bridiem

1 minute ago, Fonty said:

At the very least, I would like to have seen a cast list at the end.  Apart from Nunez, who were the other ladies in Symphonic Variations?  From the brief glimpse I got, was one of them Choe?  I could look it up, of course, but I shouldn't have to.  

Yes, Choe and Naghdi.

Just watched the Essential Royal Ballet programme. I enjoyed it, though from a selfish point of view I'd hoped for more interviews and backstage material whereas it was really just a string of quite long excerpts with very small amounts of introductory material. I did think that (with apologies for the technical terminology) there was too much swoony white stuff in the first 20 minutes; I think it might have been better to have more wizzy-bang stuff to excite viewers before going all soulful (which I would imagine can look a bit OTT out of context). It gave a decent impression of the company's rep in the last 10 years, but I would have thought that a bit more context would have been helpful for non-balletomanes.

29 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Some dancers have messaged me asking for a copy of the pic of them they’ve seen when they do a search of either themselves or the production eg #rohbeauty....which is a bit awkward as Instagram messenger doesn’t support decent sized photos and shrinks what you send to worse than if they’d just done a screen cap of the pic on their phone...so I’ve had to ask for an email address to send it.

Others just do a screen cap and tag the photographer (most remember to) 

 

Instagram Stories are very simple to do because when you tag them they get notified and can then add it to their Story feed at the touch of a button. 

I know you don't take photos during a performance, Rob S, but surely dancers know that that's not allowed and so shouldn't post such photos on their accounts?

11 minutes ago, FionaE said:

Their mastery of these difficult solos highlighted how poor the matinee performances had been.  Meghan Grace Hingis (Aurora) tries too hard to be bright and sparkly and is consequently too sharp and brittle.  It’s uncomfortable to watch.  Poor Romany Padjak (Prayer) had a nightmare performance and barely held the adage movements and then her leg was hardly at 90 degrees.  And her whole body shook when bourree’ing.   I’m sure she’ll have been very upset by this performance. 

I tend to agree about Hinkis (k not g); I'm afraid I don't generally enjoy watching her very much, though she seems to be both confident and competent. But I found Pajdak (jd not dj) a very beautiful Prayer. I did sense a lack of complete control and confidence on this occasion, but even on a slightly off day she embodies soul and grace in her dancing.

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

I’m not that frequent a visitor but have always found the bag searchers courteous.

So have I, until the last few visits.

I suppose there's always a potential mismatch between security and customer service, if you employ staff who specialise in these two very different areas. I wouldn't object to a (literally) serious security focus, if that's what was happening (though of course that wouldn't really tally with Open Up); but there's no point having unsmiling and unfriendly security staff who then don't do a proper bag search (which is what happened yesterday - also at the Piazza entrance). So I think the ROH needs to decide what it's actually doing here.

35 minutes ago, Fiz said:

Is it me or is people’s behaviour in public getting even worse than it was? It seems that some of them go out of their way to be as rude and hurtful as possible. I’m so sorry for those who have experienced it. It leaves a sour taste to what should be a great experience.

Maybe some people can no longer tell the difference between real life and social media.

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Oh my, oh my....what scintillating and fabulous debuts from Anna-Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe just now. As far as I am concerned, Anna-Rose is now a principal in all but name.  A very special afternoon.  ❤️❤️

Couldn't agree more, Sim! They were both brilliant but she was just sensational. She had everything - technique, characterisation, stage presence, projection. She positively glowed. At one stage I seriously wondered if she had springs hidden in her legs. She bounced and she flew. Amazing. I half hoped that Kevin O'Hare would announce her promotion after the performance because she owned the role and the stage so completely.

4 minutes ago, Two Pigeons said:

And the greatest Petrushka I've ever seen.

And the greatest Widow Simone I've ever seen.

At last! I'd moreorless given up hope. So well deserved and I'm absolutely delighted for him.

32 minutes ago, David said:

More interesting to me is the effect on Francesca Hayward's career.  The camera loves her face, her picture is everywhere we look and her acting abilities are out there for all to see. Moira Shearer didn't return to Sadler's Wells after 'The Red Shoes' and continued her career in films, Cyd Charisse came from the Chicago Ballet, Gene Kelly discovered Leslie Caron in the Paris Ballet. Neither returned to the ballet world. Nor despite his good intentions, has Robert Fairchild; and I see Leanne Cope's genre is now described as Musical Theatre in Wikipedia. The casting agents with their siren voices will come calling. The pressure will be hard to resist and why should she. Her world has changed.   

Why should she resist? Well, because she is uniquely talented as a ballerina, and still growing both technically and artistically. Cats will have been an interesting and rewarding challenge for her in terms of mechanics of making a film, but (apart from the song, I suppose) will not have challenged her at all in terms of either technique or acting. I hope she realises this and doesn't assume that a career of instant stardom would await her in the very competitive (and often very superficial) world of musical theatre/film. She still has so much to give (and to learn) in the field in which she has trained and specialised. After ballet - who knows? But for now, I hope she continues to use her talent to its utmost (whilst enjoying some of the perks of having a higher profile!).

15 minutes ago, Janite said:

REPEAT Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot BBC 4 10pm

On which day is this, Janite? I can't find it in my listings.

