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GTL

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Everything posted by GTL

  1. GTL
    it's a reference to a post of mine in the discussion on Dance-actresses relating to suitability of dancers to rôles.
  2. GTL
    Naughty! Seriously, I can't imagine a director who now has such a wealth of rising twenty-something talent at his disposal allowing any one principal to dictate casting, especially if he contemplates this company's early 21st century history.
  3. GTL
    Prokofiev's 4th Symphony and his "Prodigal Son" have very obvious similarities,and I used to notice bits of his 1st (Classical) Symphony in some of his ballet music but it's ages since I listened to it and I don't have time these days.
  4. GTL
    For the sake of any dancers or parents who only read this "Doing Dance" sub-forum, I'd suggest any potential auditionees search the rest of the forum on Bucharest to acquaint themselves with the current controversy. Today's Press round-up in the Dance Links sub-forum will give a pointer.
  5. GTL
    Bill, I think that in a way is the problem. To widen this beyond the third principal (who, I must stress, I like as a person, consider excellent in some rôles but does not yet seem to be developing fast enough into the mature artist many had hoped for), the devaluation of the dance actress in favour of the technician is a market-led development, which is not wholly good for the art.
  6. GTL
    On finally reading to the very end of the free leaflet programme for this, I was surprised to read a general credit stating, "Students of The Royal Ballet School appear by kind permission of the Artistic Director Christopher Powney." Where were they, how did I manage to miss them? (Too busy watching the main protagonists!) I would hardly expect under-18s to appear in "The Invitation" and I think everyone else was an individually credited company member.
  7. GTL
    "the sheer beauty of simple movement" (FLOSS, post 37 above). That's what, in the present day, I see in Vadim Muntagirov over more strenuous technicians. Moreover, watching Matthew Golding alongside him in the RB'S current "In the Golden Hour", I caught glimpses of the same. The third principal with them got more applause but I just felt he was trying too hard.
  8. GTL
    Love the vision of your delusional dancer correcting others, Kate_N. What a shame privacy laws preclude a video of it, but maybe it would make a good gala piece?
  9. GTL
    In Nureyev's 1972 film, "I am a Dancer", he chose Lynn Seymour to dance Aurora in an Act 3 Sleeping Beauty excerpt, so he presumably considered her sufficiently up to its technical challenges to record her for posterity. I know it has its critics, but out of the many wonderful dancers around then, he chose her for it.
  10. GTL
    I suppose it relates to salary as well as responsibilities, all but the smallest organisations have formal pay grades. If there is a pay freeze, "promotion" is the only way to award an increase. Plus, it keeps the Human Resources department occupied.
  11. GTL
    The Royal Box is usually centre circle in "foreign" opera houses though, isn't it? So I don't think that theory holds. My guess is that it's down to the mechanics of turning. Does a dancer have a choice if they are left-turners? I'm fairly sure I've been taken by surprise a few times. As well as ending downstage right, a lot of variations begin upstage left, to the extent that you can miss the start if you're sitting too far house right. I always aim for a seat on the left of the auditorium if the centre is full.
  12. GTL

