Two Pigeons

7 minutes ago, FionaM said:

was it confetti?  If so how did he know?  I suspect he dispersed the head of a flower from a bouquet 😉

It was probably some of the glitter which falls at the end.

5 hours ago, LinMM said:

Why is BBC 4 under threat currently then? 

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.

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

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.

19 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Hayward and Sambe are on now!

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.

On 26/04/2023 at 11:44, Jane S said:

No designer listed for Les Rendezvous, so maybe they've ditched the polka dots?

We can only hope!

Two excellent and very well deserved choices.

12 hours ago, jmhopton said:

 

Thanks oncnp.

Just remembered, wasn't the BBC meant to be showing BRBs Don Q sometime, as part of their Sunday Arts series? I assumed it would be over Christmas but possibly not.

Though all I really want for Christmas is the RB Ashton stream!!!!

Hear, hear!

On 03/11/2022 at 14:04, Emeralds said:

If Acosta’s input is what counts as “relatively little”, a lot of dance companies and other organisations would be thrilled with his “relatively little”! It’s not the same work that Peter Wright or David Bintley did- but nobody wants to be a copycat. He’s made a good start and he’s ensured that many more people can see the talent and creativity that BRB has. I also like that he’s given many solo opportunities to young dancers in various ranks, not just principals. (He also did that in RB when he first set his Don Quixote - Kaneko and O’Sullivan got their breakthrough roles dancing Kitri and Amour respectively while still dancing corps parts that season). 

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.

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.

Me too!

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

Yesterday afternoon around 50 Prommers gathered on the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Steps at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

After a minute’s silence, they laid the carnations that would have been used to make buttonholes for the Last Night performers around/on the dedication stone.  Standing in a circle around the dedication stone, they then sang Jerusalem, the National Anthem and Auld Lang Syne.  It was very moving.

 

Thank you so much for sharing this story.  

13 hours ago, Vanartus said:

It’s a strange moment, I agree. The closure of both Dance Books and Dancing Times is sad. The sudden closure of such a key publication is also shocking. As someone who first went to Covent Garden in 1976 I’m just going to console myself that I saw some amazing dancers do some great works. And I agree, some of them should be seen far more often than they are now. But alongside campaigning for more frequent revivals - yes to more Ashton and also to some almost forgotten MacMillan works - I’m still going enjoy the best of the new. And for me that does include McGregor, Pite, and new ones still to come. I’m very happy to live in the present and look to the future…I just don’t want the best of the past to be neglected. It too deserves to be part of the present and the future. 

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.

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.

Just seen this on Facebook.  I wrote my initial thoughts there.

P.s. may I add Wayne Eagling to the list?

19 minutes ago, capybara said:

To this amazing list, I would add that I had also had some pleasant surprises notably Derek Deane and (at the Stanislavsky) Igor Zelensky (simply astonishing).

I saw Derek Deane too and I am staggered how clearly I remember it.  He was so very much better than expected.

P.s.  you can find Salut d'Amour on YouTube.  I think I will do exactly that right now.

34 minutes ago, Suffolkgal said:

oh gosh i remember that one! thanks for the memory ... i hope this has not already been mentioned, it may have been in this or it may have been in Magic of Dance or something else - but Margot Fonteyn making her farewell in a vignette to a piece by Elgar (possibly one of the chansons or it may have been salut d'amour). she did little echoes of her great roles and at the end Sir Frederick came on and they sort of chasseed off together ... 

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.

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.

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.

31 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I share your gloom Alison.  Even the much vaunted Sky Arts shows little ballet/dance and what is does show is at ludicrous times and frequently repeated!

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.

All those happy memories!

We used to call her The Ghost of Covent Garden.  She was seriously eccentric!

23 hours ago, taxi4ballet said:

 

It's fairly well-known, I think, that Simon Cowell doesn't much care for ballet. 

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.