Duck

It'll be fabulous once they are hatched, watching them at feeding time, seeing them grow up, observing them in their first short flights. I got hooked last summer following a weekend visit to Norwich.

Does the length of each bar represent the percentage split of votes?

Just to confirm that this was really an enjoyable programme last year (posts here http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/10300-the-gala-newport-isle-of-wight/) with a good mix of styles from classical to contemporary, performed by talented young dancers, all for a good cause. For anyone located in the South West ... there will also be two performances on the Isle of Wight 29th and 30th July Medina Theatre, Fairlee Road Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 2DX Phone: 01983 823884

I am currently using a public internet terminal where the quote function doesn't work hence a manual copy this morning "... and the dancers that caught it made out it was part of the action too - great stage craft!" Exactly, and then they put the crown back on when the dance was finished. :-)

I very much enjoyed Wednesday's performance with the 3rd cast. Great acting by Claire Calvert, I believed in Hermione's pregnancy and her concern for her unborn child in act 1. In relation to the choreography for Leontes, I thought that the frantic movements of the limbs looked much tailored to Edward Watson and that they may be difficult to pull off by other dancers however I really liked Thiago Soares' movements with this mouth to express his emotions, both in act 1 and as part of the reconciliation in act 3. The reconciliation in act 3 was hugely effective given Calvert's acting and Soares' facial versatility. And what joy in act 2 with Francesca Hayward and James Hay with lots of chemistry, they made the love between Perdita and Florizel look completely real. When Perdita is crowned May Queen and starts to dance, the crown came off, Hayward took it, threw it to some of the dancers who were portraying peasants and continued to dance with a massive smile as if nothing had happened. It even looked as if it was part of the story. Great reaction.

Intriguing. This looks like two separate events.. The BRB link in Janet's post mentions an event that is broadcast at 8.30 pm on Sat 23 April on BBC2, link here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0791mqd. The text for this event however mentions The Royal Ballet, not BRB. Given the press release by BRB, my assumption is that the information on the BBC site is a typo. The event is to celebrate Shakespeare however I can't find the event on the BBC site for Shakespeare 2016 lives http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ehw2mb (it may be there but I can't see it), only on the BBC2 site. The Royal Ballet event is streamed live from the Royal Opera House at 1 pm on Sat 23 April, link here http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ehw2mb/acts/a9zmzc. This includes a rehearsal by Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson for Winter's Tale and an extract from Romeo & Juliet, http://www.roh.org.uk/news/shakespeare-insights-live-streamed-from-royal-opera-house-on-23-april-2016. This event is part of an all-day live stream; line up here http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ehw2mb/performances/lprbj5 (the event at 8.30 pm on 23 April is from the BFI and with a different moderator; David Tennant who is one of the moderators for the event that includes the BRB is starring in Richard II when the above show is broadcast). Anyway, it seems that both the RSC/ BRB and the Royal Ballet event will be available online afterwards.

Apologies Janet - definitely not intended! ... and with my choice of dates for Nice, I missed Mariinsky in Cardiff, She Said in London, and the multiple debuts in The Winter's Tale yesterday!

