Jump to content

Vanartus

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    731

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Vanartus

  1. Vanartus
    If only they were showing outside of the UK…
  2. Vanartus
    I think it’s the point where he does a sort of handstand and lowers his head/ear to the ground …I’m sure there are pics of this
  3. Vanartus
    Eternity Heaven: Symphonic Variations Eternity Hell: Two Pigeons
  4. Vanartus
    I think you’re right. I’ve always been a huge MacMillan supporter, but I remember feeling somehow disappointed at the first night. Second and third showings better (90’s and 00’s)…but seeing both casts in this run I found it a stunning work. The elements I wasn’t sure about 40 years ago (?!) such as the Jesus figure, the brothel scene, the gas masks etc, just added this time round to this amazing mystical symbolic religious mash-up which went from hyper-real to surreal in a moment. That’s what you get when you see something at 30…and now at 70…now that’s something else!🤣
  5. Vanartus
    I saw Tierney Heap dance Carmen - she was amazing! She transformed the ballet and the role - totally threw herself into everything. She had this grittiness and toughness: I thought she channelled Joan Crawford meets 60’s kitchen sink northern drama, in a way that gave the uncertain messiness of the whole concept a real strength, a hook you could hang on the the best of the drama simply through the force of her characterisation. I think the RB lost a real star due her injury.
  6. Vanartus
    I agree with Sabine. Christiane Theobald did an amazing job. She was more than a caretaker, she was proactive in developing the repertoire, and the company wasn’t held in a holding pattern until Spuck’s arrival. I too enjoyed the Malakhov directorship, he introduced Ashton’s Sylvia, and Manon was part of the programming too. There was also a version of the Wizard of Oz which was a scream, he played the wizard. The nadir for me was Nacho Duarte. He tried to hijack the repertoire for his own works - awful. Then came the mistake of the dual regime, which got some of the classics back on track, and brought in Sharon Eyal’s Half Life, but it was a mess. Thank heavens Christiane knew the company well, knew the Berlin audience, and had great taste in both choreographers and the range of work in both the classical and modern repertoire. My only personal plea would be for Berlin to look back at the MacMillan ballets which were created in Berlin - Concerto, Anastasia one-act. I was lucky enough to talk to Christian Spuck two weeks ago, and he was clear that he didn’t want to overstock the company with his own work. He really does want to get the full range, and further develop its own identity which I find really good.
  7. Vanartus
    Yep - early days at RB with Matthew Golding
  8. Vanartus
    Ah! The mystery deepens - or rather my mind ‘n memory are addled…I know when I saw Watson I was half way along the lower slips so that’s my pathetic excuse for not seeing the railway walk! But I am def right about the apotheosis and removal of it …hope someone else has a better memory than me!
  9. Vanartus
    Quick question re Different Drummer. The ending last night was different from the first run back in 1984 - I was there first night - and different from the last performance I saw with Edward Watson. I must have seen in once again before the Watson run…I think with Adam Cooper but not sure, but deffo saw it three times before. The first performance ending had a type of Swan Lake apotheosis where the two covered bodies were on autopsy slabs, while in the background Wozzeck and Marie were together in a micro pdd moment of embrace. This in particular got criticised by Mary Clarke - avid MacMillan supporter - who felt it was completely at odds with spirit of play. In the next two runs I saw, MacMillan cut the apotheosis, and it ended with two bodies on separate trolleys being pushed to the rear of stage…so together in dissected death, with no spiritual redemption. So I was surprised last night to see a new ending with a ghostly Wozzeck walking along the tracks, and I wondered how that came about…was it a third ending that had come to light through research…I’m intrigued. It goes without saying I was stunned by both Sambé and Hayward, and all the cast. Gripping throughout. DC was a great opener, and as for Requiem- just sigh…
  10. Vanartus
    I agree the tone was arrogant, impatient and threatening. That “I know other people who…” not nice and not necessary. But sadly them wot should know better often don’t..
  11. Vanartus
    I quite agree - I’m an ordinary friend and I didn’t get the discount offer.
  12. Vanartus
    Not sure what happened to my Staatsballett Berlin Forum post from this morning …any issues!
  13. Vanartus
    …I’ll be going March 4 - really regret not trying to book for premiere…my loss, your report was wonderful- what a fab evening!
  14. Vanartus
    LOL - I’m a hopeless reviewer but I’ll put something together.
  15. Vanartus
    Will be seeing it on Thursday March 7
  16. Vanartus
    Honestly, please don’t get caught up on/in this admittedly clunky appellation. He’s really doing some interesting stuff and what he writes does make sense about changing sensitivities and sensibilities. He did a fascinating live production in the Brighton Pavilion a few years ago, where he restored/recreated a “chinoiserie” dance piece: https://nyuarthistory.wordpress.com/2021/12/01/contemporary-reinterpretation-of-the-ballet-des-porcelaines-also-known-as-the-teapot-prince/
  17. Vanartus
    I saw it twice with both Osipova and Cuthbertson. It certainly wasn’t bad, it just didn’t really hit the mark, because I’m not sure if they knew what mark they were aiming for. The idea was good, the story line tempting, but perhaps there were no depths - hidden or otherwise - to the actual subject matter. Perhaps MacMillan or Scarlett could have dug deeper, perhaps the dancing prancing French waiters killed the serious drama, but I’d like to have seen a darker rework. Or perhaps it needed an Ashton touch to make better sense of the period. Glad I saw it though.
  18. Vanartus
    https://www.rdo-berlin.de/ …the restaurant of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where some of the ballets are staged is right next to the building. The front part is the restaurant, and behind a partly closed velvet curtain is the canteen for the dancers, singers and stage crew. It’s all like a magic mirror, two worlds semi co-existing!
  19. Vanartus
    Wow! I really enjoyed reading this - very helpful too. I had a humdinger of a row (in public to my shame) with a ballet critic who was way over the top critical, and particularly nasty about Osipova. I’d like to see it again live, and I agree with you its “home” is probably outside of the RB. A pity though…
  20. Vanartus
    I was knocked out by his amazing debut in Symphonic Variations
  21. Vanartus
    Stick with the film - nice scenery too!
  22. Vanartus
    Two! I’d like to see LFE again …
  23. Vanartus
    I really can’t understand why they didn’t just beef up the Ballett am Rhein…there would be some more juggling with Cologne added to the the rotation of Düsseldorf and Duisburg, but surely Nordrhein-Westfalen needs one bigger company not just another add-on. I’m not so sure…seems like city on city rivalries!
  24. Vanartus
    Completely agree! I’d have made it a triple bill with Enigma Variations
  25. Vanartus
    Saw it with the same cast the other week - stunning indeed. As far as I know/could see - choreography is the same. Just costumes and sets different.
×
×
  • Create New...