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patsomerset

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Everything posted by patsomerset

  1. I am just home after a fabulous evening at our local Odeon in Taunton. Very well attended and everyone stayed to say farewell to Carlos. I am not normally a fan of mixed bills but this was a really well put together programme with some wonderful dancing. The whole cinema was buzzing. An evening to remember
  2. That's very good news. May I in turn thank all those who give up their time and of their expertise to keep the forum running so smoothly, as well as those who step in where/if necessary and help to attract such a wonderful cross section of contributors who improve our knowledge of ballet and dance as well as encouraging the lively and (mostly) friendly exchange of views. Long may it last!
  3. No, I was there too but I am sorry I can't answer that question. I can only suppose that she wondered about her fate, she was chosen by Ivan and I image did not have much say in the matter. I have seen Nikulina dance several times and do not think she is a great actress although she is a lovely dancer with an amazingly supple body and wonderful long legs, and had to cope with some very difficult lifts. We noticed she had a large bruise on her thigh Lobukhin was just amazing. The speed with which he moved around the stage was dazzling and his descent into madness painful to see. He emerged for his curtain calls looking completely exhausted as well he might after such a powerful performance Praise too for the Corps especially the large contingent of male dancers Our cinema was fairly well attended especially on what was a fine Sunday afternoon and the reaction afterwards was stunned silence, but in a good way. As usual Miss Novikova was an impressive compere in several languages Perhaps someone with more technical knowledge than me could give a review?
  4. I too visit the links section every day and always find something of interest, particularly when there are multiple reviews of the same performance/same cast. Yes, it is true that I can no longer access certain reviews without being asked to subscribe and I am most certainly not going to be coerced into doing that. The one I miss most is Arts Desk. Sometimes I can access the reviews, sometimes not, not sure why. I very much appreciate the work that the links people put into this and amazed at the scope of the links they find. Maybe people express their views and read the views of others more through social media these days? I don't know as I don't subscribe to social media but I can only say that I have never found the tweets which appear across the screen at live transmissions very profound or helpful! Please keep on providing the links
  5. I am not at all pleased. I had managed to get a front row seat and a hotel for the night which, for some reason was not easy on 12 November, so it will be difficult to change my ticket now so will have to go along with the change. I too wanted to see Osipova in Month in the Country. Quite disappointing really
  6. Attendance was not great here in Taunton either considering that the ROH transmissions are now totally booked up. I echo what everyone said about the sound. We mentioned it in the interval and they turned it down although they said it was well below what the distributors recommend already. We had a very brief (less than a minute) break in transmission I agree with Don Q about the shades costumes. They looked rather cheap to me and the lighting turned the ones at the front of the stage yellow which was rather a shame for what is supposed to be a white scene. I thought the corps very good by and large, and so well matched in height and physique. When they were lined up with their backs turned to the stage every waistline seemed to be at the same height and every leg the same length As Don Q says, it was not Valery Gergiev conducting Loved the Golden Idol especially and enjoyed the whole evening. It was an unexpected treat in what is usually a pretty dull time for ballet lovers. It did not however prompt me to rush for tickets to the season in London. The dullness of the repertoire and the constant cast changes are very off putting
  7. Yes, I have found the same. Now back to normal but it's always good to know that you are not alone when things like that happen!
  8. You are a star, you have indeed fixed it. One very happy person here, so many thanks to you and to all the other forum members who offered advice and help
  9. The quote button no longer works for me. When I press quote all that happens is that a reply box opens after the last post, but no quote. What am I doing wrong. Please has anybody any ideas?
  10. I am with Alison on the popcorn discussion. I hate the smell, but more than that people tend to have a large tub into which they delve at intervals making a rustling noise. I find that quite antisocial at a ballet especially if they choose quiet moments Sorry, I can't reply directly with a quote as I can't make thequote facility work at the moment
  11. I seem to remember Johnny Cope presenting something as well and very good he was too
  12. I have just seen on the ROH website that Tetractys has been cancelled this evening due to injury and illness. This must be a quite unusual . Patrons are being given the choice of leaving and getting a full refund or staying for the two other ballets and getting a third refund. Very disappointing if you have come from a distance indeed 'a bit of a disaster darling' as someone once said.
