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WoodlandGladeFairy

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  1. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I'd also like to see a return to Leslie Hurry's design or at least some adaption. Also bring back the old Act IV chorography. And reinstate the Prince's solo at the end of Act 1. And Swans in tutus again, much better aesthetically to me. I'd like more of the fairy tale/fantasy elements emphasised, and Mediaeval, heh they should hire the costume designer from Game of Thrones, for cod-mediaeval looks... Guess its less new production ideas but rather bring back the best elements of their Swan Lake
  2. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I found the ordering process very smooth also this morning, about 10 mins in the queue. If I was made of money or lived in London I would love to of gone to see Hayward/Campbell Sleeping Beauty as well, alas I must make a hard choice and I felt that Naghdi/Ball are up and coming stars of the RB and after seeing their rehearsal bit on World Ballet Day really made the decision for me. After having seen Swan Lake last year and am going to see The Nutcracker at the end of November, seeing Sleeping Beauty in Feb will complete my Tchaikovsky/Petipa triple.
  3. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I am so happy, have managed to secure tickets for Naghdi/Ball matinee on 25th Feb for me and my sister, orchestral stalls as well, not cheap but it will be well worth it
  4. WoodlandGladeFairy
    When I saw the promotion list I was delighted Francesca Hayward has been made Principal, she is one of my favourite dancers, so beautiful and natural, very well deserved. Also very happy for Alexander Campbell being made Principal as well, a delightful dancer. Please for Claire Calvet being made a First Soloist as well, I really like her as a dancer. I think Kevin O'Hare has made good choices.
  5. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I would also like to add my thanks for this forum, it's nice to come to a place to discuss ballet and keep updated on the latest news. It's why I'm so grateful for the internet it makes a ballet fan like me feel a little less isolated, outside of my mum and my sister there is no one I can really talk about ballet or ballet dancers with, so it's nice to expand that.
  6. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Just got back from tonights Giselle at the Royal Opera House, Vadim Muntagirov and Marinela Nunez were superb. Also excellent work from the wilis' as well, real pack mentality Could happily rewind & watch again. Vadim is such a wonderful dancer, such beautiful lines and such musicality Marinela Nunez was just so ethereal in the second act & her mad scene in the 1st was so tragic, I was nearly in tears (and when she saves Albrecht) Bennet Gartside was excellent as Hilarion, really felt sorry for him as he really seemed to care for Giselle Great pas de six, standouts were Francesca Hayward & Yasmine Naghdi, so perfectly in synch Itziar Mendizabal was really good as Myrtha And finally must mention how excellent the orchestra played tonight,never heard the score sound so good
  7. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Just had a look at the 16/17 RB season and it looks fab, most excited for Mayerling, it's one of my fav ballets, and would complete a MacMillan trio as I've seen Manon & Romeo and Juliet. Also The Sleeping Beauty and Jewels are also what I want to see!
  8. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Reading the glowing reviews of Vadim Muntagirov and Marianela Nuñez in the Royal Ballet's 'Giselle' has got me so excited, can't wait to see them live on the 6th April, going to be magical (is that even the right word for a spooky ballet?). It's funny you book something months ahead and suddenly it is upon you, where is this year going?
  9. WoodlandGladeFairy
    My favourite female dancers in no particular order Lauren Cuthbertson Francesca Hayward Lesley Collier Tatyana Terekhova Melissa Hamilton Alina Cojocaru Alessandra Ferri Marinela Nunez Darcey Bussell Viviana Durante Evgenia Obraztsova
  10. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I suppose my first exposure to ballet was the Bolshoi VHS films from the 1990s like Spartacus (please don't judge!) and the 1980s Kirov in Giselle with Galina Mezentseva, Konstantin Zaklinsky and Tatyana Terekhova Also late 1970s/1980s VHS recordings of the Royal Ballet - Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, La Fille Mal Gardee I saw a few live ballet performances at the Bristol Hippodrome but they were those Russian touring companies but I did go to see Irek Mukamedov, Darcey Bussell etc. in a Winter Dreams/Monotones I and II/Symphony in C triple bill, when the Royal Ballet used to tour the provinces, but I was very young at the time and not that well behaved as I should of been so don't really remember it but my sister (who was also there) assures me it was wonderful.
  11. WoodlandGladeFairy
    My favourite male dancers are Irek Mukhamedov (Pretty much grew up watching him in video recordings of his time with the Bolshoi Ballet), Vadim Muntagirov, Johan Kobborg, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Anthony Dowell.
