assoluta
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Posts posted by assoluta
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On 4/11/2018 at 14:20, Riva said:
There is now a short video ‘trailer’ on the production page showing some lovely detail of what look to be stunning costumes http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett
I found the video trailer ludicrous, giving absolutely no idea about the production itself, not even a glimpse.
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You know nothing about the subject, I am afraid.
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On 4/6/2018 at 07:44, Richard LH said:
Did anyone watch this strange production live, and manage to see it through to the end?
I did.
QuoteI'm sure these are talented dancers, but this is a ballet with ponderous, tuneless music and choreography.
I think the music is generally very well composed, the choreography is remarkably musical, the composition of ensembles masterful. For me it is the best of Grigorovich's original works.
QuoteIt made the whole thing pretty depressing - which seemed to be reflected by the sad/bored faces of the interviewer and her various interviewees (not understanding Russian I can only go by body language).
The whole situation of ballet at Mariinsky is depressing, nobody can do anything about it, Mr Gergiev "hates" ballet, unfortunately he is a "friend of Putin". He gives very little money to the ballet company. This may be the main reason why only Mr. Fateev's favourites get any real promotions, and even this may cost Mr Fateev a lot of long term efforts and thoughtful planning. Another side effect of Mr Gergiev's attitude towards ballet is that nobody, no scholar, no choreographer, not even the rector of the Vaganova Academy, can get access to the ballet scores that are stored in the same building as the Vaganova Academy but are under Mr Gergiev's control. It is easier to get a copy from any other place in the world, if there exists one, of course. This adversely affected several projects to celebrate Marius Petipa's 200th Anniversary.
QuoteReferencing our "Are 32 fouettés necessary" thread, they seemed to be thought so here, as such a sequence was arbitrarily thrown in at one point (I think I counted about 24 turns but was distracted by the annoying applause half way through).
You counted correctly. There are 32 fouettés in "Swan Lake" because the "Odile" variation was made for Signora Legnani, and Legnani wanted to show off, to demonstrate one of her circus tricks that nobody could repeat. For the exactly same reason the Lilac Fairy role in the original production of "Sleeping Beauty" had practically no dance, and that little dancing was mostly on heels. The role was made on Marius Petipa's own daughter who lacked proper training, she was essentially a character dancer, and due to her advanced age her only, and easy, variation in the Prologue was soon abandoned, she couldn't do it. So, there are 24 fouettés in "Legend of Love", because the legendary dancer who was one of the original Mekhmene Banus couldn't do more than this number. This doesn't make that dancer any less legendary, she was widely considered as one of the greatest ballet artists of the second half of 20-th Century.
QuoteMuch of the audience seemed to have already left by the end of the curtain calls, and the co-ordinated clapping of the remainder seemed contrived and oppressive.
I wouldn't be judging every audience everywhere in the world by what is a custom, say, in London. I attend a lot of performances, UK, Europe, both Americas, occasionally Australia and New Zealand, and the customs vary greatly.
QuotePerhaps it's me, and the fact that I am not entirely in love with Mother Russia at the moment, and that I am comparing this effort with some superb recent productions here in the UK.
I am neither "in love with Mother Russia at the moment", even visiting the Russian consulate in London and meeting there the same "Soviet nomenklatura" apparatchiks gives me shivers. Fortunately, this does not affect my perception of Russian ballet, of Russian artists, of Russian ballet pedagogues and critics, several of which are my dear friends and colleagues. By the way, which recent UK productions (I mean ballet), do you consider "superb"?
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23 hours ago, Sharon said:
I didn't know she had problems with her feet (well beyond the usual ballerina bunions,etc).
Why you should? Most dancers don't brag about such problems in public, even though they can be quite severe.
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15 hours ago, betterankles said:
She doesn’t...
She does.
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On 4/3/2018 at 09:21, Amelia said:
I also prefer when Odile does “scathing”, “stinging” single fouettés, which are, appropriately, more aggressive. However, it is a pleasure to see in other ballets, depending on the mood of the character, how fouettés can be varied. Here is how one ballerina does it in different roles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arVnNSCFAMEThis is how she may have wrecked her feet.
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Arguably, the greatest ballet historian of the last decades. I wish other people who write about ballet and dance had his love for the subject. According to his own admission, the cozy interiors of the Opéra archives at Palais Garnier were his "home in Paris". In recent years, unfortunately, the state of his health made contacts with him impossible which I regret very much.
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On 3/22/2018 at 16:57, Sim said:
Since no-one else seems to be commemorating Margot Fonteyn's centenary, I thought it would be fun/interesting to ask all of you how you would commemorate the occasion if you were the AD of the RB?
Which ballets would you revive? Would you commission a new one, and if so, what would it be? What kind of peripheral events would you put on to complement the ballet productions? Is there anything else you would do?
