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Pulcinella

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  1. Pulcinella
    I have now seen four performances by BRB of their Nutcracker, which is my lot for this year. After my first performance, reviewed above, I have seen the following casts: Sugar Plum Fairy/Prince/Clara/Drosselmeyer - Celine Gittens/Brandon Lawrence/Arancha Baselga/Yasuo Atsuji, Yvette Knight/Yasuo Atsuji/Reina Fuchigami/Tom Rogers, Karla Doorbar/Tzu-Chao Chou/Laura Day/Jonathan Payn. For me the stand outs were Celine and Brandon, who were everything you want from the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince. Everything was sharp like crystal but with beautiful soft landings and high jumps from Brandon. Yvette Knight really looks like the ballerina doll that Clara is given and also dances beautifully. I really liked Yasuo Atsuji as Drosselmeyer, he brought a lot of character to the part and made you feel really involved. Tom Rogers was making his debut as Drosselmeyer this season and came over as rather bland but hopefully he will work his way into the part. Of the Clara's that I've seen Laura Day is by far my favourite. She dances the part beautifully and brings a sense of wonder to the part that I haven't seen in the others. In the other roles notable performances were from Delia Mathews as the Snow Fairy and, particularly, Beatrice Parma as the Rose Fairy. I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to see her as Clara after seeing her dance that solo.
  2. Pulcinella
    I was at the first performance this afternoon and the company look on really good form. All the leads were excellent, Miki Mizutani - Clara, Yaoqian Shang - Sugar Plum Fairy, Will Bracewell - Prince, Iain Mackay - Drosselmeyer, as were Jenna Roberts as the Snow Fairy and Celina Gittens as the Rose Fairy. If the transformation is well done it always sends a tingle down the back of my spine and this was one of the best tingles I've experienced, it started well before the fireplace turned round. All in all one of the best performances I have seen of this production for a few years. Looking forward to three more performances.
  3. Pulcinella
    Janet, you can always opt to pick the tickets up at the box office to save on the postage fee. I always do this but usually pick them up the next time I visit the theatre, you don't have to wait until the day of the performance.
  4. Pulcinella
    Thank you
  5. Pulcinella
    I see Sky Arts are showing the following ballets next week Sunday 27 Nov 14.00 The Nutcracker (2012 recording with Gary Avis, Meaghan Grace Hinkis and Ricardo Cervera) Monday 28 Nov 17.40 Les Patineurs 19.10 The Nutcracker (repeat) Tuesday 29 Nov 15.00 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Wednesday 30 Nov 09.00 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (repeat) 11.15 Les Patineurs (repeat) Thursday 1 December 06.35 Bolero (POB) 10.00 Don Quixote (Australian Ballet 1973 Nureyev) Sorry this is in the terrestrial TV thread but I couldn't find the Sky one.
  6. Pulcinella
    I received a leaflet for the Big Give today from BRB. This states that the company will be performing in Stanton Welch's staging of La Bayadere in autumn 2017. As far as I can gather this was first produced for the Houston Ballet and then mounted on the Australian Ballet.
  7. Pulcinella
    Even at £20 it's still far cheaper than most tickets at the Opera House and, for those of us who live outside London and have to factor in a train fare as well, much cheaper with a close up view included and we get home a lot quicker. My husband now far prefers going to see the cinema relays to going to the ROH as he prefers the closer views to those from the Amphi where we usually sit.
  8. Pulcinella
    When Anastasia was first performed in 1971 the part of Alexei was performed by a female dancer who was short enough to portray a young boy, if I recall rightly the first cast was Susan Lockwood, therefore there wouldn't have been the same feeling. I haven't seen any performances of this run yet (my first one is tomorrow) so my memories don't extend to remembering the exact moment mentioned.
  9. Pulcinella
    Yesterday afternoon Ferdinand (Cesar Morales) didn't fly on when he was supposed to be shown drowning/swimming. Whether this was a one off or it has been changed permanently it will be interesting to find out. I saw all three casts in Birmingham and overall enjoyed the second cast the most (Shang/Bracewell/MackayLawrence/Maslen). This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the other casts as well. I also find the Masque section goes on too long and some of the choreography for the corps is very repetitive. I also find the ending with Ariel not right as Prospero is supposed to set him free but just seems to leave him.
