Jump to content

Two Pigeons

Members
  • Posts

    1,124
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Two Pigeons

  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Personally I would suggest that Macaulay sets up his camp with Rupert Christiansen who described the BRB principals as 'lacklustre'. Then they can bitch about the dancers/companies/directors they don't like to their little hearts' content.
  6. I was exceptionally luck to see her as Tatiana and I can still remember how much she moved me. (Whisper this, better than even Makarova who was appearing at roughly the same time.) She was such a dramatic and intelligent dancer.
  7. There is some age advice here but, speaking entirely from my personal experience I last saw the Royal Ballet live in 2003. A significant change in my circumstances meant I have only be able to watch the company via DVDs and streaming services. There is much I would love to able to view now but I would just make the point that the current offerings of the company closest to my heart, BRB, include a ballet consisting entirely of the cast members rushing around throwing and catching bottles of water. Not very high on my list of choice viewing.
  8. No Clem, no Dance Books, no Dancing Times, hardly any Ashton and BRB cutting back on anything classical. Oh dear, my great years of ballet going really are over.
  9. Just seen this on Facebook. I wrote my initial thoughts there.
  10. I saw Derek Deane too and I am staggered how clearly I remember it. He was so very much better than expected.
  11. P.s. you can find Salut d'Amour on YouTube. I think I will do exactly that right now.
  12. Indeed, it was Salut d'Amour. Created by Sir Fred for Dame Margot's 60th birthday/official farewell. They did exit together executing the Fred step. It was only ever performed twice. The main performance followed by an encore and it was included in The Magic of Dance. Dame Margot then appeared with Robert Helpmann doing the Tango in a full performance of Facade. I will go to my grave with this as the one of the most treasured memories of my life as it was my very first visit to the Royal Opera House. What a start! I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see Fonteyn appear 'live'. Her technique may well have faded but her sheer magnetism blazed so brightly it was just dazzling. I promise you this isn't nostalgia. It really was like that and the whole evening just drowned with love and admiration.
  13. And they omitted completely a very fine performance of A Month in the Country starring Anthony Dowell with Natalia Makarova making her debut. Talking of which I really do wish there was a chance to see the programme the BBC produced to mark Sir Fred's 75th birthday. It started with SWRB in Les Rendezvous (in the proper costumes) led by Marion Tait and David Ashmole. Then there were 2 diverts, Monotones 2 then Tweedledum and Tweedledee with the original cast of Collier, Sleep and Fletcher. If all that wasn't enough the finale was of the original cast of A Month in the Country with the luminous Seymour. During the curtain call Sir Fred gathered up Lynn's long blue ribbons and kissed them, echoing that moment from the ballet. History before our eyes. Please may someone dust it off and give us all a chance to see it all once again.
  14. Another huge loss is The South Bank Show, just to show that it isn't just the BBC where ballet output is declining. That produced a number of fascinating documentaries on dancers such as Sylvie Guillem and others. It also won a major international television prize for its 'Macmillan's Mayerling' which charted the development of the ballet with its original cast. Given that there are now at least 3DVDs of the ballet with different casts I regret wholeheartedly that there are only fragments with Wall, Seymour and (above all) Park.
  15. True though this is Janet, at least they do offer some ballet rather than just dance - which seems to be the preferred option of the BBC these days. I grieve for the forthcoming demise of BBC4.
  16. We used to call her The Ghost of Covent Garden. She was seriously eccentric!
  17. No money in ballet for Simon Cowell so, of course, he has no interest in it. I remember his obvious disappointment when George Sampson won the second series.
×
×
  • Create New...