Irmgard

Just to inform people that Estonian National Ballet will be showing a rehearsal on their Facebook page tomorrow at 8.30am our time. This is a rehearsal of Act I of Mary Skeaping's "Giselle" which was recorded last week as the company has placing calls onstage tomorrow so cannot participate 'live' in World Ballet Day. Their Facebook page is Rahvusooper Estonia.

I have to say that I booked on the afternoon of 3 September and had no problems whatsoever getting my ticket for the Saturday morning or making a donation - and I am neither a Friend nor a Patron so perhaps I was just extremely lucky! At half an hour, it is rather a short event but worth it just to be inside a theatre again!

With regard to Sergeyev staging the classics for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet, I had a delightful conversation with Julia Farron a few years ago. She was in the company at the time and she remembered these rehearsals. She said that Sergeyev was rather unmusical when it came to teaching variations etc. so, unbeknownst to Sergeyev, when he had left the rehearsal room for the day, De Valois would keep the dancers back and ‘clean them up’ musically.

I am rather surprised that the press release only mentions the years given to the company by Maria José Sales and Fernando Bufalá since their return to ENB round about 2014. Both dancers took a break from ENB for around five years but, previous to that, they both gave many years of wonderful service to the company, with Bufalá dancing a number of principal roles. Sales was definitely in the company in 1998 so has clocked up at least sixteen years with the company! Having worked on Mary Skeaping’s “Giselle” with all those who have left, including Joshua McSherry-Gray and the lovely Crystal Costa, I feel I am losing cherished members of my family! While I applaud ENB for commissioning new works for their digital season, I do hope they will also film a few classical excerpts to balance things out and take advantage of the wonderful talent so evident in the performances of “Le Corsaire” last season.

These performances so far are only advertised on the DistDancing Instagram page and can happen on Saturdays or Sundays. The organisers hope to keep them going until October. On the information page, attendees are asked to socially distance, wear masks and not to block the pathway for passers-by but obviously there is no-one to police this so one hopes that all will behave responsibly. The Instagram page also contains films of some of the performances and it is interesting to see that, as well as Japanese television, shared by Naomi above, Brazilian and Italian television have also reported on the performances!

The film was based on Maurice Maeterlinck's play, "The Blue Bird of Happiness" (1908). I remember seeing this film on its release, mainly because it featured Nadezhda Pavlova (then tipped for great stardom) and other members of the Kirov Ballet (as it was then called). It had an all-star cast, including Elizabeth Taylor as the mother and, in one of her first screen appearances, a very young Patsy Kensit as Myltyl. I do remember Cicely Tyson being a deliciously wicked cat! There was an earlier version, made in 1940, which was on television a few years ago. It starred Shirley Temple as Myltyl and was enchanting.

Zizi Jeanmaire, inoubliable interprète de « Mon truc en plumes », est morte Muse du chorégraphe Roland Petit, Zizi Jeanmaire a bouleversé les frontières traditionnelles de la danse, de la chanson et du music-hall. Elle est morte à 96 ans. Le Monde avec AFP Publié aujourd’hui à 11h27, mis à jour à 14h40 Temps deLecture 4 min. Partage Partager sur Facebook Envoyer par e-mail Partager sur Messenger Plus d’options

I expect the version on Youtube is the Dutch National Ballet production by Wheeldon which was adapted (and enlarged!) for the Royal Albert Hall. ENB performed Wheeldon's proscenium version at the start of their autumn (2019) tour.