It has been an established custom to celebrate anniversaries of outstanding dancers by a gala. I fully expect that a gala devoted to Fonteyn will be duly announced.
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On 3/10/2018 at 23:24, Sebastian said:
Most interesting. Do you happen to have any information on where this important paper is to be published? I would very much like to read it.
It will be published in the proceedings of the conference. Many participants (choreographers, former dancers, ballet historians) were very bitter about the scandal with the so called "Petipa gala" at Mariinsky, several refused to attend it. I did, and in the end the only "good" that came out of it was witnessing Mr. Gergiev's arrogant slap in the face of the ballet community (the exact words used by one of the senior ballet critics present) and the sorry state of the Mariinsky ballet. The orchestra sounded dreadful, Mr. Gergiev's total lack of attention to what was happening on the stage was astonishing, this was seconded by three wooden favourites of Mr. Fateev cast in principal roles, matched by the chaotic corps de ballet in Keichel's monotonously repetitive long choreographic exercise that bore no relation to Petipa. This was Mariinsky totally "deconstructed". Literally nothing remaining of its former glory.
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If we are talking about Marius Petipa "turning in his grave", then according to the number one authority on Petipa's ballets, Professor Roland Wiley, Petipa would be turning in his grave in protest against "reconstructions" like the one that is being glorified here. This is an essence of his talk on Harvard Sergeev's collection and "notation", read yesterday, in his absence, during the opening session of the "Hommage to Petipa" conference at the Vaganova Academy.
A disquieting amount of disinformation and fallacies is being spread by well meaning if ignorant people all over the internet about the subject of reconstructions and the "authentic Petipa." Most of this has little or no bearing to facts.
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1 hour ago, capybara said:
A full (small) cinema for Flames of Paris today - and, no wonder, as it seems to be harder to find Bolshoi screenings this season.
Loved the energy from Igor Tsvirko as Philippe. Unfortunately, Margharita Shrainer's Jeanne didn't seem to muster up the energy or technique the role really needs. But she has the very hard acts of Osipova and Krysanova to follow.
We may have got used to super-energetic Jeannes of Osipova and Krysanova yet, actually, I like Shrainer with her subtler approach and I think she holds well against them on her own terms, full of charm and lightness. Tsvirko, for me, went overboard, unless one likes Philippe to be a complete simpleton, Kretova was, predictably, mediocre as the Actress and, Ovcharenko, as the Actor, too (in his case, rather surprisingly). Ana Turazashvili, very limited with her expressive means, but that was fine for the role of Adeline. A fine show, overall, I would love to see Gudanov (recently retired), or Skvortsov, as the Marquis.
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On 2/20/2018 at 13:06, Shade said:
I must admit I always think of France as the cradle of ballet.
It is, and not just its craddle, it was its very centre until the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the ensuing Commune and the coming of the French republic.
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On 2/20/2018 at 01:40, Quintus said:
... Why Cuba and not Jamaica? Is it some 'cultural alignment' or simply a reflection of historical efforts and contacts?
Ballet in a lot of countries took root after one or another Ballets russes company toured it between 1920-ies and 1950-ies, sometimes spending there months, taking in and training aspiring young dancers and leaving behind some of the dancers they brought, who decided to settle there. This is "why Cuba and not Jamaica".
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Natalia Osipova on "Sylvia":
"I thought that the choreographer wanted to just kill the ballerina" and "I don't believe that Margot Fonteyn, for whom Ashton produced the ballet, could do such things. But the recordings haven't survived, you can't verify that."
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On 12/28/2017 at 02:46, Sim said:
Thanks for taking the time to sum up the article, Capybara. Hmmm some interesting concepts. I hope that the ending stays the same, i.e. the two lovers throwing themselves in the lake. I really dislike the happy ending version!
There are other possibilities than "happy ending". I am at a loss why the Royal Ballet, priding itself on preserving the (almost) authentic versions of the Imperial ballet classics decided to celebrate the Petipa Bicentenary year with this, I am sorry to say that, caricature of Petipa's most famous work. I would much more prefer if instead they used this opportunity to put on stage "Swan Lake" or "Sleeping Beauty" in all of its restored splendour.
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On 1/17/2018 at 09:08, Sebastian said:
10 December 1825: First night of Boïeldieu's opéra comique “La Dame Blanche” (based on a number of works by Walter Scott, but as regards the White Lady, specifically “The Monastery”) In the course of the action a young woman dresses in white to represent herself as a ghost. Adolphe Adam helped Boïeldieu prepare the orchestral parts, Adam of course later going on to write the music for Giselle.
6 March 1831: First night of Bellini’s opera "La Somnambula". A female sleepwalker in a white nightdress is mistaken for a phantom.
