Richard LH

Hopefully 4th will be good too!

After attending the Linbury screening of "Yuli" last night (which incidentally featured various Don Q snippets) is there any chance Carlos Acosta will take applause on stage tonight at the end of this successful run?

Ian I am not quite sure what you are referring to - do you have an issue with the topic itself, or just the tone of some responses ?

That is a good question, but from what I have seen, top rank female dancers today have an amazing ability to successfully portray both - as exemplified, I thought, in the recent RB triple bill where they were switching between the physicality of McGregor's Infra and the neoclassical grace of Balanchine's Symphiny in C. So as I see it, the physicality and athleticism that modern dancers (male and female) have now developed, does not necessarily preclude displaying the inner delicacy, finesse, and poetry of ballet to which assoluta refers above. In fact, in some ways a greater range and strength in movement, guided by good choreography, can provide further opportunities for displaying such qualities.

I wonder how they filled the role, after you decided to wake up.....

That does seem to happen sometimes when bookings first open, for some reason. But those particular ones are now all gone again!

It won't be any comfort of course, but for whatever reason, the first night of the triple bill, in particular, was pretty well booked up even a month ago when Friends booking opened.

SusanR if you mean the Firebird mixed bill for the matinee https://www.roh.org.uk/events/38774/tickets, whilst there is currently nothing below £68 in the stalls circle there are cheaper tickets available in the balcony or amphi. Hopefully you might find a compromise that suits. Symphony in C, let alone the other two on the bill, should not be missed !

But we are not responding, for example, to some informal chance remark, but to a fairly lengthy newspaper report of expressed views, given at a public event. https://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2019/march-30/evolved So the context is known. Any of us not present naturally have to rely on the accuracy of the press report and I did say at the outset that I was not sure how much was down to Darcey Bussell or the Arts Correspondent David Sanderson. Either way, it seems to me that the subject matter raised is reasonably worthy of discussion - I didn't start the topic just because Darcey Bussell was the reported source.

Surely not...! but I would suggest that the source in this case is rather more prominent, namely (I guess) the ballet figure most well-known currently to the general public. I doubt she voiced these opinions just off the cuff or simply because she felt under pressure to say something interesting. So I don't really regard this discussion in response, on the comparative roles of men and women in ballet, as "overthinking" (any more than anything else on BCF)!

From yesterday’s Dance Links https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/men-now-best-at-ballet-says-darcey-bussell-xxr79n28g?shareToken=55fa1a42b81528b5cb464cec4d19a391 I find this a rather confused and poorly argued article, and I am not sure how much is down to the original source (Dame Darcey Bussell (49) at the Oxford Literary Festival) or the Arts Correspondent David Sanderson (age not given). “Men (are) now best at ballet” apparently because of technical and physical ability. Women are seemingly “struggling to keep up”. But no evidence follows for this sweeping assertion. Given the different attributes of male and female ballet dancing, and given all the many different forms of ballet across the world, how can you judge comparative male and female technical and physical ability in any event? Even if the assertion were true, being “best at ballet” is a lot more than just technique and physique. The article suggests that whereas classical ballet has always been about the women, some sort of “transformation” of roles for male dancers has been taking place. But the examples given (going back in time) refer to Billy Elliott (2000), Bourne’s Swan Lake (1995), Mayerling (1978) Manon (1974) and at the end of the article, further back to Nureyev in the 1960’s, and further back still to Nijinsky in 1911. The article also cites Ivan Putrov’s Men in Motion but whilst that work is more recent (2012) it is Putrov celebrating the role of the male ballet dancer over the last 100 years. So isn’t the truth that there has always been a certain to-ing and fro-ing as to the perceived comparative place and role in ballet for male and female performers? It is difficult to fathom quite how Darcey Bussell attributes any particular “breakthrough” of any “barriers” in the "classical ballet bastille” to “shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, on which she is a judge”. Nor to Matthew Bourne, whose work is not classical ballet, but more (as he describes it himself) “contemporary dance theatre”. Apparently “the changing dynamics and choreography of the ballet world could have repercussions for female dancers. A greater pool of technically proficient men, with more flexibility and precision than their forefathers, could begin taking the traditionally female roles that require, for example, en pointe manoeuvres”. Thus raising the issue of gender identity and fluidity again (and rather ticking the box in terms of current favourite subjects for media discussion). But is this putative “repercussion” really likely? Are there any examples other than that of Chase Johnsey at the ENB?