My thoughts of possibly adding a ballet performance to a walking holiday in Nice last December didn’t work out as there was no performance scheduled for that time however I identified the mixed programme that I saw both on Friday and yesterday evening: Oceana by Childs, Voluntaries by Tetley, Oktett by Scholz. And I loved it (and the long hikes that I did during daytime)!! Apologies for the long post, I guess this is testimony of how much I liked what I saw. Eric Vu-An has been Artistic Director of Ballet Nice Méditerranée since 2009, a small company of about 30 dancers. From what I can see, they perform only a few ballets each season however these come with a wide variety of styles. A mixed programme last autumn included George Balanchine, Oscar Araiz and Robert North (Troy Game, how much would I have liked to see this again!), Christmas time had Vu-An’s version of Coppélia, they also did Jerome Robbins’ En Sol in a previous season, Vu-An’s versions of Don Quixotte, Raymonda, Sylvia, etc. Lucinda Childs’ Oceana was choreographed for Ballet Nice Méditerranée in 2011. Dancers in shades of pale blue dance in 2 PDD and groups of 4/ 7/ 12 in front of a video projection of gently ebbing water and later a blue sky to a series of melodious non choral and choral music pieces. Childs uses the movement of a dancer to build on it, have it repeated by the same dancer and by groups of dancers within the same piece and equally later pieces. A septet of dancers allows for intriguing variations of different sets of movements by varying numbers of dancers. The recurring patterns of steps invite reflection and meditation. I wasn’t sure what to make it of on Friday evening however liked it much more on Saturday. Thinking of a three-course meal - if Oceana was a nice starter, the meaty main course came with Tetley’s Voluntaries – and my main reason for seeing this programme. Voluntaries has already been in the repertoire in Nice. I haven’t seen this in Covent Garden for a few years now so my memory is probably playing tricks and I guess the way I watch ballets may be evolving over time however I don’t remember having seen the atmosphere of loss and desolation at someone’s death so clearly previously. Standout for me on both nights were Claude Gamba and Zaloa Fabbrini as the lead couple as their PDDs with their intricate lifts were assured and fluid and looked effortless, just as those of the dancers in the pas de trois on Saturday evening. However everyone else was really good as well. Oktett by Uwe Scholz is new to the repertoire in Nice. The choreography is highly musical, also here movements by a dancer are repeated by other dancers and appear a few more times later in the ballet as and when a theme of the music is repeated. The fluidity in steps is matched by fluid yellow dresses for the women, tailored jackets and white tights for the men, and a copper-coloured backcloth that is reminiscent of long draped curtains. A first section for 12 dancers is followed by a long PDD and a male quartet, before a closing group section for 14 dancers. Again Claude Gamba as lead, here dancing with a serene smile throughout on both nights. The other standout for me on both nights was Théodore Nelson as lead in the male quartet with a series of a variety of pirouettes, chainées, jumps … and he finishes the ballet by going on demi point in 4th position and then moving into arabesque, all while staying on demi point on the other foot. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw this. In particular on Saturday, he received the loudest cheers of all for their performances in Oktett, and fully deserved so. Eric Vu-An has published extracts of all three ballets on his - public - Facebook page https://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Vu-An/383731904998106. Top price tickets for the ballet came at €23, and this included a 20-page programme booklet. What a treat! I hadn’t seen Ballet Nice Méditerranée previously and wasn’t sure what to expect from the two nights however I am hugely impressed by Vu-An’s work, and I am really looking forward to the announcement of next season’s programme which should be coming soon I hope.

I saw this tonight, really enjoyed it, and would love to see this developed by Joshua Beamish into a full-length version of the story. In particular in the first scene, I realised half-way through that I was sitting there smiling wildly, my head gently moving to the music. The blossoming relationship between Giselle and Albrecht was beautifully choreographed and danced and, with their acting, looked so incredibly real. I was also impressed by how the relationship between Myrtha and Hilarion was shown, right through to the end when he is indeed danced to death by her. I looked at the cast sheet for tonight's performance of Giselle and realised that Yasmine Naghdi is also cast in the pas de six tonight - hats off for doing both.

I found an article on dansesaveclaplume that states that each member of the jury chooses their own nominees, and that these nominations need to relate to a debut in a role http://www.dansesaveclaplume.com/en-coulisse/43486-les-benois-de-la-danse-2016-les-infos/ With the list above, there are 8 jury members, 8 nominees for choreography, 6 for female/ male dancers each and 2 for scenography. So possibly some dancers/ scenographers have been nominated more than once (the names that state e.g., a dancer for more than one ballet)? I don't know how the voting system works though.

Why do the costumes have wings, will they not make such malfunction possible sooner or later? I liked her intense stare, staying in character throughout.

Just watched the video now. Loved the PDD for Morera/ Bonelli and Hirano's solo, the latter with marvellous acting by Scarlett when he demonstrates the discovery of the book and its contents. Beautiful costumes, and also liked the music. Really looking forward to the opening night on 4 May.

The post is also public on Johan Kobborg's twitter account.

The section "for press and media" includes a pdf file that describes the next season https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.roh.org.uk/for/pdfs/press-releases-15-16/THE-ROYAL-BALLET-2016-17-SEASON.pdf (there is also a pdf file for the next opera season)

My first Giselle, from a local cinema. I was swept away by the mad scene, and I welled up in the interval when I heard the string music for the first PDD in the second act as this reminded me of Bel’s Tombe (the same steps, the same music). Giselle goes mad and stabs herself when she realises that she has been betrayed by Albrecht, and yet she forgives him – the only explanation I have is that Albrecht, as in Muntagirov’s interpretation, is in fact a nice guy. I felt sorry for Hilarion as, after all, he is honest and just the messenger. Regarding the age difference that was mentioned in an earlier post – I was more surprised by the age difference between Giselle and Hilarion than that between Giselle and Albrecht. Oh, and beautiful costumes for the hunting party. The pas de six in the first act is a substantial part and yet there was no recognition of these dancers at the end; was this the same at the other performances? I really enjoyed Barry Wordsworth’s explanation of the music, he made it interesting and approachable, and equally Ore Oduba's interview style – he came across as natural, interactive, engaging. Now that I’ve seen Giselle, I look forward to Giselle Reimagined on Saturday. Will I go and see Giselle at the POB later in spring? I noticed the backcloths are different and there is no fog in the woods before Albrecht appears at the beginning of act two, and I asked myself what else may differ however I think I’ll keep it to “if the cast is that of my dreams”. A word on the trailer for Frankenstein that was shown before the start of the performance – lots of blood and the sight of stitches being made; I hope the production won’t be as gory. ----- edited to remove hyperlink & amend weekday of Giselle Reimagined

From the RBS and with Stuttgart Ballet - David Moore, Elisa Badenes, Adam Russell-Jones ... and possibly others that don't come to mind at the moment

I read the book a couple of years ago and found it rather gruesome. With that cast, however, I can't not try and get a ticket.

