FrankH

Many thanks for the information and the link. I am going along to this. I already have the book. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Irina Baronova and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo - so many notable dancers and choreographers, and interesting personalities, were associated with the Ballets Russes companies. The book gives insight into the remarkable part the Ballets Russes played in keeping ballet going as a living art form in the period between the two world wars, and in transmitting ballet and ballet appreciation to large parts of the world, e.g. USA and Australia, where interest had previously been minimal. An insight is also given into the extremely strenuous schedules which the dancers had to keep. Remarkable that at the start of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, two of their leading ballerinas were only 13 (one being Baronova), and another was 15. The book is very well-produced and has many evocative photos. I shall probably buy another copy at the book launch to give as a present to a young relative.

The late great Russian ballerina Irina Baronova was an "avid follower" of F1 motor racing - she describes herself as such in her autobiography "Irina: Ballet, life and love." Bernie Ecclestone doesn't do his reputation any favours making these sorts of statements. Not that I suppose he cares.

This is not about Giselle, but it is about the Moscow City Ballet. When I found out that the MCB were coming to a nearby theatre (New Wimbledon) with Nutcracker, I decided to go to satisfy my new-found passion for (obsession with? addiction to?) ballet. I am so glad I did. I didn't have that much expectation, but was glad to read Bruce Wall's favourable comments about the company. From what I saw tonight, those comments are well-deserved. I was actually in rather "low spirits" this day, and attending MCB's Nutcracker really cheered me up. I found their performance really enjoyable - and so did the audience as a whole, quite a few "bravos" at the end. I must emphasise that I have never seen Nutcracker as a whole before, although the music is largely familiar to me. I am therefore unable to compare their performance with others. As far as my very inexperienced eye could determine, the performance, both by soloists and corps, was at the very least competent, and probably more than that in many sections. There were a couple of minor glitches, but they didn't detract from the overall effect. I took along a pair of 8x binoculars - normally used for wildlife observation. My eyesight is not 100%, and with these I could observe, from time to time, more closely the faces and actions of the dancers. It seemed to me that their acting - getting into the spirit of the ballet - was very good. And they seemed to be enjoying themselves. This wasn't just a "job", they were dancing because that's what they wanted to do. The MCB are accompanied by their own orchestra. If this is at least reasonably competent - and they were - it is so much better than recorded music. The conductor was called on to the stage at the end. The orchestra isn't large, but for most of the ballet it was quite adequate. On at least a couple of occasions, I had a literal tingle in the spine when a familiar piece of music started. The only part where I felt a larger ensemble might have made a difference was in the "Grand Pas de Deux" in Act II - and even then they weren't far off - and the timpani rolls at the end were magnificent. This is a piece of music which often brings tears to my eyes - it's surely one of the greatest and most heartfelt pieces of music Tchaikovsky - or anybody - ever wrote. I remember reading an article which pointed out that it shows what a supreme musical genius can do with what is basically just a descending scale. The accompanying programme unfortunately didn't give the names of the soloists, and if there was a piece of paper which did, I missed out on it. I am going to look on the MCB site to see if they have pictures, and if I can identify any of them. If anyone knows who they were, I would be pleased if they posted the information. I suspect that one of the male leads must have been Talgat Kozhabaev, who has been well spoken of in reviews. If any of the more knowledgeable and experienced ballet lovers were at this performance, I would love to learn of their reactions, even if they disagree with my favourable impressions. From my naive viewpoint however it has made me more keen to catch up with the MCB when they are next in my area, and see another of their productions. Just to quote from the programme: "The 21st century has brought fresh attention to classical ballet. In Western Europe a wave of re-awakening to the classics has been gathering force.......Unlike minimalist productions of contemporary dance, often without storytelling and performed to recorded music, a performance of Russian classical ballet provides a theatrical dancing experience combining artistry, technique, narrative and live music, attracting a whole new generation of dance lovers". Long may they continue to do so.

Thanks for the tip - I hadn't seen the advert, but googled and found it. It's an Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) btw. I know very little about ballet, but quite a lot about birds, so can't resist the temptation to show off! Actually this sort of penguin is rarely used in publicity - some other species more frequently - but the advertising company chose well. I think Adélies are especially cute.

And James has just posted that "dance also deals in absolutes" - so is he claiming that his view on Yuhui Choe is an absolute, and therefore valid - as opposed to the views of Tony Newcombe and his friends, which are merely their opinions?

Thanks for the information, aileen. During the RB section of World Ballet Day, Kristen McNally had mentioned the four I listed in my last post as the main ballet companies in the UK. As she clearly wasn't reading from a script, it was probably just a slip of the mind to not mention the Scottish Ballet.

Forgive this question from a newcomer, only recently taking up a serious interest in ballet. The last post refers to "UK's five large ballet companies." I believe that four of these are the RB, BRB, ENB, and Northern Ballet. What is the fifth?

