Odyssey

2 hours ago, Tango Dancer said:

 

 

She gave her name and said she was on the BRB board. She also said she did a breakfast TV show but I don't watch breakfast television so I didn't recognise her and don't remember the name because I was a bit excited about the dancing to come. Sorry about that. She was good though. 

I just looked it up, and her name is Marverine Hall , who I haven’t heard of. 

Thank you Tango Dancer for reporting back on what looks to have been such an enjoyable evening. When Sir David Bintley left, it was uncertain whether this unique, annual event would continue.  So glad it survived COVID too! Who compèred the evening?  

Thank you Magda.How could I have forgotten her in Dances at a Gathering? I didn’t see Seymour in this role but find it hard to believe Laura could be bettered. 

I can only recall two filmed performance - Elizabeth in Frankenstein and Chroma.  I think her Queen of Hearts may have also  been  streamed, but others here will be better informed. What a travesty that so many of her unique interpretations of major roles will apparently be lost to future generations. A remarkable performer. 

It wasn’t performed by BRB it was his company Costa Danza which he toured just prior to him taking up the post at BRB . I managed to find the original press release which explains his affinity to this work.

https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/carlos-acosta-brings-acosta-danza-to-birmingham/

Sorry to divert the thread, but it might be fun to have a thread about bands who have collaborated with dance companies  over the years. The Fall and Michael Clark come to mind.  I can never forget their appearance  on The Old Grey Whistle Test, which those younger members on this Forum may not have heard of - a wonderful late evening show that featured live appearances by bands largely not in the mainstream. 

Yes, Rooster is great fun.  Carlos brought it to Birmingham with his Acosta Danza  just prior to taking over BRB ( 2019?) Memorable because it was not long before COVID  He was such a charismatic red rooster. 

I too grew up in Birmingham. Am I unusual in having enjoyed heavy metal and classical ballet ? Should they be separate ‘guilty secrets’ depending on whose company you are with? I quite happily embraced both in my youth, as I’m sure many have and do. It sounds a crazy mix but my curiosity has been piqued. I can’t believe my luck that it will also be part of the autumn tour in iPlymouth, - though as a Brummie, I feel  drawn to seeing this at The Hippodrome where I think it will go down well.  I admire what Carlos Acosta is doing. Projects like this are open to much cynicism, but I really wish him well with his endeavours. The Guardian article I read this morning provides further background to his community outreach.

A unique, inside look into what it takes to get an aspiring dancer through the Royal Ballet School and through the ranks of the Royal Ballet Company to Principal dancer. Told with honesty and love. A very enjoyable and informative read.

In extremely good condition. Just one careful reader.

£23 including postage & packaging. PM me.

That’s a lot of forward notice ( 2024). Capitalising on their coming dates in Swan Lake. 

2 hours ago, Fiz said:

There’s a new novel called “Clara and Olivia” by Lucy Ashe, a Royal Ballet school graduate. It has good reviews and I have bought it. 

There’s an interview with the author on The Royal Ballet School news page 

https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2023/02/01/a-chat-with-author-and-alumna-lucy-ashe/

29 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

I think BRB potentially missed a trick here.  It was advertised on both FB and IG (and presumably twitter) but there was nothing I could see on the web site and no PR either.  It seems that more and more companies are relying more and more on social media.  Certainly on FB I have to look up BRB as their posts do not usually show on my timeline even though I follow the page.

Radio Times featured it as one of the highlighted programmes of the day, but this is not going to attract a new audience .I think you’re right there could have been more promotional opportunities- BRB are normally quite astute.

25 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Sorry haven’t understood this…do you mean this Don Q wasn’t on just ordinary BBC 4 scheduled programmes? You had to go elsewhere to find it 🤔

It was shown as part of mainstream schedule for BBC4 free to view . I think the comment refers to future plans which I understand will move  BBC4 to an online platform, similar to how BBC3 used to be. 
 

In pondering whether to buy Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballet Russes Enthralled the World by Rupert Christiansen, I came across this conversation between Mr Christiansen and Lynn Garafola author of La Nijinska . It’s a lovely  listen and I now find myself ordering two books instead of one!

BBC4  7.45pm this evening Romeo & Juliet: Beyond Words. So pleased to see this is getting another showing.

