FionaM

Rehearsal photos - Minotaur https://www.instagram.com/p/C2KWjLwqH2T/?igsh=cmQzb2wwZ3B5Y2to https://www.instagram.com/p/C2PtpOKqO_z/?igsh=MWs2d21mdmYxc2RhMA==

Rehearsal photos - Pysche/Cupid https://www.instagram.com/p/C2Sg65bKG4F/?igsh=NXR6MWs3dHJsZXlq

Highly recommend this double bill of the Minotaur and Pysche/Cupid stories. The show is created by Kim Brandstrup and commissioned by AD Deborah Warner for her annual season of programmes in the Ustinov theatre, one of three stages of the Royal Theatre in Bath. A handful of seats are available (literally 2 or so) for some performances. Don’t miss this! Amazing experience being in this venue where the front row is knee distance to the stage. And the seating is only 10 or so rows of 12 seats each. Yet the ceiling is very high. Imagine a chapel with blacked out walls. Your focus is brought entirely to the stage and the performers on it. (Though why would you want to look elsewhere!) Matthew Ball appears in both pieces, but as the programme says, his roles are unrelated. Tommy Franzen is the Minotaur, Kristen McNally is his half-sister Ariadne and Matthew is Theseus. Alina Cojocaru and Matthew Ball are Pysche and Cupid in the second piece. This is a well put together show .. interesting lighting and music choices (listed in programme). The scenes are identified ‘Combat’, ‘Seduction’ etc with their titles displayed on the set between scenes. To me it was pretty clear what was going on without those, but perhaps the audience needs to be led. Superb dramatic intensity from all these fabulous dancers. Alina is the only one on pointe, the others are all barefoot. Her partnership with Matthew is very interesting … seamless. I’ve no idea how Alina managed to switch from the emotional high of her personal commission of 5 shows of La Strada ending on Sunday, to this intense work on Monday. Matthew’s roles as two different lovers are quite a contrast. The challenge for Cupid in this version is to metamorphose from the unseen lover in the dark with no responsibility to open and seen commitment. A tale for all time.

An alternative view from Matt Paluch https://www.gramilano.com/2024/01/giselle-we-have-a-problem/?fbclid=IwAR1KxZn8zXDgdhFV3DCU4l0UEoizgNtKSMYe30XeqTbMFsl9b5e11igCh6k_aem_AQ0T5GYNOI1rqL-ROuPRGp0eO9lhtb1GRpJcfSR6-wU-U4VrwNbPxemzMx5C-oCmEV4 discuss!

Cast?

@SPD444 the RB School don’t enter candidates under the current leadership. I asked why not and was told because they’d have to offer the opportunity to all their pupils and they don’t have the resources to do it !!!! Some years there are candidates from other UK schools and independent candidates. There is a pre-filtering system too. So there may have been candidates that didn’t make it through.

@Emeralds thank you for your impressions and thoughts on this first commission by Alina. Helpful to my understanding. also … there were at least 2 gargouillades! (One on each side) 😉

@Angela I’m not understanding what you are saying. The music for Alina’s production did not have a problem with coherence. In a few places (and it really was only between 2 or 3 pieces of the 40 or so used), the pause between felt somewhat abrupt. Maybe it needed better fading in and out. That is all. It’s a very minor point to pick on.

Apparently Nino Rota and Stravinsky were friends … which might explain why the piece “La Rabbia (anger) di Zampanò” used in this ballet for the accidental killing of Il Matto begins with a direct rip off of Le Sacre du Printemps.

@Angela regarding music. In the programme it says “Horecna selected music from Nino Rita’s film compositions so they had an emotional coherence that fitted her ideas for the production” The programme has a complete listing of the circa 40 pieces of music used including from Il Casanova, Il Gattopardo, La Dolce Vita, and others. Only a handful are from the movie score for La Strada.

Regarding the music gaps … these were less noticeable on subsequent viewings as the dancers breached the gaps with ongoing movements or action.

