Jan McNulty

No, it wasn't up when I did the links. The review will be in today's links (Monday).

Hello Munchkin, I do hope you can get something sorted out for yourself. In what part of the country are you looking for a teacher?

Quite a few choreographers seem to use a dramaturg these days when creating story ballets.

Same here in Edinburgh Jane, we saw loads of adults in very imaginative costumes. On he bus back to our guest house I was sat next to a merry gentleman(!) who was wearing a necklace of what looked like organs from a body (plastic but very realistic)!

I think Hallowe'en has gone way over the top in this country and trick or treating has gone way out of control! When I am at home I pretend I am not in and don't answer the door! What is wrong with duck-apple? I used to love Hallowe'en as a child but not any more! Bah Humbug rant over!

I've seen 3 performances over the weekend. SheilaC has described the production very well. I saw the same 2 casts as Sheila. I thought the performances were terrific, as Sheila says they were very well rehearsed. The dancers also acted convincingly. I loved the way what we would normally see as the peasant pdd has been used more as a wedding party with Giselle, Albrecht and Hilarion also participating in the dancing. I loved the incredibly snooty hunting party. Interestingly the Duke and Mathilde did not stay in the house but left with the rest of the hunting party and a picnic provided by the villagers. It didn't detract from the later revelation. I like the prologue and epilogue with older Albrecht, it adds a roundness to the story telling. I enjoyed Kohei Iwamoto's performance as Albrecht tremendously. I thought he came over rather well as an aristocrat pretending to be a peasant - yes he was a bit of a lad but when he told Wilfrid to leave and went to grab the sword he didn't have he immediately showed he was an aristocrat by his stance and expression. His dancing was absolutely gorgeous throughout - he has the most beautifully soft leap with lots of ballon. Lucy Green was a delight as Giselle and they have a very strong on stage rapport. IMHO this is an intelligent and very enjoyable production danced well by an attractive company. I'm looking forward to the mixed programme in Leeds this week. The performance lasts 2 hours. I understand the mixed programme is a similar length. It was nice bumping into DonQ Fan too!

Links - Sunday 01 November, 2015 Review - American Ballet Theatre, After you, Le Spectre de la Rose, Valse Fantasie, The Green Table, New York: Oksana Khadarina, Fjord Review Review - Royal Ballet, Viscera, Afternoon of a Faun, Tchaikovsky pdd, Carmen, London: Jeffrey Taylor, Express Review - Boston Ballet, Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler, Boston: Jeanne Denizard, Boston Examiner Review - Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream add, Romeo & Juliet (Bejart), Emeralds, Washington: Sarah Kaufman, Washington Post Review - Hussein Chalayan, Gravity Fatigue, London: Rachel Elderkin, Exeunt Review - Akram Khan Company & MOKO Dance, Chotto Desh, London: Rachel Elderkin, British Theatre Guide Review - English National Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Southampton: Emily Ford, Hampshire Chronicle Feature - Australia and Coppelia, the boomerang ballet: Valerie Lawson, Dancelines TV Review - BalletBoyz at the Roundhouse: Hannah Weibye, Arts Desk TV Review - Flesh and Bone: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Feature - Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances: Maggie Foyer, Playbill

A post on this thread is hidden because it contravenes the Acceptable Use Policy and/or forum moderation policy. Subsequent responses have also been hidden. This topic is now locked. I would like to remind everyone of the Acceptable User Policy: "Contributors must be respectful to others. Vulgar, abusive, racist, and sexist language will not be tolerated. Any posts determined by a moderator to be either offensive or potentially libellous or unlawful or to be against the spirit of this acceptable use policy will be removed. The relevant poster’s account may be suspended or banned. If a member chooses to make highly critical comments this must be done in their own full name and not behind an anonymous user name and email address."

See my post #16 - I saw it there!

Links - Saturday 31 October, 2015 Review - American Ballet Theatre, Piano Concerto No 1, New York: Alastair Macaulay, NY Times Review - American Ballet Theatre, After You, Le Spectre de la Rose, Valse Fantasie, The Green Table, New York: Sondra Forsyth, Broadway World Review - Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Sleeping Beauty, Leicester: Sally Jack, British Theatre Guide Reviews - Hussein Chalayan, Gravity Fatigue, London: Louise Levene, FT Judith Mackrell, Guardian Hannah Weibye, Arts Desk Lyndsey Winship, Standard Zoe Anderson, Independent Vera Liber, British Theatre Guide Review - Rambert, Frames, Transfigured Night, Rooster, Birmingham: Emma Cann, Broadway World Review - Queensland Ballet, Sleeping Beauty, Brisbane: Elise Lawrence, Limelight Review – Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker & Boris Charmatz, Partita 2, New York: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Reviews - Zoo Nation, Into the Hoods, London: Lyndsey Winship, Standard Laura D, Londonist Video Gallery - Daryl Baker, Guardian News - This week’s new dance in London & RNZB on tour: Judith Mackrell, Guardian Feature - Push for Diversity in Ballet Turns to Training the Next Generation: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Review - Ballet Next, Don’t Blink, Ushuaia, Strange Flowers, New York: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Feature - Does it matter what you call a performance: Lyndsey Winship, London Dance Review - Milwaukee Ballet, Dracula, Milwaukee: Peggy Sue Dunigan, Broadway World Review - Sankai Juku, Umusuna: Memories Before History, New York: Siobhan Burke, NY Times Preview - Sankai Juku, Umusuna: Memories Before History, Ottawa: Peter Robb, Ottawa Citizen Review - Tony Adigun, The Factory, London: Rachel Eldurkin, Exeunt Review - Russian National Ballet, Swan Lake, Canberra: Michelle Potter, Sydney Morning Herald

But the Valkyries in tight black leather were very memorable! I saw it at the Edin Fest. It was so long that I missed the firework display and I was praying for it to end by the end but I have never forgotten those Valkyries!

