Johnpw

Golly, hard to keep up.

 

Not so sure I fancy The Cage, has anyone seen it?

No, but the Bolshoi website gives a running time of 14 minutes so it's far from a "main course". The link to the trailer on swissballetfan's post might give you an insight.

I'll be going for Etudes and Ratmansky. Glad that Chudin is in Etudes: he impressed me a lot when the Bolshoi came to London last year and on youtube since then. 

There's a live transmission of A Contemporary Evening tomorrow. When I've clicked on cinemas through the 'bolshoiballetcinema' website, they are showing a Triple Bill of van Manen/Leon Lightfoot/Ratmansky.

I went to the Bolshoi Theatre website to look at casting. There the Triple Bill is shown as Jerome Robbins 'The Cage', Lander's 'Etudes' and Ratmansky. Not exactly contemporary, apart from Ratmansky's 'Russian Seasons'. I assume we should take the Bolshoi's website as definitive.

I'm tempted to go, if only to see how Russians "speak Danish" in Etudes and the Ratmansky is probably worth a look.

Does anyone know if the Bolshoi is also making it available online as they did with their live "Sleeping Beauty"? 

I seem to remember that Polunin performed another Narcissus themed piece as part of Putrov's Men in Motion programme shortly after he had left the RB. He was mesmerising in that.

Could that be the “Narcissus” (or Narcisse) choreographed by Goleizovsky for the young Vladimir Vasiliev? There's a youtube video of Polunin dancing that in Russia. The more I've read about the new "Narcissus and Echo", the more I'm sorry that we aren't seeing the older version, especially as Vasiliev is involved in "the Project". What a missed opportunity to see a "handing on". 

Picking up on bridiem's thoughts on your thoughts, it would be interesting to know more about how the final artistic decisions were reached and who's responsible.

I'm curious (in a slightly anxious way) about this show and am trying not to prejudge.  The Telegraph review likened Narcissus and Echo to “Carry on Ovid” which brought a fleeting image of a spangly Kenneth Williams spoofing a balletic sequence with a scantily clad Barbara Windsor. I feel this may have put me in the right frame of mind for the Saturday matinee.

Yes, there is that strong possibility too! Though in fact there was a very strange (to me) amount of applause and cheering last night (and it wasn't the first night after all), so perhaps there is an audience that understands him and he will simply dismiss the critics/regulars etc as unimportant.

Or perhaps it was mainly people who continued using their binoculars after Quintus stopped using his 

Enough of all this focus on Polunin's "huge talent". Frankly I am far more concerned for Osipova. She is intelligent, immensely talented and well-grounded but she is also very loyal to Polunin. He is entirely self-regarding in his ambitions and actions with no regard for others and it is sad to see her wasting her strength and talent legitimising this "Project Polunin" rubbish in his support. She is one of the most exciting dancers in our firmament and in my view has the potential to mature into one of the truly, truly  greats. The choices she makes over the next few months will be crucial. I know there are those on this forum who will disagree but to me, she is the one with the "huge talent". Polunin has wasted his and as far as one can make sense of his utterances his eyes are turned elsewhere. Good luck to him. Our concern and our support should be focussed on her!

You know Polunin, do you? You are privy to his thoughts and feelings, conversations and interactions with others, his relationship (whatever its current status) with Osipova? Loyalty is something chiefly verifiable in adversity rather than success. If Osipova is loyal, it may be to her credit. But perhaps she sees something in Polunin that you don't. Perhaps knows something that you don't.

As for concern and support, some of us are capable of feelings of support, sympathy and encouragement for more than one person at a time. We can even wish people well when they disappoint us; sometimes especially then. Surely it would be possible to express concern for Osipova without indulging in a character assassination of Polunin.  

For the record, my first live experience of Polunin will be this Saturday and I am not a "fan". Perhaps I won't enjoy the show but I hope I won't deny him basic human respect on that account. He seems a troubled soul whose great talent seems not to have been accompanied by all the desirable inner resources: perhaps one of the Sleeping Beauty fairies was missing at his christening.  

I agree with MAB about the Beaumont book even though it should carry a "health warning". Like me, you may be left with a strong desire to see Fokine's ballets in live performance - a desire not easily satisfied, if at all! So it's a tantalising work.

I'm sad to say my only live experience of Fokine has been the excerpts in Sunday's "Russian Ballet Icons" Gala at the Coliseum. Scheherazade and The Firebird were in revival versions by Andris Liepa (who may be a creative partner of Isabelle Fokine, not sure). If the full ballets were danced as expressively as by Kretova/Vasiliev and Alexandrova/Lantratov on Sunday, I'd be happy even if the versions aren't ideal.

