SMballet

I wasn't able to watch this triple bill, alas, but can I just weigh in on the Erdem costumes that some of you have been criticising? I totally get that you might not want to see dancers in underwear, but this particular kind of underwear is the height of fashion, at the moment. I'm not sure what your grannies were wearing, but if they were wearing this, they were very 2018! Take a look at any of the underwear styles in any reasonably fashinable store at the moment, it's all high waisted, square shaped, boxy loveliness. I, as a young woman, am all for it. Far more comfortable , and, I think, stylish, than those tiny lacy (scratchy) triangular "bikini" like things women had to wear in the 2000s and 90s (when I was too young to wear bikinis, but that's another story). Anyway, this is not at all a serious post. Just to say, Erdem is fantastic, and his designs for this ballet are - perhaps inappropriate for dancers in public - but very gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned!

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have taken the time to comment, giving us such lovely impressionistic detail, about the performances you have watched. But even the briefer comments are wonderful, as they give the rest of us poor souls who couldnt be there in person, a taste of what it was like. I am so glad that I found this forum last year, I learn so much from all of you, and I just want to take this moment to thank you. Especially those of you who are the founders and moderators. I know that sometimes there is disagreement amongst some posters, but, on the whole, I think this is such a wonderful online community, one of the best places on the web!.

Thank you for the lovely and evocative review Bridiem!

Oh, what I would have given to have been there... unfortunately, live in distant country far away. But I'm so grateful for those of you who were able to be there tonight, and who have written here to tell us how it went. How much joy one person can radiate on to the world!

Just back after a pleasant evening at Sylvia. I thought I'd dash off a few brief notes for all of you while they're still fresh in my head, and I'll try to write in more detail tomorrow (and will look eagerly forward to hearing better informed comments from the more knowledgeable and experienced ballet goers among you): - This was my first time seeing Sylvia. I found the story really very silly, even by classical ballet standards, so silly that I couldn't get emotionally involved in the narrative at all. Whereas I have no difficulty doing that for Giselle or Swan Lake which has me weeping like a fool each time; even Two Pigeons moved me to tears. But this thing was, well, not boring, just, to me, pointless. - I absolutely adore Marianela Nunez; in my eyes she can do no wrong; when it comes to her I am genuinely unable to be even the least bit critical. And yet even she couldn't get me to take the story seriously enough to enjoy it tonight. Maybe she needs to grow into the role? I'm sure she was perfect but she didn't seem as perfect, as breathtaking, as effortless, as she usually seems to me. It's not her; it's the silly ballet and the silly role. But it did look like she was trying hard today, and she never ever looks like she's trying in the least, whenever I've seen her dance, because she is always so natural, so effortless, so perfect. Today she seemed, well, perfect, but full of effort. I'm explaining myself badly but maybe you will understand what I mean. - The music was lovely, as expected, and the orchestra was in good form. But, for me, cannot match the soaring beauty of Tchaikovsky's or Prkofiev's scores - The melting set change in Act II is really wonderful. I should think that for children it would be magical. But otherwise the sets look, for lack of a better word (because I've used it already three times here), silly and school-drama ish. - Costumes, ditto (silly, I mean. Sigh, fifth time using the same word): even in the third act, when the women are in different costumes, and it makes for a very colourful spectacle on stage, it still didn't look "right" to me. Why don't the women match, for one? The men's costumes are just beyond terrible. - Ok, but Vadim Muntagirov was, today, STUPENDOUS. Soaring jumps, light as a feather landings, perfect partnering, heart-stopping lifts, magnetic stage presence. He floated around the stage and took my breath away. I have never seen any of the Legends some of you discuss here dance, being, alas, too young, but today I would think that Muntagirov ranked among them, the Nureyevs and the Baryshnikovs et al. But the role is such a waste of his talents, as he had almost nothing to do the entire time, except for the solo and the pas de deux in Act III. - What the what was that goat duet doing? Was it to add some Sleeping Beauty like charm, or to attract broader (younger) audiences? It seemed not to fit at all with the rest of the themes which were, as it is, a bad mishmash of pseudo greek mythology/pseudo Orientalist (sigh, when will ballet companies get rid of this racist trope of the Orientalist Baddie) / pseudo 19th c ballroom I comment very rarely here as I am not in London often, so I feel terrible writing a less than glowing review. None of this is to knock the company, which I adore; or any of the dancers, who were wonderful. Just the ballet itself. Edited to add: I've now read Floss' lengthy explanation, and would like to say that Marianela Nunez did, absolutely, embody all three different characters as Floss describes Yaonowsky as having done. It confused me, but now I see (thanks to Floss) that this is what is required of the role. The way Floss describes it is exactly how Ms Nunez danced it.

