Jump to content

northstar

Members
  • Posts

    183
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by northstar

  1. Thanks for the discussion and information on the audiences and touring changes, this is most interesting. Just to add. For this Sleeping Beauty run at the Lowry on the Saturday matinee the house was getting near capacity, as full as I ever seen this theatre for ballet, I was in the upper circle and empty seats were hard to spot. For Sat eve the front circle was filled well, but a lot of the upper circle was sparse/empty apart from the front row - I think this a lot more 'usual' in my experience. I've found it very hard to gauge audience attendance over the years, I've often sat in very sparse theatres, but sometimes packed ones. I had already noticed changes in BRB touring which pre-dated the pandemic, and weren't positive for me up here in NW England. I imagine there are many factors involved, I wasn't aware that the council funding is being completely removed by 2026. Thanks ShielaC for the info about the Caroline Miller interview she did at least provide some reassuring words that the cuts could be managed.
  2. Thanks all for the reviews of this run of BRB Sleeping Beauty. I attended Saturday matinee and evening performances at the Lowry, led by Miki Mizutani/Lachalan Monaghan and Yaoqian Shang/Max Maslen respectively. This sensational, spectacular production has been a huge part of my ballet appreciation for 20 years, and I was very glad to see it again in Salford, after the previous visit in 2018. Mizutani I find incandescent in everything she does, it was the first time I had seen her as Aurora. She seems to inhabit the character with such delicate nobility and meets the virtuoso demands with ease, she gave me everything I could ask for - everything anyone could ask for, surely. The prince in SB has such scant individual opportunity but in the showpiece solos in Act II and especially Act III I was stunned by Monaghan's mastery. I would also mention the Bluebird and Enchanted Princess pdd with Enrique Bejarano Vidal as Sofia Liรฑares as a highlight, it was notable for it's intention and poise. In the evening performance Shang had an ebullience and brilliance which felt very fresh and engaging to me. I've not seen her dance much, I think I've only seen her in a lead role in Bintley's Aladdin years ago. Max Maslen's presence as the Prince was stately and assured. Having racked up a few BRB SBs now I did think of differences over the years and I did notice this time there was no awakening pdd adagio, thanks very much for the confirmation on this thread and for the reasons why, very interesting. It's a lovely and unique feature of this production, but while I admire it in isolation, I have to say I always felt there is an element of it not quite fitting with the atmosphere of the whole work. And perhaps it's a symptom of having seen it so many times, or seeing multiple performances in a week/day, but I thought on this occasion the slightly shorter running time was an advantage. I also reflect on the BRB Lowry schedule. I have been used to in previous years seeing 6 performances in a run, I recall Wed-Sat with two matinees. Since 2023 I think the spring visit (no autumn visit since 2018, another story) is only Thu-Sat with one matinee. Can't help feeling a little sad about this. Nonetheless I'm grateful to have BRB come to the Lowry full stop, and conscious of such a privilege to see such a production, whose quality in all respects must equal or surpass any other production worldwide. I especially enjoy this late winter/early spring visit to Salford which for me is as much part of spring as seeing the daffodils come up.
  3. Happy new year, and thanks so much, to all who contribute and manage this wonderful resource of BalletcoForum. In 2024 it seems not as easy as it used to be to find thoughtful open forum discussion/community on the internet. The open non-commercial spirit of the internet, that used to exist a few years ago, seems to have deteriorated. There is something here which is special and not provided by TikTok, Instagram, or even Facebook. The interaction I have here feels more meaningful than on many social media channels, and I've met several members of the forum in person which I don't think I can say of other social media. Thanks again and long may it continue!
