FionaM

Quite!

News from Japan: Alina Cojocaru’s Dream Project 2020 is to be performed 5-11 February 2020 in Tokyo and Otsu-shi, Shiga and will feature Friedemann Vogel with Alina in Ballet Imperial in Programme A. Programme B will feature Sergei Polunin with Alina in the complete Marguerite and Armand. I am guessing Johan Kobborg will play Armand’s father. (He has already performed this role in 2016 when Alina and Friedemann were the leads.) Other participants announced so far are Osiel Gouneo and Nancy Osbaldeston. https://www.nbs.or.jp/stages/2020/cojocaru/index.html

On a separate note I thought the video of Cuthbertson/Polunin was not meant to be in the public domain? It regularly appears on YouTube and is removed each time fairly quickly. A full time job for someone at ROH? You may be asked to remove it here?

Certainly principals can have some influence with the conductor on speeds for their solos. I am thinking especially men for their en manège jumps etc in their solos who will prefer a particular speed. I also had a discussion with Gavin Sutherland at ENB about the incredibly fast speed that Alina Cojocaru wanted the Swan Lake fouettes to be. (I was watching a rehearsal). In fact the orchestra were not quite fast enough, so they and Alina repeated the fouettes. What a thrill for the few of us ENB fans watching!

Here is the official post-performance video. We await announcements of future performances. I wouldn’t count on it coming to London with the amount of negative sentiment in this country towards Sergei, other places may get booked first. So if you do want to see Johan Kobborg’s gift of love to Alina Cojocaru and Sergei you may have to travel ....

Thank you Anna. Your report is fabulous and I agree with many of your thoughts, including that Alina was the outstanding performance of the night and that Sergei is a good principal dancer, but no longer the standout that he was. Others have caught up. Personally I’m not sure he is interested in training to re-achieve his best level, having “been there, done that” to near perfection for years at RB and then even better years at Stanislavsky and guesting with Osipova and Zakharova. Nevertheless his charisma and dramatic abilities do still outshine most. As you say the funeral bed being not properly secured to the floor was quite unnerving for the audience - so we can imagine how difficult it must have been for both Alina and Sergei to work around, including having to lift each other (!) onto it. Did you notice that the the dance floor became slippery quite quickly? All the dancers became more careful with their footing and couldn’t dance with the extra dynamic they usually do, including Alina. This may account for some of the sloppy dancing and certainly more rehearsal time, particularly on stage, would iron out much of our nitpicking. It was a very moving and emotional premiere and an excellent addition to PoluninInk repertoire. It it must have cost a fortune to produce. I hope sponsors are forthcoming 🤞

Looking at videos I notice Valentino Zucchetti was also a bit untidy in his dancing, and he is usually pretty neat. The cast were definitely short on rehearsal and finesse-ing time. And then on top, suffering from the slippery and uneven flooring. If I was the management team I’d be berating the Arena for not having the foresight to deal with this problem - I bet it’s not a problem at Roberto Bolle’s shows.

Here’s a review https://www.danzaedanzaweb.com/articolo/1920/-romeo-giulietta-all-arena-tra-passato-e-presente

I’ve been advised that team PoluninInk decided some time ago that live music was not viable due to the cost. Apparently Sergei had to go out and do modelling etc to cover the cost of orchestras hired for previous projects. So don’t expect live music. That’s one of the prohibitive costs that keeps major ballet productions only affordable with the biggest companies. And of course the cost of new productions - individually designed and fitted costumes for many dancers is just one huge cost aspect. I like the new paradigm of no interval for dramatic ballets. It heightens the tension and drama. I agree 1h30 is probably about the maximum. Two other benefits of no interval - you can catch trains home earlier. Or stay and enjoy a meal/drinks and to discuss the performance straight after.

