Quintus

I'm seeing it tomorrow and and in the fith row of the stalls so hope for a lemon!  I've seen a few clips that made me a little apprehensive - there was some business with a pair of shoes on a table that looked rather 'Mr G from Summer Heights High' (hope someone gets that reference).  I'm hoping there's enough actual dance in it for my taste. You don't often get a chance to see la Vishneva however so I thought it was worth taking a punt.

All credit to ROH for being light on their feet and listening to their customers. At the cinema screening there was actually an advert for the existing Nunez/Acosta recording, and they started responding to questions on the site about releasing the Osipova/Golding performance on DVd by referring to that - but then clearly picked up that there was such demand that it made sense. I think that's hugely positive; I've got several versions of Swan Lake including the existing ROH one but will gladly buy this. The more ballet recordings on release the better. And the cult around Osipova? Well that's because she's both talented and hugely charismatic. She also has a ferocious work ethic; pretty much a role model for the younger generation I'd have thought, so I have no problem seeing her put on a pedestal.

I went to the performance last night, primarily for the Carmina Burana.  First time I've seen it and the production was a bit of a curate's egg for me - excellent in parts, rather pantomime in others. It's clearly designed to be a crowd pleaser and verges towards 'West End show'. I had a rather rollercoaster response; at times I was thinking 'this is a show with some simple ballet in it, rather than a ballet', and then it would redeem itself in the next song.  I didn't like Floret Silva with all the chairs business, and which didn't need ballet dancers to execute it really, but then ironically I did like the roasting swan, which was full of  business.  Overall, glad I went but also glad i didn't pay for an expensive seat.  First time in the Coli balcony too and was wound up by that wretched safety rail that obstructs the view from pretty much anywhere. Take the damn thing off - the loss of an occasional punter over the edge would be worth risking!

The Italian ladies next to me on the Balcony at the Coliseum tonight have just brought out their sandwiches for the interval . Not doing any harm, just amused me..

(Young people being naturally more attracted to contemporary dance,) "Ballet audiences are generally an older group and we have to accept that. Our main challenge is to attract that older audience."

 

Nice to know that *someone* recognises that

Might be pragmatic at a moment in time but it's a doomed business strategy, as that audience will gradually die off !  His challenge is to marry that immediate seat filling approach up with selling the younger audiences on ballet so as to develop a sustainable market..

Here are some of those whirlwind fouettés.....

http://instagram.com/p/0YvDMyJjfh/

 please, someone give Matthew Golding some acting lessons! He is a brilliant technician but his lack of ability in the drama department stuck out like a sore thumb to my family.

I have to agree - he reminded me of a young Roger Moore, both facially and in the extent of his range of expressions! Perhaps a first step would be learning to raise one eyebrow

just back from the cinema to see Natalia Osipova. This was my first experience of the live streaming, and I was pleasantly surprised - quite immersive after adjusting to the larger than life figures and I definitely wanted to clap! I agree that this production is looking a bit tired, but there are aspects I am fond of - the corps works well for me. Natalia was her usual pent up ball of energy; I got the sense she couldn't wait for the fouettés to let off steam and she ripped through them so fast that the orchestra seemed to me at least to be playing at a faster tempo for her; they probably worked up more of a sweat than she did! I loved the glimpse backstage at the end, when she ran past triumphantly waving her toy swan in the air. She's becoming a national treasure - we should annexe her.

from the ROH cinema PDF

"Tweet your thoughts about tonight’s performance before it starts, during the intervals or afterwards with #ROHswanlake"

They missed the opportunity to add "But not during the damned performance!!!"

At Sadlers Wells the pre-performance warning message about mobile phones specifically mentions the distracting light from texting - other venues such as the Coliseum would do well to emulate that, as their warning is just a brief trill which gets drowned out in the general crowd murmuring.  This obsessive texting is the thing that has largely put me off going to the cinema.  I am venturing out to the streaming of Swan lake tomorrow evening - I noticed a large block booking in the seating plan and hope to heaven it isn't a school party.

