Tango Dancer

I saw this on Wednesday night and thought it was exceedingly well performed and very engaging. I liked the first piece as the dancing was lovely. I wasn't very keen on the poetry as I prefer dancing to music but I loved the choreography and all the dancers were amazingly good, well together and some lovely performances. The second piece was amazing. I think Isabelle Couracy was amazing as Nina, she was great in the role. Mthuthuzeli November also shone for his excellent technique (as well as the choreographer). I also really liked the chap with the shaved head (whose name I didn't see on their website) as I thought he moved beautifully and was extremely graceful. The other dancers were also excellent. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and well put together programme.

This looks really good. I hope they tour some interesting classical repertoire that we're not seeing as often. Ballade looks lovely. I am keeping fingers crossed for a decent tour to plenty of venues.

Yeah that's what puts me off individual box seats, you don't know who else will be there. I've booked one for Opera North for a special occasion where the seats are sold individually and I bought all of them (even thought it's one more than we need) to avoid being in a position when some poor stranger has to put up with my family celebrating.

Wow a more exciting evening in Salt Lake City than mine! Last night I went to a concert by the Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra on their national tour. The audience was excellent, really well behaved and silent during the music and then loudly applauding when appropriate, also some shouts of "Slava Ukraine" at the end of the encore from the Ukrainian attendees which were understandable. Also nobody appeared to feel compelled to bring popcorn, wine bottles etc, into the concert hall. Clearly civilised behaviour still is possible which gives me hope.

ENB's Carmen might be worth it but that's the only thing that really grabs me that I can't see elsewhere. I might see Mehek at the Lowry if I've nothing else on and I'm going to see Romeo and Juliet in Leeds.

For me cinema popcorn is the sort of thing I do watching blockbusters, so the latest Star Wars or James Bond film, something with a fairly loud soundtrack and lots of explosions and a fairly thin plot. I don't eat it if it's something more intellectual or involving subtitles but if I want a loud blockbuster for escapism then I will definitely have popcorn with it.

I do sometimes have a glass of sparkling wine before a performance (especially at the Birmingham Hippodrome because the bar is so nice and I'm usually staying in a hotel so I'm there in plenty of time and it's nice to sit, watch people and remember going to Nutcracker with my grandmother there as a child) but it's more often a thing I do in Germany because the wine there is much cheaper. I certainly didn't when I was in my 20s because I couldn't afford it at the time. I probably wouldn't do at the Opera House now even if I could because it's so expensive there.

Oh I love popcorn and often get it at the cinema especially the sweet stuff. I just don't get it during live performances because I don't eat while watching live theatre, concerts or ballet because I want to focus on the live performance before me. I sometimes get a glass of fizz beforehand or an ice cream in the interval but I don't eat during the show because I want to concentrate on what's going on and not risk spilling anything down me when I've dressed up for a night out. If I'm at the cinema (especially for a blockbuster film) I often get popcorn but not when there's a live performance.

I think I'd agree that very few male dancers convince as falling in love with Giselle. Mostly Albrecht comes across as a typical upper class twit who has had all he wants all his life. The problem I had with this version was that she didn't really come across as having personality. While she is manipulated, some of the other versions at least give her agency and a sense of life. The last one I saw was Cojacaru with United Ukrainian ballet and you could actually see her emoting and see her love, her hope for the future and then her despair at being betrayed. I mean obviously it helped that they lit the stage well enough you could actually pick up some facial expressions. I saw Nunez before that and it was the same sense of Giselle being vibrant. In this version she didn't come across as a person to me, just a peg on which Albrecht could hang his man pain and have a journey. She was kind of a bit wet and lacking. I think not helped by the choreography. None of this is a criticism of Olivera's dancing which is lovely. She does the best she can, but the choreo just doesn't do it for me.

Well it certainly looked like it from the bags one group were bringing in.

Wanting to feed back on my experience of Giselle at the Palace Theatre Manchester. I think the audience had several people with galloping consumption judging from the amount of coughing (especially in the quiet bits). It was really annoying and intrusive. I stay home when I have a cold and I wish everyone else did too. There was also far too much eating and drinking with people bringing bottles of wine and glasses, popcorn and McDonalds. The seats are not very widely spaced out or spacious so I could see a lot of possible accidents waiting to happen if people were pouring wine during the ballet in the dark. I was really worried the people next to me were going to spill wine on my nice coat. Apart from the coughing people were mostly well behaved and didn't talk or move around. I just wish we didn't have people bringing food and drink in. I mean it's 50 minutes, can't they do without for that long?

