Jump to content

aileen

Members
  • Posts

    4,131
  • Joined

Everything posted by aileen

  1. I also saw today's matinee performance and very much agree about Naghdi. I thought that she was exceptional in the role. She managed to be both crystalline and soft at the same time, which was very appealing. Many SPFs' dancing can be a little too 'brittle' for my liking but her dancing was luxuriant, with beautiful phrasing. Hay's dancing was wonderful too and Stix-Brunell was a lovely Rose Fairy (there was a cast change slip announcing Magri's substitution). I wasn't quite as taken with O'Sullivan as Lin. I thought that she was a bit bland and I've seen others whom I've preferred in the role. Ball was a noble cavalier but he needs to work on his 360 degree jumps (tours en l'air?). I was very impressed with the children's dancing in Act 1. There was some interesting choreography for them and they performed it very stylishly. Freddie was very good today too. Regarding the production itself, I hadn't seen it for a couple of years and everything seemed rather brighter than I had remembered it (even the gold wigs!). The production is not without its flaws; there is some dull dancing for the adults in Act 1 and the Chinese dance is still problematic (and I too dislike Clara and Hans-Peter's involvement in the dancing in the Kingdom of the Sweets). However, there is a very clear narrative running through the production and plenty of magic (and not just the tricks).
  2. And Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings is on my wish list for ENB's 2018/19 season. I really hope that it comes back as it's so fresh and inventive with terrific staging and a great score.
  3. It's a bit off to comment on Darcey's choice of a husband, penelope. As for her choice of forename, is there any evidence that she adopted this name because it would make her more memorable from a professional profile point of view?
  4. I wonder why Darcey (during her dancing career) became much more of a household name than, say, Lauren Cuthbertson. I know that she'd had an agent from a young age but there must be more to it than that. Was it the ROH / RB, perhaps keen to promote her as the next British star after Margot Fonteyn?
  5. I saw the Hampson production a couple of times. I don't remember it in detail but I do remember dancers (icicles?) jumping out of a fridge, Clara flying off in a paper bird and a lovely set for the second act with ice cream / sundae mountains. It was less traditional and probably a bit too cartoonish for some tastes but the staging was quirky and fun.
  6. I saw Rina Kanehara last year and also thought that she was exquisite in the role. I actually think that she might be the best Clara / SPF that I have seen in this production, better even than Shiori Kase who is also exceptionally good in this. The tricky partnering (I think that it was Yonah Acosta and Guiherme Menezes plus Fabian Reimar as Drosselmayer) went particularly smoothly, which is not always the case with this rather fussy choreography.
  7. I'm afraid that I have to agree with Lin about being disappointed by a performance of this production last week. There just wasn't a lot of magic and even the GPDD, the snowflakes and the waltz of the flowers couldn't redeem it for me. I've hesitated to post about the performance because I am aware of how hard all the dancers work getting through the annual Nutcracker marathon (11 shows last week alone!). It was interesting to read Irmgard's comments about a certain lack of style in the snowflakes and waltz of the flowers. Perhaps that accounts for my feelings about these ensemble numbers. However, the 'national dances' felt very flat and the stage looked as empty as before. I'm sure that a lot was spent on this production but the staging looks a bit cheap overall with the (rather jerky) transformation scene having the feel of an am-dram production about it. It's time for this production to be replaced but, as Lin says, you wonder whether this is a priority with the company's impending move to the new building.
  8. Interesting to read the comments by Summerscales who benefitted greatly from Rojo's directorship in the form of both casting and promotions; early on she was, I recollect, promoted from artist to soloist or first soloist. Rojo didn't manage to keep her either (I very much doubt that she will return if her husband remains in Munich) but, regardless of repertoire, it was probably inevitable that she would leave when her husband left for a company abroad.