On the Mariinsky website, Ms Fokine is not mentioned in the credits for the following Fokine ballets: Carnaval, Petrushka, (Dying) Swan and Chopiniana (Les Sylphides). 

Sorry but I don't think that this is a topic to joke about or to take lightly. It is far too serious for the individuals likely to be caught up in the process and with the blustering idiots who are in charge of Brexit I don't think that it is going to be that good for anyone except the select few. There is far too much defiance, posturing, bluster and noise for home consumption by those who have the job of securing our exit from the EU to suggest that anyone has thought that seriously about the process , the immediate consequences of triggering Article 50, let alone those five or more years down the line. As a result I think that the whole thing is going to be a shambles.

 

I hope that I am wrong but my feeling is that it won't be of benefit to anyone much.The dance sector is not one that is going to loom large when it comes to future arrangements for the movement of workers between the UK and the EU  in either direction.Whatever rules are put in place they won't affect the exceptional performer, such rules never do, but they are likely to affect the majority of those working in the sector. With the amount of ill will and unpleasantness that has been generated so far in some quarters in this country and the likelihood of a lot more to come if the members of the EU do not act in accordance with the predictions of the most ardent Brexiteers I think that the general trend will be to much  greater restrictions on the movement of labour in both directions and  that the needs of dancers will simply get lost.  

Here's some facts about the current composition of the company from the Royal Ballet website. In what follows I've excluded guests and trainees but included character artists. And aggregated into continental or regional groupings.

United Kingdom 40

Commonwealth 11

European Union 10

South America 8

USA 8

Asia 7

Non EU Europe 4

Unknown 1

Valeri Hristov is included in the European Union total, but joined the company before Bulgaria joined the EU. 

In other words, with a strong home-grown presence, the company is truly international or, as they say these days, "global". As it always has been. Nerina, Cranko, Beriosova, Nureyev, Makarova....those are only names off the top of my head.

I haven't done a similar exercise for ENB except to see that out of the nine Lead Principals/Principals, five are non-UK and non-EU. In many European Union countries, especially Germany, company members are recruited globally, often from Russia or former Soviet countries, USA or South America. For a less global company look at the Paris Opera Ballet, despite the French government's profession of an ardent "European-Unionism". 

So I'm unclear why rules after Brexit are "likely to affect the majority of those working in the sector" and be unduly restrictive. Foreign dancers were not excluded before 1975 and there are plenty of non-EU dancers currently working in Britain even though they don't enjoy "freedom of movement". In any case, there is an argument to be had as to whether, as a matter of law and principle, a candidate from, say, Estonia should have greater access and right to work here than a dancer from Russia, Colombia or Australia. 

The fact is, we don't know what will happen.  Those with influence should be doing what they can to ensure that British dance remains at least as "global" as it is now and, perhaps, more so. I really shouldn't,  but I can't stop myself from observing that it's not only Brexiteers who are guilty of "defiance, posturing, bluster and noise". Nor is "ill will and unpleasantness" solely to be found on this side of the Channel. Some EU politicians generate a considerable amount of their own.

I believe that Kschessinska had only one son (Vladimir or "Vova"), and that he died without issue. Sevenard is perhaps a collateral descendant, as MK's brother, Joseph, did have children.

Thank you. That's a lesson in not believing everything that one reads on the internet! Perhaps it got lost in translation and "related" would describe it better. She herself says that the family have some of Kschessinska's old costumes. The relationship is one of those "fun facts": she'll need to make her own way and, on the basis of last night, should have a good chance of doing so.

A very enjoyable evening. 

Among my favourites were performers who also dance with the eyes. Lantratov and Alexandrova have this quality in spades. Vasiliev too. And I could really believe in the "invisible mirror" to which Gudanov and Lunkina directed their eyes in Robbins' "Afternoon of a Faun" which I hadn't seen before.

Dmitry Gudanov's youtube videos in various roles have given me a lot of pleasure. From the date of his graduation into the Bolshoi company, he must be near the retirement age zone, so I was especially glad to have caught him in a live performance. Still a fine and elegant dancer.

I thought the Vaganova students were excellent. Eleonora Sevenard gave a poised and confident performance as the Fairy Doll: it must be in the genes, apparently she's a descendant of Matilde Kschessinska. She was ably supported by the two Pierrots who not only did the steps but also showed off their character training.  Well done! Given the negative reaction at the time of his appointment, it seems Tsiskaridze is doing a good job at the school. I'm pleased he allowed them to travel.

The excerpts from "Rubies" and "Diamonds" made me glad I'd booked for the coming run of "Jewels". Tyler Angle impressed me.

Finally it was good to see Tamara Rojo and Isaac Hernandez  match any of the others - and in a Russian classic!