I see from the date given in the credits at the end of the recording of Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella-in-the-round that it was filmed during the dress rehearsal on 5 June 2019. I was at this dress rehearsal and I vaguely remember cameras being dotted about the vast auditorium. This was surely the most challenging ballet to film and edit to capture all the action. I remember being disappointed at the rehearsal and subsequent performances by the standard of the choreography, especially in comparison with the company’s previous productions and, of course, the Ashton masterpiece, which very rarely matched the magnificence or emotional depths of Prokofiev’s score, here caught in all its glory thanks to the ENB Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Gavin Sutherland and the wonderful acoustics of the fabulous Royal Albert Hall. I also found much of the humour crass and tasteless (and was glad to be able to fast-forward through some of these scenes on subsequent viewings). However, there was so much to enjoy amongst individual performances and the exuberance of the corps de ballet in their many costume changes (I loved the blue outfits for the ballroom scene and thought these filmed particularly well, especially from above). Cinderella herself is a rather under-developed role in this production, having little to do except waft prettily throughout, and the choreography for her is rather underwhelming. Alina Cojocaru was ideally cast as the waif-like heroine and danced prettily but she seemed to find difficulty making the choreography seem like anything other than a series of steps, some of them very awkward. In fact, having seen all the casts throughout this run and the following autumn tour, I found that Shiori Kase made the most sense of the choreography, managing to connect the steps and imbue them with real emotion. In this performance, she was relegated to the soloist in the Spring section of the Seasons interlude and was, for the most part, obscured by the surrounding ensemble. Interestingly, I felt that Tamara Rojo as the monstrous stepmother did not come across as well on film as she did in the auditorium, especially in her drunken pas de deux with her long-suffering husband, danced throughout this run by Fabian Reimair. Isaac Hernandez, as the Prince, was in his element with the energetic and exuberant choreography, especially in his duets with his friend Ben, here danced with great style by the always elegant Jeffrey Cirio. For me, the best pas de deux for the Prince and Cinderella was at the very end of the ballet when they circled the arena in a series of very simple but beautiful lifts. As I felt at this rehearsal and all through the performances I saw, the most touching and heart-warming relationship was between Ben and the clumsy, bespectacled stepsister Clementine, here given a very appealing interpretation by Katja Khaniukova who, right from the start, shows her as bullied and humiliated by her mother and sister and manipulated into participating in the particularly mean behaviour of her sister. I was very pleased that the film captured perfectly the moment when, after their duet in the ballroom, Edwina (given an excellently unsympathetic portrayal by Emma Hawes), who has been increasingly frustrated by Clementine’s greater dancing talent, knocks her to the ground and she lies there in a crumpled, humiliating heap until lifted up by Ben and there is a lovely moment of stillness between them when he straightens up her glasses that speaks volumes. After that, their developing love story gives the ballet the magic it needs. The film also captures very well my other favourite moments, which are the beautiful Stina Quagebeur, as Cinderella’s mother, floating like an angel above the child Cinderella (a very sensitive portrayal by Bonnie Bradfield) and, of course, the spectacular tour of the arena by Cinderella’s ‘coach’ pulled by the Fates transformed into horses, with Cinderella being held aloft and her train billowing behind her. This was real theatrical magic! The streaming is available until 7pm tonight and is well worth a viewing. I note that this streaming was in collaboration with the Royal Albert Hall and donations were requested for this national treasure as well as ENB’s Future Fund. It is to be hoped that the Chancellor’s package for arts venues and institutions will benefit both these organisations, neither of which we can afford to lose. I realise I did not post anything last week about ENB’s streaming of “La Sylphide”. Despite Frank Andersen’s production not coming close to the company’s previous sublime production by Peter Schaufuss in 1979 (luckily the television film of this is available on Youtube) and being lumbered with some very unflattering costumes in Act I, this was a wonderful record of Isaac Hernandez dancing exceptionally well as James (excellent footwork and elevation in all the Bournonville beaten steps) and creating real chemistry with the other-worldly Sylph of Jurgita Dronina who was captivating from start to finish, showing an innate understanding of the Romantic style along with her instinctive musicality, and who must surely have one of the most beautifully expressive faces onstage today!

In total, I saw twelve performances of “Manon” during the 2018/2019 season and I remember being underwhelmed by Alina Cojocaru and Joseph Caley in the leading roles, just as I was when watching this streaming on Wednesday evening. Compared with almost all the other casts, I found their performance a bit too careful, lacking in spontaneity and missing the rapturous abandon in the first two pas de deux which was so thrilling in performances by the other casts. Of course, Caley’s dancing is beautiful but I did not feel it was infused with emotion in the same way as the dancing of others taking on the role of Des Grieux during the season. However, apart from some annoyingly pantomimic acting from some of the beggars in Act I and drunken harlots in Act II, there was a huge amount to enjoy in this film of the season première, not least the spotlight finally being shone on Katja Khaniukova in this series of streamings. She received two Critics Circle nominations this year, one for best female classical dancer and, watching her elegant and exquisite dancing as Lescaut’s Mistress, it was obvious why she received the nomination. She won the award for outstanding female performance (classical) for her interpretation of Frida Kahlo in “Broken Wings” and, again, it was easy to see what an exceptional dance actress she is, as she made the Mistress, a role which can very often seem two-dimensional, a real person with completely natural reactions and emotions, making her spirited, vivacious and, above all, feminine. There was a wonderful chemistry with her Lescaut, the sublime Jeffrey Cirio, who brought his flawless technique to the challenging solos, especially the drunken one, and gave us a great portrait of a darkly manipulative rogue, who could be utterly charming, even when drunk, but with a definite cruel streak, in complete contrast to his Des Grieux which was memorable for the innate tenderness in all his dancing with Manon and, of course, his beautiful adagio dancing of the solos, infused with real emotion. It was also wonderful to see two other exceptional artists, Crystal Costa and Adela Ramirez, as Courtesans, delicious in the Act I duo and hilarious in their warring duo in Act II. It is sad that we will no longer have the pleasure of seeing the effervescent Costa dance with ENB as she left the company earlier this year after several months’ sabbatical following what was essentially her farewell performance as Khan’s Giselle. Her radiant stage presence and effortless technique will be sorely missed. With so many wonderful individual performances, not least the ravishing interpretation of the score by Gavin Sutherland and the ENB Philharmonic, I will definitely be watching a few more times before this disappears at 7pm on Friday!

