Clara_f

5 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

I also saw them in the 22nd and I thought they were beautifully matched as a couple.  Not sure what you mean by "the technique is weakening."  I agree that perhaps Hirano isn't leaping as high now as some of the younger men, but I noticed how soft and controlled his landings were.  I couldn't see anything weak about Lamb's technique at all.  As I said on another thread, she has never been a flashy dancer, but I thought her Sugar Plum Fairy was smooth, elegant and poised.  I thoroughly enjoyed her performance.  

Fonty I agree with you that Hirano and Lamb both have gorgeous techniques. I fired off a quick response on my phone and could have elaborated more to provide a more delicate and reflective response.

What I meant is that their technique is different to that of their 20s/early 30s. It is perhaps less showy - as you say jumps less high etc. but the stage craft has so much depth and poise, the port de bras do refined. I think there is space for performers of all ages, cf. Alessandra Ferri still knocks it out the park. And I suppose that is what I mean by a weakening of pure technique.  It would dishonest of me if I did not say that I saw some issues with the en dedans pirouettes to the left and jumps / supported lifts in the first PDD to the point that I had to close my eyes and stop watching because it was making me nervous. That clearly was not your experience and isnt it marvellous that we all have different experiences.

I think we're on the same page to say that Ms Lamb and Mr Hirano are beautifully matched as a couple? We might just disagree on some of the specifics of the performance but those are just subjective details.

On 12/12/2023 at 12:42, Alexis said:

I repeat: 1) technically other dancers are better than Hirano 2) as an image of the couple, "theatrically" and "cinematically" the couple is not homogeneous even in terms of height difference 3) my post was not intended to criticize Hirano as a dancer but I think that Sarah would be more valued to dance together with another partner: the sweetness and grace of her slender figure would require a different partner 4) I am just happy for Sarah that she can have a good feeling with Hirano but for the eyes and heart of the audience the image of the couple remains important 5) if we want to leave out the technical aspect and re-evaluate Hirano then let's think about the film Pretty Woman: if next to Julia you remove Gere and put the great De Niro then Pretty Woman is no longer Pretty Woman 6) a lot of respect for Hirano but the couple must be well blended also visually. Bye from Boston to everybody

Alexis, have you seen Sarah Lamb in a recent performance? I saw her and Hirano in Nutcracker on 22 December and can confirm they are technically at a similar stage of their careers. The stage craft is there, the technique is weakening.

You completely lost any support I might have had for your fly the flag Sarah banner with some distasteful and some would say nasty dog whistle allusions on their respective looks and physicality. 

17 hours ago, Missfrankiecat said:

I went on Friday night with a friend who is more musical than I.  She thought the tempo in the PDD was quite brisk but it definitely slowed for the SPF solo - we both commented.

There seemed to be some issues with the supported en dedans pirouettes during the first pas de deux, amongst other things. Noticed that the tempo slowed down during the latter part of the PDD and then definitely during the SPF solo. Wonder if the conductor was reacting to what he was seeing on stage? 

The set design was done by the artist herself Carmen Herrera, before her death at 106 last year - what a woman! She sounded like quite an extraordinary person and artist - a fascinating read in the NYT here for anyone wanting to figure out her Tetris block and untitled works

Carmen Herrera, Cuban-Born Artist Who Won Fame at 89, Dies at 106 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/arts/design/carmen-herrera-dead.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

I gave birth to a baby boy a week ago who came early and have two tickets to the Pam Tanowitz tonight. Obvs now can't go! If anyone would like to them for free please get in touch with your email address and I will send them to you x 

With the first soloist and soloist departures (Heap and Kay) and promotions to principal (Bracewell and Clarke), wondering who from the artists and first artists will be promoted.

From first artist to soloist, Lukas Braendsrod, Ashley Dean, Leticia Dias, Teo Dubreuil, Mariko Sasaki all feel like contenders.

From artist to first artist, Julia Roscoe, Sae Maeda, Giacomo Rovero, Joonhyuk Jun all feel like they are due a promotion. Perhaps Joe Aumeer, Harris Bell, Liam Boswell.

Does anyone have thoughts on who a first soloist contender might be? 

(Edit: apologies just read the whole thread properly and have seen that capybara got the ball rolling with a very similar post in May, didn't mean to duplicate!)

