SheilaC

The Paris Opera Ballet has been running two ballets together without an interval in some programmes for quite a few years. It is not something I have liked as it impairs one's concentration. However, given a trip to London involves nearly a 500 mile return journey for me, if that was the only way for the Royal to put on performances I would be much happier to go for a double bill like that than a single ballet (apart from the wonderful Dances at a Gathering).

It was great to see Square Dance again, so many characteristically Balanchinean choreographic passages, although it was a bit sedately danced in places- and I wish Balanchine had't got rid of the Caller, it used to add a special flavour to the piece. The Arizona company has given us some special ballets. One aspect that is special to this lockdown streaming is that it has given us a chance to watch a wider range of ballets from the masters than what we usually can see. For instance, many British ballet goers will think of Balanchine's work as almost entirely non-narrative, with the exception of Prodigal Son. But Arizona gave us Sonnambula (only older ballet goers will recall seeing it as Night Shadow with LFB) and Lincoln Center Dance Week will be showing his Coppelia, which Danilova helped him produce (I saw Patricia McBride in it, she was , as ever, joyous, well worth catching) and Paris Opera Ballet gave us his Midsummer Night's Dream. Contrariwise, many of us think of Cranko as purely creating narrative ballets- Onegin, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Pineapple Poll. The chance to see Initials RBME has enlightened us, revealing his talent for pure dance work.

I agree, of course, with all that Bruce says. But as I watched the excerpts I realised that four of the ballets were created on that truly original, and great, dancer, Tanaquil LeClercq. She was in the opening performance of Four Temperaments, in 1946, soon after she joined Ballet Society (later NYCB), and the last ballet created on her was Divertimento, in 1956, soon before she contracted polio and had to retire. She had a key role in Western Symphony and, although the wife and muse of Balanchine, she was also the muse and close friend of Robbins, who created the perfect ballet that is Afternoon of a Faun.

I agree with now voyager, the second movement of MacMillan's Concerto is absolutely beautiful. The same section of music also inspired the most lyrical choreography by Grigorovich, in his Golden Age ballet. It's interesting the way some special pieces of music can inspire choreographers to create their best work.

Well worth watching the San Francisco streaming. Mathilde Froustey is wonderful as Juliet, her dancing is musical and very expressive, her acting utterly convincing. She was one of my favourite dancers at Paris, I was disappointed when she got permission to move for a period to San Francisco and even more when she later decided not to return to Paris;, but she hadn't been promoted to Etoile and the rep at SFB is fantastic so who can blame her. Helgi Tomasson's production is fairly similar to other versions, but gives the nurse a slightly bigger role.

There are two Royal Ballet performances that haven't yet been cancelled! The galas in Doncaster at the first weekend of July are still listed and available for booking by the Cast Theatre. The galas were to have been curated by Federico Bonelli, to celebrate a joint RB/Doncaster council project to introduce dance in all the schools in the area. Obviously the galas won't go ahead but we await news of their cancellation.

She was a tremendous dance actor and wonderful in Giselle. She supported her husband, John Field, in his work as a director- one of the very best ballet directors of the last century, helping to mould the likes of Lynn Seymour and David Wall by developing their understanding of drama and all the arts.

Great to see some Van Manen. Decades ago one of my favourite ballets in the Royal rep was his Four Schumann Pieces and BRB audiences used to find his Grosse Fuge very enjoyable, not to say exciting.

Some wonderful dancing from them all but for me the highlight was the beautiful dancing of Marion Tait; in her time one of the very best ballerinas in Britain, so versatile and such a powerful actor but rarely recognised for her exceptional qualities as she wasn't with the Covent Garden based section of the Royal. And since then she has contributed as much to SWRB/BRB as any of their directors. It was wonderful that her contribution to ballet was recently recognised by a life-time award.

Now Voyager, thank you so much for the correction - fancy being a decade wrong! I never checked my programme or diary, just recalled that we took our daughter when she was in the sixth form (the only time we ever took her out of school in term time- we got well and truly reprimanded). Six weeks of isolation have obviously impaired my arithmetic! I fully agree about Terekhova, she was amazing in whatever role she danced.

Yes, Two Pigeons, I regard Nicolas Le Riche as being in the same mould, and almost as good as, Vasiliev. On the female side I think of Lynn Seymour as the same type of dancer. People forget what a wonderful dancer she was, not just a tremendous actress.

