RobR

I’ll pm you Bill

2 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Rob: As the lady of the house will attest from days of yore, you speak truly.  Bourréing like mad in the final act of Swans, whilst thinking "We have to do this again tonight."   Usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I think. 

😀

19 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

Whilst all the leads are owed much credit for a super performance, I tip my hat to the corps dancers too, as they danced the group scenes better than I recall, which added even more to a great evening.

And, unlike the principals, have to do it twice on days with matinee and evening performances and, again unlike the principals, have to do every show and not just two or three performances in a run…. 
 

….. just saying ….

1 minute ago, alison said:

Surely not?  I don't remember Fille sharing the bill with anything else this century.

Sorry, thought I was responding to Sylphide. My bad 

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'll add that to my list of reasons why I wish the RB would revive Fille!

Although, in the 2005/2007 runs, it was always second after a one act piece 

I won’t comment on the General but I will say that I’m so pleased that this is back 😀😀😀

37 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I know discussion of rehearsals isn't allowed but may I ask anyone who has just been to today's rehearsal if the 2 hours 45 minutes running time on the cast sheet proved to be fairly accurate?

Pretty accurate although by the time all the curtains are done I’d allow 3 hours. 

I’ve got tickets elsewhere so, as far as I’m aware, these tickets are still available 

PM Sent 😀

I’ll pm you 😀

10 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

That reminds me of something that slightly irks me with the RB's Swan Lake: Odette getting entrance applause in Act II when she's already appeared in the Prologue.

Please don’t feel irked. Odette’s appearance in the Prologue is not really an appearance; think of it as more of an ‘amuse bouche’  😀

1 hour ago, San Perregrino said:

I don’t think anyone is talking the performers OUT of applause but rather discussing when, during a narrative tale, it is appropriate to break the silence.
A ballet isn’t a play, an orchestral concert, a rock concert nor a sporting event.

Ballet has its conventions which seem strange when one first encounters them but which I have come to accept particularly if one understands that it is a way of catching one’s breath before continuing. 

Two points.

First, although I have never been to a performance in Russia, DVDs I’ve seen suggest that a 'convention' in Russia is that the principals are enthusiastically applauded when they first appear on stage and before they dance. (If I’ve got that wrong I’ll be happy to be corrected). 

At the ROH, and I believe it’s the same at other UK companies, with a few exceptions, principals are not generally applauded when they arrive on stage. If I’m right, different countries have different‘conventions'.

Second, I think it’s not ideal to align a narrative ballet with a narrative theatre drama - the art forms are entirely different.
 

55 minutes ago, cjp said:

 

On the subject of applause during acts, I thought it was always done that way (ie pauses for applause after certain set pieces in the big classical ballets)?  I find it a bit irritating as it does interrupt the flow of the performance, but on the other hand there's usually been some spectucular dancing, so I can see the argument for acknowledging that in the moment - I think it helps if the dancers try to remain somewhat in character for it, as I think they usually do.  But I thought it had been standard practice across ballet companies basically forever, especially in Swan Lake.

 

Many on BCF will have seen the recent Swan Lake Insight, either live or on YouTube, in which Samira Saidi coached both Benno and Big Swans (separately) and she enjoined her audience to applaud what she described as difficult pieces that deserved applause during the performances.

I’ll leave others to comment on the detail but tonight’s Swan Lake was very well received by an enthusiastic audience. 
 

Also nice to see Charlotte Tonkinson’s debut as a sister 

There was a press at the exit after tonight’s performance, probably because of the rain. 
 

The woman next to me was humming one of the numbers/movements. 
 

“So you enjoyed it?”, I asked. 
 

She responded, in a northern accent, “I loved it, I really loved it - I’ve never been to a ballet before - I loved it”. 😀

3 minutes ago, hephaistion03 said:

Attended the relay  of the  performance last night from the ROH at the high end Curzon Cinema Goodman Fields London Aldgate E1

 

Only 19 people in attendance in a 60 or seat cinema , there were 22 people at the recent triple bill a  few weeks ago , I would have thought that Swan Lake would have attracted a lot more ballet lovers.