Does this count as a (free) "performance seen"? Hopefully this is a premonition of La Fille Mal Gardée coming back to the ROH next season. I think we should be OK in terms of financial viability for that one, but I am rather worried about Peregrine's absence......

Apologies, Jan, if I misunderstood. But my point was also that he had no previous track record in full length ballet.

I would hope critics judge the work on its own merits rather than according it praise based on a choreographer's other work, or that of the company concerned. In any event, it appears there was no previous full-length ballet from Akram Khan to influence them - the New York Times describes the origins of the work thus: "Glamorous ballerina takes over beleaguered ballet company, suffering from budget cuts and a second-string reputation. She hires a contemporary dance choreographer, who has almost no experience working with classically trained performers, to re-envision one of ballet’s most famous and best-loved pieces". In fact I may have overstated the degree of praise that the work has gained - on further reading, various published reviews are pretty mixed.

Posted at the same time as Fonty !

Yes, he says to Romeo "Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm", to which Romeo replies "I thought all for the best".

JohnS thanks for that, it includes a lot of criticism that I agree with, but says it much more eloquently than I could. The writer Leigh Witchel found some redeeming aspects in Act 2 but I am afraid even those escaped me. I think I need to feel some form of empathy or sympathy with at least one character in a ballet, whereas I didn't really have any for these - they all seemed pretty horrible, even Giselle, in the way she attacked the other women for example. Failing that, if characters are lacking, or if the story is rather weak, I would hope to be uplifted by the beauty of dance in itself - which for me was lacking here. Frankly, after the first quarter of an hour, I was thinking how much more of this is there to go? something I rarely find in a dance production. By the end, I felt I had suffered some 1½ hours of mild, slow torture - along with the participants. But perhaps that was the reaction Khan was hoping for.

I was trying to think of something for today, but couldn't. Well done Alison!

Ian, thanks, I was aware of the "re-imagined" story myself, and just made the point about others who might not be. I did notice Begona Cao, probably for all the wrong reasons....

I watched this but I am afraid I can't agree that it was a worthwhile way to spend 1½ hours ! I found it very depressing, all shade and no light, and lacking the beauty of form and musicality of the original upon which it is supposedly based. I realise it is not supposed to be a classical ballet, but I found nothing to be gained from moving away from that approach. Parts are really, really slow moving, and most of the rest is a very repetitive melange of angst-ridden choreography and mind-numbing sound (apart from when there is no music or sound at all). I didn't like the sticks, especially when the ladies had to have them in their mouths, or when they were used for a gratuitous, protracted torture of Hilarion. There was no explanatory synopsis provided with the BBC screening, so I would think anyone unfamiliar with the original story (and many who were) would be at a loss to know what was supposed to be happening. I wonder if this production would have got so much praise from the critics if it had been presented as a wholly stand-alone work? I tend to think that "re-imagining" a well-known classic is rather a cheap way to claim greater attention and kudos than the new work would have achieved in its own right. Matthew Bourne does this all the time, of course, and I feel much the same about his stuff.

Don Q's horse has the advantage of having six legs.

Yes the clunking was very distracting and seemed rather weird just at that moment. But at least it was over quickly, unlike having to suffer someone coughing through a whole Act - particularly such a beautiful one. Every sympathy, Sim !

Last night at the ROH during near the end of the first scene of Act III of R&J, at a particularly dramatic moment (just as Juliet was in the throes of deciding to leave to see the Friar) someone walked along the back of the Stalls Circle, presumably to an exit, making an almighty clunking sound with each step. I can appreciate some problem may have necessitated their leaving but you would think they would at least have tried to do it quietly.

Just in case anyone was still wondering, I thought Akane Takada gave a mesmerising debut performance as Juliet last night. Her dancing was ethereal and you could see her every thought and emotion in her body movements and facial expressions. She seems to have developed as a great actress as well as a superb dancer. So lovely to see.... I thought Hirano did a great job at relatively short notice, as a partner, and as a star-crossed lover - more so as the ballet developed and he had to express the anger, angst and grief that is Romeo's eventual lot. James Hay came up trumps again in his debut as Mercutio - a completely assured performance. The staging, lighting, costumes, and music, were wonderful, as we would expect from the RB. Other company members, and the corps, have some exhilarating dances and sword fights, and it is is rather a shame that only the main characters take their due at the curtain calls. For those main characters, though, there was much enthusiastic applause and whooping.

What a brilliant evening of dramatic ballet we have just enjoyed!🤗 And all done by 10:25...😉