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Quintus

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Everything posted by Quintus

  1. hmm, I shall certainly get it at some point but £30 is way too steep; will doubtless come down to around £20 at some stage on Amazon, or less if it makes it to Sainsburys Entertainment...
  2. I think you have a really good point there Anjuli - those 'small moments' are full of import, so they set up the feeling of the numinous.. But does it also take a particularly fine dancer performance as well to bring on the bumps, or do those moments do it of themselves?
  3. I saw on the ROH site that the Deloitte Ignite event is going to feature Stephen Fry and Alan Davies attached to medical equipment measuring their reaction to opera, with the focus on what it is about art that causes the chills / goosebumps. I also found a live science.com report on a previous such study.. "Composers play with subtle, intricate changes and rates of change to try and elicit emotion. In recent studies, scientists found that people already familiar with the music are more likely to catch a chill at key moments: When a symphony turns from loud to quiet Upon entry of a solo voice or instrument When two singers have contrasting voices People covered in goose bumps also tend to be driven more by rewards, and less inclined to be thrill- and adventure-seekers, according to research conducted at the Institute for Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medicine in Hanover, Germany." So... I thought it might be interesting to get forum members' reflections on what causes them to get the goosebumps at the ballet (if they do). Is it the music, is it anticipation of a 'big moment' being fulfilled, do you need to be familiar with the work or can it happen on a new piece? etc etc. Last time for me was actually a few moments in Zakharova's Odette last week. Now I know that for other some forum members, she makes their hackles rise rather than giving them goosebumps , but the hair on my arms genuinely stood on end*. I suspect there was a big element of anticipation being fulfilled, and it probably coincided with 'big moments' too, and the kind of boundary events listed above (Odette's first entrance I think was one such, where the music really manipulates..). Looking forward to your thoughts Q. * I will assume that the lady members here do not have forearms like Polish welders and so a delicate skin bumpery will be accepted as the equivalent
  4. mijosh, interestingly when I saw her practising in the studio in the morning, she was doing fast pirouettes, was not landing cleanly and was not looking too happy (though I'm not competent to tell whether this was exactly the same move that she stumbled on in performance) - I wonder whether it was her call to try and push the boundaries by going for the three or had been directed to do so.. It didn't bother me too much, felt more disappointed for her.
  5. has to be said she was looking mighty fine on that sorry, I realise that comment adds nothing, but I had to get it off my chest..
  6. one little thing that surprised me today - Evgenia O. was wearing noticeably tatty, frayed pointe shoes for the first two acts (third act being 'white' saw her change to a fresh pair). I'd always assumed they'd have a new pair per performance, or at least a new-looking pair - or so the 'pointe shoe appeal' would have me believe!
  7. Sadly out of stock on the bluray on the one day I had a 10% discount!
  8. To my untutored eye Evgenia Obraztsova was very good in this afternoon's performance, and overall it was very enjoyable. Anna Tikhomirova was a popular Gamzatti, and there were plenty of good soloists - Maria Vinogradova and her co-shades, the drum dancers et al. The shades descent down the hill looked a bit jumbled but would probably have looked better from the amphi than the stalls. Do agree about the blackface kids, add nothing and are pointlessly anachronistic. Saw Evgenia practising her pirouettes in the morning whe on the backstage tour, which was a nice bonus.
  9. well, that worked out extremely well - the tour was fascinating and I got to see Evgenia Obrasztsova practising her pirouettes!
  10. in the amphi on Monday it was warm but bearable - so long as you could avoid touching the person next to you. I've always maintained there should be a surcharge on people over a certain width (I also favour charging airline tickets by the kilo) !
  11. I'm at the Evgenia Obrasztsova one tomorrow afternoon; I hope Volchkov has recovered his form, or maybe if he really was injured in Monday's Swan Lake they'll swap him out... I've also got a backstage tour lined up in the morning - are these any good? Don't expect I'll be bumping into Zakharova in the corridor and swapping a bit of lighthearted banter, but I'd like to see more than the box office..
  12. quote from the Express "But the talent is undoubtedly present. As Odette/Odile, Svetlana Zakharova is a magnificent creature - a genuinely credible Swan Queen with liquid arms and expressive line. A cool beauty with a turbo-charged technique she resembles a pitiless Russian hitwoman on point." There you go, as I said before she'd make a great Bond villain. I can see her now, stroking a cat and cracking walnuts between her toes.
  13. I guess it's back to the thread on stars and companies; for me the opportunity to see Zakharova outweighed any shortcomings of the production. I'd happily watch her dance the Hokey Cokey at Butlins...
  14. the Telegraph reviewer describes the set as 'Rolf Harris Gothic'
  15. Agree about the overall production and Siegfried (and how it oddly just fizzled out towards the end), but I thought Zakharova was stunning. She's more beautiful than she appears on dvd, though I still say she'd make a good Bond villainess. Also enjoyed the corps (the good thing about my seat a mile away in the amphi was that it was perfect for the patterns of the corps) and the four swans. The national dances normally rather bore me, but last night were excellent - had they been shortened? I think the dancers deserve a better production.. would love to see Zakharova guesting in the ROH version.
  16. I hesitate to use the phrase 'tongue in cheek' in this context, but reading the article her description of the kiss sounds lighthearted to me (with some PR push behind it), and it's not easy to be nuanced in a foreign language - i.e. I also don't think you'd get a native English person saying "I'm a great self abuser" ! She's clearly trying to broaden appeal, and I suspect one of the barriers she is chipping away at is the pretty widespread perception in the general public that ballet is 'gay', populated entirely by ice maidens and effeminate men. Rightly or wrongly, that preconception does exist and puts off a very large male constituency; she's probably seeing a degree of hetero-sexualisation as helping to overcome that. I remember posting on Facebook that I was going to see Giselle, and getting some pretty crass comments from my mates - subsequently posting a picture of Polina Semionova from Caravaggio miraculously broadened their minds... There's a route into ballet appreciation for men that starts with the amygdalla before evolving on to the cortex! There's also the fact that the journos and editors have an angle on any of these interviews and also want to sex them up. It's becoming a tedious angle, but makes a change at least from Darcey Bussell and Billy Elliott coming up every time a newspaper mentions ballet..
  17. living way outside London, the sheer cost of train + tickets means I have to be very picky; so looking at a season, for me it's usually the available ballets across whatever companies are around and then choosing the cast I want to see (with an element of 'collecting' to be fair - eg I've never seen Cojocaru so might opt to see her in a less interesting ballet). I do get a 'star override' however - e.g. with the Bolshoi in town I particularly wanted to see Zakharova and Obrasztsova, so then chose based on what they were in plus availability, and that's my budget gone for the rest of the year... Have to say the biggest hurdle for me is the ludicrous cost of rail transport, which from Suffolk is much the same as a good ticket; take the family up to London, feed them and get half decent seats and it can run into several hundred pounds - I envy those who live in London...
  18. the Watson Mayerling has come up a lot on these lists but to be honest did nothing for me, maybe I should give the Mukhamedov a go.. currently really enjoying the recent ROH Romeo and Juliet bluray which I've just received, prefer it in fact to the Rojo/Acosta version as Lauren Cuthberton's portrayal of Juliet is really quite touching
  19. I really like Zakharova, though I do get the ice maiden comments. Never seen her live but love her Odile on dvd and her Fille du Pharaon is one of my most watched recordings. I only managed to get an amphitheatre seat for her in Swan Lake, so look out for the guy with a Svetlana t-shirt and a large telescope Also looking forward very much to seeing Obraztsova in Bayadere, this time from a decent seat. She has a lot of charm, which is an elusive quality; had I been able to sell a kidney in time I'd have booked another performance too.
  20. Quintus

