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Lindsay

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Everything posted by Lindsay

  1. Lindsay
    Me neither. Paco, are you referring to the fact that Natalia didn't use her fan on the last diagonal but held it closed above her head instead? That was of course different from the usual step but I don't think it makes it any easier. And those fouettes didn't look like a display of tiredness from where I was sitting...
  2. Lindsay
    Agree with Rob. That was very secure indeed and stylish for a first go at the Dryad Queen! Osipova went full comedy Kitri - won’t be for everyone but you can’t say it isn’t exciting. The steps are so easy for her that she just wanders around the stage being a real-life person and occasionally chucking in some pyrotechnics. Started the fouettés late, steamed through with mostly triples then strolled off with her hands on her hips. So different from every other ballerina doing it ‘properly’ but I love her!
  3. Lindsay
    I think that Sasaki is due a big break. From what I have seen she has been the strongest of the current soloist crop in the 'difficult' classical roles. She was outstanding as the SPF and also (in my humble opinion) the best Queen of the Dryads in the recent run. She has a very clean technique, doesn't seem prone to panic and also brings a lovely musical sense of phrasing.
  4. Lindsay
    I imagine that the researchers are thinking of shows like the current Cabaret in the West End (pre-show entertainment, foyer areas redesigned as a Berlin nightclub, drinks and foods at seat, theatre redesigned so the first few rows of the stalls are replaced with cabaret style tables) and Guys and Dolls at the Bridge (stalls seating taken out so a large part of the audience stands and follows the show around, with NY-style pretzel sellers and so on mingling with the crowd at the interval). Both of those shows were great fun, performed to a very high standard, the audiences very well behaved and quiet during the actual performances and both have been commercially and artistically successful. They become a 'novelty event', attract lots of press coverage and casual/occasional theatre goers will buy tickets for the experience. However, they take a considerable investment to re-do the space "for a specific show" in a style which is appropriate to that show (taking us to 1930s Berlin nightclubs or 1940s Broadway)!! It is lunacy and ridiculously simplistic to think this idea can cross over into lyric theatres whose raison d'etre (at least thus far) is to run a series of different show in one season. I would hate to see Coli given over to a year of Swan Lake or Tosca, with whatever decor that might command (although I might have fun thinking about the menu and concessions) I don't blame artistic and management teams of lyric theatres for trying to think of new ways to spark interest in their shows in a very competitive market (unlike the West End, they can't bring in big TV or film stars to attract crowds). But I think they have to be realistic about what is achievable in subsidised theatre which can't afford a heavy up front investment for every show and which is reliant on a regular (and quite conservative with a small c) audience.
  5. Lindsay
    The girl sitting next to me in the amphi filmed most of the show last night..
  6. Lindsay
    The U.K. simply does not have a lyric theatre tradition in the same way as Germany, Italy, Russia or France. And consequently we don’t have the buildings with the storied history of those arts.
  7. Lindsay
    Naghdi is really hitting her prime. Makes it all look so easy and her frank enjoyment is infectious. Perfect for this ballet. Also a very impressive Dryad Queen from Mariko Sasaki - not only impeccable technique but managed to make the (imho sometimes rather dull and repetitive) solo look brand new. I loved how she started low and really built the opening and her arms were beautifully expressive
  8. Lindsay
    Back in the day (late 90s/early 00s when I was a penniless ballet goer) it used to be via via staff/volunteers word of mouth. Friends who worked at the House would call around 'on the day' and a posse of those of us with nothing else to do would find ourselves anywhere from the Slips to the Grand Tier (am I right in thinking it was the Vilar Grand Tier before his fall from grace, or was that just the Floral Hall?). I do know that at least three of us who benefitted from those freebies have 'grown up' into regular paying attendees for opera and ballet, so it may not be the worst way in the world to develop future audiences...
  9. Lindsay
    Agree that he has been an excellent ambassador for ballet and I wouldn't see Bolle in 'just anything' these days (and he would frankly never have been my first choice for Petipa in any case). However, I do think that he is still well suited to Manon - Des Grieux is really not a physically virtuoso role but it does require a degree of sensitive partnering and acting which I don't think 'just anyone' can deliver.
  10. Lindsay
    Yes, I sympathise with that view and was partly joking. But I also feel (as someone who, like most here, has watched an unreasonable amount of ballet over the years) that I am more and more drawn to watching dancers at the absolute 'top of their game' whenever I get the opportunity, and for me Bolle is in that category. A few years ago I would have jumped at the opportunity to watch a debut from an up-and-comer, but with a few exceptions (for example Francesca Hayward's debut in Rhapsody which was an absolute revelation) I find that when you have seen a ballet dozens of times, the most enjoyable performances come from those like Nunez, Muntagirov and Osipova, who can manage the technique in their sleep and have had an opportunity to really develop their interpretation in their 'best' roles and show you why they are considered so 'special'. I am also off to see Smirnova's Giselle in Amsterdam this week for exactly that reason.
