joe blitz

13 hours ago, MAB said:

I would like someone respectful of the Bournonville heritage.

I thorougly agree with you.    Can you imagine if some director of the RB were to

"revisit-rethink-revise" Ashton classics?    

hi Emeralds,

I completely agree with yu about the ballets you mentioned. At least give audiences the chance to choose which of the Napolis,Sylphides, and Folk Tales they would like to see.

On 24/04/2023 at 00:13, Emeralds said:

Hope Nikolaj doesn’t modernise any more classics. I don’t mind the    reworking of Raymonda and La Bayadere that much, but the company used to have beautiful, iconic traditional productions of Napoli, La Sylphide, and A Folk Tale, and lovely productions of Giselle and Swan Lake, but his “modern” reboots are all a bit odd. Interesting for maybe one season or two, but then you feel like asking him, “Ok that was fun for a short while, but now can we have the real production back.” 

I heartedly agree with you, My thoughts exactly.

On 24/04/2023 at 00:13, Emeralds said:

 

I'm always suspect of Hubbe's revisions! Epecially after Napoli and FolkTale

What about Mayerling?   Danseur  Noble e.g. Vadim is VERY physically abusive.

Depends  on the role.

Hi Pas de Quatre:   I've also read that maybe Giselle is a  product of an  "irregular liaison".

I think it was mentioned in Cyril  Beaumont's book, the Ballet Called Giselle.

And somewhere I read the comment that asked if Giselle's home was some kind of refreshment stand. 

If anyone would like to see more of Artemy Belyakov search on YT. Plenty of him dancing different roles.

I"ve heard that even today one of the etiquette rules is not to touch the sovereign (like Queen Elizabeth. Obama's wife and I think also joe Biden came in for criticism for having done that.

If that' s the same performance, Albrecht didn't look that young to me.

Thank you, Stucha for the link .

You're right about Albrecht's "pied a terre. It does usually look like a deserted shed.

The graveyard scene I've seen in other productions, perhaps ABT, but there Hilarion and his friends are gambling until they're frightened away by the Willis.

They did look comical.

Some productions omit that altogether.

With the Royal Ballet and some others I've seen lately Bathilde shows dislike of having Giselle touch her or really anything to do with her.     It didn't used to be like that..

On 04/05/2023 at 22:42, Dawnstar said:

 

I didn't think of Hilarion as being a villain in the ROH's production but in the United Ukraine Ballet's version last year I thought Hilarion was portrayed as an out and out caricature of a villain, right down to his very fake-looking black beard.

Isaw some of it on YouTube and I know what you mean. He was an unshaven, black-bearded unsavory character.   I'd like to see all of Ratmansky's version. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available.

Thanks, Alison. I tried it and it seems to work. Now hope I'll remember how to do it

"Another mystery is why there just happens to be handy a cottage standing close to Giselle's which Albrecht can use as a changing room." 

Yes, I've seen many remarks about that. Was it deserted? and no one seems to notice.

Also odd that Giselle introduces him to her friends. He's never been around before?

I prefer a PDD rather than pas de six. Maybe because that's what I'm used to.

I also think that it 'dilutes' it.     

some say it gives more dancers a chance to dance.

But let's not analyze  the ballet too much.    Suspension of disbelief 

wrong quote. and don't know how to 'unselect' what I did. sorry

I just wanted to say that according to what I've read especially in Beaumont's book, Ballet Called Giselle and what I saw in past productions years ago, Hilarion, so-called villain, was portrayed with red beard, signifying bad guy.

That was the symbol: red beard for bad guys.

In recent years he's portrayed as very sympathetic, helpful to Berthe and generally a nice guy. She likes him.      

Interesting, though, that he doesn't interact with the other villagers.  

hi Ondine.   Albrecht knocking on door.   I agree  there are some who mistime the music and his knocking; it looks awkward and amateurish.

I agree with SIM.   

