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pianolady

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  1. pianolady
    Saw the Encore screening today and loved it. Agree with all of WoodlandGladeFairy's comments. Only little gripe is that I find my local odeon sound a little on the quiet side, and a few camera shots cut off the feet a bit but generally lovely balance between close-ups and ensemble. I especially enjoyed the views of the orchestra in the overture. I did find the production sets and lighting a bit on the dark side, don't know if it worked maybe much better in the theatre rather than the screening? It was noticeable especially with Carabosse's rats who sometimes struggled to be seen clearly against the sombre background. I wasn't keen on the brown garland dance skirts. But these are minor observations, it was a wonderful afternoon and I came out feeling I'd have liked to see it all over again! Meant to say how wonderfully a female Carabosse worked- so much better than the panto quality of the male version.
  2. pianolady
    I agree about stronger announcements.. It's sad but true that it does need to be spelled out. Plus, even with those who do switch off their phones I am completely bemused at how so many leave it until the absolute last second as if they're going to miss out on something so vital. I definitely find the cinema screening audiences better than theatre ones-interesting seeing that the theatre tickets usually cost at least twice as much. I can't get my head around spending money to just sit in a theatre and do the texting and web browsing you can do for free at home.
  3. pianolady
    I saw this in Milton Keynes tonight. So far I've always loved the production side of Bourne's works, and this was no exception. The revolving proscenium arch I thought wonderful- as well as being a very flexible and simple way of juxtaposing scenes, it worked with the lighting and the music to create the effect of a nightmare world that Vicky is trapped within. Loved the use of lighting and the final scene with the train was so starkly effective in combination with the music. I also thought the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo would have made sense with the vivid scenes in Monte Carlo. I wouldn't have expected the athleticism and technical level to be equal to today and certainly looking at photographs the dancers look physically very different from today, so the lack of virtuoso ballet technique didn't bother me. There was a sense of Russian dolls with the layers of works within works and I loved the little snippets of Coppelia in rehearsal. I think some Swan Lake would have been very funny-you could have fun with an owlish Rothbart flapping ineffectually. I tend to come away from Bourne with some reservations and again this wasn't an exception. Liked the dance content much better than some works (on a par with Sleeping Beauty which I mainly really liked). There was one section in the Monte Carlo bit with a lot of walking around and sitting-it felt as if Bourne was trying to echo the film but to me the point is that this is a different medium-and the music hall dancers were funny at first but just went on for two long. But a really interesting and thought provoking evening.Really enjoyed the music, and the bit where there was the sound effect of applause at the same time as the audience applauding-then the soundtrack did a crescendo and there was a wonderful nightmare feel. Have found some of the soundtracks too loud in the past but where we were sitting near the top it really worked tonight. Trog, I've noticed the different audience too in the past. Edit- this comment is in no way meaning to sound snobby but I'm just intruigued to try to pinpoint the wider appeal of Bourne. Have just booked to see Northern Ballet's Casonova in Milton Keynes and will be interested to compare attendance.
  4. pianolady
    This is a wonderful discussion- it's so fascinating to see the different reactions. I'm another one who's not so smitten with Romeo and Juliet. It's partly the plot-I do prefer the more supernatural worlds(although I do love Coppelia but that feels slightly Gothic to me) but with R and J the music just doesn't evoke the same emotion for me as Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty or Giselle- what's interesting is that my OH finds Adam's music really pedestrian and average but it sends shivers down my spine. Yet Prokofiev provides soaring melodies of an emotional scope that I don't think Adam does but I just can't engage with his music in the same way. It's such a subjective and interesting topic-OH had tears in his eyes at the end of the first part of Woolf Works- I was moved but not to the same extent-but the Bolshoi Sleeping Beauty first act fairies brought tears to my eyes (in a good way). Two Pigeons- I loved the quality of the two lovers and whatever you want to call it-twee, quaint, touching but I could take or leave the gypsies. Other ones I couldn't get into although I enjoyed - I'm a big fan of Northern Ballet but Cleopatra left me a bit uninvolved.
