FionaM

Updates: - Giorgio Garrett (ENB) will be Benvolio - in this version Lord & Lady Capulet are portrayed as young parents of the teenage Juliet which makes so much more sense than the traditional versions where they are old enough to be grandparents! So they are real dancers - en pointe etc. Good opportunity for those dancers - Jann Esterhuizen is Lady Capulet. Anybody know of her?

Hard to comprehend why some are passed over.

Hmm. Shame. There are quite a few older and/or close to retiring female principals at Mariinsky, so 🤞

so as at the Royal Ballet we see principal-quality soloists at Mariinsky waiting to be promoted. There’s a real abundance of fabulous talent around. Are we not lucky to be living in this age of excellence !

On Instagram search #akramkhan or #akramkhangiselle for any number of Russian audience responses all in the ‘mindblowing’ vein also Instagram stories - of Russians Kirill Richter (already expired) and Olga AGapova enticing everyone to see it two or three times - as well as Tamara Rojo and many ENB dancers.

Not me. I’m seeing rave responses on social media. So thrilled for ENB Giselle team

Given Roberto’s last performance with ABT recently (also in Manon) that was my thinking too

Standing ovation from Bolshoi audience

Small correction - Olesya Novikova is a first soloist (next rank below principal) at Mariinsky according to their webpage

Oh my word - what an amazing opportunity. Shale has wonderful stage presence (see both his Prix de Lausanne performances and also the Monte Carlo school end of year show - his stage presence draws your eye away from all other performers). And he has wonderful Bournonville-style allegro technique as required for the James’ role in ’La Sylphide’. And youthful exuberance in abundance. I’m sure he’ll give a careful and respectful performance. Thrilled for him

So sorry that some of you missed it. It was well attended but not entirely sold out. There were familiar faces in the audience from the performing world - including Monica Mason and Matthew Bourne. I forgot to mention that Wayne Sleep participated in one of the songs from Cabaret. He did get a little over-excited executing some pirouettes that he nearly fell over. And his outfit was embarrassing. Not growing old gracefully - awkward.

What a fabulous tribute to the wonderful and very special lady that was Dame Gillian Lynne at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on Tuesday 2nd July 2019. Did anyone else see it ? Peter Land designed the evening themed around her successes - there were sections on The Phantom of the Opera and Cats obviously and also many others, such as My Fair Lady and Cabaret with a Wayne Sleep. There was a company of EXTREMELY well rehearsed (GL would have approved) dancers and singers supporting the main tributes. There were solo singers, duets and ensemble pieces. I’ll leave it to better experts on west end theatre to comment on those performances. All were overlayed with fascinating video and audio clips and photos of GL. The dance specialist performances included: Tamara Rojo (Director of English National Ballet) and Jeremy Kerridge (ex Northern Ballet) in the Lowry & Mother pdd from ‘A Simple Man’ choreographed by GL. Dominic North and Max Westwell in the Prince/Swan pdd from Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. MB was encouraged to choreograph by GL. Iain Mackay and Elisha Willis (both ex-Birmingham Royal Ballet) in the Priest & Prostitute pdd from Miracle in the Gorbals (re)choreographed by GL. Sergei Polunin performed Take Me To Church. GL was the first person to recognise SP’s wish to broaden his world outside RB and the first to offer him an opportunity to do so. All were lovely performances, especially elegant Tamara, sensitive Dominic North and comedic Iain Mackay. The applause for Sergei was unbelievable, he was the only performance that evening to get a standing ovation. He danced his heart out for Gillie - I was in the second row. It was phenomenal. In the finale all the performers (dancers too) came on stage singing ‘The Addressing of Cats’ with their backs to the audience as we all focussed on pictures of GL. A wonderful tribute to such a talented lady.

Valentino Zucchetti has announced on Instagram that he will perform Mercuzio in this production. Ross Freddie Ray is Lord Capulet. Rehearsals are are under way in London and will continue in Italy throughout July as Poluninink company including all the above (except Alina) will be on tour in many beautiful venues in Italy performing Fraudulent Smile and Sacre starring Sergei Polunin.

True

I am glad to see this really good review and also that of Graham Watts about Rasputin. It was a fabulous show.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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!

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!

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.

Good suggestion, as one who has batted plenty of negative comments here.

And they need principals with some height. Bracewell is taller than Corrales, I think?