Pleasure!

Unfortunately I had no idea, as Khan's version is far removed from Mary Skeaping's production which I look after. However, I have asked my good friend Stina Quagebeur, who created the role of Myrtha in the Khan version, and she said Khan wanted them to have weapons as they seek revenge and he thought that holding them in the mouth made them belong to another world, not the real world. Of course, the need for them to have weapons is completely contrary to the original legend of the Wilis, who were meant to ensnare their victims with their beauty (which is why in the Skeaping production designed by David Walker the Wilis look beautiful and feminine). Personally, I am not at all fond of the ladies having to hold bamboo poles in their mouths as it cannot be good for their teeth!

Just to let you know that Tosca is actually the lead character's surname! Her name is Floria Tosca but, of course, being a famous opera singer, she is referred to simply by her surname, even by her lover Cavaradossi! So, you were quite entitled to call your male cat by that name! ☺️ My current cats are Mimi (from La boheme) and Rudi (after Nureyev because he had such amazing cheekbones as a kitten!).

For those unable to attend summer schools this year or who are just looking for lessons to keep technique in shape until studios are allowed to reopen, this is to let you know of a new platform for online private ballet classes which is being hosted by dancers and ballet masters in the USA but has an international roster of teachers available. The website is www.mysensei.me. Amongst the teachers offering private lessons are Audrey Klemm, ballet teacher at the Paris Opera, and Yannick Boquin, freelance teacher who has been guest teacher at the Bolshoi amongst other companies. I can personally recommend Jurgita Dronina, Lead Principal with English National Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, as I have been doing her online classes since lockdown began, after not having done anything since I stopped teaching twenty years ago, and I have been very impressed with her method of training (good for all ‘schools’ such as RAD, Cecchetti and Vaganova) and her excellent corrections. Likewise, Pedro Lapetra of English National Ballet (a fabulous technician), has recently graduated from the Royal Ballet School teacher training course for professional dancers and is also offering private lessons. Both of them can be contacted via the website or via their own profiles on Facebook and Instagram and I know they will both tailor their lessons to your level and may also consider semi-private classes. Hopefully this post does not breach any BCF rules but I feel it is important to let students, parents and professional dancers know what is available during these challenging times. I have no association with the above website, apart from enjoying the classes they have offered on their other platform, worldwide ballet class, which has generously offered free classes throughout. Irmgard Berry

Contractual agreements with choreographers/estates etc. usually only allow for one complete recording of a ballet to be made for archive purposes with only very short extracts from it being allowed to be used for publicity purposes. To record a complete ballet for any other purpose requires a separate negotiation, which is why ENB (and presumably other companies) have had to contact copyright holders to ask permission to show the complete ballets during these challenging times.