For publicity? There was a 2-page article on this in the Evening Standard - good exposure for both parties. The article also gives a reason why the ENB might be more keen on touring internationally than in the UK. Touring loses the company £100,000 per week. But "the company has started to receive much more lucrative invites to tour internationally."

Thanks for kind remarks on my posts. I don't suppose he's read them, but I must apologise to Monsieur Ondiviela for getting his first name wrong in my last post - it should of course be "Ludovic". I got it right first time round!

I've had time to reconsider my original post. It seems rather arrogant for an ignorant newcomer to start a new topic, but there didn't seem to be a thread starting on Cassandra. It was also rather arrogant for me to suggest that Olivia Cowley and Yuhui Choe should be promoted - it was an immediate emotional response. I am certainly not qualified to make such suggestions. Thanks to DanceLinks, I have now read five professional reviews of Cassandra - Jenny Gilbert (Arts Desk), Sanjoy Roy (Guardian), Graham Watts (London Dance Centre), Jann Parry (DanceTabs), and Louise Levene (FT). It is interesting how different the reviews are. All find features to praise, especially the actual dancing. All find questionable aspects in the work as a whole - but often differ as to what these are. I found something to agree with in each review, and learnt something from all of them. Jenny Gilbert and Jann Parry are especially illuminating and thought-provoking. Sanjoy Roy and Louise Levene seem to me to be the most negative. Just reading them would not inspire me to spend much time and money to see Cassandra. The others are more encouraging. Graham Watts comes closest to my own reactions. He too sees the ethereal quality in Olivia Cowley. And he sees the Yuhui Choe "mirror duet" as a refreshing moment of humour - Roy on the other hand regards it as "bizarre" - puncturing the sense of tragedy. Indeed there are enough"contradictions" between the reviewers to stress the inevitable subjectivity in artistic appreciation. For instance, is Ana Silvera's music "vapid" (Levene), or "often more telling than the action" (Parry)? Is the ballet to some extent "under-choreographed" (Roy), or is Ludovico Ondiviela "over-powering" the choreography (Watts)? Perhaps many of these "contradictions" are only apparent rather than real. Mental derangement, by its very nature, must be a difficult subject on which to base a coherent work of art. Ondiviela deserves praise for having the courage to tackle such a subject. Understandably at this stage in his career, it doesn't entirely come off. But Watts, for one, has no doubts that Ludovico Ondiviela "will quickly become a choreographer in demand". As for Olivia Cowley, all are unanimous in praise for her dancing. Parry goes as far as to say that Ondiviela "has found a future star in Olivia Cowley". For me, she stood out - in a quiet way - even in the live RB class broadcast on World Ballet Day. It would be very pleasing to see Parry's prediction come true. I agree absolutely with Louise Levene on the uncomfortable nature of the Linbury as it is at present.

This is emphatically not a review by a knowledgeable ballet lover! Rather it is to help myself get my thoughts together. I hope that more knowledgeable people who have seen this will post rejoinders, corrections etc. It would help me in my desire to learn more about this beautiful and inspiring art form. This night I attended the first public performance of Cassandra, choreographed by Ludovic Ondiviela. Apparently it is the first full-length ballet that Ondiviela has choreographed. If Cassandra goes on to become a staple of the repertory, and if, as Kevin O'Hare seems to think he might, Ondiviela develops into a major choreographic talent, then I can claim to have been at the World Premiere of his break-through work! There was prolonged and generous applause at the end, with which I wholeheartedly joined in, as it was, in my opinion, well-deserved. The applause was especially fervent for Olivia Cowley, who danced the main character. I am really no judge of these matters, but it seemed to me that she danced beautifully. As she is a replacement for the original dancer cast, she would have had less time to learn and rehearse the part, which adds to her achievement. She strikes me as having a particular quality of beauty - ethereal, rather reserved - which makes her especially suitable to play vulnerable, troubled roles such as Cassandra. Her face is very expressive, and made you feel the inner torments of the character. My respect for her grows when I read that she herself had difficulties as a child, needing to overcome learning problems (no trace of that now in her informative tweets). She seems to have worked her way up the grades of the Royal Ballet steadily. Ms Cowley should surely be due another promotion soon! As should Yuhui Choe, who also played a major part in Cassandra. I found her totally charming, as I had in the few times I had seen her in youtube videos. She is neat, pretty, and graceful in all she does. I especially enjoyed a scene where she is dancing in front of a backdrop which has a film of her dancing in the same costume, and almost, but not quite, the same sequences. She interacts with her filmed image in a "false mirror" sort of way. A semi-humorous interlude in what is basically a disturbing and sombre-themed ballet. The three other women dancers were all good, especially Mara Galeazzi, who has the important role of Cassandra's mother. I must confess that I didn't pay as much attention to the male dancers. As far as I could tell they didn't let the side down. In particular, all the lifts, and there were quite a few, looked secure. The composer of the music, Ana Silvera, also takes an important part in the performance, coming on the stage and singing. Besides her, there is a simple, but effective combination of keyboards, violin, and cello. The music itself I thought beautiful and appropriate. How does Cassandra work as a whole? Well, it kept me awake! I suffer from sleep apnoea, which has got worse as I get older - and I all too often fall asleep, even if I am watching, say, a football match on TV. The fact that Cassandra didn't send me to sleep is a strong plus point for me. However, I did suffer on one or two occasions from a "wandering mind". To be honest, it wasn't always clear to me the relevance of certain sequences to the overall theme of the ballet. That must be my fault rather than that of the choreographer. I have had similar experiences with some of the few "modern" ballets I've seen (some actually by now quite ancient), so perhaps I need to learn how to "read" them better. I also had an extraordinary experience in one section of Cassandra, when I was overcome by a sense of unreality, as if I was seeing a sort of vision, and could hardly feel I was seated in the Linbury watching something. I regard that as a positive experience, and as a plus mark for Cassandra, that for a few moments it seemed to take me out of myself. However, I cannot say that Cassandra had anything like the same overwhelming effect on me as watching Manon (on film) did. But then very few other artistic works have done so. It was nice to see Kevin O'Hare attending the performance, clearly giving encouragement to Ludovic Ondiviela. I hope Ondiviela will go on to justify his decision to quit dancing for full-time choreography. If the applause at the end is anything to go by, he stands a good chance of success. Thanks to anyone who has bothered to read to the end of my ramblings. If anyone else has seen this work, I'd be interested in their opinion.