11 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

Oh that slightly shatters my little girl memories..... I was sure Drina got to live out my dream & joined the Wells Ballet School (I equated to RBS)  then the company 😃

In the ‘Wells’ books was there one main lead character? 

Funny how some snippets from books remain with you...& do indeed seem part of ones own character!

I think Veronica was a lead character in the Wells books (which for some reason I never read/discovered). And I only read and enjoyed the Drina books later - maybe I was in my twenties. But you're right - bits from books do stay with you for ever, though sometimes the source/s might get confused. What matters is the power of the effect. I loved the two Ballet Family books by Mabel Esther Allan (Jean Estoril) and they influenced me very strongly - about ballet yes, but also about all sorts of other things including London and Paris.

Happy Birthday to the forum! And so many congratulations and thanks to Sim and all the moderators who do such a terrific job in running it.

A very happy Christmas to all members of the forum.

20 hours ago, HopelessMummy said:

You don't happen to have the drina ballerina series by Jean estoril at all please? I read these as a child but can't find them for my DD. Many thanks x

There seem to be quite a lot on AbeBooks:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=estoril&tn=&kn=drina&isbn=

1 hour ago, Ballet448 said:

I have now sent the list of books to everyone who has already PMed me about them. 

 

The books are going fast, but if you are interested please feel free to PM me.

I'm so glad you're finding homes for the mags and books, Ballet448!

48 minutes ago, alison said:

Perhaps someone on here will actually go and watch the film and report back, as opposed to people reacting to the opinions of others?

Well it did only open yesterday, and it is a rather busy time of year.  If I go it won't be until January, but I still want to know how it's being received.

3 hours ago, Lindsay said:

I think those engaged in higher level music education know that ALW's work is musically banal with a generous topping of ersatz emotional manipulation. 

An astute businessman - undoubtedly.  An artist - hardly.....

Well, to be honest I think that that description of his work could be applied to a huge amount of popular music if you wanted to be cynical about it. But on the whole people seem to like tunes, and lyrics that they find meaningful, and that's what ALW often provides. (As opposed to most classical composers now, who would rather die than write anything that could be called a 'tune' and would be appalled to be described as 'popular'.) I actually thought ALW's early musicals were terrific (musically rather than in respect of the stagings I saw, which apart from Cats were pretty awful), but I haven't seen anything of his for decades because I don't in fact generally like musicals much (with a few honourable exceptions on film). So I don't know what his later work is like.

27 minutes ago, Fiz said:

Too easy to sing, Lin. 

That's an observation about their complexity, not their quality. Most popular music is easy to sing. Hymns are (usually!) easy to sing. And there is excellent popular music and there are excellent hymns. Sometimes simplicity is a virtue especially if you are actually seeking to reach a wide audience rather than a sophisticated few. (I'm also thinking of, for example, the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy.) And although I understand that you might want to offer something more 'difficult' at an audition, frankly I would have thought that most students of musical theatre would be exceptionally fortunate if they ended up in a good professional production of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Now look what you've made me do, Pulcinella.  I was already seeing the first cast of Dances at a Gathering (at the live screening in Brixton), but I hadn't booked another performance of the bill... except that having seen the second cast, I now have. Tut tut.

44 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

TIME considers Francesca Hayward the best thing about the movie. A glowing  tribute to her dancing and  acting here:

https://time.com/5752569/cats-movie-review/

Of the reviews I've read, I thought that this one and the Vanity Fair one were the most illuminating in their comments. 

On 17/12/2019 at 16:11, Fonty said:

How do people feel about other people talking over the top of them?  I boarded a train which began its journey at that particular station.  There was plenty of choice of seats, and I sat at one with the table, because I like to do a crossword puzzle or two on a long journey and find it easier to rest on a table.  Just before the doors shut.  2 couples and several children dashed on.  2 of the adults sat opposite me, the other two sat behind me.

 

The 4 adults were obviously all together, and  proceeded to have a very loud conversation, with me stuck in the middle of them.  In the meantime, the children amused themselves by jumping off the seats, thwacking the arm rests up and down, and running about.  At some point, in between the "lively" conversation, the man opposite me tuned in to the football, so I was treated to a running commentary on Arsenal's woeful performance.  Accompanied by lots of "F**king 'ell"

 

I couldn't concentrate on my crossword, and found that I was reading the same paragraph in my book over and over.  I found myself getting more and more irritated.  In the end, I gave up and sat with my eyes closed for the next hour and a half. 

How extremely rude of these people. 

2 hours ago, ChrisG said:

Well, the reviews are now in for Cats.  I won't repeat any of them because they're almost universally pretty brutal, suffice to say the Telegraph thought it so bad they gave it no stars.  The only exception appears to be the Daily Mail but that doesn't surprise because it's always struck me that the target audience for any Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is a Daily Mail reader.

What a prejudiced and patronising thing to say.

What an awful journey, LinMM! But I'm so glad you saw almost all of the bill and enjoyed it so much.

37 minutes ago, Rob S said:

I was very surprised to see the post by Nunez on Instagram where she said it was her debut in the role. When was Raymonda last performed by the RB?

That is surprising. I know they did it in 2012-2013 (I went in Jan 2013) so I assume that was the last time. Not sure about previous years.