Jump to content

Jamesrhblack

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    896

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Jamesrhblack

  1. Jamesrhblack
    That Manon with Yanowsky was quite something. Up there with my finest RB memories (Mason and Nureyev in Swan Lake, Jenner and Baryshnikov in La Fillle mal gardée, Park and Wall in Giselle, Sibley’s last Manon with Dowell, Sibley’s last Cinderella with Wall, Collier and Mukhamedov in La Fille mal gardée, her last Giselle with Mukhamedov. Osipova’s first Giselle with Acosta, , Bonelli’s and Morera’s first Mayerling for starters). I’m thinking of overall performances. Individual triumphs are another matter. Interesting, in retrospect, how many of these are based in the 70’s/80’s and yet I have seen fantastic things in the last thirty years too. Perhaps time will have an effect on my retro-spectacles ....
  2. Jamesrhblack
    She did indeed and I was there, although I have no recollection of who she replaced. My biggest memory is being disconcerted by her insistence on doing doubles in the foutées and getting out of time with the music .... One of the things I like most about Naghdi is that her musicality seems so exceptional, the balances in the Rose Adagio (for example) being dictated exactly by the musical cue. Interesting to read from some of the R & J reports that her increasingly excellent classicism may have have mitigated again st her rawer expression as Juliet. Ballet remains such an astonishingly diverse and versatile art form even within examinations of one company’s approach to its repertoire ....
  3. Jamesrhblack
    That was another career that didn’t quite go as anticipated. I first saw her in a Swan Lake PdT and there was a lot of excitement around her. I don’t have much recollection of her Aurora at Hammersmith (I was so devastated that Deborah Bull was “off” for her only ever scheduled Aurora performance) but suddenly she seemed to be the Nurse in R & J. Incidentally, on the subject of that, is the lovely Romany Pajdak the only dancer so far to have been both Nurse and Juliet’s Friend in the same season ....
  4. Jamesrhblack
    According to Alexander Bland’s The Royal Ballet: The First 50 Years, Ria Peri danced her Swan Lake (with David Wall if I recall correctly, not that I was at the performance, but I seem to remember a Dancing Times review) in 1976. According to this book, Monica Mason danced her first Swan Lake in 1967 with the Touring Company, and I don’t think she became a principal until 1968.
  5. Jamesrhblack
    Off the top of my head: Bryony Brind, Fiona Chadwick? (Both became Principals), Deidre Eyden, Pippa Wylde in the late 70’s / early 80’s. I’m not sure that Darcey Bussell and Deborah Bull had yet been promoted when they made their debuts and I think Christina McDermott also danced the roles in the Dowell prouduction.
  6. Jamesrhblack
    The Second Movement of Concerto defines that piece for me (Nunez and Pennefather were stupefying beautiful) and re Enigma, The Lady and Troyte so it’s Arestis (will see Morera in the cinema) and Campbell for me ....
  7. Jamesrhblack
    Sorry, I wasn’t entirely clear. There was a lot of negativity about Collier’s Swan Lake debut after the hype, but she become a fine exponent of the role, and her final Giselle is one of my absolute most treasured dance memories.
  8. Jamesrhblack
    Although neither is a “go to” dancer for me, I also feel so sorry for Yuhui Choe and Melissa Hamilton, taken out of Aurora and Manon. Five years ago, Choe was the dancer chosen to replace Osipova as Aurora. Hamilton hasn’t had RB chances in the classics but her MacMillan work has been much admired. It must be incredibly difficult to maintain motivation as the next generation rises and passes you by when early signals suggested you were that next generation.
  9. Jamesrhblack
    I remember when I was a JA all the press excitement about Lesley Collier’s Swan Lake debut and the sneering “more pigeon than swan” comments afterwards. I can understand HappyTurk not feeling sure that Francesca Hayward will be cast in Swan Lake. Without wishing to set one dancer against another, it has been remarkable to see how Yasmine Naghdi seems to have risen to every challenge across the repertoire this season, but I look forward to seeing how Francesca Hayward consolidates on her return to a full season. Her Aurora, Giselle, Manon and Rhapsody have all been memorably exquisite.We are so lucky to have two such outstanding young principal ballerinas and the next generation ofallerinas (Kaneko, Magri, O’Sullivan, Stix-Brunell) is already on the rise....
  10. Jamesrhblack
    I note that Kish isn’t cast in anything. I appreciate he has been moving, very well from what I have read here,, in to more character roles and might have expected him to feature as Elgar. I know he can polarise opinion on here, but I’ve always enjoyed his work, and thought his Creature in Frankenstein really moving both times that I saw it.
  11. Jamesrhblack
    I so agree. I didn’t see her in this role until after her return but the memories are indelible. The very last one in 1988 with Dowell remains one of my most cherished ballet memories. There’s also a wonderful clip on You Tube our her dancing the Bedroom PdD with Wall. On Matters Manon, I’ve just clocked that Hamilton hasn’t been cast. Given that she lost Nutcracker last season, this seems particularly sad. She’s not a favourite dancer of mine, but her story is an inspiring one of dedication and application, and I think it a pity, even cruel, that a role to which she is, I understand, very well suited, and for which she has received critical acclaim, has been taken away, particularly as no new Manon has been cast. I’m also sad that Campbell won’t dance Lescaut. He was incredibly moving as Des Grieux in his last minute debut and I’m thrilled that he will dance this with Hayward as I think their on stage relationship really works, but I’m old enough to remember when Dowell and Wall used to alternate the roles and think there could have been some interesting possibilities there. Did McRae ever dance Lescaut? Whilst pleased that Acri gets his debut, am I the only one who thinks it strange that he should be with Morera and Bonelli who are, dare one write, considerably senior in every which way...
