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FionaM

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  1. FionaM
    Alex Campbell should be Florizel
  2. FionaM
    For me, The Winter’s Tale is the best of Wheeldon’s full length ballets. The story is less familiar than the ubiquitous Shakespeare plays of R&J, Macbeth, Hamlet. However it’s got fewer characters than Mayerling and Like Water For Chocolate, which helps a lot, and the story is told quite clearly through the dancing and staging. I find it quite strange that Polixenes is listed last in the RB casting shared here, when it’s the friendship of Polixenes and Leontes from childhood to adulthood that is the crux of the story. The young couple, Perdita and Florizel are fairly superficial roles, joyful and virtuoso of course, which does perform the necessary contrast to the dark sadness of the other scenes. In my opinion, many dancers in the company could do these roles. It’s the other four main roles that require nuance and depth and experienced dancers. I struggle to see Leo Dixon as Polixenes,, but then cast alongside Vadim Muntagirov this may work. IMO William Bracewell is miscast as Florizel. He should be Leontes.
  3. FionaM
    Campbell was previously first cast of Benno, which is a substantial and virtuoso role.
  4. FionaM
    Such interesting casting … @capybara thank you for sharing Hermione - Cuthbertson, Nunez, Lamb*, Kaneko Leontes - Corrales*, Ball*, Hirano, Muntagiriv* Polixenes - Richardson*, Braendsrod, Donnelly*, Dixon* I thought Claire Calvert performed Hermione before?
  5. FionaM
    @TSR101 I read that Vsevelod’s grandmother is Russian. Perhaps this family (like many others) found themselves to be torn between the two sides and therefore chose to leave Ukraine to take themselves out of the political situation, as well as away from danger. Whether they consider themselves to be Russians, Ukrainians, or both, it’s a brave thing to uproot the whole family to start a new life elsewhere.
  6. FionaM
    @Angela thank you for your perspective on this article. I don’t find it picky it all. I find your comment to be a valuable insight. So thank you again.
  7. FionaM
    New addition to this gala - Giorgi Potskhishvili, the 22 year old Principal at Dutch National Ballet. From Georgia. We have Elena Glurjidze to thank for discovering him and persuading him to take the ballet route. His family are Georgian national folk dancers which is where he started. He is explosive and has huge personality on stage. https://www.instagram.com/p/C3P6YOKoW21/?igsh=MnE1bXN2MW02NWU4
  8. FionaM
    This version did win the Benois de La Danse for choreography in 2016. The first few lines of this review are encouraging: Choreographer Johan Inger’s Carmen is one we have never seen: a Carmen turned inside out. In this danced-through reimagining of the world’s most-popular opera, we are pulled into the characters’ inner turmoil. Their dancing gets under our skin, at times deliberately unsettling us. https://theconversation.com/a-brutal-nightmarish-carmen-imbues-an-old-story-with-contemporary-resonances-113354 The whole ballet can be found on YouTube, performed by the Spanish company on whom it was created.
  9. FionaM
    I’d say it’s a great honour for Vsevelod who is a junior soloist at ENB to be partnering a Bolshoi principal such as Alena Kovaleva. Vsevelod’s story of himself leaving Russia and his family leaving Ukraine https://parkmagazineny.com/dancing-for-life-an-escaped-ukrainian-dancers-story-vsevolod-mayevskyi/ Perhaps his view is that he is outside of the conflict personally. He may be supporting his family financially too.
  10. FionaM
    It has been changed over the years … but not much. Improvements with scenery, sets and costumes. Very little change to the choreography. I’d call it tweaks. In essence it is the same.
  11. FionaM
    Alonya Kovaleva also danced at a gala in Japan partnered by Xander Parish in December. perhaps artists are taking a different view on artistic collaborations. Talking of which I have just seen the great pianist Nikolai Lugansky performing Rachmaninov superbly, with the Strasbourg Philharmonic. Nikolai is on tour around Europe with this orchestra and others, and also with Vadim Repin (husband of Svetlana Zakharova).
