Two Pigeons

Please may I apologise for the misplaced apostrophe in my earlier post. It was the damn spellchecker I promise you. Must proof read next time!

Odd that she didn't even mention the dancer's in Month in the Country.

I have a great friend who used to dance with SWRB and the RB. He always said that the Saturday Matinee was the most important performance of the week as you never knew who was in the audience. I suspect that this is even more true now.

Hi Don Q Fan. As long as I have seen The Dream danced by SWRB/BRB it has had a front cloth. Seen close to it is actually rather beautiful and painted to give a frame of more trees in front of the action. However, as I have got older and my eyesight is not what it was I find that I could do without it these days. I cannot remember what happens at the Opera House. In the time that I saw the work there it was over two sets of designs. Whether or not there was a cloth escapes my memory now.

P.s. Jonathan Payne was also at the pre-performance talk and I specifically asked him who did the casting for Month as this had been an utter triumph. Jonathan said he didn't really know but he thought it had started with David Bintley but when Grant Coyle came to teach the ballet he came with Anthony Dowell's full authority to make any cast changes he thought necessary. Dowell came in during the latter stages of rehearsal. He also commented that Marguerite Porter spent a lot of time coaching both Delia and Samara which included telling them Natalia's back story. Whatever was the combination of contributors or in what order the results were spectacular and I really do hope we get the chance to see this production again.

I have left it a couple of days to write my review of Friday night to see if I still felt as strongly about the performance as I did at the end of it. I cannot remember having been so enraptured by a theatrical performance as I was when the curtain came down after A Month in the Country. The evening had started well in a rather perverse way. I had got myself a pretty decent seat in the stalls for £10 but the unfortunate indisposition of a good friend meant that I was able to use her front row seat. I do not mention this in any form of smugness or gloating but it meant that I saw something in the performance which I had missed every other time I have seen this wonderful work. I do not wish to get into a 'who was better' debate as I would say that both the Wednesday and Friday night performances I saw were equally good, just different. The cast for the Dream was universally excellent and I was hugely impressed with the Oberon of Cesar Morales but this did not really surprise me. He is always good. What did surprise me was how much of the character Momoko Hirata made of Titania. That she could dance it like a dream (sorry for the pun) was expected but she really brought out the mischief of the role. I agree with the previous comments made about James Barton, Kit Holder and the quartet of lovers. All this was pretty glorious but the main attraction of the evening for me was to see Samara Downs and Jamie Bond in A Month in the Country. I am increasingly an admirer of Ms Downs and, now that Ambra Vallo has retired, she was my first choice to see as Natalia. All I can say is that she completely exceeded my already very high expectations. She was different from Delia Matthews in that I found her less romantic but sharper and more dramatic. She has been dancing a fair bit with Jamie Bond recently and I think they have real chemistry. This was a very good pairing as he was also a bit sharper, more dramatic and less romantic than Iain Mackay. Whereas I found Iain a rather passive Beliaev who was slightly embarrassed as young women flocked around him while his attention was clearly homed on Natalia I found Jamie to have a greater air of danger who was quite happy to have Vera and Katia pander his ego. Admirable though Tzu-Chao Chou was dance wise he was cramped by the small dance area, too tall for the part and hampered by the dreaded blond wig which looked slightly ridiculous. However, I heard him in a pre-performance talk where he talked so enthusiastically about loving the works of Ashton to the extent that I became a fan on the spot. He said that he left Australian ballet and came to BRB purely to dance more works by Ashton and Macmillan. With that sort of attitude you have to admire him. I cannot finish this review without saying that if ever there was a dancer born to dance Vera it is Laura Day. She was faultless and so right for the part. I thought Ashton would have adored her. One of the posters above commented that it sounded as though BRB was a Far Eastern company. Although I can agree that this may seem the case I would like to point out that of the first cast of Month if you discount Delia Matthew as a New Zealander and Mathias Dingman who is American all the cast was British. There were two Far Eastern members of the second cast but the rest were British. This is not a xenophobic point but I think it should be appreciated how many British dancers get real opportunities at BRB. This point was made in an article in the Dancing Times a couple of months ago where four male dancers, including Xander Parish, all of whom had had to find their success away from Britain were interviewed. Right, back to the point which had never struck me before. Fergus Campbell was playing Ratikin and being so close I was able to observe his reactions to his Natalia, who also happens to be his wife. Watching Fergus watching Samara with real love and pride is not a new experience but this was the first time I had been them interacting at this level. I have never seen a Ratikin so adore Natalia or looked so devastated as she spun away from him due to her love for another man. He looked as bereft as he left the household and I have never really appreciated before that as well as losing Beliaev she is also losing Ratikin. For all that she does not love him the way he loves her the boredom without him will be even greater. I am so pleased that this double bill has been so well received but I am sorry that there does not appear to be any appreciation by the national critics. I do hope that some positive reviews will start to appear next week. My last observation has to be that no one, no one other than Ashton could condense two long plays into such tightly crafted ballets of one act with such effectiveness. Much as I enjoyed both performances of The Dream it is Month which will stay with me for a very long time. There were moments on Friday night which were so good I could barely breathe. When the curtain came down on Samara Downs looking into a future of tedium and lack of love was so haunting it will stay with me for weeks yet. It will be a long time before I am that moved again.