John S I just want to add my condolences, and to send along many hugs, and the hope that you might continue to find some solace and comfort in ballet. Your review was so moving to read, and I found myself wishing that your wife can always watch along with you, wherever she may be now.

I love you swiss ballet fan! will you marry me?

I have just returned from tonight's performance and wanted to write briefly, with a promise to write at greater length tomorrow once I have recovered my faculties for reflection. (Actually I returned a couple of hours ago but I have been so moved that I couldn't do anything for the last two hours and couldn't bring myself to write). As many of you have gathered, there was a last minute cast change, as Sarah Lamb, poor thing, had taken ill. And poor Matthew Golding - I feel so bad for him - could not, I suppose, dance with a partner he had never rehearsed with. So it was Marianela Nunez as Giselle; Vadim Muntagirov as Albrecht; and Itziar Mendizabel as Myrthe (I don't know if there were any other cast changes). Briefly: it was one of the most moving nights of my life, and the second act was just sublime. I can't quite convey how softly Nunez and Muntagirov danced - I had a really great seat, in the orchestra stall quite close to the stage, and I swear that I could never hear them land. And in that soft gentleness of their dancing was so much emotion - the way they looked at each other; the way they touched each other; the way they seemed to feel each other's presence without even seeing each other - it was unbearable. It seemed to me that everyone around me was sobbing; how do the dancers keep from their own hearts breaking? When Giselle stretches out her hands and protects Albrecht, standing between him and Myrtha, that was, I think, a moment in which I thought about all the times in my own life when I've loved, and lost, and felt ashamed that I had never had an iota of the generosity that GIselle has in that moment. I know it's just a stupid simple story but Marianela and Vadim elevated it to something that felt to me as vital and important as Shakespeare. And when he has fallen to the ground and tries to rise, and she, with the warm expansive movements of her arms, tries to give him the strength to rise, there we have it; an encapsulation of all that human love can be. The first act was, I felt, a bit uneven, but not, I must stress, due to the fault of any dancer: Marianela was so lovely, so simple, so radiant and ardent in her affections; and Vadim so gentle with her, that the story made no sense to me. It just seemed so out of character, so unbelievable, that that gentle, simple, smiling boy would not remain true to her, despite his very beautiful (and so regal, so elegant) Bathilde. It just didn't seem in keeping with the character. So for that reason alone - for the very sincerity that Vadim conveys in every moment that he is on stage - I felt the first act didn't work for me. But there was a moment in the first act - maybe every Giselle does it, but I thought it so striking, and such a marvelous example of the artistry that we were witnessing, that I'd like to share it with you all: the way in which Marianela wipes, with the edge of her simple dress, the glass in which she serves Bathilde water. The care with which she wipes it; the eagerness; the smile: it killed me. In that moment I knew I wasn't watching a dancer dancing, but a girl on the cusp of womanhood, who does everything with all her heart, with her pure girlish heart that is about to be broken. I don't want to keep babbling, and I realise I haven't said anything about the excellent corps; the wonderful Mendizabel; and the really amazing orchestra. Tomorrow? For tonight I just wanted to leave you all with this image: of Marianela Nunez floating softly across the stage, her feet only touching the ground once in while - no fireworks, no leaps, nothing that would make an audience go "oooooh" - in the arms of the man who betrayed her, and yet who loved her so dearly that it was clear that he carried, in his arms, the most precious treasure he had ever had to carry. It was heartbreaking; it was immense; it was soft; it was unforgettable. Thank you RB; thank you to all the great artists (who were informed at the very last minute that they had to perform tonight); and thank you Petipa, Pete Wright, and Adolphe Adam. I will try to write more tomorrow.

