Two Pigeons

Thank you for drawing attentiin to this. Nina is one of my absolute favourite ballerinas. I still rate her Raymonda at the Coliseum as the greatest individual performance in a full length classic I have ever seen. It is rare to see someone that classical, intelligent, musical and beautiful all at once.

It seems to me that the essence of the Ashton style are exactly those you name. However, with the current fashion for taller, more athletic dancers the finer points are being lost. Added to that, most current choreography goes with the fashion. If you think about much of David Bintley's more recent work and compare it with earlier works such as Galantaries and Tombeau (apologies for all spelling errors) you can see a clear trend away from the Ashton influence towards more contemporary work.

I once heard Johann Kobborg say that he had danced all the great male roles and Symphonic was the hardest thing he had ever done. Bearing in mind that he is a great exponent of the Danish school I think this is a very telling comment.

The dancers who knew and worked with Ashton are fast diminishing. Added to that the Macmillan rep is very well supported and preserved by his widow. I suspect there is also much more filmed evidence of his work, often with the original cast.

If the company hierarchy tends to value the Ashton rep less than the audience this will rub off on the younger dancers. I am afraid that if this decline is not stopped soon it will become terminal.

I think I am quite struck by the way that dancers describe the feeling for the choreography in MacMillan and Ashton ballets that they have. Particularly with Juliet and Manon they often say the same things, describing the naturalism of the movement, the meaningfulness of every gesture and step, and the freedom of interpretation. Whereas with Ashton, dancers describe it almost as fighting with their own bodies, the way they have to bend and step with precision and speed, trying to fit themselves into the choreography, it sounds, well, hard and not enjoyable, even if the end product is beautiful to us. Which is understandable, but it makes me a bit sad - I can't think of any Ashton ballets they are described by either male or female dancers as a favourite (except perhaps Marguerite and Armand by Guillem, and a few others who have expressed a longing to dance Natalia in Month). Maybe someone can correct me on this.

Lesley Collier (who danced the lot) always quoted Fille and Two Pigeons as her favourite roles.

I think Aileen is right when she says dancers speak first about the Macmillan rep when listing works they wish today. If you are a dramatic dancer you can disguise a lack of technique with a combination of artistry and the expressive choreography. The Ashton rep is much harder to dance. When it come to the technical demands you cannot compare Juliet or Manon with Lise. The choreography is also much more exposed.

Either way, I think we are all agreed that the Ashton style or rep should not be allowed to decline or even disappear altogether through sheer inertia.

Added to the views expressed above, which I heartily endorse, may I add my regret that BRB's rep is entirely Ashton free this year. This company used to be a bastion of his work and the last time they mounted Symphonic Variations they garnered rave reviews across the board.

I do hope that this issue will be redressed before it is too late for BRB as well.

I understand that only the first cast of Gorbals was to perform in Birmingham and London. Ii was a little sorry about this as I am devoted to Tyrone Singleton and would like to have seen both him as the Minister and Samara Downs as the Prostitute. That would have made an interesting comparison with the excellent first cast.

If the ballet is shown again I hope the second cast will get a chance to perform.

If it's any help, last week we had 25 mins for Fin du Jour, 40 for Miracle and 30 for Flowers. However, it all overran and curtain down was around 10.10.

Many thanks Ian. I promise not to do this again (I hope).

Sorry, I am a clot. I've written my review but posted it on the Beauty and the Beast thread.

If someone brighter than me could move it I would be excessively grateful. Thank you.

Sorry, just re read my last effort. That should be Pauline Clayden of course. With apologies to all concerned.

Gillian Lynne said in an interview in the Friends of BRB magazine that only Pauline Clayton could actually remember every step of her solo. I get the impression that this is a reconstruction of style and spirit rather than accurate restaging of the original work.

I think FLOSS' s point about dancers wanting to appear in Macmillan roles is a very valid one. We are frequently told than dancers would almost walk over broken glass to appear as Manon or Des Greiux and these roles may be offered to encourage dancers to join certain companies. I have heard a number of members of BRB say how much they would like to dance principal roles in Manon or Mayerling but have resigned themselves to this will not happen.