  5. pianolady
    Well, saw the screening yesterday. I haven't read Mrs Dalloway and I definitely got a lot more out of the first section having looked up a summary of the novel beforehand. Without that I'd have been very distracted in wondering who was who (and I wasn't entirely clear even then). I agree that it was a mistake not to provide more detailed programme notes-especially for this first act where the dancers were playing definitive characters. I would have liked more information about the thinking behind the middle act-strangely enough this was the only novel out of the three I'd read and I found it the hardest to follow. I think the omission of more specific information could be seen as unintentionally patronising - almost as if the creators are insisting that we approach the work a particular way. As soon as you venture into creating a ballet that utilises a novel, even as a jumping-off point for inspiration, it's inevitable that I'm going to want to know more about the relationship between the two. Loved the readings of Woolf-although unlike others I didn't like the dissolving candle-I found it really macabre and disturbing. To me, it seemed to contradict the meaning I took from the ballet which was one of poignancy butalso hope rather than despair- as we die the ideas and stories each life tells do not, in eventuality, flicker out like a candle but become part of this huge tapestry of thoughts and ideas which is what I think Woolf was saying in one of the extracts. For me, the candle placed the emphasis back onto the body instead of the idea of human creativity living on. I'd have found a backdrop of the sea a more moving tapestry to the reading.
  6. pianolady
    Are you thinking of Lorna Hill's Sadlers Wells series? I have read most of these, the first two, A Dream of Sadler's Wells, and Veronica at the Wells are I think the strongest- they create a very vivid character in Veronica Weston, an orphaned daughter of a clergyman (interesting that Streatfeild, too, was a clergyman's daughter-it does seem an opportune profession in fiction to provide a background for a culturally refined but impoverished heroine). The account of training is based on Hill's daughter Vicki who was a student at Sadler's Wells. It's a lovely evocation too of life as a young woman who follows her dreams, and doesn't shine at first. The later books are I think less successful, although still very interesting-they occasionally verge on the melodramatic with overly bad baddies and a few unlikely plots, -but overall a really underrated writer who deserves to be reprinted more widely.
  7. pianolady
    Saw St Petersburg Classic Ballet's Swan Lake at Aylesbury tonight. I think these little companies do sterling work at bringing ballet to small theatres in the provinces, despite the limitations in technique and some strange production ideas (but then again large world-class companies can suffer from the latter too- remembering that bizarre Bolshoi thing with Giselle up a tree). The Russian 'happy ending' rather damps down the tension for me- as did the endless jester antics that had nothing to do with anything whatsoever, and the hilarious lifting of a blind to reveal the grieving swan outside the palace which was as suddenly dropped again as soon as we'd seen her- not to mention the solution to the all the problems lying in Siegfried's pulling off of Rothbart's sleeve/sorry wing. Talking of which, has anyone ever really come up with a non-comical Rothbart that doesn't' look like Darth Vader? It was a bit of a change tonight with a Danny la Rue look in the white acts, but the Darth Vader look was back in the middle act. A bit of stagey over-acting with the fanning of the distraught Queen was amusing. Technically I thought as always with these small Russian companies that the women far excelled the men although I thought Siberian's female corps de ballet better than St Petersburg on last count. Anyway it was fun and we were grateful to the company for a very enjoyable and interesting, and also much needed night out. My 8 year old self would I'm sure have been enthralled but I think it's a shame that anyone apprehensive about classical ballet may have thought this is as good as it gets.
  8. pianolady
    Beautiful performances, sumptuous production, really liked the sets, and they did mist in abundance! A few things I was less keen on- panto -style Carabosse reduced the fear factor rather too much- maybe made worse by being filmed with the close-ups- looking forward to comparing RB screening - and her defeat seemed a bit inconsequential- but a lovely Sunday afternoon- Act 1 fairies so perfect it left tears in the eyes.
  9. pianolady
    Loved the Princess Tina ballet annuals-I so wish I'd kept my copies. Having finally got a chance to watch the excellent Sir Peter Wright documentary,in the clips of the training at Sadlers Wells I recognised several of the photographs from the book, Dancers of Tomorrow by Naomi Capon which were stills from the documentary she did of the Sadlers Wells School in the 1950s. I'd lost my copy but had managed to get another -it's a really entertaining read, a sort of novelised documentary giving a lovely account of the training through the eyes of Anne, a would-be ballerina, telling about her journey from year one to performing with the company. What is especially interesting is that it's an account of a girl who, it turns out, is likely to be a 'useful' dancer but not a great one-as opposed to the conventional ballet fiction about rising dance geniuses.
