Duck

two

Hugo Marchand promoted to Etoile following his performance in Tokyo as James in La Sylphide https://twitter.com/operadeparis/status/837642591772553217

My experience in recent years is limited to a few performances by Stuttgart Ballet and by Gauthier Dance, where I haven’t come across any of the topics that have been mentioned here recently - bearing in mind that these performances were mostly mixed bills, and all of them were non-narrative evening performances. The only aspect that has bothered me since I moved here was during a theatre performance of Florian Zeller’s Father towards the end of last year, where a good part of the audience spent most of the first scene laughing at the old gentleman’s mishaps. This stopped thankfully shortly afterwards, quite possibly as and when they realised that there weren’t in the process of watching a comedy. As someone who has experienced dementia in my own family, I found the laughter rather difficult to bear. Having said that, I didn’t see Father in London when I was living there so I am unable to tell whether the play triggered a similar reaction from part of the audience there and then (or in Paris, for that matter when it was performed there).

A special evening at Palais Garnier on 22 April in tribute to Yvette Chauviré https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-16-17/ballet/an-evening-in-tribute-to-yvette-chauvire

It's still 75 minutes without interval. Information about Tree of Codes on the POB web site https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-16-17/ballet/tree-of-codes, also listing the cast in Paris and providing a number of articles in English about the work as well as a video interview with Marie-Agnès Gillot and Jérémie Bélingard with English subtitles.

I saw the matinee in Paris yesterday. It's a fascinating example of the integration of different art forms. Dance, music and scenography all inspired by a book which is based on another book. Stunning images of dance created through the use of light, screens and a variety of mirrors, as if looking through the cut-out pages of said book in ever-changing combinations.

Thanks so much for highlighting. In living abroad, I may not have heard about these upcoming changes otherwise.

The moments that touch me every time tend to be linked to loss/ departure and love/ unity. There is also something about the final moments of a ballet. Song of the Earth - when the three leads walk towards the front of the stage at the very end of the ballet Bentley’s Still Life at the Penguin Café – the theme of extinction of fauna through civilisation Romeo & Juliet – the balcony PDD Onegin – the final PDD between Tatiana and Onegin The Winter’s Tale – when Leontes touches the statue again, hoping that Mamillius will come to life, too Woolf Works – the duet between Septimus and Evans Jerome Bel’s Tombe – the 3rd part i.e., the video of the final rehearsal with Benjamin Pech and the octogenarian woman, preceded by Benjamin Pech on stage explaining that the woman who had followed him throughout his career has been taken ill and that a video is thus shown instead Bejart’s 9th Symphony – the PDDs for the two leads in the 3rd movement; in the 4th movement when all dancers walk, hand in hand, towards the outer perimeter of the stage

Thank you for highlighting this. I loved the extract from Nijinsky that was performed by some of the participants at this year's Prix de Lausanne. ...adding dates to my diary...

A local newspaper reports that Robert Robinson, a Soloist with Stuttgart Ballet, and whom some here saw in BalletWorks in recent years (an annual charity event in support of a hospice on the Isle of Wight), will take time out from Stuttgart Ballet following the end of this season and this year’s performances by BalletWorks in August. This is to study the origins, history and relevance of tango as well as the dance itself. The aim is also to broaden the types of dance that are shown by BalletWorks. The newspaper article (in German) charts his progress within the company and lists a number of roles that he has danced in Stuttgart http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.stuttgarter-ballettsolist-nimmt-auszeit-robert-robinson-will-den-tango-erforschen.78d3132b-1ce1-4792-acf1-eb58dae2161a.html As someone who saw the gala in both 2015 and 2016, I wish him every success in his endeavours. I also hope that he’ll be back in Stuttgart soon.

I wouldn't want to go that far Instead, I am happy to keep it to avoiding the park where I know there will be pigeons.

