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Jan McNulty

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    BRB CASTING SPRING 2012

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted · Edited by JMcN

    Casting now out for Hobsons (Hobson, Mossop and Maggie) next week. Only two casts listed. Nice to see David Morse performing Hobson again.

     

    http://www.brb.org.u...09&tsk=fullcast

     

     

     

    22 February 2012 7:30 pm Hobson's Choice Henry Hobson: Morse, David

    Maggie Hobson: Elisha Willis

    Will Mossop: Robert Parker

    Conductor: Philip Ellis

    23 February 2012 2:00 pm Hobson's Choice Henry Hobson: Jonathan Payn

    Maggie Hobson: Ambra Vallo

    Will Mossop: Campbell, Alexander

    Conductor: Sutherland, Gavin

    23 February 2012 7:30 pm Hobson's Choice Henry Hobson: Morse, David

    Maggie Hobson: Elisha Willis

    Will Mossop: Robert Parker

    Conductor: Sutherland, Gavin

    24 February 2012 7:30 pm Hobson's Choice Henry Hobson: Jonathan Payn

    Maggie Hobson: Ambra Vallo

    Will Mossop: Campbell, Alexander

    Conductor: Philip Ellis

    25 February 2012 2:30 pm Hobson's Choice Henry Hobson: Jonathan Payn

    Maggie Hobson: Ambra Vallo

    Will Mossop: Campbell, Alexander

    Conductor: Philip Ellis

    25 February 2012 7:30 pm Hobson's Choice

    Henry Hobson: Morse, David

    Maggie Hobson: Elisha Willis

    Will Mossop: Robert Parker

    Conductor: Philip Ellis

    Northern Ballet - Perpetual Motion programme - Leeds - Feb 2012

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    NORTHERN BALLET – PERPETUAL MOTION PROGRAMME – LEEDS – FEB 2012

     

    On Thursday evening Northern Ballet was able to fulfil a promise made to their fans to present an evening of short works in the Company's own home.

     

    Quarry Hill, NB and Phoenix’ state of the art home, has a small theatre on the ground floor with an audience capacity of around 200 and a good sized performance space. The performance space is at ground level so that on the front row you are on a level with the dancers. The seating is well raked.

     

    The presented programme was entitled Perpetual Motion and comprised four works.

     

    The opening delight was Christopher Hampson’s gorgeous Perpetuum Mobile. Its intricate steps and patterns, for 9 dancers to Bach’s music were crisply danced by Northern Ballet. Isabella Gasparini was an absolute delight as the first young lady and Hannah Bateman and Javier Torres were sublime in the central duet. Toby Batley showed exactly why he had been nominated for a National Dance Award.

     

    A lovely touch during the pause was a musical interlude – Lierbertango by Astor Piazzolla played by Joanne Rozario and Grant Green.

     

    The second piece was leading dancer Kenneth Tindall’s first piece of choreography – Project #1. The final section was first seen at last year’s choreographic workshop and Kenneth was asked to extend it for presentation on this programme. For a first attempt at choreography it was sophisticated and rewarding. On first sight, two new and unrelated pieces of music were used for the first section and seemed to present to me a work of two halves. However by my second and third viewing, for me it provided a compelling and cohesive piece. The work is for six dancers and has sinuous movements with some fascinating interplay between the dancers and some interesting lifts. Victoria Sibson was absolutely outstanding at all three performances. I always associate her with roles that have strong characterisations so it should have come as no surprise that she was utterly mesmerising to the point that I found it almost impossible to take my eyes off her. The final trio between her, Ben Mitchell and Toby Batley may not have had an obvious plot but I found it incredibly moving. I hope that this is the first of many pieces that we shall see by Kenneth Tindall.

     

    After the interval we were treated to Daniel de Andrade’s Glass Canon, originally created for a programme presented in 2009. He uses music by Moishe’s Bagel to create a joyful, carefree atmosphere. There’s a lot of humour in this piece and I love the soaring lifts when the girls come on from the sides. Pippa Moore and Micaela Paolacci sparkled individually and together and there was a charming and cheeky duet for Ayana Kanda and Yi Song that brought chuckles from the audience.

     

    After another short musical interlude in the pause, the evening ended with Rhapsody in Blue – one episode taken from the full evening I Got Rhythm. Joanne Rozario, Grant Green and Chris Hobson performed the music. Again this piece is full of wit and danced with enthusiasm by the five couples. What a joy, too, that Keiko Amemori is guesting with the company. She is scheduled to appear in performances of Madame Butterfly and it was an added bonus that she was in Rhapsody. It ended an already joyful evening on an even higher note.

     

    Last night (Saturday) we saw alternate casts for Perpetuum Mobile and Rhapsody in Blue. Christie Duncan was divine as the first young lady and Martha Leebolt and Kenneth Tindall were breath-taking in the central duet.

     

    This programme is being shown from Tuesday to Saturday (14-18 Feb) with a matinee on 18th.

     

    From my point of view, the evening fulfilled its promise to the fans and I hope it will be the first of many such evenings to come. It provided us with a great opportunity to see the versatility of Northern Ballet’s dancers in different works in a very intimate space.

    Propeller - The Winter's Tale

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    Propeller Theatre Company are back at the Lowry this week with The Winter's Tale and Henry V. We saw The Winter's Tale last night.

     

    I love this company and the way the females in the plays are played by men wearing women's clothes (as opposed to men pretending to be women, if you see what I mean). This is a terrific production. The court of Leontes is dark and dour and the Bohemia of Polixenes is full of colour, light and fun. The start of act 2 in Bohemia was an absolute hoot with the entire company dressed as - well I don't really know how to adequately describe the silly wigs and outfits that many of them were wearing but they really worked.

