Mayerling79

same methaphysical interrogation here...

I agree with you, ChocChip, and I am saying that, even though I respect hugely and admire the extreme technique. I do like a 170 or 180 degrees leg for example (160-170 in classical ballets, 180 in contemporary perhaps!!) Maybe what some dancers forget in all this technique show-off and in this run for "more is more", is that some extreme postures do not look nice to the public. And what is designed to look beautiful (the angle of an arabesque showing the length of the leg and hiding the bottom, the height of a leg, the curvature of a back...) ends up looking grotesque if it is pushed to extreme flexible levels. That said, in contemporary dance, I think you can indulge more in extreme extensions, and more extravangant body-undulations. The outfits in contemporary dance are also normally there to just about cover the body with a layer of colour and to let the movements speak. A little photo of a beautiful 6 o'clock!

I guess that Sadler's Wells would indeed release this show in DVD at some point... I do hope so! haha, Guillem's hair was red/auburn with a sleek fringe+ short bob+ long hair braided in the back.

No threat on the performances of "La Guillem"? The great, the unique, the beautiful?? Ok ok I am only joking... But one just needs to take a look at my profile picture to see that my love for Sylvie Guillem is unconditional. Or almost. Last night (25 May 2013), I saw her triptyque "6000 miles away" (co-produced by Sadler's Wells and herself) with 3 choreographies: "27'52"" by the czech Jiri Kylian (without Guillem) "Rearray" by the american William Forsythe (Guillem, Murru) "Bye" by the swedish Mats Ek (Guillem) The title of the evening "6000 miles away" is a direct bow to the victims of the Japanese tsunami of March 2011, but is apparently also a tribute to people who feel connected in their minds even when they are geographically not near. To me, it felt more like the latter, with the two first works being danced in duos. Both Ek and Forsythe have created the works for Guillem, when she first presented the triple bill in 2011. And Guillem literally shines in them. My personal favourite is "Rearray", and I absolutely loved watching Massimo Murru and Sylvie dance together. The chemistry and ease are apparent, like two irreverent minds showing off (in a good way) their amazing technique through each glimpse in between the blackouts. People who dislike poor lighting, stay away!! (cf. thread on Raven Girl ) Sometimes the only thing you can see neatly are the white arms. I liked the effect though. Like Caravaggio paintings. Light coming out of obscurity. Each blackout like eyes closing and re-opening on these two dancers... Technically, of course, a lot of arabesques, supported turns, and Sylvie's trademark "jambe a la vertical". There is lots of humour too in all those classical "photo-poses". I thought Massimo was beautiful to watch dance. "Bye" was a playful work. Sylvie escapes from her "world" through a door and childlike, plays on stage, running around and performing this really strong piece impeccably. She is like a poor-version of Alice, with a 70's inspired outfit (an article says 'librarian look', it's a good description) and clothes of complementary colours (yellow skirt - violet shiny top). The music is the last Beethoven sonata opus 111, which I have always labelled "jazzy" in its euphoric glorious 2nd movement. Her movements across the stage are erratic and she stops twice to perform a headstand with her legs in the air, frog-like. I wasn't that moved by the whole combo. "27'52"" was like a love-story, with the couple first meeting, then touching, dancing, and separating. The duo was beautifully danced by Aurelie Cayla and Lukas Timulak although I didn't really see the point for her to dance topless. I have nothing at all against nudity, but I prefer when it has a purpose. Here it felt a little odd (she removes her top mid-choreography). I thought that perhaps it makes the couple look 'alike', wearing trousers and no tops. I have to say it was rather beautiful to watch white skins interacting and making beautiful shapes together. Maybe that was the point.

It's been now two days since the premiere and it is striking me how images/scenes strongly remain in my mind like floating memories from a dream. The fairytale is growing on me (and in me!) POST-SHOW!! I think that the decors stripped to a bare minimum add to the impact, leaving more room for the cognitive mind to work its magic! A fairytale is born Actually, IT IS as if the performance we saw on Friday WAS the VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION of a child's dream, after having been told the fairytale! Hence the narrative ellipsis and the darkness - like in a dream! Hence also maybe the haze created by the screen and shadow-enhancing lightings. Hence also the lack of names (the Doctor, the Boy, the Raven, the Raven Girl), the lack of faces, and the lack of deep psychological characterizations . People in dreams don't have any face or names....(and characters in fairytales either...) Here is my two cents worth anyway...

