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Lovely lady who really loved BRB. I cannot believe it's been 14 years. I always associate her with our happy visits to the Empire in Liverpool. She always so lovely to my mother.
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I don't remember if I was at the premiere but I did see Ayoko Ona and was mightily impressed with her. Mind you, I could be confusing it with The Prince of the Pagodas. I watched the first act yesterday and was amazed how much of it came back to me. In particular, Brandon Lawrence looking like a Mucha print come to life in Emeralds with Delia Matthews. I don't wish to appear even remotely provocative or controversial when I say it was a really refreshing experience to watch a new ballet with a specially composed score. (Yes, I do know it wasn't composed for BRB but accessible music seems to be increasingly rare these days.)
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Very well done finding this one. My memories of seeing the work were that it was very musical and colourful with standout performances by Marion Tait as Aladdin's mother and Tyrone Singleton and Ambro Vallo in the rubies section, which is very reminiscent of Spring Waters. I went to one show when every single principal in the company appeared in the first act, along with shining rising stars such as Brandon Lawrence. I regarded that is cracking value at the time. Is it a great work? No, but it is colourful and very accessible with a tuneful score. It's a pantomime on pointes and if you approach it with that point of view you will probably enjoy it. Incidentally I find it reassuring that Miyako Yoshida as director is showing such loyalty to David Bintley. I remember that Kevin O'Hare planned to mount 'Tombeaux' which was thwarted by the pandemic and Iain Webb indicated that Sarasota has had a lot of assistance from Bintley, especially with their Ashton rep. Good! The ballet as comfortably mainstream to the point of being old fashioned. That does not make it any the less enjoyable if you take it at face value.
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Hear, hear. But with especial irritation at the phrase 'characteristically misguided'.
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- Swan Lake
- Nina Ananiashvili
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I knew Macaulay in the early 80s, before he became an 'expert'. He was a past master at gathering other people's opinions and passing them off as his own. That, together with some pretty serious toadying, served him well in those years. Given my serious admiration of Sir Peter Wright I find Macaulay's consistently going out of his way to denigrate his achievements very galling. My opinion of neither of them has altered over the decades.
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- Swan Lake
- Nina Ananiashvili
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Complete with his really nasty crack at Sir Peter Wright. No opportunity missed, however unjustified.
- 122 replies
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- Swan Lake
- Nina Ananiashvili
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Royal Ballet Ashton mixed bills, June 2024
Two Pigeons replied to alison's topic in Performances seen & general discussions
I remember it all very well, not least an open rehearsal with Lynn Seymour coaching. I was lucky enough to see Seymour perform the last two waltzes at the gala for Sir Anton Dolin. She was utterly unforgettable.- 616 replies
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- Frederick Ashton
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Terrific choice!
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Royal Ballet Ashton mixed bills, June 2024
Two Pigeons replied to alison's topic in Performances seen & general discussions
Those undeniably ghastly costumes were designed for the Royal Ballet and much criticised (deservedly) at the premiere mounted for Markova's 90th Birthday with Darcey Bussell playing the principal role. They replaced the previous version by William Chappell which were sorely missed by those of us who remembered the old production. Regrettably David Bintley really disliked the costumes for the men so he borrowed the Royal Ballet's costumes. The work was recorded in the Big Top with Marion Tait and Davis Ashmole and broadcasted in, I think 1979, for Sir Fred's 75th birthday. It did appear on YouTube for a while but not recently.- 616 replies
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- Frederick Ashton
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Pretty constantly these days I am afraid. It hasn't produced anything for some years now but at least it is filling its schedules with some fabulous repeats. Some of the vintage drama is unbelievably good. I particularly enjoyed the two Noel Coward plays, The Vortex and A Song at Twilight with Deborah Kerr and Paul Schofield. Fabulous diction and decent lighting.
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- television
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Any chance of the BBC would now repeat Makarova's series "Ballerina" and then Peter Schaufuss in "Dancer"? If nothing else it would mean that BBC 4 is going out in a blaze of glory
- 92 replies
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- television
- BBC4
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BRB2 - Carlos Acosta's Classical Selection
Two Pigeons replied to a topic in Performances seen & general discussions
Christiansen does not like BRB under any circumstances, mainly on the grounds that they are not the Royal Ballet. Had the performance been fully lit, with a live orchestra and given to a full audience he would have found something else to criticise. I am sorry the company still give him press ticket. -
I would so like to have seen them but every time they got to do something interesting the camera angle changed so they could have been dancing in the next county for the amount we were able to see them.
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ROH 23/24 season announced
Two Pigeons replied to bangorballetboy's topic in Ballet / Dance news & information
We can only hope!- 550 replies
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- season announcement
- 2023-24
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