Christine

That is very true, of course, and you could add after a lengthy period of deprivation. Thank you for your comments, LACAD.

Finally, this weekend I was able to see live ballet again. And, like quite a few other fans of Stuttgart Ballet, after almost 7 and a half ballet-barren months I was so starved of this particular kind of pleasure that I went to see all three performances - yes, I treated myself..! And yes, a mixed bill it was, and while I enjoyed all the Works presented, whether New as a creation or New to the Stuttgart stage, I do agree that not all of them were a complete success. It is always fascinating to read other viewers’ accounts of your own local troupe and members on this forum really do have an amazing amount of experience and knowledge on ballet that has provided me with lots of valuable insights since I rediscovered ballet a few years ago. So I really loved reading your accounts of the stream, LACAD and Sabine0308, and, of course, ninamargaret, even if I was slightly taken aback by the use of the term “consternation”… not sure whether it is as strong a term in English as it is in the German language. It’s certainly true, that Stuttgart Ballet love choreographic experiments at the risk of creating “duds”. I do hope, in this case, however that none of them will turn out to be quite that, although, admittedly my experience with the Spuck piece was similar to yours – it made for pleasant viewing, the backdrop painting with its stylise trees was beautiful, but I did not find it very memorable. Still curious about that cause of “consternation”, LACAD, I went and had look at the live stream after the three shows and felt very strongly that some of the pieces did not really transmit very effectively at all onto the screen. The atmosphere evoked by the set, lighting, music and dancing in the real theatre context seemed to have burst like a bubble – which, I thought, especially applied to Source by Clug, but also, to some extent to the Goecke, where the ingenious, magical lighting really is an integral part of the story-telling by the dancers and the choreography but hardly registered on the screen. Source, seen live, developed a real hypnotic pull: visually - the centre-piece is a a huge chandelier-like structure hung with ceiling- to-floor strands of translucent material which initially served as a maze to the dancers and later were drawn up to a shorter length to hover like a good spirit (that of Cranko, perhaps) and shining a light above the dancers who were dressed in black-and-white sports suits looking very sleek; musically – a beautiful if minimalist score – and also thanks to the reduced-to-the-max choreo with its use of unexpected twists. All in all, it made for a very fragile composition which, I feel, should best be seen in full without close-ups and heard with the full resonance of the live orchestra. The live stream made the choreography look overly simplistic. Whether this could have been improved by different camera work, I am not sure. I suspect, that some pieces just fall flat when streamed. Now, and since I have written this overlong sentence above, I have discovered Jeannettes’ comment on the piece in the other thread who obviously enjoyed the piece despite the live stream, so perhaps what I have been writing is just down to the usual disillusionment of watching a streamed performance after you’ve seen the real thing. By the way, even on the third viewing Source still felt like only 10 minutes rather than the 25 minutes it actually lasted. Loved Nachtmerrie by Goecke, whom I very much admire like a lot of other German ballet-goers, as, for me, he has developed a choreographic language which can express the emotional turmoil of human existence and interaction with unrivalled clarity and graphic poignancy. I can understand that a lot of people find his style too disjointed, difficult, jerky - it goes so much against the grain of the flowing lines of ballet dancing. I absolutely loved Blake Works I, of course, which was danced with so much spirit and exuberance. “Breezy dynamism”, such a perfect description of how the piece should ideally be danced, LACAD, and I could see that not all SB dancers had quite achieved that, yet. By the third performance, however, you could already see how much easier and flowing the dancing had become and how much the dancers really enjoyed flaunting it.

Oh that is very sad! Admittedly, I have never met her but did subscribe to her newsletter and always thought her Tours en l’air enterprise was such a wonderful way of sharing her passion for ballet with other ballet lovers. May she rest in peace.

Finally managed to watch this dance movie and it is definitely worth seeing: very innovative use of the camera on stage with close-ups as well as panoramic views of dancers and a choral piece of music to die for. Movements are pared down to the basics - "A simple piece" - but highly effective together with the music and camera images. It is stil available to watch until June 5th.

Until Sunday 24th Jan, 10pm CET / 9pm GMT.

Here's another ad: Marcelino Sambé's Live Christmas Ballet: https://www.samsung.com/uk/explore/kings-cross/innovation/connected-christmas/marcelino-sambe/.

Yes, I did rather like the Le Jeune Homme too - not at all a bad performance for a young dancer (Ciro Ernesto Mansilla from Argentina) who actually hasn’t been with Stuttgart Ballet that long. He only joined the season before last. Since then he has impressed the local audience as a very lively dancer who really puts his heart into the role, never mind the occasional overacting or unusual step. But then, he is still young. and this was the first night. I thought the casting very successful with Hyo Jung Kang, a very experienced and strong first soloist as the femme fatale, a truly fiendish seductress. Between the two of them they developed a lot of drama. I also enjoyed the two Jiri Kylian pieces: Falling Angels, too with its driving percussion and subtle shifts of movement in the music and the choreography, but perhaps that one’s more to the German taste, at least it always seems to be quite popular here. Petite Morte I really admire though, and thought the PDD with Elisa Badenes and Jason Reilly outstanding. Only the lighting was a bit dark. Or was it because I was watching on my laptop computer? Anyway, I couldn’t really make out the black dress half-shells against the black background at the end.

Thank you for this tipp Angela. I'll be watching.

Sorry I am responding to this so late, Jeannette. Yes, I did watch it, live, three times, actually, as this was the last chance for the next couple of weeks if not longer to watch live performances in Stuttgart. I loved Resonanz, too, it really seemed to be the most positive piece of the lot, with the second part evoking some of the melancholy reminiscent of DAAG (if you can forgive the comparison with an absolute masterpiece), in the sense that it brings up memories of better times. I admired the tension of the PDD of Giaquinto’s Aedis where the couple very imaginatively dance with a table. And, upon the third viewing I really grew to like the last piece, Mehlberg, too, with its cartoon character like movements. The last performance I saw was with another cast and the piece worked very well, if not even better, on this so very different trio.

Yes. Isn't it sad? Just when things started to get going again. Let's hope it will only be for the one month! Saying this here makes me feel bad bechause I know that theatres in the UK have been closed down and without an audience far longer. Anyway, I do hope that the dancers can practise together, whether as pairs or bubbles of dancers, and will not have to return to the spring regime when only households were allowed to dance together.

Yes, I do, Alison. Quite often, in fact, as I live very close to the Staatstheater. Stuttgart ballet reopens on 17 October, but with much fewer seats available, it's much harder to obtain tickets. I also watch Gauthier Dance performances.

So wonderful to be watching a full-length live gala again, even if only digitally, and what a great treat this programme was after so many barren months. Loved the wide range of the selected pieces and how it was knit together. Ending the evening on such a colourful and uplifting note with Elite Syncopations with all (?) dancers on stage – what a fabulous idea; as was having the stalls cleared for the orchestra and inviting students and nursing staff. Having said that, as a keen follower of ballet myself I do feel for all you Royal Ballet fans in the UK who surely would have much preferred to be sitting inside, as would I in Germany on an occasion like this. What I liked best of all, perhaps, was the sheer joy, happiness and, in some cases, exuberance the dancers radiated on their return to the stage. I am really sorry to hear that so many have had technical difficulties last night – I do hope the ROH will be able to sort them out soon.