maryrosesatonapin

1 hour ago, BeauxArts said:

 

Do you mean Hallberg has not returned to the Bolshoi post-injury? He has danced there quite a lot since returning from injury, including Giselle, Onegin and most recently - in the last 2 weeks - he made his debut with the company in A Winter's Tale.

I was going on his Wiki page, which says 'n 2011 Hallberg became the first American to become a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.^[2][7] Hallberg was invited by Sergei Filin, Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director to join as either a guest artist or principal.^[8] Part of his decision to join was made, in part, to dance with ballerina Natalia Osipova with whom he had danced previously.^[8] However, owing to a severe ankle injury,^[9] he did not perform with the Bolshoi after July 2014, and the association ended formally in 2017.'  So if he has been back, that's good news as he must be back on form (I hope)

There is absolutely no doubt that Hallberg was a great dancer in his day - do you think the Bolshoi would have allowed him on their stage if this weren't true?  But he hasn't returned/been allowed to return after his sad injury reduced him to his current, lesser, prowess.  I think other companies continue to either hope some of the glitter remains, or will return.  I am sure he commands a large fee (and why not) and who knows what agreements have been put in place with RB or elsewhere?  Osipova's loyalty to him must, I feel, be personal rather than purely down to his ability.  Maybe, having seen him at the height of his powers, she feels empathy for what happened to him.  He does cut a striking figure on-stage to this day; his tall, blond good looks stand out more than those of many better dancers.  So maybe he has a fan club who can be relied on to buy tickets.  Looks are an important part of ballet, whatever you like to think.

3 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

One important thing that has been overlooked here is that he does apparently shift tickets - though it's not clear how much of the credit lies with Osipova.

There are hundreds of unsold tickets for the Osipova/Hallberg show at Sadler's Wells starting in just over two weeks.

55 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

.... I wouldn't have minded seeing Osipova, and if she'd had Shklyarov as a partner you couldn't have kept me away!

Now you're talking

30 minutes ago, alison said:

the casts haven't exactly thrilled me: there are bits of casts I want to see, but often with other leading dancers who are, shall we say, further down my list of essential dancers to see in this ballet.  So my attitude has often been "Well, I want to see so-and-so, so I'll go and see that cast if a cheap ticket shows up, but not otherwise".

That's exactly what I thought.  I do have tickets (for Núñez/Bolle) but although I'd love to have seen one other des Grieux and one other Manon the partners available just didn't tempt me enough.

Having said that, I can't help noticing that when I buy ballet tickets for performances abroad (which isn't very often) the tickets seem to sell much more quickly so one has to book really early.  And they are just as expensive.  I'd love to be able to analyse the cause of the current problem here in London and Birmingham.  It must be so dispiriting for the dancers and musicians who put so much of themselves into these performances.

Oh I didn't look at the date of the post about her valedictory performance!  It's good she continues to work with NB.  She has a lot to offer.

I had the impression she enjoyed dancing Princess Beatrice very much when I saw her at Milton Keynes, so I hope her final performance is a happy one for her.  She has certainly been loyal to the company.

In my limited experience (I think I've only been to 2 live performances of NYCB) I found their level of technique noticeably superior to that of ABT.

Do you mean ABT, @sybarite2015@?  I have seen them several times but for the last 5 years only on video, and maybe I was just unlucky but I invariably found the corps a bit ragged/uneven and some of the soloists wouldn't have made it to soloist level in other good companies IMO.  Of course, there are excellent soloists there too but I have seen some very poor dancing (compared with, say, the British companies let alone those of France or Russia).  So I don't think coming here would be a great idea.

Something that occurred to me when watching these excellent films:  Tsiskaridze's admonitions were always informed by his passion for dance and his care for his pupils.  What a contrast to another TV programme, The Agony and the Ecstasy where Derek Deane's unmerited nastiness to Daria Klimentova was all about his ego and nothing about true care or passion - and that was to a senior, hard-working ballerina not to a pupil. 

Tsiskaridze didn't seem like a bully to me.  You could tell by the way the boys reacted to him (and called him by a nickname) that they all had a good relationship - but he rightly has extremely high standards.

I am shocked to see that Muntagirov's performances are selling so poorly - well over 200 tickets still available and the performances only a few days away.  He is so reliable in the quality of his performances.  Some of the other combinations I wanted to see one of the dancers but not the other, so opted for Nuñez/Bolle.

Many thanks to @Naomi M for providing the links to these super programmes.  I loved them!  (Thanks also to @Jan McNulty for the Brazilian link which I also look forward to watching.)

A lot of enterprises utilise dynamic pricing nowadays, from cruise lines to car hire.  Prices can differ wildly from one month to the next.  One adverse effect can be for people to hold off booking hoping for a price reduction later - not something that would be helpful to ROH methinks.

