loveclassics

Does anyone know anything at all about this new work? On the ROH website the only information is the costume designer but surely the music, at least, should be known by now. I admit I've been a bit underwhelmed by some of the new works premiered in the last few years but if I know the music I might be tempted to give it a whirl. Certainly, the rest of the mixed bill is very tempting. Has anyone heard anything or seen insider information doing the rounds of the social networks? Linda

Actually I'm sure that the BBC uses the same pronunciation, or their Radio 3 announcers do. In a way, this is logical as in this country we don't tend to pronounce the names of foreign cities the same way their inhabitants would. For example, what English person would say 'Paree' unless in France or actually speaking French at the time? It's always Pa-riss. I think that with the names of living persons it may be a question of good manners when addressing them directly to attempt the phonetically-correct version but otherwise it sounds a tad pretentious to use foreign pronunciation in English as well as being unclear. After all if I mentioned my trip to Gothenburg who would know where I had been if I called it Yourt-er-boy as my Swedish-speaking niece calls it? Linda

It's called Press Release: ROH Winter Season - Ballet and DanceStarted by Janet McNulty, Oct 20 2012 03:53 PM But I don't know how to post the link, sorry. But the answer is "Chen see myech (myech is one syllable like "nyet" (thanks to Toursenlair).

Anjuli. it's around 42F here and raining steadily - you're so lucky! I have to agree that even just watching ballet is good for you. It really helped me when I was housebound with crippling back pain about 10 years ago. Seeing ballet on the Arts channel helped lift my depression and got me out of the house to go and see some live performances. I made lots of friends through the old Ballet.co website and going to the ballet is now a part of my life. There was one strange side effect too in that I noticed that on darkened stage I could see a halo round the dancers in the spotlight. Puzzled, I consulted an eye specialist and found I had cataracts that were slowly destroying my eyesight. Lens replacement therapy gave me back my vision but I might not have had such an early diagnosis if it hadn't been for the ballet.

Sadly it may be to do with money. After all if a young person has the physical ability (flexibility, strength, speed) plus the strength of character to give up normal teenage pleasures in order to keep in shape and devote all spare time to practise and train, then he/she probably has the making of a first class athlete. Sport brings much greater financial rewards and also peer admiration, even celebrity, which rarely attends ballet dancers. (Darcey Bussell was a star because she appeared on TV - had she stayed on the ROH stage I doubt if anyone outside the ballet world would have heard of her).

Thank you for this link, I must have missed it when the ballet was last performed. A very thoughtful article and the comments also equally interesting. I have to agree with the consensus that we have yet to see a perfect version of this unusual ballet. I wonder if David Bintley has solved it?

I have to agree with other posters that ballet is not a sport but the comparison with figure skating is interesting. When I first started skating, figure skating competition included the true 'figures' (essentially figures of eight on different edges, all about technique and perfect execution) as well as the jumps and spins etc. Relatively easy to judge and mark. Then ice dancing was included and to my mind, that is not a sport - it's all about artistry, not technical difficulty. But that's just the way I see it and I can't see that synchronised swimming is a real sport either. Seeing a great performance in ballet affects me emotionally in the way that sport never does.

Alison & Bruce - thank you very much for posting the links. I've just had a very interesting time re-reading them. Ballet criticism is a fascinating topic - perhaps we should have a separate thread as capybara suggests. Linda

I'm a little hazy about how composers of commissioned ballets actually work. I know Ashton gave very detailed instructions to Henze when he commissioned the score for Ondine but is this the normal way it works? Did Cranko present Britten with a script/scenario for Pagodas for the original production and is the script part of the copyright of the ballet? Presumably the Britten estate does not control the story for Pagodas since MacMillan made changes from the Cranko version but didn't he have to get approval first? I'm sure I read that the recent revival incorporated cuts that were not previously agreed by the composer. Musicals are frequently cut/changed in revival but the lyricists, composers and writers of the book are all clearly defined. Ballet seems a bit of a grey area - who actually owns the production rights - the composer or the choreographer? Looking forward to seeing Bintley's version of Pagodas anyway - such wonderful music should be heard, and danced to, far more often. Linda

Yes do, the larger the range of opinions the better IMHO. Lively debate is the liveblood of forums like this. Re the eminent Mr Crisp: I do sympathise as I too have found his comparisons with past greats rather trying at times. For those of us not fortunate enough to have seen these long-departed dancers it can be very frustrating. On the other hand, he has been extremely generous in his praise for some modern dancers (he spotted Morera's potential well ahead of the rest of the pack) and his comments can be very entertaining as well as perceptive. There was an interview with him (by our own dear Bruce, I think) on the old thread which is well worth reading. And I guarantee it will give you a good laugh and a different view of him. Alison, you're so good at these searches - can you post a link to this? Thanks, Linda

Thanks everyone. I was using Firefox 26 (for Mac) but will now try Chrome instead. Linda

Can anyone tell me which browsers (and versions) are currently supported by the website. I've been having a few glitches since my version of Firefox was upgraded.

Not sure, Alison. Sky Arts credits are rather unreliable but I'll look out for the date if it is repeated. Have to say the male lead looked incredibly young, barely more than 16 so if he is now a mature principal that would be a clue to the age of the production. I would hope that such a prestigious company would have a more recent, and much better, version to show to the world.

