Ianlond

Some very interesting triples, particularly, and i’m happy to see Frankenstein have another go. Glad that there is more Ashton but still no Daphnis & Chloe (sigh!) or Cinderella. Perhaps it’s the step-sisters (although I can imagine two of the new female principle character artists making it work - I *think* that this has been tried before?) or the cost of a re-design. But there is so much great choreography in it (IMO) that it’s a shame it seems to have fallen out of the regular rep. Symphony in C always welcome & the intensely moving Flight Pattern & Infra too.

I’m embarrassed to say that I have only just realised that I typed Pulcinella rather than Petrushka Darlex! Oops. Having just left the ROH from a beautiful, spellbinding performance of Giselle, I am very happy to add that (& indeed Wolf Works) to my imaginary season. I only discounted Giselle as it’s being performed this season (personally i’m happy to sit through Giselle any number of times!). I do however feel that Frankenstein is worth looking at again. Glad to hear about The Concert. I wonder what else will be on the bill? (Patineuers please!)

Isn’t it interesting how we all react differently? Thank goodness we do! :-) Personally I usually feel incredibly moved at most Ashton (Symphonic, Scene de ballet I have to fight back tears for much of them) + Alain in Fille I find - often - very touching. Likewise much McGregor - Infra, Wolf Works, Chroma, Obsidian Tear. I react in the same way to most Mark Morris & Matz Ek (would love to see his Giselle again!) However much less with Macmillan. Other than Mayerling & Concerto most of it leaves me cold. But i’m very glad to have had the opportunity to find out!

When was the last time Les Biches done? I have a vague memory that it may have been on a bill with a reconstruction of Nijinsky’s Jeux. Les Noces is, I find, always both exhilarating and moving. Hopefully will be put on again soon!

So obviously I’ve been greedy but this is a wish list right?! Full lengths: Cinderella Frankenstein Onegin/ Mayerling (personally I would rather an extra evening of new work but realise this is not necessarily realistic) Sleeping Beauty La Bayadere Tripples: Scene de Ballet/ Polyphonia/ Daphnis and Chloe Dances at a Gathering/ Illuminations/ Firebird Tombeaux/ New work/ Fearful Symmetries Les Rendezvous/ Flight Pattern/ Symphony in C (or Ballet Imperial) Monotones (or Apollo)/ Infra/ The Concert The Rake’s Progress/ New work/ Requiem Les Patineurs/ Pultchinella/ Raymonda Act 3

Absalutely ballet evolves but just because a dancer can do something, it doesn’t follow that they *should*. I completely agree that the Royal Ballet should shake things up, and continue producing (even more) new work and, when appropriate, new productions. But in terms of the classics perhaps this could take the form of being generally interested in researching and producing versions as ‘authentic’ (& I realise that is a problematic term in itself!) as possible - compared to say music where many leading orchestras do play with a greater awareness of period style than was the case thirty or so years ago - this approach seems much less common in dance. In terms of ‘tweaking’ the MacMillan or Ashton (or indeed Balanchine, Robbins etc.) yes then i’m sure that is done to a degree but adding new choreography surely makes a huge assumption about the original choreography which - personally - does seem to rather disregard the importance of the choreographer and original creators of the work. Thanks CHazell2, this is very interesting! It is a shame that the Royal Ballet can’t continue and add to the development of this more ‘authentic’ performance practice, where the work of the originators of the work is truly valued and made living through modern performance & staging.

Thanks Alison :-) perhaps most of act IV is as you say missing; it would certainly make it more easy to explain - perhaps other forum members more knowledgeable than me will know? I’m sure that I have read that both Dowell and more recently Alexei Ratmansky in his Zürich production went back to the original notation in an attempt to restore as much of the original choreography as possible. It would be interesting to compare the two last acts.

So first time posting but long observing...anyway the idea of this new production has really made me consider how we view ballet in comparison to other art forms. I have no problem at all with ‘new’ versions of the classics, having danced in and still enjoy watching one well known modern version of Swank Lake. However I really wonder why a major company like the Royal Ballet feels it is ok to tamper with the choreographic text; of course there is in a sense a tradition of this happening, with Ashton’s Act IV etc but I doubt the opera would consider it acceptable to change the notes of a score because it was felt to be an improvement. Of course there are new productions, and that’s fine, but it is interesting that the ballet as created by Petipa and Ivanov (particularly the last act it seems) is considered so insignificant - surely it is a who piece of art created through the combination of the music & movement? I believe that there are some difficulties when interpreting the notation as it has come down to us, and that there may be different versions created for different dancers, but it would seem more worthwhile to do what I believe Anthony Dowell did and attempt to created a choreographic text as faithful as possible to the original successful production? Or if this is not desired, then why not be even more courageous and just choreograph a whole new ballet to the score? There seems to be a lack of respect given to historic choreography which is not quite the same for more recent creations. Would a modern choreographer attempt to improve/ adapt Symphonic Variations?? Would it be seen as acceptable to change a Bach cantata or Shakespeare play? Yes dance is of course more difficult to pin down & will always change due to the way a dancer moves but I would have hoped the Royal Ballet - having historically been seen as performing in a somewhat more ‘authentic’ way when compared to some other traditions (keeping the mime, not having a jester, not having a happy ending) - was not keen to continue to do this. I’m sorry if this is a ramble, but for some reason this new production has really made me think!