Sergei was interviewed on Russian TV yesterday and revealed two of the sponsors tried to call it off on a couple of occasions and he managed to persuade them to trust him that it would sell out. Which it did. Many of the summer operas play to lesser audiences! I believe Roberto Bolle’s two gala-style evenings in the Arena sold old too - so there’s obviously plenty of demand to see dance in Verona. Both style too - gala and story ballets.

I am still caught up in it emotionally. Wonderful performance, and of course I am personally so pleased for all the cast, but particularly for Johan, Alina and Sergei, that it was such a success.

Here’s a video of their first shy and interrupted pdd during the ball

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the stage appeared to get slippery. I think it’s dust from the arena being brought onto the floor as the dancers and stage hands go off and on stage. In some of the pdd Alina and Sergei are being careful about their placements. He definitely slid a few times and she appeared to fall off pointe early on (possibly a bump or join in the flooring)

I love this idea to have the bars and restaurants open afterwards. In Verona a group of us when for pizza or desserts afterwards. It’s a good way to share first impressions.

A few things to correct.... Alina had FIVE beautiful costumes - a different white nightdress for the balcony pdd. Had to watch more videos (no hardship!) to check. Alina and Sergei had 4 pdd. There is also brief one where the meet at the ball and then flirt shyly in the garden, hiding in and amongst the steps and arches of the set, and avoiding passing family and ball attendees. It was so cleverly choreographed.

