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bridiem

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Everything posted by bridiem

  1. bridiem
    Well you already support the company by buying tickets, which is the most important kind of support there is.
  2. bridiem
    Sorry, not sure of the relevance of 2001 - were new employment terms introduced after the re-opening of the ROH? I wouldn't expect that dancers could be demoted (now or in the past); but I would have thought their contracts could not be renewed (as has clearly been the case in the past).
  3. bridiem
    Is it really a 'jobs for life' scenario? I remember, for example, Fiona Chadwick having to leave when she was still at the height of her powers. I had assumed that dancers were on annual contracts, but maybe that's not the case.
  4. bridiem
    I find the 2nd circle at SW very bad for sightlines, and I'm tall. I regularly have a head in my way, because the seats aren't staggered. It was one of the (many) things that really annoyed me when the new SW opened. Why would you design a new theatre like that??
  5. bridiem
    I do love this forum. 😍
  6. bridiem
    Fonteyn and McGregor?! 🤔
  7. bridiem
    But could they not have done e.g. a pdd from Birthday Offering or Swan Lake? At least something that Fonteyn actually danced!
  8. bridiem
    Wonderful! I watched without sound because I'm in a cafe, but her dancing was so musical that I didn't need the sound. So lyrical and harmonious, and incredibly moving. Thanks very much for posting it, Springbourne3.
  9. bridiem
    Yes, I thought that was odd.
  10. bridiem
    I actually get a bit tired of the sense that the aim is to be as abandoned as possible (in all the MacMillan works, in fact). It's not a competition; it's art.
  11. bridiem
    I think Dawnstar was joking... But yes, it's extremely aggravating to sit behind someone with a bouffant hairdo of some kind (especially if they're tall to start with!).
  12. bridiem
    Highlights (I've tried to be selective, but have failed miserably!): - The Unknown Soldier: the beautiful young men restored to vibrant, joyous life in a golden heaven - La Bayadère: magnificent performances by Nunez/Muntagirov/Osipova, and the corps - Les Patineurs: thrilling to see it again - Muntagirov in Winter Dreams: heartbreaking - ENB's beautiful production of Swan Lake at the Coliseum - Asphodel Meadows: Scarlett's best work - The 2 Pigeons: sublime choreography and obliging pigeons - Don Quixote, which I loved against all expectations - Pina Bausch's Rite of Spring, ENB: the raw, exciting power of it - Romeo and Juliet: brilliant débuts by O'Sullivan, Sambé and Stix-Brunell, sublime performances by Lamb and Muntagirov, Sambé's thrilling Mercutio and Avis's magnificent Tybalt - San Francisco Ballet, Shostakovich Trilogy: wonderful choreography, music and dancing - Month in the Country: brilliant ballet, brilliant performances, especially Muntagirov as an incredibly moving Beliaev - Symphony in C: thrilling every time; one of my desert island ballets - The Margot Fonteyn Celebration: an unexpectedly rich and moving evening Lowlights (fortunately very few): - the new work in the Linbury in Feb 2019: abysmal - Nora, Stina Quagebeur's new ballet: so disappointing - Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake: loved the swans, hated everything else - Nunez and Tissi in Romeo and Juliet: Nunez miscast, Tissi very poor General: one of the best seasons ever
  13. bridiem
    I seem to remember someone on this forum saying that they'd been told that the bios (and therefore perhaps the existence of a bio?) are not updated until the end of the season. No doubt for cost reasons.
  14. bridiem
    No, that was Crawford too.
  15. bridiem
    I read/heard Gary Avis saying that he wears the hunch back but not the pot belly. So it seems they have a choice as to which of these to wear (or both).
  16. bridiem
    Completely agree with this, Balletfanp. Muntagirov made his first solo so expressive - full of discontent. yearning and loneliness - that I then understood what happened subsequently. In his way he was as lost as Natalia at the beginning of the ballet, and first found release in fun and lightheartedness (for him) with Vera and Katia and then more significantly and unexpectedly with Natalia. They each see something of themselves in the other. But it's not a situation that can be allowed to develop, for any of them. A bit like a Russian Brief Encounter, I suppose. With Kolia whirring and spinning through the ballet as a symbol of the turmoil shaking the household and its residents. The more I see of Month in the Country, the more brilliant I think it is.