  4. Thanks ballet forum members for flagging up the superb series broadcast on the BBC again this xmas period. As soon as I started watching it I was captivated by Fonteyn's delivery, the narrative and scripting, and of course the superb dance clips of exceptional legendary dancers, as well as a fascinating variety of examples of dance. And wonderful interviews too. It seems to have some indefinable quality and seriousness that used to be the BBC hallmark, but which sadly I do not find to quite the same level, in modern BBC documentary work. Only seen a couple of episode but I'm already re-watching bits for sheer pleasure/fascination. I was really struck by Makarova's dancing Swan Lake Act II pdd adagio, yes I know it's slow - and to my understanding it set a trend which continues to today, which has probably gone too far. But watching that clip I could really see the vitality of Makarova's interpretation, it looked so new to me. A shame it's only on iplayer for 1 month but I understand you can get quite a bit of the series on YouTube, maybe not to the same video quality.
  5. Thanks to Ballet Forum members for starting and contributing to this thread. Must admit I felt disappointed at the first info that was posted, indicating on BBC only repeats of ballet programmes of recent years, and for the prime slot a Matthew Bourne that's 'new' but the production been filmed and broadcast before. Seemed to indicate a loss on interest from the BBC in classical ballet, when I remember 10-20 years ago a relatively newly filmed classical ballet would be broadcast in a good slot on BBC at xmas nearly every year. But maybe I'm being a bit stuffy and overly-nostalgic, the broadcasting world has changed so much in the last 5-10 years, especially with the proliferation of streaming services, including for example Royal Ballet's own service (just in 2022?). And thanks so much for drawing my attention to the Fonteyn's Magic Of Dance which is a new discovery for me, and the BBC re-broadcasting this is a wonderful example of its extant interest in ballet. Even though it's obviously an archive programme, from what I've watched so far it looks a real high quality gem and a great ballet xmas present from the BBC.
  6. Thanks all for your reviews of 2023 BRB Nutcracker. I went on Thursday eve (30th November) and saw cast lead by Beatrice Parma and Tzu-Chao Chou as Sugar Plum and Prince, Rosanna Ely as Clara, and Miki Mizutani as the Rose Fairy. I, like many, think this is overall the best Nutracker in the UK but I'm not a total addict and I don't attend every year. I usually need a specific reason to go to Nutcracker and this year it was to see the refurbished set (first presented 2022). I did think the colours very much brighter than I remember, especially Act 2 where I thought it was a totally new design, but looking at older photos from old programmes I see it's the same. Those photos also make the set look a lot darker but I'm not sure if that is due to the way they were shot originally. BRB delivered the quality to my expectations, namely excellent. I've not seen Parma dance much and she was really good as SPF, extremely good solo. And Tzu-Chao Chu was a good match/partner. Can't lie my highlight was Mizutani as the Rose Fairy her principal poise and movement seems to shine out with such clarity in the last couple of years. The national dances were good if ever-so-slightly mixed quality I thought. I was reading the 2022 thread and seems like last year there was a change in the Arabian dance (made into duet?) but it was the 'classic' choreography, with female dancer and three men, this time. One other thing I noted in the grand PDD coda, the SPF and Prince performed counter-travelling maneges which I think is usually the choreo for the Royal Ballet version (in the BRB I think usually the prince performs fouettes in the centre of the SPF manege). I really liked Rosanna Ely as Clara I thought her freedom and playfulness, as a counter-balance in Act2 to the national dances and solos, was excellent. Packed house as I expected, very few empty seats. Regrettably these days I worry about audience behaviour, but it was decent despite quite a lot of young children, so that was a relief. Thanks BRB for being there and delivering with such reliable excellence your classic Nutcracker. Look forward to reading any more reviews of the remaining performances.
  7. Just noticed this, perhaps the difference this year compared to previous ones is that there was never a dedicated press release proclaiming a 'national tour' of its Nutcracker. Does ENB Nutcracker ever tour widely (recent years?) I did some digging and saw that for example in 2017/2018 its Nutcracker only went to Southampton apart from London. And in 2019/20 the only non-London location was Liverpool. I'm near Liverpool and seen ENB Nutcracker by Eagling a handful of times. While the artistic production for this version is not my favourite, if it was in Liverpool I would still consider going to see certain dancers perform, or maybe to hear the music played by the fab ENB Philharmonic. But I wouldn't go to London or Southampton to see it.