  9. I wonder why the announcement is being made at this early stage. It's six months until the end of ENB's season. One can speculate, perhaps, that he will be going on 'garden leave' or not appearing much in the rest of the season which would have provoked comment and discussion anyway. As for tiring of touring, he's only 20 and had only done it for three years! Regarding Rojo's feelings on the matter, I can't imagine that she isn't very disappointed as she has invested a lot in Corrales' artistic development. However, she did the same thing herself and so she can hardly complain. This situation does highlight the danger of putting too many eggs in too few dancer baskets. It's time for her to invest in a larger number of dancers, not just the chosen two or three. Unaccountably (IMO) she has neglected too many talented dancers who waited very patiently for opportunities and promotions but who eventually tired of being overlooked and moved on.
  10. It wouldn't surprise me if Corrales will not take a drop in salary as ENB's salaries are known to be on the low side. As capybara says, he is a very distinctive artist and I am not aware of anyone at the RB who is like him for sheer physical presence and on stage magnetism.
  11. It's not clear whether he'll be 'working out his notice' until the end of the season. I can't imagine so as it's a very long time. It's a great loss for ENB but, happily, we'll still be able to see him in London.
  12. I much preferred The Red Shoes. I found Sleeping Beauty a bit too camp for my taste. I think that RS could be improved; IMO, some of the characterisation could be deepened but I understand that Matthew Bourne does tweak and refine his works when they return. The music is terrific, really atmospheric, and the score has been so cleverly put together using the music of Bernard Herrman from several film scores.
  13. I think that it's the music as much as the dancing and characterisation which makes me feel emotional. I have felt rather emotional at the following:. - the Prince's solo in the Derek Deane Swan Lake as danced by Vadim Muntagirov (for the sheer beauty of his dancing) - the ending of the 'traditional' Giselle with Alina Cojacaru - the ending of the Khan Giselle, as danced by several casts but particularly Cojacaru again (the sad flutey music - although it's actually a Greek Lyre, apparently - is so moving as Giselle and Myrtha are gliding away into the darkness with Giselle looking back at Albrecht and Albrecht's desolation as the wall shuts him out from both communities) - the Rose Adagio (for some reason I feel a sort of maternal pride when a dancer has successfully negotiated this) - the corps as Snowflakes (Nutcracker), Willis (Giselle) and Swans (Swan Lake) - the discipline and synchronicity never fail to thrill me.
  14. Yes, it will depend on the (new) visa rules. On another thread someone provide approximate figures for EU and non-EU dancers in the UK companies currently. From recollection, I think that there were more non-EU dancers than EU dancers with ENB having the most EU dancers. In theory, it might be easier for British dancers to get contracts in the UK if freedom of movement from the EU is curtailed.
  15. It's interesting that there have been three dancer curated shows in London in quick succession. Which one do people think was the most successful? Slightly off-topic, is there any news of overseas companies coming to the UK next year? The only one that I'm aware of is Ballet BC which is visiting Sadler's Wells (and some other venues in the UK, I believe) in the Spring.
  16. Is anyone going to this evening's performance of The Nutcracker. I will be there.
  17. I have seen Shiori, Rina and Katja as Clara/SPF. The first two were exceptional in the role and Katya was also excellent, particularly as she had to contend with a last minute change of partner in a role involving lots of tricky lifts. It's a shame that Francesca only gets one performance; in such a long run I would have thought that she could have been given another.
  18. Gorgeous photographs, Ivy. They look like lovely people.
  19. I've noticed a queuing system (a moving person walking on a pavement) on a couple of other sites recently. I wonder whether they are new as I haven't registered them before.
  20. Can anyone attend these lectures or do you have to become a member?
  21. I believe that the Arts Council dictates where the touring companies tour to. Does Northern Ballet not tour to Wales? I don't know if any of the large English companies tour to Scotland either.
  22. Is that a 'private hire' at Lilian Baylis? I can't see it on the website unless there's a problem with my device.
  23. On Saturday I was really struck by the bleakness of the ending with that monumental wall shutting Albrect out from his landlord community. The migrants have gone too and so he ends up completely alone. You are left wondering what will happen to him as you don't see him being able to go back to either community. The wall is almost a character on its own.
×
×
  • Create New...