I love you, Floss!

As someone in her 20s (I was born in 1990 - OK so I'm NOT young, but am not old either) all I can think of saying at the moment is: so much of "contemporary" dance seems SO MUCH more dated to me than classical ballet. I can;t explain it. All I can say is, I;d much rather watch a classical Petipa ballet than a Pina Bausch. That might have much more to do with my lack of taste than my 25+ odd years though....

Just to chime in to say that I love the POB and have been critical of Benjamin Millepied's tenure, specifically, the manner in which he talked about the institution and its dancers in public (He strikes me, just based on his public utterances, as someone who is very interesting and bursting with ideas, but also entirely lacking in modesty, circumspection and self awareness, and much too full of self importance and hubris). What do all of you think of his talents as a choreographer? The few things I've seen (never live, only on the internet) have struck me as super super boring, but I don't know much about his choreographic output. I am very happy that Aurelie Dupont will be the new Directrice de la Dance. I have no idea what she will be like as an AD, but I think it is so wonderful that there are more and more women in the "AD" position in ballet companies around the world! Of course the POB had Brigitte Lefevre for 20 years as Directrice de la Dance, and I believe she had done a wonderful job of balancing contemporary and classical pieces... Good luck to her, and good luck to the wonderful POB

Sorry, what is "PC" (non native , non british, speaker here, apologies)? I don't understand much of what any of you have said above, but I will try to explain why I felt uncomfortable with the way gypsies were portrayed in the ballet: mainly because they were shown in Act II as harassing the other people who were walking near the camp, and in the end tied up and beat up the Youing Man. I did not object to the colourful clothes or anything like that. I just know that "gysies" till today are treated horribly wherever they live, and are viewed with suspicion as outsiders and thieves and I don't like it. Sorry. it makes me uncomfortable. In no way was I saying at all that the ballet should be suppressed, and I thought what I wrote last night made it clear that I absolutely loved it. And nowhere was I saying that Sleeping Beauty etc should be changed. It is just: there is a disadvantaged group, who continue to be disadvantaged and mistreated and mis represented today, and I felt uncomfortable watching them "stealing" and "beating" and "harassing" innocent people in the ballet. Because that is NOT a fair or in any way true depiction of these people.