    Room 101

    GTL replied to taxi4ballet's topic in Not Dance

    I doubt that the Brexit vote was intended to happen. It was a bait for potential UKIP voters at last year's general election and an appeaser for anti-EU Tories, but IMHO when it was put into the Conservative 2015 manifesto, the expectation was that there would be a coalition government, requiring a compromise in which this referendum would be abandoned. How ironic that it is splitting rather than uniting the parliamentary Tories and how shocking that some appear to be exploiting it for personal advancement in the forthcoming leadership contest. They do say you should be careful what you wish for.
  13. GTL
    Thanks for the Osipova info. As I said above, I find her need to dye her hair black in order to be a convincing ballerina rather sad but seeing her history in the NY Times article, I understand it better.
  14. GTL
    I recall hearing that Natalia Osipova is naturally blonde but feels she has to dye her hair black because that's what people expect of a ballerina - which I find rather sad if it's true. (This article http://observer.com/2009/07/meet-new-abt-phenom-natalia-osipova/ makes passing reference to it in paragraph 4 but I can't find the actual source to substantiate this.)
  15. GTL
    Perhaps it was just rehearsal overload, with Muntagigirov being cast in "The Invitation" as well as "The Golden Hour".
  16. GTL
    Here is the link to the standard ROH returns policy http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/tickets#returns BUT Hochhauser/the Bolshoi is a visiting company and in the past the I associate dire warnings about no refund or exchange with the purchase of tickets for them. I can't find anything definite to that effect on the website, can anyone help specifically with this point?
  17. GTL
    Well, a Diana & Actaeon pdd, Les Bourgeois and the very competitive Majisimo is quite a stretch at his age! This sounds as though it's the usual format for his "& friends"-style show, which has been going strong for many years now. It's quite a while since I saw one, but I used to go to the London ones where it worked well and usually sold out drawing in a much more varied and demonstratively enthusiastic audience that you'd get at the Royal Opera House. It has given good soloist opportunities to a lot of dancers over the years: as you say Jacqueline, Mr Acosta is a generous artist.
  18. GTL
    And of course, Barbie would fall forward under the weight of her chest if she were a real woman, so I think a realistic female body shape is too much to expect! (Can't wait to see what they do if they ever get round to a "Bishop Barbie" doll).
  19. GTL
    My first impression of the doll was that the skin tone was surprisingly pale but on-screen colours can be deceptive and I assume Misty Copeland approved the product. I had visions of her being talked out of the shoes matching the legs on the grounds that little girls expect pink shoes. Yes, in the white acts of Swan Lake etc all the swans wear pink or white tights and shoes but, as Janet says, it does not often happen otherwise. Just google images of Dance Theatre of Harlem or Ballet Black to see what is possible. Comparing this particular Firebird costume as worn in real life and on the doll, there is a compromise. I wish there wasn't, but at least progress has been made.
  20. GTL
    The new Misty Copeland "Firebird" Barbie doll appears to me to be wearing pink shoes: http://www.thebarbiecollection.com/whats-new/misty-copeland-barbie-doll-dgw41 . In the Firebird pictures on her own website Miss Copeland wears brown shoes: http://mistycopeland.com/ . Am I mis-reading the colour as too pink? I gather that black dancers often have difficulty finding suitable shoes - Eric Underwood spoke recently about it. For these not to be brown would be such a missed opportunity by the manufacturers.
  21. GTL
    Check your email inboxes! I have just received an email advertising the live screening of the 18th May "Frankenstein" with a link to a free digital programme download using the code "FREEFRANK": http://www.roh.org.uk/publications/frankenstein-digital-programme?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2016_Apr_cinema_frankenstein&utm_content=version_A&emailsource=27812 Remember to untick the suggested donation box unless you want to give the default £3.
  22. GTL
    I think it's sufficiently attention-holding to be effective as a video ad, but they do seem to soft-focus the money-shot. The print version I've seen in a magazine is a mis-fire. I've been a very satisfied user of these "premium" Boots" products for years and although older than Ms Ferri have far fewer wrinkles. Being considerably less fit and beautiful, I'd look like a sack of potatoes standing beside her - but smooth-skinned potatoes.
  23. GTL
    Thanks, Capybara, but would she have closer ties to NYCB than to, say, American Ballet Theatre?
  24. GTL
    Some New York City Ballet, though, with no obvious jury connections, unless I have missed something.
  25. GTL
    Unfortunately the preceding poster on the ROH site, after citing their satisfied attendance at three of last week's "Giselle"s, deems a new DVD surplus to their requirements and therefore everyone's.I quoted an excerpt here originally but on reflection I think it's better you read it for yourself on the ROH site, hence my edit. Words do not fail me, but they are not printable.
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