My reflections on the process and performance..... I have been following the creative process since the show was announced in April mostly via Johan Kobborg’s daily posts, and then later from other cast members. It’s been a fascinating insight and I did wonder whether we had seen too much in advance. The cast has been assembled from all over the world and rehearsals started piecemeal in June only (after the creation/performances of Rasputin that Sergei and Johan performed in together) and so Johan worked with soloists individually and then in pairs. The ensemble came later, mostly in July. Rehearsals were constantly interrupted with performances elsewhere - Alina Cojocaru in Moscow and Vail, Sergei Polunin and Johan on Summer tour of Italy with Fraudulent Smile and Sacre, Valentino Zucchetti joined very late after RB Tokyo and US tours, ENB dancers after their tours in Moscow and Mexico, etc etc. I arrived in the absolutely enormous arena with trepidation. I had a very good seat - 5 rows back from the orchestra pit and 10 seats away from the centre. And was delighted that it was not too low and I would not miss the dancers feet. Always a risk! The set that had looked enormous on the rehearsal stage (National Theatre of Belgrade) was now dwarfed. Two huge pieces of ‘concrete’ stairs and arches set in the middle towards the back of the stage area which was framed by a large gantry with lighting equipment - such as a proscenium arch would normally conceal. The arena itself is a huge oval and approximately one third is carved off for the stage at one end. The stalls are set on a raked floor facing the stage and there are more seats and stone terraces alongside and behind the stalls. So it is an enormous face-on open air theatre. It is not ‘in the round’. I was initially disappointed that there was no live orchestra, but perhaps that was a step too far given the limited preparation time, and maybe also a cost constraint. As it transpired, Prokofiev’s music was beautifully recorded and the acoustics in the arena are quite something to hear. Those Romans knew what they were doing. The music used had been enhanced with additional percussion, bells in particular. So that may have been another factor against a live orchestra. Otherwise the music was Prokofiev’s own and in pretty much the usual order and the themes for individual characters were as usual too. There was a longish delay in starting, no idea why as I could see the dancers bobbing about backstage through their entrance arches. It may well have been a problem with getting the audience through security checks (as is the way at all large venues these days) and then into the arena and seated, or it may have been a technical hitch. Cheering from the audience as the arena and stage lights went down. The initial scene was of the two lovers lying star-crossed across each other, as is foretold in the play. So poignant with Prokofiev's music ringing out all around. Then the first scene was Romeo the young carefree lad-about-town dancing alone. Sergei doing what Sergei does best ... dancing for the love of life, wonderful height of his jumps, deliciously wide double cabrioles, etc and filling the vast expanse of the stage. I do not underestimate how difficult this is to do. He was followed by Giulietta the child running and jumping back and forth on her steps and flitting about in a beautiful solo and gorgeous sea-green dress. Alina is a fabulous dancer and Johan gave her plenty of beautiful steps to portray her young girl. And so in a flash, the characters are introduced and known. And so it continued with wonderful choreography from Johan throughout enabling each dancer to portray their character without encumbrance. There were no pauses to bow for applause. Valentino Zucchetti as Mercuzio was on fire - never seen him dance with so much verve and bounce. Wonderful choreography and characterisation that suited his strengths. He was all over the stage, bobbing about amongst the ensemble and getting up Tebaldo’s (Tybalt’s) nose at every opportunity. He seemed to have more actual dancing than the Macmillan version. Lots of beautiful split jêtes en manège. And his character really came across. His performance felt freer, less constrained than at Royal’s R&J this season. Giorgio Garrett from ENB was Benvolio and the 3 lads (Benvolio, Romeo and Mercuzio) had some lovely dancing and playfulness together mingling with the ensemble. And of course great tragedy to deal with later. The Capulets were a haughty crew led by Ross Freddie Ray McCaw rampaging everywhere as Lord Capulet. He was super angry with everybody and even hit Giulietta across the face when she defied him. His height and overbearingness was truly aweful. Lady Capulet was in his shadow and aloof, one wondered whether she had been abused in this marriage. Played marvellously by Jann Esterhuizen who them remonstrated her husband in the tomb scene for what his behaviour had caused. These two did not have much actual dancing except for leading the Dance of the Knights. Such stirring music. Super choreography with a section for the men, then for the ladies then everybody together. Wonderful. Paris was played by Kilian Smith and in this version he had little to do. He was mostly a pawn of the Capulets to marry/not marry their daughter as Lord Capulet blew hot and cold. (Side note of interest: Kilian Smith played Peter in the video of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ with Sergei as the wolf.) And then there was Nikolas Gaifullin as Tebaldo. What an extraordinary stage presence for such a young man (23) and super technique - fabulous height of jumps and multiple spins. I believe he is a principal at Atlanta Ballet and I fully expect he’ll get snapped up elsewhere soon, maybe even in Europe? With some time adding finesse to his technique, he’ll be gold dust with his height and all these skills. The artist director of Atlanta Ballet, Gennadi Nedvigin, was sat with Johan Kobborg alongside Tamara Rojo, presumably at Johan’s invitation for lending their dancers. The whole production is most definitely Johan’s vision with collaboration from others. His choice of set, lighting and costumes, his choice of dancers, his storyline and his choreography. It was entirely classical ballet, although perhaps in a ‘free’ way. No dancer or dancers finished to make way for another, everything just flowed on. And it’s clear that he chose all the protagonists for their ability to convey character. There were no weak performances, even from the ensemble. Each one got fully involved in the story as an individual. Maybe Johan set the movement and reactions of each person. So authentic. A few characters from other versions were cut completely, most notably Juliet’s nurse and friends, harlots, Prince Escalus, Lord and Lady Montague. No Rosaline either, although she is an invisible character in the play. Johan did include one short street dance to the Mandolin dance music but possibly only to give the principals a break else they were on stage continuously. I am amazed still how 26 dancers filled that enormous stage. Certainly Romeo, Mercuzio and Tebaldo were magnificent and terrifying in the sword fighting which went back and forth and using all of the stage. And kudos to Johan for making each death a quick one, leaving more time and music for dancing and story development. Alina and Sergei were unbelievable together. The range of emotions conveyed by both aided by Johans’s choreography for their 3 wonderful pdd - balcony, Tybalt's Death and then the tomb. From joyous, tender, flirtatious, shy, through passion and love and marriage and onto Juliet conflicted over Romeo her husband/lover and Romeo the killer of Tybalt. Then there was Romeo’s anguish and disbelief. All of this and more. And then the tragic death scene. Alina was very dead when Sergei found her and danced with her and then (as always) the tragic awakening of Juliet with Romeo dead nearby. And the pathos of the final moments as she drags herself on top of Romeo and wraps his arms around her whilst pointing to the stars that they admired in the balcony pdd before it all went wrong. So emotional. Brilliant realisation by Johan. It was a superb production - such wonderful dancing and emotions , which I am still living and processing. I definitely need to see it again, as there was a lot going on. I would highly recommend. And the long one act of 1hr20mins did serve to heighten the drama and emotion as there was no break for an interval. I didn’t feel short-changed. I only wish there could have been 2 performances. The minimalist sets moved and separated, creating different shapes and scenes in conjunction with the lighting, by the talented Nikolas Binkin of the Maryinsky. The costumes for the main protagonists were sumptuous but the designer remains ‘an anonymous creative collaboration’. Alina had 4 costumes - sea green with jewels and beads on the bodice for initial scenes, white with floral design on bodice for ball and balcony pdd and marriage, bright red to mourn Tybalt’s death and plain white for the tomb. All absolutely gorgeous. The floral decorations by Tage Anderson were beautiful too.

