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The Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet, Spring 2019


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7 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

How do you manage to get photos with so little spotlight wash? I tried taking some this afternoon & most of them are far too washed out, and this was using my camera rather than my phone.

 

Set your metering method to Spot metering and point at the dress. You'll see the screen go darker and the shutter speed gets quicker so the pics will also be blur free too. If the subject is wearing dark clothing try to point at the face or use exposure compensation set to under expose

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19 hours ago, capybara said:

 

......and, actually, pointed up on stage as well when Sissens' positioning for the leap-frog sequence in the Mandolin Dance meant that Yudes couldn't attempt the last jump. He dealt with it very well and drew a laugh from the audience.

 

 

Do you know what exactly was wrong with Sissens' positioning? Was he on the wrong spot or what? I could see something went wrong but don't know what the correct blocking should have been.

 

13 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

Set your metering method to Spot metering and point at the dress. You'll see the screen go darker and the shutter speed gets quicker so the pics will also be blur free too. If the subject is wearing dark clothing try to point at the face or use exposure compensation set to under expose

 

Thanks for the information but having looked at my camera's settings I can't find anything in the menu for spot metering so maybe mine doesn't have it. The only way I could get any photos that weren't totally washed out was to zoom right in like this & even then it's a bit glarey & too "soft".

P1400777 resized.jpg

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19 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Do you know what exactly was wrong with Sissens' positioning? Was he on the wrong spot or what? I could see something went wrong but don't know what the correct blocking should have been.

 

Joseph Sissens was slightly too close to the Mandolin Dancer behind him to give David Yudes room for 'take off'. But it didn't matter at all as they dealt with it so nicely.

I believe that, when changes are needed, they first try to put the replacement dancer  into a 'place' they are familiar with; but it is possible that Joseph had not previously danced in that position.

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24 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Do you know what exactly was wrong with Sissens' positioning? Was he on the wrong spot or what? I could see something went wrong but don't know what the correct blocking should have been.

 

 

Thanks for the information but having looked at my camera's settings I can't find anything in the menu for spot metering so maybe mine doesn't have it. The only way I could get any photos that weren't totally washed out was to zoom right in like this & even then it's a bit glarey & too "soft".

P1400777 resized.jpg

 

That’s a nice enough pic, a good memento from the day. If that is the whole photo and you haven’t cropped it then they are big enough to start affecting the exposure in the right way.

Which camera is it?

When you are in shooting mode I’m convinced that if you press menu and then maybe see a camera icon the metering method will be an option 

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29 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Joseph Sissens was slightly too close to the Mandolin Dancer behind him to give David Yudes room for 'take off'. But it didn't matter at all as they dealt with it so nicely.

I believe that, when changes are needed, they first try to put the replacement dancer  into a 'place' they are familiar with; but it is possible that Joseph had not previously danced in that position.

They were fine with this in the evening. Joseph Sissens replaced Benjamin Ella (a change which was suitably announced pre curtain up).

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7 hours ago, capybara said:

 

Joseph Sissens was slightly too close to the Mandolin Dancer behind him to give David Yudes room for 'take off'. But it didn't matter at all as they dealt with it so nicely.

I believe that, when changes are needed, they first try to put the replacement dancer  into a 'place' they are familiar with; but it is possible that Joseph had not previously danced in that position.

 

I see, thanks. I guess that even a dancer as short as Yudes still needs a reasonable amount of take off room!

 

5 hours ago, LinMM said:

That is a nice enough pic Dawnstar!! I'd be over the moon with that! Thanks for posting 😊

 

Thank you! I have put a few more on Twitter should anyone be interested https://twitter.com/AuroraEstella/status/1122472460937584641

 

7 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

That’s a nice enough pic, a good memento from the day. If that is the whole photo and you haven’t cropped it then they are big enough to start affecting the exposure in the right way.

Which camera is it?

When you are in shooting mode I’m convinced that if you press menu and then maybe see a camera icon the metering method will be an option 

 

No, it's not cropped, just re-sized for the file size limit here. I think I was on about 14x zoom. My camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ35. I pretty much always just leave it on the Intelligent Automatic mode & let it sort itself out, which works fine outdoors but not always so well indoors. I think I'll have to go through the manual & do some experimenting.

 

A few other random thoughts & queries, having had time to reflect on Friday & Saturday matinee. I felt the Juliet/Paris relationship was rather different for the two casts. I felt that Cuthbertson's Juliet might have actually gone for Hirano's Paris had Romeo not appeared whereas I didn't feel Hamilton's Juliet would have had any interest in Donnelly's Paris with or without Romeo. Did anyone else who's seen both casts also feel that or was it just me?

