AnneL

P.S. I notice the Times has now removed the offending photo. 

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I thought it was Fonteyn too, but since I couldn't be absolutely sure I didn't comment.

 

The Times have included a photo purporting to be Beryl Grey with Darcey Bussell when it's clearly not Beryl Grey. I have commented on this below the article. I wasn't sure who the lady in the photo was, but having googled it seems that it's Doris Barry, Alicia Markova's sister.

 

Very poor that obituaries of such a distinguished person include incorrect photos.

I am glad you have pointed this out. I saw the photo in the Times this morning and was somewhat bemused by its caption! 
For my own tribute, I would like to say that although Beryl Grey retired from dancing before I began to watch ballet, my early years of ballet watching and education coincided with her period in charge of the London Festival Ballet. She really established the company as one of the country’s leading ones at the time and was responsible for the first Swan Lake I ever saw and my introduction to the choreography of Balanchine. She made a profound impact on British ballet, and like de Valois, held positions of artistic power when this was still unusual for women.
I found her autobiography interesting, although it wasn’t a great read as it seemed to draw on contemporary diaries which, although great source material, tended to make the text repetitive. 

Re ticket offices, for those of us outside the Oyster card area, there are fewer purchase options and the machines (which I do use sometimes) can be unreliable. At the station I use there was a healthy ticket office queue on Monday when I went to the Nutcracker rehearsal. It is also reassuring to know that there are employees on site and visible, not hiding in an office. The lady at our ticket office has a side job in sorting out the unruly school children at certain times of day! 

Yes, at the end of the day staff are needed to run a safe and decent service. I have a disabled friend who has no end of adventures and difficulties with the train companies’ accessibility arrangements! 

Today I returned my tickets for the Nutcracker for the 14th - very disappointed. But just a point for those discussing drivers - it’s not their union that’s on strike this time. Personally I am unhappy about the government’s & employers’ proposal that ticket offices should be closed. Next week Southeastern are introducing a new timetable with a lot of spin about how much better it will be, when as far as I can work out, the service will be far worse. 

On 19/11/2022 at 23:20, pianolady said:

I'd recommend Sally Banes Dancing Women for a look at differing interpretations of the classic ballet female roles and her reading of Aurora as empowered rather than passive, and there are lots of feminist critiques of ballet which take hugely differing views about how far women are empowered- or otherwise- by these roles and by ballet generally. Off the top of my head, Alexander Daly, Jennifer Miskec, Priya Thomas on the sylphide, a few searches will  these will bring up copious examples through their bibliographies. This subject is especially close to my heart as I'm midway through a PhD on the children's ballet novel as an empowering female space! As others have said, there is a big difference about how the ballets seemingly treat gender at plot level, as opposed to the differing interpretations across the eras, as well as ballet offering such a powerful space for female expression- albeit often with male ballet company directors in charge!

That sounds like an amazing subject for a PhD thesis! 

4 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

[RE 'Dispatch'] - The titters were I think intentional.  It was, I thought, very witty.  I have a feeling that Baryshnikov - who it seems was in the audience - would have loved this.  Won't be surprised if it doesn't very soon show up at his Arts Center.

 

It's rare that you get satire in ballet - and this one was blessedly oh, so specifically balletic - so deeply rooted and certainly laser sharp in terms of overall formal structures.  The humourous interplay with so many fascinating quotations/penetrating takes from Cunningham, Forsythe - but most especially Tudor and Balanchine - (including the sit out - which so made me giggle) - was stunning in the extreme and it blessedly didn't overstay its welcome.  Both dancers excelled - but I thought Bracewell a revelation.  How I would love to see him tackle the last movement of the Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, say, or - hopefully soon at this address - the final PDD of Agon - or certainly to see the two of them do Duo Concertant on a bill.   

 

One added comment - How glorious to see James Hay back in such breath-taking shape.  There can't have been too many other dancers whose stunning lyrical line - always wafting THROUGH the music - is consistently pinpointed by such a miraculous port de bras.  Such a gift for us all.  