  12. FionaM
    For those interested in modern choreography, here’s a reel of a piece created by Vienna based choreographer Eno Peci that was performed in Dubai recently and will have its premier in Russia on the Bolshoi new stage later this month as part of the ‘Postscript’ programme. The 4 dancers are contemporary specialist Ildar Young with Bolshoi soloists Maria Vinogradova, Anastasia Denisova and Daniil Potaptsev. Ildar collaborates regularly with Bolshoi dancers. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3PrXDgo6wg/?igsh=aHMzcWJlenIwNHFi
  13. FionaM
    It’s here https://m.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/john-neumeier-kooperiert-mit-bolschoi-ballett-propaganda-instrument-putins-19512416.html?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral
  14. FionaM
    I’ve booked to support this show. Lots of tickets are still available. I hope others will book too
  15. FionaM
    And do read Joe Powell-Main’s posts of how this all came about … with photos and videos Part 1 https://www.instagram.com/p/C3GrL0JII3-/?igsh=MTM1cDhneDJldGx4eg== Part 2 https://www.instagram.com/p/C3G1E7aIAsw/?igsh=MTdhNjdodTI1N2RpYg==
  16. FionaM
    I think this format deserves a re-run. Maybe annually … to raise awareness of how fulfilling this dance can be. The piece by Stop Gap Dance was the most inventive and Joe Powell-Main’s new solo was very powerful. He does have a fabulous dance charisma on stage. The professional ballet dancers all gave superb performances, including the RB School duo. Bravo to Shiori Kase for stepping in to the Le Corsaire pdd with a few days notice and only one day of rehearsal with Daniil Simkin. She had fabulous control of the fiendish pirouette sequences. Daniil delighted the crowd with his usual multiple 540s and other tricks. Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw brought beauty and emotional depth to the Act 2 Giselle adagio and solos. How wonderful that they are in London now. Maria Kotchetkova and Daniil Simkin closed the first act with a new duet by Sebastian Kloborg (Maria’s life partner). It was humorous and cheerful and full of regular ballet moves you’d all recognise. For some reason I was expecting contemporary. They have a super chemistry and I hope they get to repeat this exuberant piece. The costumes were fun too. Bravo to organisers Ross Freddie Ray and Henry Dowden
  17. FionaM
    It was fantastic … uplifting in so many ways. The performances from the abled and differently abled were all impressive. The programme and donation link are online here: https://linktr.ee/childrentodaycharity https://printcrew.co.uk/pdfbook/empower-in-motion-2024-2/
  18. FionaM
    Thanks Angela … can you provide the link to Neumeier’s statement?
  19. FionaM
    The Varna company was not formed in 2022, it is the touring State Ballet of Siberia renamed. Same promoters, organisers, owners, sets, costumes and productions. The only thing that changed was the dancers and the touring company name. They ditched their Russian dancers when the performances were all cancelled by UK theatres after February 2022. Subsequently hired lesser quality Western ones. All of whom including soloists and corps are 1-2 years out of training and have not been able to get jobs at any other companies in Europe. That speaks volumes for the (lack of) quality. I don’t have a problem with lesser quality dancers getting a chance to perform. Not to I have a problem with lesser quality troupes touring … just don’t charge me £70 for it as they did at Bristol Hippodrome. I’d pay that or more (and I do) for the better quality companies. it’s the audiences that are getting a raw deal … lesser quality at the wrong price.
  20. FionaM
    Danill Simkin is in both galas too.
  21. FionaM
    Hmm … the programme I have from Bristol did not have any Ukrainian dancers in it.
  22. FionaM
    That happened to me once. I hadn’t booked in advance as wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it. The cinema cancelled the showing. It was a half hour drive to the next nearest cinema. I was not pleased. Lesson learnt. Book ticket in advance. Then they have to show it … even if only 1 person books.
  23. FionaM
    Bravo to Ernst and DNB Junior Company 👏👏👏
  24. FionaM
    Hmm I’m not sure the charity have used the right poster … originally Giselle with Haw & Lee were not in the gala. They were a later addition. I hope there hasn’t been a last minute change. I really wanted to see this duo in Giselle. Sangeun Lee posted only 2 days ago saying she was looking forward to this gala https://www.instagram.com/p/C22YrlZIupb/?igsh=aWU5ODA5dHUzNG8z
  25. FionaM
    I also saw the encore relay, with about 25 others in the cinema. I enjoyed it. It’s an uncluttered production. The extra music for the pd4 was the only thing that jarred a bit. On the other hand, I didn’t mind the extra music for the extended Act 1 solo for Albrecht, probably because Jacopo Tissi is so beautiful to watch. I preferred Olga Smirnova in Act 2 as I felt she was not as convincing as the unworldly young village girl despite having a cohesive narrative that she was portraying. I did giggle when the 4 winestampers came on in their very short shorts. It felt like a Matthew Bourne joke. It certainly was the jolliest village scene which built up nicely to the moment when Hilarion spills his knowledge. Giorgi Potskhishvili dominated the stage whenever he was on. (I’ve been lucky to see him dance in person with DNB 4 times already in the last year … Rothbart, Siegfried, Dorian and I Raymonda. His aura is awesome.) Another vote to join others above, for the brilliantly fast and neat bourrees by Floor Eimers’ Myrtha, and also to the well rehearsed Wilis. I would have liked an introduction and interval interviews as Pathé used to do when they filmed the Bolshoi, even though this is a recorded show. There was something odd about the straight on camera angle which made the stage seem both shallower and wider than it is.
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