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bridiem

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  1. bridiem
    I really really hope that Claire Calvert will be given Swan Lake.
  2. bridiem
    Loved Shostakovich Trilogy! I basically agree with all the comments above. Thrilling to see a whole evening of wonderful, new, expressive, interesting, original, confident, witty, moving classical ballet, and to music by one of my favourite composers. There's life in the old art form yet!!
  3. bridiem
    It would be fun to see Le Corsaire pdd, I think! But I really hope no Marguerite and Armand (though I wouldn't be at all surprised).
  4. bridiem
    If someone has chosen to see it, of course they should feel able to post their opinions. Those who don't wish to read them need not do so.
  5. bridiem
    If so: Grrr..…
  6. bridiem
    But weren't the performance dates scheduled at the beginning of the season?
  7. bridiem
    Well I imagine she just has to keep the weight off her leg for a certain period of time; but yes, I'm sure she won't be back this season. Very sad (especially for her!).
  8. bridiem
    I think that must have been an old shoot, in fact, LinMM, because on her Instagram account she's posted photos of herself still bandaged and in a wheelchair today.
  9. bridiem
    Yes. 🙁😭
  10. bridiem
    As long as it's done respectfully, I think it's OK to mention a dancer's physique. It's integral to how we see them as a dancer. But I think perhaps enough has been said about thighs for now!
  11. bridiem
    No, it's not football; but it's just as important... I don't actually think that Campbell would be/have been an ideal match with Osipova, and I'm delighted she danced with Hallberg. (It's the guest I saw last night I have a problem with.) But to pigeon-hole Campbell in the cheeky-chappy roles would be to do him (and the audience) a huge disservice. He is an excellent actor (cf Albrecht, Des Grieux, Lescaut etc) and should be allowed to use his talents to the full. I'm very happy to have occasional guest principals, if a) there's a real need; and/or b) they're top-notch. In Hallberg's case, from the limited amount I've seen, I would say that (certainly if he's dancing with Osipova) b) does apply. That doesn't mean that I think he should be invited to dance regularly with the company, given the limited number of performances available and the huge amount of talent in the company.
  12. bridiem
    I had hoped that she would in fact be able to seem to be a young girl, as other dancers in their 30s seem to miraculously be able to do; but she couldn't. She can do myriad other miraculous things, but not that.
  13. bridiem
    Very disappointed in this evening’s performance. I have never seen Marianela Nunez dance Juliet before, but I decided to book for her in case it’s the last opportunity. And although I’d been looking forward to seeing Reece Clarke as Romeo, it was an exciting prospect to see a new guest artist. But I’m afraid this was a completely unconvincing R&J for me. Nunez is a wonderful dancer, but she was clearly a mature woman from start to finish, which just makes a nonsense of the story. And to make matters worse her Romeo looked about half her age. Jacopo Tissi is very tall, with long legs and a nice smile. But he seemed to me to be out of his depth. He struggled with some of the choreography and the lifts, he often seemed slow and laboured, and his acting was barely there. He looked as if he would have been much happier playing a stereotypical ballet prince rather than a living and breathing character – in fact much of the time he looked as if he was in a different ballet. On her own terms, Nunez did give a very good and touching performance; but it just couldn’t work as Juliet. And the partnership was a non-starter for me. I actually felt quite annoyed, because I think almost any of the men in the RB would have been a more convincing and better Romeo. Which reminds me: Sambé basically stole the show every time he danced (in spite of looking even shorter than usual next to the towering Tissi and the rather tall Calvin Richardson as Benvolio), and Hirano was once more a magnificent Tybalt. But the supporting roles can’t make a ballet work when the leads don’t work. A very frustrating performance.
  14. bridiem
    Absolutely! So sad she won't be doing Firebird - I was really looking forward to seeing her do that.
  15. bridiem
    No, I don't think he would. He's partnered taller dancers than Osipova.
  16. bridiem
    Well I was near the back of the amphi, using opera glasses much of the time, and having to lean far to one side because of very tall man in front of me (and so being in increasing pain from my neck and back!). I didn't notice the condition of her shoes at all. Too much else going on!! (I was so far back because it was a Friday Rush ticket - I couldn't go on the date I originally booked for this cast, 1 June, because of Liverpool's magnificent progression to the Champions League final that evening. So any extra back/neck pain was entirely worth it, in both balletic and footballing terms!).
  17. bridiem
    I didn't really notice/mind the size difference between Romeo and his friends - it was an usual dynamic, but I saw it as this Romeo being a bit older/more mature than his friends, which made it all the more moving that he was drawn away from them so powerfully into this new love. Completely agree re Osipova; there were times when she seemed to be in a 100m race rather than doing ballet steps. Which did make me thing of MacMillan's wish for Juliet not to be too balletic.
  18. bridiem
    Osipova does indeed take liberties (sometimes approaching diabolical!), but for me the end product is so compelling and coherent (on her terms, or the terms of the character she's playing) that I don't object; I accept it as part of her nature as a dancer. I think to 'tame' her would be to lose who she is. And although Hallberg is a very different type of dancer, I found the partnership was one of opposites attracting: she so fevered and desperate in her love, he naturally more reserved but drawn to her like a magnet and entering her force field.
  19. bridiem
    Memorable, searing performance from Osipova and Hallberg tonight. Osipova was a wild, febrile Juliet; for her first entrance she ran onto the stage so fast I thought she was going to end up in the orchestra pit... And although initially child-like, she smiled with sudden delight when she realised she was on the threshold of womanhood; this was a girl ready to fall in love. And fall she did, with her tall, handsome Romeo. But the intensity of this Juliet did for me cast an early shadow - the bliss was so stratospheric that there was no possibility of a happy ending, and the agony had a kind of awful inevitability. The silent scream in the tomb was a convulsion not just of grief but of raging, bone-shaking fury. And Hallberg was magnificent too - such beautiful dancing, and a portrayal both intelligent and impassioned. The partnership was clearly one of complete mutual confidence and rare emotional and physical alignment. I assume this was Hallberg's debut in this production, and Osipova can't have danced it often, so there was sometimes a bit of raggedness in some of the partnering; that actually fitted well with the abandon with which the relationship progressed. Wonderful. Excellent supporting cast - I loved Hirano's ruthless, arrogant Tybalt, and Hay and Dyer as Mercutio and Benvolio formed a touching triumvirate with Romeo. And those three harlots really do work hard: Mendizabal, Calvert and Magri deserve medals for all the (terrific) performances they're giving in this run!
  20. bridiem
    I'm hoping she will be given the opportunity to do Odette/Odile next season; she's an excellent dancer and I find her interesting dramatically, which she has rarely been given the chance to show. I hope that she will indeed be a principal, but it won't be this year.
  21. bridiem
    Wow! But no, we would not...
  22. bridiem
    Well with the classics, I'm in favour of quite long runs since they're the backbone of the repertoire. With other productions, there could perhaps be more selectivity as to who dances what. But, I do agree that we already have a good number of talented female principals!
  23. bridiem
    Exactly!
  24. bridiem
    Clearly, ballet bird = swan.
  25. bridiem
    Yes, it would a completely unwelcome step! We generally get minimal casting info nowadays anyway, whenever it's announced...
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