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Fonty

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  1. Fonty

    Room 101

    Fonty replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    Portugal. Hot and sunny, I hope.
  2. Fonty
    Not to mention the architecture, literature, and poetry. @Suffolkgal I have absolutely no problem with anyone being religious; my own brother is a practising Christian as well.
  3. Fonty

    Room 101

    Fonty replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    Ryanair are definitely in my bad books this evening. I have flown with them many times, and never had an issue at all. But this evening, while checking in and filling in all the details, I discovered I couldn't do it for my husband. It would not accept his date of birth; kept telling me it was an invalid date. After a bit of head scratching, I discovered that we had to fill in the details Month, Day, Year. I have filled in masses of these forms before, and they have never done it that way round. I had to go back and change my dob, plus the expiry date on my passport. Would they have prevented me from flying when I got to the airport tomorrow, for having filled in the details wrongly? Good thing my husband was born on a day after the 12th of the month, or I would never have noticed.
  4. Fonty
    I was sad when quite a few of my friends said they didn't watch the service because they are not religious. Well, neither am I, but it doesn't stop me enjoying glorious music played and sung wonderfully.
  5. Fonty
    Me too.
  6. Fonty
    I thought all the outfits were magnificent. I loved Penny Mordaunt's outfit, with the cape effect on the dress. And wonderful to see all the hats for the ladies. I adore hats, but very rarely get a chance to wear them. And I thought that Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were so well behaved. He is only 5 after all, and not many 5 year olds could sit still without wriggling about and being a distraction. Although I did notice he vanished at one point.
  7. Fonty
    I saw 3 different casts, and every single one brought something different. This is the joy of watching story ballets, there is so much scope for a variety of interpretations. I think this is particularly true of Ashton's ballets, as his characters cover such a broad spectrum which require not only exceptional technique but wonderful dramatic skills as well . And makes you realise what a heck of an actress Margot Fonteyn must have been. Of course I have my favourites, and I have said before how sad I am to see Morera go as she was definitely top of my list in just about everything. However, I am sure I will discover new favourites over the next year or two, which I am looking forward to. It will be interesting to see who is cast as Cinderella when it comes around again. By that time, Lamb will be not far off Morera's age now, (I think?) and Nunez is about 2 years younger.
  8. Fonty
    That applies to every performance in any ballet, doesn't it @zxDaveM?
  9. Fonty
    Thinking about the descriptions of the characters in Giselle in the 19th century, that all seems to be the typical thought of that era, with a handsome romantic prince, a beautiful girl from a lower class who has captured his heart, and a black hearted villain who comes along and spoils it all. A little too treacly and sentimental for my taste.
  10. Fonty
    True! In fact, being a male of noble birth in any ballet seems to make him automatically a bit of an idiot. I've always felt rather sorry for Hilarion, I've never thought of him as a villain at all. As a peasant himself, he is well aware that nothing good can come out of a relationship of a peasant girl with a nobleman, no matter how much Albrecht claims to love her. It seems very unfair that he ends up dying.
  11. Fonty
    That is a very charitable interpretation, Sim. I've always thought Albrecht's behaviour is a variation of the old droit du seigneur! Of course, many men of his class married for duty and sought pleasure elsewhere, which is fine if the other woman is well aware of the situation. To choose a peasant, and more to the point dress like one in order to fool her and seduce her, makes him a very selfish, self centred man in my opinion. Normally the current object of his affections would probably be dismissed in favour of a newer model, but this one dies in front of him, and so it is brought home to him in the most brutal fashion exactly what he has done. Nicely reinforced by the Willis in act 2, of course. I have never seen Albrecht played as an out and out cad in first act, but it could certainly work and enable him to redeem himself by true remorse afterwards. Edited to add, now I come to think of it, Kobborg conveyed that his character's intentions were not exactly honourable when he starred with Rojo. He gave a rather cynical leer when he doctored the flower in the "loves me, loves me not" section.
  12. Fonty
    Who was the Lilac Fairy? Oops, sorry, that was a genuine mistake! Who was the Fairy Godmother?
  13. Fonty
    With regard to the Royal loo, there is also a perfectly normal one that is for the private use of the Royal Box patrons. Or there was about 30 years ago, which was the last time I saw it. I don't suppose they show people that on the tour.
  14. Fonty
    It is a very interesting discussion.
  15. Fonty
    Maybe just call it "Cecchetti and the impact on Ashton's ballets" or something like that? And keep it in this forum, rather than in the Doing Dance one? Edited to add I don't look at the Doing Dance one that often, as it is usually full of stuff about classes for children. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, I hasten to add, but as I don't have any children and don't go to classes myself at the moment, I don't think I will find anything that will be of interest to me.
  16. Fonty
    We only had Cecchetti classes once a fortnight on a Saturday when I was a nipper. Of course, it may have been different for the older students.
  17. Fonty
    I am surprised to learn that Bussell was mainly Cecchetti trained. I didn't think White Lodge had ever used it as the main method of teaching. I thought it was more an add on to whatever system was the main one. Having said that, I am a bit ignorant on the various other types of ballet training.
  18. Fonty
    I do find it very depressing that the chassé seems to be vanishing. As @alison says, it is not exactly a difficult step. I don't know if there is a specific thread for the Cecchetti method? I would be interested to know why something that teaches the very essence of ballet imo is apparently no longer used much? I asked the question before, and I assume nobody knows the answer as to why such basic moves are now being disregarded. What exactly do dancers do in classes now?
  19. Fonty
    What a lovely photo. I see she has her tutu undone, but still has her pointe shoes on. I would have thought those would be the first things to discard! Although it wouldn't make for such a nice picture, of course.
  20. Fonty
    The way Ursula Hageli describes the Cecchetti method has me wondering why on earth other methods are considered more favourable? Doing the same precision exercises every day and trying to maintain pin sharp accuracy are hugely beneficial to technique, surely?
  21. Fonty
    I think Hayward had been ill prior to her debut in Swan Lake, hadn't she?
  22. Fonty
    I suspect that if a principal found that a less well known company was performing a ballet they were very keen to dance in, it would help the advance booking no end for that company? If I had found that Morera was guesting with Another Company as Juliet, and it was within reasonable travelling distance, I would have been there like a shot! Having said that, the problem might be rehearsing with whatever partner you would be dancing with. Although that would be a problem no matter how big the company was, if it wasn't someone you regularly dance with or have had masses of rehearsal time with. Edited to add that Emeralds posted while I was still typing. Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, are you listening?
  23. Fonty