Ballet448, thanks so much for the link, I have really enjoyed seeing the performance. I fully agree with you about the film, it is too abbreviated but it is quite well filmed- and better than nothing! I, also, saw both of their performances of Giselle in Paris although I didn't mention it earlier, plus other Kirov performances, another Giselle (which included the peasant pas de deux, unlike the Maximova/Vasiliev performances) and some Vinogradov ballets . Last week, after watching one of the streamings from Perm, some Russian documentaries popped up as options, including one on Vasiliev. I don't speak Russian but there was a lot of interesting archive film. There was another documentary on the wonderful Ulanova, a lot less archive film but there was quite a lot about the famous Covent Garden season in 1956.

Thank you, Amelia, for the link, it made my weekend. Yes, I saw him, and to me he's the exemplar of what ballet as a performance art can be. I saw him in Spartacus, in London, and have a DVD and video of the film of him dancing it (unfortunately Maximova isn't in it, it is Natalia Bestmertnova as Phrygia; there were times when they didn't dance together. But I do have a video that includes them dancing the pas de deux at a gala). The choreography of Spartacus demonstrates what a brilliant dancer he was technically, his speed and amazing jumps, his stamina, his partnering skills. The Bolshoi tribute shows the power of his dancing. But what it doesn't show, in my opinion, was what made him a great artist, the compelling dramatic truth that infused every performance. This is what makes his Spartacus the greatest ever, even better than Irek or Carlos, although they were heroic, too; in Spartacus his moral passion for freedom and justice is overwhelming and mitigates the melodramatics of that ballet. In the 1990 French DVD 'Katia et Volodia' (still available) they both talk of the importance of being true to the role, not just dancing for bravura alone, and constantly reinterpreting familiar roles to find their truth. The most powerful and moving Giselle I ever saw, despite many other truly wonderful performances, Alina, Osipova, Fonteyn, Anette Delgado etc, was Vasiliev and Maximova in Paris, guesting with the Kirov, at the Palais des Congres, scarcely a suitable setting. It was in January 1979, the same week that Rudy introduced Sylvie to Covent Garden, also dancing Giselle. In Act 2 Maximova had an exquisite Romantic style, and like Alina she conveyed frailty and vulnerability despite her superb technique. I have never seen a performance where the two so moved as one, they were so much more than just dancing together. His expressiveness was infinite, the way he bent his back spoke volumes of his grief and despair- to this day I partly measure an Albrecht by how expressive his back is! And his acting.... in a good performance you feel their emotion but it's the only time I have even felt that I could read a dancer's thoughts as the character. At the end of the ballet, after Giselle had returned to the grave, Vasiliev danced out his grief and remorse by passionately leaping round the stage instead of walking slowly to the front.The next day we went to the ballet bookshop, the equivalent of Dance Books but in Paris on the Right Bank (and like Dance Books, long since gone) and we met the owner, a well known ballet critic, and she was in rhapsodies about the fabulous performance (she also raved about his legs!- he always wore very fetching blue tights, not black, for Act 2). A few years ago I was lucky enough to meet him in Havana. He was guest of honour at the International ballet festival as he had partnered Alicia Alonso, one of the great Giselles, I have a DVD of them dancing Giselle in 1980. Unfortunately I have no DVD or video of Katia and Volodia dancing the full Giselle, although Peter Schaufuss included a long excerpt of them dancing the Act 2 pas de deux, in his excellent BBC series that Jan mentioned some weeks back; it also includes excerpts of some of Vasiliev's choreography with him performing his version of Macbeth. One final, trivial, thought. I have often noticed that some of the greatest dancers of the last century were born in a bunch of years close together. Maximova was born in 1939- so were Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, Marcia Haydee, Alla Sizova. Vasiliev was born in 1940- so were Soloviev and Makarova. Other great dancers were born in years close to those dates- Nureyev and Gabriella Komleva in 1938, Maris Liepa in 1936, Merle Park in 1937, Natalia Bessmertnova in 1941, Patricia McBride in 1942, Anthony Dowell and Elaine McDonald in 1943, Suzanne Farrell in 1945, Baryshnikov a bit later, in 1948. Quite a thought, especially when you think of the physical derivations of the years during and after the war.

