ToThePointe

Happy International Dance Day 2021!

I thought it might be nice to have a bit of fun with this and ask: 

-If you could have dinner with any dancer, dead or alive, to celebrate International Dance Day, who would it be? 

-Where would you be having dinner? (Let's pretend Covid rules don't apply)

-What questions would you ask them? What would you want to know? 

Thank you all for your lovely comments and Capybara so glad you were able to listen in the end! 

Any ideas for future episode themes or guests for season 4 - please send them my way! x

The season 3 finale of Open Barre is now live! We are honoured to be joined by Yasmine Naghdi, Principal ballerina with The Royal Ballet. 

To have a listen, click on any of the following links. Alternatively, you can find us on phone apps such as Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts!

https://www.spreaker.com/user/openbarre/season-3-episode-6

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s306-what-tools-do-dancers-need-to-develop-their-technique/id1521293558?i=1000518319416

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0lJkyr1IEZjptZ6H7bfQlX

Thank you @FLOSS for your in depth responses! Fascinating as usual! xxx

The conversation above inspired me to ask some of these questions on the Open Barre podcast. @FLOSS I hope you don't mind, but I name dropped you when speaking about Frederick Ashton...!

Hopefully the conversation is insightful!

You can access the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! You can also listen via the links below...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dTPPZPjVsaz2AS4TCRIxm

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/open-barre/ 

Hi everyone - another exciting episode today! No guests, just Brandon and me, but I was very influenced by the Forum in some of my questioning.... 

You can access the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! You can also listen via the links below...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dTPPZPjVsaz2AS4TCRIxm

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/open-barre/ 

I recently spoke with Ashley Dean and Annette Buvoli from The Royal Ballet to discuss their passion for drawing and painting. They were insightful conversations that I've recorded in the below article.

https://tothepointemagazine.wixsite.com/tothepointemagazine/single-post/the-ballerinas-swapping-pointes-for-paints

It's great to hear of dancers seeking artistic expression in other forms, especially during the pandemic...

Thank you for your lovely feedback!

Episode 4 of Season 3 is now live. We speak with Romany Pajdak about dancing with The Royal Ballet. A rare opportunity to hear from this beautiful dancer!

Link below to listen or you can download on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your playlists. Enjoy!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/open-barre/id1521293558?uo=4

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

On a different note if Kevin wants to have modern choreographers why doesn't he nurture his home-grown talent and commission Valentino Zucchetti again? I was so impressed with the Pennefather films and also the modern piece we saw on WBD. He has a great talent and someone whose choreography I would love to pay and see.

I couldn't agree more with this. I think that Scherzo by Valentino Zucchetti was one of the best new works of contemporary ballet that I've seen for a while and I would love to see it live. Although it was short and sweet, I think it really demonstrated Zucchetti's talent for choreography and I would like to see more from him over the next few years on the main stage. 

1 hour ago, Don Q Fan said:

Can only say I'm disappointed with the new 21/22 rep. Nothing happy in it like La Fille Mal Gardee, Don Quixote, Coppelia or even Jewels. I really don't understand their reasoning. Instead there's at least 3 full lengths all with sad endings. (Ignoring the RB version of Nutcracker which I don't like). We need uplifting ballets not sad tales after the year we've had. I'm afraid there's nothing there to make me risk travelling to London. 

This too was my immediate first reaction to the announcement Don Q Fan! I am really excited by the season as getting all of these big full length works back on stage in just one season will definitely fulfil those of us who have felt starved of ballet for so long! However - I wish they would open with Fille or something bright to welcome us all back into the House. It's been a crazy and depressing time and I think something bouncy and happy would have really helped. Instead, we're being given Dante..not exactly a barrel of laughs. I'm looking forward to that and the new Wheeldon nonetheless.

What excites me about SL, Giselle, R&J and Nut is the casting. Although the big names will be needed to draw in the finances I guess, I'll be holding my breath for some exciting debuts...

Thank you for all of your kind messages! 

Episode 3 of Season 3 is now live...we speak to former Royal Ballet dancer Nathalie Harrison and Mathias Dingman, current Principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet. The episode focuses around what it's like to balance parenthood with a busy working ballet schedule! 

Enjoy!