 

No gripe with regards to the performance , but I do not think it is not conducive to have food served to attendees sat in their seat watching a ballet !!!

 

eg, cheese pizza , nachos with cheese, salad bowls , pop corn etc 

 

It spoils the atmosphere of the evening.

 

The smells would spoil the atmosphere anywhere at any time 

PM sent

Yes please. I’ll pm you 

Thanks @Buru,

I now get and appreciate your post. I’m afraid I sometimes just get caught up in the moment. 

12 minutes ago, Roberta said:

 

Yes! Usually First Soloists in gorgeous costumes doing not a lot. 

I stand to be corrected but I think this present run has had artists, first artists, soloists and first soloists dancing these princess cameos 

Edit: but the tutus are really lovely 

In the SL version prior to this present version (was it Dowell or Makarova) the dancing princesses performed a pas de six. There was minimal acting and the subsequent National Dances appeared a little random given the apparent lack of connection/context with the six dancing princesses. 
 

The Scarlett princesses (four rather than six) carry an element of the story.  They are in competition with each other for Seigfried’s hand and resent the arrival of Odile as a competitor, hence the ‘side-eye’ towards Odile, referred to in an earlier post. 
 

I have seen other SLs but enjoy Scarlett’s princesses more than the others. 

14 minutes ago, MAB said:

 

Had the late Clement Crisp made such a remark would you have accepted it?  Buru seems familiar with the ballet and has seen other productions and is therefore not an SL novice.  Surely it is best to be honest about what you see, after all it's only by experiencing the less good that you recognize the exceptional when you finally see it. 

Thanks @MAB,

I'm entirely happy to adopt @Robertas response but would add two things.

First, we all knew Clement Crisp's reputation and he posted under his own name and not a pseudonym. You suggest that @Buru ‘seems familiar with the ballet and has seen other productions and is therefore not an SL novice'. Who knows?
 

Second, whilst you may be right I can’t imagine Clement Crisp or any other professional critic, much less a fan on a forum such as this, singling out a particular and identifiable dancer (or two in this instance) in the way the original post did. 
 

13 hours ago, Buru said:

 

Unfortunately, after a very strong first act with a fantastic Jo Jun as Benno and decent (albeit with visible challenges in jumps) Siegfried’s sisters, followed by a touching first meet and adagio of the prince and Odette, the final part of the second act fell apart for me. The cygnets danced in sync but felt heavy, the two swans were a disaster, Odette’s solo not convincing. And I’m not sure I saw Matthew rising two fingers as a sign of love vow in this act. I may have missed it but my companion didn’t see it either. 

 

I preface my remarks by making it clear that I have no particular connection to any of the dancers referred to in this this post, apart from having watched most of them dance and develop over the last twenty or so years.

I accept that this forum has members who have great experience and expertise in all aspects of ballet whether as watchers or with professional experience.

That said, I am concerned about this post. The poster may not have enjoyed this performance but I don’t understand what is meant by 'the cygnets danced in sync but felt heavy'. That seems to be critical but unclear. The poster may not have enjoyed it but without any information about the poster's critical experience or expertise I just don’t understand it.

 I am, however, more concerned by 'the two swans were a disaster'. This is criticism without clarity and worse, it comes across as a personal slight. Again we are given no clue as to why they 'were a disaster'. No explanation, just personal criticism.

5 hours ago, Roberta said:

 

 

Thanks James, and absolutely no need to be respectful, although I appreciate the courtesy, but as I hope I made clear, I’m not overly keen on opera but had thought I should try to see what others get from it and have seen a number of operas that I have enjoyed and two by Mozart, both of which I clearly misunderstood but which offended me, or my sensitivity. 
 

It’s possible that others in the audience, similarly unversed in the nuances of Mozart’s 18th century storylines will also have taken the ‘literal’ approach. 
 

I’m afraid I can’t see the relevance of the comparison with Onegin, and I am familiar with the ballet and, despite considering it further in the light of your comment, have never seen in it any behaviour that I would describe as mysogynistic. 
 

Still, I don’t imagine that we’re going to agree and, for the sake of other OF members (who’ve probably read enough of our views) and in a spirit of detente, perhaps we should leave it there.