  8. Thanks for the responses, and the sympathy Mary . I am trying to do the same selectiveness of places where people behave, which unfortunately may lead me to think twice about certain ballet performances I would normally have attended. As you imply, theatres for ballet performances (and other shows) may respond to this behaviour phenomenon by some new ideas, maybe such as starting to selling performances labelled 'quiet'. I rather hope it will just come from a rebalancing of society behaviour, since you can already feel the 'reaction' in the media and audience commentary. I have to admit I'm thinking of BRB Nutcracker at Xmas (not seen it since the production refurb), but wondering will that be well-behaved? Maybe I will just become a reclusive hermit. I may just have to go to the Wigmore Hall, I've never been but that sounds perfect for me๐Ÿคฃ, thanks MAB and Scheherezade.
  9. Just wanted to do a bit of vent/catharsis here on audience behaviour, and reflection on the matter since the pandemic. I went to BRB Coppelia in Autumn 2022 (Birm. Hipppodrome) and experienced what I felt was the worst behaviour I'd ever witnessed at live ballet. After hearing about several more incidents of bad behaviour on this forum, and from theatre in general in the mainstream media, I've been reflecting on it more and wanted to post about it. Just to briefly describe the behaviour in Autumn 2022, I was in Upper Circle (so 'cheaper' seats) a pair of women sat next to me, it was a packed house. First was the very loud crackling sweet papers, which they did seem to realise, and tried to dampen, but only by trying to painfully/carefully slow down their sweet-unwrapping which actually made it even more irritating and noticeable. But far worse came later in the grand PDD and finale, when the younger one got a fit of the giggles and continually snorted and guffawed (unsuccessfully trying to smother it). I do wonder if I was being over-sensitive but I noticed other people around me being disturbed/upset by this commotion too. I found it more than annoying, I would actually say it was upsetting - it felt like my experience of the ballet was being violated. I've never felt like that at live ballet before. Unfortunately I can remember this quite well, a year on. More bizarrely, on the other side of me another couple actually got up and left in the middle of the galop final ! But actually this was not particularly upsetting, and an advantage to me as I quickly scooted along into their vacated seats and at least got away from the badly-behaved women, to catch the fabulous final moments of the ballet with a bit of space to myself. Also in Autumn 2022 I was at ENB Swan Lakes which which were touring Liverpool/Manchester, I saw people filming the performance on mobiles and even getting out of their seats to get a better camera angle. In Manchester it was packed and again the audience behaviour felt rather like being in a school classroom. I've been wondering 'is it just me?' (I feel I had some particularly bad pandemic life events, and possibly over-sensitive/grumpy because of that). But I've been reading this forum thread which started late 2022 and noticing the comments on worsening behaviour, e.g. the link to Graham Watts Instagram post from RB Nutcracker Dec 2022 were he experienced his worst-ever behaviour at ROH. Several more posts I've seen about 'worst ever' experiences and links to newspaper articles describing the phenomenon of this awful new trend in anti-social behaviour since the pandemic. A correlation seems to be vastly more seat sales. I've never seen the ballet so busy these past couple of years, I used to sit in half-empty theatres pre-covid. I do see newspapers talking about the huge appetite for theatre experiences post-lockdown, and unfortunate simultaneous decline in behaviour. I even notice in cities at weekends, the 'hen/stag party' atmosphere is absolutely horrendous and starts at midday, not just late evening. Admittedly my Coppelia/Swan Lake 2022 experiences weren't 'beyond the pale' . And I should state that I attended another BRB Coppelia in the same week which was fine (but I made sure I bought front circle seats!). I must also state that BRB DonQ at the Lowry Salford March 2022 was well-behaved (but sombre tone set initially and Ukrainian anthem played, just post-Putin-invasion). And lastly, just to remember nicer experiences - at BRB Swan Lake in Sunderland Empire (March 2023), really well behaved crowd (fab perfromance too); but I do think north-east people are inherently so 'sound' . I'm hoping the anti-social behaviour people mention here and in the media is just a process of readjustment due to the extreme conditions society has been through recently (primarily the pandemic), and that more moderate, respectful behaviour will again develop soon. Thanks for listening.