Dear all of you, I have just returned from a wonderful, heart-warming evening. Sometimes mixed programmes can feel to me as though they go on for a bit too long, really one intermission too many, but tonight I just didn't want the evening to end, and at the end when the curtain fell I sat forlornly wishing that Laura Morera, ie the Amazing Gipsy girl, would return, all flashing eyes and lightning fast feet and seductive shaking shoulders, to reclaim once again the errant Young Man, after another wild dance-off with the prissy Young Girl! Well, I thought I’d write down a few thoughts to share with all of you, because I so enjoy reading what you have to say here about various performances, and I often feel bad that I contribute so little myself. But the caveat is that , unlike so many of you, I'm an inexperienced, uninformed and novice ballet-watcher, with no real knowledge about the art form, and very little understanding of its history and culture. - Monotones 1: I thought, unfortunately, that it didn't work all that well, and it was the weakest link in the evening: the dancers and the choreography just didn't catch my attention (particularly not when compared to what came immediately after). And I kept thinking, while watching, "oooh this must be so difficult for the dancers" which is exactly the opposite of what one should think when watching ballet dancers perform. At no point in the brief piece did I ever forget that I was watching “a ballet”; nothing about it was transporting or moving. The dancers were good, of course, but, really, I did notice the wobbles (maybe because they had been mentioned here?) - Monotones 2: I'll echo everyone else: Marianela Nunez, Queen. I think I held my breath the entire ten minutes or so that she was on stage. She made it look so effortless, and the "flow" that is essential to Ashton's choreography (as discussed by the critics and some of you above) seemed, in her case, to be so natural as to be innate to how she moves. Watson was a wonderful partner for her, and his soft, bendy body, when writhing in and out alongside hers, made an unforgettable impression on me. They were so beautifully matched: in time, in emotion, in every little movement. Unfortunately, I thought Hristov stuck out rather like a sore thumb: maybe it was just the angle at which I was sitting, but he always seemed to me to be a bit out of synch, a bit awkward, a bit too slow or too fast, and – I know this will sound cruel and rude and I will probably regret writing this tomorrow – I felt, at times, that it would have been so much better as just a pas de deux with MN and EW. Oh but that’s an awful thing to say. It must all be fiendishly difficult, which is why I'll repeat what I've said above: Marianela Nunez is truly a QUEEN. An alien queen from another planet. A glorious magnificent queen, and we are so lucky to have her. - One other note: Monotones 2 reminded me quite a bit of Song of the Earth. Am I crazy? Maybe it is just because it is a pas de trois, for two men and one women? But there was something about the pale lunar light; the empty stage; the eery music; and the three haunting otherworldly figures gliding about, intertwining their sinuous bodies with each other, which suddenly recalled to me that poignant, and utterly heartbreaking moment last June when I'd watched Marianela and Carlos and Thiago Soares dance their pas de trois together. Very different pieces, but strangely reminiscent of each other. - For those of you who have watched Monotones I and II before - by other casts, in other eras, and by different companies - is there meant to be such a huge difference in feeling and tone between the two pieces? Two Pigeons: - Again, I’ll echo what others have said above: Laura Morera and Ryo Hirano absolutely stole the show. And oh my god how hotttttttttttttttttt are they both? They absolutely sizzled on stage tonight, and every time they came on I could feel the atmosphere not just on stage but in the entire hall get hotter and more electric. Morera was just so perfect that she had me longing to see her in Swan Lake. Why is she not cast in everything? She was on fire! - Muntagirov and Cuthbertson were lovely – in fact I thought Cuthbertson was very well suited to her role: she played the first act as a rather prissy, bratty, annoying, spoiled girl, who then transforms, in the most heartbreaking and utterly convincing way, into a woman. The story is silly - like so many ballet stories - I mean, come on, Swan Lake!! – but I was suddenly, and unexpectedly, overwhelmed by the emotion, and the poignancy, of the last moments: when Muntgirov walks softly, so softly, down the stairs, finally come home, a pigeon perched on his shoulder, (really, it baffles me that anyone could think, after having seen him just in that moment, that he cannot act: there was no dancing involved; there was nothing, just a man walking down the stairs): there was pin drop silence in the hall, and I was worried that I’d ruin it for everyone by bawling. - The “gipsy” business – while beautifully danced by the corps, who were, like Hirano and Morera, on fire tonight - nevertheless makes me feel really uncomfortable. Am I the only one? - I was really reminded, at many points, of Swan Lake. And seeing the contrasts between Morera and Cuthbertson (both in their dancing and in their characterization) made me wonder why Swan Lake is always staged with the same ballerina as Odette and Odille. Wouldn’t it be far more effective if it were, as in two pigeons, two completely different women, symbolizing two completely different attributes of feminity? - Cad he might be, but no one can really fault the “young Man” for following Laura Morera tonight. I’m a young (well, not all that young anymore!) girl myself and I wanted to follow her too!!! - Oh god, how utterly silly, but how utterly moving, is the pigeon business in the end? HOW did they manage to train the pigeons so well? And yes, why don’t they get a bow? I’d better end now because I have gone on for far too long. I'm not even going to edit any of this, because i worry that if I stop to re-read/edit I will feel ashamed of having blathered on for so long, so I'm just going to hit "post" now, and live to regret it another day!!!!

ooooo I'm so so excited, I'm going to see this on the 24th, and am traveling all the way from France for it! Balletfanp, I'm very sorry about your sad news, and I hope the ballet will cheer you up.