  11. Lindsay
    I could NEVER think of a Robert Bolle appearance as an "opportunity missed" capybara! 🤯🤣
  12. Lindsay
    Me too (can’t make it today but am seeing one of their later shows). It doesn’t seem to be her ‘natural territory’ in the way that is does for Magri, for example. However I seem to recall Anna Rose dancing the Don Q PDD in an RBS show in the Linbury and being really struck by the liveliness and personality she injected into her variation. Very interested to see what she does with the full role.
  13. Lindsay
    I had the same experience for Fiona last night - was actually looking at booking for one of first two shows and only boxes available. Swathes of seats showing for later shows but I can’t make those dates. Shambolic
  14. Lindsay
    I agree. I also hope that Leticia Dias and Mariko Sasaki will get to dance Kitri at some point.
  15. Lindsay
    I imagine (no offence to Hinkis who management clearly think is ready for the opportunity) it is also a case of having a Kitri short enough for Acri to partner. It would be very unfair for him to miss his chance because of poor Akane's injury.
  16. Lindsay
    They got up to sort out someone who seemed to have inadvertently switched on the torchlight on their phone and was having trouble turning it off. It looked entirely accidental from where I was sitting.
  17. Lindsay
    I think it is really important for audiences to express their feelings though. Part of the reason for ENO being given a temporary ‘reprieve’ from the proposed move and cuts impacting them is because of the huge campaign from musicians and audiences to defend the importance of their work. Please remember that musicians as well as dancers are artists - we already spend so very very little on the arts compared to other European countries that these things are the result of truly unnecessary subsidy slashes. It is absolutely embarrassing and disgraceful that a major ballet company should be forced to perform to recorded music - especially when the government is claiming to be focussed on “levelling up” outside London.
  18. Lindsay
    Could I ask what priority group you book in to get that ticket please? I tried repeatedly for cheaper tickets both at general booking and through stalking the site for returns and failed for the first time ever. Suspect that many who normally book ‘better’ seats were forced into the cheaper seats by the pricing this time…
  19. Lindsay
    Rheingold was also phenomenally expensive, even for Wagner. Stalls seats were well over £300, way back in the amphi was in the high £100s and a few seats remained unsold close to the run (which I have never seen before for the Ring). The 'mostly listening' cheaper seats all sold out very early so the only option for most people was extortionate pricing. Very disappointing.
  20. Lindsay
    I do not think it is at all incompatible with “freedom” to criticise somebody who supports an aggressive state which has repeatedly broken international law and murders its opponents at home and abroad. To say otherwise is moral relativism of the worse kind (as well as a very Trumpian ‘both sides’ argument) Dance careers in major Russian companies such as the Mikhailovsky companies are currently unavoidably tied in to the state. Look at the some of the recent and explicit propaganda with soldiers alongside ballerinas - Katja Khaniukova has posted examples on her instagram….
  21. Lindsay
    Yes Bridiem- I also thought there was something very odd going on with the sound (I was in the First Circle). I had come largely for the music and it was very disappointing - it almost sounded recorded and some of the percussion in particular sounded like electronics. I also agree with you about the orchestration for Les Noces - have never heard this version before and missed the pianos (which I fear we shall never hear again live in a ballet context) And while some of the singing was very good I don’t really like the text in English either. T&V indeed showed how much more Balanchine could do with classical steps than most other choreographers. It was not the most ‘full-out’ performance though and looked a bit nervous. I saw this ballet in Stockholm last year and the dancers seemed to be “going for it” much more.
  22. Lindsay
    In bad news, David Dawson has still not got over his obsession with male dancers carrying female dancers around upside down in nude leotards with their legs splayed. The ballet got a standing ovation so I am probably in a minority here but it made me quite angry. There was not one sequence in the ballet where women were not being manhandled…… Some extraordinary performances in Les Noces though. Especially James Streeter.
  23. Lindsay
    I think it finished around 10 - wasn’t paying much attention but the last ballet was not too long (thankfully)
  24. Lindsay
    Yes, with Alexander Campbell
  25. Lindsay
    Agree Bruce. I watched the streaming of the Vienna DQ at the weekend and the music was SO much better and really complemented all the beautifully quick footwork in the Nureyev version! It is going to make the RB ‘arrangements’ very difficult to bear….
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