I've done a bit of digging and found some of the other ballet episodes for those who are interested. I haven't included the more recent ones eg Tamara Rojo as they are easier to find. Looking forward to listening to these over the next few days

Nadia Nerina:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y3wb

Sir Robert Helpman:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009my5c

David Wall:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009myx2

Wayne Sleep:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mz77

Merle Park:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mt4c

Natalia Makarova:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p009mhcq

Lynn Seymour:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009n10z

Kenneth MacMillan:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mjwc

Sir Frederick Ashton:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mv6f

Patricia Ruanne:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mv92

I'm a huge fan of Desert Island Discs and have been exploring some of the back log episodes as most are available online. I was really happy to stumble across this episode with Margot but unfortunately it's only a five minute clip as the BBC seem to have lost a lot of the original sound clips. What a shame! 

Anyway, I'm putting on here for those, like me, who have never heard this before. I especially love how she says she likes dancing in 'the new Romeo & Juliet'...!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p009y468 

Hi everyone! The latest episode of Open Barre is out now, starring special guest David Peden. 

Thanks to BalletCoForum member 'Odyssey' for inspiring us with this episode  

...and of course to the rest of the Balletcoforum members for all of their support x

You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker. Apple works best on your phone via the app and I would recommend Spreaker and Spotify if listening on a computer.

Links below (just put us in the search bar for Spotify) 

https://www.spreaker.com/show/open-barre-season-one

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/open-barre/id1521293558?fbclid=IwAR3MNC3G_A3YjeJ39-IrQ_PatqO7i6STbL3_m_NlM-HtC9LqU5xMiZrek3w

This is by no means a 'lovey dovey' ballet, and depending on the interpretation, I'm not even sure if the love is reciprocated, but I'm currently listening to the music from Manon and I think that first pas de deux between Manon and Des Grieux has some of the most beautiful music that depicts love. Similarly to the balcony music in R&J, here, thanks to those horns and brass in the background, you know it's isn't going to end well, but it tells the story of the two protagonists going for it anyway. Sigh!

I love the choreography too!

On 18/02/2021 at 18:02, Pas de Quatre said:

Royal Ballet 1978

 

In this link you see Marguerite Porter as Lilac Fairy.  The film quality is not that good but you can still see how wonderful she is - and all the others too!

Ok this video changes my mind a lot!

Actually I also always dread the Lilac Fairy's solo too - it's so difficult and is rarely made to look easy!

This is slightly off topic, but I have always hated the solo for the musical fairy (both the music and the choreography). The only dancer I've seen change my mind on this was Sae Maeda, whose beauty and elegance completely took away from what I usually find so irritating about it! 

15 hours ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Earlier to day the ROH reminded me that it's been exactly a year since the premiere of Cathy Marston's The Cellist, and used a 3-minute excerpt showing the interplay between the three principal characters.  Not 'lovey dovey' as most might understand the term, but emotional in the extreme:

 

https://twitter.com/RoyalOperaHouse/status/1362016569082183680?s=20

Well Marcelino playing 'the cello' is what inspired me to choose Brandon to play 'the Titanic' - so seems fitting! 

On 13/02/2021 at 19:32, Rob S said:

 

Well Vadim wasn't my choice, I'd go for James Hay....but obviously this is going to need about eight different casts for the opening run.

I agree with Dawnstar and Rob S - in many ways I regret choosing Vadim to play Jack and I think Matt Ball has more of that earthy charm needed to be convincing in the role.

Thanks for your views - it will really help me when it comes to casting day!

It's Valentine's Day on Sunday and so I thought we could all do with spreading some love and sharing what our favourite romantic ballets are! 

We have just launched Season Three of Open Barre Podcast and the theme is all about love in ballet. You can have a listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/openbarre/season-3-episode-1 

Brandon and I completely forget to mention Two Pigeons which has to be one of the most 'lovey dovey' (excuse the pun) ballets of all time?!

But what do you think? 

Hi everyone! Episode 1 of Season Three is now up on Apple, Spotify, Spreaker - or wherever you get your podcasts! We hope you all enjoy listening  xxx

Our latest episode features such an interesting conversation with Jonathan Lo, conductor and Music Director at Northern Ballet. We asked him about conducting The Royal Ballet: Back on Stage live stream, what it's like conducting a social distanced orchestra and why galas can be so difficult, plus loads more!

I know I'm biased but I really think it's a great episode! Link below to listen or you can find us on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/openbarre/season-2-episode-5 

I'm very late to the party with this review, but my thoughts on this mixed bill below! 

https://tothepointemagazine.wixsite.com/tothepointemagazine/single-post/birmingham-royal-ballet-triple-bill-at-sadler-s-wells?fbclid=IwAR0Xe40DpjRfUrCHNoLxLOeWv97Ccqb_UA8Lqbqi229GdFHN0KOAWpAw_CE