helpop

I certainly seem to be in the minority! Maybe the Lamb-Muntagirov pairing could win me round, but I'm not sure if I want to attend all 3 hours of the production again at the cinema. Although maybe the cinema front-row seat experience will improve it - as other commentators have noted, where you sit in the auditorium can highly impact your perception.

Last night was my first Manon, and I have to say unfortunately it left me cold. Regarding the performance, I felt Osipova and Shklyarov had very little chemistry and were ever so slightly clumsy together (e.g. some missed hand grips). His arabesques were also surprisingly wobbly. Sambe as Lescaut was a strong performance however, and some good support from corps and other soloists. Regarding the production, I felt the costumes and sets were very dated and rather fusty. I also agree with earlier comments that the stage is often cluttered and distracting. In Act 3 I spent some time watching the"sailers" at the back who clearly had nothing to do! Regarding the story...I think it needs a strong central pairing to really sell it. Without that the story comes across as overblown nonsense. The main characters were rather unclear last night, and didn't convey to me a good sense of personality, which I think highlights the inconsistency in their actions and the plot. I think you need to really feel the grand passion projected on the stage to buy into the story. I also agree with the comments about the misogyny. Appreciated some of that is the point (i.e. Manon's experiences), but some felt gratuitous (e.g. brothel). There was a lot of exploitative choreography for women, surplus to the plot. My overall feeling is the production is dated both in terms of setting and values, and maybe should be rested for a while.

I'm so glad I booked for two performances of this (Friday and Saturday evening) - it's the best triple bill I've been to in a while, often finding them a bit hit and miss. For those interested, the audience reaction was much stronger on Saturday evening, although distractingly a member of the audience seemed to be trying to hand them a bouquet from the stalls during the final curtain call, which was a bit odd. The first piece is a style of dance I'm not a huge fan of, but I did actually enjoy it. All 3 dancers were impressive, and I was very struck by how strong the taller man must be, to lift both a woman and another man for that period of time! However, having seen it twice I think the accusations of under-rehearsal are actually less to do with rehearsal time and more that Osipova was struggling a bit with the choreography, which seemed fairly tricky in places. Sometimes her foot seemed to get caught as she didn't lift it high enough in one smooth movement (for example). So it's a good piece (in my view), albeit in the rather generic modern dance style which I find a bit interchangeable. My main criticism is it didn't really showcase Osipova, or reveal her personality or style - I think another dancer with sufficient flexibility could step into her role easily, which is a disappointment in a piece commissioned by her and created on her. My main response to the Maliphant piece was - WOW! Definitely the highlight for me. I had somewhat low expectations having had mixed reactions to his work before, and it really blew me away. I think a lot of this is attributable to the performance by the dancers - it was a powerful reminder of how fantastic Polunin is live, with his technique and presence. I think the piece would be rather ordinary with other dancers, but it was executed with incredible skill, finesse and projected both dancers' power beyond the footlights. Particularly impressive was the speed of their turns, particularly as Polunin is a jumper rather than a turner (technical dance expressions ). The 3rd piece was, overall, a disappointment. I've been a fan of all the Pita work I've seen so far, so I was looking forward to this one the most. Taken as a standalone piece, it is a good piece of theatre in his signature style and to his usual standards. The problem for me was that we'd just been shown what incredible dancers Osipova and Polunin are, and given an inkling of how interesting their exploration of contemporary dance could be, and the Pita work rounded out the evening by having almost no dance in it! Polunin had 1 good but very short solo, but that was the only real dance in the whole thing, which was VERY frustrating! The cigarette & drink dance was funny and clever, but more music hall act than spectacular pas de deux. It didn't help that the piece is witty and smartly put together, but ultimately lacked substance and didn't treat the story & its themes with a lot of depth or the drama they required - possibly juvenile is the word which comes to mind. It's such a shame that we didn't get to see more of them dancing together (or indeed, solo), which is what the audience really came to see. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable evening and I may book for the autumn. But my main hope is that RB take Polunin's (very heavy) hints from interviews and offer him a guest contract. O'Hare was mentioned in the cast sheet acknowledgements, so hopefully he went to see them and got a timely reminder of how spectacular Polunin can be. (Hint to Mr O'Hare if reading this - Friday and weekend scheduling would be much appreciated by those of us who have to travel. thank you )

There's a repeat on Sunday 10th. Locations here: http://www.roh.org.uk/search/screenings?location=London%2C+United+Kingdom&showing=5103