 

On Friday Cutherbertson got laughs from the audience at a few of points that to me didn't really seem should have been amusing, for instance when Juliet throws herself on the bed & pulls the bedclothes over her head. Hamilton didn't on Saturday. Personally I preferred it without the laughs. For people who have seen lots of casts, which way is it usually/supposed to be played? Was the audience "wrong" on Friday or does Cuthbertson deliberately play for laughs more than other Juliets?

 

Does anyone know if the day-glo pink & green tights for the Mandolin Dancers are from the original 1960s costume designs? The colour scheme looks far more 80s & very different from the tones used for the rest of the costumes.

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1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

On Friday Cutherbertson got laughs from the audience at a few of points that to me didn't really seem should have been amusing, for instance when Juliet throws herself on the bed & pulls the bedclothes over her head. Hamilton didn't on Saturday. Personally I preferred it without the laughs. For people who have seen lots of casts, which way is it usually/supposed to be played? Was the audience "wrong" on Friday or does Cuthbertson deliberately play for laughs more than other Juliets?

 

I thought I heard laughs for both of them at that point?

 

Sometimes it's just the composition of the audience which can affect things like that.  Same way that I swear if you go to a concert featuring Tchaikovsky's 6th at the weekend you'll get noticeably more applause at the "wrong" point where it sounds as though the symphony ought to finish.

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1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I see, thanks. I guess that even a dancer as short as Yudes still needs a reasonable amount of take off room!

 

 

Thank you! I have put a few more on Twitter should anyone be interested https://twitter.com/AuroraEstella/status/1122472460937584641

 

 

No, it's not cropped, just re-sized for the file size limit here. I think I was on about 14x zoom. My camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ35. I pretty much always just leave it on the Intelligent Automatic mode & let it sort itself out, which works fine outdoors but not always so well indoors. I think I'll have to go through the manual & do some experimenting.

 

A few other random thoughts & queries, having had time to reflect on Friday & Saturday matinee. I felt the Juliet/Paris relationship was rather different for the two casts. I felt that Cuthbertson's Juliet might have actually gone for Hirano's Paris had Romeo not appeared whereas I didn't feel Hamilton's Juliet would have had any interest in Donnelly's Paris with or without Romeo. Did anyone else who's seen both casts also feel that or was it just me?

 

On Friday Cutherbertson got laughs from the audience at a few of points that to me didn't really seem should have been amusing, for instance when Juliet throws herself on the bed & pulls the bedclothes over her head. Hamilton didn't on Saturday. Personally I preferred it without the laughs. For people who have seen lots of casts, which way is it usually/supposed to be played? Was the audience "wrong" on Friday or does Cuthbertson deliberately play for laughs more than other Juliets?

 

Does anyone know if the day-glo pink & green tights for the Mandolin Dancers are from the original 1960s costume designs? The colour scheme looks far more 80s & very different from the tones used for the rest of the costumes.

Yes, they were those colours originally. If my memory is correct, the costumes that have changed are mostly those worn by the men. I think the sets were also a bit more lavish originally - interesting to read other views on this. Must watch my Fonteyn/Nureyev DVD!

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1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

No, it's not cropped, just re-sized for the file size limit here. I think I was on about 14x zoom. My camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ35. I pretty much always just leave it on the Intelligent Automatic mode & let it sort itself out, which works fine outdoors but not always so well indoors. I think I'll have to go through the manual & do some experimenting.

 

The instruction manual (page 30 )indicates that if you have it in Intelligent Automatic it is locked to multi area metering.....look at page 102 for a lovely description of spot metering 😂

 

http://panasonic.ae/en/manuals/DMC-TZ35.pdf

 

Your homework is to set your dial to A, read page 66 so you know how to change the aperture to the smallest aperture you can and then you should have more success 

 

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8 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

On Friday Cutherbertson got laughs from the audience at a few of points that to me didn't really seem should have been amusing, for instance when Juliet throws herself on the bed & pulls the bedclothes over her head. Hamilton didn't on Saturday. Personally I preferred it without the laughs. For people who have seen lots of casts, which way is it usually/supposed to be played? Was the audience "wrong" on Friday or does Cuthbertson deliberately play for laughs more than other Juliets?

