FionaM

i believe it was his debut with ENB in this role. According to his Instagram he has performed Albrecht at National Ballet of Canada. Lovely photos too https://www.instagram.com/p/C12F_yYItWp/?igsh=NTA1ZXJ2YjEydnFy

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from ROH point of view many in pensionable bracket are not in need of a discount. How would they differentiate 🤔 They cannot discount every age group! I’m not sure I agree with a discount for under 40 either. The idea that ‘only workers in finance/law can afford tickets’ has applied for many decades. It’s not a new phenomenon. (I worked in finance in the 90s, very few friends in other fields could afford to join me.) I prefer the option to discount to regulars … by which I mean offering discounts in the section that is not selling well to regulars who usually buy in that section. With digital information records this should be easy to do.

well Alina is one of the all time great ballerinas in many roles and Giselle is one of her triumphs. She has guested all over the world in this ballet. Please book to see her in ‘La Strada’ which I am convinced will be an exceptional showcase of her dramatic abilities.

Re cast changes… It’s very simple … companies should publish cast changes on all social media.

So that’s the 4th opportunity to see Alina in the UK in 2024. Lucky us!

thank you for this. It’s an audience recording that is also available on VK and YouTube. So it doesn’t have the quality of picture or sound, nor the close ups of the professional recording. And it is missing some scenes … it’s shorter than the full broadcast. Still, it’s better than nothing!

I haven’t seen Vishneva in this role before. I didn’t warm to her portrayal. Too dominating in Act 1 (where is the humble, shy, young girl that is deceived?) and too much of a dead corpse in Act 2. I didn’t believe her Giselle cared about saving Albrecht. Oxana Kardash was sublime as Myrtha and Sergei Manuilov was clear in his acting as Hans. Some of the other character artists were rather awkward. I felt the camera close ups showed Vishneva more than Polunin so we could not always follow the arc of his portrayal. The technique of both was sublime and seemingly achieved with no effort. I hear Russian ballet forums are alight with cries of how could he give away THIS? Albrecht became a signature role for Sergei. He performed this ballet 30 times I think, partnering Zakharova 11 times and also Osipova, Shapran, Marquez, Nunez, Vishneva, N.Somova, and 3 Novosibirsk ballerinas. There were discussions for a guest appearance at ROH within the past 5 years. Two more performances in Munich were cancelled due to Covid.

So relieved that’s she is found. Hopefully just young person wobbles.. The worry for her family and friends must have been awful. @BalletcoForum Moderators could the title be amended to say ‘found and safe’

There’s a full recording of a performance from 2011 on YouTube, search ‘Nutcracker Dresden’. It is very traditional. official videos on Semeroper Ballett channel here …

info on the Semeroper version of Nutcracker, by Aaron Watkin and Jason Beechey https://www.semperoper.de/en/whats-on/schedule/stid/nutcracker/55959.html

I’m thinking that there has been ample time since Aaron’s appointment as incoming ENB AD to commission a new version. His appointment was first announced way back in August 2022. (And the problems with the existing version have been known for many years).

Yes that’s the other possibility that I also hope is not the case!

Ida also performed this role when previously with Royal Danish Ballet

Precious Adams says “goodbye to this version” https://www.instagram.com/p/C10H1kuNNKs/?igsh=b3FjOTJjdHd1YjJu I’m assuming this means there is a new Nutcracker for ENB in the works?

I noticed one cast difference in the broadcast to the pdf castsheet : The exciting young soloist Bianca Teixeira replaced Sofia Ivanova in Elegy/Hamlet as Ophelia. FYI … Bianca and Osiel Gouneo were on Alina Cojocaru’s tour of China in November 2023 (I still haven’t watched this broadcast in full but I do have it downloaded.)

@Jeannette I will watch later and can identify some of the dancers. In the meantime here is the full cast list https://www.staatsoper.de/media/user_upload/BSB_2223_TSCH-OUVERTUEREN_BZ__10S__2022_12_23__I.pdf which I found embedded on this page of their website about the premiere show https://www.staatsoper.de/en/productions/tchaikovsky-overtures/2022-12-23-1930-13253

Culture channel in Russia will broadcast GISELLE performed in April 2014 Diana Vishneva and Sergei Polunin - with Sergei Manuilov as Hans and Oxana Kardash as Myrtha Monday 8 January 2024 at 22.35 - 19.35 in UK Announcement https://smotrim.ru/article/3727716 It’s possible to watch this channel live and free without VPN https://smotrim.ru/live/19201 Vishneva and Polunin performed this twice, first in Novosibirsk Opera House and 5 days later in Stanislavsky Music Theatre in Moscow. This is the StanMus show. People were sitting in the aisles and standing in extra spaces. This is the first time the professional recording has been broadcast anywhere. (Audience clips exist of course.)

Agree. His reconstructions are tedious. There was a reason that ballet developed away from the originals. He also has a tendency to cram myriads of steps into the music. It’s not easy on the eye. (Rather similar to his habit of taking on myriads of commissions each year.) Anyway, it’s unlikely that he’d come to RB permanently as he’s had his eye on the NYCB choreographer position for some time, which he now has. The next Balanchine? Hmm. Having said that I am interested in his Tchaikovsky Overtures created for Munich (commissioned by Igor Zelensky) which is bring livestreamed tomorrow (Sunday). The dancers seem to have enjoyed being in it and it features the whole company. They have many good dancers.

I think the soloist title might work in a different way. I.E. once a dancer is a soloist they are not expected to do corps de ballet group work. This does not preclude corps de ballet from being cast in soloist roles.

The ROH moves in mysterious opaque ways! Delighted by this promotion and hope to see him in more featured roles soon. Benno perhaps?

Ah the cape won the red run! I bet the audience loved it.

I’ve been asked to write a review for a local public news site. What to write? In honesty it was awful … poor level of dancers, untuned orchestra, overly fussy and shiny costumes, poor quality projected backdrops, and substantial adjustments to the choreography. Tickets were not cheap either … £70 in the stalls. The dancers are mostly Italian, Spanish, Brazilian. Most of the soloists are only 1-2 years out of ballet school, some trained at La Scala or other good schools. Clearly these are the ones that didn’t get jobs at good companies. And for good reason. And yet … it was sold out and the audience cheered like crazy. It’s certainly a triumph for the marketing team. (and the finances of producer Raymond Gubbay) https://www.raymondgubbay.co.uk/whats-on/varna-international-ballet-2024 Why can’t we get decent ballet more often in Bristol instead of this rubbish.

I’m heading to Varna International Ballet opening night in Bristol today, Thursday 4 January 2024. Sleeping Beauty. They are also performing Nutcracker on Friday and two shows of Swan Lake on Saturday. I’m hoping for a better quality production and dancers than last time. ATG have produced a good trailer https://youtu.be/XTreXhCPsAw?si=00_2xsAlzOzs12si As before there is next to no information online … no website or social media. Does anybody know of dancers involved in this year’s UK tour? I found a few … mostly Italian and Spanish dancers. At least one trained at La Scala and another at Vaganova. Following their social media proved helpful last year 😉

I’m wonder why Matthew Ball didn’t partner Mayara. Maybe he was elsewhere. Perhaps with Alina Cojocaru and Kim Brandstrup creating their new work for the Metamorphoses shows in Bath which start later in January.