  10. Thanks SheilaC for noting this. At this time of year I was just thinking how I used to enjoy BRB's annual September visit to Salford. It last happened in 2018 I think (Fille Mal Gardee?), and since then they have only come to Salford once a year, in spring. I am trying to accept that things change with the times. Economic conditions, artistic approaches, and many other features of life, will of course change as the years go on. But hard for us BRB fans, especially in the north as you mention (and especially fans of traditional, classical ballet) to be completely philosophical about these changes. I wish BRB good luck with their Orlando performance, but can't help feeling a little sad/worried, as others have indicated above, about other implications. The company is just a superb artistic jewel in the crown of the country, and I'm so glad I've been able to see their work so near my home since I've been ballet fan for ~ 25 years.
  11. Thanks for ballet forum members for posting their thoughts and feelings about this triple bill, been really enjoying reading them all. I also attended this run, Sat matinee. Apollo lead by Mathais Dingman. Just wanted to express a growing curiosity and entrancement with the memory of the effect Apollo made on me. Not normally the sort of thing I would go for, and I'll admit I wasn't utterly entranced during, but afterwards found myself on YouTube looking at other performances. Now I've got the music in my head as an ear worm (in a good way), and the memory of those scenes and images of the dancers are recurring as a strange sort of fascination. I've only seen one Balanchine ballet before, live (Jewels). Now I wish I could go and see Apollo again, but looks like opportunities will be few (Royal Ballet did it in 2021, but before that, 2013?). Dingman's presence and excellence was something that struck me in the moment, and afterwards. I thought Interlinked was very and surprisingly beautiful, and a great element/choice for a triple bill. And now, sacrilege, I felt I couldn't connect with Still Life at the Pengiun Cafe hardly at all, god knows why. Given I've never seen it before I'm more than willing to accept it might just be me and my mood in the moment, no reflection on the quality of the dancers and musicians I hasten to add. I'd go to see it again, surely. Also mention from where I was sitting the Hippodrome looked 80-90% full (maybe ever more than this). No offence to BRB but I sort of expected it to be half-empty. Just grateful once more to have the opportunity to see this sort of quality and level of art outside London.
  12. Thanks all for the reviews and photos from this BRB Swan Lake tour so far from Southampton and Birmingham. And the great memories from the production in ROH years ago, Emeralds. I was at the Friday 10th March 2023 evening performance at the Empire theatre in Sunderland, with Miki Mizutani and Lachlan Monaghan leading. A bit of a trek for me, I usually see BRB when they are at the Lowry, Salford in early March but unaccountably completely missed their visit this time. It was well worth the trek, because I enjoyed an evening and performance of the most superb quality and magic, which I have invariably experienced when going to see BRB. I sometimes think I've seen enough Swan Lakes now (especially this season, when ENB also did it in autumn/winter), but when the lights went down and the music of the overture started in the Sunderland Empire on Friday I was tingling, and the following performance was utterly transporting and satisfying. I am rather enamoured with Mizutani these days, especially since I saw her in Don Quixote last year, she seems to have evolved into the most stunning principal dancer that you could find amongst the great ballet companies of the world, and my main reason for choosing this performance in Sunderland. I really liked Janet's description of her as a natural Odette with the sadness/constraint of that character embodied with utter conviction/commitment. There was so much clarity and meaning to her every gesture and step; her performance was alive and distinctive. The white pdd adagios she and Monaghan performed were simply spellbinding, I feel perhaps the best I've ever seen. But also as a bright and wicked Odile (you can even see it in the photo Janet posted), her virtuosity dazzles, her very very strong technique delivers the thrill, the spectacle that is my favourite part of the ballet, again completely convincing. I found the black pdd adagio of the highest possible quality, both bravura and exquisite, the long attitude balance she held en pointe just the icing on the cake. I remember the pleasure of seeing Monaghan and Mizutani leading La Fille Mal Gardee in 2018 as rising soloists. It's an extraordinary thing to put that memory of that light lyrical performance against the grandeur and nobility of their performance on Friday, where they demonstrated mastery of the ballet Mt Everest that is Swan Lake. It seems utterly right that Monaghan is now promoted to principal, thank you for the photo PeterS. There's too much else in this masterpiece of a production, and in how it was performed on Friday, to detail. I'll just mention the princess variations in Act III as a highlight (Rachele Pizzillo, Sofia Liรฑares, Yuki Sugiura) were just brilliant. Still kicking myself that I missed the BRB Swan Lake stop in Salford this year, did any other forum members see any of these performances?