  10. pianolady
    Saw this at Milton Keynes last Saturday. Wonderful dancing, and yes, Tring Park School excelled themselves. I saw the production a few years ago and didn't warm to it so I was interested to see if I felt any better about it and no, I didn't. I liked the skating scene but found the bedroom scenes fiddly somehow and I also have an aversion to moments of darkness as scenes are changed- there was one section, I think towards the end, where there was a distinctive slowing of tempo in the music that isn't usually there while we waited for a scene change that wasn't, in the end, really worth it. I feel that Eagling couldn't quite decide between a Freudian 'dark' Nutcracker and a magical one and ended up with something that was neither one nor the other in which the ideas got in the way of the actual result. I agree about the Arabian dance- this is usually my least favourite anyway but in this one I liked the dancing better than some versions but hated the concept. Loved the pink waltz of the flowers, but the snowflakes scene (my favourite normally) seemed a bit rat-infested. The balloon (there was a hilarious altercation in the documentary on ENB around this which I can't get out of my head) doesn't, for me, link with Christmas, or winter. I thought first time round that it seemed strange to have the Act 2 dances performed with the dancers alone on stage- it only occured to me this time that we, as the audience, were part of the action as we replaced the onlookers that are usually onstage- again, it felt like an interesting idea that didn't quite work.Hoping to see the RB screening Sunday week-will be interesting to compare but I'd love ENB to have a production that really does them justice. PS Don Q fan I agree about the rustling of sweet papers- and there was a party of people talking during the overture. The firm no-nonsense no mobile phone anouncement beforehand got the thumbs up from us!
  11. pianolady
    Yes, I'm in the UK. Don't know the answer to that one. It wasn't on at our local Odeon but at local-ish theatre.
  12. pianolady
    Saw the screening today- brilliant dancing I thought and I loved the sets although was less taken by the costumes- maybe a tricky thing if you're supposedly portraying ordinary farm workers but all those headscarves got slightly too much. Liked the giant vegetables at the end-must have been some kind of sinister growth hormone. I found the Giselle parody very funny, (including the music), but personally I'd have reduced the comic subterfuge in Act 2- I'd have found that funnier had it gone on for a bit less time. The ending felt a bit abrupt- I was expecting a pas de deux with the reconciled pairs -that would have been time better spent in my view. Enjoyable afternoon anyway and good to get the chance to see this in a proper theatre too.
  13. pianolady
    I meant to ask if anyone knew that, too. Personally I really liked the addition, if that is what it was. It hadn't occured to me that Shostakovich might have adapted it himself for the concerto- I suspect it was inserted for the ballet somehow. I don't go for all of Grigorovich's choreography in some of the production I've seen but I did like this one.
  14. pianolady
    I wasn't sure whether to go to this one, partly because it wasn't on at our local theatre and the cinema had a few technical/human error issues at the last Bolshoi screening we went to so I wasn't feeling overly confident about that, and also I wasn't inspired by the plot of this one. I'm so glad I went! I thought the dancing was sensational and I really loved the choreography as well with the blend of twenties style movements. I don't normally get over-excited by lifts but I was blown away by some of these. I adored Kaptsova's dancing- her blend of musicality and lyricism together with effortless technique was outstanding, and I loved Lobukhin's sheer evil portrayal. The sets were very interesting with the way in which some of the shapes seemed to reflect the style of the choreography, and the way in which their use of colour reflected emotion (although I did think that grey-coloured angular shape backdrop came down once too often- it would have been more effective used a bit less. Also agree wtih the point about the dungarees though- it reminded me of Hale and Pace's playschool take-off). I also loved Shostakovich's music for its passion and drama and also his versatility in being able to portray slapstick and comedy so brilliantly. The only tiny fault I could pick out with the choreography and production was the rather anti-climactic feeling when Yashka finally gets his come-uppance. It felt as if it needed to be more dramatic and a bigger part of the scene. I absolutely loved the pas de deux between Rita and Boris, especially their final one. If I were in the luxurious position of being able to rearrange the final act, I'd have finished with this and swapped it around with the actual finish, but that of course would have changed the focus to the love story rather than glorifying the wonderful, non-corrupt new regime. I was trying to think whether you could translate this ballet to a non-Soviet storyline and I think it would work very well set in a futuristic dystopian land with an old-style tea room that harbours all the corrupt elements from the past.