  13. Does anyone know whether the gala is being recorded and will be shown in the UK? The opening ceremony contained some dancing but very little 'ballet' and the merest glimpse of Zacharova & Vasiliev. More of Vishneva but I would not have known it was her unless the commentator had told me. The ceremony itself was very spectacular and very, very well done. I thought the commentary excellent too
  14. I still can't make the 'quote' button work but I should like to report on the attendances etc at the Taunton Odeon. They were showing 'Giselle' in two screens last Sunday. The screens have 422 seats between them and all but the front rows were taken. By no means all females, but not many people under 50 and I saw only one small boy. The Odeon is the only cinema in Taunton but there is a privately owned cinema in a town about 6 miles away which was also showing 'Giselle'. The Odeon always have a good turn out for RB performances but usually only open one screen As for the Bolshoi; we had an insert in our cast sheets which included Bolshoi transmissions, but the attendance is always disappointing, even for quite well known ballets. It might be because they are always on a Sunday afternoon. I really don't know
  15. I agree with everything Joan says (above) although I can't make the 'Quote' feature work at the moment. My local Odeon showed it in two screens and was sold out. I think Carlos Acosta is a big attraction even though the critics and others will persist I saying, rather unkindly, that he is past his best technically. He has amazing 'presence', connects brilliantly with the audience and is a great partner. I thought there were too many close ups and sometimes in the wrong places but on the whole it was an enthralling, totally absorbing evening of wonderful dancing, music and acting I must pay tribute to my local cinema who have now really 'got' the live transmissions. Last evening they accommodated everyone who wanted to come, provided us all with cast sheets and a synopsis of the plot, and a faultless transmission. The audience were well behaved too! I don't know whether anyone else has read the comments on the ROH website. They are all pretty nice except for someone in Rome who couldn't find anything nice to say. Most comment on the number of close ups and several commented on Myrtha's dancing and Darcey Bussell's interviewing skills or lack of the same! There are some quite personal comments which of course we do not make here! I hope they do 'encore' it. I shall be there again for one
  16. Lovely to hear from other people who were there too and that you took the opportunity to talk to the dancers afterwards. Although they are pretty special dancers, it difficult to say why one performance turns into something so wonderful and memorable for no apparent reason
  17. Yes, until now, the most moving Giselle I have seen was a matinee on 5 February 2011 with Cojocaru/Kobborg. Alina's performance was so touching that there was complete silence for a while after the curtain came down of Act1. It wasn't long before someone broke the spell and applauded but I can still remember the atmosphere and the silence
  18. I didn't know there was a PV in Bedford Street. What great news. It's my favourite and I have never got over the one in Brompton Road closing. PV's cakes and gateaux are to die for. What a mine of information this forum is!
  19. I totally agree. I was very disappointed with Lauren Cuthbertson's performance when SB was first transmitted live to the cinemas and I think I said so on this site. It did not reflect at all well on the RB considering it was transmitted world wide. I wondered at the time why this performance had been chosen for live transmission particularly as there were other Principals in the RB at the time who I would have thought could have represented them rather better. Lauren had after all appeared in one live transmission in R&J. It seemed strange to select the same Principal twice
  20. A surprising amount of ballet related content actually. A brief view of the interior of the school but a detailed look at those two lovely porcelain figures and Margot Fonteyn's make up box together with a chat with Darcey Bussell herself . Very enjoyable I thought
  21. I haven't read the Radio Times article but I thought the same about the Telegraph article ie that it was more about young people in general, not particularly dancers
  22. I have had no trouble so far. I had the site saved in my favourites and I have just tried again and it still allows me access. There is a note saying that they require a small sub from now on but no mention of blocking the site. I got the impression that they were inviting contributions rather as Ballet Co did, with great success, but obviously I was incorrect
  23. I saw them last Friday and was also very moved by the performances of Nunez and Soares. I thought Act 1 started rather slowly and that Soares in particular was dancing rather carefully but there were some terrific performances thereafter. I sympathise spannerandpony, My evening was also somewhat spoilt by other members of the audience. I had a front row seat in the balcony so no one in front of me but there was a boy of about eight to my left who fidgeted a lot and kept on whispering to his mother, the lady on my right 'overflowed' on to my seat and the couple behind me laughed in the most odd places as well as talking during the performance. The other thing which bothered me was the number of large shopping bags which were brought into the auditorium. No one seemed to have their bags searched and of course they were all dumped on the floor which made getting in and out of seats difficult. There is an excellent free cloakroom at ROH. Surely people should be 'encouraged' to leave their shopping there I wasn't going to post about this as it is a mixture of performance and audience behaviour and I also sound very grumpy which I don't think I am really. It was however very disappointing to have what should have been a wonderful evening spoilt by others in the audience
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