I had the great experience of attending a live Cream concert at Birmingham University in the '60s. It was remarkable that just three musicians could produce such intensity and complexity of music. Two of my friends at uni. were sharing a flat with a girl who was a friend of Ginger Baker, and much to their delight he came round to their flat afterwards. Eric Clapton was the biggest name in Cream, but Jack Bruce - RIP - played probably a more important part in the all-too-short career of the group.

Thank you Janet McNulty for your welcome to the forum, and thanks to those who indicated that they liked my first post – even though it was probably too gushing, and certainly “ill-informed”. As someone who knows very little about ballet, anything I post will obviously be ill-informed. But I am learning more, not least from the many well-informed posters on this forum. I am still in some wonder at how deeply I was affected at seeing the RB’s Manon on the live film transmission. I had then intended to try and see a performance at the ROH, but they were all sold out. I now have my eye on the RB's forthcoming Onegin next year. I know very little about the techniques of ballet, or about the art of choreography. Nevertheless, my experience of watching Manon has confirmed my new conviction that dance – and especially ballet – is not, as I used to think, an enjoyable but essentially minor art form, but one which alongside music, literature, drama etc. , has an important role in enlightening us to what it means to be human. My "professional" life has been spent both as a minister in the Church (of England), and as an evolutionary biologist. There’s no contradiction in this. We all have both “ape” and “angel” in our identity as human beings. I believe that art is partly about exploring these two sides of our identity, and about how to combine them in a creative and inspiring way. Of all dance forms, perhaps ballet is the one most relevant in this, expressed even in such technicalities as the motivation for, and the evolution of, dancing on pointe. [incidentally, I found a “New Online Dance Blog/Magazine” – mentioned in the “Doing Dance” section of this forum, informative and interesting; especially as it has 3 articles on Manon.]

This is my first post on this forum. I recently had a long-running but very low-key interest in ballet reinvigorated. Firstly by reading some books, including the autobiography of the great Russian ballerina Irina Baronova, and watching a wonderful DVD called “Ballets Russes”. And then at exactly the right time came World Ballet Day on Youtube, which emphasised to me that ballet dancers are not just marvellously talented, but among the very hardest workers of any performing profession, in arts or sports. And then I saw that a local cinema would be showing live Royal Ballet’s “Manon”. So of course I booked a seat . To use a cliché, I was “blown away” by what I saw and heard. This was for me one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had at an artistic event. Much as I liked ballet before, I never would have expected to have been moved in such a deep visceral way, as I was by this truly magnificent work of art. I have not seen any other performance of Manon, so cannot compare Marianela Núñez or Federico Bonelli – or any other of the soloists – with others who have danced these roles. Even had I seen other performances, I know so little about ballet compared with most if not all on this forum, that my comparisons would be pretty worthless. All I can say is that I found the main characters absolutely compelling and believable. And the whole company was also magnificent. These are after all dancers firstly, yet their acting was also first rate, and if you momentarily took your eyes off the principals, you were not let down by the others. I now intend to see if I can attend a performance at the ROH. And learning that the Royal Ballet spends around £250,000 per year on pointe shoes, I intend to add that to my list of “charities” to support. My words seem lame and laboured, as I cannot really put into words what a sublime experience seeing “Manon” was for me. Please forgive my ignorant naïve enthusiasm!