CHazell2

On 21/01/2023 at 12:02, Emeralds said:

I too don’t really like these height “rules” but they’ve been around for over a century so examples include Monica Mason, Zenaida Yanowsky, Deborah Bull, etc not being cast as Aurora, although I don’t think they’d have done worse than some shorter dancers who have been cast. Likewise the shorter ballerinas don’t get cast as Lilac Fairy even though you might feel they could easily manage the technical and acting demands (eg we’re very unlikely to see Akane Takada, Meaghan Grace Hinkis or Francesca Hayward as LF). The unwritten rule also exists in other companies, although if you have a company that’s very tall to begin with eg Mariinsky Ballet, then everyone has a more equal chance. Likewise, Myrtha in Giselle generally also has to be a tall dancer to look imposing next to both Albrecht and Giselle- but she doesn’t have to be taller than Albrecht.

 

The LF also can’t look significantly  shorter than Carabosse as they are supposed to be equals in their powers and authority/status. Otherwise you could end up with a Thumbelina-versus-Goliath effect....probably not what Petipa intended! The original LF was actually a mime role like Carabosse is (still preserved in Peter Wright’s production for BRB, Dutch National Ballet, etc) and they still cast dancers who are not very short so that Carabosse and LF look similar in height and authority. 

Actually the Lilac Fairy did dance in the 1890 production, there is a photo of Marie Petipa in her Prologue costume.

It's a common misperception that the Lilac Fairy didn't dance in the original production - she definitely did and the reconstruction by Alexei Ratmansky shows that she had a very difficult and detailed Prologue variation.

Merry Christmas everybody and thank you to the Mods who do a spectacular job of running things on here all year around.

Thanks Jan. Am really looking forward to it. 

Hi, I am going to see Coppelia on Saturday evening at the Birmingham Hippodrome and I was wondering how much do you pay for a programme there and if its worth getting one.

Thanks

Splendid, I love that production

Will there be mime in this production and is it based on the Ratmansky production for the Bolshoi? Or will it be completely different?

Yes, I saw that. It's a bit steep for what it is. However academic books are usually highly priced than other books - I wonder why that is. Hope that it is a good book.

Hi there

Happy Birthday to the forum and a huge thank you to the Mods who always do a spectacular job.

Hope that you will all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whatever you decide to do on the day.

All my Best Wishes

Chris

Hi there.

Sorry for not posting on here for a long time. 

9 hours ago, Odyssey said:

I know this topic has been touched on previously in other threads here, but what is ‘the elephant in the room’ regarding the revival of Cinderella? I am aware of the ownership, but how is this currently impeding the revisiting of a work that so desperately needs to be performed while a significant number of dancers who were coached by Ashton are still able to teach it?   What is the likelihood the situation might change in the near future? This would be a wonderful focus ( and potential marketing tool) for any future Ashton festival.

I would love to see Cinderella again. What designs should be used though? The Walker designs or the last ones?

On 30/03/2021 at 14:05, FLOSS said:

Sadly unlike its quest for missing episodes of Dr Who the BBC has shown no interest in trying to find out whether anyone has a recording  of the missing sections of the ballet.

 

 

 

I wish that someone have recorded the missing sections as I always wanted to see that production and it would be interesting to see the contrasts between the Messel production and the Ashton/Wright one.

Will Mayerling be repeated again, do you know? Would love to watch it again.

12 hours ago, MJW said:

 

I think its the one filmed performance where I was actually in the audience - it was Zenaida Yanowsky's last performance before her retirement.

I was there too, stayed for most of the applause too. Lots of flowers. 

19 hours ago, Sebastian said:

However I did have the privilege in recent years to be able to compare a number of Sadlers Wells / Royal Ballet films of the Sleeping Beauty from the 1940s to the present day (including watching some recordings not widely available).

 

Hi Sebastian

May I ask you something, what recordings were they. Were they of different productions. Did you see the Ashton/Wright production of 1968?

Signed the petition. Hope that the Government will listen

5 hours ago, Jane S said:

New to the RDB's streaming list today is a rarity - Bournonville's A Folk Tale.  I don't think this film has ever been shown before and it's a very long time since any verions of this near-legendary ballet has been aired.

