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Fonty

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  1. Fonty
    The first ballet I saw was Swan Lake when I was about 5 in our local theatre. I have no idea which company was performing, all I know is that I was absolutely enchanted by the whole thing.
  2. Fonty
    Goodness me. I must go back and look at Romeo and Juliet again, I must be missing something.
  3. Fonty
    Ah yes, Infra. I remember doing a review of that for the old ballet.co.uk forum. Not very often I am driven to write something, but on this occasion I felt the urge. Let's just say if that is on a triple bill I see in the future, I will be outside propping up the bar waiting for it to finish.
  4. Fonty
    More's the pity, then, in my opinion. I don't feel his works define a dance style at all; they are more a voyeur's delight of moving body parts.
  5. Fonty
    Oh lucky, lucky you! The problem is that there are so many clips of Fonteyn and Nureyev, but very few of any other partnership. There is a tiny snippet on Seymour and Gable on Youtube in The Two Pigeons, and I think I saw a short clip of her dancing Juliet on a ballet programme, but I don't think it was with Gable. Such a pity that these wonderful partnerships have no proper recordings as a permanent record.
  6. Fonty
    My heart sinks when I hear that rehearsal time has been short for anything, let alone a new ballet. Just been looking at the ROH website, and looking at the Gloria programme, does Wayne McGregor really deserve to be described as a "defining choreographer of the Royal Ballet"? Is his body of work so impressive that it should be thought of in same way as those by Ashton and MacMillan?
  7. Fonty

    Room 101

    Fonty replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    What sort of hawk is it, Anjuli? Only ones I have ever seen up close are Sparrowhawks, which have the most beautiful orange eyes and lovely markings. And very long talons.
  8. Fonty
    Has anyone mentioned Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable? I never saw them, but I remember my teacher talking about them and how wonderful they were together.
  9. Fonty

    Room 101

    Fonty replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    Sorry to hear that, Anjuli. Never pleasant to have that happen, but it doesn't really help when people tell you that the hawk has to eat as well. However, it is usually a sign of a healthy bird population if the larger predators take up residence.
  10. Fonty
    Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but I am slightly disappointed that Takahashi only gets one performance at the RAH.
  11. Fonty
    You mean she peeled very nicely?
  12. Fonty
    That must have been a long time ago, Alison? I remember Revie as a soloist, but I didn't know she had danced Principal roles.
  13. Fonty
    Yes, I would agree with that. I was an enormous fan of Guillem, but I felt that there was always a slight coolness or aloofness at the heart of every performance she gave. Consequently Cope always seemed to partnering wonderfully, but I never got a sense of his own personality matching hers. The Rojo/Cope partnership in Mayerling was probably the first time he ever convinced me that he could act. They were magnificent together in that.
  14. Fonty
    Ah yes, that must have been where I saw it, because I know I didn't see it at the ROH. Sarah Wildor must have done a magnificent portrayal of a vegetable, because she is the one that sticks in the mind. And I've got a feeling Yanowski was also in the vegetable medley as well. How many acts was it? I seem to remember reading something that said Tharp created the second act with Mistress Truth-on-Toe, and then got so "inspired" she went to create a full length ballet. Not quite sure what caused the inspiration, but it is not often you hear an audience in fits of laughter when the dancers are not performing a comedy ballet.
  15. Fonty
    Wow. That is a lot to pay for some atmosphere. They could have had even more of it they had paid a quarter of that and sat up in the amphitheatre!
  16. Fonty
    Oh, those dancing vegetables! Once seen, never,forgotten. Although I did love the second act. I would have to nominate just about anything by Ashley Page, but his This House Will Burn has to be the most bonkers thing I ever saw. I could not make out what the heck was going on. Child molesters? Arson? Edward Watson attacking Galeazzi and wearing her dress? I remember my companion picking up his jacket as the curtain came down, and muttering, "Thank goodness that's over", only for the curtain to come up again and the entire cast continuing to leap about, smoke cigarettes, rape, and kill each with relentless energy. About 45 minutes of the most baffling, incomprehensible twaddle I have ever seen. The bar did extremely well during the interval after that.
  17. Fonty
    Yes, I really enjoyed watching that. I was struck by her speed, and once again lament the fact that modern dancers seem to take things much more slowly (presumably to get the leg up higher in arabesque). Slighly off topic, but when Ulanava prepares to turn, she brings the leg in front with very little, if any, turnout. I've noticed this with Fonteyn clips as well, that she seems to perform steps with less turnout than we see now. As both dancers were the best of the best in their day, it certainly wasn't because of any lack of flexibility, so I wondered why the change in technique. Fashion?
  18. Fonty
    Well, I am sure I have mentioned Durante and Mukhamedov, because they really were one of my favourites. Terrific individual dancers, but as a partnership they took it up to another level. I was so sad when Durante left, it really was a great loss to the RB IMO. I don't know that I saw Galeazzi in that much, so I cannot pass comment on that. And although I was a huge fan of Benjamin, I can't think of any particular male partner of hers that sticks in my mind.
  19. Fonty
    Can I just say that I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a discussion about Giselle so much? Here we are, 8 pages in, and not only is there in depth analysis of various performances, but we are also talking about Hilarion's plumbing arrangements!
  20. Fonty
    Ah, but he was out alone, wasn't he? Would it have been different if he had been with his mother? Poor old Hilarion, I do feel a bit sorry for him. Girls never seem to fall for the nice guy, do they?
  21. Fonty
    And don't be a dirty, rotten, two timing scoundrel. Actually, if you were a nice man walking through the woods at night with your wife, to whom you have been a devoted and faithful husband for the last 50 years, would the Wilis still attack you?
  22. Fonty
    Yes, I don't know why they don't do that, either. Seems a bit mean, both for the audience and for the performers. I forgot to check when I came in, and at the end all I want to do is get public transport home. Yes, I am London based, but not sure I want to see it again that soon!
  23. Fonty
    There is a clip on Youtube of Fonteyn and Nureyev in 1962 which also shows a massive cross. No steps, though. And I have just spent a pleasant 11 minutes looking at Margot's wonderful arms again.
  24. Fonty
    It certainly is. But we seem to have come round in a full circle from a post I made originally i.e. that orignal productions always allowed a variety of interpretations for her death. And the setting for the grave could be interpreted accordingly, which is why the surroundings are a bit vague. I am certain that some Giselles from my childhood went down the "death by heart attack brought on by shock" route. I think it is a pity that current thinking makes the suicide issue compulsory. Quite apart from that, if someone dies by their own hand while they have clearly lost their mind and have no idea where they are or what they are doing, could they actually be deemed a suicide? Could it not be construed as death by misadventure? One for the lawyers perhaps?
  25. Fonty
    I went to see this again a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, we didn't get a cast list in our programme, so I am not sure who we were watching. But it was absolutely brilliant. We sat right up in the gods, as they were the only tickets we could get, and the swans were superb. And I had forgotten how good the Cygnets' dance was! The music was certainly played at a faster pace than the last time I saw it at the ROH, which added to the drama. And I just lusted after that red dress worn by the Queen. I felt quite wobbly of chin at the end, it was so moving. Now, when is it coming round again?
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