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Geoff

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Everything posted by Geoff

  1. Geoff
    I saw Nunez at the dress rehearsal and again last night, on opening night. There is true glory in her performance but I have no idea how authentic what she was doing was, either to the 19th century inspiration or to Ashton. A lot was very big (rather like a Balanchine dancer I felt). Which may have been because she is a huntress. Or it may have been because, according to the programme, the coaching was by Bussell (never my idea of an Ashton dancer). In any case both she and Muntagirov showed themselves to have mastered the very difficult choreography, not so some of e.g. the corps (but I am pleased they are trying to do it, as learning the steps and the style will surely help to further raise the overall standard). And not only the goats. As Mary wrote earlier, "It is an entertainment, of a fabulously delightful kind. It is comedy, not tragedy". If I had any overall observation, it would be that on opening night the comedy was not pointed as much as it might have been. Today's audience needs even more help - as comments here have shown - to understand the parody elements, the jokes, and indeed the overall light-heartedness. I think there is a risk that audiences may just look at the scenery and make assumptions about old-fashioned solemnity, which would be to miss the point. The music makes it all clear, of course, but not everyone trusts their ears these days.
  2. Geoff
    She is of course wonderful. But will the show be worth seeing, or are these works only a series of vanity projects?
  3. Geoff
    Anyone got any views on the various pieces (not the one having a première, obviously)?
  4. Geoff
    Two friends have read it (I haven't) and both report it being bland to the point of why bother. Her memoir from the 1950s of going to Russia (which I read recently) is not very exciting either but inevitably has historical value. But I have a recording of Beryl Grey dancing the Lilac Fairy (no one has bettered this imho) and was there on the wonderful Insight a couple of years ago when she showed us how it should be done. So she has given me more than enough. Hope the BBC does a film on her like they did for Peter Wright. (By the way, if a grown up admin is reading this, somehow my previous posting has ended up twice, might you adjust?)
  5. Geoff
    Just to say, adding to this really good thread a couple of years later, I remember reading "Bullet In The Ballet" as a youngster with much pleasure and have now just reread it. Not sure it stands up: there are flashes of fun throughout (and of course a whole layer of accidental value if one is interested in the late 1930s, when this was written) but the jokes as such are pretty repetitious and speaking as an aficionado of "classic crime", the so-called "detective mystery" is so casually handled as to be all but irrelevant. Fine for an hour or two if one is a speed reader with a taste for period marginalia but a non-fiction history of the Bolshoi would probably be more thrilling and draw more gasps and guffaws.
  6. Geoff
    Ticket gone now
  7. Geoff
    I'm not able to make the performance on Monday now, so am selling Balcony Standing D33, £5. I will be at the ROH tonight Wednesday and tomorrow Thursday to hand it over, otherwise will give it to the box office tomorrow night.
  8. Geoff
    Confusion arises from two different meanings. It depends whether the word claque is used to describe those who follow a performer from place to place, or (as I would use the word) are resident in a particular auditorium (eg the Bolshoi, as discussed in the past on this board) and provide positive but sometimes also negative commentary, possibly for payment or other reward. To quote: 1. a group of sycophantic followers. 2. a group of people hired to applaud (or heckle) a performer or public speaker
  9. Geoff
    Is there still a ticket going? I'll PM you now
  10. Geoff
    In fact I may now have to see the evening show instead, so happy to sell both seats (might an admin change the heading of this item to "one or two tickets"?) Etickets, so can email them.
  11. Geoff
    >>one of those revisions which Lady M tells us, from time to time, that Kevin had always wanted to make but strangely never got round to doing during his lifetime? Very interesting post FLOSS, thank you. Just one thing: at the risk of saying the obvious thing, I presume you mean Kenneth not Kevin.
  12. Geoff
    My wife now can't join me this Saturday afternoon, 4th November, at Sadlers Wells so am selling her ticket for the BRB triple bill: Arcadia / Le Baiser de la fée / ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café Second Circle M28 - £12 I am going so easy to hand over the ticket on the door.
  13. Geoff
    Yes MichelleS, I'll send you a PM now!
  14. Geoff
    Absolutely agree Beryl. Everyone who can should see this short but brilliantly intense work. Starts cool but really pays off, emotionally and in every way. The box office is amazingly showing tickets for sale tonight, so if you are going to something else, go first to ROH for Sea of Troubles at 6.30 (it is over by 7.05 so plenty of time before 7.30)
  15. Geoff
    In what way, might you explain?
  16. Geoff
    There is one massive programme for the whole celebration. £10. Expensive if you only come to one show, jolly cheap if you are coming to a lot.
  17. Geoff
    Good, how? Quality of food? Atmosphere? Value for money? Speed of service (can be a factor if one is chasing curtain up)? A quick search of this forum will show this has been discussed in general terms in the past, maybe those old posts will help you, but if you let us know what really matters to you I'm sure we can come up with some suggestions.
  18. Geoff
    Last night, Duke of York's (to see "Ink"), one of the more nicely refurbished West End theatres. ATG Group, so people brought in beer bottles, which they later left rolling around empty (a definite tripping hazard). And - which triggers this post as it is a first for me - a couple in a box took off their shoes and put their feet up on the rail, waving the soles of their feet at the, I assume, astonished audience. Comfy for them no doubt: go to the theatre, put your feet up.
  19. Geoff
    Refreshing this, in case someone would like to take one or both of my tickets (there are currently a few seats for sale on the ROH website as well)
  20. Geoff
    By the way, just to revert to why I posted in the first place, this Insight is currently showing as Sold Out again.
  21. Geoff
    To my surprise I just checked this event and a whole bunch of tickets have come available for what had been (as usual) sold out. In case anyone wants to go.
  22. Geoff
    The Genee competition is well covered elsewhere on the Forum but perhaps this winning news is exceptional enough also to note here:- https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2017/london-dance-student-breaks-records-genee-ballet-contest/
  23. Geoff
    Just to add, a friend has pointed out that my numbers may not be right. Does anyone know if all levels of the theatre were in use? If not then the proportion of free seats for schools to purchased seats may be even higher.
  24. Geoff
    I think there is something worth pointing out for those who haven't seen the information about this show. The performance on Monday evening was a one-off gala to support the work of the London Russian Ballet School, which is based in Lambeth. A specific part of that night's offering was to give seven hundred free tickets (700) to children from other local schools in Lambeth, children who had never previously attended any show, never mind an evening of classical ballet. As the Palladium seats 2,200 at most, and it wasn't completely sold out, this means that at least a third of the audience were first-time children. Despite the occasional squeal or whatever, I found the children from the 31 schools invited remarkably well behaved in the circumstances, their accompanying teachers having clearly done a lot to prepare them for the treat. Well done to the London Russian Ballet School - and their sponsors - for their generosity.
  25. Geoff
    Actually there is a thread about this in News, maybe an admin could combine?
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