21 November 1831: First night of Meyerbeer’s opera "Robert le Diable". The so-called "ballet of the nuns" has unfaithful nuns coming out of their graves (dressed in white) to tempt the hero. This scene starred the choreographer's daughter, Marie Taglioni.Bellinini's 'Somnambula' is patterned after the ballet of this name at the Royal Academy of Music in Paris, so it should not be even on your list. It is commonly accepted that "white ballet" starts with the "ballet of the nuns" scene in "Robert le Diable".
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6 hours ago, Geoff said:
Are there theatre policies which change from theatre to theatre or is it down to individual staff discretion? At the opera in Vienna the staff policing the stalls all carry plans of the auditorium so they can note empty seats at the start of the performance: anyone moving into one of those seats is immediately identified and told to go back to their paid for seat.
This varies very much from theatre to theatre. What you are describing in Vienna seems really awful but I saw this also at other places, big and small. From the point of performing artists it is always nicer to see in front lots of people rather than empty rows, which happens a lot when a smaller company tours and the local organizers have a completely wrong idea about pricing. I witnessed this many times.
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Just now, Fonty said:
I went to Paris for a birthday treat, and decided to go to Pere Lachaise. People thought it was a very odd choice, but everyone loved it when we got there. Sadly, I must have missed Harriet Toby's grave. Next time, I will definitely visit the Russian Cemetery.
Did you visit Marie Taglioni, the greatest ballerina, her pedagogue Jean-Franços Coulon, one of the greatest ballet pedagogues in history, and incomparable as a dancer and as a choreographer, Jules Perrot? They are all buried at Père-Lachaise.
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11 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:
I should have added that the RER C has 4 lines east and only 2 go to St Genevieve des Bois it's the line C to Dourdan or St Martin - see map of the line C routes:-
https://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/map-rer-line_c-2017.pdf
And then you need to know which bus to take and where to go. The cemetery is far from the railway station.
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On 1/10/2018 at 14:21, Amelia said:
Bless you, Don Q Fan, it is very touching.
Two remarkable ballerinas are also resting at Sainte Genevieve-des-Bois Cemetery: Olga Preobrajenskaya and Mathilda Kshessinskaya.
Several other remarkable ballet personalities rest there too, Amelia, Vera Trefilova is buried barely 20 yards away from Preobrazhenskaya, also Nina Vyroubova, incomparable as Giselle and the muse of Serge Lifar, Boris Kniaseff, Alexandra Balachova, "première danseuse" of Bolshoi, there are plenty of photos of her on the site of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography,
http://www.old.balletacademy.ru/biblio/foto/264-balashova-aleksandra-mihaylovna.html
If I knew how to upload my photos of the graves of Preobrazhenskaya and Trefilova, I would have done that.
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55 minutes ago, LinMM said:
I believe Ulyana Lopatkina is considered one of the greats when interpreting and performing Swan Lake ....though now sadly retired...did she have a problem with the fouettés as I think she was taller though whether more than 5ft 7ins I don't know but I'm sure it is harder for taller dancers to pull off these 32 fouettés generally speaking especially if 5ft 8 ins or more.
Lopatkina was a very astute dancer who knew how to minimize one's weaknesses. Her approach to the dreaded 32 fouettés was "do them in the safest possible way". The price for that was, her fouettés looked more like putting a "check" next to the obligatory "32 fouettés" box, rather than a thrilling culmination of a long ascent through the Black Swan pas de deux.
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4 hours ago, LinMM said:
Something Douglas Allen said in an earlier post when talking about Sibley executing chaine turns " they were staggering because of their speed" resonated with me because I think SPEED is of the essence when performing any sort of turning step as long as not compromising on style.
Speed in not considered the "essence" of turning steps. Slow rotation is MUCH harder and, if done properly, is much more alluring to the eye. It is also much more musical. There are very fast dancers who, without naming them, struggle with slow rotation to the point of simplifying the text in certain variations like, the Scarf Variation in the Kingdom of Shades, where they simply cannot force the fast tempi.
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54 minutes ago, trog said:
Suzanne Farrell said in her autobiography when she was 14, she was able to do 114.
That looks very suspect to me. Having had a lot of experience with ballet students of that age, it would be a criminal negligence for any pedagogue to allow attempting even the half of that number. It could easily end up in a career threatening foot stress fracture.
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Fonteyn's own memoirs is perhaps the source. Alastair Macaulay quotes Fonteyn (in an article discussing Copeland's inability to do more than 16 fouettés), as follows:
Margot Fonteyn (...) laughs in her memoirs about how an American critic described her wandering path during them as her “Cook’s tours of the stage.”
(I don't have her memoirs around to check the exact quote.)
Lots of changes at San Francisco Ballet
in Ballet / Dance news & information
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To me it seems that it is rather the Pointe magazine editor who doesn't know...