  17. bridiem
    He did, but it did make it slightly less plausible that she wouldn't have been aware of his presence... But it was a blip in an otherwise wonderful performance by Cuthbertson.
  18. bridiem
    Thanks, onemouseplace! I would have had no idea of the number of performances until a few years ago when I felt an urge to record as far as possible what I've seen. I realised that since I have all my old diaries, they would include the days on which I went to performances. So I just went through the diaries and in conjunction with any programmes or cast sheets I still have I recorded date, time, place, company, production, main dancers and anything else if significant and known (eg world première or début). The only trouble being that some of my diary entries simply say 'Ballet' or 'ROH' or something equally brief... And I have unfortunately not been able to keep most of my programmes or cast sheets from earlier years. So I have many gaps, where the only fact I know is that I went to a performance. I'm aiming to try and fill in some of the gaps from various resources in due course, and have already done so where it's easy (e.g. the ROH productions database, though that's not complete). All good fun!!
  19. bridiem
    Three brilliant works, superbly danced. A strange, powerful Diaghilev work; a perfectly-constructed, beautiful Ashton one-acter; and a sublime 20th-century abstract work, all with magnificent designs and to wonderful music. By a happy coincidence, it was precisely this combination that I saw at the ROH in October 1977 for my first ever ballet performance: Enigma Variations, Symphonic Variations, and Les Noces; and tonight I reached a personal landmark of my 1,000th ballet/dance performance. I know by the standards of some forumites that makes me a positive slacker, since it's taken me nearly 42 years to get there; but I'm very proud of this milestone, and more grateful than I can ever express for all the joy ballet has given me over the years. The fact that it came on the last night of what has been such an incredible season for the Royal Ballet makes it even more special. It was a magnificent company performance, by a magnificent company.
  20. bridiem
    Month is quite a big set to get up and down, especially after Firebird; and some of the dancers are in works both sides of the intervals. So I doubt if possible to have shorter intervals in this bill.
  21. bridiem
    I use a pair I bought in the ROH shop about 10 years ago (only the third pair I have had over the years). They were about £40 and I find them perfectly adequate. (I do have to squint slightly for clear vision, which is rather tiring, but that was the case with the other pairs too, so it must be my eyes...).
  22. bridiem
    I had the interesting experience last night of seeing this bill from the Amphi but without opera glasses. I forgot them, for I think only the second time in 42 years of ballet-going!! I was rather dismayed when I realised I didn't have them, but of course it forced me to allow the bigger picture to prevail instead of spending so much time focussing (literally!) on the leads or other individuals. And it was a great experience! Especially with Symphony in C, where I was much more aware than usual of the way the shapes unfold and complement each other. What an incredible ballet it is. And in The Firebird I got the whole magnificent sweep of the drama all the time. I was even more impressed by Magri's Firebird this time, and it really projected up into the Amphi. Hayward was a brilliant Vera again in Month (those angry, stabbing kicks towards Natalia!) but seemed less secure in Symphony in C. Kaneko, Muntagirov, Lamb and Campbell all shone in Symphony and it got a great roar of approval as the curtain came down. A great evening.
  23. bridiem
    I understand what you're saying about Naghdi, HappyTurk, in that I don't think her Juliet is very MacMillan-esque. But I think there comes a point when a ballet has its own life independent of the choreographer, and R&J has long gone beyond that point. I think her style of dancing and her approach to the drama is entirely valid, effective and beautiful. She's not wild or completely abandoned, but I don't think that's necessary for the tragedy to unfold. There are all sorts of different Juliets (as there are all sorts of different people!). I did see progression in her, from a happy young girl to a distraught young woman, but she was at all times herself - capable, intelligent, loving and beautiful. I agree that Ball is more introverted as a dancer; and I sometimes feel as if he's not entirely convinced by what he's doing. But clearly others get more from him than I do! (I do think he's an excellent dancer, and a terrific partner.)
  24. bridiem
    I've never really thought about that; but maybe it's a) a bit of light relief, b) an indication that Natalia's husband is older than her and a bit absent-minded, and/or c) an indirect reference to the fact that Yslaev has lost the means of keeping things (people?) secure/confined; the fact that it is Natalia who then finds the keys has myriad possible interpretations!
  25. bridiem
    The Fonteyn element in this programme is quite small really. Or am I missing something? (It's still a great programme!).
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