AnneL

I first saw Mayerling in 1980 at the age of 22 and I am not sure I was old enough even then! More seriously, I really didn’t enjoy it and didn’t give it another go until the last run in 2018, only to find it no more likeable than when I first saw it. I get that other people love it, and it’s great that we can all have different opinions (while on this theme, I would like to say I love the Firebird, including the tableau at the end!) Mayerling is the Marmite of ballet, I think. My problem with it is the totally unlikeable characters - I just can’t make myself like or sympathise with any of them. I can see that they are great roles for dancers, but they all leave me cold. Even though Manon is a flawed character, it is possible to feel that I can understand her and her world and the ballet is a satisfying thing to watch. Not so Mayerling- for me. Yet here I am, once again thinking of giving it another go - maybe another cast can make it work for me?

I have enjoyed what I have seen of the work of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa although I admit I haven’t seen that much, just A Streetcar Named Desire by the Scottish Ballet and Broken Wings, which of course was done by ENB. I will certainly look out for her work being performed in future. I am missing the current contemporary triple bill at the ROH, so can’t comment on that. I usually like Wheeldon’s work, however. (But with Swan Lake and Peter Grimes this month I couldn’t fit in another Covent Garden trip.)

Just home from today’s matinee and it was a wonderful performance. Great dancing from the principals and all the rest of the cast. As others have said, we had two Von Rothbarts! I am hoping Gartside will recover soon. I loved Magri’s Odile: she didn’t overdo the ‘evil’ side, instead appearing to be really charming until the deception was revealed, and then she was transformed. It really worked for me as an interpretation.

My advice is GO! See it! I was blown away at the rehearsal. Yes, it’s a depressing tale, but the performances by the all the principals, soloists and the chorus were magnificent. I loved the music, especially the interludes which were the only things I was familiar with. I haven’t seen another production to compare it with, but this one seemed great. The modern setting clashed a little with the libretto but that was my only reservation.

La Sylphide is always worth catching, and I am sure it will be back - by some company or another - at some stage.

I am visiting Munich in May and would very much appreciate some tips about going to the ballet there. There is a performance of the triple bill Passagen when I am in the city.

I thought I would start this off in case anyone is going. I took advantage of my Friends membership to attend the rehearsal on Tuesday and was very impressed (I am not generally much of an opera person).

I find I either love or hate Macmillan ballets: there is no middle ground. However there are quite a few that I haven’t seen, so maybe that could change.

I can confirm. Bonelli’s parents were in the same row as me - 2 seats away - and they were heading to the terrace afterwards. It’s lovely to know that they could all enjoy a party afterwards, it was a proper leaving ‘do’. I thought his words from the stage were very moving and sincere. It always seems a shock to hear dancers talk, since their art is so silent on their part. But Bonelli seems a good communicator, which bodes well for his new job.

This does seem a disappointing announcement. Likewise, it seems that it will be Swan Lake only for me.

What very sad news. He was a link to such a wonderful era in ballet history.

I just want to add my praise to the chorus for last night’s performance. This was the only Romeo and Juliet I shall see in the current run, other than the general rehearsal (in which Kaneko and Bracewell gave an exceptional account of the title roles) and I feel very fortunate to have been there on both occasions. Last night was a really special debut by both Magri and Richardson and it will live in my memory for a long, long time. I appreciated no only the drama and characterisation they brought to the roles but also their sheer talent, and I am aware too of all the hard work they must have put in. Not that they made it look like hard work, but such is the magic of ballet.

Thank you for posting this! I have booked a Sunderland performance and couldn’t be happier with the cast, especially since I had no choice which performance to go to. Now very excited!