Thank you, Mary. Thank you, Lin. If you start to read books by Virginia Woolf - enjoy

I used the word "sweet" in relation to Ashton's narrative ballets which I guess is not far off "twee". I am thinking of Two Pigeons, Marguerite and Armand, Enigma Variations, Month in the Country (I haven't seen as many as Dave) - the theme and the way the situation/ environment/ atmosphere is shown is not what I would enjoy in other art forms either (and I do go to all sorts of art exhibitions, ranging from the ancient classics to 21st century works, and read a variety of books). So it's not about Ashton - I do like Rhapsody and Monotones, and also Scenes de Ballet and Symphonic Variations. I guess I am just more on the psychological/ dramatic side when it comes to narrative works, and it's just the same with the books that I read - just my minority sense of taste.

I went through a whole phase of reading books by Virginia Woolf around two years ago (not that I consider myself to be well read, though ), partly triggered by the then wording about Woolf Works on the ROH web site. There was something about “synesthetic collision”, and I feared at the time that I’d be completely lost without additional information. The first book was Mrs Dalloway, simply because this was being sold at the National Portrait Gallery shop when they had an exhibition about Virginia Woolf a few months before the premiere of Woolf Works – and I loved it, her ability to describe an activity, a thought or an observation in such great detail that it goes on page after page. I could see, hear, feel the flurry of activity – the clocks, the bells, the busy streets, and became drawn into the emotions of Mrs Dalloway, Peter and Septimus (and was so much hoping – in vain - that Mrs Dalloway and Peter would finally be able to come together). It was as if I had been there with them – in the street, in the park, in the house. Encouraged by this experience, I went on to read Orlando – very different in style, funny, witty, full of historic references, and at times a bit lengthy. Followed by The Waves – more challenging initially as the narrator changes all the time and thus often describes the same situation from different angles, however completely exhilarating following the first couple of chapters, once I got used to the style of writing. Finally The Lighthouse – the most difficult for me from those that I read as I found that the activity develops very slowly. I had finished Mrs Dalloway and Orlando before the premiere of Woolf Works and just started The Waves. Reading the books was preparation – looking to learn more about the base layer, and thus hopefully able to understand more of what was going on during the performance. In relation to Mrs Dalloway, knowledge of the book helped identify the characters on stage (bearing in mind that in the book, Mrs Dalloway and Septimus don’t meet). As for The Waves, I found the references to crashing waves and the turmoil of emotions at the end of most chapters very helpful (however got confused by the children and the role danced by Sarah Lamb … this is I guess where the non-narrative aspects take over). With regards to Orlando, I took the theme of gender change as represented through the repeated change in costumes and the fact that, towards the end, they all look the same, perform similar movements, and it’s difficult to tell who is who. Having said all of that, I am positive a summary of Mrs Dalloway and information about the general themes of Orlando and The Waves would have been sufficient as Woolf Works is non-narrative, and yet I hugely enjoyed discovering some of Woolf's works. Each book that I read was so different in style, and so each one was a discovery in itself. I guess the downside even of having read the books is that I sometimes overly compared the contents of the book with what I saw on stage (though this might be just me, my day job involving analysis, planning, organising) - which, as the work is non-narrative, is bound to be of limited use. The part that I nearly missed out in my preparation, however, was reading about Virginia Woolf herself – it was only then that I learnt about her bouts of depression and her suicide by drowning in the river Ouse. So reading the books was useful albeit more than necessary, and hugely enjoyable; ultimately my reading would have been incomplete, however, without taking into account Virginia Woolf’s life, too. --- edited to amend the last sentence