It seems churlish to make any criticism of ENB’s streaming of “Song of the Earth”, especially as I believe this may have been the first telecast ever of the whole ballet in the UK, only the Sixth Song having been shown in Darcey Bussell’s farewell performance, and the fact this film was only ever intended to be for archive purposes. However, I did find the close-ups particularly irritating, honing in arbitrarily on a particular dancer (usually Tamara Rojo) when there were other things happening onstage. This is such an ensemble piece that we should see all of the action all of the time, as McMillan intended and I really hated losing any tiny piece of this masterpiece! I also felt it was a shame that the opening night had been filmed, as the piece grew in profundity with each performance. I was surprised to find Rojo rather cold and expressionless compared with the other ballerinas who took on the role of the Woman (and I saw six performances throughout the run, seeing all casts). Likewise, I found Joseph Caley did not really give the Man much character at this performance, especially compared to the warmth and elegance of Aitor Arrieta (here dancing in the ensemble) as the Man, who had such wonderful chemistry with both Fernanda Oliveira and Jurgita Dronina as the Woman. Jeffrey Cirio’s superb technique was often obscured because no concession had been made to the lighting for the filming so that too often his lower half, in black tights, melted into the black backdrop. Therefore, for me, the highlight was the delightful Senri Kou in the Third Song, along with the joyous dancing of the ensemble. My criticisms aside, it was still wonderful to marvel at the beauty of the choreography, lovingly performed, and the stirring rendition of the score given by Gavin Sutherland and the English National Ballet Philharmonic and to have the chance to watch it as often as I could during the 48 hours it was available.

This online gala was a real treat and, being streamed via Vimeo, the sound and picture quality were excellent. The organisers even thoughtfully supplied a PDF of the programme along with the password to access the event. Sadly, David Motta Soares of the Bolshoi did not appear but otherwise there was a wonderful array of Brazilian talent, many of whom are principal dancers in companies all over the world. I marvelled at the enterprise of the dancers in finding spaces in which to dance. Most amazing was Mayara Magri, along with her partner Matthew Ball, of the Royal Ballet, who had found a (currently deserted) piazza in a business centre (100 Liverpool Street in the City of London) complete with balcony and staircase in which to dance the balcony pas de deux from McMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Some dancers were lucky enough to be in ballet studios. Otherwise, there was an assortment of parks, playgrounds, roof terraces and living rooms. Most ingenious was the ‘solo’ (“L’Homme”) performed by twins Vitor and Guilherme Menezes in Denmark, where the camera cut seamlessly from one of them dancing in a multistorey car park to the other dancing in a park. Most amusing was the living room setting of Paulo Arrais and Derek Dunn of Boston Ballet, performing a duet to the White Swan pas de deux while their cat, sitting on the window sill, studiously ignored them except for one brief glance before returning to staring out of the window! Other UK-based dancers taking part included ENB’s lovely Fernanda Oliveira in Nikiya’s Act I solo and Ballet Black’s Isabela Coracy in a solo she choreographed for herself. The gala lasts two hours and fifteen minutes and, if anyone is interested in having a look at this very enjoyable event, it is available until 30 June 2020 for a minimum donation of approx. £3, with 100% of your donation going to Brazilian charities. I know I will certainly be revisiting it several times to watch my favourite moments again.

I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s streaming from the Royal Opera House. I had no problems logging in via the emailed receipt from ROH, and both picture and sound quality were excellent on my computer. I last saw Ashton’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” danced by Ivan Putrov in his “Against the Stream” gala in April 2019 and I remember thinking he lacked the line and quality of Anthony Dowell (whose original performance of it at the Coliseum in 1978 I am sure I saw). There were no such misgivings about Vadim Muntagirov who was sublime in every way and demonstrated so perfectly why Ashton is a master choreographer. I last attended a recital by Sarah Connolly in Oxford in 2018 and I was delighted that her voice has lost none of its burnished beauty. As someone who makes every word of the German, and its meaning, crystal clear, she was the perfect choice for Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” and I marvelled, as always, at the effortlessness of her vocal line. I did feel that David Butt Philip pushed his voice at times, which was not necessary as the reduced orchestration (by Schoenberg) was being used, and the (extremely welcome!!) orchestra was behind him, not in front. Having taken advantage of English National Ballet’s streaming to watch McMillan’s masterpiece three times before Friday evening, I had images of his breathtaking choreography in my mind last night, especially during the final song. Is there any McMillan fan who can hear the final, repeated “ewig” without seeing those slow-motion walks downstage at the end of the ballet? Staying up for the highly entertaining online Gala from Brazil afterwards, this was a very good day!

I have just received further information from the organisers and this gala will be available to view (via Vimeo) until 30 June so no more worries about staying awake tomorrow to watch the whole thing in one go! You can also donate until 30 June and get access to it once your donation has been received.

