Lindsay

Wow @sophoife we must be leading parallel lives.  I have read literally everything on your list - with the exception of more than a couple Elsie J Oxenham which remain primarily my mother’s passion.  Books were sourced mostly from my Mum’s collection, libraries and intensive scouring of the second hand bookshops in Hay-on-Wye.  Charlotte Sometimes was my absolute favourite amongst my “own” as opposed to inherited discoveries and I also loved the Trebizon books.  And the hunt to re-buy lost favourites continues - I recently found a full set of Dimsies (not the 1980s rewritten abomination!) in Oxfam and am happily working through them.  I do actually read “grown up” books too but am increasingly finding that the standard of writing in some new fiction is lower than that served up to “children” last century. Which conclusion truly lets me know that I am getting old…….

23 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Is it The Attic Term when Lawrie, a droning singer, volunteers to conduct so she can "be Sir Thomas Beecham and hum"? I don't have access to mine in order to check. IIRC she then suggests André Previn as his hands go like Concorde's nose. 

 

@Lindsay @DelphiumBlue @CCL?

Haha yes it is! When they are preparing their Form's contribution to the Carol Service.  But after Lawrie has a theatrical attempt at conducting they (correctly) decide that her talents would be better used in a dramatic reading of Kipling's Eddi's Service 

@Sophoife It's a close-run thing!  And the Nicola-Tim growing apart and then 'coming back together' to arrange the carol service in the Attic Term is so subtly done.  They are such quality novels, disguised as 'standard' school stories.

22 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

@DelphiumBlue is in our hood.

Apologies for crashing the party but am also a huge Antonia Forest fan and hence very excited by this thread - although Autumn term is my favourite, mainly because of the Christmas play

7 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Yuhui Choe is missing also, maternity leave, always joy and a reliable, versatile  First Soloist. 

True.  And I suspect Mariko Sasaki (who was a beautiful big swan on opening night of this run) has been focusing on her Odette/Odile debut so we haven't seen so much of her in soloist roles recently either

I do also find myself wondering a bit these days if regular RB goers were spoiled at the 'soloist' (i.e. in the sense of soloist roles rather than actual ranking) level a few years ago, when there were so many clear principals-in-waiting at that level and newly minted principals were still dancing soloist roles.  It felt as though, even when not seeing the opening night case, one was almost guaranteed a technically secure, musical performance in key solos.  First soloist cohorts of the quality of Kaneko, Magri and O'Sullivan don't come along all that often and I think Calvert's absence on maternity leave has perhaps highlighted the need for reinforcement at that level (although credit to Gasparini for covering almost everything and doing it beautifully!).  It will be interesting to see which of the very technically strong cohort of young dancers currently at artist and first artist level can turn their skills into consistent soloist performances across different roles.

14 hours ago, Buru said:

Apologies, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. You are right that I meant that the cygnets were not bouncy enough, which is all about technique, not the weight. 
 

By “disaster” I meant that the big swans were not in sync and their jumps were very slow; and that emotionally this was a low point of the afternoon for me personally. 
 

I stated at the beginning of my post that I actually enjoyed the performance and found it interesting to compare with my previous experience of other productions. It was not perfect or the best I have seen, but it had many nice moments.
 

By no means I purport to claim that I have seen as much as late Clement Crisp or have any similar expertise. Ballet is my passion and there were times when I went to see Swan Lake three times a week and cried in Act II as it was so perfect it hurt. But I do appreciate that it cannot happen often and still go and try to find new nuances and look for smaller details I like. I clearly identified that in yesterday’s performance these were the dialogue between Odette and Siegfried and Jo Jun as Benno. 

 

I see that most posts on the forum are written in superlatives which is fine but makes it a bit one sided. Though I appreciate that as Sim said, for each their own. Will keep it to myself going forward. 

I didn’t see Saturday’s performance Buru but saw the same cast on Wednesday - I posted about the lead performances but not in detail about the supporting cast partly because I shared the same disappointment as you, particularly with the Big Swans who were not in sync and frankly looked tired and lacking any elevation in the jumps.  I had some sympathy for the cygnets because there was a last minute unannounced cast change and the heights and spacing looked off but I assumed that was down to not having rehearsed as a team.  The conductor also took their dance very fast (by contrast to one of Siegfried’s sisters in Act 1 who seemed thrown by an unusually slow tempo).  So I gave the benefit of the doubt to all concerned - but will be interested to see how this cast goes in the cinema relay.  Other than Jun as Benno, I would have thought there were some stronger casting choices that could have been made for soloists in such a public event 

11 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

@Lindsay, Gloria 

was in it for the training in order to make money, as was Marcia Rutherford. Lorna Hill, a vicar's wife in the 1950s, used her own daughter's training at the Wells School as background for the books. Of course they're written from a certain POV, and a lot of the content is dated, but we're reading from now 70 years later. Caroline is my favourite character. Mariella giving up her vet course to marry Robin is STUPID.

Oh yes! Marcia Rutherford became a big star in « Dance for Poppa”.  And I remember really wanting to be Mariella living in a mansion flat with a famous ballerina mother and critic father and meals appearing ready-made from the kitchen downstairs.  In fact I would still quite like that!  Thanks for the reminder Sophoife!