  12. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I don't really have a strong hate for any ballets but I will say I did not enjoy Sylvia, found it very twee and don't like Ondine either, not a fan of the music. I really, really like MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet', so when I see alternative productions by other choreographers I don't enjoy them much either, because it they feel wrong.
  13. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I am incredibly happy, according to the Royal Opera House website the Rhapsody/Two Pigeons (Osipova/McRae and Cuthbertson/Muntagirov) is going to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray - http://www.roh.org.uk/news/rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-to-be-released-on-dvd-and-blu-ray Though I would love the Hayward/Hay 'Rhapsody' to be on the blu-ray but you can't have everything! I am just happy I can add another ballet to my blu-ray collection
  14. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Just got back from the live cinema relay of Rhapsody/Two Pigeons and what a wonderful evening it was. Steven McRae was like fireworks in 'Rhapsody', but I thought Natalia Osipova looked awkward in it, but then I saw Francesca Hayward in the ballet back in 2014 and there really was no comparison for me, Francesca Hayward really gets Ashton's choreography but that's just my personal opinion! Also special mention to the female dancers Olivia Grace Cowley, Yasmine Naghdi, Emma Maguire, Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis and Beatriz Stix-Brunell, such beautiful dancing. I have fallen in love with 'Two Pigeons', what a magical ballet, Lauren Cuthbertson and Vadim Muntagirov were just perfect, comic, heartbreaking and just scrummy. Vadim Muntagirov is such a beautiful dancer, I fall in love with him everytime he dances, he has wonderful clean lines, a beaming natural smile which lit up the stage, and is such a good partner to the female dancers, I have a slight crush on him..... Lauren Cuthbertson was wonderful as well, wonderful acting and dancing. Also spectacular Ashton choreography in the 2nd half, the Royal Ballet really looked like they were enjoying being gypsies. And finally not forgetting the actual pigeons, very professional!
  15. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I am looking forward to seeing Rhapsody/Two Pigeons in the cinema on the 26th Jan (day after my birthday, so a nice treat1), I last saw 'Rhapsody' back in 2014 with James Hay and Francesca Hayward and they were truly enchanting together combined with the stunning Rachmaninov music, a really magical performance, so I am curious to see how Natalia Osipova (who I am a bit lukewarm towards, she is not my favourite dancer) and Steven McRae interpret the ballet. Also I noticed the costumes have changed for this run, as when I saw it in 2014 it was much more simpler designs. I've never seen the 'Two Pigeons', so I am very excited about that and it stars two of my favourite dancers - Lauren Cuthbertson and Vadim Muntagirov, so it's nice to be going into a ballet relatively cold if that makes sense.
  16. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I live out in the sticks so when I go up to London to see the Royal Ballet I am prepared to pay for decent seats though I'd love to be able to see multiple casts of a production and try out different locations in the theatre. As it is I always try to go for the orchestra stalls, as its my treat for my once or twice (or if I'm lucky three!) a year trip to see the Royal Ballet.
  17. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I also had a good experience with the ROH general booking for Winter 15/16 only queued for 5 mins & secured 3 tickets for Giselle with Marinela Nunez & Vadim Muntagiro on 6th April which was what I wanted!!!! Orchestral stalls as well
  18. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Went to see Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli in 'Romeo and Juliet' on Saturday evening at the Royal Opera House and it was an amazing and emotional evening of dance, Kevin O'Hare before the performance started read out a tribute to David Drew who had passed away on Oct 16th. There was a wonderful sense of abandonment and intensity to Lauren's dance and performance as Juliet, really made you believe she was a young in love teenager, Federico Bonelli was equally good as a dreamy Romeo and both performance wonderfully together. The Balcony PDD was just beautiful, soaring even. And at the end when Juliet and Romeo take their lives was just emotional, gut wrenching even. Bennett Gartside made for an excellency thuggish Tybal. Special mention goes to the Tybalt death scene as well, so moving and grief stricken, which is odd as Tybalt is like the baddie but Genesia Rosato as Lady Capulet, the way she portrayed the grief was so powerful combined with the music brought a tear to my eye. Afterwards I felt like emotionally wrought, had to sit down for a hour and process it all, left a really powerful imprint on me. It was wonderful to finally see one of my favourite ballets in it's home, and very glad I went, the view from our seats was excellent too, got to see practically all the action.
