Scheherezade

19 hours ago, Sim said:

 

I will start:  when I drove into Sadler's Wells to see La Strada it was a Sunday afternoon.  I didn't notice that SW is within the London congestion charging zone (just).  So last week I received a penalty notice from the lovely Islington Council for £90 for not having paid the charge.  I mean, £90.  That's if pay within 14 days.  After that, it doubles.  They are robbers and it infuriates me.  I liked La Strada, but not THAT much!  So take heed if you are thinking of driving down to The Wells.

I feel your pain. And for anyone who doesn't already have one, get a TFL account, which automatically takes the £15 charge but doesn't impose a fine if you unwittingly enter the zone during charging hours. I was caught a little while back for crossing the Regents Park congestion charge boundary one minute before 6.00 - annoyingly I thought I'd timed my entry perfectly - but at least I wasn't hit with a fine.

What to add? Much as I love the Skeaping Giselle, I had, at first, thought too soon for a revival but since it won't be back in London until next January, I will welcome its return, particularly if there is to be no RB Giselle next season and, additionally, as I will hopefully get the chance to catch Frola's Albrecht this time round.

I am very happy with the Forsythe triple. I love the way he allows the music, classical or contemporary, to wrap itself around his always exhilarating choreography and totally agree with Lizbie's upthread comments about pervading sense of joy that informs his works. See Forsythe and go home feeling that all is well with the world.

I will reserve judgement on the new Nutcracker until I have seen it. I really enjoy Arielle Smith's work - she is another choreographer whose output is thankfully rooted in joy rather than misery - but can't quite visualise what she will do with Nutcracker. The Edwardian setting sounds promising, provided that the classicism isn't lost in translation and that the end result steers well clear of previous ENB sweet shop settings.

Like others, I am mortified that there is no Etudes. Another triple bill with this piece, please. 🙏 Or, more fittingly perhaps, include this wonderful showcase for the company in a live gala to mark their 75th anniversary.

Whilst, unlike Creature, I enjoyed Akram Khan's Giselle first time round, I feel no need to see it again and, yes, would much prefer another run of Corsaire.

All in all, fine as far as it goes but definitely not enough

7 minutes ago, Mary said:

although there was an issue with trousers that occupied a large part of the original discussion thread I recall, - too long...too short...too bright- ? something...happy days!

Too unflattering?

18 minutes ago, Mary said:

 

I rather like it too, despite misgivings about some of the choreography and the music, so the whole must add up to more than the sum of the parts.

 

I could do with less jealous writhing, as the point gets made pretty well quite soon, but is  then hammered home....over-writhed - rather too much for my taste, even when it was Ed Watson.

 

Me too. Jealous writhers begone!

10 hours ago, Emeralds said:

(Less said about the rail company that silently cancelled my stop and the stops before and after it without any warning or announcement and dumped us in the next county to find our own way home in the dark last weekend, the better.) 

Nooooooo!!!!!

16 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

Was it really bad? I’ve just watched a brief rehearsal clip on YouTube, it doesn’t look too terrible! 

I’d say it was just disappointing, West End stage rather than Royal Ballet. Anticipation was high but what came out in the wash was a lukewarm approximation of something that felt as though it should have been so much more. 

10 hours ago, PeterS said:

Perhaps the schedules have been done considerately such that an Ashton devotee can visit London to see three different programmes on three successive dates meaning only 2 nights accommodation is needed? 

Why do I find it hard to believe that consideration for out of town Ashton devotees was foremost - or at all - in the minds of the programme schedulers? Oh, I know, I’m an old sceptic, but all the same …

3 hours ago, TSR101 said:

Has Osipova ever taken a role in a Wheeldon full length? I couldn't see Winter's Tale, Alice or Chocolate on her repertoire? 

Perhaps, after Strapless, she decided that Wheeldon wasn’t her choreographer of choice. 

2 hours ago, RobR said:

I see from tonight’s cast list that Itziar Mendizabal is Lescaut’s mistress tonight.

 

I was very impressed by her performance in the general (tbh I’m always impressed by her) so I’m sure those going tonight will enjoy her dancing and acting.

I always enjoy watching ger too, RobR. I am sure she will bring her usual abundance of sass to the role.

11 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I now feel like emailing ENB asking if they could pass a message on to Johan Inger that ticket sales will be down by one if he doesn't select Frola for Don Jose! 😉

And that the listed casts aren’t shifted around with the random frequency of the Nutcracker and Giselle performances. Please!