What an interesting topic NaB. I've got to admit that I am a total philistine and prefer opera without the singing! Perhaps something like Aida would work as a ballet? I'm not overly familiar with opera so that is the only one I can come up with. I've amended the title slightly to open it up more too.

BRB tend only to issue the tour venues as the tickets go on sale. If the company goes back to High Wycombe it will be the same programme as the one in Cheltenham. I assume they will also be going back to Poole and Truro as they are now well-established dated for midscale South. On the assumption that Cheltenham is the first venue and Truro is usually the final venue then any venues nearer London would be in the intervening week (w/c 9th May). I've no details at all about midscale North but would assume that the company will be going to Durham and York (as they have been the 2 constant venues since midscale started) and possibly Shrewsbury as they have been there for the last couple of years. I've not heard any hints about the Northern rep. Cheltenham details: https://www.everymantheatre.org.uk/m-shows/birmingham-royal-ballet-1/

Tour dates: http://www.ballettheatreuk.com/#!tour-dates/c1yr1 I've only just realised the company were on in Southport tonight and I can't go to Runcorn either. Grrrrr...

Here is a link to the Guardian article that lists all the nominees for the 2015 Awards. http://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/oct/29/national-dance-awards-2015-nominations Congratulations to all of them!

Lachlan is doing very well. He had a period of injury but is coming back better than ever! Lewis Turner, of the young gentlemen of the company is also well worth looking out for. Of the younger ladies I always enjoy watching Laura Day, Karla Dorbar, Miki Mizutani and Yaoqian Shang. Actually, the whole company is looking on great form at the moment.

Hello Mumofaboy and welcome to the Forum! Please let us know how your son gets on.

By no means! Brandon already has an enormous fan club (as does Tyrone).

BRB are performing Solitaire on Midscale South next year. The programme is listed on the Everyman Cheltenham website. https://www.everymantheatre.org.uk/m-shows/birmingham-royal-ballet-1/

Yes Alison, I think there was a lot of publicity about this issue 6 or 7 years ago.

WILD CARD at Sadler’s Wells presents Leila McMillan Thursday 3 December 2015 Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 4TN Tickets: £17 Ticket office: 0844 412 4300 or www.sadlerswells.com Sadler’s Wells presents the latest edition of Wild Card, the unique initiative which opens the stage to an exciting and adventurous community of dance makers, giving a broad range of artists the opportunity to present their own programmes of dance. These specially curated evenings feature exploratory approaches to choreography and combine different mediums, broadening audiences’ perspectives on dance made today. California-born, London-based Leila McMillan offers up a bespoke evening on Thursday 3 December in the Lilian Baylis Studio, featuring her own work alongside international artists. Her aim is to shed light onto Flying Low and Passing Through, dance techniques that have become increasingly popular around the world. Flying Low is a contemporary dance training style developed by the Venezuelan dancer and choreographer David Zambrano. It focuses on the dancer’s relationship with the floor, but also uses speed-charged movement and compelling expressivity. Born from Zambrano’s personal experience, it has become a codified technique to create new dance works, together with an accompanying improvisation technique called Passing Through. McMillan is a UK ambassador of the Flying Low and Passing Through techniques, now widely used by international companies such as Ultima Vez and Rosas. The evening includes an extract from McMillan’s new work Family Portrait - a constellation of family members dealing with love, humour, dysfunction and harmony. The structured improvisation, which incorporates live music by Domenico Angarano, was inspired by the McMillan’s discovery of an old family portrait from the 1920s and seeks to examine how these treasured mementos belie contradictory family histories. The second piece, Lucid, is choreographed and performed by international dance company Jukstapoz (Christine Gouzelis and Paul Blackman, former dancers with Jasmin Vardimon Company) and comprises an extract from a longer piece, Vicious Cycles, developed in 2014. The work sets out to discover ways of breaking free from the vicious cycle of eternal repetition, and models of behaviour that continually lead us to the same thoughts, actions and mistakes. McMillan is a co-founder of Muxima - art and culture café/spaces in East London. Muxima will curate an exhibition and live music as part of the evening, featuring performances from Aidan Connell. She is also a choreographer, teacher and performer who has worked with artists such as Crystal Pite and Wendy Houstoun. Born and raised in Southern California to a family of European artists, dancing was always in her blood, passed to her from her grandmother who was a ballerina in the corps de ballet at Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company in the 1940s. She is one the few internationally certified artists teaching Flying Low and Passing Through and has led the development of this approach in the UK. She first encountered Gouzelis and Blackman when they were invited amongst 50 artists to take part in 50 days of Flying Low and Passing Through with Zambrano in Costa Rica. Wild Card is part of Sadler’s Wells’ programme of support for young and emerging dance talent, alongside other initiatives including the New Wave Associates programme, Sadler’s Wells Summer University and hosting the National Youth Dance Company. Performances at 8pm, pre-show activities from 7pm Wild Card is supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and The Garrick Charitable Trust.

Apart from one venerable gentleman, I wouldn't know a national newspaper critic if I fell over them! If I had overheard something I would have just assumed it was a private individual.

There are loads of Natalia Osipovas on twitter! The one I linked to seems to be the real one. The account mostly seems to be cross-posts from Instagram and they certainly look like pictures of NO of the Royal Ballet.

https://twitter.com/NatOsipova

Perhaps they were there as private individuals?