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Henry

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Everything posted by Henry

  1. Henry
    On casting, just wondering...does anyone know who plays the horse? Would it be a soloist role?
  2. Henry
    Have you ever sat in the theatre at the end of Act II and thought "25 minutes interval, 35 minutes for Act III, if I leave now I can get home an hour earlier"???
  3. Henry
    Personally, I welcome some shorter programmes being scheduled. Of course, it's nice if that is reflected in the ticket price. Many will remember the long, successful run of the play "Art". Part of its success was attributed to it being 90 minutes with no interval. People could have a Tuesday evening at the theatre and still be home by 10pm. For people, who need to get up for work the next morning, that was appreciated! The lack of principals gave some of the younger talent a chance to shine. However, the design of Anemoi needs to be rethought. The costumes and lighting are too bland. Not sure why shirts/tops were being added/removed.
  4. Henry
    Was an ACL tear the injury that kept Claire Calvert off stage for a year?
  5. Henry
    Wasn't the last run of Dante Project filled out with people from the ROH list? I seem to remember some very bad behaviour in the auditorium...
  6. Henry
    Sorry, if this has been covered elsewhere - but Sarah Lamb doesn't seem to be cast for anything until Nutcracker. Does anyone know about this? Thanks
  7. Henry
    When being filmed, it is usual to film 2 performances with the same cast. Then the 2 performances are editted together. Thus mistakes are usually missing from the final result. Previously we have discussed the difference between a "live performance" (i.e. recorded live) versus a "live broadcast" (i.e. broadcast as it happens). ROH often don't seem to distinguish between them.
  8. Henry
    You are quite right. Height does make a difference to abilities. Basketball players are usually tall and gymnasts are often short. However, the height is a given. It isn't going to change. Instead of saying "You're tall so take bigger steps", just say "Take bigger steps". If the choreography isn't suitable for the dancer's build/ abilities, then the dancer has been miscast - and not that the dancer is at fault.
  9. Henry
    I was a bit surprised about Chris Saunders repeatedly mentioning the dancers' height - as if this was a problem. e.g. 22:50 "You;re tall so..." 54:30 "You're the tallest Espada..." 56:40 "Because you're tall..." 57:05 "For 2 tall dancers..." I felt that in each case the correction could have been made without the preceding remark. It just seemed unnecessary. There is no issue about height - unless a couple are ill-matched. You are what you are.
  10. Henry
    I notice in today's links (thanks Janet) an article about this on the Musicians' Union website. It says "Northern Ballet has acted to make as many savings as possible to minimise the loss. This has included redundancies in the Company and a substantially reduced headcount." Is anyone aware of any dancers that are leaving, being made redundant? Or of anyone being made redundant from Northern Ballet?
  11. Henry
    May I ask, has Teo Dubreuil been off injured or taking a guest year with another company?
  12. Henry
    I've just read the review of this programme in Bachtrack. The reviewer, Jonathan Gray, mentions "Beneath moving images of black and white clouds, the dancers burst...". I don't remember seeing any images of clouds. I did remember noticing at the beginning of the performance some screens that were tilted forwards. Did I fail to notice the clouds or were they not visible in the second circle? Was anyone else in the second circle and failed to notice/see the clouds? Or was I not paying enough attention? Set designers who have only sat in the stalls are a particular bugbear of mine. I could do a long (and probably boring) post on performances where important elements of the set were not visible from the balcony or upper circle.
  13. Henry
    Could the orchestra strike on the same days as the Tube/Rail strikes? Please??
  14. Henry
    Sorry @Sim ! The phrase "Look before you leap" comes to mind.
  15. Henry
    Could they strike on the same days as the Tube/Rail strikes? Please? P.S. This topic will have a big effect for a lot of users of this site. Would it be better in a more prominent place? e.g. in "Ballet/Dance news & information"? Thanks
  16. Henry
    Something that I really liked about the singer's performance in "4 Last Songs" was that she didn't ignore what else was happening on the stage. At some points and during pauses, she would look at the dancers and acknowledge their presence. It made it seem like they were working, performing together and part of the same piece.
  17. Henry
    I noticed at Saturday's matinee, that the conductor, Gavin Sutherland, placed a mobile phone on the podium at the start of Les Noces. It wasn't there for the other 2 works. The pulsating lights on the phone gave the impression that the music was being recorded. Is this allowed? What next? Kitri appears with her phone instead of a fan, does selfies with her 2 friends and posts them on Instagram? Well, I suppose Matthew Bourne is bound to update Don Q one day...
  18. Henry
    I know that with triple bills that it is usual to put the crowd pleasers as opening and closing iitems. The more difficult. less pleasing item is put in the middle. However, is this instance, I wish that the new Les Noces had been put last. Then I could go home an hour earlier and still feel satisfied...
  19. Henry
    A Korean 5 man dance company in a piece called "Rhythm of Human". Only 50 minutes - and in this case it's the right length. Very original, clever and ultimately funny. Also it doesn't use Stravinsky's Rite of Spring - so recommended! https://www.thecoronettheatre.com/whats-on/ambiguous-dance-company-rhythm-of-human/
  20. Henry
    Thanks Janet. Does anyone know what Kamal (Noddy) Singh is doing? If you search for "Kamal Singh ballet" on Youtube there were quite a few mediai stories about him 1-2 years ago - including from the BBC and Telegraph. Has he graduated?
  21. Henry
    Judging by the programme notes list of Gershwin songs compared to the list on the Wikipedia entry for "Who Care's", the ENBS performance was the first half (8 out of 17 songs). I went on Sunday and enjoyed it a lot. I noticed in particular a male Indian dancer, Love Kotiya. This reminded me that a year or two ago, another Indian ENBS student, Kamal (Noddy) Singh was getting attention in the media. Does anyone know what he is doing now?
  22. Henry
    Rob S is right about bag checks and body language. The assessment is not just about bag contents but body language, context, the attitude of the person etc. All right the check did not go right to the bottom of the bag - but if they see a sandwich, a print out of the cast sheet, gym kit etc. how likely is it that the person is also intending to disrupt the performance? Is the person nervous or behaving strangely? Just as custom officers will assess which passengers to stop at the airport by a range of factors.
  23. Henry
    I am sorry that you felt inconvenienced about your bag. After the interruptions at Glyndebourne, it isn't surprising that staff are being more cautious. Certainly there was some strange behaviour last night. I observed one woman, who seated a table, was trying to save the next table and 4 seats for "friends". She did let one person sit down but then pulled the rermaining chairs over to the first table. In fact, as soon as the doors were opened to the auditorium, she left to go in. So like Godot, these friends who were so important at the start, never arrived. She didn't even bother to put back the chairs when she left. Pity the poor people with their coffee & cake, who had to try and eat standing up! It isn't obvious why her absent "friends" should have priority over the ticket holders who were already there. To the casual observer, it didn't make any sense.
  24. Henry
    Has it happened that someone was offered promotion, and turned it down? I ask as over the years, there have been one or two dancers that everyone, including critics, were tipping as "one to watch" - but they were never made principals.
  25. Henry
    When the ROH website used to allow comments, after the promotions were announced, there was always a lot of comments saying that Yuhui Choe should be made a principal. However, it never happened. The few times that I saw her in a principal role - The Two Pigeons, La Fille Mal Gardee - I really loved her performance. Was she never offered promotion??
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