I'm only just catching up with all the ballet I recorded over Christmas and I have to say how disappointed I was with the Mariinsky's Nutcracker. As Pas de Quatre says, the musical side was lovely but the production! My impression was pink, pallid and rather underwhelming - sort of 'Nutcracker Lite'. Why on earth had the grand pdd been so watered down so that 4 extra men were needed? And making Clara vanish into the persona of the SPF makes no sense dramatically. I agree that the RB party in Act 1 can seem a little long at times but it makes for a better story and it certainly looks much better. When the curtain went up in this version I thought we already were in a candy-floss kingdom. The fight with the mice was very odd and unconvincing - in fact they were so much larger than the others onstage, they were more like super-rats and Clara's victory over the king was lacking in drama. Like most ballet-goers of a certain age, I have seen a lot of Nuts over the years: from the Bolshoi of the Cold War era via Mark Morris' Hard Nut, the Balanchine version & other US ones, to the two Peter Wright productions for the RB & the BRB but I felt very let down by this one. Is this version what is always danced by the Mariinsky now?

Re Sylvia, the grand tutu worn by the heroine in the last act is made of very stiff and scratchy net. I saw it in the workrooms during a back stage tour and very delicately touched the skirt with the back of my hand so the man who had to lift the girl wearing it, and rest her on his bare shoulder, had my sympathy. After the performances I noticed that both Rupert and Jonny (Cope) had bright red patches on their exposed shoulders at the curtain calls. Makhatelli, however, insisted on changing his costume so that both shoulders were covered. I don't think skin tone comes into it - our guys are just better at toughing it out! Like Macaulay, I miss some of the past dancers such as Cope and those of his era but have no complaints about the current crop. And the ones hovering on the edge of promotion show great promise for the future of the company, IMHO. I'm now catching up with the feast of TV recordings from the holiday period and there's much to applaud and be hopeful about. Linda.

Does anyone know the full cast for the RB's Sleeping Beauty on today? Would love to know some of the fairies and smaller roles. Thanks Linda

I think it's set in the Nile. Never understood why but the plot isn't exactly coherent anyway.

In which ballet does the heroine dance with a copy of Le Monde, descend into the underworld and see her boyfriend embrace the priesthood, rather than her? (Probably far too easy but my mind's gone soft from the pressure of Christmas preparation). Linda

Does anyone else remember Michael Powell's 1959 film "Honeymoon"? More of a travelogue than a drama it featured the Spanish dancer Antonio, with appearances by Massine & Ludmilla Tcherina. Worth watching for Antonio's performance in an excerpt from Massine's El Amor Brujo (conducted by Beecham). Rather kitschy but I loved it nevertheless. And if we can include musicals, a must-see is Kiss Me Kate for that wonderful dance sequence with Bob Fosse & Carol Haney ('From This Moment On') and any Fosse fan must see 'Who's got the pain (when they do the mambo)' from Damn Yankees with the stunning Gwen Verdon. Still back in the 50s, the film version of On the Town includes a little ballet dancing from Vera-Ellen but only the music from the original Coney Island ballet scene is included. The John Wilson Orchestra played this lovely piece in a Prom several years ago and just listening to it made me wish I had been around to have seen the original stage show. I'm a bit surprised no one has used this music for a new work - it is perfect for a ballet.

If Albrecht is naked then how can he put aside his ducal garments and dress as a peasant? (Unless all the villagers are similarly unclothed). Considering the plot hinges on his deception it renders the whole story nonsensical. In contrast, consider the importance of costume in Ek's Carmen: poor Don Jose in dreary grey trying to compete with Escamilio's lurex disco outfit. And that impossibly long ruched train on Carmen's red dress. You don't need Freud to work out the significance of that outfit. As for nudity in dance performances, I remember a critic having the last word when 'Oh Calcutta' was produced: "the trouble with nudity is that not everything stops when the music does." 'Nuff said really.

And Ondine. I mean for the necklace (she produces a beautiful one of shells from the sea and gives it to Bertha in place of the original locket that Palemon first offered her and then gave to Ondine). Edited for clarity.

Well Hilarion presents dead game to Giselle's mother and in Alice the dormouse sneezes but not at anyone in particular, I think. I've never seen a undressed priest in any ballet and I'm not at all sure I want to. Possibly something Matthew Bourne or John Neumeier might dream up? Edited for typo.

There still seem to be plenty of seats left but the limit is 2 per person. Linda

Would it really be so uneconomic? Most arts organisations like the ROH have to spend a sizeable proportion of their income on maintaining the building they use. If a ballet company had its own modest rehearsal studios and could rent a reasonably sized auditorium where it could put on more performances wouldn't more income be available for actual productions? I'm not saying that a niche interest like ballet could manage without any sponsorship but it would be interesting to see some real-life cost/profit projections that didn't include maintaining a listed building. There's obviously enough demand for more ballet performances but sharing the venue with opera doesn't seem to have much to recommend it beyond tradition. NB the moderators may wish to put this in a different thread.

I've heard the Nutcracker.