FionaM

Anyone promoted to principal before age 25 is pretty exceptional!

Alina was promoted at 19 to principal at RB. Before that she was a principal at age 17 at the National Ballet of Ukraine in Kiev.

Elizaveta Kokoreva and Dmitry Smilevski were both promoted to principals at the Bolshoi last night …. when they performed the lead roles in Pierre Lacotte’s <Pharaoh’s Daughter> These two dancers graduated from the Moscow Academy in 2019 and are age 21. Many clips on social media. https://instagram.com/kokolizik?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= https://instagram.com/dmitry_smile?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The smaller company tours (BRB2 etc) will often be to venues without orchestra pits. Which is another reason for recorded music, in addition to the obviously prohibitive cost of live musicians. The tour organiser has to take into account much lower ticket prices for these events AND smaller audience sizes in these venues. The big advantage of no orchestra, can be intimacy. The audience can be very close up to the dancers if there is no orchestra pit, or if it is covered by an extended dance floor. A friend has just seen ABT Studio Company at a venue in Hong Kong where the front row were literally touching distance. As another example, at Jamiel Laurence’s event in Canary Wharf ‘Ballet Nights’ he had a mixture of recorded music and a live concert pianist on stage, also meaning that the front row had their feet touching the edge of the dance floor. You can’t get closer! I would highly recommend these close-up experiences.

Lauren Cuthbertson’s Aurora deserves to be seen. She excels in this role (as in many).

I assume that too … because Luca is also paired with Tom Whitehouse.

I hope someone with rehabilitation qualifications is helping Cesar to re-hab and re-train carefully and correctly as this has now been two lengthy injury time-outs since joining RB. Fingers crossed. C

I haven’t yet found any info about a livestream ??? I do know Maria was a principal at Stanislavsky in Moscow before leaving for Hungary. She joined the company from the Moscow School according to her bio: https://www.opera.hu/en/company/szemely/beck-maria/44667/

I was thinking more from the point of view that Vadim doesn’t seem to be getting guesting opportunities in Europe as he did before. So sad. and also from my own selfish point of view of being priced out of ROH.

The fundamental problem is that it’s a disastrously shaped auditorium for watching ballet. - the rake in the stalls is inadequate for unobstructed views - the front rows of the stalls are below the stage (so the dancers have no feet) - the ‘best’ seats … centre of Donald Gordon tier, are too far away for emotions and expressions - anything on the horseshoe shaped sides is restricted view (even when not identified as such 🙄) and exacerbated by others understandably leaning forward to cope with their own restricted view. - anything under the overhangs in stalls circle, balcony, … gets distorted sound, as well as boxed in views - I assume (never sat there) that second row in boxes is highly restricted by the box side panels They really need a crescent shaped auditorium … like the one ABBA built for their avatar show. There are no bad views in that. (Maybe the standing pit … but that wouldn’t apply)

hoping for more opportunities like this … both for Vadim and for us the audience.

Thank you for clarification Angela. I haven’t followed Zürich or Spuck much (as you can tell). I will now. I was aware of his full-length Orlando for Bolshoi

I don’t understand the rationale for DVDs of dance retailed in one country only. The power of dance is that it is not spoken and therefore universally accessible to all!

Is Cathy Marston’s choreo mostly unique story ballets (as in … stories not done much or at all elsewhere) and, with deep emotional content? If so, I can understand why established dancers as discussed above, want to join her company. That’s a way to challenge and fulfil their artistic needs. Presumably Zürich will retain some of their previous repertoire. I am interested in why the Zürich board hired an AD who may be substantially different to the previous one.

Personally I find Jewels boring and most companies now have it in their repertoire. It’s the only ballet that sends me to sleep. Every time. I fear that the ballet companies are becoming carbon copies of each other. Each must have a Forsythe Blake’s Work, each a Crystal Pite, a Wheeldon, McGregor. Where is the originality. I worry for new choreographers struggling to break into this monopoly. I watched the livestream of Kunstkamer and having been impressed by the energy and variety in it, I was looking forward to seeing it live. Sigh.

@Peanut68 do it! Best thing I’ve ever done.

Fumi and Melissa. Natalia too. Maybe Yuhui also now that I think about it.

I loved Yugen

Casting for Liliom in Hamburg is up: Alina performs the role of Julie on 12 and 13 April, alongside Karen Azatyan in the title role. There are still some tickets available (not many). Highly recommend if you like narrative ballets. https://www.hamburgballett.de/en/schedule/play–repertoire.php?SNr=610

3-4 weeks is not ’soon’ by my definition … and not soon enough with other companies announced a month earlier!

Same dancers as 2022. And many of these have performed regularly on this sumner outdoors tour. You’d rhink the audience might be interested in experiencing other dancers too. There are plenty of good ones about. (I have the same criticism of the Ballet Icons Gala in London).

A quick google will bring up a YouTube recording of Paris’ Cinderella with Guillem and Nureyev

@serenade I agree BRB version has strongest narrative throughout. In many versions the potential brides in Act 3 dance as one group with the same or near indistinguishable dresses or tutus. At least the RB version by Liam Scarlett does distinguish the princesses but they have very little dancing to do .. a few phrases solo and the rest is as a group. I enjoyed the substantial individual solos in Sir Peter Wright’s version for BRB. The weakest part of BRB’s version was Von Rothbart … both the older dancer that I saw (I kept worrying he’d trip whilst running or on the stairs) plus the rather pathetic costume and makeup. Would be simple to fix.

My memory of the Matthew Bourne R&J was that it was set in an institution / prison for young adults. It’s not explained why. There wasn’t any portrayal of madness. The marketing for the summer 2023 tour says: “Confined against their will by a society that seeks to divide, our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together. “

There have been other stagings of this story …. 2018 by Marco Goecke for Gaertnerplatztheatre https://youtu.be/lfKSPRZZYRw 2005 at La Scala (originally choreographed in 1966 by Mario Pistoni) (google for possible unofficial recording in 3 parts) 2017 for Tbilisi State Ballet starring Nina Ananiashvili … she looks perfect in this. Choreography by Gianluca Schiavoni. https://youtu.be/BU9_UypDXvg Probably others too. I can’t help feeling the story is similar to Liliom (aka Carousel) created at Hamburg by Neumeier on Alina … a character treated badly by men, with a circus themed background.