 

It's a recording from the last revival, in 2014, and the cast includes Hilary Guswiler as Hilda, Gregory Dean as Junker (Count) Ove and Alba Nadal as the changeling Miss Birthe.

 

NB this is a Hubbe production (with Sorella Englund) and if you have seen and loved earlier versions you need to adjust your expectations.

 

My review of it went down with ballet co but if you're interested in the background I'll post it here later.

Hi

Please post the background and your review - it sounds a very interesting production and one that I always wanted to see. Am I right in thinking that there are a few differences between this production and previous productions?

Also, has it been filmed before in any of its previous incarnations - I seem to remember that Queen Margerethe herself designed a very well received production? 

On ‎15‎/‎05‎/‎2020 at 20:12, Irmgard said:

In answer to the question about a recording of Mary Skeaping’s “Giselle”, as the representative of her Estate, I have been in discussion with ENB about this.  The only complete recording which is of a high enough resolution for streaming is a rehearsal, and unfortunately it is very much a rehearsal with stopping and starting, and the principal dancers marking their roles at various times.  Given the high standard of the performances ENB is streaming, this suffers in comparison and therefore will not be streamed.  However, the Estonian National Ballet also has the Skeaping production in their repertoire, with the beautiful David Walker designs, and they may be able to stream one of their recordings, as the opera house in Tallinn is streaming a production each Saturday (5pm UK time).  If they schedule it, I will post details on here.

 

I was very pleased to see the recording of “Romeo and Juliet”, although I have to confess I have seen more visceral and heartbreaking performances (and overcoming the awkward choreography) in the title roles (I have been watching this production since 1978!).  It is still my favourite production for its gorgeous, evocative sets and for the town square scenes, especially the fights, and this performance did not disappoint!  I also particularly love the scene with the Nurse, Benvolio and Mercutio, and this was a wonderful record of Tamarin Stott, James Forbat and Cesar Corrales teasing every ounce of comedy out of it.  Corrales was even more fabulous than I remember, and it is extraordinary to realise that he was just nineteen at the time!  I therefore watched it several times to marvel at him!  I agree with the comment that the music sounded odd at times and I believe this was due to the positioning of the microphones which did not evenly balance the sound.  I know I have been blown away many times in the theatre by the stunning rendition of Prokofiev’s score by the ENB Philharmonic but, as this was only ever meant as an archive recording, it seems the engineers were more focussed on what was happening onstage rather than in the ‘pit’ (such as it is in the Bristol Hippodrome!).

Please let them stream it on youtube?

Well Romeo and Juliet is an archive recording, so presumably they would have done the same for other productions.

Wonder if they will stream a recording of the Mary Skeaping Giselle, I would really like to see that again

Hi everybody. Just wanted to make sure that everybody on here is OK and managing alright. Hope that this will be over soon and things can get back to normality.

In the meantime, take all necessary precautions and stay safe as you can.

CHazell2

30 minutes ago, Geoff said:

 

Ha ha! But if you really want to know, I remember the people concerned and they knew exactly what they meant. They would have gone live to anything by, say, Harrison Birtwhistle, rather than promote the sorts of shows large numbers of people had gone to with pleasure over many decades. It was still an era of that kind of culture war, when certain people at the Third Programme and later Radio 3 believed they were right and the license fee payers were wrong. 

There is still that kind of snobbery around I am afraid. Especially when it comes to TV and politics - but that is a hot potato and so I won't pursue it now.

That broadcast was the first Rosenkavalier I ever saw on DVD. I still remember listening to the final Trio and thinking how beautiful it was.

I can hardly call Richard Strauss light music

47 minutes ago, alison said:

 

That would be, er, ... 1992? [takes a wild guess]

It was 1994 actually, and it was the occasion of Angela Gheorghiu's debut in La Traviata or the performance following that

Thank you FLOSS for that informative reply - I had no idea that Ratmansky had used the Justament notebooks, if he has - then it would be wonderful and interesting to see.

I remember seeing a streamed PNB video called Giselle Revisited in which various bits of mime were demonstrated and I have to say that everything was clear and the story became much more coherent. So it is a combination of the notations and the Justament source.

Sounds like this is something to see.