A good mix of established and new, and the season nicely shows the breadth of the ever-increasing repertoire. The revivals of ballets that have only been shown recently should facilitate the rehearsal process and thus help with the production of the various mixed programmes and new choreographies. The long runs of Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty should allow for a number of exciting debuts. A lot to look forward too, and I am rather happy with the 2016/17 season.

Hugo Marchand’s debut as Romeo on Sunday afternoon, and the reason why I extended my stay spontaneously when a ticket became available on Friday (the same for the mixed programme on Saturday, for which I finally got a ticket on Friday). Marchand is more the “lad about town”, dances his solos with a winning smile and is able to produce soft, silent landings. The energy between his Romeo and Dorothée Gilbert’s Julia (Gilbert first danced Julia in 2011) is different than for Baulac and Louvet on Friday – Gilbert’s Julia is less thunderstruck when she first sees him at the ball, she is less the driving force that Baulac was in the early stages of the relationship, and Marchand’s love for Juliet is catching fire more quickly. The audience applauded after just about every solo/ group dance and was rather enthusiastic at the curtain calls however the performance on Sunday moved me a lot less than the one on Friday. I’ve been wondering why this is the case, and I think it is because I enjoyed in particular their acting more on their own than in their PDDs. Julia’s love for Romeo seemed more “happy love” whereas Baulac’s Juliet looked more “madly in love”. Romeo is gloriously happy, charming, smiling in his solos and when he is dancing with Mercutio and Benvolio however I didn’t really see that transferred into the balcony PDD. Julia’s despair at Tybalt’s death on Sunday seemed pure shock and hate/ anger with no look at Romeo whereas Baulac in that same scene was visibly torn between Tybalt’s death at the hands of Romeo and her love for Romeo. In the ensuing bedroom PDD, Baulac’s Juliet was full of tenderness and love for Romeo whereas Julia’s despair on Sunday seemed more in the form of isolation as “definitely not Paris, but not possible with Romeo either”, and so apart from a kiss, I couldn’t see much love from her for Romeo (nor from Romeo for her). Had I not known the story, I think I would have wondered following Tybalt’s death and this PDD whether she actually still loves him. And yet she does as her desolation at Romeo’s death clearly shows. Two different interpretations by the two couples, and comments on social media much praise Sunday’s performance. Maybe I was too much taken by the performance on Friday, or I simply missed some aspects that others saw on Sunday. On social media, Marchand is tipped to become the next Etoile. Marchand and Gilbert have three more performances in the current run, and it will be interesting to see how their performances develop.

Wonderful review in English of the performance by Baulac/ Louvet/ Bertaud on 1st April here http://lesballetonautes.com/2016/04/04/quick-to-haste-some-noble-work-of-love-to-do-baulac-louvet-bertaud-and-company/

Indeed, I became interested in Nureyev's version in late February so missed the ENB tour last autumn.