IG post from Henry Dowden of ENB shows the arena and stage layout. With the gantry of lights and minimalist set - the big grey blocks with the dance floor still being laid

It was 1 hour 20 minutes of continuous action. thinking about it RB R&J performances are usually 3 hours. Removing the intervals leave 2 hrs 15mins. If you then cut most of the townspeople/Harlots dances and Juliet’s friends dancing in the ball and her bedroom, along with scenes with Prince Escalus and the friar, you can easily see how the essence of the play/ballet remains intact in 1hr 20 mins

Brilliant choreography from Johan Kobborg throughout. Here’s a few highlights for me: - Romeo’s repeated rolls to lying down flat at the end of the balcony pdd moving away from Juliet on her balcony ... exactly portraying his first flushes of love. - Juliet’s first arrival on stage when she jumps off the steps , goes back up and jumps down again - just like a child. - the interplay of the two young lovers when they first meet and flirt amongst the arches of the set. - the pathos of Juliet once she has stabbed herself and then drags herself back on top of Romeo and wraps his arms around her as she points at the stars, as they had done in the balcony pdd.

His technique was pretty consistent throughout I thought. I agree he does not have the same technical perfection that he had previously at RB and also at Stanislavsky (see Coppelia and Nutcracker videos). I am surprised that Johan Kobborg did not call him out on the lack of finish in beautiful 5th positions (which we know he can do) and the retiré foot becoming unpointed too early from the saut de basques jumps. These are minor imperfections that he could easily fix. And he can point his feet terrifically well as plenty of the photos show - but it doesn’t seem to happen all the time. As someone mentioned, I am sure this will improve with more rehearsals and/or performances. He does do daily class I am told and we did see brief clips of Sergei and the cast in class in Belgrade during the rehearsal process for R&J. Personally I think his technique (and shape) has come back from a low point last year, due to his return to regular daily class, and also the sheer number of performances he has done this year. Sergei also mentioned that Johan has been showing him how to work the body in a different way to what he had been doing. I too would prefer that he used makeup to cover tattoos when they are not appropriate to the role. It is easy to nitpick on Sergei’s current technical imperfections, but what it is not so easy to see is how difficult his solos are, because he makes the movement and height of the jumps look so easy. He has so much time in the air. There are very few dancers who can do this.

It was 1 hour and 20 minutes. I timed it as I knew you would all ask! It works as a long one act as the drama keeps building, without an interval to break the mood. I was as emotionally exhausted at the end as the dancers. It’s a new paradigm. I thought it worked.

More beautiful words and photos ... from Valentino Zucchetti

Really?

I will repost - it was my account and was private. Johan’s words should not be missed.

Yes I will, but I am still travelling with family....so posting links of highlights in the meantime