I noticed your post there, @Buddy, and thought it a good idea.  However I was shocked to learn that some people who are involved in 'Doing Dance' aren't at all interested in watching dance!  Naive of me I suppose.

We're going to see this tonight.  I bought tickets (before knowing the cast), and then today another friend wanted to join us so I checked the Hippodrome website and was shocked to see how many unsold tickets there are.  @Jan McNulty was yesterday's performance well-attended?

@George C I am truly sorry to hear of your health problems.  I hope you make the next two performances that you've booked!  I am looking forward to their 'Giselle' this coming Thursday.

There is a nicely illustrated review in the current issue of Dance Europe, with the final sentence suggesting there are rumours of future performances in the Royal Albert Hall and - Moscow's Red Square!!

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

Well, there's more than one ticket available now...

There are a few dates which seem to have a couple of tickets available.  I expect they were 'on hold' whilst I was booking and became available later.  But there are very very few, which was my point really.

For comparison - booking opened at noon today at Paris Garnier for an original Giselle (I mean close to the 1841 production).  When I looked at around 2pm there was ONE ticket left (which I snapped up).  One.

Well, I finally succumbed to going to see this tonight (Cojocaru/Hernandez/Cirio).  I missed the first run because I am very fond of the traditional ‘Giselle’ and usually don’t like modern meddling with old favourites, but reports had been so good I had decided to overcome my prejudice and see what the praise was all about.  The auditorium was as packed as an overstuffed handbag and the audience seemed appreciative if a little bemused.  Cojocaru was her usual captivating self, or at any rate as much as she could be within the role she was given. Hernandez danced well; in fact the whole company was on excellent form.  The (equivalent of the) Wilis scene was at times genuinely spooky and atmospheric. But those are the only good things I can say about it.

I know I’m in a tiny minority in my opinion of this enthusiastically received ‘C21st classic’, but I found it almost unbearable.  The ‘sound design’ [sic] was a cacophony in which echoes of Adam’s admittedly facile but delightfully melodic original score were a reminder of how obnoxious the current noise was in comparison.  And don’t even mention the excess volume, relieved at one point by a minute of near-silence, with just a faint crackling sound, leaving one wondering if this were a mistake or whether it held some deep artistic significance. Looking at the glum faces of the superb but largely unused ENB Philharmonic prompted sacrilegious thoughts of what a misuse of talent this was.  It was also a waste to give such good dancers so little chance to display their hard-won skills.  Alina can do far, far more than totter around holding a stick in her mouth! 

Khan’s background is, I believe, in Kathak dancing – the word ‘kathakar’ meaning ‘storyteller’.  This particular story was largely incomprehensible however. I am all for works that highlight societal inequality, but to do that successfully they have to have some clarity.  Some of the costumes were downright silly.  The ‘scenery’ was ugly.  The lighting was frequently too dim to see the performers. There was a lot of standing around, or walking slowly across the stage.  Yes, there were some memorable formations and compelling grotesquery too – it struck me that if the choreography could be used in two shorter modern works, without the misleading name ‘Giselle’ attached, then it might be more pleasing or at any rate less insulting to the memory of one of the world’s most exquisite ballets.  Above all, for me, ballet is about beauty and emotion. By the end of traditional productions of Giselle I am frequently moved to tears.  At the end of this one I felt mostly relief.

I agree with number 2 - Swan Lake/Loch Na heala which is thought-provoking and beautiful.  Did you know that the Swan Lake story has its origins in Ireland?  But Scottish Ballet's Rite of Spring (choreographed by Christopher Hampson) should be in the top five IMO.  It is powerful and haunting. I wasn't keen on Four Quartets and haven't seen any of the others.  Umwelt sounds particularly unappealing.

9 hours ago, FLOSS said:

Perhaps the problem is that most young choreographers would love  to have half the choreographic assurance, originality, imagination and creativity  which Ashton displays in it and it might depress them if it were seen too frequently or perhaps it is simply the fact that charm and entertainment have not been fashionable for years.

 

Ha ha! 

Northern Ballet performed the Kingdom of Back this summer at the Latitude festival, which I thought was excellent as of course it reached a new, wide and youthful audience.  Poor Nannerl was one of many women whose genius was smothered, as you can imagine: Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann come to mind amongst others.  Her brother was, in my view, quite a feminist, as evinced in his letters and in wonderful 'Figaro'.  He tried to persuade her to stand up for herself, but her preference was to be an obedient daughter and she married her father's choice of husband rather than the man she actually loved.

Thank you for the write-up, @Jan McNulty.  

It's a while since I was there but 1st tier Right side Box 8 Row 2  sounds fine to me.