  19. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I own the Ferri/Eagling on DVD and the Acosta/Rojo and Bonelli/Cuthbertson on blu-ray. The Ferri/Eagling and Bonelli/Cuthbertson are my favourites Each is a nice capsule of the Royal Ballet in MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet', it's terrible I know but for me his ballet is the definitive version for me, when I see other companies dance to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet score it's just very weird and I find it disjointed seeing different choreography which is weird because I'm fine with watching different version of Swan Lakes, Sleeping Beauties etc. but that's personal preference, another reason I think is the Royal Ballet's production is the one I grew up watching on VHS (the Ferri/Eagling performance) so it always has a place in my heart that no other production can match.
  20. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I loved World Ballet Day, managed to discretely have the live feed running on my phone while at work (mainly with the sound off) on the day itself, though I've been catching up with the Youtube archived streams this weekend (with the sound on!). It's been wonderful to get to know other ballet companies better like Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Boston Ballet and ENB, Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet and BRB. I follow the companies and their dancers on Twitter and Facebook, so it was nice to see them in action as well. The Royal Ballet's segment was wonderful, love watching company class. San Francisco Ballet and National Ballet of Canada were great too. Missed The Australian Ballet due to being asleep........ but it was nice to watch a clip of their new Sleeping Beauty production on the BBC Arts page, the tutus and costumes are just gorgeous.
  21. WoodlandGladeFairy
    My sister and I are booked to see Lauren Cuthbertson/Federico Bonelli cast on the 17th October, can't wait, I have the pairing on blu-ray, when they last filmed it for the cinema I think, so it will be very exciting to be seeing them together life, as I enjoyed it very much from watching it on the blu-ray. And to hear Prokofiev's score as well, just counting down the days. MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet' is the version I've grown up watching, as I had the Ferri/Eagling pairing on VHS and later when it was transferred to DVD, so it's a dream come true to be seeing such a classic ballet production in it's home! Slowly ticking off my MacMillan ballet's as well, seen so far Gloria, Manon & Song of the Earth, I think next I would really like to see Mayerling, so I hope they bring that back somewhen!
  22. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Really pleased to of gotten tickets to see Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli in 'Romeo and Juliet' on the 17th October, can't wait to see one of my favourite ballet's and one I grew up watching (we had the Royal Ballet Ferri/Eagling 1984 production of VHS, which I now own on DVD plus I have two on blu-ray - Acosta/Rojo and Cuthbertson/Bonelli) so yeah extremely excited, smooth ordering process as well, managed to get 2 side orchestral stalls seats (H-U side), quite a bit more pricey than what I paid to see Manon last year but I guess its a very popular ballet, so it's to be expected. I also didn't realise general booking opened today till I saw a Facebook post by the Royal Opera House, so there I was during my lunch hour ordering the tickets.
  23. WoodlandGladeFairy
    I went to see the triple bill on Monday evening and I loved it! Vadim Muntagirov (who is just amazing!) and Melissa Hamilton were so incredibly sensual, narcissistic and languid in Robbins' 'Afternoon of a Faun', also a treat to hear the music played live, its one of my favourite Debussy pieces. 'In The Night' was enchanting and Roberta Marquez and Rupert Pennefather were just so passionate and wonderful as the third couple, Roberta Maequezwas very fiery. and finally 'Song of the Earth', just outstanding, Marinela Nunez, Thiago Soares and Carlos Acosta were brilliant and special mention for the Alto, she sung the Mahler so beautifully, it just sucked you in, I think I got a little bit emotional as well. 'Song of the Earth' was like a splash of reality after the dreamy 'Afternoon of Faun' and 'In The Night', I thought it went well together. Apologies its very gushing, but it was a wonderful evening of dance
  24. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Lovely photos as always, so looking forward to seeing the Mixed Bill on Monday! Love 'In The Night' and can't wait to see Robbins' 'Afternoon of a Faun' and MacMillian's 'Song of the Earth', two ballets I haven't seen before, so that will be awesome
  25. WoodlandGladeFairy
    Oh thats a tough question but for me my perfect ballets include MacMillian's 'Romeo and Juilet', 'Manon' and 'Mayerling' Also Robbins' 'The Concert' and 'In The Night', ballets full of fun and charm plus fabulous use of Chopin's music Ashton's 'The Dream' and 'La Fille Mal Gardee' - its funny when I was younger I found his ballets rather twee, much preferred the gutsy MacMillian ballets but now I really do appreciate what a wonderful choreographer he was And finally 'Giselle' and 'The Sleeping Beauty' Ok that's rather a lot in my perfect list but there you go, its tough to just have one or two.
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