 

 

This is an interesting comment, as I found - in my cinema seat - the choreography of this piece interesting, while the music and costumes intensely annoying! Quite honestly, I preferred Concerto pour deux which followed. At least Osipova’s costume was attractive (although McCrae’s could have done with some trousers or at least a nicer shirt) and I liked the music. 
Really, Dispatch was the low point of the evening for me. I don’t have a strong opinion either way yet about the Toonga, so I am looking forward to seeing it again - this time in the theatre- on Saturday afternoon. 

6 hours ago, LinMM said:

Which rail company were you travelling with? 
 

 

Southeastern.

Just to report that I got lucky yesterday with trains to and from London running perfectly on time, despite being so soon after the strike was called off. I thoroughly enjoyed the La Boheme matinee at the ROH without the nagging worry about the underground/ bus + long drive home in the dark and the rain which I had been anticipating! 

I am so tempted by the Fokine, Nijinska and Lifar pieces particularly- things we don’t get a chance to see enough of these days in my opinion. And the Nureyev Swan Lake solo is also worth seeing. But as others have said, the Sunday trains are a major disincentive. 

On 27/10/2022 at 17:30, Sophoife said:

I only wish I could see it again. AusBallet has a very nice Ratmansky version to replace Stanton Welch's, but the Ashton hasn't been seen in many, many years apart from some extracts in a programme celebrating Dame Peggy van Praagh in 2010.

 

My first Cinderella (my first ballet) featured Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell, with Ashton and Helpmann as the sisters, Georgina Parkinson as the fairy godmother and bonus of Derek Rencher and Wayne Sleep as the sisters' suitors. December 1969.

I saw the same cast, in January 1970. A wonderful memory. 

I am very sorry to hear this news.

I am also posting late, due to dodgy (actually unusable) hotel WiFi. I saw The Little Mermaid at Newcastle Theatre Royal on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed it very much. We live in the south but my husband comes from Tyneside, so we timed a trip to see his relatives to coincide with a ballet treat! I saw the same cast as the first one mentioned by Jan and they all conveyed the characters through their dancing very well. Amber Lewis’s mermaid solo, almost fighting with her ‘new’ legs, was particularly memorable.
The specially written score was pleasant to listen to, appropriate for dancing and the choreography fitted it well. The orchestra under Jonathan Lo were excellent. Understandably for a matinee there were many children in the audience and clearly some of them expected something more Disney-like than this version. It was suitable for children, but Disney it was not, but probably closer to the original tale. There was no ‘happy ever after’ ending and it was something of a cautionary tale - be careful what you wish for. It somehow reminded me of the Red Shoes in that way. And as Jan said, Lyr was scary! So it was suitable for adults as well as children. 

On 02/10/2022 at 20:57, MJW said:

 

For similar reasons, that's why I have booked for the rehearsal on Tuesday 17th (£20 ticket for a decent seat)

Me too!

My reactions to today’s matinee: the programme mixed familiar gala fare with less well-known items. Of the latter, I was most impressed by the Flower Festival in Genzano PDD. We do NOT get enough Bournonville to see in London, in my opinion, so this was a real treat. Great footwork from Frola especially. As the programme alludes to, Nureyev admired and appreciated the Bournonville tradition, so it was a great choice.

Also in the first act, the Gayane PDD and the Laurencia pas de six both connected us to Nureyev’s Soviet heritage. I liked the Khachaturian music for the first of these, and the semi-folk dance feel to some of the steps. The pas de six was danced energetically by the cast, and enjoyable, but the choreography seemed to me slightly derivative of Don Q with its Spanish style flourishes. Nevertheless it was entertaining.