  13. Thanks so much ballet forum for alerting me to this I may have missed it otherwise. From my sofa I've been indulging in the sheer wonder of this production and performance, and the memory of seeing it performed live in Salford last year. A ballet and production with such intense series of spectacles and scenes, I'd forgotten how intense and packed with riches the ballet is. What dancers, what art, what quality. Good to know that BBC are still prepared to have this in their programming at the moment. Although with the imminent demise of BBC4 as a broadcast channel, one does wonder if we are in the dying days of being able to 'tune in' to a traditional ballet on TV. I have to completely agree with jmhopton, in that I preferred this recorded BRB Don Quixote infinitely to any of the dance broadcast on traditional terrestrial TV over Christmas 2022. We haven't often seen BRB on TV (compared to RB). Thanks Emeralds for the reminder of BRB's recording/broadcast of Cinderella in 2011. Am I right in saying Sir David Bintley's The King Dances was also broadcast, on BBC4, in 2015 ? (documentary which included a performance of the whole ballet) I feel so glad that these astounding dancers, who I have been privileged to see live in numerous theatres, have been recorded, and hopefully will remain maintained/archived at the BBC for at least my lifetime. When the events of very recent years, and even those occurring now, makes one sometimes wonder what is happening to the world and civilisation (maybe was ever thus?) a recording like this fabulous BRB Don Quixote on our mainstream media gives comfort.
  14. Loving the views on RB guesting with BRB. It is a fascinating new feature of our ballet world (new to me, anyway). I remember Muntagirov from his ENB days, dancing Nutcracker with Alina Cojocaru in Liverpool ! At least this new development allows us in the 'regions' to see RB dancers actually in the regions. But I fully agree also that BRB has wonderful dancers that are (and have long been) quite the equal of RB. Loving this forum and I'd forgotten about world ballet day, off to browse now.
  15. Thanks Dawnstar you are right Mizutani did partner Monaghan for some Don Q's and there was some partner swapping. Sorry if I gave a misleading impression that her and Dingman were always leading together. I wish I'd seen more Don Q performances and hope it's on again soon. Thanks all for the other reviews and discussions points of Coppelia for casts I did not see. Just wanted to mention Sofia Linares as well who was splendid as Dawn on the Friday at the Hippodrome, she's an exciting new acquisition too like Rio Ito. I also saw Linares as Rose Fairy in the Nutrcaker last Christmas and was struck by her too then.
  16. When BRB did Don Q at Salford Lowry Theatre in March, on 'opening night' (the real opening night was cancelled due to illness, covid I think) it was Mizutani and Dingman. They also danced the grand PDD in the Dance for Ukraine Gala at London Coliseum shorty afterwards (btw I think that's available on MarqueeTV). Miki was promoted to principal at around the same time. I admit I wasn't familiar with the Sadler's Wells casts, but I think I remember checking them (on the vague thought of travelling to see it again) and being interested in the partnerships which was different to what I saw in Salford. I also admit I'm not familiar with the Plymouth/Birm Hippodrome casts. But they were a great Kitri/Basilio and just as great a Swanhilda/Franz !