The Danish Royal Ballet version of swan lake is very creepy! The ending with rothbart is chilling, and a completely different way of seeing the apotheosis music. Worth a quick watch on YouTube.

2 hours ago, Angela said:

 

Try "Fearful Symmetries" by John Adams - I guess there must be up to 15 or more choreographies to that piece of music. Try every piece by Philip Glass, his Violin Concerto for example. Try "Spiegel im Spiegel" by Arvo Pärt, some years ago it was in every other modern ballet (over here on the continent). 

And how often have the Chopin pieces been used for ballet...

 

Another interesting point is: what was NOT used for ballet? Who started to use symphonies, who started to use religious music, opera music, jazz music... there's a first for many kinds of music we now accept as normal in ballet, but much of it was not used 100 years ago. Until two or three years ago it was not allowed to use opera music by Richard Strauss for dance, or anything else he had not written especially for dance. MacMillan had to go to Stuttgart to do his "Song of the Earth" because he could not use that music in Covent Garden.

Very interesting about Strauss and McMillan, thanks Angela.

12 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

Yes - I thought that was quite bizarre. Dancers must be so exhausted (mentally and physically) after a performance, so receiving corrections straight after feels quite harsh!

It's actually very common for dancers to receive corrections from coaches or ADs as soon as the curtain goes down so I think they're used to it

You have to have quite thick skin to be a dancer because you receive corrections from whatever age you start dancing. That's how you improve. If you can't handle feedback it will be hard to make it. They're professionals and it's part of their job.

I finally got round to booking tickets for the summer season over the weekend. I had a seamless booking experience and was able to use my credit note from previously purchased them cancelled shows, at the click of a button. Great new feature! 

Quite amazing to think Naghdi and Muntagirov had never danced Scenes together before. That is not easy choreography to nail because of the crazy counts and the speed of the music and they were utter perfection! Very much looking forward to this triple... YUM! 

Christopher Carr as always stealing the show, what an icon he is.

A lot will be made online about the challenging gender norms I suspect.

If I'm allowed here is a promo clip of the dancing from YouTube.

There is a small amount of comedy in the show mocking themselves, but it is not nearly as pastiche (if that's the right term) or comedic as say Les Trocks take on the ballet classics. As I said before, they take their traditional flamenco very seriously and it's a love letter to the classical art form and to self expression through dance.

https://youtu.be/V0XuKBbn3Go

Hi Sim 

Out of the programmes, I think the ones you might like the most are:

Gala Fiesta de la Bulería de Jerez

Manuel Liñan

The other programmes will still be grounded in traditional flamenco vocabulary but are looking to push the boundaries and be "Avant Garde" / boundary pushing / cross pollinating with other disciplines.

Manuel Liñan is traditional flamenco but there is an element relating to the exploration of gender norms within flamenco (eg. Women can dance like men traditionally but not Vice versa, aka with the pointed fingers and more showy footwork and that is what Manuel Liñan is exploring - can a man dance the female role). Nevertheless I still think you might enjoy it very much as it is not trying to be "modern" flamenco, and despite the modern (?) exploration of gender norms, it is not trying to be "worthy" if I understand what you're referring to. It's pure homage to classical flamenco, done extraordinarily well, by a star of the flamenco world. I saw them at the Jerez flamenco festival in February this year and a thumbs up for sure!

Hope you enjoy the Sadlers wells festival!

37 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

If it’s any help, when Osipova made her debut with the Royal Ballet in 2013 dancing Swan Lake, she stumbled off the end of her fouettés, having done a mix of  very fast and stunning single and double fouettés, so the problem isn’t just unique to White Lodge alumni. It was also only her second or third time dancing Odette/Odile ever, and her first with RB. Somehow Osipova had managed to make it look like it was part of the plot - Odile having such a great time that she spins too fast while dancing - rather than looking like she’d made an error. From what I was told, her fouettés were back to normal on her second night. 

 

When she substituted them with pique turns in 2018 it was because of an injury that made fouettes impossible. Since the original ballet didn’t even have fouettes and either O’Hare or Scarlett or both felt it was fine, I think it’s right to keep her in the role with substituted turns- Ashton, Balanchine and MacMillan themselves used to change their own choreography for dancers who were injured that they still wanted in their ballets. Fonteyn and other ballerinas such as  (if I recall correctly) Plisetskaya have also substituted the fouettes if they had an injury that precluded them doing fouettes. 

