Balletfanp

I saw last night’s performance. I don’t know how it compared with last week’s, as I wasn’t there, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that Yasmine and Vadim really gelled. Yasmine was a beautiful Juliet. I felt at the beginning that she was perhaps trying a little bit too hard - the ‘little girl’ bashfulness seemed a bit over the top in places - but she soon settled into the role and her Act 3 was tremendous. Her simultaneous fascination and revulsion when trying to get up the courage to take the potion was so well portrayed and convincing. And that scream when she realises Romeo is dead gets me every time - hers was heart-rending! Personally, I don’t see why Romeo always has to be portrayed as ‘hot-blooded.’ There is room for other interpretations and I like Muntagirov’s. He came across as a romantic and callow youth - although not too romantic to get up to mischief with his friends and the harlots! - with a very typically adolescent crush on Rosaline. When he met Juliet, he seemed floored by the sudden realisation of real love and I found the marriage scene very moving, with his nervous pulling down of his doublet to make sure he was tidy for his love! And one really felt that he was being helplessly overtaken by events he couldn’t control - his despair at realising that he had to fight Tybalt was palpable. He also ‘died’ very well! i enjoyed both Luca Acri as Mercutio and Calvin Richardson as Benvolio. Acri always seems a most underrated performer to me and I always enjoy his performances. Richardson played Benvolio with wit and sensitivity - it bodes well for his own Romeo later in the run! The harlots were all fantastic, and Gina Storm-Jensen really stood out for me - I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so animated and I think her promotion will show what she can do. Fantastic audience reception and I overheard people nearby commenting on how much they enjoyed Yasmine and Vadim’s portrayals.

Just to say that I think Capybara’s comment may have been misinterpreted. I don’t think she was saying that anyone here has made any disrespectful comments - everyone is entitled to their opinion, after all - but that if that opinion is repeated in several posts it might be a bit much. That’s how I read it, anyway.

If there is a link to click, don’t click it! It sounds like a possible scam to me

I agree. I was at the live performance and was really frustrated for them as they seemed to be struggling to slow the steps enough to fit the music. Which doesn’t allow for sparkling fast fish dives, for instance. I don’t know much about it, but I always thought that a conductor conducting for dancers was supposed to keep one eye on the dancers and adjust the tempo if necessary. I had a clear view of Kessels where I was sitting and didn’t see him glance at the stage once.

Vadim Muntagirov does it again, with his own unique take on “A Month in the Country,” complete with parents! 😂 https://www.instagram.com/p/CSQr-EbDFev/?utm_medium=copy_link

I have no clue what it s going on in the cycling races and watch them with a vacant stare but I agree they are exciting. I can’t remember what it’s called but I particularly like the one where there is a lot of very slow, crawling, cat and mouse type movement followed by sudden frantic activity for about a lap!

You can report a negative home lateral flow test via the gov.uk website, then it sends you an email (and a text if you want one) almost immediately.

100%! But then the 80s was my era!

I’ve just been speaking to a work colleague who was pinged, duly isolated for ten days, went out after his isolation ended (but nowhere crowded, wore a mask, distanced etc.) and was immediately pinged again, so is back in another ten day isolation. That’s 21 days only one of which he could actually leave the house. He also tests twice a week. It’s no wonder businesses are struggling and some people are deleting the app. If you work somewhere that doesn’t pay you if you isolate, there is no way people can afford to be put into that kind of situation. I have my own app switched on but I can’t entirely blame those who no longer bother.

No, I haven’t.

