maryrosesatonapin

Just a heads- up for Paris Opera Ballet chez soi: you can hire things from their website ad hoc rather than committing to a monthly payment and might see performances you would otherwise miss.... personally I don't think the ROH offer is good value.

What I really enjoy is well-performed entrechats.  Rapid yet 'thorough'.  No skimming over the movement (which I have seen some admired dancers do quite a lot).

My entre-chat king: Cesar Morales

Past happy entrechat memories: dear Federico Bonelli

Must not forget: Muntagirov who is of course perfect in this as in almost every other area.

If you'd like to join in, please add: the step or 'thing' that you most enjoy, your king/queen, your memory and anything else you'd like to add!
 

12 hours ago, Finnbarr said:

Hello, RB experts

 

can anyone tell me who it is who plays the delightful old retainer who features in the Christmas party in The Nutcracker, wandering around with a candelabra as everyone goes to bed ? He has been in all the performances I have seen and I think he is a great comic actor. Is he an ex- dancer? 

My partner and I were chuckling when watching him the other week - that would be us if we were up on stage!

I just had a brilliant booking experience this morning.  Booked a few tickets without problems, then when putting them in my diary I realised that I already had an opera booked for the 1st April, for which I had bought two Cinderella tickets.  Emailed the box office to explain (as I was sure the phones would be chock-a-block), and within minutes they had replied saying they have refunded the amount to my bank so that I can re-book another performance at my leisure.  I'm really impressed.  And I was only expecting a voucher/credit, which would have been no problem.  Really personal, rapid service.  

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

The cypher should be straightforward enough but I'm not so sure about the crown (Tudor in place of St Edward's).

??  Don't understand, but sounds intriguing!  What does this mean please?

I saw it at the cinema too, and thought the whole performance sparkled.  What a good thing the tree didn't get stuck on a relay night!  I loved Hamilton/Braensrod. What a great pair they are together. I thought Bracewell, always so elegant, was much better in his facial expressions tonight and looked every inch a prince.  Kaneko positively glittered her way through the difficult steps.  I still prefer the Bolshoi version with Nina Kaptsova though - she will always be the Sugar Plum Fairy for me.

I voted for Scottish Ballet's The Crucible. I've seen a number of great performances and some not-so-great this year, but for some reason The Crucible just haunts me still.

10 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

The bouquets photo as mentioned earlier, plus a few more from tonight.

Lovely photos, @Dawnstar, thanks for sharing!

10 hours ago, Mary said:

 

I've been noticing how good the orchestra seem lately too- especially the brass so much improved, so it seems to me, not an expert.

 

It's good news  that the King and Queen are continuing to come 'privately' to performances, supporting the Royal Ballet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed the brass section improvement too, a few weeks ago. Phew!

I wonder if C:&C pay for their box?

Have the curtains been changed yet to CR?

13 minutes ago, Stephenwolf said:

I agree one hundred percent. I also think that Ryoichi Hirano was wonderful. Very convincing as the tortured prince. To be frank, I think Ryoichi has a tortured look about him most of the time, 

It's good to hear several positive views of Hirano's performance.  I saw him a few years ago and although I always find him a commanding presence on stage, I have also found him rather one-dimensional at times.  It's great that he has evolved in his characterisation of Rudolf.

3 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

So sad not to see Laura Morera tomorrow. She and Matthew Ball were stunning in the rehearsal.  Just so pleased I saw that, because it will never come again now. 

Never again... the saddest words.  I so love Laura.

3 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Thank you for posting this. I loved it. I don't know why, but this I find quite beautiful, whereas the Diamond Celebration lacked the sparkle of this performance.

I agree - Kobborg and Tsiskaridze must be two of the greatest male dancers ever.

13 hours ago, bridiem said:

... See Us!! (why the exclamation marks??!!) ...

 

 

Toonga said having two exclamation marks was a mistake in the talk beforehand!

4 hours ago, capybara said:

 

I find it odd to have someone else's thoughts quoted at length.

All views valid - but at second hand????

I found it interesting, not at all odd.  

Well... I've returned from the cinema with mixed feelings.  The downside was that the live relay stopped halfway through so we were all given refunds!

My stand-out of the gala was Qualia. We were given print-outs of the wrong cast.  I recognised Melissa Hamilton but couldn't place her sultry partner.  I thought the work suited them both and it was completely gripping, astounding even.  Then when they took their bows I recognised that the male dancer was Lukas BB, who had resumed his normal smiling face instead of this Heathcliff-like, magnificent glowering creature that he was during the dance.  So I do hope @Dawnstar sat through the second part.

See US!! I thought was rubbish, visually and aurally.  Sissens gave it his best but it was simply dreadful.  I would've preferred it to be more hip-hop musically and choreography actually. Anything would be better than this.

Nice to see Alex Campbell again after so long (his waistcoat was the same fabric as our first settee!) He and O'Sullivan make a good partnership, physically, and seeing this little Ashtonian treasure was like having a delicious aperitif that left you wanting more.
Also nice to see and hear Ed Watson.  I've been told off before on this forum for commenting on looks, but I'm going to be naughty again and say that although Watson isn't classically handsome exactly, his bone structure and colouring are like a work of art in themselves so I do enjoy the odd chance to see him now that he has retired from the stage!  (This is purely an aesthetic comment, not a lascivious one!  I am of the belief that ballet is a visual art, and that the dancers should be, and usually are, beautiful.)