 

When Evgenia Obraztsova made her Swan Lake debut with the Royal Ballet, the music for her fouettes was getting progressively faster and faster till it got to a point where it actually wasn’t humanly possible to do fouettes so fast and not fall over,  or that she would have to finish them without keeping up with the orchestra. It was the most bizarre rendition of the score I’d ever heard- I’m not sure if conductor Boris Gruzin had initiated the error, or whether she had asked for it to get progressively faster and he had misunderstood. She did try to keep time with the music and stumbled at the end, but it wasn’t her fault. Sad to say, it also made the score sound awful. It’s meant to be Swan Lake, not Flight of the Bumblebee. 

Emeralds, what a story about Obraztsova, I have tears of laughter imagining Odile dancing to the Flight of the Bumblebee! Not sure I'll ever be able to ever not think about it now 😃😃 the joys of live performances! 

6 hours ago, Fonty said:

On the topic of choreography, I have just received an email saying that Joseph Toonga is the new Emerging Choreographer at the ROH.  As his mentor is Wayne McGregor, I think I can guess what sort of choreographer he is!

Fonty, do you have any intel of what sort of choreographer he is? I don't understand your comment - do explain your thoughts.

7 minutes ago, MJW said:

Some rehearsal pictures of The Weathering from ROH's Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/royaloperahouse/albums/72177720297536330 

Beautiful thanks MJW! 

The Prince of the Pagodas score is lush, shimmering and musically facinating with its use of gamelan, and evocation of Bali and pagodas. The score on its own is 100pc worth listening to, and sometimes gets played at the proms and Aldeburgh.

I saw Darcey Bussell (legs for days and what attack in the jump!) and Fiona Chadwick (boy could she give side eye like no other) as Princess Rose and Princess Epine respectively in the original run in what must have been 1990, and then Stix-Brunnell and Nunez in the reprisal as Princess Rose in what must have been 2012 when Monica Mason was in her last season as AD. It's a wonderful coming of age story with strong female roles, which feels like a cross between King Lear and Beauty and the Beast, an inverted version of Swan Lake and as fairytales go is brilliant. It's weakness for me lies in the fact that, as ever, Macmillan creates wonderful duets and solos for the principals and soloits, but doesn't always give much fodder for the rest of the corps/ company to get their teeth stuck into, and his portrayal of Princess Rose's inner world with the divertissement clouds is weak.

For what it's worth, I much prefer PoP to Mayerling and wish it could be reprised more often than every 20 years!! Here's to crossing fingers!! Otherwise it will have to be Jonny Cope and Darcey for the rest of time.

I'd love to see the Cranko version one day.

On 15/03/2022 at 13:39, Ryo said:

Hi Clara,

 

I sent you a PM.

 

Best,

 

Ryo

Hi Ryo 

Please check your email and forum inbox if you can as there is an issue with the ticket.

Thanks

Claire 

Hi everyone 

Am selling D54 SCS for tonight's Swan lake performance with William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward.

£11

DM if interested!

Thanks

Claire

I'm looking for a second ticket so if there is another one going by a forum member do please get in touch! 

Thanks! 

Hello everyone I am looking for x 1 ticket to Swan Lake on 16 march.

Thanks!

Yes please to Weds 9 and weds 16 march if they're still available? 

Thanks!

Claire

Hello is this ticket still available please? 

Thanks

Clara

Hello 

Unfortunately I am no longer able to go to Fumi's first and Fede's last performance of SL due to a friend's birthday.  Selling:

LEVEL 1 Stalls Circle 1D, C-67 and C-68 £131.00 each.

There are designated standing places directly behind this seat.

DM me if interested.

Thanks

Claire 

11 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Expanding on this slightly: the attitude always seems to be that the RB is very grateful to Mr Eurotrash Choreographer for sparing some time from his busy schedule to put together something half-baked for them. It's never that this is the Royal Ballet, it's by any standards a major company with many excellent dancers who can also act convincingly and all kinds of other resources to help you show your work to best advantage, and It's a privilege to be asked to work with them. And if you don't like their terms or aren't interested in understanding and making use of their considerable heritage, go somewhere else!*

 

*Limited exceptions to be made for truly outstanding, once-in-a-generation choreographers.

Trying to understand what or who you mean by Mr Eurotrash choreographer... am super intrigued!! 

@Lizbie1