BristolBillyBob

I thought I'd start a thread for this as I'll be making the pilgrimage over to Ghent on 11th October to watch Nancy Osbaldeston performing as Olga. I'm making a bit of a holiday out of it, seeing Ghent for two days and Bruges for two. Very exciting!

If anyone is also thinking of making the trip (or is already in Belgium), let me know if you fancy meeting up for a Kwak! Otherwise, I'll be back in a couple of weeks with my thoughts.

All the roadworks posts reminded me of this.

I see Kate Bush has politely requested that audience members refrain from recording/photographing her upcoming concerts. She wants to have that connection with the people who have come to see and hear her performance, rather than be faced with a sea of cameras recording events so they can watch them later. I agree with her stance and hope people will respect it.

Only slightly related, but a few years ago, I went to the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone. This was back when both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were racing for McLaren together. At a Vodafone event the morning of the race, both drivers came out to talk to the crowd. You would have expected a riotous round of applause, but not a bit of it. People couldn't clap because virtually everyone to a man had their phone or camera hoisted aloft to film their stars. I felt a bit sorry (as much as one can for sportsmen who earn millions of pounds doing something awesome) for the pair as the response appeared was so muted. I felt like I was the only one clapping and showing my appreciation for the entertainment they provide us. Strange world. 

Possibly most bothersome, though, was the number of people holding their phones vertically to film. But that's another rant...

...But, you know, buy the DVD as well and support the arts too. Of course.

Just spotted this is showing on Sky Arts 2 tonight (10th August) at 9.30pm.  

In case anyone's interested, the Osipova/Acosta Giselle is on Sky Arts 2 tonight (10th August) at 9.30pm.

It's a bit of a cheat, but Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty has sections set in the present day and was premièred in 2006. Does that count?

It might be quite expensive to get it done professionally, but from what I can gather it's quite an easy job to transfer VHS tapes to a computer nowadays.

Without looking into it in too much depth, you'll need a special cable that goes from your VHS player into your computer (cost c. £20). From there, you'll just need software that can understand the signal it's getting and convert it to something that can be saved on your computer. Without looking into it, I'm betting you can get a free piece of software from an enthusiast somewhere. Finally, if you want to watch them on DVD, you'll just need some DVD burning software, but a lot of computers come with that installed anyway, but if they don't it's probably only a few quid. So your outlay might be £30-40 tops (but probably nearer £20), but it does mean you can transfer to your heart's content!

Heh. Just googled it and look what I found: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/honestech-vhs-to-dvd-deluxe-a06jr?gclid=CJ2r3vHJ2L8CFQEXwwodKCkA1A

£30. Bish, bash, and to a certain extent, bosh.

Was it legit?

It was indeed!

I also managed to pick up RB's Sleeping Beauty on Blu Ray for £10 delivered. That was brand new and still in its shrink wrap. BristolBillyBargainBaggerBob.

I just thought I'd share this in case it was of interest. I came across this seller who has quite a few RB and other ballet/opera DVDs and Blu Rays with cheap starting prices on eBay. I managed to pick up the RB DQ from another seller for £4 a while back, so you might snag a bargain, especially as the RB Blu Rays normally go for £25+ new!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/eboi1975/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

This is what I meant ages ago when I said I didn't see the point of ENB; it can't really compete with the RB in London

I don't think anyone has mentioned this to Tamara, though; the impression I'm getting is that that is precisely what she intends to do.

This is what makes ENB so exciting for me at the moment. They have an Artistic Director who simply wants them to be the absolute best, which means setting her sights firmly on the Royal Ballet. Sure, taking on RB won't happen overnight, and Rojo knows this, and it may prove too lofty an ambition, but she seems to be in it for the long haul. She's growing the school, she's nurturing in-house choreographers (ENB Choregraphics), she's seeking out new audiences (e.g. Glastonbury), she has an envious depth of talent coming up through the ranks (provided they don't move to Antwerp *cough*), she's brought in top-name principals and promoted rising stars (Yonah Acosta), they have the name... So maybe the question is Can London sustain two of the finest companies in the world? Or, perhaps, Can a touring company become one of the finest in the world?

I know it's a bit old news now, but I thought I'd post this picture I took of the curtain call. It was quite an occasion, and if my second-row seats worked against me in the show itself, they were worth their weight in gold to be this close for this.

ENB feel like such an exciting company at the moment with the fiercely ambitious Tamara Rojo at the helm. Provided the number crunchers can tally up the financials with her vision, you get the impression they can only go from strength to strength...

Thanks so, so much for that! I had no idea that existed. I've set up an alert, fingers crossed!

Oh you are KIDDING me. I have ONE holiday booked this year. ONE. A weekend in Paris on 18th-22nd September. What's that Blackadder quote? Oh yes...

I think the phrase rhymes with 'clucking bell'.

And Paris Opera Ballet's performance that weekend has already sold out. Sigh...

Thanks for the heads-up anyway, Aileen!

Well done! Yes, Darcey's book is pretty pricey. I have finally bought it today from a good Amazon subsidiary for a reasonable price.