  17. Thanks everyone for their reviews of this short and precious run of BRB Coppelia. I went twice this week to Birmingham Hippodrome, saw Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton lead on opening night and Miki Mizutani and Mathias Dingman on Friday night. It's been 5 years since I've seen BRB Coppelia and thus it had a wonderful joyous freshness, energy, and beauty that made it a very special week seeing it again. What a sublime work, another one of Sir Peter Wright's great creations. Peter Farmer's rich European-romantic-style sets and scenery, the powerfully ebullient music by Delibes and played by the brilliant Royal Ballet Sinfonia, and the simply amazing dancing by some of the world's greatest dancers. It's just wonderful and this week everything just came together in perfect form. I have long loved Gittens and Singleton but not seen them in this ballet and they are such noble dancers I wondered how they would suit Swanhilda and Franz but they were completely convincing. Both precise, perfect and lively. Gitten's blend of comedy and virtuosity just great, she looked on really really good form. Singleton similarly, triple tours of great accuracy stick in my mind. I echo Chris G's praise of Yijing Zhang as Prayer she owns this role superbly. When Mizutani came on as Dawn she just shone with poise and presence of a great principal. I agree Riko Ito too was a complete sensation. Packed opening night and some audience behaviour issues, that I might write about elsewhere. But the performance brought the house down. And so I could not let this run go by without travelling to Birmingham again on Friday to see Mizutani lead with Dingman. I continue to be stunned by the development of Mizutani. Always a superb dancer, her dancing particularly over the pandemic has developed to such a command of the art, the highest quality you could wish to see. No wonder she was promoted to principal this year. And her partnership with Dingman, cemented with recent the Don Quixote performances makes this partnership one of the greats in my eyes. Her Act III solo particularly, finishing her stunning manege, drew a cheer from the audience which rivalled that for the Call To Arms. Her clarity, speed and musicality were so superb on Friday it was a privilege to watch. Dingman's delivered the flair and virtuosity which I have come to expect of him, having also been privileged to enjoy it on previous occasions, he is a special dancer to me. Riko Ito was at the pre-performance talk on Friday, I was unaware he had been at Northern Ballet for 8 years, he talked of the challenge of the turns in the Call to Arms and spotting with the other men going round. A great addition to BRB. I've been a bit sad at some dancers leaving BRB over the pandemic (and I've just found out Arancha Baselga whom I saw as Swanhilda in 2017, she was great, has left the company โ˜น). So it's great to see the replenishment of riches with new dancers in the company. Coppelia is such a perfect ballet especially when delivered with the quality that BRB do, I had forgotten how good it was but magical to be reminded and see it again. Wish it was a longer run, would love to see other casts.
  18. I'm also just back from Coppelia tonight, like SplitSoul who just posted. My head's spinning with the brilliance and joy of this glorious Coppelia. MItzutani and Dingman simply incandescent - as were the rest of the company and indeed the orchestra. I went to see opening night with Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton leading, again words can't quite capture the brilliance and virtuosity of this performance too by BRB, this masterpiece of a ballet and production. Marvellous, marvellous, marvellous. I feel your pain SplitSoul about the Brum traffic. I live near Liverpool around 90 miles away, and yes the final 10 miles drive was pretty dreadful for driving. Half-term-friday-afternoon conditions perhaps ? - a subject for another of the forums. Will post more details of the performances I saw soon. Thank you so much BRB for putting this amazing ballet on this season, wish it had come to the NW, but it's easily worth the gauntlet of Brum traffic!