 

I have only seen Cuthbertson in the 2012 DVD but  I don't think she particularly plays these moments for laughs. I just think there are some moments of light relief for Juliet (whoever plays her)  to which the audience will inevitably respond, notwithstanding  the generally awkward, or indeed excruciating,  circumstances she finds herself in.  For example at the very end of Juliet's first scene where she realises what her nurse is pointing out,  or later in Act 1 when she mimes that she is too tired to go for a walk with Paris just after a clandestine dance with Romeo. 

 

The bedclothes moment also comes across as funny, even though we really know  it is  a desperate and futile attempt to escape from the pressure  in the room that Juliet  is getting from her parents, Paris, and even her nurse.  Takada also got some chuckles  at this point,  despite her displaying Juliet's agonies so powerfully in the rest of the scene.

  

Regarding audience reaction, Saturday night's crowd seemed particularly in tune with the performance. I liked the way there was no applause at the  end of Juliet's fake death scene, when silence seemed the appropriate  mark of respect, and again at the  end of the her real death scene, when we were all pretty well stunned into silence until the very last drop of the curtain, after which Takada, Hirano, and later Hay in particular,  received all the applause they deserved.  For some reason  the house lights went on  before their bows in front of the curtain, but  I thought that was nice, because it meant they they could easily see the enthusiastic response of the  audience and the standing ovations that some of us gave. 

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Yes, tragic drama requires moments of both light and shade rather than unrelenting darkness which would lessen the impact of the final catastrophe. Prokofiev’s score also reflects this, such as the moment Richard LH notes at the end of Juliet’s first scene. Referring to Dawnstar’s specific example, how lucky we are to have dancers who can project these relatively slight nuances in their interpretation so that we take away a different emotion in just a moment.  

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

 

I just think there are some moments of light relief for Juliet (whoever plays her)  to which the audience will inevitably respond, notwithstanding  the generally awkward, or indeed excruciating,  circumstances she finds herself in.  For example at the very end of Juliet's first scene where she realises what her nurse is pointing out,  or later in Act 1 when she mimes that she is too tired to go for a walk with Paris just after a clandestine dance with Romeo. 

 

The bedclothes moment also comes across as funny, even though we really know  it is  a desperate and futile attempt to escape from the pressure  in the room that Juliet  is getting from her parents, Paris, and even her nurse.  Takada also got some chuckles  at this point,  despite her displaying Juliet's agonies so powerfully in the rest of the scene. 

 

I have seen this ballet many, many times over the past 40 years, and I can't remember any performance where the audience didn't laugh when Juliet jumps under the sheet.  I think we can all just relate to being teenagers and getting totally fed up with being nagged by our parents.  I guess this is the balletic version of stomping up the stairs and slamming the door whilst shouting "What would you know, anyway?  You just don't understand anything...so leave me alone!"   

 

I think the reason Juliet gets a laugh in Act 1 is that she is miming a headache, not that she is tired, and the audience all picks up on the 'not now, I have a headache' idea!  

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As an example of audience reaction ( or lack of it) Takada as Juliet did not receive a round of applause at her first appearance in her scene with the nurse.

At every other performance I've seen the leading lady gets a welcoming clap. This was a shame, especially as she went on to give such a stunningly good performance,

As did Hirano, he was simply spot on and I hadn't expected him to be such a good actor, he has really blossomed . 

 

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Coming back to Saturday's matinee, which I enjoyed very much, I just want to give three cheers to the threesome of Romeo (Timofej Andrijashenko ) Mercutio ( Valentino Zucchetti  and Benvolio ( Nicol Edmonds) .They were a real power team and were always up to something whether in a dance or in an acting role when someone else was dancing. They were really in tune and clearly enjoying themselves. 

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Finally and as a PS to Saturday evenings performance, with Takada and Hirano. I was fortunate enough be sitting in row B of the stalls and right next to the camera man who was filming for Japanese TV.  We got chatting to him, as you do, and he explained how he is directed to get the right shots etc etc, and showed us his camera. Also, right at the end, he panned the camera around the applauding audience and finished up on my friend and I. So funny! I guess we will end up on 'the cutting room floor' but if anyone in Japan sees two ladies of a certain age waving frantically at the camera, that's me and my friend ! 

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15 minutes ago, Mandy Kent said:

As an example of audience reaction ( or lack of it) Takada as Juliet did not receive a round of applause at her first appearance in her scene with the nurse.

 

Hamilton didn't either, as far as I remember.

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1 hour ago, Mandy Kent said:

Coming back to Saturday's matinee, which I enjoyed very much, I just want to give three cheers to the threesome of Romeo (Timofej Andrijashenko ) Mercutio ( Valentino Zucchetti  and Benvolio ( Nicol Edmonds) .They were a real power team and were always up to something whether in a dance or in an acting role when someone else was dancing. They were really in tune and clearly enjoying themselves. 

