherwise, whether sensuality, danger, isolation,  tenderness, confusion.....On a more surface level,  the piece also demonstrates the amazing forms and movements that  human bodies can achieve through dance. Fumi Kaneko stood out for me, but they were all great.

 

Whereas  I have not really got any more from subsequent viewings of The Unknown Soldier - the dancing is fine, but on repetition I find the music rather ponderous, and I don't  really need to keep hearing the same interviews time after time. 

 

SIC, however, is worth  experiencing time after time. On occasions the technique last night (with just two principals dancing) did not seem to quite match the opening night (when there were seven principals on show), but it was still glorious. I enjoyed William Bracewell in particular.

[Richmondhill]

1 minute ago, Richard LH said:

 

I think Infra does bear repeat viewing - the Richter music is hypnotic (although I would like  the screechy bits to be toned down as they hurt my ears) and the dancing is thought provoking,  suggesting (to me at least)  various  experiences of human interaction, city-based or otherwise, whether sensuality, danger, isolation,  tenderness, confusion.....On a more surface level,  the piece also demonstrates the amazing forms and movements that  human bodies can achieve through dance. Fumi Kaneko stood out for me, but they were all great.

 

SIC, however, is worth  experiencing time after time. On occasions the technique last night (with just two principals dancing) did not seem to quite match the opening night (when there were seven principals on show), but it was still glorious. I enjoyed William Bracewell in particular.

 

I concur. Infra has something - almost universal in a city like London - to say about human dislocation or more plainly the inner story of every face in the crowd. I think my gripe previously was more of a matter of taste with his work inside a ‘classical’ company but his work has strengthened and my attitude has warmed over the years!

 

Technique did wobble a bit in Symphony’ especially in the Third. 

[Richard LH]

Reputation is so important...Can someone please like this post so I can reach 1000 ?!  😉

[Timmie]

10 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Reputation is so important...Can someone please like this post so I can reach 1000 ?!  😉

 

Happy to help . And to stay on topic, how amazing was Anna Rose O'Sullivan last night? And those students livened up the place a bit 🤣.

[Scheherezade]

4 hours ago, Richmondhill said:

... Other than that it was a rather ho-hum piece with some decent ideas - the ghostly dead especially - worthy of rework. Nghadi was a lyrical delight as ever.

 

 

 

 

Putting aside Giselle et al, watch Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances to see how to portray the ghostly dead.

[Richard LH]

2 hours ago, Timmie said:

 

Happy to help . And to stay on topic, how amazing was Anna Rose O'Sullivan last night? And those students livened up the place a bit 🤣.

Thanks Timmie !  1001 and counting....

Edited November 27, 2018 by Richard LH

[Beryl H]

4 hours ago, Richmondhill said:

 

I concur. Infra has something - almost universal in a city like London - to say about human dislocation or more plainly the inner story of every face in the crowd. I think my gripe previously was more of a matter of taste with his work inside a ‘classical’ company but his work has strengthened and my attitude has warmed over the years!

 

 I always hear train whistles in the music/sound effects, and think of the isolated, unhappy feeling I get at stations, particularly Victoria!

Such great choreography too.

 

[Nogoat]

2 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Putting aside Giselle et al, watch Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances to see how to portray the ghostly dead.

 

Absolutely. The 'ghostly dead' in Ghost Dances exert their impact (on stage and in me) in a very visceral way. They always remind me (though it's actually the other way round, chronologically) of the aliens in the film, Predator:- creatures of immense and otherworldly power, moving silently among us and dispensing death in an unfeeling and irresistible way (unless their target is Arnie S, of course! 🙂).

 

When it comes to Giselle, though, I'd like to reserve a place for Akram Khan's version alongside Ghost Dances. Of all the depictions of the 'supernatural' I've seen in dance/ballet, that is the most alien, chilling, malevolent and, yes, convincing. The unsettling picture of menace it paints on stage is made of many things: the lighting - (with the Wilis emerging silently from darkness, in a line and on-pointe); the music - (what I can only describe as a disconcerting 'veering' from side to side of the tempo/tone; plus the incorporation of electronic sound effects, including faint static); the 'dance language' - (being on-pointe = being supernatural); the bamboo cane as totem/weapon - (and the ritual killing of Hilarion by them); the frenzied violence of the reenactment of Giselle's death (to show Hilarion's guilt, and maybe to convince Giselle she is dead?); the 'induction' of Giselle into the netherworld - (with some sort of ethereal 'suction' being applied by Myrtha to draw her up, on-pointe and across!); and Myrtha herself - (her portrayal by Stina Quagebeur a wonderful mix of hisses, grimaces and gestures that added up to raw, malevolent power). Scary stuff!! 😮

Edited November 27, 2018 by Nogoat
clarity

[Mary]

Agreed.

But for portraying the ghostly dead, how about - Giselle - 'the original'?

 

Anyway I much look forward to seeing the 'writhing around in Speedos' and how that works by comparison....

 

[capybara]

I have now had a second viewing of The Unknown Soldier (same cast) and, whilst I feel totally content to watch it, I am still not moved by it. I think that it might be because the set and the costumes feel too modern and 'tricksy', everything (including the battlefield) feels too clean, the buoyant Telegraph Boy (nice work from Leo Dixon) has a see-through chiffon top, the score does not reflect the changing moods sufficiently, and a couple of sequences (e.g. the foxtrot and, maybe, the afterlife) go on too long.  Scarlett's No Man's Land and Khan's Dust for ENB both caught the grit, grime and tragedy of war in a way that Marriott's new work doesn't, at least not for me - but Scarlett had foot soldiers, whereas all Marriott's men seem to be Officers.

