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RobR

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  1. RobR
    Reverting, briefly, to the RBS entry into the company, I think it a mistake to focus on the principal dancers. Ballet companies evolve and if one ignores the more established dancers, there seems to me to be a high percentage of soloists and artists who have trained at the RBS. Whether or not KO'H has increased RBS recruitment to a greater proportion than his predecessors is something I have no knowledge of but the current make up of the full company would seem to support his WBD interview assertion.
  2. RobR
    Isabel Lubach? Julia Roscoe?
  3. RobR
    Hi Eva, I'm interested. I'll pm you. RobR
  4. RobR
    I went last night not knowing quite what to expect. It was, in most ways, a different 'Giselle' but identifiable nonelthess. I thought it a stunning performance and I was very much impressed by all the dancers. TR still has it in trumps but the dancers were all on top form. Well done to all!
  5. RobR
    It might be a good starting point to discuss the matter with her teacher?
  6. RobR
    Just seen tonight's Swan Lake with Viktoria Tereshkina and Xander Parish. It was terrific, they were terrific and she was particularly good, IMHO. The soloists and the corps put on a very good display and I am really looking forward to seeing it again. If I have one very minor criticism, I have never understood why in the first act, both the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi persist in having very static blokes, in strange hats and wigs, sitting behind a table occasionally remembering to wave or toast an imitation wine goblet in the general direction of the dancers. When you compare that aspect of this staging with the lovely mobility of the RB support in the now defunct RB Swan Lake, the difference is disappointing. However, that minor (and probably very personal) gripe shouldn't and doesn't detract from a wonderful evening of dance.
  7. RobR
    Hi Lizbie, I'm interested. I'll pm you.
  8. RobR
    I'm confident that the Worthing Herald will run a feature as and when the next Worthing dancer is made an RB principal ?
  9. RobR

    LCB or EYB

    RobR replied to Balletmum22's topic in Doing Dance

    I don't know about the EYB, but the LCB always involved a considerable time/travel commitment. As indicated above, following the first and second auditions there is a casting audition for those selected and then rehearsals involve compulsory Sunday attendance from January onwards followed by a week of daily rehearsals over the (generally) Easter holiday. The actual performances previously required about three days off school, and you may need the school's permission to take that time out. The LCB is loath to accomodate any failure to attend rehearsals and children choosing to go on pre-booked Easter family holidays run the risk of being excluded. As I said, it's a big commitment from both children and their families.
  10. RobR
    Hi Terpsichore I'll pm you about Swan Lake on 27 July RobR
  11. RobR
    I'd like them both. I'll send you a pm.
  12. RobR
    I'm delighted to hear she had full, detailed and clear notes. Anyone who preferred to 'wing it' without notes in front of a (live) audience of 5 million would probably be a liability!
  13. RobR
    After reading the above I'm uncertain if I'm in the right topic but, on the assumption I am, I'll press on regarding the new production. I appreciate that forum correspondents rarely comment on rehearsals but having seen today's 'general', I just thought I'd post how impressed I was with this new production. I thought that the sets and scenery were great, as was the lighting. And I really enjoyed the choreography, which I think far less clunky than my recollection of recent earlier productions and there seemed far more scope for 'joi de vivre' than I remember previously in SB. The music was unchanged - a relief! As you'll gather, I very much enjoyed it.
  14. RobR
    I know that this forum has, arguably, an esoteric membership - and I enjoy it and the interesting comments I read. Many of those who I know watched last night's programme are not balletomanes and don't have any great interest in ballet or ballet dancers, but were attracted to it because of Margot and Darcey. All seem to have enjoyed it; learning something about Margot's (sad) life - their words, and about ballet itself, both historically and in the modern age. This hour long 'populist' and easily watchable programme will, in my view, have increased the interest in ballet of most of the large audience, not only in one of ballet's icons, but in how ballet has developed since Margot.
  15. RobR
    Thanks, but only two have danced as yet. I'm a bit baffled by many of the above reviews. I go to watch dancers dancing, and to enjoy the music, the sets and the production. I don't go for a history lesson. It may be that the passage of time has indeed rendered Anastasia's fate and Anna Anderson's claims of little current importance but when we attend a ballet don't we all suspend reality for the magic of the moment; otherwise this chain would take up time arguing about the issues of magicians turning nephews into nutcrackers, maidens into swans and putting princesses to sleep for a hundred years (and most 10 year old children can make the distinction). The dancing was, in my possibly naive opinion, lovely and engaging in all three acts.
  16. RobR
    I've now seen both casts (one being the General rehearsal) and both were sensational. Osipova and Cuthbertson both excellent. The dramatic denouement of Act 3 works so well because of the juxtaposition with Acts 1 & 2. Without the first two acts the third act wouldn't make as much sense. The sets were great and the use of film and 'voices over' coherent and relevant. Having seen other companies in recent months I very much appreciate just how good the RB is in the big numbers. And the revolutionary cameo at the front of the stage in Act 2 develops the ballet. I thought the whole ballet worked really well.
  17. RobR
    Dear Ballet Confused, I've sent you a pm. If it hasn't shown in your inbox it may have diverted to your junk mail. I hope it helps.
  18. RobR
    Today, as I walked past 118 Long Acre, I noticed the fixing of a blue plaque to the wall.
  19. RobR
    Does anyone else think that Act 2 is overlong and could benefit from being shorter and tighter - or is it only me?
  20. RobR
    I'm still puzzled by the (mild) criticism of Act 2 by various correspondents. I've seen WT three times this run - with different casts. Whilst I enjoy and appreciate the drama of Acts 1 & 3, and the 'acting' ability of the dancers, I find Act 2 positively exhilarating - I almost want to skip out of the auditorium at the interval.
  21. RobR
    I'm surprised by some of the posts in this thread regarding the duration of TWT, and the consequent suggestions that it may be overlong. As classical ballet lovers I assume we'd all think that the dancing is much more important to us than the narrative, which is really only a vehicle to give the dancers the opportunity to display their musicality and movement. As far as I'm concerned, the longer the dancing lasts the better.
  22. RobR
    The 1984 recording with Alessandra Ferri and Wayne Eagling was the most engaging I've watched.
  23. RobR
    What about Red Shoes School of Dance in Haslemere and Greyshott?
  24. RobR
    This is a link to Maggie Foyer's nice review of the Linbury performance http://dansportalen.se/111/-fler-artiklar/nyhetsarkiv/2015-07-16-royal-ballet-school-in-the-lead.html
  25. RobR
    Nine of those listed were at White Lodge
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