Right, better late than never - quick review of the two performances I saw on the 9th and 11th. Being able to see two different casts for everything is a rare luxury for me but I will try not to make it a blow by blow account and I’ll just pick up my particular highlights. I enjoyed Anemoi. I think Zucchetti has a real future as a choreographer and if he has a fault it lies, for me, in a tendency to make the lifts over-complicated, which in turn makes it difficult for the dancers to maintain a flow. But I really love the fact that his compositions give the younger dancers a chance to shine, and shine they did. Of the two casts, my pick of the crop was Daichi Ikarashi - not only a fantastic dancer, but he possesses real stage presence and a very winning smile. Of the Divertissements, I hadn’t been particularly impressed by Morgen when it was premiered in the lockdown concert some months ago, but it has grown on me, not least due to Joseph Sissens performance - his movements were just incredible, and fascinating to watch. For me, the Naghdi/Sissens combination just edged it over Hayward/Corrales - although both were excellent. Winter Dreams was quite odd - I yearned to see it in the context of the whole ballet as I think it loses a little of its impact as a stand alone performance. With the Morera/Hirano combination, Morera was wonderful and emoted to the hilt, but Hirano seemed a bit leaden both dancing and acting-wise. With Nunez/Muntagirov, I found the opposite - Muntagirov’s dancing soared as ever and his body is just so wonderful at expressing his extreme anguish and despair - a very emotional performance. But uncharacteristically I found Nunez lacking somehow - I just wasn’t feeling anything from her. Odd, as she is usually so good in emotional acting roles. Woman with Water I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not - but in the event I did, very much. It’s a fascinating piece (what is it about? My feeling was of an abusive relationship, but I could be way off the mark!). On both performances, sections of the audience broke into laughter when the woman finally collapsed and was swept off the stage. I’m not sure why, I felt no inclination to laugh as I felt it was sinister and tragic. But two amazing performances from both Magri and Osipova - how do you even begin to learn something like that?? Magri just edged it for me - she conveyed more of a sense of desperation, I thought - and Lucas Bjoerneboe Braendsrod was also excellent. I’m afraid I’m with the critics of O’Sullivan and Sambe in Voices of Spring. It felt a bit tense and messy - even under rehearsed. The smiles seemed fixed. I felt Hinkis and Zucchetti nailed it rather better, they had a sense of fun, genuine smiles, and seemed to just get the spirit of it more than the others did. I saw Stix-Brunell and Clarke in both performances and they were sublime in both. I felt tearful in her penultimate performance so it was inevitable that the last one would be worse! You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium - a beautiful performance. She will be so much missed. It was lovely to see the affection and esteem she is held in both by the Company and the audience, and I’m so glad I managed to see her big send off! Sleeping Beauty highlights - Isabella Gasperini! She was one of Florestan’s sisters on the first performance and Florine on the second, and was a delight in both, with her beautiful smile and evident enjoyment of performing. She had the quickness to keep up with the fast tempo which I’m afraid some of the other dancers struggled with - however I do think Koen Kessels was partly to blame there because the tempo was very fast in some pieces but too slow in others. I had a good view of him and I don’t think I saw him glance at the dancers once. Joonhyuk Jun made a fantastic debut (finally!) as Bluebird - a technically sound and powerful dancer who made it look easy. However, I do agree with Capybara above somewhere in as much as he needs to develop his stage personality more as I was getting very little stage presence from him, not even a smile. Nerves perhaps? As for Nunez and Muntagirov, they get better and better. I was frustrated by the the very slow tempo (I mean, there is only so long even a dancer like Vadim can stay in the air!), but they dealt with it like the pros they are and it was a sparkling performance. There has been criticism of the fish dives being slower than some people would like - personally, I prefer to see artistry over flashy effects and the dives were beautifully performed, and the last one was held for what seemed like ages. Gorgeous. Naghdi was also a very beautiful Aurora, and Bonelli is always pleasant to watch, a wonderfully dependable partner and a very likeable presence. I think they may have taken the dives a tad faster, but they weren’t so clean. A wonderful weekend to satisfy my need for performances before the long wait now until October 🙁. Only spoiled by the fraught walk to any station we could find that was still open through a football riot! Not the greatest end to the weekend, but hey, we survived it!

I will write some kind of review on the two performances I saw this weekend soon, but currently feeling the need to unwind after a fraught journey home involving riotous football crowds between Covent Garden, Leicester Square and, eventually, Embankment, a cancelled train, and a very late arrival in Plymouth in the pouring rain with not a taxi to be had anywhere….