  10. Pulcinella
    Alison, I'm fairly certain Florine and the Bluebird were Ako Kondo and Chengw Guo as I found some photos of them in the roles. There is a full review of the production, with lots of photos, which appears to be the same cast as in the broadcast (link below) https://simonparrismaninchair.com/2015/09/16/the-australian-ballet-the-sleeping-beauty-review/ I enjoyed the ballet but found some of the choreographic changes a little disconcerting, however David McAllister did try to clarify some parts of the story, e.g. Catalabutte deliberately not inviting Carabosse. He also gave more dancing to the princes in Act 1 and to the Lilac Fairy.
  11. Pulcinella
    I was at the National Gallery today where I picked up their What's On for Autumn brochure. In it is mentioned Dancing Museums - five European dance organisations and eight museums explore new ways of interacting with audiences. There are three events mentioned, all midweek lunchtimes, in October and November. For more information here is the link www.nationalgallery.org.uk/dancing-museums
  12. Pulcinella
    A theatre forum I go on has a thread titled "This week I am going to ..." on which people post which plays and musicals they will be seeing this week. Couldn't we start a similar thread?
  13. Pulcinella
    I would certainly recommend this, especially if you are a fan of the books and/or the films, the special effects are superb and the story is both a sequel and brings in things from the books. There are synopses of all the books in the programme (£5, I was expecting it to cost more). As far as getting tickets is concerned I gather that more tickets for performances next year will go on sale in August.
  14. Pulcinella
    I was at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Wednesday and before both parts there was not only an announcement about not using mobile phones, etc but also not to eat and rustle sweet papers. If only other theatres followed this practice.
  15. Pulcinella
    Hi Bruce, it was good to meet and talk with you on Monday and Tuesday. Please keep the reviews coming as I look forward to hearing about the rest of the season. I only wish it had been possible for me to attend more performances.
  16. Pulcinella
    Today's Times has a very favourable review of NYCB in Paris.
  17. Pulcinella
    And his talent was already evident when he was at Elmhurst.
  18. Pulcinella
    I've just seen in the July edition of Dance Europe that Luke Schaufuss is leaving BRB and joining Scottish Ballet as a soloist. Very good luck to him but I know many people will sorely miss him at BRB, me included.
  19. Pulcinella
    Elisha's last performance in Birmingham was this afternoon as Desdemona in Shakespeare Suite, in which she was really moving. At the curtain calls she was presented with a bouquet and the cast all applauded her. It was pleasing that she was acknowledged here as well as at her final performance, which will be in Bristol next week.
  20. Pulcinella
    I've succumbed to temptation and booked both performances on the Saturday as extras, mainly for the casts in Shakespeare Suite. Some interesting chances for some of the younger dancers.
  21. Pulcinella
    The casting is now up on the website for The Taming of the Shrew and the Shakespeare triple bill in Birmingham. https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/venue/birmingham-hippodrome
  22. Pulcinella
    Also videos about the opening performance of The Nutcracker and the company move to Birmingham with the naming of the Birmingham Royal Ballet engine and Dame Ninette de Valois talking about the move. http://www.brumpic.com/home-blog/2016/6/1/a-visual-history-of-royal-variety-performances-at-birmingham-hippodrome You need to scroll down past the Cliff Richard show to get to these.
  23. Pulcinella
    Here is the trailer for the new cinema season. What do people think of it? Are they trying to attract people who have never been to the ballet before? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/bolshoi-ballet-launch-ballet-in-cinema-season-world-premiere-tra/
  24. Pulcinella
    So nice to hear of someone else who loves the Drina books as much as I do. They had a profound influence on me when I was growing up as they made me want to visit all the places Drina went to (a lot of which I have since been to but not all) and introduced me to art, especially the Impressionists and plays.
  25. Pulcinella
    This is going to be re-published by Margin Notes Books who have already re-published Masha and The Youngest Lady in Waiting by Mara Kay.
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