Seduction in various guises is the common thread of the current mixed bill at Stuttgart Ballet, and its title. I saw the programme on Friday evening. Katarzyna Kozielska’s Dark Glow explores the negative side of seduction. To new music by Gabriel Prokofiev, the piece includes a lead couple and a female soloist (Hyo-Jung Kang & Pablo von Sternenfels and Ami Morita on Friday, the latter two in debuts), three more couples and a female corps, all in shades of pastel colours. The leads and the three couples illustrate aspects of friendship and love through various PDD with high lifts; the corps moves as a group and does not interact with the others. After some time, strong lights appear from the top and most dancers now wear the same black long shirt. Their movements have become uniform and they are attracted by the lights, assembling underneath and looking up expectantly. As the lights come closer, the dancers bend their heads and look down to the floor, curbing their upper bodies under the intensity of the lights. The male lead joins the group, the female lead is left hesitating whether to join or stay on her own, isolated. There is no indication as to what the lights stand for, leaving plenty of room for individual interpretation, and I found this piece incredibly powerful and thought-provoking. Change of mood with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Faun, which is quite possibly the most sensual piece that I’ve seen over the last ten years. He uses Debussy’s music (for the faun’s introductory solo) plus that of Nitin Sawhney (for the nymph’s introductory solo), and a combination of both for the remainder of the piece. The backcloth shows a wooded area clad in soft sunlight. The faun wakes up with some animal-like movements – slow curbing of the spine, parts of a headstand, moving along the floor in a wide grand plie … He comes on stage again towards the end of the nymph’s solo and sees her. He retreats, she takes the initiative and touches his toes with her toes. That’s when their movements synchronise for a short while, before they start to interweave their arms, their legs, their bodies, in ever changing variations, and in all possible and impossible contortions. They move side by side and go back to entwining. The sunlight on the backcloth changes slightly at various points of the choreography, illustrating the length of the interaction. This piece was truly spellbinding. The performance on Friday was a double debut for Elisa Badenes and Adam Russell-Jones, and they received a huge roar of approval. Marco Goecke’s Le Spectre de la Rose is based on Fokine’s ballet. Goecke adds another piece of music by von Weber, and also a number of ghosts in red velvet suits who scatter red rose pedals on the stage. Red clothing also for the Rose (Louis Stiens on Friday evening, another debut) – red pants covered in rose pedals, and red gloves made out of rose pedals. Movements are typical Goecke with fluttering hands, but he keeps e.g., the jump with which the Rose comes on stage, and adds arm movements that evoke the shape of a rose. My only regret is that I watched a video of Fokine’s version only after I saw Goecke’s piece rather than beforehand. Maurice Bejart’s Bolero, on Friday with Jason Reilly dancing on the table. What can I say; it’s just fascinating to watch how the dance builds up in intensity, commensurate with the increasing volume of the music, and how simple steps can be used to such great effect. The company has published a trailer of the programme on their web site https://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/. The current run is sold out, and the odd return ticket becomes available.

That's a wonderful thread. Thank you, BMC, for starting it. Time for me to admit that I really struggle with Ashton's narrative ballets as I find them too sweet for my taste (whereas I do like Monotones, and also Voices of Spring and Symphonic Variations).

Speaking of cats being attracted to humans, I saw A Street Cat Named Bob yesterday and found it immensely touching. Some funny camera shots, too; the immediate surroundings seen through the eyes of a cat. Off topic here - the film also made me realise how much I miss the sight of Covent Garden and the places I went to … out of sight however not out of mind so to speak.

I've used the following link for the selections on Friday (I don't know whether this is accessible from the UK though) http://concert.arte.tv/fr/selections-et-resultats-du-45eme-prix-de-Lausanne

I was watching throughout the week and found it rather addictive, to an extent that it prevented me from doing a range of other activities that I had planned for this week! I was in complete awe at Michele Esposito in Nijinsky, it was so intense. I also really enjoyed Koyo Yamamoto in Yondering, Stanislaw Wegrzyn in both variations, Diana Georgia Ionescu in Nocturnes, and Riku Ota in La Bayadère.

I saw the performance on Saturday and enjoyed it. I found it a very visual experience e.g., the flexible scenery that allowed for scene changes without interrupting the piece every time; the moment when the faces of the various Pauls, Lises, etc. where shown on the walls in a way that one picture blended into the next, illustrating that each of them were different facets of the same person; the scene towards the end that was reminiscent of the final supper. When I was watching the recording of the Insight event, I was wondering whether I might find the various incarnations confusing. On stage, however, this generally worked well for me e.g., Paul sitting on a bed in different positions from upright to fully bent forward, hinting at his different states of being/ thinking/ feeling at the time. I liked the way the sleep walking was portrayed, and I took the various Pauls walking up and down the stairs as a symbol of its intensity and repetitiveness. The way the relationships between Lise and Paul, Paul and Agathe and Lise and Michael were shown was rather imaginative e.g., Lise undressing the doll while sitting on top of the bathtub, Lise and Paul pulling off a layer of each other’s socks, all without ever showing too much flesh; Paul snuggling along Agathe’s arm; the short video clips that illustrated so beautifully the developing relationship between Lise and Michael. Glass is one of my favourite composers, and so I really enjoyed the music. There was much more singing that I had expected, and so the narrator was hugely effective for me as he provided the background for and summary of the activity on stage. I had bought the ticket specifically to see Edward Watson and Zenaida Yanowsky. This was the first time that I saw a piece by the Frutos, and while the dancing was different to what I would normally watch, I enjoyed the piece as the coming together of different art forms – dance, opera, theatre, video. This was also the only event for which I did not return my ticket for resale, once I knew that I’d be leaving London. Now that Zenaida Yanowsky has announced her retirement for the end of this season, Les Enfants was, in all likelihood, the last time that I saw her live on stage – and for that reason alone, it was worth heading back to London. edited for punctuation