Two dancers in Brazil have called on Brazilian dancers worldwide to take part in an online ballet gala to be broadcast on Saturday 20 June 2020 at 7pm Brazilian time (11pm UK time so it will be a late night!). Brazil is one of the worst affected countries in the Covid-19 pandemic and this gala will aid those most in need in the country. So far, the dancers participating represent thirty companies worldwide and a highlight will be Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball dancing the balcony pas de deux from MacMillan's "Romeo and Juliet". Other names familiar to UK audiences are Fernanda Oliveira of English National Ballet and twins Vitor and Guilherme Menezes, both now with Royal Danish Ballet. The excerpts have been filmed wherever the dancers have found space to dance and have been filmed according to social distancing requirements in each country, not all by professional cameramen. The organisers are asking for donations starting at R$25 (equivalent to approximately £3). After donating, you will receive a link with a password to enable you to watch the gala via Youtube. The link for donating is: https://www.vakinha.com.br/r/1067494/4845086. The first credit card I used was not accepted but my donation went through when I tried a different card. The donation form strangely asks for your date of birth and a "Document". I just typed "passport" in here but was not asked to attach it so this is probably a standard form for other things. Information about the gala, who will benefit and the donation process can be found on Instagram: Galaballetonlinebrasil.

The recordings ENB is streaming were originally made for archive purposes only and therefore they have never been seen before by the general public. Copyright holders have all given permission for the company to stream them in these difficult times so that ENB can try to maintain its public profile (and hopefully even gain some new audience members when we are allowed back into the theatres!).

It seems that Antonio Pappano was keen to showcase British composers in this first concert from the Royal Opera House, with all but two of them having been based in the UK (I include Handel in this as he spent so much of his career here). Britten’s music is a gift for singers, being so sympathetically written for the voice (although sometimes enjoyed more by the performers than the audience) but I felt that this song cycle, “On This Island”, was perhaps not the best choice to open the programme. Perhaps some of his wonderful folk song arrangements would have been more appropriate and accessible for the occasion. However, it is always a pleasure to hear Louise Alder, whose career I have been following since she was a student. Personally, I prefer Butterworth’s intensely moving song cycle, “A Shropshire Lad”, to be sung by a baritone and I felt Toby Spence, for many years one of the UK’s finest tenors, showed vocal strain at times. It is always good to hear a song cycle performed by the singer for whom it was composed, and Canadian baritone Gerald Finley certainly delivered the goods, but the songs by Mark-Anthony Turnage otherwise seemed an odd choice. The Finzi which followed was ravishing, and the two opera excerpts to end the evening were very welcome. “Morgen”, by Richard Strauss, has long been one of my favourite songs but I felt Wayne McGregor’s choreography did not do justice to the music, text or the considerable talents of Cesar Corrales and Francesca Hayward. There was one gorgeous overhead lift towards the end but otherwise I felt the choreography was an uncomfortable mix of contemporary and pseudoclassical with the rather animalistic movements for Corrales, no matter how well performed (reminiscent of his Hilarion in Khan’s “Giselle”), especially at odds with the serene beauty of the music. I will therefore look forward to next week’s offering by master choreographer Frederick Ashton. Coupled with a full (musical) performance of “The Song of the Earth” (albeit in the reduced orchestration) sung by the incomparable Dame Sarah Connolly, who has recently been absent from the stage while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, it will be a real bargain at £4.95. Added to the pleasure will be ENB’s generous, free streaming of MacMillan’s masterpiece on Wednesday (and available for 48 hours) so that memories of his glorious choreography will still be fresh in my mind, particularly the sublime final moments.

Just checked my cast sheets from 2018 and Peter Farmer is credited with the design.

Anthony Russell-Roberts, who owns the rights to Ashton's Act IV, lists it as in ENB's repertoire but that is not to say it has not been modified from the version the Royal Ballet used to dance.

I have to confess I was disappointed in this documentary and could only think of what might have been. Going on its description in Radio Times that it would reveal “the athleticism as well as lyricism it takes to be a male ballet dancer today”, it certainly did not succeed, spending too much time on talking and not enough in demonstrating this. It seems to me that the film-maker was more interested in eavesdropping on dressing room chit-chat and break-time banter instead of showing the extremely hard work that goes into making ballet look effortless in performance. Why not show the weight-training, the mechanics of pas de deux work and the physical stamina required to make even the shortest variation look effortless (perhaps showing something like the bluebird solo in slow motion and in close-up) to explain why we have a “golden generation” of male dancers at the Royal Ballet (not forgetting English National Ballet where both Muntagirov and Corrales started their professional ballet careers). They deserved better than this “Hello” magazine approach.