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Two Pigeons

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  1. Two Pigeons
    Mine has finally arrived today. I see that the previously free programme per seaon is now a chance to buy a half price voucher.
  2. Two Pigeons
    What a great thread! My candidate for danseur noble has to be Anthony Dowell. I think there should be another title for heroic male dancers such as Mukhamedov and Vassiliev. Regarding Assolutas, I have a vague feeling that Adeline Genee was awarded this title.
  3. Two Pigeons
    Same thing here, post has arrived but no form. I think I'll wait for the online booking and get individual tickets. Can't say I am overly impressed.
  4. Two Pigeons
    Then I definitely won't take out a subscription! I think I would be well advised not to say anything more in an open forum.
  5. Two Pigeons
    Not exactly making things easy for us are they. Given that it is an entirely Ashton free year I will sleep on it overnight and then decide if I am going to renew my subscription. As I get older I find myself less interested in 'exciting new work' particularly if the description includes the dreaded phrase 'specially commissioned score'. I think those are the three scariest words in ballet (along with the 'imaginative new interpretation').
  6. Two Pigeons
    I feel exactly the same. I am an existing subscriber and a friend of both BRB and the Hippodrome but no sign of a booking form. Can't say I'm overly thrilled with the season. However, I will be pleased to see Flowers again. I went to Culloden two years ago and that music kept running through my head. Britten definitely got that one right.
  7. Two Pigeons
    I think this is a really interesting question and I think the answer is timing, as it is in most things in life. I saw Darcey at her graduation performance in Concerto and the moment she came on you could see she was something special. My mother (who was never a big fan of hers afterwards) turned to me and said 'at last, some personality'. As I said on another thread, I have reservations about the idea that Darcey was a ballerina but there is no question that on stage (and off) she was an utter star. She blossomed at the right time, she caught the end of MacMillan's career, she had an aggressive agent as has been said above and there was something egalitarian her. I got to interview her in 1990 for the Friends of BRB and she was extremely approachable, which was not a quality I felt about some of her colleagues. I think when you are a ballet fan it can be hard to chat to your idols but Darcey's celebrity in other spheres somehow removed that reservation. I agree that the fact that she was British did have something to do with it. So many dancers who came along were trumpeted in the press as 'The New Fonteyn' (Marguerite Porter was an example) but there was very little opportunity for the readers to actually see them perform. Darcey appeared in all sorts of things which kept her in the public eye much more. Equally she was a big hit in America and that counts over here outside the world of ballet. You can be the biggest star at the Royal Opera House but that will not count for a huge amount in the wider world. Darcey (or her agent) understood that and put her in activities where the wider public could see her and it unquestionably worked.
  8. Two Pigeons
    Having seen this production twice at the Hippodrome I was moved to look out my copy of the MacMillan version which I have probably not seen for well over 20 years. I found that the only thing I really remembered was the solo for Deborah Bull in the third act. My overall view of the comparison was that in many ways the performances were on a par, the BRB version wins hands down for it's design but the RB one for its choreography. When MacMillan was interested in classical choreography he was very proficient. However, my lasting view is that this is not a danceable score and the story is unusually silly. As I said earlier, I shan't be rushing back to see any version again.
  9. Two Pigeons
    I also thought her rendition of 'cheek to cheek' merely underlined the utter magic and brilliance of the original. Star though Darcey undoubtedly is she coukd not match it in any respect.
  10. Two Pigeons
    Ditto the 1940s red lipstick. This may be a minor quibble or a matter of personal taste but I found it a tad distracting. I would like to add my pleadings for a broadcast of Onegin. Equally, could the next be cast a bit wider and include other companies, such as ENBs Le Corsaire. That would be a great change from Nutcracker every year with the same production.
  11. Two Pigeons
    I think Tito retained delusions of grandure and he believed he was a person of importance in Panama. Also his children from his first marriage were still there. From all the footage I have seen of Tito's sister and his son they would have wanted the couple in Panama so that they have could gain maximum advantage from them. Poor Margot, she deserved so much better.
  12. Two Pigeons
    ?.......... sorry, posted too early. Trying to say I'm surprised he did not come over that well.. Cannot comment on his choice of tie though!
  13. Two Pigeons
    I must start this posting by confessing that I did not see any of the broadcast or interviews but from what I have seen her do I share the reservations about Darcey's presenting skills. I also feel that she is going to be ubiquitous as far as the BBC is concerned. In the very early days of satellite tv the Now channel of BSB presented some European ballet and I can remember both Lynn Seymour and Margaret Barbieri introducing programmes. I think I still have them on old videos somewhere. They both did excellent jobs and I agree that this is an untapped resource. Finally, I interviewed Kevin O'Hare a number if times for the Friends of BRB. He really was the easiest person in the world to chat to so I am surprised to hear he came over less than
  14. Two Pigeons
    I am approaching all this with a bit of caution as there seems to be a big difference between what has been announced in the Radio Times as from what is shown on the planner. Either way, I shall just press the record button and hope for the best!
  15. Two Pigeons
    I can remember a time in the early 90s when the RB had a small touring group called something like Ballet Bites. I went to a show at the Leicester Haymarket and saw Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom do Thais and a pas de deux by Balanchine. It also included the young Darcey Bussell doing some Bill Forsythe. It's a real shame that such tours don't happen these days.
