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bridiem

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Everything posted by bridiem

  1. bridiem
    That is totally outrageous!! I am well and truly gobsmacked. It's actually quite ingenious - how to write an article that totally misleads its readers whilst sounding quite straightforward. I hope the RB/Wayne McGregor will have something to say about publicity like this. Of course Boston wants (and is entitled) to 'own' it too (though I hadn't realised this was another co-production); but this is just ridiculous.
  2. bridiem
    What strange byways we end up with sometimes on this forum... Has there ever been a naked cyclist in a ballet?? Let's hope there's never an avant-garde production of Enigma Variations. Anyway I'm not seeing this bill until next week but am looking forward to it very much.
  3. bridiem
    I don't think it's hard in ballet, and it has as you say been done by other choreographers and no doubt will continue to happen. But that doesn't mean that every new work has to develop the art form, or be innovative. Just as every novel doesn't have to be experimental. What matters is that a work is good, whether or not it's innovative in form.
  4. bridiem
    I think that any dance work has to stand on its merits as a dance work, in terms of either pure movement or story-telling, not on how well or badly it reflects an idea or theory which the viewer may well know nothing about (and/or care less about). The most that can be said is that it can be interesting to know what a choreographer's starting point has been for an 'abstract' work.
  5. bridiem
    The interview with Melissa Hamilton linked in today's Dance Links says that she has signed a 'permanent' contract in Dresden. Does anyone know if that's right?
  6. bridiem
    I agree with your initial reflections, SPD444, but equally I don't think it necessarily matters what a choreographer says about his/her work - what matters is the end product. And I try and go to new works in a spirit of hope; maybe Obsidian Tear will be enjoyable even if it bears no real relevance from the audience's point of view to the theoretical underpinning as put forward by the choreographer.
  7. bridiem
    Wonder what name he posts under?!
  8. bridiem
    When I first saw Swan Lake I was amazed to hear music that I completely associated with the opening of old horror films - took a while for that association to be overridden by balletic ones!
  9. bridiem
    Thank you tabitha! You've given me a laugh-out-loud start to my day. Now to hit the tube...
  10. bridiem
    If he works quite so collaboratively, perhaps the dancers should be co-credited as choreographers.
  11. bridiem
    I agree with you, Jamesrhblack; but Macaulay does have a particularly cruel way of expressing negative views about dancers at times. I once took issue with him about a review of Bryony Brind in the 1980s, and he did eventually send me a very thoughtful reply - though it doesn't seem to have affected his approach to his writing! And since his red hair is the one thing cited that Edward Watson cannot (realistically) change it must be particularly frustrating for him to have it brought up regularly in a negative context. Though I would say that nowadays his appearance garners more plaudits than criticism, so I'm surprised he's so bothered about what one critic writes. Assuming it's Macaulay he was referring to of course.
  12. bridiem
    I hope he will soon be awarded a knighthood as a nationwide tribute to his achievement.
  13. bridiem
    All other new works have second and often third casts. It seems ironic to me that Wayne McGregor should find it so difficult to prepare two casts when in most of his works the dancers are barely differentiated as individuals so to me it makes very little difference who is dancing (even in the works I like).
  14. bridiem
    It does seem odd to have a public competition for an 'emerging dancer' within a company. Surely the AD (and others) can see very well who is 'emerging' and how quickly, and it seems a bit insulting to be getting big parts in a major company and be competing for an 'emerging' dancer prize. I've always thought that this is really just a way of drumming up interest in the company etc, which ENB and Tamara Rojo are very good at - so maybe that's OK. I don't know how the dancers feel about it, whether nominated or not; that's really what matters.
  15. bridiem
    Slightly off theme, but I find it a bit depressing that this story is not in fact about ballet at all but about redheads, and that's why the press have picked up on it. They don't, on the whole, take ballet seriously at all (apart from a few arts sections) and only cover it when they can link it to a non-story like this. But I suppose it's inevitable, since the press will generally cover what they think people will read rather than what actually matters; and people are apparently more inclined to read a story about redheadedness than about ballet.
  16. bridiem
    ?? Call me literal but I'm not sure that that is plausible. Or indeed possible.
  17. bridiem
    I would say that Edward Watson's comparatively unusual appearance has served him very well in his career, and has been an essential part of it. That said, critics should be careful how they express negative views about dancers who are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect.
  18. bridiem
    Yes, that's a really important aspect that's missing from the ballet - the development, learning, and understanding of the creature over a period of time, so that he comes to love human beings and yearns to be accepted by them (and believes that he can be/will be, because he sees the good in humanity). It's what makes the work a tragedy rather than just a horror story.
  19. bridiem
    I did feel sorry for the creature, partly because he looked very like a large, lost baby who wanted to be looked after but was instead beaten and rejected.
  20. bridiem
    That's interesting, and you're right that it's very important to judge choreographers and new works on their own merits and not always to compare them to the comparatively few great works of the past. But if you've seen a lot of ballets you can't watch with the same eyes as a newcomer. I think Liam Scarlett is a very good choreographer, and as you say still young. That doesn't mean that I have to like the tavern scene in Frankenstein (though I didn't object to it as much as some people clearly did). I also think that it's great that on this forum there are people with decades of experience of ballet-watching, and people with hardly any experience. Both bring things of real value.
  21. bridiem
    That's very true. But I think that both the choreography and the music for that scene in Mayerling are much better than in this scene in Frankenstein. Things don't always have to be original - in fact they probably can't always be original - but if they're going to be derivative in theme that's when it matters especially to be fresh in execution.
  22. bridiem
    Me too, and a very happy one this evening!! I will now have to miss the cinema relay of Frankenstein in order to watch the Europa League Final!!!
  23. bridiem
    It seems very strange to do that, though. Many people can only see the company via these relays, so why give them the same principal again? (Wonderful though she is.) No doubt there are all sorts of issues involved in selecting possible dates for the screenings; but why not then allocate the casting to ensure variety for the cinema audience? (And allow more dancers to have this opportunity.)
  24. bridiem
    I think it's just because it's so reminiscent of other ballets and not particularly original choreographically even if the idea behind it is clear. So it's difficult not to think 'here we go again'.
  25. bridiem
    In which case it should not have been used to imply that they refused to dance because of the quality of the ballet. That seems incredibly unlikely to me, especially given the dancers involved.
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