Mandy, what did you think of Hamilton’s interpretation and her partnership with Andrijashenko?

 

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I was sitting in the Amphi without very good magnification so I can only say in general that I enjoyed Hamilton's portrayal of Juliet but wasn't close enough to see every nuance. So I was not as moved as I might have been if closer. However I really liked Andrijashenko's Romeo. My favourites so far are Cuthbertson and Ball, and Takada and Hirano.....

but we all see things differently !

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19 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

The instruction manual (page 30 )indicates that if you have it in Intelligent Automatic it is locked to multi area metering.....look at page 102 for a lovely description of spot metering 😂

 

http://panasonic.ae/en/manuals/DMC-TZ35.pdf

 

Your homework is to set your dial to A, read page 66 so you know how to change the aperture to the smallest aperture you can and then you should have more success 

 

 

Thank you very much! I'll see if I can get to grips with it before I see Lamb/Muntagirov a week on Saturday.

 

2 hours ago, Mandy Kent said:

I was sitting in the Amphi without very good magnification so I can only say in general that I enjoyed Hamilton's portrayal of Juliet but wasn't close enough to see every nuance. So I was not as moved as I might have been if closer. However I really liked Andrijashenko's Romeo. My favourites so far are Cuthbertson and Ball, and Takada and Hirano.....

but we all see things differently !

 

May I ask if you saw the latter two couples from closer to? I personally was more moved by Hamilton/Andrijashenko than Cutherbrtson/Ball but I did have a better view on Saturday so I'm not sure how much that contributed to it.

 

2 hours ago, capybara said:

 

I think there were about three clappers in the Stalls Circle. I tried in the Amphi but no one joined me!

 

Yes, I heard a faint smattering of applause from somewhere behind where I was sat so I guess that would have been the Stalls Circle people. I don't think Cuthbertson got any on Friday, at least not that I heard.

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15 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

May I ask if you saw the latter two couples from closer to? I personally was more moved by Hamilton/Andrijashenko than Cutherbrtson/Ball but I did have a better view on Saturday so I'm not sure how much that contributed to it.

 

Yes, Dawnstar, I had better seats for Ball/Cuthbertson and Hirano/Takada.  But dont get me wrong, I enjoyed Andrijashenko/Hamilton very much indeed. She danced beautifully as did he. But I wasnt moved to tears or holding my breath....and I think thats because I couldn't see or feel the emotion from my perch in the Amphi !

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I also thought Andrijashenko and Hamilton gave a beautiful performance.  He is a gorgeous dancer, with a stunning grand jete and his acting with Zucchetti and Nicol made for the most lively trio I have seen in this run - he must be around the same age as Ball but somehow his Romeo seemed much more youthful.  It helps that Zucchetti is such a good Mercutio - I think the quick choreography suits him more than many other ballets and his sometimes rather over the top stage presence is perfect for this loud, 'cheeky' character.  Hamilton is truly lovely in MacMillan's pas de deux - perhaps because she has the best legs in the company, shown off to great effect in all those extended lifts.....

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On ‎29‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 13:32, Mandy Kent said:

As an example of audience reaction ( or lack of it) Takada as Juliet did not receive a round of applause at her first appearance in her scene with the nurse.

At every other performance I've seen the leading lady gets a welcoming clap.

 

 

I'm surprised: the music for her first entrance is so helter-skelter that it never seems to me to invite applause.

 

I must say that I was very impressed with Andrijashenko: not only did he act very well, but he merged into the production - and particularly into the Romeo/Mercution/Benvolio trio - so well that if I hadn't known better I'd have thought he'd been a company member for half a decade.  There was absolutely no feeling of a guest having been "parachuted in", as is sometimes the case in similar circumstances.

 

Nehemiah Kish made a very good debut(?) as Tybalt, too, from what I could see of it.

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31 minutes ago, alison said:

I'm surprised: the music for her first entrance is so helter-skelter that it never seems to me to invite applause.

 

That's right; it isn't like Kitri's entrance in Don Q , for example, which is very much a "Ta-Da" moment!

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4 hours ago, Lindsay said:

.  Hamilton is truly lovely in MacMillan's pas de deux - perhaps because she has the best legs in the company, shown off to great effect in all those extended lifts.....

It’s her feet which I find myself constantly drawn to. They speak a language all of their own. Perfect for MacMillan’s choreography.

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