  16. Two Pigeons
    I would like to add my praises for Miss Rojo's programme which I felt was full of real insights into a familiar work which we have all seen many times. Every time I have seen her interviewed or contributing to a programme (such as the Proms last year) I have been bowled over by her combination of shining intelligence and real passion for her subject. I do not wish to be appearing to sideline Darcey when I say that she seemed to me to be the least effective presenter of the three. I also agree about Gavin Sutherland. Here is a raconteur and advocate of his subject that I would love to hear again. Imagine him talking about Stravinsky, Prokofiev or Constant Lambert. There is a complete treasure trove of material to be explored there.
  17. Two Pigeons
    Having read this thread there are two points which strike me. I have to agree with Aileen that BRB make the Ashton rep a speciality and this has to be the direct influence of David Bintley who is very much an Ashton disciple. For this we are extremely grateful and I really looking forward to the Ashton triple bill in June. (sorry, this is probably a bit off the main thrust of this thread.) I do wish we could see Choreatium again though. The other point concerns A Month in the Country. It is one of my dreams that Opus Arte will release a DVD of the BBC programme to mark Ashton's (I think) 75th Birthday. We had Marion Tait and David Ashmole in Les Rendezvous, Montones II, the trio for Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee with Lesley Collier, Wayne Sleep and Graham Fletcher and it finished with the original cast of A Month in the Country. I know a lot of this is available on You Tube and I still have on very watery video but a crisp new print of the real thing would be wonderful. sorry, this is me just wandering off to dreamland on a Sunday afternoon.
  18. Two Pigeons
    I was very lucky in that my first performance of Fille was the one starring Lesley Collier which was filmed. I saw it again about 3 weeks later at its 21st anniversary performance. She will probably always be my favourite Lise. Here was someone who really understood the role and had worked with Ashton on it. My only regret is that I never saw her do it with Stephen Jefferies, despite number of attempts. However, my favourite Lise/Colas combination has to be Sandra Madgewick and Michael O'Hare. If David Bintley played Alain, that was a pretty unforgettable bonus. I agree that the RB version is the best, but the BRB version is its equal.
  19. Two Pigeons
    I wish that some of the lesser known MacMillan ballets could be seen again. I really enjoyed his version of the Four Seasons to the Verdi music. It would be lovely to see that again. In answer the Swedish Swan Lake, that is the BRB version which starts with the coffin procession.
  20. Two Pigeons
    Supporters of the Birmingham Royal Ballet don't really have this problem as very little of their output is covered by the London press. However, we do have a local critic who has had designs on being a louder voice in the ballet world generally. For years he went out of his way to be hyper critical of Kevin O'Hare. I bet he regrets that now!
  21. Two Pigeons
    Many thanks for the link to the extended version John. I was hoping to download it via the Sky catch up service but it does not seem to be available there. I have just watched it on my tablet. I am sorry that the Acts 1 and 3 variations were not filmed but it was great to have an extra helping of Antoinette Sibley doing the first fairy - Crystal Fountain or Beauty depending on you preferred production. When the credits came up I was rather amused by the very ordinary and utterly Anglo names of most of the cast. Clearly a long way from the days of having to Russify all dancers stage names.
  22. Two Pigeons
    Terpsichore please may I return the compliment. Many thanks for these links, I shall enjoy exploring them. All in all I think this week of dance has given us balletomanes a lot to consider and new avenues to explore. It would be greedy (and probably fruitless) to ask for more of the same. However, ever the optimist we can only try.
  23. Two Pigeons
    I have never been lucky enough to see Scottish Ballet although I did see Elaine McDonald a couple of times at galas. I thought it was very sad to see how frail she is now and to think how unfair that she lost her claim for care. It just shows what can be waiting for all of us, both dancers and non-dancers. I found the programme really interesting and I was pleased to see such a remarkable life as Peter Darrell getting some acknowledgement. I had not appreciated how influential he was and this was a story worth telling. One of the best features of this ballet week is that it has covered other companies, not just the Royal. British ballet is full of fascinating characters and stories and it has been great that some of them have been uncovered like this. More please, or failing that, can we have greater access to some of the footage which has been dangled in front of us in an almost teasing manner.
  24. Two Pigeons
    I heartily endorse this thought. I still cannot believe that Gillian Lynn is 88 and Beryl Grey 87, let alone Henry Danton. I think it is something of a waste that we know a fair bit about Dame Gillian's work in the commercial theatre and very little about her ballet days. I was also impressed with the way she defended de Valois.
  25. Two Pigeons
    I said on another thread that I felt much of Fonteyn's legendary stamina might well have been due to the amount she danced during the war. If you add on to the number of shows they did the amount of travelling, the poor rations and having 1 pair of shoes to cover 18 performances the whole achievement is utterly staggering. We have Dante Sonata to look forward to in June but I am getting pretty excited to think we may have a chance to see Miracle in the Gorbals. I wouldn't mind another look at The Prospect Before Us again. I think I might appreciate a bit more now. Madam's work deserves further viewing while we still have dancers who worked with her.
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