 

In case a comment I made earlier was taken to imply that Matthew Ball and Yasmine Naghdi were not lovely on stage, I must say, "of course they were" but, for some reason, whereas Naghdi's characterisation and heartfelt emotions really came across the footlights (and through the skim!), Ball's did not reach me. How, I ask myself, could that be the case when his recent Rudolf had been so affecting?

 

I am thinking that the reason might be that it was really Florence's journey. Maybe, also, there should have come a point (shortly after the film of Florence talking at the beginning) where the 'real people' were left behind so that the dancers could fully take over their story. And I think, had I been in Alastair Marriott's shoes, that I would have finished with Florence's anguish, not just with her being swathed by comforting friends but with a solo which speaks of her loss. 

[LinMM]

Am out and about in London at the mo having to use wifi in cafes!! ( where I stay has no wifi connection...or TV!) 

Anyway was going to write a review here in Pret but something somebody said about Naghdi in Infra has me puzzled so will have to go back to flat to check the cast list!! So review when home tomorrow!!

But just to say Unknown Soldier ....okay...better than though would be anyway 

Infra . Wonderful dancing but why oh why spoil Max Richters music with all that noisy irritating interference static type noise!! I suffer from tinnitus which I've got used to but had to cover my ears as this sort of thing can really set it off and in my view added little to the overall effect. Stix Brunell and Joseph Sissens stand out for me

Symphony in C very enjoyable with the tunes accompanying me home Reece Clarke and again Sissens very good and Fumi Kaneko just gorgeous. Osipova very engaging in her dancing but seems to have a strange shoulder habit at the moment? Lamb danced beautifully and that can speak for itself though she doesn't really engage me. Her smile at curtain call was lovely....more of that in the dancing would be great!!!

Say a bit more tomorrow but I did enjoy the evening and overall standout dancer of the evening for me Joseph Sissens!! 

[bangorballetboy]

24 minutes ago, LinMM said:

 

Infra . Wonderful dancing but why oh why spoil Max Richters music with all that noisy irritating interference static type noise!!

 

The "noise" is part of the music!

[LinMM]

Oh well but didn't max Richter write the music especially for Infra so must have collaborated with Mc Gregor!!

Just wondering who wanted the noise bit! 

I do realise this is for some desired effect ( an interference with the normal flow of the music to emphasis disconnection perhaps?) but I still feel not strictly necessary....but of course I didn't create the ballet so not my prerogative but I hate these kinds of scores ....where it sis squeaks and noises and other such grating sounds ....The Rambert have a beauty in their Rep!!!

[Xandra Newman]

Came across this interview with Alistair Marriott, Jonathan Howells, Yasmine Naghdi

In the Studio - The Royal Ballet - The Unknown Soldier - BBC 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csww81

 

 

[Mary]

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

The "noise" is part of the music!

That's what I used to tell my Dad.........

[BristolBillyBob]

Hi all. Just quickly popping my head up to say I'll be at this tonight, and will be flying solo. I'm always up for saying hello to fellow forumites - it was lovely to meet @Blossom yesterday! - so if you're going too and want put a more up-to-date face to my name in the interval, do drop me a line.

[Fonty]

22 hours ago, LinMM said:

 

Infra . Wonderful dancing but why oh why spoil Max Richters music with all that noisy irritating interference static type noise!! I suffer from tinnitus which I've got used to but had to cover my ears as this sort of thing can really set it off and in my view added little to the overall effect.

 

That was the bit I really hated when I saw it.  So unnecessary and so LOUD.

[RuthE]

Thoughts upon having now seen both casts of The Unknown Soldier:

 

1) sightlines - what were they thinking?

 

2) to those who’ve said the bumping into one another is contrived, well, yes it is, but no more so than (for example) the meeting of Manon and Des Grieux. And I’m inclined to be less cynical on this point than I may be on others, as my grandfather trod on my grandmother‘s foot at a dance, they became engaged on their next date, and spent the remaining 60 years of their mutual life together. So...

 

3) I didn’t even think about the ensemble dance at the end being homoerotic until people started talking about it earlier in this thread. But then, I’m not the target audience for homoerotica, so why would I? I *did* find the first appearance of the ensemble soldiers, when they fall into formation, a wee bit camp.

 

4) on a practical point - and naturally I understand dramatic licence - if they weren’t even engaged yet, surely the telegram would have gone to his family?

 

5) I liked O’Sullivan very much for the reasons others have stated.

 

and

 

6) I’m *really* sorry, but my brain has a tendency to make up lyrics to fit melodic rhythms, or to do an ISIHAC-style “one song to the tune of another”... and the melody of the pas de deux fits the words of “You’re a pink toothbrush, I’m a blue toothbrush” rather well 😳

[RuthE]

Now wondering about the facial expressions in Symphony in C. Presumably the rule is: beaming smiles for mvts 1, 3 and 4, with Serene Ballet Face in Mvt 2. But I noticed Claire Calvert looking quite serious throughout mvt 1, and Marianela Nunez never quite beaming in mvt 4 (though we got her characteristic megawatt smile during the curtain call).