Of the more familiar pieces, the Giselle extract was particularly meaningful to me as I actually saw Nureyev dance Albrecht (with Fonteyn as Giselle) and seeing it danced never fails to bring back that memory. The Sleeping Beauty PDD and the Le Corsaire one were as enjoyable as expected. 
I didn’t find the Don Juan excerpt incredibly interesting, although it was beautifully danced.
I think if I was curating a Nureyev gala, I would include an extract from Marguerite and Armand and something from his version of Romeo and Juliet, which Muntagirov referred to in his recorded interview for the gala. Maybe we should all suggest our fantasy gala items! 

I want to add my own tribute to Lorrayne who I remember watching over 50 years ago at the ROH. She danced in all 3 ballets of a triple bill I attended in 1970: Birthday Offering, Enigma Variations and Facade (all Ashton, of course). I was very young but I remember being entranced by all the dancers, especially in Enigma. Lorrayne was Isabel Fitton in Enigma, a role I understand she created. Her interpretation was unforgettable. I also feel privileged to have seen it. 

I live in Kent and would be potentially interested. Would like to know titles though as I may have some.

On 02/06/2022 at 11:49, Jane S said:

 

Coleman: and me!  - I have a photo of him in The Concert on my wall and it still makes me smile every time I look at it.

 

(I just looked him up and see that he danced Bluebird 92 times in his RB2 days!)

I actually saw him as Bluebird in my very first ballet! I am very pleased he has been honoured. 

Just thought I would add to this thread to say the performance has been released on dvd and I received a copy as a birthday present. I agree that it would be hard to know what was going on without a synopsis! Fortunately there is one in the dvd package. I think it was an enjoyable winter ballet , making a change from the usual one that begins with an N. But the choreography was perhaps a bit repetitive. 

2 hours ago, ctas said:

Congratulations to both dancers, very very deserved and a lovely way to announce it with the nice photo of the two! (Weird headline though!) 
 

For what it’s worth - An official article, no doubt with the participation of the press office, is not a leak. They would’ve had full information on when it was to go to press/go online. 

Like many papers, the Times/ST headlines really go for the clickbait these days and don’t bear much resemblance to the article contents. The one on Natalia Osipova today is similar, focussing on a small aspect of the interview content.

It was a lovely performance all round. The dancers making debuts - not least Claire Calvert herself- brought some freshness to the choreography, in my opinion. And the corps in Acts 2 and 4 seemed on top of their game too.

Rencher was a great presence on stage. I will never forget him as Edward Elgar in Enigma Variations. Sadly I didn’t see the original Month cast. 

14 hours ago, MJW said:

 

As a complete non-dancer it was certainly the most complex (and frankly hard work for the dancers) pieces I have seen. I mentioned that to one of the dancers who performed on Saturday afternoon and he agreed. 

 

If I'm honest I preferred Symphonic Variations but then I think most people would agree that is Ashton's masterpiece and I am hoping it will be back on stage sooner rather than later.

Yes! I agree that it would be lovely to have SV back again. I have a fantasy Ashton programme including that and Birthday Offering, another enjoyable plotless ballet with great ballerina roles. Re Scenes de Ballet, the complexity is because the choreography relates so closely to the music, is it not? I love Stravinsky a lot and it’s a great score for dancing to my inexpert ears. I have the dvd of the 2004 performance with Yoshida and Putrov, but never saw the ballet live until Saturday. I like that dvd a lot. 
i enjoyed last night’s performance too, with the exception of Rhapsody, which I thought was better on Saturday, with Sambe. But that’s just a personal opinion, and being very picky. 

I am looking forward to seeing this very much. I have been enjoying the 2004 DVD of Scenes, which I have never seen live. I love the men’s costumes, which seem quite contemporary, in a way. I will be there tomorrow and Tuesday! 

22 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Cinderella is a fairy story and people may be attracted to that idea to bring their children (especially when there are matinees).

 

I personally think that full length shows can be too long for younger children's attention span but I suppose that applies to pantomime too and children are encouraged to go to those.

When Wheeldon’s Alice was last on, we sat next to a very small girl, aged about seven. Who was as good as gold. It was the days of the ‘package’ tickets, and she was there again for the Magic Flute a couple of weeks later in the same seat, again very well- behaved!