I am surprised to read so many disappointed reviews on Raven Girl! I really loved how Wayne Mc Gregor made use of the moody dark etchings by Audrey Niffenegger and translated them on stage through lightings, video effects and a bare minimum of props. This is the creative process of a choreographer who is letting Niffenegger's imaginary work its way through him to make shapes within his cognitive mind around the narrative. It was to start with a project to make a dark (gothic?) fairytale and fairytales have their own ways of jumping from one scene to another sometimes. So although I agree that the Raven Prince could have been introduced a little better, I am not holding it against him that much. Maybe (and I am only following my thinking process here) the need for narrative connections is more of an adult thing and maybe we should sometimes simply accept the scenes as they come along, with the naive eye of a child. Once there was a Raven Prince and he fell in love with a Raven Girl. Fact. It's simple, and it's beautiful. Many ballets that we see as finished works now, have kept evolving through the years (La Bayadere has had many versions and re-shuffling of the scenes in the story-telling and we might still see more versions ahead of us) and I see this world premiere more like a beautiful First, full of ideas and amazing creativity! Bravo to Wayne!

so folks... please make me jealous!! Brilliant as expected? If anyone has photos to share (in particular of Nunez as Nikiya, Act I: the dance before her death so beautiful it makes me cry each time, and the dance of the sacred fire with the beautiful arms) How was the shades? merci for all your comments in advance!

Is Nunez scheduled as Nikiya for the tomorrow night last performance (after being Gamzatti in April)? Please pleaaase let me know how this went. I am really sad not to be able to attend it!!

I saw the saturday 18.05 matinee performance with Juliet Charlet as Daisy, Victoria Sibson as Myrtle, Contadini as Gatsby and the great Benjamin Mitchell as George Wilson. Although the choreography is very smartly arranged (the hinting toward Gatsby's corrupted wealth, the use of young Daisy and young Gatsby, the mirror effects, the PDDs between Gatsby/young Gatsby, the dream vs reality illusion), I thought that the ballet suffered a little from following too closely the narrative of the book and of the 1974 film with Redford. It felt a little too close to the scenes we already know, only of course danced (beautifully). The frequent decor changes needed for the storyline were also - to me anyway - a little mind- disturbing and taking me away from the emotion. Gatsby failed to MOVE me, although you can get this lone presence and his longing for Daisy. The PDD Daisy/Gatsby at the beginning of Act II is beautiful though, but the emotions seem to be carried mostly by Bennett's score. Rehearsal link below... Emotion however got through me in all the George/Benjamin Mitchell scenes (great scene with the tyre in Act I and amazing duet in the bedroom in Act II). Myrtle's dancing in the NYC flat and in the bedroom also conveyed the dramatic aspects of her character very well. Daisy's persona was also pretty well translated, with her cheerful insouciance and confusion. The party scenes were cleverly choreographed, turning charleston moves into ballet moves. Again, the party at Tom's NYC pied-a-terre didn't fail to convey the alcohol-infused passion between Tom and Myrtle. I especially liked how the scene takes us away from the storyline for a bit, and takes the time to go deeper into the personas of Myrtle and Tom and their twisted love. Maybe that's what I was missing in Gatsby himself: the weight of the character, the moving omnipresence of his loneliness and the heartbreaking incapacity to let go of his love for Daisy.

Thank you Janet. I have booked the Saturday evening show! I am crossing my fingers for the cast... x M79

I sort of agree with Janet on this. There is a good proportion of British and Commonwealth dancers both at the RB and the NB and Rupert/Lauren/Edward are a trio that i hugely respect and adore. I think it is great that the RB brings in dancers from all over Europe and all over the world! Mix is a good thing and that's what makes a company so strong and able to radiate all over the world. The energy, the creativity, the influencial exposure that is generated from this is considerable both for the dancers themselves and for us spectators.

Ballet lovers, Any thoughts on the coming up ENB Tribute to Nureyev show? I'm looking for some insights from you on what the cast is for each performance and which evening is, according to you,worth attending. Thanks! M79