Geoff

5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

To be fair to Katie Mitchell, I've found her productions to be at least well thought through and coherent, unlike Kasper Holten's.

I may be the only person who liked Holten’s Onegin (with the doubling). What I found wonderful was the way his reading explained why the music is so sad from the outset.

This was not - as so often - a directorial idea imposed in ignorance or opposition to the score, but a deeply musical illumination of it. 

13 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Could this be a reference to Kasper Holten's oh so complimentary observation that if UK audiences, unlike their better-informed northern european counterparts, couldn't appreciate what was being served up to them, they would have to be re-educated.

Don’t remember that but do remember Katie Mitchell, at an Insight for the Lucia (as above) swinging her legs and saying much the same, only even more directly.

4 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Interesting timing….wonder if there’s a move to another very well know UK establishment….???

A number of people have jumped to this conclusion on this thread. I don’t know anything but surely one doesn’t need to have no job in order to apply for one, never mind one that hasn’t even been advertised yet. 

As regards the KKKatie production, it gets improved every time it is done. We aren’t the only people who didn’t like what it started out as.

The key is the voices, and I don’t know the ones in this upcoming run. But I have booked for the General, to see what I think. 

11 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Let's hope you're right on the u-turn.

Try writing to the DG, as above, to press the point!

1 hour ago, Two Pigeons said:

Any chance of the BBC would now repeat Makarova's series "Ballerina" and then Peter Schaufuss in "Dancer"?  If nothing else it would mean that BBC 4 is going out  in a blaze of glory

I suggest that everyone who has posted enthusiastically here writes to the current Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, and stresses the value of BBC4 showing these series: tim.davie@bbc.co.uk

His office is used to being lobbied and past history shows that if enough people write on a specific issue, it can have a positive impact on decisions. It is after all "our" BBC. 

I would like to add a post in honour of the wonderful conductor, Gavin Sutherland. Given his considerable ballet experience I made the silly mistake of assuming he was conducting all the shows in this run (no doubt far too gruelling a task). So I was puzzled when yesterday”s matinee, otherwise most enjoyable, didn’t feel quite right. Then at the curtain calls, a different conductor to the one I was expecting walked out. All clear. 

Let me say, the other conductor was, well, fine, ok. But when I went back to the show today, conducted by Gavin Sutherland, with yesterday afternoon still in my head, from the very first bar the music was more focussed, intense, thrilling and generally dramatic. 
 

So a big shout out to Gavin Sutherland, and long may he be invited to conduct this and other ballets. 

1 hour ago, alison said:

This has been commented on in reviews for some years.

Um, I think I covered that when I wrote “People on the Forum have occasionally mentioned the Shen Yun show”. My point is, given how ubiquitous this show is and what turns out to be behind it, it deserved a thread of its own so that people could add up to date thoughts. Hope that’s ok. 

People on the Forum have occasionally mentioned the Shen Yun show, widely advertised at the moment on the London underground and, of course, by leafleteers at the end of Giselle.

Curious, I just looked them up and admit to being shocked by what I found:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shen_Yun

Seeing it on Tuesday. The talk among my friends is (a) orchestra wins the night (b) singers get honourable mention but no more (c) production pointless but not distractingly so. The choosiest friend is going back to see it again, so it can’t be terrible. 
 

I took a seat where I could hear really well but not see that much. If that helps. 

50 minutes ago, MAB said:

Marc Platt

 

 
You win MAB! Sadly the YouTube extracts of Platt in the Hollywood film Tonight And Every Night stop before the Hitler section so one needs to find a copy of the whole movie to see this remarkable sequence in full. 

To change things around a little here’s a historical quiz question for the weekend. Which member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo went on to dance a number to a speech by Adolf Hitler?

By the way, just noticed that the website boasts of a “new” Help section. The relevant part for this thread is here:

1 minute ago, MJW said:

Just had this offer for La Boheme

Yes and there are other offers flying around as well. 40% off top price seems to be what’s around at the moment.
 

Perhaps everyone has seen the unappealing production and doesn’t want to see it again, particularly with a so so cast and conductor. 

Are my eyes deceiving me or does the ENB website now say Frola is dancing again, the matinee tomorrow Saturday?

27 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

It feels slightly ironic that they are fundraising in London to put on a new production of Fille in Ukraine when London hasn't seen Fille for too long! The line-up of dancers is certainly appearling but having had a look at the prices I'll have to think about it.

I’ve taken a ticket at £25

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Really?  Is that fact in the public domain.?

If you scroll up MAB you will see that I asked a similar question. Apparently this statement came about as a result of “observation” (so a deduction? a guess?)

23 minutes ago, FionaM said:

.  (Royal Ballet wasn’t able to arrange extra funding to hire any elite dancers that left Russia.)

That’s sad to hear. Can you say more?

I hope they make something out of the apparent contradiction of tap (with its deep relationship to the ground) and Icarus (rather the opposite). Anyone seen this? 
 

On 16/01/2024 at 13:05, capybara said:

But this is fabulous for the Company and, maybe as well, a signal from the paying public that they want to see CLASSICAL ballet.

‘Twas ever thus. I have seen a Soviet cartoon from the early 1920s, showing the box office of the ballet - with a long queue for the window for classical work, and no one queuing for the alternative modern revolutionary offering. 

On 16/01/2024 at 14:27, Fonty said:

 

That is the one thing that strikes me about many of the clips being shown.

 

So why can't dancers do it at that speed today?

True story. This question came up at an Insight event and Monica Mason (a panellist) said that one reason is because the stage is now so much larger. I will leave others to judge the validity of this. 

2 hours ago, Roberta said:

I think maybe we are straying into the territory here of saying things that could be prejudicial and that's really not to be recommended if a court case is pending.  We don't want the forum moderators (who are ultimately responsible for what appears on this site) to be clapped in jail, do we?   See @Anna C post above. 

 

Prejudicial? No one has been charged, so how can anything be prejudicial at this stage? The relevant IPSO guide sums things up nicely: 

>> There are also rules about what a newspaper (or any member of the public) can publish which might be in contempt of court. Once somebody has been arrested or civil proceedings have started, they are protected by law from the publication of information which might mean that their trial cannot take place fairly.

The rules of this Forum are in part, as Sim said earlier, to manage these issues. But of course the Forum, as it has its own rules in addition to English law, can make more restrictive decisions if it deems this necessary. So yes, it’s right to be careful. 

33 minutes ago, Irmgard said:

She danced in it in 2017 but was not interested in embracing many of the elements unique to Skeaping's production, unlike last-minute guest artist Jurgita Dronina who was keen to embrace all of them.

My memory of seeing her dance Giselle twice in the 2017 run is that she was wonderful (in fact I discussed this with Tamara Rojo). But if you say she chose not to use "many" "unique" "elements" it would be most interesting to know more, can you remember some specific examples?

There is a phone box (remember them?) opposite the Houses of Parliament, towards Whitehall, and I have often seen entire bus loads of tourists queuing up for the chance each to have their own individual selfie with phone box and Big Ben in the background.
 

I now try and avoid that section of the square if I can, not because I don’t want to help (it is a well-organised activity, they don’t need help) but because it can be hard to get past. 
 

7 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Please can we not go into a discussion about Liam Scarlett and just what you may like or dislike about his Swan Lake! 

I agree LimMM and apologise for drifting from the topic. One Swan Lake issue is relevant: the extent to which this production is - or is not - evidence supporting what one hears occasionally, ie that KOH, for all his self-evident strengths, is less interested in / fearful of / feels himself not competent in making judgements in detail on choreography and new productions.