    Room 101

    Fonty replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    Very sorry to hear that Alison. Back to room 101. I would like to put in it Tall People. Particularly those that end up sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME IN THE OPERA HOUSE! I vote for height restricted performances for those of us who are on the shorter side.
  24. Fonty
    @Ondine When I talked about Cecchetti and certain classes, I was only a child at the time! About 10 or 11 if I remember correctly. I wasn't suggesting for one minute that professionals could get by on that type of class once in a while. I think it is also a shame that Laura was always cast as the Gypsy in the Two Pigeons, and never as the main Girl. I think she would have brought real character and depth to the main role. With regard to Swan Lake and SB, do you think part of the problem is that some dancers are more pushy and demanding? Or is it that the powers that be are mainly concerned with the Box Office? Are the casting directors being swayed by a certain amount of self publicity on the part of individual dancers? I am sure we can all think of dancers who are/were guaranteed to fill the house, even if there are others who might have been a much better fit for the roles.
  25. Fonty
    When I was at school, we had certain classes in the Cecchetti method. I adored the teacher, but I can't really remember much about how different the classes were. I saw Morera in Onegin and thought she was marvellous. I did wonder why she was never cast again. Having said that, she is in good company. I also saw Rojo, and she was prevented from dancing it in later runs. Not being cast as Juliet is a disgrace for Laura. I remember her saying she danced part of it with Cervera in front of Monica Mason. Mason agreed they were great in it, but said she was "too useful" in other roles to cast as a lead in anything. This was before Morera was made Principal. I would have loved to have seen her in Swan Lake, her dramatic skills would have created a wonderful contrast between Odette and Odile.
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