I didn't know anything about the Swan Lake white act sequence, with the dancers in costumes that vaguely reminded me of Matthew Bourne's swans.  Any details on this would be appreciated.  Although I quite enjoyed it, as I heard all that glorious music I couldn't help thinking I would have loved to have seen the normal classical one.  

This was "Lac" by Jean-Christophe Maillot, danced by Liisa Hämäläinen and Alexis Oliveira, from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.

 we're still debating why Eva turned her back on Walter and flounced off at the end.

Didn't Wagner criticise Grand Opera of the Meyerbeer type as "effects without causes"? That was my thought at the ending. Nothing in the previous four hours or so led up to it or, in a sense, justified it. Not even in terms of Kasper Holten's own conceptual (or should it be "Konzeptual") interpretation of the text and characterisation of Eva. It just seemed glued on. Perhaps it's intended as his calling card for when he leaves Covent Garden and has to find work in the German theatres - but I'd have thought it's not extreme or controversial enough.

As a non-Wagnerian, there was much to enjoy musically and I'm glad I went, but felt pretty exhausted by the end and I wasn't even performing! The Sleeping Beauty seems like a little one-Act interlude in comparison.

There was no information on the promoter's website yesterday. The other day on his Instagram, Xander Parish said he was looking forward to dancing ''Le Spectre de la Rose' with Yulia Makhalina "next week" in London. But even that's unofficial.

 

I was lucky enough to be in the audience on Tuesday and attended a cinema Encore today. I very much enjoyed the close-ups (almost always appropriate, in the sense of not detracting from the full stage view) and the extras (not least Dame Beryl Grey). But I was mystified by the lighting - apart from close-ups, the whole thing looked as if it had been filmed at twilight. This did not reflect at all the lighting in the theatre itself. I wondered if it had something to do with the "setting" selected by the projectionist, but it seems not. I hope the DVD addresses this, because in the cinema the lighting was far from "natural".

 The stage sets and costumes were stunning and a reminder of the huge loss our art has suffered with the passing of John McFarlane.

 

I know Peter Farmer died recently but haven't seen anything about John McFarlane (who, I agree, makes any production special).

I think I'm right in saying that the music in question isn't a "prelude" to Act 3 or an entr'acte but is the actual opening to Act 3, described in the score as "Marche" - the liner notes to the Naxos cd describe it thus: "The King and Queen enter in procession with the Prince and Princess". 

It is RB's decision to treat it as "accompaniment" to a scene change rather than allowing the slight pause with partially raised/dimmed lights which sometimes happens in operas in similar circumstances. If there was this pause, the curtain could be raised at the start of the Marche and we would actually see the "festive procession" for which Tchaikovsky composed the music. Perhaps those responsible for the production feel that the public have had their two intervals, the bar receipts are secure, and so, for heaven's sake, let's just get on with it.

It's unfortunate that some people feel authorised to speak loudly while the orchestra is playing which is inconsiderate to the players and fellow audience members. I have attended three performances - there is indeed an audible hubbub but I'm not clear that most members of the audience break into speech, check their phones etc. There's at least a significant number who don't! Even so I don't think the bad manners of some justify generalisations about the "average member" of the audience, whoever he or she may be. 

I just came across a short piece about "Sadler's Wells Ballet Books", edited by Arnold Haskell and published by The Bodley Head - probably in the late 1940s. They are described as "lucidly written and compactly contrived booklets aimed at helping the public to know the repertoire of the Sadlers Wells Ballet...All phases in the creation of the ballet are covered..Each volume is devoted to the works of a specific Wells choreographer".

One is "The Sleeping Beauty" with articles by Sacheverell Sitwell, Joy Newton, Dyneley Hussey and Tamara Karsavina. I haven't read it but imagine that, as a "booklet", it's on a scale different from Scholl and Wiley. But it may possibly be of interest in connection with the 1946 production; and Karsavina might have something to say about the performance history in Imperial Russia and after.

Well Bruce, I have been watching BRB/SWRB since 1979. I am a Friend, a subscriber and I give the company extra money every month. Despite all of this (oh, and I am a Friend if the Hippodrome too) I received neither the original invitation to donate to La Bayadere nor the letter saying it has been cancelled. I do sort of wonder if a supporter of the Company like me has been left off the mailing who else have they left out?

 

I think the sort of slow, creeping decline of the Company is pretty rampant amongst the admin staff as well. All very disconcerting.

I'm not a Friend, subscriber or donor to BRB (at least until now) but I have previously given money to a couple of charities participating in the annual Big Give whereby donations can be doubled by matched funding, provided you give before the day's allocation of matched funding runs out. The BRB/Bayadere was included among this year's eligible projects when I was alerted to "preview" through the Big Give website. However, I already knew about it because of Pulcinella's intial post on this thread. There was also a two page spread about it in The Nutcracker programme. I don't know what else was done to publicise it. I made a donation through the Big Give which was doubled.