Information about the 17/18 season has been sent to subscribers at POB. A poster on Dansomanie has listed the performances http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7539&start=105 (see the post by Melusine at 08.40 am; copying the whole text would probably be against forum guidelines, hence it's just the link) In relation to Jewels - "pas de compagnie invitee" - no company invited. The listing is in line with the information that had been briefly leaked in the French press in December (see the top of that same thread)

The recording is already available on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NuV8iTzH74, and also through the link that was used to announce the livestream http://www.roh.org.uk/news/watch-les-enfants-terribles-rehearsals-livestream. I had a still picture for the first 15 minutes, and the Insight event only started about 15 minutes in. Was this my internet connection, or the same for others?

When I walk through town the day after the performance, outlining some of the movements that I saw the day before, my head bobbing to the music that keeps playing in my head … (… well, then the post gets very long? sorry!). I saw the matinee and the evening performances of Bejart’s 9th Symphony based on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Brussels on Saturday, delivered by Bejart Ballet Lausanne and The Tokyo Ballet, with an orchestra and choir from Antwerp, 4 soloist singers and a number of (non-professional local?) dancers. Following three years of research and preparation, performed in Tokyo in 2014 and in other locations since, it was initially scheduled to be shown in Brussels last spring - back in the city where the piece was premiered in 1964 - and then pushed back to the end of last week. As on the DVD from one of the performances in Tokyo in 2014, The Tokyo Ballet performed the 1st movement and Bejart Ballet Lausanne the 2nd and 3rd movements, before they came together for the 4th movement, joined by the additional dancers for the corps. The programme book states that Bejart described the four parts as earth/ struggle to reach an ideal, fire/ joy of dance, water/ love and liberty/ air. The colour of the costumes (shades of brown, bright red, white, shades of warm yellow) and the choreography follow along these lines. In the first movement, dancers yearn – they raise a leg, stretch out an arm. They struggle – they make a fist, they lie in a foetus-like position on the floor, men carry women who seem to be devoid of life. Repeatedly double tours for the men into plie in second, clenching fists. A high lift shows a woman, clenching fists. Individuals break out from their group and yet go back into their group, or are held back in the first place. The atmosphere changes completely in the second movement, to boundless joy. A virtuoso male solo is followed by a female solo which replicates the man’s movements. They take it in turns to dance, looking at each other smilingly. I was in awe at Masayoshi Onuki on Saturday evening, who was able to jump up unbelievably high into the splits (sissones?) from a squatting position, all while smiling at his partner. In the matinee, I much enjoyed Lawrence Rigg’s dancing as the male lead, his winning smile, open eyes, sunny outlook. There was a moment in the matinee performance when I was so much fascinated by Kathleen Thielhelm as female lead that I needed the evening performance with Kateryna Shalkina to take in what else was going on. The other dancers hold hands up high while they dance in circles, they hop on one leg, on one occasion even with a movement of their arms as if skipping. The high lift from the first movement reappears, this time with the woman stretching out her fingers rather than making fists. Fists do appear however are then changed to fingers stretched out wide, illustrating the move from struggle to joy. Change of emotions again with the third movement. Zubin Metha described the music as “the love song of all times” (see below link on Youtube). The choreography is tender, intimate, calm. The male lead for this part slowly walks forward with developes and lies down on the floor. The female lead has a very similar solo, walking towards the man. They dance a tender PDD side by side, flexing and pointing their feet, turning their heads to both sides and towards each other in unison, emphasising their common understanding. They dance one behind the other, providing emotional proximity and