JMHopton: simple solution: revert to pas de deux! 

I've seen some interesting changes to Giselle, which make good sense.

When Bathilde asks Albrecht why he's dressed the way he is. He thinks a second and mimes that 

he went hunting. I think that was the Stuttgart production.

I've always found his waving his hand in the air confusing. Did he mean, it w just a whim?

That gesture   is used in Marco Spada and Esmeralda to indicate fantasy, writing poems.

Here it is very logical.

Another innovation is with the Peasant PDD.

They are presented to Bathilda and company as an engaged couple about to marry.

What do any of you think ?

I wonder what Hubbe's Baydere will look like.  

He's ruined Folk Tale and for some, Napoli.   They've become ugly ballet, if i'm allowed to say so.

I do wish, though, that RDB would release films of their repertoire. 

Far From Denmark. Kermesse en Bruges. I have the latter from YouTube but it's so fuzzy.

I didn't like their Giselle. Hubbe again.   

The costumes are really inappropriate. But that's just my opinion.

Anyone agree with me? 

Doesn't he know the expression: "if it works don't fix it"? also  seen it as "don't touch" . 

I think that's even more appropriate.

On 04/03/2015 at 19:37, BristolBillyBob said:

Well, as it’s been nearly a week since I saw the fantastic Sylphiden and Études double bill at the Royal Danish Theatre, my memory is a little hazier than I like it to be when I'm reviewing so I'll just go into the highlights of what I remember. 

 

First things first, the Royal Danish Theatre (Gamle Scene) is a beautiful venue. It's a classically European grand, multi-tiered, horseshoe opera house. Its opulence gives it a wonderful sense of occasion, but the relatively small size means that I don't think there's a poor seat in the house. Even the very top tier, where my surprise ballet buddy (whom I met on a walking tour during the day) found a seat, seemed close enough to the stage to feel a part of the action. The seating doesn’t curve right up to the side of the arch either like it does at the Royal Opera House, so if you’re paying a visit, don’t feel like you’re getting short-changed in the cheap seats.

 

It was my first time seeing La Sylphide, but I very much enjoyed it. It's a lean ballet in terms of running time, but has two very distinct acts, much like Giselle, at least in this version. The stage at the Royal Danish Theatre is pretty compact for a ballet stage, and so it was surprising that the fairly simple first act set took up easily a third of the floor space. Oddly, though, while it seemed to hem in the solo performers in places, the corps sections filled the stage effortlessly without coming across as cramped.

 

I’ve frequently said that Birmingham Royal Ballet’s men are the equals of the women in the company. From what I saw last Friday, the men at Royal Danish Ballet even have the edge. Gregory Dean, Sebastian Haynes and Andreas Kaas were all superb. If you knew nothing about ballet and had to describe what you imagined a Scandinavian style would be like, you’d probably come up with all the adjectives to describe this trio of fantastic dancers. They were all powerful, but with a control and a... neatness to their dancing that could've been an exhibit in Designmuseum Danmark.  Gregory Dean, flying the flag for us Brits, is a sensational dancer, and one of the finest male performers I’ve seen. He has as clean lines as I’ve seen, and dances with a measured, restrained grace during the first act. During the second act, this restraint makes way for a growing emotionality, culminating in a devastating finale for his character. It’s a note-perfect performance. He is a massive credit to the company and we should be proud to have such a fine dancer flying the flag overseas. Haynes and Kaas, who I’m staggered to see are both still in the corps were excellent too, with Haynes in particular a fierce Madge, with swagger, malevolence and arrogance in droves.

 

The style (as I saw it) of Royal Danish Ballet is abundantly apparent in the ballerinas of the company. The feather lightness and grace results in a startling silence to the dancing. Even during the corps scenes, it’s as if the cast are suspended in the air. Amy Watson, as Sylphide, was a sublime dancer. While I felt like it took her a little while to fully inhabit the character (or at least convince me), her PDDs with Dean in the second act fully took off with a genuine chemistry between them. This lift in her characterisation means that by the time of La Sylphide’s Dying Swan tribute, the tragedy really hits home. 