In the case of money donated for a specific purpose,  BRB may have felt bound to notify the specific donors about the cancellation together with options: namely, refund or consent to reallocation to another specific project (consent being assumed if a donor didn't reply otherwise by a certain date). It may be that there are Big Give (or Charity Commission) rules which require this to be done, but I don't know. Those who are merely Friends or who donate for general purposes aren't in quite the same position. 

So it's not the case of a general mailing to Friends, subscribers etc but something very specific. Apart from mention of the cut in funding, the letter didn't contain information about other thought processes leading to the cancellation but I wouldn't have expected it to - its main purpose was to set out the two options open to the donor.

It's a shame but, in my case, BRB has a new Friend and potential donor.  

Tonight is the Cinema Relay of Sleeping Beauty for Bolshoi. It is also available to watch for free on their website if you are in Russia...

I've registered with the Bolshoi Official Video Channel (free, accessed through www.bolshoi.ru) and I'm just about to watch the cinema relay now in the UK on my desktop.

I received a letter this morning from BRB with the disappointing news that, following a 62% cut in its grant from Birmingham City Council, it's made the "difficult but unavoidable decision" not to invest in a new production of "La Bayadere". Instead they will be presenting David Bintley's "Aladdin".

People who donated specifically to the Bayadere project can agree to have the donation allocated to "Arcadia" (part of a triple bill) - "an entirely new piece with choreography by BRB dancer Ruth Brill, set to music by acclaimed saxophonist John Harle with designs by Atena Amer".

. 

Estreiiita - thanks for posting the link. I enjoyed watching it just now and would love to see this version live with a comparably fine ensemble. I suppose that would mean a trip to Hamburg or Copenhagen.

I assume the little "ceremony" at the end was the promotion of Ida Praetorius (the lovely Juliet) to the Danish equivalent of Principal or Etoile. An onstage promotion, as in Paris, is somehow more exciting and touching than a press release.

Watching this made me regret that we don't see much Neumeier in London -  it might perhaps be one way of dealing with the perceived problem of a lack of effective narrative ballets. 

So now it's looking like three documentaries but no performance! Oh well - we'll know soon. Thank you Geoff.

A few weeks ago the Covent Garden box office rang me to ask if I minded changing my seat at the matinee on 29 November as the BBC wanted to film it. I imagine I wasn't the only one. 

I agreed but perhaps I should have asked searching questions in order to report back on this topic! I assume it's intended to include footage of the performance in one of the documentaries.

Roberta Marquez will be dancing in this Gala in Spain in December: http://www.fundacioct.cat/es/programacio/gala-destrelles-del-royal-ballet-de-londres/

I very nearly missed this as I thought the "new content" might be about the proposed dvd. Glad I looked! But perhaps others may miss it buried away here rather than a thread with its own title.

Does anyone know who "Dance Tours"(the promoting organisation) are?

I went to the Phoenix East Finchley to see Bright Stream - only £13, cheaper for concessions. Unfortunately, five minutes or so after I'd bought the ticket, we were informed that something had "blown" and the engineer couldn't get there in time, so a refund was offered. Shame for the cinema as it seems they'd sold 75 tickets.

Anyway, I went home and watched a version of it on youtube - amateur film of a different live performance (November 2013, I think), reasonably clear but not complete. I found the staging and the dancing very entertaining, sometimes genuinely comic, and not only the male Sylphide. The dancers seemed to be enjoying themselves too. Glad to hear the score.

The cinema seems to show all the Bolshoi screenings (well, except today).

In addition to the reviews linked through the Dance Links forum, there's a review from G.J. Dowler on Classical Source which I found thoughtful and perhaps of interest.

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=14052

I believe it's ok to link to reviews here but, if not, perhaps a moderator will move it. 

I can't read the FT because of the paywall! Am surprised at Crisp, but he is often at odds with others....which is why I like him! So Mr Watts is in good company. ☺

Usually I too find I can't access the FT review as a link to it brings up the registration/subscription page and I already feel over-registered. Just occasionally I've struck lucky and got the actual text but have never been able to work out why. Possibly some reviews become accessible after a time lapse.

However I just performed an experiment. After clearing "History" (and presumably cookies) I googled "Anastasia Osipova" and then clicked the tab "News". A variety of links to reviews came up including the FT. I clicked on the link and, behold, Clement Crisp's review appeared in all its glowing praise.

Hope this revelation doesn't contravene any "posting rule" - if an internet ignoramus like me can work this out, it can't be too "crafty". Perhaps there's some permission extended to Google.