    Room 101

    adding an appendix "disreputable DVD sellers" as I'm in a bad mood this morning having had three bad DVD buying experiences in a row this week : 1. ordered the ROH version of Manon on eBay; an Aussie TV version in 4:3 turned up 2. ordered Zakharova's Bayadere from an Amazon marketplace seller 'Marvelio'; rather than the German original pictured, a dodgy Argentinian copy arrives which has picture quality like an old VHS and laser printed artwork - clearly either an illegal fake or some cheapo sub-licensee 3. ordered Divine Dancers; disc looked OK but vibrated in the player and the picture pixellated. defective and possible a fake. previous experiences include a terrible fake copy of Zakharova's Giselle (eBay) and a BluRay of Flammes de Paris which ended up costing £13 more than advertised (Priceminister - dispatched from USA rather than France so got clobbered with customs fees, and they used a ridiculous off-market exchange rate). the Priceminister complaints process was completely useless, so I will never use them again. on the plus side, I've found Sainsburys Entertainment a good alternative site to Amazon for ballet blurays - their goods are always genuine and the prices are quite often significantly less. downside is they only have 20 or so titles.
  21. Quintus

    Room 101

    Cigarette smoke within five miles of me Football Lamb (as food, not the little pingy things themselves) Cyclists when I'm driving Drivers when I'm cycling Ridiculously noisy motorbikes Middle aged men in lycra (see cycling points above) Flytippers ("crucifixion's too g-g-g-good for 'em")
  22. That's encouraging - the news from Egypt recently has sadly tended towards the opposite direction, but it seems there is a degree of popular resistance to this move, which from other reports is backed by the government (another similar proposal was ending the regular Aida performances) http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/art-and-culture/2013/06/01/Egypt-s-Islamist-lawmaker-says-ballet-is-obscene-artists-angry.html
  23. Good idea. I'll be very interested to see what suggestions are made here - could go the technical bible, or the biography, or the synopsis way, I guess. I've only ever read one ballet book, which was worthwhile but a 'once only' read - Monica Loughman's The Irish Ballerina, an account of her experiences in the Perm academy. I've also downloaded 'Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear' but not started it yet. As a relative newcomer I'd like to find something that helps me understand the moves and techniques better, without being aimed at a six year old actually learning it!
  24. afds, you'll find that a dvd player does also play CDs, and to go with the 65inch TV we can assume a full home cinema surround sound set up - but I can't guarantee extra CDs would get past the customs crabs, so I think any CD would have to be instead of a DVD You'll all be sensing that I'm not trying to make this any less of a sacrifice.....
  25. polite note to hfbrew from the Desert Island Health & Safety Executive; please do not leave your 5 DVDs strewn all over the beach as this constitutes a trip hazard
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