First time seeing La Fille tonight...I really enjoyed it! Probably going to be one of my favourite ballets, as I like light hearted fun ballets (there are far too many choreographers around trying to build credibility by going for "serious" aka gloomy themes and lighting in my opinion!). Muntagirov had a great presence and brought an infectious warmth to the role. I had the sense that by the end he was pretty tired, and in the final act there was a bit of hesitation with some of the lifts - like he'd got into position too early then had to stand there waiting for the right moment to lift her. But I'm nitpicking to an extent - generally he was his usual technically wonderful self. I was pleasantly surprised by Laura Morera. She's not done a lot for me in previous performances, but tonight she seemed to really suit the role - she had a down-to-earth vivacity and playfulness which worked really well. And her dancing was wonderful - really light and beautiful but fun at the same time. Enjoyed Will Tuckett as the widow and Gary Avis as the neighbour very much. I admire Mr Avis' ability to put aside his own ego and waddle round the stage like he's got a duck down his trousers, letting others steal the limelight. As he's still a very fine dancer, it shows he's putting the company and performance before himself I think. I wasn't too sure about Paul Kay - mainly I think because I didn't entirely get the character. Is he supposed to have learning difficulties (I guess what used to be called a simpleton, in the La Fille old pastoral context)? Or is he just very shy or awkward?

Left in the interval! Definitely not my cup of tea, I'm afraid

He's been guesting an awful lot around the world (recently popped up in Kazakhstan, of all places), so his schedule is not just his RB performances. Although 3 performances in a short space of time is actually a decent amount for a RB principal... All fingers crossed that it's minor and he recovers soon

Thanks Alison, was wondering why there wasn't a review thread for this. I thought this was a fantastic production - one of the best I've seen for telling a narrative clearly and understandably through dance. Having done a quick brush up on the play during the day to refresh my memory, I followed the characters and story very easily. However, I overheard a very amusing conversation by the people behind me in the interval - they clearly had no idea what the plot of the play actually is, so they summarised the story based on the dancing only. It was really funny! They kind of understood the main actions, but had put the wrong interpretation on each one of them to put them together into a plot that was completely unrecognisable! Unlike the commenters above, I did find it very moving - the traumatic conclusion was still a shock when played out, despite knowing what was coming. The staging is very clever - simple but effective, and all the characters are clearly and recognisably conveyed. Would definitely recommend it, a bargain at Sadlers Wells prices!

Is that for both nights MAB? Always lovely to see Muntagirov, and I'll be interested to see Denis Rodkin live as well - he was pretty impressive in the Bolshoi's Swan Lake live screen, despite a rather turgid production.

The response to this work seems to have been overwhelmingly positive (on here, reviews, twitter). I think I may be missing something as I really struggled with it and actually left in the interval. I think the decision not to have a synopsis on the cast sheet was a mistake. It's been many years since I read the book, and I couldn't remember the story remotely well enough to follow it purely through the dance. I was pretty lost for most of the 1st half - I'm not sure I even identified the characters correctly! I found the choreography workmanlike, i.e. adequate but pretty generic and a repeat of the type of movement I've seen many times before. I also found the staging and costumes didn't help, as they followed a muted colour palette (lots of cream and beige). When you're not following the story and the dancing is a bit bland, it would be a help to at least have a colourful spectacle to look at! I'm glad others liked it, this one just wasn't for me.

Thoughts on Thursday performance... I agree with all the comments here about Vadim Muntagirov's performance. How he consistently turns out such good performances is beyond me - he hasn't faltered this season, which is particularly astonishing considering the number of debuts and his guest commitments (he seems to have been travelling a lot recently, judging from twitter). I have mixed feelings about Salenko. In some sections she danced beautifully, both solo and with Muntagirov. She has that magic feather-light illusion some ballerinas have - she just seems to float into some positions, looking like her feet barely touch the ground. On the other hand, some solo sections looked distinctly wobbly and on occasion she and the conductor seemed to be out of sync. I also found myself annoyed with one particular step - there's one step which is a pirouette on two feet, where the dancer bends one leg into their thigh on each turn. Every time she did it, she seemed really slow to raise the leg, which I found increasingly irritating! Also agree with the comments about the poor pas de trois in Act I - it looked really shaky. It'll be interesting to see what the new production is like. I think the creepy drunk tutor + children bit in Act I can definitely go, along with the gay disco throne room and the horrible orange/brown costumes in Act I.

