Jump to content

loveclassics

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    658

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by loveclassics

  1. loveclassics
    I remember Amahl and the Night Visitors - I loved it!
  2. loveclassics
    No one has mentioned Christopher Wheeldon's version of "An American in Paris", a musical but with plenty of dancing and featuring Robbie Fairchild and the former RB dancer, Leanne Cope. Sky Arts Christmas Eve with a repeat at 10:10 a.m. Sky Arts (free to view).
  3. loveclassics
    If there's anything ballet-related that was shown on UK TV in the last 25-30 years I probably have a DVD recording of it. I'm downsizing and have a ginormous collection of recordings i want to donate so if there's anything in particular you'd like to see, please pm me. I'm not selling but am happy to give stuff to ballet-lovers, rather than add to landfill. Linda
  4. loveclassics
    I'm with Beryl, the Ukrainian folk dance was the highlight. Two dancers obviously loving their dance together. Of the other stuff, the pop and disco stuff was fine if you've never seen MTV or been to a rock concert but the rest was rather bland. I tried to like the Pdd with Mayara & Matthew but just couldn't get in to it. Why is modern dance so depressing? Is this why the dancers all look so seriously miserable?
  5. loveclassics
    I didn't see it, Spartacus is the type of ballet, IMHO, that only needs to be seen once, but it's available via the catch up facility on Sky.
  6. loveclassics
    I have to agree. I loved their score for Three Musketeers and still listen to it.
  7. loveclassics
    This is tragic. He was so young, so talented. I feel for his family and loved ones.
  8. loveclassics
    Watching programmes about Covid isn't exactly fun but I believe in being well-informed so I watched BBC2's Pandemic 2020 on Thursday night and was rewarded with clips of Ivan Vassiliev and Maria Vinogradova rehearsing and performing Don Q. I loved watching her rehearse in the kitchen of their 'dacha', triumphantly producing a tub of ice cream at the climax of her solo, perfectly in synchronicity with the music. Then Ivan executing wonderful jeteés round the rain-soaked roundabout outside their home. (I always thought a dacha was a country house but theirs seemed to be in a typical nice suburb outside a city - could have been Kenley or Bushey Park). Finally a glimpse of the finished performance with the Bolshoi: highly enjoyable. As Vassiliev said: 'in times like this people need art'.
  9. loveclassics
    Actually, this isn't the same series but an earlier one about musicals in the theatre. Still, an excellent programme - well worth your time. Linda
  10. loveclassics
    Neither can I! Seems that the ROH's perennial problems with booking have returned along with the live performances. You'd think they might have spent some of their down time working on the website.
  11. loveclassics
    Has anyone else seen Neil Brand's excellent series about movie musicals? It's currently being repeated on BBC4 and the first episode included a long segment about Fred Astaire. Lovely to watch excerpts from classics like 'Top Hat' and even better to see Steven McRae reproducing some of his amazing tap sequences. Should still be on iPlayer if you missed it. Highly recommended! Linda
  12. loveclassics
    Thanks very much. It sounds promising and I'm looking forward to it. Linda
  13. loveclassics
    I think I may have seen this before. Is it in 20th century costume? Linda
  14. loveclassics
    Thanks to everyone for their contributions. Linda
  15. loveclassics
    Reading the Times regular update on what arts to watch online, a reference to the ROH's streaming of Faust caught my eye: "a gleefully weird send-up of French romantic ballet as choreographed by Michael Keegan-Dolan". I've never heard of Mr Keegan-Dolan, probably because I don't have much enthusiasm for contemporary dance but can someone better-informed than I, tell me something about him and his works? Thanks Linda
  16. loveclassics
    I think the press is trying to give us light-hearted items to read and cheer us up at present. Either that or the silly season is 4 months earlier than usual. For example, I read that: 1) The Duchess of Cornwall has taken up ballet at the grand old age of 72 and is asking Darcey Bussell for advice 2) Police called to a disturbance in someone's garden found the cause to be randy hedgehogs having an orgy 3) Colin Firth claims that his wet shirt scene in Pride & Prejudice blighted his career Is the whole world going crazy or should I stop reading The Times (source of the above) and switch to The Sun for serious reading? We are certainly living in interesting times*. Linda * Ancient Chinese curse; 'may you live in interesting times'.
  17. loveclassics