So I suppose I should tell my story! However I am not sure where it began. I did ballet class as a young child, but didn’t stay with it all that long. I do remember loving being on stage in the annual show and I still have the blue and green tutu I wore aged five (I was a bluebell!) I guess I must have been exposed to ballet on television- in the ‘60s we only had 3 channels and I am pretty sure it was mentioned on shows like Blue Peter. Fonteyn and Nureyev were A list celebrities and household names, we all knew about them. So I pestered my mother to take me to the ballet and she chose the Royal Ballet because she thought it must be the best. We went to the Sleeping Beauty at Covent Garden 2 days before my ninth birthday. Mum saved up for stalls seats because of my poor eyesight. Anyway, that was it - I fell in love with ballet that afternoon, watching Nadia Nerina as Aurora, and Christopher Gable as her prince. I still remember the impact the bluebird pdd had on me that day, and the Act 1 waltz. But really the whole thing - it was love at first sight. Over the next few years Mum took me to The Festival Ballet Nutcracker and Swan Lake and more shows at the ROH, including Fonteyn and Nureyev in Giselle. My favourites were Sibley and Dowell who we saw in The Dream and in Cinderella. I started reading ballet books - fiction and non- fiction- and by my early teens was reading Dancing Times to see what was coming next season and book ahead. I started to enjoy mixed bills and all the less obvious stuff! Mum continued to be my companion until her death, and before then we were joined by my daughters. However I do go on my own sometimes, notably a Don Quixote in 2013 which got me back into the ROH habit after a gap of about 10 years. ( I did see ballet at Sadlers Wells, Coliseum etc in that time). I am glad to have had a lifelong interest in ballet and seen so many amazing dancers and memorable performances!

In this country it is done by Birmingham Royal Ballet with the Royal Phil. I went back in November (at Royal Albert Hall). A good night out.

Yes the reviews are ‘marmite’ - I just read a less-than-complimentary one in The Times. I am interested to see other views too.

I second that!Especially Daphnis and Chloe which has a great Ravel score. I have just been watching a clip of it featuring Bonelli and Nunez in a seductive pdd.

Ha ha I am the complete opposite - I love to go for a January treat! It is such a dull month otherwise.

Me too - re music and the 20th!

As promised, my report on The Beauty of the Ballet. It was a very pleasant evening. Whereas 2 years ago the programme was all Tchaikovsky, this time there was greater variety of composers, all Russian. Principals and soloists from Birmingham Royal Ballet performed Swan Lake Act II pdd (Celine Gittens and Brandon Lawrence- both excellent); Nutcracker grand pdd (Yu Kurihara and Lachlan Monaghan); Don Quixote Act III pdd (a fortaste of next year’s BRB production, danced here by Beatrice Parma and Mathias Dingman); the MacMillan Romeo and Juliet balcony pdd (Yaoquin Shang and Max Maslen) and finally the Balanchine Tchaikovsky pdd (Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales). In addition, there were several orchestra-only pieces, notably the Spartacus and Phrygia adagio and the 1812 overture, which somewhat randomly (since it’s not ballet music) closed the show. I suppose it’s used for its popularity and impact as a literal showstopper. The orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth, was in great form, especially (in my view) in the Spartacus piece. Although this pdd was not danced, I could visualise in my mind watching the ballet on the Covent Garden stage, as I did a few years ago. I find the music thrilling even without the choreography. Another highlight was the participation of second year students from the Royal Ballet school who performed the Garland waltz from Sleeping Beauty. They did very well, especially given that the stage didn’t look all that roomy for eight couples. This was the first time the students had performed at this event, and it was lovely to watch them. From a ballet point of view, I suppose it was an experience akin to a gala. I didn’t have the best view as the seats my friend, who organised our trip, bought are behind the stage! However, we are reasonably close, and I was very impressed particularly by the way the Romeo and Juliet pair really got into the characters of their roles just for the one pdd extrapolated from the full work. The Don Q pdd is anyway great gala fare, as is the Balanchine. I don’t think the audience were all necessarily big ballet fans like me, the lady next to me told me she had seen Swan Lake once. I couldn’t even tell her how many times I have seen it as I lost count a while ago! But the audience were appreciative and gave dancers and orchestra a standing ovation at the end, so it ended with a happy atmosphere. Perhaps it will encourage people to buy tickets for other BRB performances? I am happy I went and will go again because it is a great opportunity for those of us who live in London and the south east to see some BRB principals in action.

Yes, I went the first time - in 2019 - and shall be going again tomorrow. I will report back!

I would love to see the Bussell Song of the Earth released!

Thanks to those who posted about the release of 1969 recording of Ashton’s Cinderella, I now have my own copy on DVD. I couldn’t be happier as I saw the same cast perform the ballet at the ROH roughly 10 days after the recording was done. It is like having the permanent version of one of my earliest and still most vivid ballet memories.

Yes, it will have to be another time, but it’s definitely on my wish list now.

I watched the Stuttgart Onegin rehearsal and I can thoroughly recommend it. ( I did miss a bit of the Giselle rehearsal as a result, but I can catch up with that.) it was a reminder of the magnificent Cranko choreography which is less familiar to me than some other works which I have seen performed more often. I now dream of traveling to Stuttgart to see it!