Balletfanp

I’ve just tried that and the individual videos are there but they still won’t play for me. I think a VPN would be the only answer. Unless they get added to Instagram or YouTube as the Spring Waters already has.

😁 A little harsh - but yes! I think only Vadim could (almost) carry it off!

This one definitely is free via the ItsART app - I signed up when it was advertised as available months ago and am still able to watch it. The Etoiles gala before that with Nunez and Muntagirov is also available. Incidentally, the couture costumes worn by Kaneko and Muntagirov were pretty appalling. Kaneko’s Black Swan tutu would have been beautiful just as a piece of couture, but as a tutu to dance in…. no! I’m not sure how Vadim managed to partner her at all with the big stiff skirt holding him at a distance and getting in the way. His costume was OK but looked far too plain beside Fumi’s. As for the White Swan outfits - lots of white frills for Fumi (not remotely swanlike!) and an awful monstrosity of a tunic for Vadim that seemed ill-fitting and with a frill around his neck that was reminiscent of a jester. If that was couture you can keep it! A reminder that couture designers should probably stick to the day job and steer clear of designing ballet costumes…. Despite these drawbacks, they both danced magnificently!

One of the things about Westwood’s clothes was that the cut and tailoring were superb. Even her bondage trousers in the early days were very high quality and far from the multitude of cheap copies that appeared - made of the best materials and silk-lined. Which is why they weren’t cheap to buy, for the time.

I was bored by in it the main - I thought it was mostly a waste of good dancers, although it was lovely to see Darcey and Irek on screen together. I’m not sure it was strong enough to attract new ballet audiences. De Prince was charming but it would have been nice to see a bit more actual dancing from her.

One could say the same of Symphonic Variations - the steps interpret every nuance of the music so perfectly

I had this (nothing to do with ballet!) and mentioned it to my Chiropractor when I was there for other treatment. She gave me ultrasound and deep tissue massage and recommended a tennis ball or another firm ball to roll my foot on at home. A couple of weeks of this treatment and it improved greatly. It has never returned. She also said that wearing very flat shoes like ballerina pumps tended to exacerbate it and they were seeing a lot of it with ballerina pumps being in fashion at the time. I have tried to steer clear of completely flat-soled shoes since then.

I don’t think you can blame it on being an “age thing” when it’s actually about having your enjoyment of the performance spoilt by someone waving a brightly lit phone around in your field of view (possibly multiple phones if it gets to the point where this becomes accepted and allowed!). Whilst not being young anymore myself, I do know a number of younger theatre-goers who would not find it acceptable either.

I thought it looked as though she was crying in Rob’s photos, bless her! How wonderful for her to have all that support from her colleagues, and that it went so well 🙂.

Merry Christmas to the Mods (with huge thanks!) and to everyone else as well!

It’s listed here! @jmhopton scroll down to see your comment! 😀 https://amp.theguardian.com/stage/2022/dec/19/readers-favourite-stage-shows-of-2022

I thought on Wednesday that, although she danced exquisitely, she didn’t seem her usual self - and that last run into the fish dive at the end of the Coda, she seemed tired and almost hung in Vadim’s arms. I wondered then if she was unwell, as it was so unlike her. Poor Marianela, that whole pas de deux plus solos is renowned for being exhausting, so the more kudos to her for going on and performing - it must be a killer if you’re feeling unwell!

I guessed from the look on his face that it would have been his first! It was lovely to see.

I went to see my one Nutcracker of the year on Wednesday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Pre-Covid, I think I might have been getting a bit jaded and took the Nutcracker rather for granted, but since then I have come to appreciate the magic and sparkle a hundred times more, even if I have seen it umpteen times by now! Great performances all round. Leo Dixon has to be the perfect Hans-Peter and has grown in technique and confidence such a lot since I first saw him. He will go far, I’m sure. I was very happy to see Madison Bailey as Clara. She was a very sweet and engaging Clara and danced beautifully. And of course, with Marianela and Vadim as the SPF and the Prince, you can’t possibly go wrong. Still my favourite couple for these roles. They have such an ease and a connection with each other now in roles like this that it’s a joy to watch, quite apart from their technical loveliness, demonstrated by the smiling exchanged glances and the understanding with which they look each other in the eye. It’s a role that suits Marianela and she knows it so well by now that she can play with the musical phrasing and make it look different every time. And no one looks more princely than Vadim - he performs the role with such smiling ease and radiates a serene joy in the partnering and dancing that no one else can match. The seraphic smile doesn’t even falter when hoicking the SPF onto his shoulder with a tutu in his face! Quite apart from the perfection and butterfly lightness of his dancing. No effort (apparently!) involved. Melissa Hamilton sets a very high bar for the Arabian, but Gina Storm-Jensen gave a very creditable performance of great sensuality, along with Lukas B-B. And of course, there is no Drosselmeyer like the King of Glitter Gary Avis! He just simply owns that role and draws you into the story and the magic like no one else. Rapturous applause from a very enthusiastic audience. And Leo Dixon - to his evident surprise - was presented with a bouquet onstage 🙂. Everyone went home happy!

Me too 😁

“For my own personal preference … I would love to combine Vadim’s technique with the more insane portrayals of Matthew Ball or Ryo Hirano.” Largely a matter of the personal preference, of course - but Rudolf wasn’t insane. Deeply troubled, yes, and with some odd fixations, but not insane. Which is why I myself prefer a less “unhinged” interpretation.

Hmm. In my opinion, Vadim gave us the man, not the monster - a much more realistic picture. Ryoichi was also very good, but he didn’t have me totally immersed in the character in anywhere near the way Vadim did.