However, from an audience point of view there seems to be a saturation point unless debuts are offered. The Macmillan rep is clearly viewed as more box office than much of that of Ashton. In this era of live cinema broadcasting I can the attraction of strong, story lead dramas. However, if it comes to repeated viewings I am not convinced that they stand up so well without some novelties of casting.

Having said all if that my sister will go out of her way to see Manon every time, including when ENO do it, so what do I know?

I would suspect that a lot of the American audiences associate the Golden Age of the Royal Ballet as the Ashton years and that nothing has quite matched it since. It is interesting that one of the British stars they did take to their hearts, Darcey Bussell, was not particularly associated with the Ashton rep.

I wonder if he resonates in the American consciousness in the same way as Downton Abbey appears to. A type of Englishness that is fast disappearing.

Either way, all credit to Iain Webb and Margaret Barbieri for keeping the flame alive. It is spluttering badly over here.

I'm sobbing into my cornflakes.

I agree that she is utterly terrific and we are lucky we still have her. However, I was irritated that the reporter did not say it was the Birmingham Royal Ballet ( he did sign off mentioning Birmingham). This paled into disbelief when Robert Helpmann was not mentioned at all.

Still, I suppose we should be grateful that the ballet did get some coverage at all.

From some of the reviews/extracts on YouTube I think it is a real shame that Marguerite and Armand seems to have become something of a European free for all. It is a real shame that tighter control over the rights has not been exercised.

Ashton not wanting anyone else to do it was one thing. Letting absolutely anyone do it their way is letting the pendulum swing far too far in the other direction.

I miss Karen Donovan. She was my favourite SWRB/BRB principal but she was rewarded with some wonderful created roles and we have the permanent record of her performance as Maggie Hobson.

Sometimes these perceived injustices work out for the best and the audience as well as the dancers really benefit.

Sorry Bruce. You are quite right. I meant ill served. Sackcloth and ashes for me now!

Along the same lines, I doubt Bournonville would recognise much of his 'work' these days. I agree about Petipa and I think one thing which would flummox both Ashton and him would be the trend for very high extensions.

Macmillan is extremely fortunate to have such an intelligent, devoted and forceful advocate as Deborah Macmillan guarding his legacy. Here is a lady who will not compromise over standards and all credit to her for that. What a tragedy that the Ashton rep is so well served.

I am fairly sure that I read somewhere that the original plan was for Ashton to contribute towards the reconstructions or re imaginations of Duncan's dances but he declined when Macmillan intended to use pastiches of the type of music rather than the real thing. Ashton stressed that she used good music by great composers and I think anyone lucky enough to have seen Lynn Seymour in the Five Brahms Waltzes probably had a clearer idea of her importance as an artist. Macmillan showed her rather colourful life but her role as an artist got a bit lost.

I am sorry I didn't see Galina Samsova in the role as she was very well received by those who did.

As an aside I remember Lynn saying in an interview in the Dancing Times when she was 70 that this was her favourite of all her roles as she considered it the most beautiful work he ever wrote. Given the wonderful roles she created during her career I found that comment very illuminating.

My apologies for being rather unclear. Either way, if you can get hold of the DVD set it's well worth the money.

I was at the premiere of Isadora and I remember the performance as a bit of a muddle. I would also say that the work was not well received. It had two acts, but seemed much longer. I always remember Stephen on the ROH box office information desk saying 'I was never so pleased to see a car arrive in all my life'. Some of the performances were very good but the mix of dance and spoken took some getting used to. There was a lot of cutting after that start.

There is a DVD of the Vanessa Redgrave film Isadora which has a full performance of the (cut) ballet. Merle Park looks beautiful but it is still a mess.

There was a problem seeing the news reportage from parts of the amphitheatre which didn't help following the story.

One of ballet's true greats. I am grateful to have seen her.

I agree with everything you say. Put simply, classics don't date, too many modern interpretations or works do.