  12. Jamesrhblack
    He was jolly good as Polixenes in The Winter's Tale. I was surprised at how strongly and maturely such a young a dancer projected and he held up really well opposite Bonelli....
  13. Jamesrhblack
    Just a surmise (never speculate), but perhaps Clarke isn’t cast as Des Grieux because it is anticipated that he may not be back to full fitness after the injury that took him out of Romeo and Juliet. I’m not intending to further ignite the Hallberg question, but as he had to miss his performances through injury last time, it may have been felt that it was appropriate to revisit the invitation while he was still dancing. And, of course, it has been often attested by Osipova and Hallberg how much they enjoy dancing together.
  14. Jamesrhblack
    Although her Act 2 Ashton solo is just about perfection on that relay...
  15. Jamesrhblack
    Delighted to see Alexander Campbell fully and properly cast, including as Des Grieux. No Des Grieux for Reece Clarke though (didn’t he dance it last time) and no Aurora for Yuhui Choe now.. Also, delighted to see that Christina Arestis will danceThe Lady again. I guess because he has been one of the greatest dancers of his time and remains a beautiful dancer and a great artist ...
  16. Jamesrhblack
    And was taken out of Sugar Plum Fairy this season too...
  17. Jamesrhblack
    This is a most interesting analysis and the clips are wonderful. I don’t know how to embed video here but there is also an astonishing clip of his dancing a variation from Beauty at the Bolshoi (not the Act 3 one but an interpolation in to Act 2). I bought Hallberg’s book and read it with great interest and sympathy having been struck by the “impact” of his dancing in the curtailed Giselle with Osipova at the RB. Not having seen him otherwise live until the much discussed Romeo & Juliet on Wednesday, I am in no position to make comparisons and I’m absolutely willing to concede that three years of injury (plus of Anno Domini) cannot but have an impact. Nevertheless, I believe that the truly great artists (and my hunch is that he was one of the superlative dancers of his generation) carry that within them. As a dancer, the elegance of his line, the beauty of his feet, his astonishing control in turns - able to slow down mid turn without seeming artifice, created memories that will live with me, and as an actor that seemingly cool charming exterior at the start transforming to the bleak anguish of the tomb scene (an earlier poster bad reminded me of his trying to re-arrange Juliet on her bier) as he dragged Juliet by one arm still move me greatly in recollection. Surely, if the flirtation with Rosalind is too serious it makes nonsense of the thunderbolt of his meeting with Juliet and the burning intensity of that glance left this viewer in no doubt of that impact. For me, even if he may not be the dancer that he was, it was a privilege to see an artist and dancer of that quality.
  18. Jamesrhblack
    I entirely agree. I’ve always really enjoyed her work since I first noticed her almost 1940’s style glamour in DGV (a little like Deirdre Eyden in that respect). I thought she was sensational in Corybantic Games and am really sorry she won’t be in Firebird, even though she still seems to be listed on the ROH website for that ...
  19. Jamesrhblack
    Alexander Campbell’s Des Grieux was extraordinarily, and perhaps unexpectedly, moving. I find that, as with David Wall, he is such a superb actor that one often doesn’t even notice he is dancing, although it is also clear from his performances in Age of Agony and Within the Golden Hour that he has honed both his solo and partnering techniques to a superbly high level.
  20. Jamesrhblack
    It was certainly completely involving from the Balcony...
  21. Jamesrhblack
    Probably much truth in this. In the opera world, debate swirled, often aggressively, about the relative merits of Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi for example ...
  22. Jamesrhblack
    Absolutely. Astonishing how differently last night has read to different people.
  23. Jamesrhblack
    It’s always interesting to read varied opinions. I would absolutely agree with bridiem and HelenLoveAppleJuice that tonight was very special. I too was moved to tears during the Balcony PdD (as was my sister sitting next to me) and spent much of the last act damnp about the gills too. Unlike annamk, I loved Natalia Osipova’s wildness: I’m sure Lynn Seymour was anything but a wilting flower in the role and am sure I read somewhere that MacMillan used this blazing energy to drive the narrative process. That silent scream was indeed chilling as it coursed through her body. It was also a privilege to see a dancer of David Hallberg’s quality: such beautiful legs, such elegant feet, such understated but not cold elegance. Was Erik Bruhn at all like this? To me, the characters’ instant, mutual fascination and attraction read completely and movingly. Much else to admire. I was hugely impressed with Ryoichi Hirano’s Tybalt and enjoyed very much the dancing and characterisation of James Hay and Tristan Dyer, although I didn’t find them physically well matched with Hallberg in the Act One PdT. Are any taller dancers performing these roles this season? I’d not seen Romeo and Juliet for some years and for all the splendour of Prokofiev’s score I share the doubts of those who find rather too much padding, especially in Act Two. Nevertheless, I was truly pleased to be there this evening and shared in the enthusiastic applause of what seemed a majority of the audience.
  24. Jamesrhblack
    I really fear this ship has sailed, the clearest indication being that this season she was not cast in Bayadère as Nikiya or Gamzatti, despite having danced both before. Nor is she cast as Stephanie for the American tour. I had thought it might have happened after she replaced Osipova in Beauty but that, incredible how time flies, was over five years ago.
  25. Jamesrhblack
    Promotions can surely only occur if vacancies arise. That raises the risk of speculations that none of us would feel comfortable making on a public forum....
×
×
  • Create New...