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Jamesrhblack

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About Jamesrhblack

  • Birthday October 18

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    East Sussex

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  1. Jamesrhblack
  2. Jamesrhblack
    Jennifer Penney and Wayne Eagling also danced Manon and Des Grieux in the original run. Indeed, some of the role of Manon was created on Penney rather than Sibley, who was injured.
  3. Jamesrhblack
    For how long has Steven McRae been out this time? I seem to really he pulled out of some scheduled Mayerling performances last time, but he's not a dancer I follow these days so I'm hazy over detail. I do, however, huge admiration for his courage and tenacity in returning to the stage.
  4. Jamesrhblack
    No, I didn't. I saw Naghdi and Campbell (I loved his naturalistic approach and thought he brought something very different and less calculated out of her: the curtain came down in stunned silence) but can fully appreciate that it must have been very special indeed. The fantasy is there but the human honesty too, aligned to technical strength and ravishing musicality.
  5. Jamesrhblack
    Still entranced. Other posters have written of the magic of the Kaneko / Bracewell on stage partnership more eloquently than I could even attempt but it's truly wondrous to behold.
  6. Jamesrhblack
    In a half full cinema in Rye. Cinderella isn't a favourite ballet although I love the grave melancholy of Prokofiev's score with its magical waltzes. On the few occasions I have seen it over the years, it's always been with a special and favourite ballerina: Antoinette Sibley (three times, twice with Anthony Dowell, once with David Wall), Lesley Collier (with William Trevitt) and Laura Morera (with Matthew Ball). it's coming across wonderfully well. I was struck, not for the first time, at how naturally eloquent and enlightening Darcey Bussell is when speaking without a cue card, and whilst admitting I am blind to any fault that may be within Fumi Kaneko only are her dancing and acting heart-stoppingly perfect but her features are made for the screen.
  7. Jamesrhblack
    What a wonderful and possibly unexpected pinnacle for what has been a completely individual career path. I very much hope Melissa Hamilton receives opportunities commensurate with her promotion (and, one shouldn't speculate) wonder whether a Dresden connected sideways step had been under discussion. The most sincere congratulations are definitely in order.
  8. Jamesrhblack
    Much to process, much I didn't understand, much I didn't like, but I thought the last act achieved a transcendence that moved me both unexpectedly and very much.
  9. Jamesrhblack
    I am doing “the double” as well: my first times seeing the work…
  10. Jamesrhblack
    I'm so pleased Nicol Edmonds is getting this opportunity. I thought it very sad that he lost his two Prince Siegfrieds last season through no fault of his own, even if a rationale can be made for his not being cast as Cinderella's Prince this time round despite jumping in last time.
  11. Jamesrhblack
    you can hear extracts from Alice on Spotify. Search for Joby Talbot and explore the discography. I'd post the link but don't know whether that is allowed.
  12. Jamesrhblack
    Although if memory serves me correctly, Hayward rather struggled with Symphony in C last time…
  13. Jamesrhblack
    It really is the most beautiful production. Apart from Ratmansky’s I can’t think of one that I have enjoyed as much and his is an equal first not preferable for me.
  14. Jamesrhblack
    Oh my prophetic soul 😁
  15. Jamesrhblack
    Back to my hotel by 2230: The Georgian State Ballet certainly whizz through Swan Lake in two acts and four scenes with a single interval. There were some odd musical cuts (not only internal, but no storm in the last scene) but I rather enjoyed seeing Odile dance to the music Fonteyn uses in the Nureyev film, and which Ashton so memorably incorporated into his Pas de Quatre. I’ll not do a spoiler alert re the ending but, to quote Sondheim’s Cinderella, “It made a nice change.” I enjoyed the performance overall very much indeed, without feeling as moved or involved as I can be by this wonderful work. As others have intimated above, the cutting of the mime really does lessen the emotional impact as Odette and Siegfried seem to remain at the level of movers, rather than people whose feelings might matter, an impression reinforced by a Rothbart dancing full out. I’m not sure, bar a superbly scintillating Spanish Dance, that the many choreographic alterations were memorable (although there was some beautiful imagery from the last scene Swans), but I enjoyed the re-arranging of the Ball Room scene scenario and very much liked the costumes with their Byzantine touches. Odile’s Black Tutu with red highlights really was a thing of beauty. It was also good to see Siegfried taking to the floor in the first scene rather than letting Benno take all the glory, The dancers have an engaging enthusiasm about them (I was on the front row of the Stalls which is not only a lot closer than I usually am, but also closer and lower than I usually like to be) and the principals were fine: I preferred Laura Fernandez as Odile, finding her Odette rather blankly muted, and thought Daler Zaparov had more personality but rather less polish. Apart from a bassoon early entry and some typically recalcitrant brass, the ENO sounded splendid under Papina Gvaberidze’s decidedly brisk direction. Indeed, Odile struggled to keep up with the tempo for her foutées but sensibly stuck to singles: I really dislike the stopping for applause after this, but it seems very prevalent further East. At least there wasn’t a Jester. So, not “rapture,” but rather more than “modified rapture” and the excellent programme, which contained several non ballet articles, has certainly inspired me to find out more about Georgia as a country.
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