    Is this game based on the sci-fi novels by Anne McCaffrey? I read them years ago and they were fairly lightweight but fun. They featured dragons and their riders who shared a telepathic bond - not sure how that could be conveyed through dance but maybe....? I understand that Sambé portrayed a totally believable cello at the ROH lately. After that a dragon should be child's play. Linda
  18. loveclassics
    I've just come across a lovely photo (by the late, great, John Ross) of Melissa Hamilton as the Dying Swan. It's mounted on a lightweight polystyrene backing and I would like to pass it on to anyone interested. Send me a p.m. and I'll put it in the post. Linda
  19. loveclassics
    Funny how cats stick in your memory and dreams. When I was growing up we had a black & white moggie prosaically called Smudge because of the black patch on his otherwise white face. I still dream of him sometimes, heaven knows why - he was the most aggresive animal on four legs since the days of the velociraptor. Although a 'retired gentleman cat' and supposed to be placid, at night he would roam over nearby Coulsdon Common looking for a fight. I suspect the foxes were scared stiff of him but one night he went too far and got on the nerves of a badger. In the morning he limped home with half his ear hanging off, bloodied but unbowed. His whole attitude said ' you should see the other guy'. He lived a long time but we had to let him go when he was 18 years old and had succumbed to kidney disease. I still miss him. Linda
  20. loveclassics
    I have decided that I must de-clutter my overcrowded flat which means that more than 20 years of ballet magazines, programmes, photos & recordings have to go. In these uncertain times I would like to pass them all on to fellow ballet-lovers who might enjoy them, rather than leave them to be dumped in landfill when I'm not around anymore. I don't mean to sound morbid but none of us can foresee the future and there's lots of stuff here which I'm sure others might want to see and hopefully get as much pleasure from it as I have done. If you're interested generally or have a special interest in any particular area/ballet/dancer, please let me know and I'll post you a list of everything I have to dispose of. No cost unless you want a huge amount in which case I might ask for a contribution towards the postage. Hopefully, this lockdown will be over in a month or so and I can invite people over to my flat (5 minutes from Canary Wharf) to see for themselves and carry away what they want*. I have a small patio garden so would be happy to entertain other ballet.co-ers as I've done in the past. Linda *Some people have been in touch with me already so some of the really early stuff (1950s onwards) has been promised.
  21. loveclassics
    Just received an email from the BFI and they are opening their archive now. It's free to view so look at their website: www.bfi.org.uk/ Linda
  22. loveclassics
    I thought the BFI was saving some TV programmes which were considered worthy of preservation? Possibly it would be worth finding out what ballet and dance-related stuff they are keeping. Bluebird posted about their viewing booth on the South Bank some time ago. Obviously we can't visit it now but perhaps it might consider putting something online? Linda
  23. loveclassics
    Apologies to those who don't have Sky but for us fortunate enough to get Sky Arts there's a lot of dance-related material available on their Catch-up option. I particularly liked the Top Dance Scenes from the Movies which was more than just the usual catalogue-type programme usually seen on Channel 5. There's genuinely interesting debate about the choices which include a sizeable clip from The Red Shoes, one of my all-time favourites and worth a dozen Black Swans. There are also plenty of performances of the classic ballets too (plus dance-drama from Matthew Bourne) and you can download them to watch as many times as you like. Linda
  24. loveclassics
    I do remember reading in the press that Kobborg was really let down by the Royal Opera , not the ballet company. He was announced as providing the choregraphy for a new opera production, then suddenly there was a change of heart at the top and a different choreographer was picked. I believe he may have felt that the RB should have fought harder for him. After his retirement Anthony Dowell said he had regrets at not fighting harder for the ballet company when he was AD but the opera always came first at the ROH. The politics at the Opera House is hard for outsiders to understand as was mentioned in both in Jeremy Isaac's book about his time there ("Never mind the Moon") and Mary Allen's A House Divided. I'd quote from these but I gave them away as part of my de-cluttering project. Linda
  25. loveclassics
    I liked the POB version of Jewels though I suppose the NYC version might be better (if it exists) Linda
×
×
  • Create New...