 

The costumes in act one were all in multiple shades of grey (note to self: have a word with the RDB marketing department about how to capitalise on prevailing cultural trends), tending towards the charcoal end, and reminded me of some of the cooler, simpler costume designs of BRB. The muted style of the costumes is mirrored in the set, which is a deep, almost black, shade. While this might seem drab, it acts at the perfect counterpoint to the second act. As the curtain goes up after the interval, the brilliant, blank whiteness of the stage floods the auditorium and garnered a bit of a gasp. This is ballet blanc writ large. The solid white cube of the stage lends an otherworldly quality to the dances of the sylphs. It’s like ballet meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s a simple approach to staging a performance, but incredibly powerful, particularly during James’s collapse. As he crouches, devastated, on the stage, the brilliant whiteness ever-so-gradually faded to black, and the contrast was heartbreakingly dramatic. Part of me wished the ballet could’ve ended on that vision.

 

La Sylphide would have left me plenty satisfied, but the ever-generous Danes were still to treat us to the balletic feast that is Études. It’s a love letter to ballet and to ballet dancers. In this regard, it reminded me a little of Serenade. However, I took a while to warm to Études. It starts off quite slowly, but builds to some quite remarkable scenes towards the end. J’aime Crandall was a superb dancer, and her partnerships towards the end had me and my charming Danish next door neighbour exchanging looks and “wow”s (or, in her case, “wøw”s). Overall, though, this is a piece for showing off with. It involves almost the entire company, and every dancer delivered. What a depth of talent the RDB has! The Danes are incredibly lucky. I did find myself, though, wondering how the self-assuredness of the Royal Ballet or New York City Ballet would power through the piece. I bet it would be quite something. As a demonstration piece, I guess Études is fairly peerless. However, as an homage to the joy of ballet, I found myself pining for Serenade’s gentle subtext and emotional power. 

 

Anyway, I’ve waffled on long enough. Great show, great company, and I’ll be first in line for tickets if they ever come to the UK again!

 

PS. As an aside from my trip, the Danish people are some of the loveliest, kindest, friendliest people I’ve ever met, and Copenhagen is an intriguing city. Even the Little Mermaid, which everyone meanly describes as ‘Europe’s Most Underwhelming Attraction’, was a charming lass. Nice work, Denmark.

What a wonderful combination: La Sylphide and Etudes. 

Which version of Napoli is being presented: the traditional Bournonville one or the Hubbe/Fellini one? Or maybe audience have a choice as to which one they want to see.

Same goes for Folk Tale. I think the Hubbe one is terrible.    

I've tried seeing the mime showing the fact that the Sylph has been watching over James since he was born  but can't see it. I read that Hubbe cut that out.

I agree about presenting flowers to male dancers as well .

Many a time I've seen the ballerina give a flower rom her bouguet to her partner: e.g.Fonteyn to Nureyev

What a nice gesture

Dawnstar: re moustache I saw a Paquita with Vladamir Shklyarov in the Mariiinski production where he wipped off his moustache in the middle of a turn..

very interesting.  Rina: I read that Dame Edith Evans said after seeing Ashton's Month in the Country that it was better than the play.

I'm surprised that Fille isn't done more often.  I should think it would be a staple of the repertoire and done each season. It would certainly bring in lots of audiences, especially new-comers and young people.

Perhaps fewer snowflakes because of climate change?

I believe it's Giselle who throws away the flower, Albrecht picks it up and plucks out one of the petals to make it come out: He loves me.

I saw Erik Bruhn catch the flowers mid-air that Giselle throws up to him in Second Act. I don't think anyone else has ever managed.

Hi Yvonnep:  

I couldn't open the picture of Dowell.