mauriceC

For me,"TWINKLE" was a total delight........long time since I have said that about a new ballet........liked the other three too...

Janet,I am glad you mentioned "License My Roving Hands"...had to check to see if Jimi Hendricks was "heavy metal" before I commented well it is not the first heavy...but as it was SWRB I suppose it doesnt count..........I cannot get at all excited about this as it is not my kind of music and there seem to be an awful lot of people involved...lets hope they agree on which way to go.Hope for BRB it is a huge success and it will certainly get them plenty of publicity.

I think of her very much as a RB Touring Company dancer,part of that great John Field group of protegees in the late 60s/early 70s;she was a fine dance actress.As has already been said,she was also great support for Nureyev in his Paris Opera direction.

Vividly recall seeing her giving an opening day class at Yorks Ballet Seminars,.......not an easy ride!!!!

Whilst I was lucky enough to see her in a variety of roles with SWRB,my most vivid memories of lovely Vyvyan Lorrayne have to be of Monotones and Enigma;I do not think she was equalled in either.I am pretty sure I recall a friend commenting at the time that she was the only Ysobel who managed to die her shoes to match the blue ribbons in the costume.She is a beautiful Fairy Summer in the Sib/Dowell Cinderella film but also,later with SWRB surprised us all with her very funny but poignant American Lady in "the Grand Tour";great fun at the time alongside her contrasting Balanchine roles in Apollo,Prodigal Son and Allegro Brillante.

Happy memories,thank you.

What a glorious treat that was!

All praise to Iain and Maggie for staging so much of the Ashton legacy .

re Raymonda Act 3

Always a treasure as far as I am concerned.

I still recall the original RB Touring Company performances with Doreen Wells and David Wall with great pleasure 

Forgive me if this has been mentioned in the previous  posts but it should not be forgotten that the Touring Company performed the full length ballet at the Spoleto Festival with Nureyev and Wells replacing Fonteyn in the mid 60s.The first UK performances were announced for the next regional tour opening i n Coventry  but the production was withdrawn because of scenic difficulties and never seen.and was replace by "Sleeping Beauty" with Fonteyn.

Act 3 was then presented in the Autumn 1966 tour  in the present gorgeous designs .......I am pleased to hear that once again there is applause on curtain rise.....at the last BRB revival the audience sat on its hands!

All best wishes to James ..He has always been splendid with BRB in a tremendous variety of roles from Petrushka to Widow Simone!

The Mill,Banbury is a small welcoming venue with a space rather than an actual stage.

I agree wholeheartedly with Sheila's initial report that this is an excellent group of dancers who presented four varied pieces with total professionalism and aplomb.

The running order was changed to put "Playground" as the central piece;I recall it as being pretty dislikeable thirty years ago but  this smaller scale version(the orIginal must have been 10/15 mins longer?)was harrowing.

It was also so good to see a piece of Cohen after so long........happy memories of London Contemporary Dance Theatre..........

Deservedly sold out at the Linbury,I reckon and I look forward to catching them again soon.

On 21/03/2019 at 18:46, bridiem said:

 

Playground was performed by SWRB in September 1979 at Sadler's Wells (I saw it). I suppose that was soon after Edinburgh. Perhaps it has never been performed again since the SW performances?

""Playground" was performed on the Spring 1980 SWRB tour;I saw it in Stratford and Birmingham .

"Dance and Dancers" listings show it also in Liverpool,Sunderland,Norwich.Bristol as well as Sadler's Wells and ROH.It was programmed between either Concerto and The Grand Tour or Concerto and Elite Syncopations except at ROH (Grosse Fugue and Paquita).

I look forward to seeing the Yorke Dance programme in Banbury on Thursday.

The Macmillan Conference  a few years ago ended with Lynn giving a masterclass on the R & J..I think Bedroom pas de deux.

She urged the dancers to" make it more dangerous"......something i now always look for whether it is ballet or play.

In an early review of "Dances At A Gathering".Richard Buckle said"Seymour was such a miracle of Mozartian comedy,I was sure she had sprung it on them.I was right.Next day Robbins said"We didn't know she was going to do that".She had surprised the most Mozartian of choreographers."

I was lucky enough to interview her for BRB Friends when she was coaching the Ashton  Isadora Waltzes.She talked a lot about Sir Fred being so lovely to her when creating "Two Pigeons" and how she had no fear of him;the devastation of not doing the opening "Romeo" and working with Nureyev(no dancer ever worked so hard).

Some years earlier,i had interviewed Christopher Gable( rehearsing "Peter & The Wolf" for SWRB) and he spoke much  about dancing with Lynn;he recounted a tour  to a Festival  in the South of France,run by ,pianist,Moura Lympany;Gable said they had been there less than half an hour when the "director" approached him,throwing his hands up in the air saying"Miss Seymour is eem possibeel!".

"

Is this an expanded version of the 1973 ballet?