  19. Thanks very much all, Lion King I guess could indeed be the culprit. ๐Ÿ˜‚. Just surprised this has never happened to me before at any other venue or event. Yes, I did think about ringing the box office. Would have done if I'd had to wait as long as bangorballetboy did ! Thanks Janet, that sounds a bit worrying for necessary access to tickets. I think for digital tickets, the ticket bar code is sent via email (mine was) so I hope I won't need access to the My Account area of the Hippodrome Website. Printing out the old fashioned way now seems a good idea, and good for the scrapbook too. (goes to check if my printer ink has run out or not!) ๐Ÿ˜Š
  20. I've just had my first ever experience of a virtual ticket queue - booking for Birmingham Royal Ballet Coppelia at the Birmingham Hippodrome this week, using the Hippodrome website. While trying not to sound too precious, or 'first-world-problem-ish' or like an outraged Lady Bracknell, I've never had to do this to buy ballet tickets (or any other tickets) before in my life. I waited 20 minutes- I'm impatient - that's an eternity compared to what I'm used to (zero waiting time). Maybe I sound very naive but I don't really see why this virtual queueing is necessary. I have on occasion in the news heard of some huge venues/events having problems with websites crashing when too many people rush to buy. But - no offence to Birm, Hippodrome and BRB Coppelia - I wouldn't have expected that to be the case for this venue/event. Brief search on this forum shows people do experience such virtual queues booking for Royal Opera House but no mentions of Birm. Hippodrome that I can find. Am I old, jaded and cynical in thinking that this enforced waiting may be some sort of tactic to generate higher profit (I don't know how). ? A bit like the built-in obsolescence of incandescent light bulbs? I'm just whinging really but does anyone share my pain? Thanks BalletcoForum for giving the forum to do so.๐Ÿ™‚
  21. I went to another performance of ENB Swan Lake at Manchester Palace Theatre yesterday, Thursday Matinee with Emma Hawes and Aitor Arrieta leading. Although I'm familiar with Arrieta, I hadn't heard or seen much of Hawes and had to look up her details to see she only joined ENB in 2018 and promoted to principal in 2022. Thanks to ballet forum I've been able to read about her performances in ENB Swan Lake in 18/19 - which is so valuable, thanks BalletForum. They are a stunning couple and delivered a splendid Siegried/Odette/Odile, although if I am completely honest I must say I felt the sheer, exceptional beauty of their movement wasn't quite matched with the very highest levels of drama/emotion/passion that I've seen in some performances of Swan Lake over the years. Perhaps I set an unreasonable standard; they certainly have, and displayed, all the physical and technical attributes to the highest level. I appreciated again the wonderful ENB swan ensemble and other elements, wanted to particularly to mention Noam Durand's flair and leaps in the Pas de Trois. I see on the ATG/Palace Theatre website that all 3 remaining performances on Fri/Sat are now sold out, I don't think I've ever seen this before in Liverpool/Manchester theatres.
  22. Thanks Janet and ChrisG and SheilaC for the reviews of other performances. Did anyone see Sat Eve with Natascha Mair leading? I've been intrigued by this new recruit to ENB, but decided not to go on Sat for various reasons.
  23. Thanks Alison and Janet, and just wanted to agree with Janet about seeing Jane Howarth. Although i've never seen her dance solo roles, she's a very fine and powerful character actor, and was a splendid Queen on the evening I went. On the point about not hearing about outside-London performances. No media reviews have appeared on ENB Swan Lake at Liverpool yet. I would normally expect something about the opening night. Disappointing. And also edited to add there was a decent attendance on the night I went. In honesty, not really packed, but the front and rear circle was well occupied. and rapturous reception when the curtain came down.
  24. I was at a performance of ENB Swan Lake last night as it starts its autumn tour of Swan Lake in Liverpool (Empire Theatre). The second evening after opening night. Fernanda Oliveira and Ken Saruhashi were the leads. It's the first return of ENB to theatres in North England since the pandemic and I think the last time they were here was Nutctracker in 2019. I've lost track over the pandemic but this might be their first touring location since the pandemic hit us? I've loved seeing ENB in Manchester and Liverpool over the years and was so good to see them again. I think the last time I saw them live was Swan Lake at the Liverpool Empire in late 2018. It was a really fine performance which was extremely satisfying. I had not seen Oliveira dance before and she embodied Odile/Odette so classically, brilliantly and convincingly. Such elegance in all her movement. I particularly enjoyed her Black Swan solo variation which she made simultaneously elegant and bravura. I am really glad to have seen her dance. And the elegance and grace of Saruhashi is so well matched to Oliveira. The Swan ensemble in this production has such exquisite quality and synchronisation, which I remembered striking me in 2018, and struck me again last night, they move with speed, grace, and accuracy, as one intense force of nature. One other highlight which struck me was the vivacity of Haruhi Otani in the Act I Pas De Trois. I'm starting to notch up quite a few Swan Lakes over the years and if I am honest it does get harder to recapture that first fresh impact/wonder/thrall that I first experienced. And also if I am honest when I saw both ENB and Birmingham Royal Ballet announcing Swan lake for their touring 2022/2023 to Manchester/Liverpool I was a little disappointed and a feeling of "not Swan Lake again". But I do know very well, especially since the pandemic, how luck we really are to have the chance to see it. I have to keep reminding myself of the joy/privilege of being able to go to a fabulous live ballet in an evening in a great city. It does feel like there's been a lot of complacent return to normality and a forgetting the long dark months of the pandemic, endlessly waiting for things to improve. And the masterpiece of Swan Lake and ENB's production which has such intense layers of spectacle to it from the gothic Act III, to the ethereal white acts, the glowing peasant scenes of Act I, and through it all the quality of dancing from ENB. I may well go and see another performance in Manchester next week. Look forward to hearing other peoples thoughts who have been to see this.