She is a terrific lady and a great inspiration to us all.

I have seen The Dream performed by both RB and BRB and I cannot remember that wig suiting anyone, including Sibley. The only brunette Titania I can remember was Marguerite Porter we all wondered at the time if she had rebelled.

Terrific!

.........and he scored very highly as both Sergeant Troy and Albert Prosser (and earlier as Fred Beanstock) as well. I have to say that I remain slightly surprised that Hobson's Choice has never been taken up by other companies. I am not sure it would fit at the Opera House, for all that it was premiered there, but I still think it is a cracking night out. I am sorry that Choreatium is probably lost to BRB now but it is an important work so it should not be lost to the wider ballet world.

I was at the performance last night and had the great pleasure of meeting BristolBillyBob and his girlfriend. We joked on the way out about which one of us would post first but as he is in gainful employment and I am not it looks as though I have won the race. I am a great lover of the works of Sir Frederick Ashton and here was a chance to see two of his finest. We started with The Dream which is always a huge pleasure. I had reservations about the Titania and Oberon of Nao Sakuma (filling in for Elisha Willis) and Joe Cayley. I cannot fault their dancing but - for me - he lacked that air of mysterious authority and she didn't exactly sparkle. I have problems with Nao in certain roles. I never fail to admire her facility and sheer reliability but I feel a great Titania needs to have more than just peerless technique. The fairies were fine and I would like to mention my pleasure at seeing Maureya Lebowitz back with the company as Peaseblossom. She has been absent for so long with illness I was concerned she might have left the company. I enjoyed the quartet of lovers, Samara Downs with Tom Rogers and Laura Purkiss with Jamie Bond. I find myself increasingly impressed with Samara and I am really starting to appreciate Jamie Bond so I am very keen to see them both in Month in the Country tomorrow. Having said all of that the undoubted star of the work was Mathias Dingman as Puck, clearly really enjoying himself. A respected friend of mine commented that he danced the text as it was originally choreographed and wasn't coy with his acting. I do wonder which Puck(s) of the past he can be referring to. I have not seen A Month in the Country for probably 25 years and I was amazed how it all came back to me. When I saw the piece in the 80s Natalia was a role which tended to be associated with ballerinas at the tail end of their careers. Regrettably I never saw Lynn Seymour except on TV but I remember Natalia Makarova with Anthony Dowell (and Merle Park and Marguerite Porter) and Antoinette Sibley with Mikhail Baryshnikov amongst others. To see Delia Matthews who is very much on the upward career trajectory and far closer in age to the character in the play (as I remember it she is supposed to be around 29) was a very interesting comparison. I felt she started off a little nervously and I missed the full Ashton epaulement in her first solo but as she settled into the performance she got better and better. BRB has always prided itself on its character actors and we had two of its best. Jonathan Payn gave Ratikin his all and Michael O'Hare (who could not give a bad performance if he tried) made Yslaev a really rounded character. Mathias Dingman danced and acted fabulously as Kolia but he was miscast being far too tall for the role. My main general observations were that the set was too big for the stage and the dance area was rather cramped but I would rather have that than not have the ballet at all. The second one was that I cannot remember ever seeing the story so clearly told. When Iain Mackay entered as Beliaev you could see his effect on every one of the other characters. He is a tall, elegant dancer and a very persuasive actor. Frankly, as all the women went gaga over him, you could see where they were coming from. Karla Doorbar was touching as Vera with Yvette Knight really enjoying herself as Katia feeding our hero cherries. It was shown very clearly that though Vera and Katia were very taken with Beliaev he only had eyes for Natalia and their pas de deux was a masterclass in understated and restrained passion. When he reappeared with the rose at the end I found myself welling up as I wondered who else but Ashton could have brought off that climax with all its subtlety so effectively. Two very minor gripes. The orchestra played The Dream sublimely but there were some odd sounds coming from the pit during Month. Secondly, I was slightly disappointed that Marguerite Porter who played such a significant role in mounting the ballet didn't get the acknowledgment of a curtain call. I am not sure what is the accepted form for this type of thing these days. This is a short run of this programme and it is not going on tour. I suspect the size of the set for Month is a deciding factor in this. There are two casts and I am very pleased to be seeing both but I am sorry there are not more. This is no reflection on the casts we do have but this is a wonderful ballet which offers real opportunities for both young and seasoned soloists. I am sure that the company could have supported at least two more equally valid casts but. as I said before, better that we did have this ballet at all rather than not. I am confident that all members of the forum who do go to see this run, particularly if they have been able to take advantage of the £10 a ticket offer, will really enjoy and appreciate it. Ashton was a genius and long may his works flourish and in the style he intended. We are so lucky to have them and I find performances such as this a complete and utter joy.