Thanks to Emeralds I was just about to start a thread having attended this last night (Saturday evening) in Manchester. I have many thoughts on this. On balance I enjoyed the evening because I was disposed to enjoy myself. It was the second Akram Khan ballet I've seen and it was much better than Creature in my opinion. I hated the mood lighting making it difficult to see peoples' expressions and what was going on. I know it's atmospheric but I like to see the stage properly. I am much of the view that Akram Khan can't choreograph women very well and does terrible romantic pases de deux. I would probably rename this piece "Albrecht - his man pain and the difficulties of being a rich landowner" as it spent more time on him than on the titular character who was pretty much a cipher throughout in my view (and I had the same view on Marie in Creature. The pas de deux seemed to involve a lot of "man drags woman around like a sack of spuds while she droops all over him" which is not my favourite style and I didn't pick up much romance between the two of them. That said I loved the group work and the corps was awesome. The sections of them dancing as a whole were inspired and clever work. The opening dance was terrific and really interesting (except for the bit where they former an x and rotated which reminded me inappropriately of "Springtime for Hitler"). The Wili were amazing like something out of a Japanese horror film (majorly reminding me of that creepy film Ring) and the parts with them brandishing their steel rods was really effective. Myrthe was outstanding (Isabelle Browers) both ferocious and creepy and really amazing bourrees at length. She was really something to watch and the best thing in the ballet in my opinion simply by force of personality. Aitor Arrieta was good as Albrecht, a strong and efficient dancer who I've enjoyed in the past. Fernanda Olivera was graceful and elegant as Giselle with lovely port de bras and gestures. I didn't get a programme because they were pricy but whoever played Bathilde's father had incredible energy and force of personality and dominated the scene when he was on stage. So on the whole not my favourite version of this ballet but plenty that I did enjoy and a thoroughly fun evening. Judging from the ovation and loud cheers a lot of people really enjoyed it. I'd definitely recommend it for a good night out if you want some fun and don't expect traditional Giselle story or costume. I shall comment on audience and ATG's willingness to allow people to bring their dinner into the audience on the audience thread.

Definitely. There is a lot of choice in the UK so people may find something else more interesting. Sometimes I like seeing what smaller companies can do with less resource or see a tour that may be a one-off, e.g. Sao Paolo dance company is on tour hear next year with some interesting new works so I'm putting some money aside for it because I don't know when they'll come again. What I'm tending to do now is see the RB in the cinema relay where I can get a good view for less money and save money for other live companies which don't have the relays.

Vadim is around I think. Maybe Luca Acri? He's down to play the role later in the run.

Oh dear poor Steven. I hope he's not seriously injured.

I think it's a combination of these factors. I don't go as much to RB because there's so much else I want to see in London and elsewhere. I am someone who likes variety rather than seeing different casts in the same piece. Also for the cost of the RB ticket I can go and see several other things at BRB or NB or companies visiting the UK such as Alvin Ailey. The tickets for RB are much more expensive for a good seat (and I don't like standing). I much prefer to travel to Birmingham, stay in a hotel and have a decent seat. I like the dancers at RB and think they have very talented people, some of whom I really enjoy watching. I don't always like all of the repertoire but there are some things I do enjoy.

Interested to see what people think. I am considering going to Leeds next year but want to hear the reviews before booking.

No, they didn't take anyone new on and there are posts not filled such as replacing Yoko Ichida. I don't think they've appointed any new dancers this year, just promoted a few of the existing ones and they had 5 leave over the summer who are obviously not being replaced.

Looking at the pictures I'm not surprised, that costume really suits him. It's a great colour for him.

That's a wonderful story. I'm so glad your daughter had an interesting dance career on cruise ships (which I always think must be fascinating) and then found something that suits her for her second career.

Yes I was annoyed by the unhelpful comments on facebook. I don't imagine it's an easy decision. I'm sure NB are aware that things work much better with live music (and I prefer it) but you have to make difficult choices in this environment at the moment to keep going. Northern Ballet is great and does so much that it's a shame they're struggling. I think everyone is struggling to sell tickets at the moment especially to fill the larger venues. I went to the theatre for a play with a reasonably well know cast last month and it was half empty. My parents sing with a local choral society and they're moving away from performing with a full orchestra to performing with an organ / piano and looking at cheaper venues because they're not filling the bigger ones in the way they did 10 years ago.

Thanks, that's kind of you. I had arranged a trip to London for this to tie in with work commitments (which I have rearranged) and I'm not sure I'll be able to get down again while it's on. If you or anyone else wants the ticket please get in touch.

I'm selling a ticket for this at the moment because I have Covid and don't feel well enough. I'm gutted to miss it so would love to know how people like it.

Yes. She was petrified of ageing and also I think had some form of eating disorder and possibly some other mental health issues. She really struggled with the duties of being a monarch and had a fascinating but quite unhappy life. There's a good German language musical about her called Elisabeth which I quite enjoyed when I was a student.

Hi As I have come down with Covid and won't be well enough to attend, I wanted to see if anyone wanted to buy a ticket for the Kyiv City Ballet performance on Thursday 28 Sept. Stalls: Row 33 seat W Cost £25 Let me know if you're interested.