No, you didn’t imagine the ignored handshake. And it seemed to be that, and the coldness of his mother, that triggered his need to wind them all up by dancing with Princess Louise. You put it all so well - a lot of that amazing performance consisted of exactly those small touches that you describe and it all made his complete deterioration totally understandable and all the more tragic.

Some more random observations about last night. Vadim’s desperate and wild-eyed look in Act 3…. his simultaneous fascination with, and terror of, the gun…. the goaded look on his face when Marie Larisch drags his head back in the Act 1 pas de deux…. his laughter whilst terrorising Stephanie seemed much more sinister last night, perhaps because he understated it somewhat…. the way he awkwardly rubbed his neck in a very childlike way when leaving his mother, having been rejected once again…. growing ever more frantic in their pas de deux in his desperation to connect with her…. just so many small details which made the performance so emotionally profound. Thus far, Mayerling hasn’t been one of my favourite ballets, but with this cast I think they have converted me! The way Fumi uses her eyes is incredible. A fabulous piece of acting from her as well. Likewise Itziar Mendizabal - I have always loved her acting and she didn’t disappoint in this. I also noticed that one of Rudolf’s friends who finds the bodies - I can’t remember who it was - appeared to be down on the floor vomiting upon the discovery. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, but probably an appropriate reaction under the circumstances. At the stage door when Itziar Mendizabal came out, we were trying to congratulate her on her own wonderful performance but all she could say was “Wasn’t Vadim amazing?”

The moustache was fake!

I too have been thinking about last night’s performance all day (and probably for weeks to come!) - so much so that when I suddenly snapped out of my thoughts I found I had been walking in completely the opposite direction to where I wanted to be! It’s all Vadim’s fault…. 😂

Yes, this absolutely - shocking and, as you say, wonderful in a twisted way, in itself, but also because it is so not what you would expect from Vadim. The sadism and violence felt real, and there was absolutely no doubt about what was happening as the curtain came down on that scene. I wasn’t going to write anything about last night’s performance, having written a detailed review on the first one, but I have so many thoughts about it buzzing around in my head I have to get them out somehow! It’ll probably just be a jumbled list of thoughts and impressions. So many more nuances last night, even more than in Vadim’s first performance. The slight resentful jerk away of the arm when his father grasped it, his longing looks at his mother, who remains unresponsive, at various points…..Also, his flirting (if that’s what it could be called) with Princess Louise made far more sense the way Vadim played it. Treated with their usual contempt by his parents at his own wedding, you could see that he was as thinking “Who can I dance with to cause maximum distress and scandal?” and picking on Louise as an act of defiance. He wasn’t so much flirting as displaying a dogged determination to annoy his parents and upset his unwanted wife. The interactions with the Hungarian officers really looked as though they were completely driving him to distraction and adding to his increasing woes. At no point during that performance did the persona of Rudolf drop for a second, not even when dancing the most demanding choreography. The fact that he was so completely immersed in the role himself drew the audience in and made us all feel his disintegration, his growing despair and pain. It was a visceral experience and it felt as though one were part of the real events, rather than watching a performance. I can say categorically that I have never ‘felt’ a performance so intensely ever before. Watching that last pas de Deux was a shattering experience during which I almost forgot to breathe and felt completely devastated by the end. All the other performances were wonderful too. Yasmine was much much better this time - the performance really caught fire and her absolute trust in throwing herself at him with abandon has to be commended - and Vadim for inspiring such trust. Fumi was wonderful - I could watch her Larisch again and again and, as with Vadim, find new touches every time. Her interactions with Rudolf were heartfelt and real. I wanted to cry with her during her final scene before the Empress comes in. Vadim has matured into a rare and exceptional artist and it was a privilege to see him last night. I went to the stage door and his sunny smiles were just so at variance with the tragedy he had just enacted onstage! Nice also to see @jmhoptonthere for a chat too!

Well, I wasn’t sure he could improve on his debut performance but by golly he did. I feel completely wrung out with emotion! What a performance!

I would imagine the “dancing outside London” bit is more to do with the fact that he (or other RB dancers) doesn’t dance outside London in the UK, so most UK fans, unless they can travel to London or are in a position to travel abroad, are unlikely to see him outside cinema broadcasts. The only other time I can think of was when he and Marianela danced as guests of BRB in Birmingham last year. As someone who lives in Plymouth and is fortunate enough to be able to travel up to London on occasion, I certainly never thought I would ever see Vadim dance in my home town (it’ll make a nice change not to have to travel for once!). I can vouch for the fact that the news of him dancing down here has created a lot of excitement, not least among BRB fans - one of my friends can hardly contain herself as Vadim is her favourite dancer and she never thought she would ever be able to see him live. It was a mad rush to get tickets when the news came out as there weren’t that many left and I had 6 friends wanting to go on different nights - so BRB are more than capable of selling tickets on their own merit! It’s just nice that Vadim is able to guest with them (two nights only, so he’s not exactly taking over the whole tour!) and make some fans down here who wouldn’t normally get the chance to see him very happy. The phrase in the publicity about “one of the world’s greatest ballet dancers” is one that is frequently used when one sees any of the publicity for him guesting in countries all over the world - and other similar phrases are used for other dancers too. It’s not unusual for companies to blow the trumpet of their guest stars very loudly to attract attention and I don’t see that BRB is doing anything different from other companies.

I’m not really seeing anything sycophantic about the Facebook post - nothing more than the usual publicity one sees when a guest dancer is joining a company for a few dates.