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Timmie

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  1. Timmie
    Rhapsody was a lovely lyrical revelation, I’d not seen this before and can imagine that it is very different with a bravura style. Do we know how Ashton intended it? I ask because it says it was created on Baryshnikov so maybe it is meant to be quite Bravura? I’ll be interested to hear how McRae and Osipova perform it, compared to Hay and Hayward, from those of you who will see both. The Pas de Deux was the best part of the afternoon for me with H&H working so well together. Two Pigeons, totally charming, and I agree with what has been said above. And of course, nice to put faces to names for some of my fellow inmates of the Ballet Forum .
  2. Timmie
    Slowly catching up on my Christmas ballet . I thought the Darcey’s Heroes programme was excellent . Loads of good clips and a nice theme. For me the balance was fine, good for the ballet newcomer and enough specialist stuff for someone with a bit but not much ballet knowledge (me). I enjoyed the Bournonville stuff and I’ll definitely be watching again with a notepad to write down some names to Google and some clips to find. I think it is the same with any topic on TV, if you are very knowledgeable then you are unlikely to be satisfied. I am at the bottom end of knowledgeable on ballet and I am happy with most of the ballet on TV. On subjects where my knowledge is much higher – then I rarely bother to watch and if I do it’s with my finger on the FF button. It’s just one of those things !
  3. Timmie
    Well I watched Acosta’s Carmen yesterday with Mrs Timmie and we both liked it… After reading this thread I went in with low expectations, which might be the reason, but I thought there were some nice pas de deux and I liked the opera singers on stage. I could have done with Miss Nunez keeping her dress on though (as an older gentleman I am a bit uncomfortable watching young ladies dancing in frilly underwear ). Mrs Timmie, a casual ballet watcher, said she enjoyed it and would be quite happy to have seen it at the ROH (she is quite fussy as to when she will deign to accompany me ).
  4. Timmie
    I am choosing just four, as these were head and shoulders above the rest in my year. In reverse order: 4/ Monotones I and II. The purest ballet I have seen. No story to distract, just the beauty of the dance to wallow in. And when performed by Maguire/Naghdi/Dyer and Nuñez/Hristov/Watson it was sublime. 3/ La Fille Mal Gardée. This is the most perfect ballet I have seen. It has everything needed in a story ballet, can be understood without reading-up first and has no extraneous content. I saw the Osipova/McRae cast but it is the ballet I remember rather than the performance. And equal first: 1/ Royal Ballet Swan Lake. Nunez/Soares. Very special to me as it was the RB Swan Lake Blu Ray with these two that got me loving ballet in the first place so to finally see them perform it live was the highlight of my year. 1/ Romeo and Juliet. Naghdi/Ball. Possibly the best ballet I have seen, me eyes are filling up just thinking about it. And a special thanks to Sim for the Naghdi/Ball review which captured the emotion of the performance (post 280 of the R&J thread). I’ve saved this and re-reading it will help me remember the performance forever.
  5. Timmie
    Nutcracker is my least favourite of the big ballets, but this one sounds like fun! Were the three men dancing in red pointe shoes actually dancing en pointe?
  6. Timmie
    Somebody more knowledgeable on the history of ballet might want to help me on this one, but, my understanding is that a key tenet in the development of classical ballet was how to move and position the human form in the most perfect and aesthetic way possible. This is what I mean by beauty, not the beauty of an individual (though that helps) but to get the visual best from anyone. The achievement of this in something like Symphonic Variations is the main reason I like ballet.
  7. Timmie
    Disclaimer: art and art appreciation is not really my thing, but… Ballet must be visually beautiful, if it’s not then it’s not ballet. A good ballet will also affect the viewer emotionally (other than simple appreciation of the beauty). It does this best by showing insights to the human condition and human emotions. For example, I have read Romeo and Juliet, seen assorted plays and movies, but it was only my first R&J ballet and Yasmine Naghdi’s Juliet that made me feel the burning urge to make a donation to the NSPCC because her betrayal by her parents was so heart-rending to watch. This was ballet at its greatest level. It wasn’t necessarily the story but the simple interaction between daughter and parents that was so affecting To be ‘with the times’ a ballet would not need to be about global warming or terrorism but should look at the underlying human-oriented aspects and focus on those. Loss of your native land due to rising sea-levels could make for some beautiful choreography (that sounds a bit tasteless, but you know what I mean) and could have an emotional impact. Personally I would not watch some obvious worthy-narrative type ballet (An Inconvenient Truth, the ballet) but would watch something that is all about the dancing and with a simple message. It has to be beautiful to make us want to see it. Personally I get challenged enough in the real world and want to go to the ballet, not to escape the real world, but to see humanity at its best.
