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Odyssey

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  1. Odyssey
    I really enjoyed the Ed Watson episode of Private Passions - a lovely choice of music and such a modest and thoughtful person. Well worth a listen.
  2. Odyssey
    Love it! I really think the feathers arm wings could work in Swan Lake perhaps Liam Scarlett might consider the possibility
  3. Odyssey
    The listing stated it was from 2014.Lovely to have another filmed performance of this wonderful production, but just like the BRB version many years ago, it is very dark in parts of Act 1 so the transformation of the Christmas tree and Clara dancing with the Prince is barely viewable. I noted that Australian ballet were very economical with the snow - Thete's positively a blizzard when BRB perform it. Also the choir were very restrained.
  4. Odyssey
    Details of this lovely annual event can be found here. It is a later date in the calendar than has been in the past. https://www.thsh.co.uk/event/an-evening-of-music-and-dance-with-birmingham-royal-ballet
  5. Odyssey
    Looking at Olivia's tweets the extent of the response suggests she could do with some santa's little helpers - well done to her for taking this on.
  6. Odyssey
    Yes, sadly the sold out sign went up within a few hours - is this a venture that might be repeated from time to tim as it would appear it could garner some much needed funds for charitable organisations?
  7. Odyssey
    There's als the Peter Wright documentary interview on 27th December BBC4 7pm
  8. Odyssey
    I just caught a few seconds preview of the Sir Peter Wright doc. as part of a montage of forthcoming programmes on BBC 4. It was a clip from the RB production including the curtain call which appeared to show Francesca in the Sugar Plum fairy costume ( the wig is always off putting). If the BBC has gone to the trouble and expense of filming these sequences,setting the lighting and camera positions etc, surely it follows that it is cost effective to have filmed/edited the whole production for a future transmission. Or am I being blissfully ignorant of the economics/politics of broadcasting performances?
  9. Odyssey
    Hi Janet, I was at the afternoon matinee on Tuesday too and agree it was a lovely performance. I haven't seen this production for a few years after seeing it for the first ten years when it entered the repertoire, and it has lost none of its power to create a truly wonderful theatrical experience. Yes it is the emergence of the Rat King from the glowing fireplace which combines so wonderfully with the triumphant flourish of the music and ensures the transformation scene culminates in such a thrilling manner. Other gems from this wonderful production I enjoyed rediscovering include the magnificen red dress that Clara's mother wears, the rat that Drosselmeyer's assistant fails to capture and escapes up the staircase, the twilight glow of the snowflake scene & the goose that transports Clara ... And that's just the first act. Laura Day was a lovely Clara and Tzu Chao Chou, who has a fine jump, made a strong and attentive Prince who projects a genuine sense of enjoying dancing. Samara Downs made an effective Rose fairy and Lachlan Monaghan caught my eye in the role of Clara's dancing partner.
  10. Odyssey
    I had to miss the screening last night and am disappointed to discover how few of my local cinemas in the Midlands are showing the encore . The one near me in an arts centre is a complete sellout. Still, I had the pleasure of a BRB performance on Tuesday which was a delight.
  11. Odyssey
    Overall I enjoyed this account of Sir Peter's life in dance. Yes it needed a firm edit but I found many of his assessments refreshingly honest. He may not be right on all counts and I can imagine he has ruffled more than a few feathers in the way he has chosen to comment on events and revered figures from the ballet world but my overall impression was his respect and admiration for the people he has worked with. There are relatively few comprehensive recent published accounts about working within the Royal Ballet or the Birmingham Royal Ballet so this in itself makes the volume a welcome read . Although I have to admit to the guilty pleasure of lapping up his anecdotes which at times come across as a gossipy chat behind closed doors, his observations about life on tour shine a light on the pressures and constraints that touring places on the whole company. One example would be his description of Doreen Wells valiantly dancing Aurora outdoors in the South of France when the evening dew made the stage steadily more hazardous as the evening wore on, with an audience oblivious to the problem starting to laugh as she began to "fall about". It is interesting to hear that there will be a revised paperback version. I hope it doesn't become so sanatised that the spirit of the original is lost.
  12. Odyssey
    Yes I think she was Clara. Irek Mukhamedov guested as the Prince and Miyako Yoshida was the Sugar Plum Fairy. Edited to add I hang on to my video - so many wonderful (if grainy) productions and documentaries that have disappeared from general viewing.
  13. Odyssey
    I have a video of it - perhaps I had better look after it!
