FionaM

I agree distracting the artists is not on. My iPhone 12 has no lights on the dancers’ side. (Not that I’m personally planning to use it, as I said above.)

Seeing Irek and Darcey in this made me wish for them to return to the stage in character roles.

Personally I’m not planning on filming any performance … except curtain calls … as I too am there for the uninterrupted live experience … whether it’s ballet or something else. However I am grateful for those who do, as afterwards I get great pleasure from reliving the occasion through someone else’s clips. (Not the whole thing I hasten to add, just short clips). Perhaps the theatres could think about adding this to their social media, which is effectively what AD Eleonora Abbagnato did with Don Q.

For balance, it would be interesting to get views from the younger generation. I’ve seen short clips made by UK ballet school students and junior members of UK companies on social media. The purpose of those is to applaud colleagues and dancers that they admire. They add applause 👏 and similar emojis and and ‘well done’ type comments. I think the (mostly) older generations in this forum may be misrepresenting the generosity of younger people, particularly on social media. The dancers posting videos of themselves (whether from the wings or audience) or re-posts of official clips … those obviously ARE self-promotion. And who else is going to do it, if not themselves? Only a few have agents. I notice Friedemann Vogel’s agents regularly repost any audience video and curtain calls.

well motivationally I can only speak for myself … I repost videos precisely to advertise shows to my friends.

that’s a good point. I guess the issue with social media and today’s world is that there are more events competing for an audience. If alternative events grab attention by utilising current tools available then those that don’t risk losing out.

I thought Coppélia worked quite well as a family friendly ballet. I agree the music didn’t grab me, but then we all know the Delibes score so well. It could improve with familiarity. As did Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and even Stravinsky. Though I do agree I would have preferred the use of the original music. I’m currently watching the sci-fi version by Victor Ullate Ballet on EuroArtsChannel on YouTube

Indeed. Audience clips can never replace professional filming. That’s not their purpose. It’s probably fair to assume that the followers of ROH social media are people already attending shows. Audience members have unique sets of interests and therefore followers on social media who might never have seen a ballet. Theatres are missing out on that wider reach.

@Sophoife I agree about enjoying the #fromthewings videos. They give a different perspective for us. It’s brave of any dancer to post these .. they do reveal technique imperfections more than the audience straight-on view.

🤣🤣

The point of the audience video is not to be good quality or professional … but to give a flavour to those not attending of what they have missed by not being at the live performance!

Here’s an example of how life is moving on in this regard … A clip of Iana Salenko in Don Q in Rome … posted by the Artistic Director of Rome Ballet herself, Eleonora Abbagnato https://instagram.com/stories/eleonoraabbagnatoofficial/3002688563013077178?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= I notice Ms Abbagnato has also re-posted other audience videos.

I dispute the claims with truth. Which is accepted. I’ve not violated anything. They have … with their over-aggressive algorithms. And the point is … their own algorithm should realise that multiple artists cannot claim against one post.

Ah music copyright .. that’s another mess to discuss sometime. The big corporations have too much power. I post short clips of live dance performances and regularly get multiple music claims against each. Their algorithm matches sections of the live show to sections from their recordings. All of which are therefore false claims. Sigh.

I’d argue that as long as the filming and any sharing later is discrete … then this practice actually encourages more people to attend. Nobody is going to post 2-3 hours of a show … and audience filmed clips are not good quality obviously. So where is the harm. Dancers everywhere who get clips, repost them and there is no harm there either. It enhances their reputation and again encourages more audience. I think it’s something theatre leaders in UK should be thinking about to increase their audience. I’ve no doubt I’m in the minority here … just observing that it works ‘for’ rather than ‘against’ the performers and theatres. It’s going to take a significant shift in mindset to change this way of thinking. Did you know it’s possible to buy glasses with hidden video cameras inbuilt? So it’s probably happening anyway!

Question … what’s the actual issue with filming at the ballet? At other music genres … pop/rock … filming isn’t controlled at all. Clips that are shared serve to increase the audience. I can understand if it’s disturbing other patrons

Reminder of Coppélia ballet film on BBC2 today, 27 December at 6.15pm Do watch! - Michaela dePrince - Daniel Camargo - Darcey Bussell - Irek Mukhamedov … and more ballet stars from Dutch National Ballet https://www.instagram.com/p/CmgeP6bI6Wt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Bravo indeed to the mods … it’s not been an easy year to navigate. Thank you for all your efforts. It’s much appreciated. https://giphy.com/gifs/dance-ballet-two-pigeons-6ggTfKLfjMG7m

there’s more of all the dancers and Liam Scarlett in the behind the scenes video than actually ended up in the final cut … a search on YouTube will bring up the ballet scene and the behind the scenes.

@jmhoptonthank you got these links! @BalletcoForum Moderators please could you change the title to “FREE online offerings”. Or similar? Thank you

That’s the way the RB works … a long run of each ballet … so that most lead casts get 2+ shows. And then that ballet is not repeated for 2-3 years (or longer). Except Nutcracker, that seems to be an annual fixture now.

wow!

From @Angela and free to watch (at least in UK) on the link she provides: The new filming of John Cranko's "The Taming of the Shrew" will be on arte tv in the night from 18th to 19 December at 00.10 CET, and available online until 16th January. https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/104474-000-A/the-taming-of-the-shrew/ Cast: Elisa Badenes Jason Reilly Veronika Verterich Martí Fernández Paixá Alessandro Giaquinto Fabio Adorisio The DVD should be available now also.

Yes we can! mine is now playing.

And dry ice unfortunately condenses on the stage flooring. I don’t know the mechanics of how they avoid that … must be a specific heat needed to ‘dry’ it?