My memory is that it was one part of a triple so about 45mins at most??

An excellent interview from Celine

.Pity there was not time to point out that during the run,she like the others will be dancing several other roles,making it even more hard work that the the interviewer thought.

I remember interviewing Graham for SWRB Friends at the Hippodrome.A very nice chap!

21 hours ago, Douglas Allen said:

Impressively well remembered, Maurice!!

I did have to look up the year;the dancers were a certain Margaret Barbieri with Hendrik Davel.

For the record,the rest of the programme(S Wells) was Solitaire,Monotones 2 and The Grand Tour.

It was indeed choreographed by Cranko and was danced in the 1971 season.

16 hours ago, Springbourne3 said:

Aaaaaaaaaaah ‘Hobson’s Choice’ 💖 love it like ‘Pineapple Poll’ - incidentally re ‘Beauty and the Beast’ does anyone remember the B and the B pas de deux that SWRB used to do - I saw Doreen Wells and Henrik Davel perform it a few times - the music was from Ravel’s ‘Mother Goose’ suite but I cannot remember who choreographed it though (1970s era).

My  visits to dear old ROH are infrequent these days but for a few years  now I  have wondered whether I am entering a bar/restaurant or a theatre.

At "Bayadere" recently, not for the first time the place reeked of fish.........I like fish but..........and I was trying to think of works  it might have been appropriate for???  Napoli Act 1?? Peter Grimes??

Why  anyone wants to go and gobble down a course between acts has always been beyond me but it must say something about why they are really there.

I see the new triple has nearly an hours worth of interval......expect Infra is to blame.....but lots more time to sell more booze.......

Is this the same in other  Opera houses??

Certainly not when i have been in Paris or New York......

Many years ago a friend commented to me how much the children present enjoyed the intervals......it seems to have spread.......

MauriceC

This week's newsletter from travelzoo has discounts for many of the Hippodrome performances.

I have just looked at ROH website under the heading What's On where the works are listed individually ,curious as to the casting.

If anyone can work out who is dancing what,then congratulations.

It just seems that a few random names have been pulled out of a hat in no particular order.

A longish new ballet or else a very short programme???

21 hours ago, Duck said:

Requiem and Song of the Earth also shared a bill in winter 2014/15 (the double bill was called “Hommage a MacMillan”); I saw a performance of it on St Stephen’s Day that year. As you say, it’s definitely not the lightest of programmes, in particular over the festive season. Strangely, I quite enjoyed, however, how the mood of the two pieces reinforced each other … just like the mood of Dances and Initials do so in my view.

In relation to Traces, I found an article in the NY Times archive that mentions such a piece – is it the one you have in mind? https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/01/archives/the-dance-stuttgart-troupe-gives-3-premieres-at-met.html

 

Many thanks for the article,Duck;yes that is most definitely the work;I saw little of Haydee but recall her tremendous dramatic presence.........regret also never seeing her and Cragun in "Shrew"

Having followed this company since the early 60s,I share the concerns of the last two posts.

We can if and but for ever.......but......if a choreographer is appointed,there will be little opportunity for the first three years as the Company will still be tied to its "new" Choreographic initiative.Unlikely that they will rely on revivals of the retired Director......as it must be new   new   new.......which means  money money money.

I hope at least some heritage will be preserved......ROH is now getting better but for many years DB was my only hope of maintaining that.

Some one I think is going to have a very tough job of  rebuilding the audience........remember the full length "Arthur"(2000 ish).....never revived but had sold out even before the first night.........

The triples of late have often seemed  desperately empty and some London audiences disappointing.

The 2 week Feb season,now down to one ballet is always preceeded by a week of Matthew Bourne which sells out.(no disrespect to Mr B).....there is then a huge gap of nearly 4 months when people are more likely to be going on holiday.

This is presently a company of very fine dancers and teachers who deserve the best.

(Glad I do not have to make the decision)

Regrettably I saw "Initials "  only once at Covent Garden in 1974,danced by the original cast;have a programme signed by "the four".

It shared a programme with I think "Brouillards"(later done well bySWRB/BRB) and a very intense piece for Haydee to some Mahler...."Traces"????

The Leslie  Spatt/Horst Koegler(1978) photobook is well worth seeking out.

Peter Wright brought the Stuttgart Ballet to Birmingham in 1993  in MacMillans' "Requiem" and "Song of the Earth"......not the lightest of programmes  and Haydee specially danced the Pie Jesu in "Requiem"

"Dances" I  was lucky enough to see many times when RB first took it on;those performances were unforgettable.......Sibley/Dowell/.Nureyev/Mason/Coleman/Wall/Jenner/Seymour/Connor and later Penney/Porter/Myers/Thorogood/Ashmole..........It is a ballet to treasure.

How wonderful to have two such works on one bill.

Too many cooks??

I went online at 11am on Weds,was No 7 in the queue and got  a decent Amphi for Osipova/Ball......far easier than either operas I booked for.