21 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I succumbed to temptation & picked up a rush ticket for Cuthbertson/Ball on Wednesday. I entirely blame Forum members' comments, both in writing & in person, for this!

I really enjoyed them at the general rehearsal, Dawnstar. Seems a long time ago now.

On 06/02/2024 at 15:41, LinMM said:

I’ve watched it in a very disorganised way this year and all mostly in the wrong order!! Like Day 4 before Day 1 etc. 

Or, for those of us of a certain age: "All the right notes but not necessarily in the right order."

I am personally more alarmed by the photoshopped images that lead some young people down the path to dangerous, sometimes fatal, surgery in an attempt to replicate the unreal and suicide if they can’t. 

3 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I really hope both ballets can be reprised in London and that Alistair Spalding or ROH are already inviting them. Always enjoyed Kim Brandstrup's choreography for the Royal Ballet and for independent performers, and I'd like to see Tommy Franzen and Alina Cojocaru with these dancers. Fingers crossed their various schedules can be coordinated to stage it in London.

Agreed. On both fronts. I am keeping my fingers crossed that these ballets will come to London, and with the same casts, and I would love to see both Goldberg and Invitus Invitam revived by the RB, and/or a new commission for Kim Brandstrup, whose choreography I far prefer to almost all of the RB’s current commissions. 

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

just wanted to say that there was MUCH to enjoy and embrace in Tiler Peck's new ballet which premiered last night.  The Company have just put a very small segment - from but a transition passage - up on Facebook - Enjoy.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/87hWMyw4f7uQTVR5/?mibextid=xfxF2i 

 

Wish they were bringing this to London instead of Rotunda (which was being shown on the same bill). 

I did enjoy the segment in the Facebook link, Bruce, and I too wish that NYCB were bringing this to London instead of Rotunda. 

1 minute ago, Emeralds said:

His Meditation from Thais is gorgeous and comparable to Ashton's.

And we are unlikely ever to see either of them. 

25 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

SkyArts Sunday 4th Feb 6.10-8.30am RB La Bayadere. It says it's Acosta/Rojo/Nunez but previously they've shown Muntagirov/Nunez/Osipova so may be either.

My TV says Muntagirov/Nunez/Osipova

3 minutes ago, Candleque said:

Excuse the off-topic side note, but the discussion above about the RB marketing staff missing obvious PR opportunities made me think about the amazing job the NYCB team is doing promoting Tiler Peck and her new ballet Concerto For Two Pianos. Big profiles in mainstream publications like NYTimes and Vogue and lots of love on their own channels, including their excellent podcast. It's nice to see.

And, sadly, highlights the utter uselessness of the home team. 

6 hours ago, alison said:

They were given some coverage, Sim, although it may not have been the day you were doing the Links.

Were they? I must have missed that. 

Just one viewing for me and like many others I was, and remain, in two minds. 
I am glad to have seen La Strada. I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it either. I did enjoy the music and I felt that the sets and costumes worked well. Overall, I was impressed by the dancers generally, and the two angels in particular and I also felt that Zampano’s brutality could have been highlighted a little more. 
It was wonderful to see Alina and Johan on stage again, especially Alina, whose magic remains undiminished and whose childlike vulnerability sat perfectly upon Gelsomina and gave the whole production its heart. I did wonder whether it might have fallen a little flat with anyone else.

well done, all the same, to everyone involved. 

3 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

you can always politely say "no thank you" and they don't seem to mind that

I always politely tell them that I already have one and they respond with a beaming smile. 

33 minutes ago, Geoff said:

I may be the only person who liked Holten’s Onegin (with the doubling). What I found wonderful was the way his reading explained why the music is so sad from the outset.

This was not - as so often - a directorial idea imposed in ignorance or opposition to the score, but a deeply musical illumination of it. 

Sorry Geoff, I didn’t like it at all. I found the doubling made it impossible to engage with the characters which, for me, made it emotionally sterile. 

12 hours ago, MAB said:

Yes, it did.  As to what goes on in opera director's heads, I remember one of them claiming it was an intellectual failing of audiences if they don't appreciate the mad productions. 

Could this be a reference to Kasper Holten's oh so complimentary observation that if UK audiences, unlike their better-informed northern european counterparts, couldn't appreciate what was being served up to them, they would have to be re-educated.

Thank you Buddy. That was me. In another life.

10 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I'd be more inclined to say that it's always been a big part of human nature.

True, but fruit that is especially forbidden - and the risk in Catholicism extends to the immortal soul - always tastes that much sweeter.