Just wanted to say that I was at the Nunez/Soares performance last evening (Wed March 18th) and it was magical. There is really no other word for it. I realise it is not very helpful or descriptive, but I was transported, and moved, and in tears often. Marianela was just.... she wasn't dancing, she wasn;t acting; her presence was so transporting that it went beyond "performance." Maybe last night was a special night for the two of them? Who knows. But I know I wasn't the only one who was so moved; people sitting next to me were gasping and sighing as well, and it wasn;t because of some spectacular fouette or anything like that. Marianela isn't that kind of dancer; you can't focus on her technical perfection when she dances. because you can't even see it. All you can do is feel. And try not to cry like a fool.

"For me, one Tatiana was the prisoner of her own heartbreak whereas the other, even in the worst of her heartbreak, had the key to soar beyond". Please, dear Scherezade, can you tell me what that key is? Because I'm young and heart broken too. Just not beautiful like Tatiana.

Thank you so much BBB for that lovely review. I really loved reading it, and it made me feel that I was there (which, alas, as I wasn't, as I live in France now!!!) Thank you!

Wow you guys are killing it on this thread! Keep 'em coming, I'm loving this!

Wow what a fab looking season. Can't wait. Here goes all my savings....

Just seen the trailer on ENB's website. Stunning! I'm looking forward. I wonder how common it is for the AD of a company to also dance lead roles as frequently as Tamara Rojo has been doing. Do any of you have stories about this - ie other ADs who continued on in principal dancing roles - is it a good thing or a bad thing for the rest of the company?

Joining this conversation late, just to say that I like reading reviews, and often really love reading them, but I don't "pay attention" to them when deciding what to see, or what to think about a performance. I actually deliberately avoid reading (professional newspaper) reviews before seeing a performance, as I don't like being affected by them. But I definitely read this forum before going to see anything, and am far more influenced and informed by what I read here, perhaps because of the multiplicity and diversity of views, than I ever am by any professional critic. Having said that, I like the two Guardian critics very much, and always enjoy reading what they write after I have seen a performance; and I like reading their reviews of things I have not and cannot see. I enjoy reading dance criticism and reportage in all forms (though, as I've said before elsewhere on this forum, I don't enjoy reading the snobby FT and NYT critics). I do think that professional criticism has its value, but if I were forced to choose b/w professional critics and non professional reviews written by all of you here, I'd much rather go with the latter. Maybe it's a generation thing. Maybe when I'm older I'll appreciate professional critics more, but for now, many of them just seem so... out of touch. (NOT the Guardian two though)

In 2 minutes and 45 seconds, she manages to convey so much pain and emotion, without moving a muscle, that she had me in tears. Oh, Marianela, you're perfect. dont ever doubt it. And yes, what a beautiful expressive face. And oh, RB editors, are you MAD?

It's so interesting that so many people's first ballet experience was either Swan Lake or Nutcracker. it's not surprising, as I realise these are the two most child-friendly ballets, but it is an important reminder, at least to me, to NEVER give in to the impulse to be snobby about these "popular" ballets, because these are the ones where so many people's life long love for the art is born. So, thank you , tchaikovsky and Petipa, and thank you, ballet companies of the world, for always putting on these two ballets, and thus spawning new generations of ballet goers. May the art never die!

Crying.

Just curious: can anyone here tell me why Ivan Putrov left RB? I've watched youtube videos of him dancing (the famous Nutcracker with Alina) and I'm just wondering why he doesnt dance with RB anymore. Sorry I know this is off topic, but I'm wondering ....