intimacy. Elisabet Ros and Julien Favreau on Saturday evening displayed such dreamlike fluidity and understanding, they looked so much in tune with each other, as if the two were just one. Two other couples and then three more couples joined the stage, and the light that was a single spot at the start grew wider and wider. The fourth movement starts with a male soloist (Connor Barlow from BBL in both the matinee and the evening performances on Saturday) who is then joined one by one by the male leads from the first three segments, each coming on stage – still wearing the colour from their own movement - with a trademark movement (in the evening, Dan Tsukamoto for the first movement, Masayoshi Onuki with a wonderful grand jete that seemed suspended in air, Julien Favreau with a develope), and then one by one synchronising their movements until they dance as quartet. This is also when the clothing for all subsequent dancers changes to yellow. Other soloists join and are followed by the corps, dancing solos, in groups, in circles, in lines. They hold hands, walking forward to the front of the stage to the words of “all men become brothers”. At the close of the music, they run in several concentric circles, holding hands, with a female soloist in the centre, her arms stretched out high, endlessly, joyful, free, as brothers and sisters. “All men become brothers”, a timeless and universal message. The fitting floor design was reminiscent of celestial arrangements, showing symmetrical lines and circles of different diameters – such as planets as part of the universe. BBL on their Facebook page say the four performances between Friday and Sunday were seen by 25,000 spectators. While there were shouts of bravo after the second and third movements in the matinee, the audience on Saturday evening kept it all to the end of the performance. It was thunderous. Kudos to all involved for their commitment and stamina for the four performances in the space of 48 hours. The cast sheets for the two performances on Saturday showed the same names for the dancers from The Tokyo Ballet; equally most dancers with BBL were on stage both times, and often in the same roles. The same four soloist singers, the same orchestra, the same two percussionists. There are lots and lots of photos and videos from the performances on Instagram, in particular of the fourth movement (try hashtags such as bejartballet, bejartballetlausanne and tokyoballet, and the event location Forest National - Vorst Nationaal). An exhibition at the Musee Bejart Huis in Brussels about Bejart’s 9th Symphony runs until mid-February. It shows press reviews of the premiere in Brussels in 1964 and of subsequent performances in Moscow, Italy and Paris as well as photographs and videos of rehearsals over the years. The DVD of one of the Tokyo performances in 2014 runs on a loop. There will be a series of exhibitions in 2017 in memory of Maurice Bejart. The documentary “Dancing Beethoven” by Arantxa Aguirre about the preparation of the 2014 performances in Tokyo will be shown in cinemas in Switzerland from Feb 2017 (other countries?). Short extracts of the documentary have been published by BBL on Youtube, here the link to the first part https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbTs15mV02M&index=1&list=PLd3QIPr4xOcImxzF9EVaN6F4JqtZ3oU0B edited for typo

I look forward to being back in London for … Les Enfants Terribles - to see Edward Watson & Zenaida Yanowsky … the ENB triple bill, in particular Le Sacre du Printemps Elsewhere ... Woolf Works which I hope to see in a cinema broadcast Tree of Codes Bejart’s IX Symphony in Bruxelles There is a documentary by Arantxa Aguirre about Bejart’s IX Symphony that will be shown in cinemas in Switzerland in 2017 (don’t know about other countries) and that I hope I’ll be able to see somewhere Ballet Nice Mediterranee triple bill in April with works by Kylian, Ailey, Scarlett Katarzyna Kozielska’s new piece “Dark Glow” for Stuttgart Ballet as I really enjoyed her most recent work “Neurons” Goecke’s new piece "Kafka" for Stuttgart Ballet as I was blown away by his “Nijinski” for Gauthier Dance Colours International Dance Festival at the Theaterhaus Stuttgart Company announcements about their 2017/18 seasons

This more looks like in a block of flats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMHzawOyYY0 Choreographed by Maguy Marin. The video, published by ArthhausMusik, looks like an extract from a DVD.