  15. pianolady
    I've found the link for the Drina fan fiction http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Drina%20Series%20-%20Jean%20Estoril/works Spent an entertaining half hour reading them last night! Streatfeild's Gemma books are interesting- they do seem to elicit a rather Marmite-like response among readers and I've read some really negative comments about them in accounts of her work. Personally I really enjoy them. I read them as a child growing up in the 70s and I think they strike a period feel (although they were published in the 60s I still see my childhood when I read them now and I love the characters and how they grow and develop. Girls Gone By publishers have republished the first Sadlers Wells book, and the two Ballet Family titles as well as some of Mabel Esther Allen's other, non-ballet work. Another Allen/Estoril one I enjoyed (2nd hand via Amazon) was the Ballet Twins. It's intriguing that she uses her creation of the Lingeraux ballet school in this, and the Ballet Family, which crops up in some of the Drina books.
  16. pianolady
    Yes, I keep on returning to the Drina books too- even over and above the Streatfeild and Lorna Hill ones. I'm with you that I didn't find the Ballet Family titles quite so compelling although I continue to enjoy them. Rumer Godden has written a couple of other ballet titles too. There are some interesting fan fiction follow ups to Drina- offhand I can't remember the site but a search should find it- with fascinating ideas about what happens to Rose and young Igor, Drina's feelings about her ensuing retirement, and her own daughter's views about becoming a dancer. I notice that Drina Ballerina was published in 1991, and Estoril died in 1998. I don't know why there was such a gap between this title and the others in the series.
  17. pianolady
    I absolutely love the Drina books- the characterisation is so vivid and I really identified with her struggles as a child. I love the determination of the heroines of Estoril, Lorna Hill and Streatfeild-character-building stuff! I think the early Lorna Hill Sadlers Wells books are the best- a couple of the later ones verge onto the unlikely plot-wise.Has anyone read Estoril's The Ballet Family and its sequel? I enjoyed these as a child and managed to get a second hand copy and they have also been reprinted. I also enjoyed the Royal Ballet School Diaries- lovely tales and characters although they still can't, for me, beat the Drina books in terms of rounded characters.
  18. pianolady
    We saw this tonight at Aylesbury and loved it- so interesting to see another rendition of a 19th century novel, having seen the Frankenstein screening and I enjoyed both equally. I hadn't been blown away by NB Wuthering Heights choreographically so interesting to compare this to that as well- I much preferred the dance content in JE as well as the sets for JE which were minimalist and simple but unlike WH I felt really worked. Especially impressive I thought were the pas de deux between Jane and Rochester, and the use of the foot movement in which he repeatedly bars her way out. This, together with the prologue of men trapping her really brought out the feminist tone of the novel for me. The use of small foot movements were also interesting in Blanche Ingram's steps which cleverly made her seem like one of life's really annoying, snobbish and irritating people! Also worth mentioning Adele- brilliant dancing and choregraphy which were extremely funny. I absolutely loved the regimented movements for the Lowood pupils- you could see them being schooled into knowing their place in society. The D-men- much as I liked the message of the Prologue, and the idea of making this a psychological drama- I'd have integrated them more and dispensed with the Prologue - I think they were a good idea but maybe over-used. If you got rid of the Prologue and scaled their scenes down, you could have included two elements which would have worked really well- the Red Room scene where Aunt Reed shuts Jane up near the beginning - a great opportunity to use those D-men as Jane confronts her psychological fears- as well as the idea of red and fire which ties in with Bertha and the later fire- and the section of the book where Jane becomes telepathically aware of Rochester's suffering- a pas de deux with him behind a screen at the back maybe where they can't touch. Loved the arrangements of the music which were pitched perfectly to the chamber feel of the whole work with its stress upon intimate emotion. Definitely one I'd love to see again.
  19. pianolady
    Saw the encore screening this afternoon- I found dancing, music and choreography had me hooked from the very beginning and those sets were superb I thought. The Creature had me moved to tears- for me the ballet captured the horror and the pathos- even after everything that happened, it left that sense of pity and horror which is the mark of tragedy. I especially liked the way the Creature weaved into the ballroom scene- I took this as weaving into Victor's imagination before appearing for real. A couple of small things- I really liked the simplicity of the symbolic, recurring red and blue colour schemes of the costumes and backcloths - the only thing was that the dancers didn't always show up very well in the ballroom scene at the beginning. Also, the Creature appeared twice from behind Victor in Act 2, bringing a slightly comic panto effect of 'he's behind you' to my mind which was distracting from the drama- creeping up on Victor more from a side angle would have avoided this. I'm in two minds about the hanging scene- I agree it was horrific- although of course it brought home the horror of Victor/the Creature's actions all the more. I loved the arrogant surgeon in Act 1, brilliant acting, and his dismissive and flirtatious attitude to the female nurses chimed in well with the theme of difference that ran through the ballet- I thought this was brought out well, with the class difference of Justine, the inferior position of the women within the dissecting room, and ultimately culminating in the difference of the Creature. I agree the Tavern scene might have been better replaced with more focus on Victor and the Creature- or with Victor's creation and destruction of the female creature.