  8. Timmie
    In my enthusiasm over Monotones I forgot the Two Pigeons! The matinee was excellent. If this was James Hay’s debut in the role then he was amazing, he looked like he had been dancing it for years. In the final scene when the Young Man appears with one pigeon on his shoulder I remembered that I had been promised tears (by a certain Janet McNulty) and sure enough I could feel them coming, but then that pesky pigeon started playing up. He would not leave James Hay’s arm but just kept walking up his arm as James kept moving his arm ever further downwards towards the chair. This went on for quite awhile and by now half the audience (including me) were chuckling out loud. Finally the pigeon hopped off. I thought uh-oh, that has killed the mood. But no, one glance at James’s heartbroken face, and bang, right back on it. He kept fully in character and really was very good. It is possible I was blubbing at the end…
  9. Timmie
    Monotones, oh-my-gosh, the purest and most beautiful of ballets I have ever seen. Today’s matinee was danced to perfection. The recording of this really does not do it justice. I have watched the recording a few times and thought, what are those costumes all about? But seeing it live the costumes just work. I was misty eyed just from the shear beauty I was experiencing. Not a wobble in sight.
  10. Timmie
    Thanks A Frog, I'll make sure I get there a bit early.
  11. Timmie
    How’s everyone finding ease of access to the ROH at the moment, what with the Open Up project and the increased security. Any delays to get in? Is the main cloakroom still open OK and running smoothly? (Matinee-ing tomorrow for the first time for a couple of months).
  12. Timmie
    Interesting comment on the conductor noises. I was in the ROH front row orchestra stalls recently, just a few seats away from the conductor, and he was singing along with the music at times – after some initial surprise I found it quite endearing.
  13. Timmie
    Lovely reviews Irmgard, I was at the Saturday evening show and I totally agree with your comments above. I have underlined the sentence which describes what I thought was the most amazing and agonising part to watch (in a good way!) of Summerscales's performance. I agree the ENB orchestra were excellent (I think the MK Theatre acoustics help). I was a bit worried about the number of props flying around on the stage above the orchestra though. And I hope they did a good risk assessment for that big cart at the beginning – I could just imagine it rolling into the pit!
  14. Timmie
    I enjoy the reviews of your overseas ballet travels Don Q Fan, one day I’ll get myself organised and do a trip!
  15. Timmie
    When I saw the cast list for R&J with Naghdi/Ball all those months ago I had a feeling it would be something special, so I treated myself to an expensive seat. As I settled in comfortably nice and early on Saturday, imagine my trepidation when four, maybe five, little girls (sub-teens) sat themselves behind me… They were as good as gold ! All I heard, twice maybe, was a whisper during a pause in the action for a bit of clarification as to what had just happened. Respect to the parents and kudos to the girls. Good behaviour is still alive and well.
  16. Timmie
    Interesting comment about the scrim going up and down Beryl. If I remember correctly the scrim was down the whole performance last time around and this was one of my biggest bugbears.
  17. Timmie
    Most of the best stuff was indeed gone - I was hoping to get a book or two. But the good news was that it's now 50% off recordings as well. I picked up six blu rays and a Fonteyn/Nureyev tea tray to put my glass of wine on when I'm watching them .
  18. Timmie
    My tuppence-worth… After loving Yasmine Naghdi’s dancing over the last two or three years I was not at all surprised by the quality of the ballet. Yasmine has such a soft and beautiful English style of ballet dancing. What was amazing was the quality of acting, though not really acting as Yasmine was living the role. The bedroom scene where Juliet was bullied by her parents was truly disturbing. The Crypt scene with the silent scream (loud orchestral moment though) was completely harrowing. Tears were rolling down my face during most of that last act. I had thought I didn’t like Romeo and Juliet and this was the only one I booked, but now R&J is one of my favourites and after wondering many times if live viewing was really that much better than a live recording, I don’t have to ask that question anymore. The corps’ Harlots and townswomen/men were excellent in Acts 1/11. The swordplay between Romeo and Tybalt was brilliant and I couldn’t help thinking of the Star Wars ‘Duel of the Fates’ light sabre battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul. (Sorry).
  19. Timmie
    I wasn’t able to watch this yesterday but really enjoying the replay today. The Two Pigeons rehearsal is wonderful – but I think I might have 'and-girl-turn and-boy-turn' going through my head when I’m watching later in the year…
  20. Timmie
    Funny Alison! Very funnny!!
  21. Timmie
    Thanks for the reviews folks, I’m now even more looking forward to both performances at Sadler’s Wells on the 14th of October. Matinee from high up in the second circle to take it all in and for best overall effect and evening from front row stalls for maximum in-your-face soloist goodness . First time at Sadler’s Wells and first BRB .
  22. Timmie
    Good call .
  23. Timmie
    Just to put the alternative point of view… I go to the ROH for the RB about 10-12 times a year and for me basic Friends plus using the one week earlier package booking option is worth it. I’m quite fussy about casts and very fussy about where I sit. This Tuesday just gone I was able to get the seats I wanted – two on the end of front row centre block Amphi and one end of second row and all matinee performances. Having got front row Amphi and matinees I saved a bit over the regular price which offsets the Friends cost a little. So I’m a happy friend . Next week I’ll hopefully top up with a few more Giselles.
  24. Timmie
    That's gorgeous. LC really is the perfect ballerina. Remind us when the next two are available Janet!
  25. Timmie
    Whilst I was possibly slightly exaggerating, , that is easy to answer, we saw Osipova in The Flames of Paris and it was one of the most thrilling things we have seen (not just ballet) and we both fell in love with her dancing.
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