     

    Propeller is very much an ensemble company but I must say that Robert Hands as Leontes, Richard Dempsey as Hermione and Vince Leigh as Paulina were absolutely outstanding.

     

    The same actor, Ben Allen, played both Mamillius and Perdita and the way the final moments were enacted showed not only the joy of the reunified family and friends but also, extremely movingly, the tragedy of the loss of a beloved son.

     

    This was a wonderful night out. Please go and see this wonderful company at a venue near you. They are in Hampstead at the beginning of July.

    Royal Ballet and guest artists etc

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted · Edited by JMcN

    No, Alex didn't do Fille at BRB but he did do Romeo, Mercutio, Puck, Bluebird and Florimund in the cross-over rep (and (yes, I know I am biased) did them wonderfully well).

     

    I know what you mean about a dancer getting an opportunity too early. I remember a dancer many years ago at Northern Ballet who got an opportunity where it didn't go awfully well and it seemed to really knock his confidence. I know I have seen some wonderful debuts over the years in midweek schools' matinees. I think the wildly enthusiastic children can give a newbie in a role a real confidence boost.

     

    It must be a balancing act for companies to give someone an opportunity that may not go well when you have got a paying audience. I know I have seen debuts where I have been thrilled that someone has got a chance but perhaps needs more time to grow but, as I go a lot I can see other performances. Perhaps for others it' a once a year performance and they would remain unsatisfied.

     

    I hope you can make sense of this ramble but suffice to say I do not envy the role of an Artistic Director!

     

    Funnily enough, I tend to refer to the political pundit as Alex Campbell these days! (edited to add this facetiousness!)

    Royal Ballet and guest artists etc

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    As such an infrequent visitor to the Royal Ballet I can't really comment on the current guest artist situation.

     

    I do believe that companies should have an appropriate amount of cover. I think probably there should be a minimum of three dancers prepared for each major role to cater for the possibility of injuries. Of course, even the best laid plans can come unstuck. A few years ago we went to Paris to see Lady of the Camelias. I don't know who we should have seen dancing but we got Jiri Bubenicek, who wasn't even listed in the programme. To this day it is one of the most memorable performances I have EVER seen. Similarly I was fortunate to see Artyom Maksakov guesting as Heathcliff with NB. I would seriously like to see that young man dancing again!

     

    On a more general note, I have mixed feelings about guest artists. I used to be opposed to the idea as, with the companies I follow, I want to see the dancers I like. However, speaking to various dancers over the years, they appreciate the occasional glimpse of a different perspective and don't seem half as bothered about the concept of guesting as I do! Therefore, the occasional treat of a guest artist I now welcome but I would not like companies to use guests as a matter of course.

    Occasional Dance Links - Features, Previews, Reviews, etc

    in Dance Links - reviews, news & features

    Posted

    I picked up a couple of articles from the Yorkshire Post. Sorry I haven't worked out how to neaten the links:

     

    http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/rise_of_dancers_who_stepped_up_to_the_challenge_1_4209024

     

    http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/the-arts/best_foot_forward_for_dancer_s_debut_as_choreographer_1_4208999

     

    We were lucky enough to see Kenneth Tindall's Project#1 at Northern Ballet's choreographic show last year and it's super. Here are details of the mixed programme:

     

    http://northernballet.com/?q=perpetual-motion

    POLL: Rehearsal photos in printed programmes

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    Nice one Alison!

     

    I like a mixture of photographs really. Sometimes looking through programmes the performance photographs are of dancers long since gone from the company. Unless they are being used in a specific context I would prefer rehearsal or (a category you didn't mention) studio photographs of current dancers. I don't like the use of photographs from other companies where a work is being performed by "this" company for the first time (again unless it is a hisoric context).

     

    Where ballets are frequently revived perhaps more rehearsal photographs of the current dancers would be nice There again, I go a lot and like to get one programme per production per season; perhaps if I was an infrequent visitor I would prefer more performance photographs. I appreciate that a constant stream of new photographs would cost the companies money.

     

    Here's another thought - with the advent of internet resources, are so many photographs necessary at all? The company websites that I look at have plenty of performance photographs to admire.

     

    Would people prefer cheaper/free programmes if there were fewer or no photographs at all? When I first started watching dance the London Contemporary Dance Theatre handouts were free. They contained enough information to aid enjoyment of the performance and basic headshots of the dancers.

    NORTHERN BALLET - MADAM BUTTERFLY - SPRING 2012

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    One of those strange coincidences of programming mean that both Northern Ballet and Operal North are performing their productions of Madame Butterfly in Leeds in a couple of week.

     

    As a taster, the companies organised a joint event in Leeds last night under the title of Butterfly (from the) Wings. The evening was led by Jon Hammond who had a Q&A session with Martin Pickard from Opera North and David Nixon, Artistic Director of Northern Ballet. The was started by Maribeth Diggle, accompanied by Martin Pickard, singing Un bel di so beautifully that I had shivers running down my spine,

     

    The Q&A session covered the approach taken to the opera and ballet productions (unsurprisingly similar) and the background of the productions and also some specifics about both the productions. It was very insightful.

     

    During the course of the Q&A we were treated to the ladies of Northern Ballet performing a dance from the Tea House scene where Butterfly first meets Pinkerton (to traditional Japanese music) and Ms Diggle singing Butterfly's final aria (caused big lump in throat). The evening ended with Micaela Paolacci dancing Butterfly's final dance, which again is performed to a traditional Japanese song. It was breathtaking and I know that I am going to need plenty of tissues for the performances I am seeing in a couple of weeks!

     

    I find these types of evening really enhance my experience of the actual performance - long may they continue!

     

    Thanks to all the participants for giving us such an interesting and rewarding evening.

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