bridiem

Casting as advertised, except that Alison McWhinney replaces Angela Wood as Myrtha: https://www.ballet.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/14-Jan-2.30.pdf

I do find it quite annoying when lots of people stand in front of the same picture for ages because they're all listening to the audio guide. There are (or should be) written guides to an exhibition and brief notes next to the picture so you can then look at it for as long or short a time as you wish. It's an exhibition, not a TV show. However, I have to be honest and say that I think my dislike of the audioguides is mainly for personal reasons in that I think they're unhygienic.

I think that Gary Avis is absolutely INVALUABLE where he is at the moment!

I'm so sorry for you Dawnstar especially since you come such a long way to see performances; and for everyone else who is disappointed. I didn't think the principals looked tired last night, though, and I'm sure they'll rise to the occasion tonight. I know that casts are always subject to change, but I do think that when it's the leads involved there should be some indication of a reason, no matter how vague.

And he gets the name of ENB's AD wrong, twice. Just saying.

Yes, pretty much. Maybe allow an extra 5 mins for possible late start/curtain calls, but the performance length is accurate.

It was a bit difficult to see at times, but (given that I already know the story!) I really liked the lighting - a reminder that this is actually all happening in the dead (literally) of night, but lighter when showing the Wilis in their element.

This is such a beautiful production, like a Romantic painting brought to (vivid) life. I thought the dancing was excellent; like Mary, I wasn't hugely moved but I think that was at least in part because I was physically uncomfortable for various reasons including the Coli balcony seats... But I did think that Aitor Arrieta was a wonderful Albrecht - so tall, so handsome, so charming in Act I - the happiest Albrecht I've ever seen. No-one has ever said no to this Albrecht. Which made his demeanour in Act II all the more tragic. Beauty brought low. Katja Khaniukova was excellent in both acts. I loved Alison McWhinney's Myrtha, and the Wilis were brilliant and terrifying - really malevolent. Fabian Reimair was a terrific Hilarion - clear and convincing. It all looked gorgeous and the company looked to be in fine form. And lovely for ENB to have proper curtain calls!

This is the ROH blurb for the Linbury performances: 'Dark with Excessive Bright imagines the invisible forces of our universe in human form. The dance captures the growth, decay, chaos and consistency that always co-exist in our world. The music acts as the gravitational force, holding these elements in orbit. Dark with Excessive Bright reflects the world we live in, but with the addition of the principles we need in order to shape a more possible future – care and community – bubbling to the surface. The audience enters an environment already alive with music, light and movement, staying for a period of 45 minutes and then moving on to make way for another wave of people who enter as they exit. With the floor clear of seats, each individual can define their own experience of the work by moving between three performance areas or standing back to take in the full picture. Moments of extraordinary intimacy – watching a person dance just a metre away – can be contrasted with a bird's-eye view of the entire performance from the balcony. The movements are never improvised but exist within a structure that holds multiple possibilities through in-the-moment decision making from the dancers. This means music, dance and light are constantly realigning so that with each performance this ballet is created anew and never replicated. Audience and performers both have freedom to shape their experience and that of each other, making this ballet an intimate exchange and an expression of free will.'

I never use that ROH info because I've found in the past that it doesn't necessarily show venues where I know a live screening is happening. So I just go straight to the websites for the venue/s.

I noticed this some time last month, I think. (I was terrified that I'd booked a 'promenade' performance by mistake!! But I seem to have booked the main stage, fortunately.)

I've received this too. To be perfectly honest, I'm delighted that I don't have to watch another work by Joseph Toonga (though I find it difficult to believe that any injured dancers couldn't be replaced by any other dancers in the company, given his style of dance). However I'm also somewhat dismayed to hear that it's only a postponement to next season, implying that his involvement with the company will continue for at least another season. So it sounds as if there will only be four works on the programme, and it will presumably be pretty short, hence the refund. It's rather disturbing that it seems to be so difficult to find new works worthy of being on the main stage in what is billed as a 'festival' of new choreography. But there you go. At least I'll get home earlier than usual. Apologies for this churlish post. I found the email rather irritating on a number of counts (as you can no doubt tell!).

Not the best way for such news to come out, really.

The article in today's Links from the Independent is SO annoying! Making a false distinction between 'behaviour' and 'etiquette' in a theatre (a distinction that I suspect even the writer doesn't really believe in).

In general I prefer fast to slow, but very fast can be pretty stressful to watch in case someone ends up on the canvas...

I usually (but not always) binge watch drama because if I wait a week I'll probably have no memory whatsoever of what's happened so far... but for something like this, I quite like watching one by one and relishing each episode.

Maybe Fille will indeed be on, just after this?! Would be like going from Inferno to Paradiso...

I thought Madman... I think I will also be saving some money on this; much as I've enjoyed Woolf Works and Dante Project, I have no wish to see, effectively, more of the same but this time with source material that holds no attraction for me. And McGregor is really very hard on the eye, and on the dancers' bodies.

I was delighted to read your post, @Tiptoesmama - it sounds as if it couldn't have gone better! I'm so glad you both enjoyed it so much. (I find that when the tree is growing, I just stop breathing... so I understand your tears!). I hope you will go back before long, but I'm sure that neither you nor your daughter will ever forget your first visit.

Yuk!

The Darcey Bussell programme was excellent - a lot of lovely extracts of her dancing and more wide-ranging than I'd anticipated.

ENB Tweet: 'In this evening’s performance, Ken Saruhashi replaces Edvinas Jakonis as Nephew, and James Streeter replaces Giorgio Garrett as Drosselmeyer.'

No, it's not. It seems to be generally thought that it's too different from Petipa stylistically. Personally, I'd be tempted to include it.

No doubt - that's what proofreading (before going live) is for.

That's good; but wouldn't it be better to proof-read an update before it goes live on the website? Just saying. (And yes, I know it's the promotion that matters not the website... but it's just annoying that they're so sloppy.)