Coming as I do from a linguistics heritage....  usage dictates current meaning, which is why word meanings shift over time.  You can't impose a meaning on a word unless you are in a position to control it - the most you can do is say 'for me it means...'.  Looking at the big dictionaries reinforces the view distilled from comments here that there are two usages, hence two meanings.  One is simply a female ballet dancer, with some saying further 'in a company' or 'professional'.  The other is a or the leading female dancer in a company, with one or two referring to 'classical'.  Context then tells you which to use or which is meant - but there's no point getting sniffy if someone refers to a corps member in a regional company as a ballerina when your personal tendency is to use it in an 'assoluta' sense; both are correct.

I found last night a thoroughly enjoyable experience and would happily go back and watch the whole programme again.  Petite Mort and Spring and Fall were both excellent.  The latter suited Alina to a tee (much preferred her in this than as Odette/Odile a few weeks ago).  Ksenia Ovsyanick had a lot of exposure in this evening's casting and wore it well - presumably someone who's being groomed for elevation.  I was a bit less enamoured of In the Middle, partly because it was an unrelenting stream of frenetics which got a bit wearing after a while, and partly because the costumes are unflattering - but it's an impressive showcase for the dancers.

The great bonus was having a Q&A session with Tamara Rojo afterwards; as ever elegant, intelligent and articulate.  Try as I might I couldn't think of a sensible question, dammit.

Only slight gripe was with the raking of the seats in the stalls at Sadler's Wells, which is too shallow and therefore  gives head-in-front issues.

Apology not needed as lady next to me has taken a bath in perfume. I think it's 'Pine Forest' by Febreze

To break the cycle of retrospective recrimination I'll apologise in advance to anyone at Sadlers Wells tonight for having had a vindaloo and a packet of peanuts. Row L and behind should be OK.

All sounds very promising, looking forward to tonight. Does anyone know who the aftershow speaker is?

Ah! Thought it was yesterday and was surprised no one had reviewed

Just made an impulse purchase for tomorrow night, when Tamara is dancing. Anyone been so far? There's also a talk afterwards but I haven't found any details of who or what...

Glad you enjoyed it as I did too overall, though I too wasn't too keen on Krysanova's piece, not through any deficiency of hers but I didn't like the choreography of even the costume. Kondaurova was gorgeous as Scheherezade and I'll apologise here to my wife for going all slack jawed and googley eyed...

Second ENO event in a row last night where I had to tell someone to stop texting during the performance. Someone else off to my left was probably involved in a similar but livelier debate as a couple of minutes in we all heard his loud hiss "you're a selfish bitch". Lawks..

I was there in the Upper Circle, which meant the film segment was just a lot of headless dancers! Aside that and the idiot woman I had to tell to stop texting all through the first half, I thought it was great - I was expecting that format and it's then just a showcase to enjoy. I also enjoyed the Swan of Tuonela and I loved Osipova and Watson in Connectome - but then frankly I could watch Osipova dance the conga.. What else; nice to see Daria back on stage and Ekaterina Kondaurova inspired me to get back in the gym! Agree about the odd mix of people; the line of Mercedes S classes outside with blank faced cube shaped bodyguards might give a clue

Danceislife, that is an amazing clip.  I know nothing of the technical side  - how does Natalia get her dazzling speed; is it some feature of technique or just sheer athleticism?  I saw her dance Kitri with Vasiliev a couple of years ago and was blown away.  She has a huge presence on stage.

As the famous Polina Semionova one has already posted, I'll add this other one of her (well, skipping the first couple of minutes of Mr Bolle going for a run)....  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GI2VrONVxg

from the programme entry it comprises a pas de trois called Switch and a solo piece Woman In a Room.  probably not what I'd have chosen to see her in given free rein, but you never quite know if you'll get another opportunity to see some of these artists, so I tend to grab what chances come along..  

Have to say I saw their Swan Lake about 3 years ago and it wasn't great (though quite how anyone would stage it in the Ipswich Regent is a moot point).  The lead ballerina was pretty good but the rest of the cast looked about 17 and frankly under-rehearsed; more like a dance school production than a professional company. However it was cheap.

took the plunge with a good stalls seat. I'll blame you lot if it's no good