In my newly found interest in POB, I watched parts of their Romeo & Juliet by Nureyev online recently, was intrigued by the difference to the MacMillan version in the final death scene and wondered what else might differ. So I looked at the different casts in their current run of Nureyev’s R&J and, inspired by Yasmine Naghdi’s and Matthew Ball’s superb double debut at the ROH last autumn, I decided to go for the youngest and most junior lead couple – Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet. Baulac joined POB in 2008 and has been Premier Danseur since 2016: Louvet joined in 2011, Sujet since 2015. They were initially shown as cover, featured in a public rehearsal in February when they were in the early stages of learning the choreography, and then received two performances plus a general rehearsal, and a further performance was added when another cast became unavailable. Friday’s performance, which was the one I went to, was their last. The scenery in Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet is sumptuous – shiny facades of palaces to both sides, laden market stalls. The story shows additional details, in particular in act 3 (the following not in chronological order) – why Romeo does not receive the letter (as the priest that is meant to deliver the letter to him is killed), how Romeo hears that Juliet has died (Benvolio stumbles upon the mourners and runs off to inform Romeo), a dream scene for Romeo in which he envisages the idyll of being together with Juliet, Juliet’s nightmare when death comes to meet her. Not only Juliet has a number of friends but also Romeo – not just Mercutio and Benvolio but also further friends. So more of everything in Nureyev’s ballet, and I found the scene a little overcrowded at times with lots of market traders/ citizens and all of Romeo’s friends, or all of Romeo’s and all of Juliet’s friends on stage at the same time. There were also a few elements that I found borderline vulgar in acting/ in costume. Juliet is quickly becoming a strong, driving force in the relationship that is formed with Romeo, it is her who initiates the early kisses at the ball at the Capulet’s house, and this suits Léonore Baulac very well. Baulac displayed hugely expressive and impressive acting throughout. Her eyes turn in amazement when Paris asks her for a dance at the ball, her love of Romeo is overwhelming as is her desolation when Tybalt is killed by Romeo, her despair upon realising that Romeo has poisoned himself is excruciating – she simply is Juliet. Romeo has lots of solos throughout – pirouettes, balances in arabesque, jumps into arabesque, a round of double assemblées. Germain Louvet, to my amateur eyes, showed a beautiful line and acquitted himself well given the challenging choreography and acted very well, and I look forward to seeing more of him. The two leads displayed lots and lots of chemistry on stage, the love and passion was clearly there, from when they meet at the ball through to the end. Surprisingly, the PDD between the two had various solos/ the two dancing next to each other, following each other, with a few lifts here and there but – compared to what I remember from the MacMillan version - not very much overhead. Mercutio’s death – Mercutio brilliantly played by Emmanuel Thibault – is more brutal as all his friends still think that he is playing with them and so make fun of him even when he is already dead. Benvolio shows a lot more personality than what I remember from the MacMillan version; he is the mediator, trying to prevent fighting in act 1 however then also getting angry at the Capulets. Sébastien Bertaud whom I much enjoyed in Tombe displayed vivid acting and beautiful dancing and interacted very well with Mercutio and Romeo. Paris, in the performances of MacMillan’s version that I’ve seen, can come across as likeable and genuinely trying to understand why Juliet doesn’t like him. In contrast, I found Paris in Nureyev’s version as unsympathetic as can be. All in all, I prefer MacMillan’s version, and it has been an interesting experience to compare the two. A thought for the dancers as the company has been in three concurrent different productions in recent weeks (Iolanta/ The Nutcracker just finished its run), and I guess the rehearsal process/ schedule will not always have been easy.

The best was kept to the last. Justin Peck’s “In Creases” closed the programme, it was the shortest piece with just 12 minutes, it was the one that I enjoyed the most by a distance, and it received the most enthusiastic and longest applause of the evening. With piano music by Philip Glass for double piano, the choreography was musical, rhythmic and dynamic, showing couples and groups of dancers creating and dissolving geometric forms. Standout for me in Peck and in Ratmansky was Marc Moreau with his joy, virtuosity and energy. All four pieces had the musicians on stage, and with the size of the stage at Garnier, it didn’t restrict the dancing. Alexei Ratmansky’s piece “Seven Sonatas” opened the evening to music by Domenico Scarlatti. Three couples, then various solos followed by three PDD, and then groups of dancers until all came together again at the end. I enjoyed the faster parts more than the slower ones, and I found the costume tops somewhat unflattering for both the women and the men. Jerome Robbins’ “Other Dances” to Frederic Chopin follows a structure of a slow PDD followed by a fast male solo then female solo then slow male/ female solo and a concluding PDD. I am afraid I’ve added the ballet to the list of those that I don’t like. The evening picked up for me after the interval. George Balanchine’s "Duo Concertant" did have the pianist and the violinist on stage that Melody was referring to recently. The music by Igor Stravinsky was at times somewhat screechy however thankfully less so when the piano joined in. A couple stands behind the piano and listens to the music. After some time, they walk to the centre of the stage and start to dance, some of it jazzy with rhythmic arm and foot movements. From time to time a dancer walks back to behind the piano to contemplate and listen. The ballet ends in near darkness with a spotlight on just the head of the female dancer; the spotlight increases, the male dancer joins and is followed by the light. He returns to the woman, and the light now highlights only the hands as they intertwine.

Yasmine Naghdi, Francesca Hayward, Lauren Cuthbertson, Leonore Baulac

The French ballet site "Danses avec la Plume" has published an article (in French only unfortunately) "Benjamin Millepied, le retour?" (" ...the return?") http://www.dansesaveclaplume.com/en-coulisse/43386-benjamin-millepied-poisson-d-avril/, which refers to rumours that Millepied will take over the lead of the Theatre du Châtelet in Paris in a few years' time. Nicely written with a huge touch of irony, the article states the divided opinion of staff at the theatre (rejunevation versus an old lady that needs to be dealt with carefully) and Millepied's plans (no he's not going to change everything ...). Helpfully, the link to the article already includes the reference to April's fool ("poisson d'avril")!