8 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

Mariella's thighs? Most likely. There was someone in Veronica who had big thighs too, I'm pretty sure. @DelphiumBlue can you remember who it was?

Wasn't it one of the girls in the scenes in the dressing room while Veronica was still a student at Barons Court who was told that their thighs were not right for the "Theatre Ballet" so they went off to become a show girl instead? I seem to remember some rather pointed class assumptions around that scene too - maybe a character called Gloria who was definitely coded as not quite "respectable"? I must re-read.  For all their dated assumptions, I LOVED the Wells books!

I'm somewhere between Sim and Shade (so to speak).  I think Naghdi is hugely improving as an actress.  Her technique has always been top notch (imho best in the company after Marianela) but I used to find her a little 'coldly competent'.  She has introduced much more musicality and nuance into her performances, and I think is now absolutely stellar in the minxy/flashing smile roles - as Odile of course and I first noticed this when she absolutely owned the stage as the lead in Elite Syncopations a few years ago.   She is now such a safe pair of hands in things like Sugar Plum or Kitri that you just know the steps are easy for her, so you can sit back and enjoy it with her as she plays with the music.

However, I still find it really difficult to see her as vulnerable, in the way that makes a really good Odette.  There is a sort of 'competence' about all of her performances that is always there (whether it is the rock solid technique, the facial expression or quite what else I can't quite work out).  I also felt this last time I saw Yasmine's vision scene in Sleeping Beauty - there is something about her expression that means I can't forget that she is "acting" in those kind of roles.  Marianela of course also has solid technique but somehow manages to make me feel her vulnerability.  Maybe it's something to do with the way she uses her head as Odette? If it were that easy to work out the 'magic formula', then everyone would be doing it!

None of which should detract from what was an amazing performance last night and I think (the leads at least) are well worthy of the cinema performance.   We are so lucky in London at the moment to be able to nitpick our preferences between really incredible dancers and none of this is in any way intended as a detraction of anybody! Yasmine would always be one of my top choices when choosing which casts to see.  

Agree, I saw this in the House last night and while Grigorian was by far the strongest singer (and really this IS Butterfly's opera!) some of the supporting performances, especially Suzuki and Sharpless, were excellent too.  I wasn't so sure about Pinkerton and this production has nothing particularly interesting about it but at least the director is not undermining the tragedy of Butterfly's story and the music sounded beautiful!

15 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

Different Drummer is based on what was once very well-known source material, the play by Büchner. Over the years it became almost as ubiquitous a story as Faust or Romeo and Juliet. A useful list of just some of many versions is given on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woyzeck#Adaptations 

 

Back in 1984 MacMillan may have assumed his audience was familiar with the stark outlines of this drama and so felt free to work variations on it. Some of the comments here - and overheard after the performance - suggest this is no longer the case. Seen in the correct context it is a shattering work, among the most successful of his later creations, as indeed I felt it to be yesterday. 

I thought so too.  But there are a lot of references that benefit from familiarity with the imagery - for example Marie’s Magdalene-like washing the feet of the soldier wearing the crown of thorns with her hair.  That idea of interiority as if stuck in a nightmare has gone out of fashion on the stage today too - audiences seem to prefer their stories more literal 

14 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree wholeheartedly regarding how much this improvement started with Ms Stock and her vision for the school.  An absolute tragedy that we lost her so young.  But she has left a wonderful legacy....for now, at least.  Credit also to Kevin for concentrating on dancers from the school.  

Indeed.  I think he was very lucky to be able to do so.  Mason (and her predecessors) really did have to cast a wider net given the state of the school pre-Stock, and although that brought us glories in the form of Acosta, Zanowsky, Cojocaru, Kobborg, Rojo, Bonelli and (not least!) Nunez, the corps de ballet could look very disparate and ragged at times....

51 minutes ago, Beaker said:

@Lindsay yes, exactly that. As someone ‘coming back’ it’s really very striking the difference. 

Yes, you have an interesting perspective there.  In my view, a lot of credit for the change over the last decade must go to Gailene Stock for hugely raising the standards at RBS.  She brought through most of the current principal 'class' under her tenure, including Hayward, Bracewell, Ball, Naghdi, Clarke and O'Sullivan (plus Sissens on the principal-in-waiting side) who all attended White Lodge.  I think mixing that strong 'homegrown' pipeline with the introduction of technically brilliant dancers in the Upper School (Sambe, Magri, Acri, Richardson etc.) has borne considerable fruit for the company. 

It would be very interesting if one were now to take a similar break to imagine what the company might look like in 2035 (!), with the school having shifted the balance to a much larger proportion of international prizewinners...

8 minutes ago, Beaker said:

 

The other - and I noticed this in Manon on Saturday as well - is that the corps and actually all the dancers are so much more consistent from when I last went. There is a greater depth to the dancing, which as a viewer leads to a confidence when watching and a greater ability to totally lose oneself in the dance. 