  14. Odyssey
    It's good to see the BBC celebrating Sir Peter Wright's special birthday and the seasonal Nutcraker with new documentaries. Whereas Sky Arts can only muster the occasional ballet themed day repeatedly screening a small selection of performances. If th BBC show a performance of Nutcracker at Christmas, I would love to see a screening of the BRB version for a change -easily superior to Wright's Covent Garden production. There was a recording made of a performance many years ago and it made it to DVD so it must be possible to screen it again.
  15. Odyssey
    I assume most people here know that you can see Durante & Sansom in the act 2 pas de deux on You Tube as part of a gala performance. What I find most noticeable about this version is that it is danced at a faster pace. Viviana's fluidity and wonderful epaulement shines through. Both dancers were slighter in stature, but I agree with Floss that this is not the main cause of being underwhelmed by the performance on Wednesday evening..
  16. Odyssey
    I watched the tv showing having previously seen it at the cinema relay. I have to thank the BBC for the sceening - an interesting and imaginative programming for Halloween. However, if they are trying to grow an audience for classical ballet, they did not help by refraining from any synopsis which was particularly needed in the latter acts. The introduction was an edited composite version of the cinema screening which was fine, but then nothing followed to provide a context to how Scarlett has staged the narrative, It was good to remind myself of how well the creature works in this production and is brilliantly portrayed by Steven McRae. it is worth watching for this alone.
  17. Odyssey
    Thank you for posting this. The Birmingham Hippodrome has a long and varied history of bringing dance to the Midlands. A few years prior to the arrival of Sadler Wells who became BRB, I can remember being taken to see a Hungarian dance troupe there and being thrilled by the energy and power of their performance.
  18. Odyssey
    I am glad that Floss introduced Lynn Seymour's name to this thread . When I was growing up, she was the dancer who was frequently associated with the term 'dance actress'. I never saw her dance, but if you read her autobiography where she recollects creating Juliet with Macmillan, this is very much an actress as well as a dancer preparing the role. Her account of the point in the drama when having secretly married Romeo and forced by her family to wed Paris, Juliet has to decide what she should do is particularly revelatory. Macmillan suggested that he didn't want Juliet " prancing around the bedroom. ....could she just sit on the bed?" Lynn describes it as an audacious idea that could have easily been a disaster. "It required the careful building of a character whose desolation stirred the audience - without words, without movement". There are further accounts of the craft of building the dramatic characters that Macmillan created on her, but this one comes to my mind whenever I see this ballet and the passage is, for me ,very much a touchstone of how convincing I find the dancer in the role of Juliet. That ability to communicate what is going through this young girl's mind while she sits motionless on the edge of the bed and meanwhile the music soars. Magical.
  19. Odyssey
    It isn't easy to find but here is the email address : viewerR@sky.uk.
  20. Odyssey
    I so want to be able to share in the enthusiasm of the Twitter comments posted during the intervals at the cinema screening, but I have come away quite underwhelmed. Yes the staging is clever and the performances from all the dancers extremely praiseworthy, but with the possible exception of some of the choreography for the Creature, I found much of this quite bland. I struggled to find the relationship between Victor and Elizabeth engaging - probably because I don't think this is at the heart of the novel, but rather the relationship of the creature to his maker, and Victor recognising something of himself in what he has created. The score didn't seem to help either, with many passages providing a background rather than either accentuating the drama or conveying a subtle unsettling atmosphere. The pas de deuxs for Victor and Elizabeth were pleasant to watch but failed to stir. This experience has made me think about how rare a jewel a strong three act ballet is . Incidentally, It has also made me appreciate the qualities of The Winter's Tale, which although not perfect, does have moments of dramatic intensity conveyed beautifully through some interesting and inventive choreography. Which leads me to my final thought that it is still worthwhile taking a risk on commissioning a new three act ballet.
  21. Odyssey
    A very interesting and thoughtful response Floss. I like the way that this dancer has, as you put it, taken charge of her career, and it will be interesting to watch what happens.
  22. Odyssey
    Thank you. The reason I pose the question is because I am interested in how this might impact on an eventual return to RB if that is what she wants . Being by then an 'established' principal she would be looking for a similar rank. I wonder if that would be less or more likely to happen - she is likely to flourish from the experience gained in this permanent position and certainly the opportunity to dance most of the major roles. But assuming she achieves success in these, would she be a strong contender were there a vacant principal position at RB?
  23. Odyssey
    So in theory she could have a contract as a permanent member of the company and terminate this after just one year?
  24. Odyssey
    ...and what exactly does 'permanent ' mean these days?
  25. Odyssey
    Yes a knighthood would be a fitting honour for all that he has achieved. Perhaps there's one on the way in June
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