Glad to hear it! Have a look at the credits for some of the photos too, turns out Bryan Adams is quite a talented shooter! Who knew?

My favourite photo is near the middle (don't have a copy to hand), a full page one of Darcey at the dressing room mirror. Do report back, let us know what you think!

Surely the revised "Birmingham Royal Ballet" with excellent photography by Bill Cooper should be on your shelves.

It is indeed! As much as anything, books like that are a fantastic accompaniment to a programme collection for reminiscing about past shows!  

Thanks all so, so much for your suggestions! Quite a few of them have astronomic price tags on Amazon, but I love a challenge. Other than the Darcey Bussell book, I've managed to not spend more than a tenner on any of those books, all either new or in tip-top condition! 

Hi all.

After picking up Darcey Bussell's excellent photo book at a talk and book signing, I've quite enjoyed building up a bit of a mini-collection of some of the other ballet photo books that are floating around.

I've grabbed the Andrej Uspenski Dancers: Behind The Scenes With The Royal Ballet (which is a wonderful thing ), as well as The Royal Ballet: In House and Pas De Deux: The Royal Ballet In Pictures. Next on my list is The Royal Ballet: 161 Images which I'm particularly looking forward to as Johan Persson's photos frequently stunning.

I've also scooped up the Natalia Ospiova: Becoming A Swan and the Birmingham Royal Ballet collection.

So, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations or suggestions of books to look for next? I'm not overly fussed about them being UK companies, and I tend to prefer the behind-the-scenes photos to performance ones.

Any tips gratefully received!

Thanks!

On a personal level I am particularly pleased about Samara Downs and Brandon Lawrence as both of these dancers have really impressed me this past season.  

 

...

 

I would like to finish with special mention for Kit Holder.  I am glad that he has been recognised, not only for his own merits but it does show that the company still values character artists and that should be welcomed

Agree 100% with Samara. I really enjoyed her performances in Grand Tour and Giselle when I saw them. And it's nice to see them nurturing Kit Holder - as much as anything, I'm thinking Bintley doesn't want to see such a promising and eager choreographer go elsewhere.

I thought Gittens' Odette/Odile debut was a couple of years ago by now? 

Crikey, so it was! Which makes it all the more surprising (to me) that she's remained a soloist since 2011. I guess that a company can't simply promote on merit, there needs to be space at the top and budgetary considerations too. Otherwise BRB would have 58 principals.

I've not paid much attention to promotions in previous years as I haven't really followed any particular dancers long enough for it to be relevant. I'm surprised, though, to see no mention of Maureya Lebowitz or Céline Gittens in the press release. With Céline debuting as O/O in Swan Lake a short while ago and Maureya taking the lead in Fille, I thought they were a shoo-in for a nudge up the ladder this time? Certainly the chatter on here has been of the expectation that Céline would be a principal eventually.

BRB have announced their end-of-season promotions, leavers and joiners:

http://brb.org.uk/Announcements-2014.html

 

Birmingham Hippodrome has gone onto a new supplier called Bard's: on the basis of the one I had last week, I can't tell the difference between them and Beechdean.

 

Eek! Alison, please tell me they still do that divine ginger and honeycomb one! That, for me, is the high watermark of interval ice cream!

I'm guessing it's a tricky balancing act for the theatre, picking headphones for this. Ensuring the sound doesn't bleed out of the headphones, annoying other theatregoers, would probably mean blocking the sound of the orchestra out for the wearer, necessitating piping it through the headphones themselves. And doing that would slightly negate the point of hearing it live. Tough one. I guess they need headphones that aren't fully enclosed, but are über-directional at sending the voice into the wearer's ears and nowhere else?

On the positive side, it was fascinating to hear a ballet being verbalised, and even more wonderful to see the reaction of one of the wearers....he was smiling, he was sitting on the edge of his seat, he was really involved.  Great stuff. 

Sound bleed issues aside (which must have been a bit off-putting), this last line really made me smile.

Well, I did say I was going to start an ice cream review thread, so here it is!

Venue  Royal Albert Hall

Date  22nd June 2014

Production  ENB's Romeo & Juliet

Ice creamerer  Häagen Dazs

Flavour scoffed   Belgian Chocolate

Price  £3.50

At £3.50, this was about par for the course, but probably not too bad for London prices. The tub was of a reasonable size, without that misleading 'raised bottom' that some interval ice cream tubs - and Hollywood movie stars - have. The flavour was rich and chocolatey, but I'm not convinced by the 'real Belgian chocolate pieces' (their description). The 'pieces' were too microscopic to be accurately identified by taste buds, so just ended up adding slight gritty texture to the product. When it comes to chocolate chips, the motto should always be 'go big or go home', Mr Dazs. Still, this didn't detract from what was a most enjoyably rich overall flavour and reasonable value.

As an aside, the only other options were strawberry and vanilla. I'd like to see some more varied and imaginative options available. Tastes are changing, and if you ask me, any theatre that doesn't offer something like a rocket and parmesan sorbet is beginning to look a little old fashioned.

Overall score: 7/10

Eaten any good (or otherwise) ice creams at the theatre recently? Do review them here!