Jump to content

FionaM

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,839

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by FionaM

  1. FionaM
    I am glad to see this really good review and also that of Graham Watts about Rasputin. It was a fabulous show.
  2. FionaM
    Yes an ice dancer (in pairs), same as Torvill & Dean. Apologies if this is the wrong terminology. The list of her medals is on Wikipedia - so no misrepresentation. I do feel uncomfortable discussing Sergei's Girlfriend’s life. That’s private - this forum is about dance. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Ilinykh
  3. FionaM
    Thank you for this Interesting historical information - starring Alicia Markova in the premiere I see. Nothing is ever really new! I think there is a difference in that the new Kobborg version for Poluninink will be one continuous long act, rather than a traditional ‘40 minute’ one act ballet.
  4. FionaM
    When do the promotions get announced? Regarding ‘jobs for life’ from what I see I’d say RB management are doing a better job of managing retirements/moving on these days. I note the arts management courses that Nehemiah Kish and Federico Bonelli are taking up. Although I’m now going to negate that statement, in that I can’t understand why Alexander Campbell wasn’t scheduled to dance either Romeo, Mercutio or even Tybalt in the recent run of R&J - it’s not like he had something else on (guesting elsewhere or whatever) at the time. Hmmm. Seems a waste of a principal and of his dance career. We know he’s going to make an excellent presenter and/or manager later on. But a dancer needs to dance while they still can - such a short time to perform.
  5. FionaM
    I’d be interested in views on Johan Kobborg’s comments in Dance Europe July edition about this new production being different? Specifically: “the usual dance public expects three-hour productions with all the capes and props” “With one, long, continuous act the story can move at a fast pace”. It seems to me that this really is changing the face of ballet, or at least offering an alternative way of producing ballets, different to the lavish productions and expensive large company structures at the big opera houses.
  6. FionaM
    Yes to the candles 🕯 in the cheap seats on the stone terraces (at least last year). Such a simple and beautiful effect - terraces glittering against the darkening sky .
  7. FionaM
    Thank you for this insight into Nikolas Gaifullin. I assume Johan Kobborg has recruited Nikolas after staging his La Sylphide at Atlanta Ballet. I love his regal bearing as well as his lovely technique. I am sure he’ll perform an exciting youthful Tybalt in Verona with panache. His and Johan’s Instagram snippets are tantalising, and I love how grateful Nikolas is for this opportunity. It’s going to be great!
  8. FionaM
    Yes I have - when it was originally announced. I’m in row 5. Booking is through www.ticketone.it. You can change the language to English and choose your seat on the seating plan. They have beautiful glossy souvenir invitations that you can have delivered, or stick with digital. The arena is enormous - seats 13,000 for the opera/ballet. I’ve been to operas there before in the cheap seats €35 - that’s the stone terraces. You need good cushions! The stage is a long way away but you can see everything and the acoustics are amazing. Those Romans knew a thing or two about sound waves. They do have screens to relay the performance (and have subtitles for the opera) and use lighting and projections to enhance the performance. The whole thing is an experience in itself - being in this ancient arena with fabulous music surrounding you and open to the sky. I. highly recommend experience it at least once - and what better excuse than this ballet. It will be hot so the performances start at 9pm. Book an air conditioned hotel / Airbnb and have a shower afterwards!
  9. FionaM
    I haven’t started a new thread before so please bear with me. Dance Europe subscribers will see an interesting interview in the July edition with Johan Kobborg (he is always interesting!) on the new Romeo and Juliet he is choreographing for Sergei Polunin and Alina Cojocaru in the main roles for Poluninink company. The premiere will be in the Arena Di Verona on Monday 26th August and it will be classical ballet (women en pointe, men in tights) we are told, with a modern take. Intriguing. There are frequent updates via twitter/instagram, from Johan mostly, including names of the others in the 24 strong cast including Valentino Zucchetti as Mercutio, Nikolas Gaifullin (principal at Atlanta Ballet) as Tybalt, and Ross Freddie Ray McCaw (role not yet known). I’m really looking forward to this unique potentially once in a lifetime event.
  10. FionaM
    Good suggestion, as one who has batted plenty of negative comments here.
  11. FionaM
    And they need principals with some height. Bracewell is taller than Corrales, I think?
  12. FionaM