The current attitude of the BBC to dance programming is glaring - the ‘themed’ evening slots which BBC4 favour, and frequently do so well, in which they bring together some related documentaries and recorded performances  from the archives , is tonight reduced to an episode of Terry Wogan presenting Come Dancing! The other evening slots are taken up by two programmes about Vivienne Westwood.

It reminds me of several attempts in the old Sadler Wells days to have a second group of dancers perform in smaller venues. I really hope it works. The programme looks as if it would be an attractive proposition to a wide cross section of both regular ballet goers and newbies. 

It will be interesting to see how many lilac fairy ( plus other fairy variations) and bluebird casts we have in this run. Yes it’s good to see a fair few but I hope they all get the opportunity to perform the role several times. Certainly not the single performance of say Melissa Hamilton’s rose fairy at the end of the long run of ‘Nutcrackers’.

I do wish one of the UK channels would pick up Roberto Bolle’ s annual gala Danza Con Me. The line up this year would be a real treat to start the New Year. 

see under the sub heading ‘top notch dancers’!
https://www-repubblica-it.translate.goog/spettacoli/tv-radio/2023/01/01/news/roberto_bolle_rai_1_danza_con_me-381518352/?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

The cast also included the wonderful  Ann Jenner as Clara’s sister Louisa.
It is possible to view the whole ballet on YouTube. If you search on Google under the video tab for the Nureyev 1968 recording, it appears a little way down. 

Merry Christmas to the Moderators and all of you who contribute to making this such a friendly and stimulating place to share  thoughts and nuggets of knowledge. Thank you!

7 minutes ago, Candleque said:

Hearing so much about how important daily class is to a dancer, it is great to be able to observe. However, I do wonder why there were so few senior level dancers. Noticed this previously as well. Do the principals/first soloists tend to do their own thing instead of company class? Just curious.

I believe that there is more than one company class. I’m not sure if they are concurrent, but dancers are frequently required for rehearsals 

3 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I *think* - but I could be wrong - that the making of the new version if the Chinese dance was featured in the Dancing the Nutcracker documentary a few years back (2016 says Google).

Yes, it was. But the Arabian dance was revised for two dancers last year. 
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/royal-ballet/alters-arabian-dance-nutcracker-scene/

Like the late Queen, she is someone who has been there for as long as all of us can remember. Such a remarkable lady who made a tremendous contribution to ballet in this country. I hope there will be some way found to mark her memory.

Like Janet, I have had the pleasure of seeing the BRB’s Nutcracker over many years - I was privileged to see it in its first run and can recall the thrill I felt, and continue to feel, at the climactic moments of the transformation scene. I have never known an audience not respond, with a spontaneous burst of applause, to that precise coming together of the stirring climax in the music with the choreographed moment, brilliantly realised in the staging. ( I’ve deliberately left this vague for anyone who hasn’t yet seen how this production conceives the transformation). I could list a whole range of ways in which this production doesn’t disappoint, but delivers what seems to me a perfect vision of this ballet - and I have seen many of the major productions since the 1970’s.
Does the production design dominate the ballet? I have never thought so, but as I’m now in South Devon I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the newly refurbished production. I can well imagine the bold colours and swirling design for the Kingdom of Sweets is pretty eye catching.  But at the heart of this production is some lovely choreographed dancing  - the Snowflakes, which PeterS notes, is a lesson in how to create beautiful shapes and patterns. The cherry on the cake is the quality of the dancing that BRB regularly achieves which permeates through from the wonderful principals to the corps. 
Having read the reviews regarding the loving attention given to the refurbishment, I’m definitely booking a couple of days in Brum next year. 
 

I’ve just enjoyed listening to the latest episode. Very entertaining hearing  Mr & Mrs Campbell discuss everything from home improvements through to their latest project-  Prima Dance Academy. Loved their fantasy ballet choices- so typical of Claire to be loyal to her original Siegfried and Alex’ s evident ‘man crush’ for Vadim 
It’s also fun having regular updates with each podcast on what Brandon is doing and the activities at BRB.

Thank you Julia.

Glad you made it and pleased to hear the refresh is as stunning as promised. Yes, it really is a special Nutcracker, and glad to hear the dancers are responding accordingly. Which cast did you see?  I recall the early years of the German market when you could be assured of getting a few interesting gifts. Sadly it changed its profile, as you describe a good few years ago..

incidentally note to moderators, would it be more accurate to change the title of the thread I started to ‘refurbished’? 

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