I have battled with the Hippodrome website and got my £10 seat for Friday. I am so pleased that I will get to see both casts in Month in the Country. I would love to see the Saturday Matinee Dream cast (in more ways than one). I'll see how I get on.

I'LL be there tomorrow and I am toying with the idea of getting a ticket for Friday night as well. I really fancy seeing Samara Downs and Jamie Bond in Month. I think they will make a very intelligent reading of the ballet.

There is an additional show in Birmingham as well on Thursday 5 May.

I would be very interested to know if there is a similar debate in the world of opera. For all that modern works are being turned out on a fairly regular basis the hard core of the repertoire seems to sale on regardless, although admittedly in some pretty odd productions. My recommendation to 'save British ballet' (as opposed to contemporary dance) would be that should David Bintley or Kevin O'Hare decide to retire an invitation should be extended to Iain Webb and Margaret Barbieri to replace them.

I cannot comment on the future of high classical standard but I would suspect that the Ashton repertory will be lost forever.

I think I would add Fokine to that list. I know he wasn't born in the 20th century but he did most, if not all, of his important work during it. For me the two utter geniuses were Ashton and Balanchine. I was very pleased to hear Darcey use the word to describe Ashton 3 times during the interviews given in the Rhapsody/Two Pigeons programme. Coming from someone who will always be thought of as primarily a Macmillan dancer it was very gratifying. Regarding Balanchine, I have never seen Serenade or Theme and Variations without being amazed by his genius. It may be an overused word these days but, for me, they both utterly deserve it.

Update! Need to get to Nottingham or Plymouth.

Having whinged about The Dream I am more than happy to get Jenna and Iain as R&J too. Have great hopes for some youngsters in the supporting cast. Tyrone or Brandon for Tybalt?

Lovely casting for Month in the Country, bit disappointed regarding The Dream. Can't believe Will Bracewell has only got one.

Sheer heaven as far as I am concerned would be Les Rendezvous (but in the original costumes) or Les Patineurs then The Dream finishing with Facade or A Wedding Bouquet.

I would be very interested to see if Valses Nobles and Sentimentales would ever be revived. Kevin was in the cast which worked directly with Ashton on it.

As someone who cares pretty passionately about the Ashton rep and how it is danced I do wonder if Anthony Russell-Roberts has taken the decision that it is better to have the Ashton works danced as often as possible, even if it means sacrificing the required style, rather than shelved indefinitely. The over prevalence of Marguerite and Armand productions would indicate that the performance rights are being handed out like sweeties with very little check on the quality of the shows. From what I have read the Ashton rep has been in decline for a number of years and this is of great concern as the dancers who know how do it become fewer and fewer on the ground. For this reason I hail the comments and reviews of the Hayward/Hay performances as a very hopeful sign for the future. It would be terrific to think that the dancer's were as keen to dance Ashton as they are Macmillan.

I remember one reviewer saying it was like seeing Ms Jenkins dance and hearing Ms Bussell sing. Someone gave me the DVD. I didn't keep it.

Many thanks for bringing this to our attention Janet. I really enjoyed the programme and her comments about Ashton and always showing the dancer's back made a lot of sense. I did feel for her a bit when she talked about only Jonathan Cope talking to her during Pagodas. What a lot for a young dancer to take on.