Lizbie 1, I saw 2 performances of the Balanchine triple. It's an excellent programme, 2 or possibly 3 masterpieces that are contrasted. I always enjoy seeing DNB in its wonderful theatre but I was a little disappointed. Given that DNB has some of the best Balanchine rep outside of NYCB (Wayne Eagling brought in a lot of Balanchine pieces when he was director, even had a fabulous Balanchine festival), it is a little surprising that the company is not fully comfortable dancing his style. The dancers were careful even cautious, rather than dancing flat out. I was delighted to see Igone de Jongh in two of her final performances (Who Cares on Friday, Symphony in Three Movements on Saturday) but her dazzling smile could not compensate for her declining technique. It's well worth going to see Ballet Imperial again, what a masterpiece, and the version done in tutus, but it tested the company, even Maia Makhateli at the first performance, although Anna Tsygankova coped better at the second one. In Who Cares, the male dancers fared better than the women, who looked like charming ballet dancers rather than dynamic hoofers. They weren't helped by the orchestra who needed to sound more like a big band. Indeed, the orchestra was, for me, one of the problems with the performances, despite Bruce's praise, as the tempo was often too slow in Symphony in Three Movements, another masterpiece, not giving the dancers the necessary pulse, and in Who Cares, too. I didn't know that Edo Wijnen had won a prize but noticed him in the corps at the first performance so was delighted to see him featured on the second night in Symphony in Three Movements. On balance, Lizbie, it's worth going if you can, such good ballets and the dancers may get more attuned to the style as they have more performances. And despite my slight disappointment I was really very glad to have gone.

Also in Newcastle (7,8 April)

All I can say is that he was very enthusiastic in his applause at the Fonteyn celebration (I was sat in front of him) and he, or his admin assistant, replied within hours when I emailed him about the box office some months back.

While I understand what you are both saying, Pulcinella and 2 Pigeons, I think Beatrice Parma is likely to be outstanding. She is an excellent classical dancer (will/would make an outstanding Odette) and is equally talented in dramatic roles. At least both Wills are proper Yorkshire lads- pity the 3rd one isn't cast, but Brandon is bound to be a suitor. I, too, am disappointed that there are only 2 casts, have booked 3 performances in Birmingham but would have booked 5 if there had been more choice.

Wonderful news about Robert Cohan, he has contributed so much to dance and his latest choreography is one of the best pieces of the year. Simon Russell Beale has performed with the Royal (Alice in Wonderland) and is often a member of the audience.

I think the ENB galas are 17, 18 January. And ENB will probably only send a couple of dancers to the NB gala. Not sure what they'll dance- the guests will apparently dance from the NB rep, which is very different from ENB's.

I treated my sister to a meal in the Crush Bar last May, before a performance. The food and service were no more than acceptable, they had squeezed extra tables in so we felt a bit squashed and the price was high relative to the quality. I shan't be returning!

The Wilton's box office suggested to me that my email might be in spam, but like Bridiem I have none in spam. When I emailed them I did comment that it was unfortunate that they hadn't let me know given that I live so far away, so I was complaining- but not rudely.

I've not been notified, I'd be interested to know if they've contacted Bridiem yet. Ironically they emailed the friend who booked once she knew I was going- she lives in central London, not north of York like me so doesn't need to book trains and a hotel, like me. I contacted Wilton's this afternoon and they have refunded the money. I'd have loved to see Viviana again but loathe the substitute choreographer, no MacMillan, apart from his penchant for shocking.

The website for the Chatelet theatre in Paris states that ENB's performances of Akram Khan's Giselle will take place on 11 -18 July, 2020. (Dutch National Ballet will be performing Wheeldon's Cinderella there from 2-8 July).

I check it every day and it is the Links I read before News, then Performances. I am deeply grateful to Ian, John and Janet for all their work, it's invaluable. Also, they sometimes pick up an online review that isn't later covered in the newspaper concerned, certainly of my daily paper. The international coverage is great.

My favourite non-ballet, non-jazz, activity in NY is the(free) boat trip to Staten Island. The view of Manhattan is absolutely wonderful. The last time I went my daughter wanted to do an open bus tour so we got off at Battery Park, which is a pleasant spot, and later went back to Times Square on the bus ( and were treated to a mini tornado as the weather changed drastically, scary wind, with chairs flying through the air, then torrential rain).