A bit harsh indeed…. I have seen clips of Muntagirov doing the fish dives with other dancers and they were executed very fast, so it certainly isn’t that he can’t cope (plus I noted he held that last one rock steady for what seemed like ages). And I’m quite sure that Marianela is technically capable of doing anything she puts her mind to. So it is very possibly down to personal preference either of the dancers or whoever is coaching them.

And now I have just earned the “Very popular” badge! My head won’t fit through the average doorway before too long…. 🤣🤣🤣

Well, apparently I have earned my “One year in” badge, so I’m frankly feeling rather superior to all you Newbies! 🤣🤣🤣

I believe that following the ROH restructuring, ushers are spread very thinly and doubtless there are not enough of them to pick up on audience behaviour unless it is right there in front of them.

Lizbie1, I couldn’t agree more about Muntagirov. I have just had a fabulous weekend of two consecutive performances last night and tonight, and I don’t really know where to start! I loved Apollo. It’s hard to believe Balanchine created it in 1928 because it looks so modern. But the simplicity and synchronicity are gorgeous. Muntagirov was Apollo last night and gave a beautiful portrayal of the newly-formed god. His achingly beautiful lines and physique, and the fact that he towered over his Muses, gave him a truly godlike appearance. Ball, tonight, was also very good, but lacked the elegant lines, and being closer in height to his Muses made some of the group dancing flow less well - the bit where they are all holding hands and twisting around each other didn’t go as smoothly as last night. However, Ball did give an excellent account of the role. All the Muses, on both nights, were lovely, but a special mention to Fumi Kaneko and Yasmine Naghdi. That final scene, on the stairway with Apollo at the top, with that amazing lighting, is stunning. And two Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux! Osipova sparkled last night - I thought it was a role that would play to her strengths and it did, quicksilver dancing and reckless dives.... I did have to stifle an exclamation on the first dive as I thought she was going to smack her head on the stage! Reece Clarke partnered her wonderfully (and high praise is due for catching her in those dives), but I don’t think it’s a role for him really - I don’t think it brings out the best in him. Tonight’s Tchaikovsky PDD, however, was what I had been waiting for. I have long wanted to see Nunez and Muntagirov dance this live and I’ve been frustrated on every occasion - the last being in November when I had a ticket to the gala that didn’t happen! - to the point where it seemed to be jinxed for me! But tonight it did happen and what a performance! Marianela was made to dance this, and Muntagirov has just the technical brilliance, the lightness and the exuberance to fill an audience with joy - and he did tonight. The speed and grace of his manège around the stage was incredible. Huge applause and richly deserved! Dances at a Gathering - some lovely individual performances last night (Campbell, Morera, Bonelli, Hinkis and Acri) and some charming Pas de Deux, but for me it goes on for WAY too long and my mind started wandering. Before the end of the performance I knew I didn’t want to sit through it again tonight, so I didn’t - but at least that meant I ended on a high after that remarkable Tchai Pas!

I’m really sad to hear this as she is one of my favourites and glows onstage. What a loss to the ballet world! But I wish her every success in her new path, such an intelligent woman will be an asset to Stanford - not sure if they realise what lunacy is about to hit them, though! 😂

She’s been injured, I think (in the public domain as she mentioned it on Instagram a while back).

My son showed me this earlier, and the Mistake Waltz immediately came to mind with me too! 😂

As the Information Specialist for Humanities and Performing Arts in the University of Plymouth library, I have a special interest in this and have of course done my part. I know what problems this is likely to cause for the staff and students I liaise with and I fully expect it will be taking centre stage at the next round of Departmental meetings!

So very tragic, whatever he may or may not have done. A waste of a life and a talent.

Yes - she has been documenting her surgery and progress on Instagram.

I think Tierney Heap is still rehabbing after her third ankle surgery. Hopefully back and ready in the Autumn!

Also bearing in mind that all those ballets sell well, and that has to be a factor if they want to start recouping their losses.