    MJW, I do agree with you, the ROH overdo the gloomy lighting in too many ballets. R&J was the worst - e.g. not being able to see Lord Capulet when Tybalt dies. It’s a show - we need to easily see the dancers and sets. I suggest they rewatch the cinema broadcasts to brighten things up for the audience (we are not all 20 years old with 20/20 vision). Other lowlight for me is over-complicated costumes masking the dance. Anything that makes the dancers shoulders look like they are up ruins the necklines and spaces. (Macmillan was keen on spaces between parts of the body, I remember from a documentary long ago) So many brilliant performances from many principals and soloists. Notably for me, were Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Fumi Kaneko and Marcelino Sambe who have all been given real chances to shine and have done so on each occasion 👏👏👏
  13. FionaM
    So Fumi Kaneko has replaced Osipova in this, and learnt Medusa role in less than a week to replace Akane, all within the last month. I do hope she is promoted to principal. Matthew Ball was in a similar situation!
  14. FionaM
    Indeed she personally has a gold Olympic medal (team event) and a bronze Olympic medal (pairs) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating_at_the_2014_Winter_Olympics_–_Team_event
  15. FionaM
    Here’s the official trailer
  16. FionaM
    I agree
  17. FionaM
    Yes it was only two relatively short Acts. I would like to see it extended, or another one act ballet added to fill the evening.
  18. FionaM
    Yes, as part of a pair she won the Bronze, (there are no solos in ice dance) but the team she was also part of won Gold.
  19. FionaM
    Graham Watts has written a review that reflects my experience of the 2 performances of Rasputin that I attended, so I won’t repeat the same details. In my opinion, it’s quite an achievement for a 28/29 year old to commission a choreographer, a composer, haute couture costume designer and a set designer plus dancers, with no established company and funding sources, and to bring it to London to a huge venue such as the Palladium. What an opportunity it has been for all these young talented people to participate in producing such a good show. They must be feeling ecstatic. We should applaud the effort and achievement. Imagine the pressure on Sergei to pull this off. (By way of contrast I note Matthew Bourne’s new R&J is touring the UK for 3 months getting tweaked, revised and bedded in before appearing in London.) I wish Team Polunin well for their next venture - Romeo and Juliet with Sergei and Alina Cojocaru in the main roles. Choreography by Johan Kobborg, who will also play Tybalt, I believe. In the vast Arena di Verona - how appropriate, ‘in Verona we set our scene’. The set design ideas are looking interesting already (see Johan’s instagram).
  20. FionaM
    Back to R&J. I too saw the Osipova / Hallberg performance on Saturday. Osipova was an outstanding portrayal in all acts. Hallberg could not match her, until the final odd in the tomb with her supposedly dead body, which was absolutely spectacular and believable. David Hallberg’s technique does not seem to be what it once was and I thought he was outshone by Hay as Mercutio dramatically, and by Calvin Richardson as Benvolio technically. Is Benvolio usually a trainee role for future Romeos? If so, I’d be excited to see Calvin do it, though he could do with trimming the floppy fringe! And he is on the tall side. We know the RB needs some more tall princes..... watch this space!
  21. FionaM
    I believe the discussion is about double tours en l’air, which is a man’s jump where he takes off vertically from 5th position, with both legs together, spins twice in the air and lands back neatly into 5th. That’s the theory! In practice, very few men can actually do it without fudging both the take-off and landing - but as it’s so quick we don’t see it. Probably the cleanest at the RB at double tours is Marci Sambe. A very few can attempt triple tours (Polunin, Sarafanov - but they are also fudged).
  22. FionaM
    Did you read Graham Watts’ review?
  23. FionaM
    Yes, do not go expecting pointe shoes and men-in-tights. It is contemporary ballet. And therefore the focus is not on the shape and placement of his legs etc, but what he can do as a dramatic artist, yet still with tremendous technique. There is much talk of the flying push-ups and skating-style layback spins as well as the usual ballet tricks, which he can do so easily. If you do want to see what good shape/form he is in, I refer you to the recent live performances of Take me to Church and Acteon in Sevastopol (April 2019) and at The Bravo awards in Moscow (March 2019). Back to Rasputin in which Sergei has commissioned original work (choreography, music, designs, costumes, lighting, etc) so that others can have their talent appreciated. It will possibly surprise you to hear, that he was extremely humble in curtain calls at the Palladium, always stepping back from the line of participants (dancers as well as collaborators) that in the end the others had to push him forward to accept solo applause. Despite doing the lion’s share of the dancing. Oh, and I loved the music.
  24. FionaM
    Thank you Graham Watts https://bachtrack.com/review-rasputin-sergei-polunin-london-palladium-june-2019
  25. FionaM
    Maybe because the evening performance was an early 7pm start? But I agree the management should prioritise the artist-to-audience experience (that’s the main point after all!) and arrange start/end times to accommodate prolonged curtain calls.
×
×
  • Create New...