I’ve now seen the show three times and was moved to tears by the emotions and thoughts conveyed. Also (as others have mentioned) by the beauty of the dancing. I’ve come to the conclusion that if one is expecting a literal narrative telling of a story in the usual sequential way, then this ballet is not that. it is something else entirely. it is ground breaking and innovative in an entirely different direction. To me it is about conveying thoughts and emotions of the characters. There is a very real journey for Alina/Gelsomina in her understanding of her hopes for her two partners and the realisation of their flaws. The ballet is primarily this. Il Matto (Johan) is unable to commit or give her the unconditional love she seeks. Zampano lost her love with his abusive behaviour. He then leaves her with his coat and treasure (the trumpet) to show that he actually did care.

It’s where Mara Galeazzi’s husband works.

I’m curious if anyone has made it to the Royal Opera House in Muscat to see the Bolshoi in Raymonda Tickets were cheap! Less than £100 for the best. I found out about it too late. https://bolshoi.ru/en/news/guest-appearance/7067-Oman-tour-2024-01/ 25th of January, 19:00 Raymonda — Yulia Stepanova Jean de Brienne — Dmitry Vyskubenko Abderakhman — Mikhail Lobukhin 26th of January, 19:00 Raymonda — Alyona Kovalyova Jean de Brienne — Artemy Belyakov Abderakhman — Nikita Kapustin 27th of January, 14:00 Raymonda — Ekaterina Krysanova Jean de Brienne — Dmitry Smilevski Abderakhman — Mikhail Lobukhin The Bolshoi Orchestra Conductor — Pavel Sorokin

I’m think it is sold out. Alina confirmed elsewhere that she appears in every show.

We are told that Alina does not participate in shows outside London

I too thought the music transitions were a little clumsy in a few places. I don’t know if that is possible to improve. I guess it would be considerable expense to hire a composer to extend and join-up somehow. And that would take more negotiation with the licence holders. Hmm. Might not be possible with limited budget. It occurs to me that much of classical music is disjointed like this too … Sleeping Beauty fairy variations for instance … where the gaps are filled by curtseys and applause.

@zxDaveM sold to Zampano (Mick Zeni) . I know you meant that

I had one critic behind me, who audibly sighed irritably at each change of scene/music from partway through Act 2. I wouldn’t expect something favourable there. However I may actually agree with him, that some scenes seemed not to say anything new. Maybe he and I missed the meaning, perhaps it was too subtle in places for us? I am going again on Saturday. I like to see a new show at least twice to better understand it. So … more later in the week.

I too want time to process. I do know it touched me internally more than many shows do. But I can’t quite describe it yet. The narrative was more intangible than say MacMillan, which now feels too obvious. Hmm. What I can say is it was an absolute delight to witness Alina’s special emotive range, her extraordinary control of her technique and the special organic partnership she has with Johan. I wasn’t expecting so much dancing from him. His solos and partnering (lifts etc) were fabulous. He is 51! Mick Zeni has impressive stage presence and held my attention dramatically as Zampano. The two angels, Marc Jubete and David Rodriguez Muñiz are fabulous dancers. Both are former soloists of Hamburg Ballet. I’d describe their roles as reflecting or amplifying the thoughts of the characters they are supporting. So to me they were ‘thoughts’ rather than ‘angels’. Maybe that’s the same thing for some people. Really super emotional content from them both, though David is on a deeper level for me. BTW I hear John Neumeier is coming to see the show tomorrow (Friday). I’d want to hear his review for sure!

A smorgasbord of composers! Thank you @Irmgard for all this information

There is a FABULOUS clip on Instagram story of cast member Casey Nokomis https://www.instagram.com/stories/casey.nokomis/3288071981968237173?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=Njl3bjJ4c2F0MmVs Alina/Gelsomina with one of the angels played by David Rodriguez Muñoz. He was previously a soloist with Hamburg Ballet (left this season). He has partnered Alina there . I saw him as ‘death’ in Neumeier’s Swan Lake and as the Unicorn in Neumeier’s Glass Menagerie.

That explains his fondness for the back row https://www.instagram.com/p/CuUyKoGAyrv/?igsh=MXBjZTZrM2JweGZ4ZA==

I’ve been seeing clips of Onegin from Hungarian National company, where I see RBS graduate Louis Scrivener is performing the title role, partnering Maria Beck. https://www.instagram.com/p/C2e1eSxo820/?igsh=MXV1ZjdoOTJqY2ptZQ==

I’m guessing the role does not encompass company, people or financial management. Is it a combination of chief choreographer and person responsible for staging? Intrigued.