I agree Beaker.  I remember seeing some really good principal performances at the end of the 'Mason years' but often being a bit on edge for the pas de trois (in the 'old' swan lake production) or the pas de six in Giselle, Myrtha's solo, Lilac Fairy etc. because there were quite a few soloists where I could sense their nerves about getting through the difficult bits.  Very rare for me to feel that nowadays - there is much more technical strength in depth.   Of course artistry is what we are all looking for but, if dancers are visibly uncomfortable with the steps (not having the odd slip or fall from really pushing, which is fine, but struggling and/or 'cheating' all the way through a variation ), I find that ship has pretty much sailed.....

9 minutes ago, emmarose said:

I get it, I'm kind of in the mind of if you're bored of life, go to Paris.

 

 

Coincidentally, I am at this very moment taking this wise advice literally.   I noticed that I have a free evening on a work trip to Paris in a couple of weeks and have just managed to nab a ticket for Don Quixote at the Bastille.  Hannah O'Neill and German Louvet that night so very much looking forward to it!

I

2 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

I think I shall wait until I have seen the Ashton triple bill again.  I couldn't go to the last one, but I have seen some less than excellent performances of some of his ballets over the past few years.

I wouldn't disagree with you there but I thought the casts I saw (although I couldn't see all of them) in the last Ashton bill a very pleasant surprise - particularly Lamb and Muntagirov in Scenes de Ballet and Hayward in Rhapsody.  Would be interested to see Symphonic Variations again, since that is the ballet I remember thinking looked under-rehearsed/un-idiomatic last time I saw it.

I think it's natural when you see a LOT of ballet (as many forumites do - I know I am guilty of this in periods when a work lull coincides with programming I want to see) to get jaded and want novelty all the time.  But also the more you see, the more one can learn to appreciate the difference between "really excellent absolutely at the top of their game" dancing and the kind of "dancers of their generation" performance we saw last night.  For me, Nunez, Muntagirov, Osipova and Hayward (in the right roles because of her amazing acting skills) can all hit those heights

Edit to add:  One thing that I am enjoying about the current period (and like others I have been around since the Dowell days) is that more or less every performance reaches "really excellent absolutely at the top of their game" standards of dancing - which has not always been the case

On tonight’s evidence I think there is simply no option but to give first night to Nunez and Muntagirov.  I think seeing them so often it’s easy to forget quite how lucky we are to have them in London.  Not that other dancers aren’t very exciting and exceptional (I am planning to see several casts and looking forward to all of them) but there is a different level of quality with these two.  In particular, I thought Nunez’ Act 2 Odette variation was quite exquisite tonight - amazing how she is still pushing to improve at this point in her career.  The musicality on the turning sequences was beautiful - because her technique is so secure, she can play with the music and Kessels worked with her perfectly.  
 

And in a lovely gesture she and Vadim turned around to bow to and acknowledge the corps de ballet during the curtain calls.  A great start to the run 

On 01/03/2024 at 08:08, MAB said:

Okay, if this is to turn into 'nominate a foreign star'  If it is not too arrogant a suggestion.

 

Giorgi Potskhishvili

 

 

 

Well he has been in the studios at the ROH today rehearsing with Osipova - photos on both of their instagrams.  I hope this is for something we can see in London!

3 hours ago, Mary said:

 

I did enjoy the November piece, but it is true a lot of dancers could do justice to it, it did not really engage with the classically trained dancer.

 

Whilst I didn’t totally love that piece, I think its strength came from Mayara Magri’s force of personality and stage presence.  I agree with you to the extent that the classical technique required was not so difficult as Twinkle, but I think it required a magnetic presence, even (or especially perhaps) in the slow opening moments, which is something Magri has had in bucketloads ever since her Prix de Lausanne performance.  Other than her, I think the piece might in fact be better performed by non-classically trained dancers to whom the rhythmic, relaxed movements were more familiar - there was a certain rigidity from some dancers that jarred a little for me.  
 

I think Jessica Lang’s decision to play to the strengths of the dancers before her was a wise one and I loved the witty touches in her piece - which I imagine could be an attractive addition to the repertoire for many companies

I totally agree Sim - Hayward is really made for this role.  Her beautiful arms and epaulement in particular struck me tonight and this is a part which really calls for strong acting.  Campbell is such a good actor too and the commitment from all the leads was total - really glad to have seen it.

10 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

You’re not the only one, Blossom. And I couldn’t agree more about Joby Talbot’s music. 

Thirded on that.  I do think Wheeldon is a better choreographer when he has better music - I love his Polyphonia to Ligeti’s music - way more interesting than the sludgy narrative stuff…

I think I saw Davi Ramos in the Giselle peasant pas de quatre with Het recently.  If he is the dancer I'm thinking of that is an excellent hire for the Australian ballet!

7 hours ago, capybara said:

Controversy warning ⚠️ 

So other dancers spend weeks getting the choreography ‘spot on’ (some of them subject to very ‘picky’ coaching) whereas Osipova can basically come on and do whatever she likes and that’s OK?

well yes, because she is a generational talent who can sell tickets globally.  And “whatever she likes” can often show us these roles in a new creative way (see her Giselle for example).  This is art - not the army - the aim isn’t to create replicants.