  25. I went to the Friday performance of Don Quixote at the Lowry (Miki Mizutani and Mathais Dingman leading), which I guess turned out to be 'opening night' at the Lowry - unfortunately. Feeling sorry for those whose who had tickets for Wed and Thu. To me this felt like a finally a proper return to the ballet world/life I used to know before the pandemic. Although I've been to see a couple of live performances last year, in Birmingham, the Lowry is my 'home theatre', and I have so many fond memories of BRB being here year-on-year. I very much appreciate @Terpsichore's tweet this week about BRB's traditional visit to The Lowry heralding the end of winter, that's exactly what I feel. I missed them badly last year. And what a return it was. For me, BRB last night delivered a performance so symbolically perfect, and of the most splendid, spectacular quality. The joyful nature of the ballet Janet mentions above ('3 hours of joy', exactly!) is so apt for BRB's return to full touring, and so apt in reminding us of the beauty of the world - when recent and ongoing world events might make us forget that, or doubt it. This joy, combined with the absolute virtuosity of the dancing, the splendour of the production, and the captivating music, created a magical, transporting evening in the theatre. That indefinable rapture which makes me keep coming again and again to see ballet. This is first time I have seen Don Quixote, (I've not even seen recordings), and the impact of this masterpiece was probably helped by the fact it was completely fresh to me. I did a bit of internet research to see that Russian/European touring companies have brought it to Manchester/Liverpool in the past two decades (the Kirov, no less, danced it at the Lowry some ten years ago). I am grateful that Acosta has brought it into BRB's repertoire, it's an absolutely amazing ballet, that I'd go to see again and again. I don't think you'd find better quality of dancing anywhere else. The clarity, mastery, virtuosity, delivered with personality, character and spontaneity, particularly from Mizutani and Dingman simply blew me away. These two dancers I've begun to notice as they've risen in the company, and from last night's performances they now seem to me to shine like the brightest stars. Mizutani's characterisation as Kitri was so vivid, extrovert and flamboyant I barely recognised her, having seen her in more contained roles previously. Her poise and technique in the virtuoso sequences was breathtaking, she was absolutely convincing. Her final manege in the Dulcinea variation (two circuits I believe?) so thrilling, as were the flawless fouettes in the wedding coda. Dingman similarly convinced as Basilio with pure flair and expressiveness. The white and gold wedding pas de deux combined nobility and grandeur with such energy and playfulness - it was absolutely sensational, it amazed me. Apart from the leads dancing, all the other scenes of the ballet offered incomparable riches of sensation and spectacle and brilliant individual and ensemble performances. I found the magical garden and dryads particularly beautiful and affecting. A shame that wretched virus is still with us and threatening/limiting performances, but hopefully the tide has turned. To have one of the best companies in the world, back at the Lowry with such a stunning masterpiece, makes me feel quite emotional and does indeed give me hope. Great to see you too again face to face Janet in the foyer. Thanks for all the thoughts/reviews so far on the forum and look forward to reading others in the next weeks.
×
×
  • Create New...