Really enjoyed this evening's performance. Considering its depth and complexity, it was also (the dreaded word) accessible. The projected blog summarising the plot of Bayadere was a stroke of genius - it's so nice to go and see something "modern" which doesn't plunge straight into incomprehensible abstract choreography. I really liked that the choreography and costumes were gender-agnostic, a good change from the stereotypical dance roles and positions. The choreography was also quite original and interesting (and impressively danced) - I can see why critics thought the third, abstract, section was the weakest, but it did draw me in and would probably be worth a repeat viewing to pick up on some of the themes. The repeated spoken phrases in the middle section got a little grating, but it's a minor niggle. Overall, one of the strongest pieces I've seen at the Linbury, and at a wisely-timed 60 minutes, doesn't outstay its welcome.

I have to say my heart sank at the beginning of last night's programme - I'm glad to see I wasn't alone in thinking the first performance (Sleeping Beauty PDD) was embarrassingly poor. Followed hot on the heels by the headless wonder video (from the balcony you just saw a lot of moving feet), it was a really disappointing start, to say the least! Thankfully, things improved from there and I really enjoyed the evening overall. Especially once I'd looked up a cast sheet on my phone during the interval - I find knowing who and what is performing makes a real difference to enjoying a gala. Charging £10 for a programme and not providing a free cast list looks like money-grubbing by the organisers, especially having charged £22 for a balcony ticket. Highlights for me: reunited Muntagirov & Klimentova; a wonderful performance of Grand Pas Classique; Ballet 101 with Xander Parrish (doesn't seem to have gone down well with balletcoforum, but I thought it was fun!) I also enjoyed Mayerling, although I think some of the audience were a bit bemused as to what was going on - it's perhaps not the most obvious gala piece. It was also great to catch Zelensky, in amazing shape at his age, although he did catch my eye a lot during the curtain call as he'd changed out of costume and looked really bored by the whole thing! Just edited to add that Cinderella by Christopher Wheeldon fell a bit flat - was ok but pretty bland, and got a lukewarm reaction from the audience. Milliepied's Amoveo also didn't seem to go down that well, but personally I found it quite enthralling.

Thoughts on my first (ballet) Onegin last night... As a ballet, it is maybe not perfect - I think the opera conveys the grand emotion and melodrama better. The ballet is emotional, but on a much more restrained level and smaller scale. However, I still liked it a lot, as a ballet I think it lacks some substance but works very well nonetheless, and I really enjoyed the performance. I was very struck by the two leads. I haven't seen the Nunez-Soares partnership often, and hadn't been particularly enraptured of them previously. I'd also read less positive reviews of Soares' abilities, so wasn't sure what to expect. He completely removed those doubts with his performance last night, which was masterful and assured throughout what looked to my untutored eye like a very difficult part technically. I also finally got why Marianela is so feted by RB audiences - her dancing was beautiful. My only comment would be she maybe needs to act on a slightly grander scale, as it was hard to discern her emotions accurately from the amphitheatre! Muntagirov (almost unrecognisable with that hair and make-up!) gave a good performance. It did remind me of a comment from Sergei Polunin that he was unhappy at RB because he had to learn a lot of new parts and make his debuts before he was ready. I think Vadim will grow into the part of Lensky over time - on his debut he struck me as having learnt the part thoroughly and able to dance it well due to his wonderful technique, but now needs time to get under the skin of the character to bring it to life. But hats off to him for the number of new parts he's learnt and apparently mastered effortlessly this season. Akane Takada seemed fine in the part of Olga, without blowing me away. I'm still unconvinced by the Takada-Muntagirov partnership - I think they work fine together, but Vadim could do so much more with a different partner. I was impressed by Hirano, giving a restrained and confident performance as the prince - I'll look out for more from him. This was my first viewing of Onegin, but it seemed to me a superlative performance by the whole company (including corps). I think the technique and passion everyone on stage put into their parts lifted it from being an ok ballet to being a good, borderline great, ballet last night.

Good point. I was thinking of the waves effect, which for me were pretty much the only interesting element of the whole piece, and the dividing dark/light stage effect which Dave mentions. However, I would agree the lighting of the actual dancing was not great - the usual shadowy effect not adding a great deal. I don't know if the piece looked better from the stalls, but from the front of the amphi any nuance of acting or gesture was rather lost. I assume Ed Watson was doing something facially which added some meaning to the whole thing, but it was lost on me (and my eyes are not that old!). I had the same thought - I'm not sure these stark abstract pieces always work in the huge opera house. I didn't like the opening, with some people just wandering on to the stage. I don't want RB to get stuck in the past, but you do get used to the ceremony of conductor applause and red curtains sweeping up... I don't mind the more modern informal approach in the Linbury, Sadlers Wells, Barbican etc., but you do need to fit your piece to the venue I think. For me it was more of a Sadlers Wells piece, which got a bit lost at ROH.