The Osipova/Macrae Pouffer piece had gorgeous music but came at the point that the film broke down, alas.

And I agree - Muntagirov looked ridiculously youthful again.  He must have a Dorian Gray type portrait in his attic.

3 hours ago, RobR said:

 

I juxtapose this view with my recollections of watching the Russian companies (when they used to come here) and noticing how (generally) ‘wooden' their acting skills appeared to be to me.

I have seen brilliant dance-acting within Russian companies and a few 'wooden' dancers.  Same here in England.  But there are some wonderfully un-wooden ones too, especially in the Mariinsky. I certainly don't agree with this comment overall (although of course cannot argue with your personal experience).

6 minutes ago, Sim said:

Wow well that was sensational!!!  And Vadim was given flowers onstage.   So well deserved.  Is that a one-off, I wonder??!!  Can we start giving flowers to the men for onstage presentation?  
 

Gosh, what a night.  😀❤️

I sent flowers to Bonelli for one of his last performances, but they were left in his dressing room

19 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

 I love Bratfisch as a character (all the Bratfisch's I've seen have been great) and always wish he had more to do (not sure where or what) as it is such a playful, virtuoso role and gives some light relief to an otherwise very intense ballet.

In the aftermath of the performance I've been thinking about Bratfisch... really he is the only completely sympathetic character in the piece IMO and also one of the most tragic, given that he really seems to care about the young couple's suicide whilst the rest of the court were probably only thinking how to cover up the scandal.

Yes, Laura Morera was terrific.  She was an utterly convincing teenager, and gave an expressive and nuanced performance that it would be hard to better.  Just wonderful, so very memorable.  The only other cast I've seen this time round was McRae/Lamb and I found Steven's partnering with those incredible lifts, and the darkness of character he portrayed, to be more convincing that Matthew Ball's performance tonight.  Fumi Kaneko sparkled in her role as Mitzi Caspar, and Mayara Magri was an impressive Larisch.  Altogether a wonderful evening (but I still think the ballet should be slimmed down slightly!)

There were a number of famous faces in the audience - Lady MacMillan with her daughter and granddaughter, and we spotted Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Peter Wright, Baroness Chakrabati amongst others.

2 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Yes - I have seen that. I think I saw William Bracewell’s version on his Instagram account and he has talked about how nerve-wracking it was in interviews. 
Edit - I loved Muntagirov’s too!

 

Edit again - I tell a lie - it’s on Facebook! I don’t know how to link from FB, but if you Google Bracewell and Dance of Blessed Spritis it comes up straight away.

 

This works for me:

 

https://m.facebook.com/Balletoccidente/videos/william-bracewell-dance-of-the-blessed-spirits/1797379777127944/

Ah, yes, thank you - I'd not seen that before and it is so graceful.  Bracewell is not a favourite of mine due to his off-putting facial expressions during partnering, but in this he is just lovely.  Rather like a male equivalent of Hayward in his fluid elegance.  Talking of whom, I look forward to Francesca's interpretation of Mary Vetsera - has anyone seen her in this role before? Usually she is one of the most convincing dance-actors for me. She seems to deeply transform into the character she is playing in a quite magical way.

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

... am busy kicking myself yet again for not having seen some of the previous casts, especially Bonelli/Morera. I don't mind having missed casts from decades ago, who I couldn't have seen due to being not born or too young, but to have missed a cast that I could have seen but didn't, because 4 years ago I didn't really know who they were, I find very depressing.

I feel like that sometimes.  I missed Soares in the role of Rudolf and can just imagine how marvellous he must've been.  (I did catch Bonelli/Morera though and I think they are my favourite RB pairing of all time for this and some other ballets.)

1 hour ago, capybara said:

I leave all thoughts of 'real life' behind me when I watch Mayerling. Who cares if the dates don't match: it's a work of genius.

Absolutely!  And the important thing is, MacMillan and the dancers capture the essence of the tragedy and convey it to us in the audience with veracity of spirit if not of historical detail.

1 hour ago, Angela said:

This is the Google translations with a few corrections, as it is old language and dialect sometimes. I hope it's okay to post this as it was a press release by the Austrian National Library. Heartbreaking indeed...

 

 

Mary Vetsera's farewell letters verbatim

.....

 

For some reason, the thing I found saddest was 'Tell Eder that I can't sing next Saturday'.  She seems a caring girl wanting to protect the Hulka family.

17 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

 How I would have loved to be anticipating the debuts of Will Bracewell and Reece Clarke (for example) in this most stretching challenge for male dancers. 

I can really imagine Clarke in the role - there is something dark about his nature (not in a bad way) but can't imagine Bracewell.  I expect the latter would be a pleasant surprise, like Muntagirov.  Maybe one day we will find out!

4 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

Possibly the most damning, albeit I'm sure inadvertently so, review of someone dancing Mary Vetsera I've ever read.

I was aware of that as I wrote it, but it was not a criticism; I feel the interpretation of Mary as being actually very very young, a victim and feeling genuinely in love with Rudolph, is a valid one.