Jump to content

bridiem

Members
  • Posts

    3,989
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by bridiem

  1. I think it's a long time since débuts have been marked on cast sheets (and I think it would only ever have been for leading roles). But since they're marked in the booking/casting details, I'm not sure why they couldn't also be marked on the cast sheets. (Perhaps some powers that be think it might be open to misinterpretation, or misinterpret it themselves - i.e. that a début is somehow of less worth than a performance from an experienced interpreter of the role. If so it would simply show their lack of understanding.)
  2. I don't know, JNC - I think I've seen quite a glint in her eye sometimes!! Could be interesting...
  3. Hayward may not have been contactable; presumably dancers aren't actually on a bleep-type system where they have to be always available even on nights off? (And if Kaneko had been contactable, would she have been too tall for Campbell? He's danced with Magri who looks tall to me.) At any rate, it sounds as if a difficult situation was dealt with with great professionalism all round. I hope Takada (and Hirano of course) will soon be back.
  4. Thanks for updating us, Lindsay. I hope they had a chance to have a quick run through of the fish dives at least! Must have been quite a performance.
  5. Hirano is still down for his other performances, which I hope means it isn't an injury (if it's correct, which I assume it is). Unless it's just a quick decision for tonight and then look further forward?
  6. Yes - it amazes me how parents now seem to keep a constant tab on exactly where their adult children are and exactly what they're doing, AND the children don't seem to mind! When I was a young adult my parents would generally have had no idea where I was or what I was doing (just as well, some of the time...). It's good that (some) families are so close, but it seems a bit odd to me.
  7. Yes; and it can be related to family/health issues where constant attention is needed. But, as Lindsay says, this should all be reserved strictly for intervals.
  8. I also found that surprising, but I hope it's true! It is indeed an entertaining idea; maybe her gift to the baby Aurora is a load of useful electrical gadgets. (Including an alarm clock set to wake her up in 100 years' time? Maybe with a nice teasmade, so she can offer the Prince a cuppa when he finally turns up.)
  9. For those of you who don't follow Francesca Hayward on Instagram, she posted a post-show photo and wrote: 'The Sleeping Beauty is a tough one! That’s all I’m going to say 🙀 Congratulations to all my beautiful friends in The Royal Ballet for making it through a heavy week finishing in a double Beauty show day and somehow finding the energy to keep me going mentally and physically on stage too 💛 special thank you to my Prince @acampbell_1 and wonderful to have @hayleymaloney back on stage with us as Carabosse. Here we are... Carabosse, Aurora, Prince Florimund and the lovely @claire123 as our Lilac Fairy'.
  10. I assume that names may be changed for matters of current taste or just because the producer wishes to do so. Yes, perhaps it was thought that Desiré could have been read as Desire which would be undesirable (geddit?!).
  11. My literal mind is still querying this; they cannot actually be using 'all of Kenneth's original choreography and the same score', otherwise it would be the same length as the original... Or is it being suggested that MacMillan did not choreograph the whole work?! (Or that only the pas deux matter? Seems very reductive to me if so.) And the score must be being cut/adapted and will therefore not be 'the same'. I get the gist, but it annoys me when people are so imprecise especially in what is after all a pretty significant public statement.
  12. Well it shouldn't be!! (Even if you just take the cynical view, others with big bank accounts are likely to be disturbed by allowing in the latecomers.)
  13. Thanks, Odyssey - really interesting. There's a lot there that I didn't know or had forgotten. I love the story about the Bluebird and Princess Florine! I do wish that Ashton's Garland dance had been retained in the current production.
  14. Yes - if he was a fellow dancer I could understand it since it could induce exasperation or envy! But for a reviewer, it is indeed baffling.
  15. Yes, débuts! (And no doubt débuts in some other roles too.) Should be exciting and I hope you enjoy it.
  16. On one occasion in Act I, she was turning so fast it was almost a blur, and I think she put in one turn too many so she did finish up a split second behind the music. This was right at the beginning, and I put it down to excitement and enthusiasm to do her utmost best. Other than that, I thought she was superbly musical throughout.
  17. Ah, I see - or rather, I didn't see. I just saw Carabosse herself slither behind the bed, but it wasn't clear that she'd expired. That's a blessed relief! Thanks, Sim.
  18. Lucky audience indeed. Superb dancing at all levels, and a real sense of the company's total commitment to this ballet. You'd never have guessed it was the first show of the run. Yasmine Naghdi was a breathtaking Aurora. All the technical challenges dealt with with complete insouciance and a brilliant smile. Matthew Ball a handsome and supportive Florimund. Kristen McNally a terrific Carabosse, rejoicing in her evil and all but licking her lips as she cast her wicked spell. Fumi Kaneko a serenely beautiful and gracious Lilac Fairy. And so many other riches. No-one does regal like Elizabeth McGorian. Hayward and Sambé as Princess Florine and the Bluebird flew through the air and flitted and sparked like truly magical creatures. I normally find Puss-in-Boots and the Cat, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, a bit tedious; but they were performed with such verve tonight (by Paul Kay, Ashley Dean, Romany Pajdak and Nicol Edmonds) that they were hugely entertaining. I thought all the fairy solos were excellent, as were Hay, Magri and O'Sullivan as Florestan and his sisters (once more, Hay and O'Sullivan seeming like a perfect match). And Thomas Whitehead a convincing, fussy, indignant Catalabutte. He and the King (a lovely performance by Christopher Saunders) could both however learn something about not passing the buck: the King is happy to land Catalabutte in it when Carabosse demands to know who is responsible for not inviting her to the christening; and Catalabutte is quick to point the finger at the women who had the knitting needles, knowing it could seal their fate. What rotters. I still find many of the costumes for this production a bit garish, and the effect of the forest growing isn't as effective as in other/previous productions. And I'm not happy with the ending in respect of Carabosse - she appears to have been defeated by the Lilac Fairy en route to the palace, but she then pops up again and creeps over to Aurora's bed, only slinking away behind it when the Prince approaches. But where does she go? She needs to be seen to be defeated once and for all, and that doesn't seem to happen (although it says in the synopsis that she is 'finally vanquished' - but that isn't made clear on stage). I was left with the horrible sensation that she and her rats (which were amazingly rat-like) might rise again. I also preferred the ending where tribute is paid ultimately by all to the Lilac Fairy, whereas here it is Aurora and Florimund who are given the final reverence. But all in all, a great performance abounding in magnificent dancing.
  19. Like those surveys you get after a hospital appointment - would you recommend us to your friends?! (At least they don't ask if you enjoyed it.)
  20. Kaneko, McNally, Hayward, Sambe (don't know how to do an accent on my phone!). Great performance - just leaving.
×
×
  • Create New...