  20. pianolady
    Going to see this in Aylesbury in June- really looking foward to it- this is one of my all time favourite books- it'll be interesting to see how it's distilled into an evening.
  21. pianolady
    Just seen the screening- a beautiful and really moving evening. I loved Nunez's Giselle- superb dancing and acting and yes, I agree with Jamesrhblack about the hollow laughter in the mad scene which added an extra disturbing edge. I also enjoyed Avis's Duke- loved his humorous exasperation. I felt that the camera work over used the close up though, which worked to the detriment of Myrtha in Act 2- her acting (and make up) would have worked for me on the huge stage of the ROH but seeing this in close up didn't quite do it. Yes, the clips of rehearsals were great, as was the discussion of the music. I loved Barry Wordsworth's interpretation of the score - both overall and especially thefinal section which was phrased perfectly and added to the very emotional effect. A personal thing, this, but I can't get on with the particular presenter's style-although I preferred it to the double act with Darcey but I find it difficult to compete with Katya Novikova's presentation of the Bolshoi- he was just a bit too polished and slick.
  22. pianolady
    Yes, I saw it today (not seen it before). I loved the dancing and well-acted leads- especially Lantratov's Crassus- the eyes were pure evil! The subject matter on the surface not my cup of tea really but as with Ivan the Terrible I found the treatment of the theme of power very interesting. I especially liked the way in which the solos of all 4 main characters had the feeling of a Shakespeare soliloquy. The goose-stepping of the Romans felt slightly ridiculous- or maybe that was the intention to show them with no redeeming features and ridiculously bombastic? Also very interesting to hear Kachaturian's Adagio in context- I found the Roman's recurring musical theme hypnotically powerful- and loved the slow and emotional sections of the music- I did feel it drifted musically and perhaps choreographically in a few of the ensemble sections. very impressive lighting and sets I thought- it was interesting how the abstract notion of of keeping Spartacus's memory alive was conveyed largely through lighting at the end.
  23. pianolady
    I loved this production when I saw it for the first time- a really interesting take on the story. Looking forward to seeing this in Milton Keynes!
  24. pianolady
    I was a bit confused about who was who regarding some of the female characters at the beginning and I wonder if it could have been made clearer in the synopsis,(even the more detailed one I found online was a bit unclear) but that's really my only slight criticism really. I think that the part of Petruchio is very difficult to play, especially for modern audiences (and even in Shakespeare's time with moves towards marriages becoming more equal and involving friendship), but I thought that Lantratov managed to imbue some humour and humanity into what just could be a borish character. I loved Tikhomirova's housekeeper for her characterisation and I agree that Krysanova as Katharina danced beautifully. I have to admit I haven't read the play but knowing several of Shakespeare's other comedies, I think the title is ironically tongue in cheek as well as deliberately provocative. The last scene was very clever in how the simple act of taking tea opened up questions about the couples' future relationships. The ballet left me feeling that, out of the two couples, actually Katharina and Petruchio might have the happier marriage as they share a sense of humour and relished the play-acting of the final scene, whereas in comparison, Bianca's physical beauty won't last forever, and there's only so much simpering that you can do in a relationship. That was what I took from it, anyway. I agree with Mary that it could equally be read as disturbing. That's what I love about the Shakespeare comedies I've seen, and for me, the ballet communicated that mixture of humour and unease brilliantly. I also found the compilation of Shostakovich's music very powerful and well put together and really brought home what a versatile composer he was, going from the depths of searing tragic emotions to comedy.
  25. pianolady
    I completely agree with this last point. I've been lucky enough to see all bar one Bolshoi screenings in a theatre (usually the Edwardian Palace Theatre in Watford which is tiny and lovely). The one Odeon screening I went to recently felt similarly utilitarian.
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