Jamesrhblack

Bonelli and Morera, with a glorious Olivia Cowley, gave one of the most memorable performances of any ballet that I have ever seen. I cannot fathom why they have not been allotted the broadcast...

I've just watched the 1977 Symphonic Variations. It coms from a time when post JA and a bad Choir School vs RBS experience I had shut off from ballet so wasn't watching dance that year. Merle Park was generally regarded as second to Antoinette Sibley (and I don't like her low line although have warm memories of a beautiful Giselle in 1980) but David Wall, often regarded as a dancer actor as opposed to Anthony Dowel''s sovereign lyrical perfection, is superb in all technical aspects here and it's wonderful to see six principal dancers all working together. And how they bend...

This is such a fascinating thread and I want to thank those who have contributed so extensively and expressively for writing so beautifully. As a JA at the Royal Ballet School, I was actually involved in a piece choreographed by Ashton, although he was there only to select us at class and the movements were set on us. At least I ended up in a listing in the Ashton book for Fashion Show 1974. I don’t think I fully realised, even though even at the age of nine you knew how important he was, just how privileged I had been until many years later as my non-dancing love of ballet re-emerged.

I write in some trepidation, having had some very aggressive responses to previous postings, but, nevertheless; wish to put forward a personal view. Citing no value / op[positional judgements, Yasmine Naghdi and Akane Takada have benefitted well from their promotion to principal status, with important debuts and / or conolsidation of roles in which they were already cast. Ryoichi Hirano, a dancer whose work I don’t know well, seems also to have benefitted with major debuts in Swan Lake and The Winte’s Tale and, up coming in La Bayadere and Mayerling. Francesca Hayward (despite initial positivity) and Alexander Campbell seem to have befitted less obviously. Both are amongst my absolute favourite dancers with prodigious gifts of musicality and technique and yet firstly he and now she seem to be lagging behind in casting opportunity. How ironic that his replacement Albtrecht and, in particular, Des Grieux were greeted so warmly. After Tarantella, there can be no doubt as her to technical virtuosity. I can appreciate that Kitri is an ideal first three act ballet for Mayara Magri but, surely, it would also have suited Hayward and whilst I don’t think that casting has to go by status surely it confers some advantages. This is not to decry Magri, who I think i s terrific.. I also hope that Heap, who I really like very much indeed, may get her chance with Sylvia and Swan Lake, I do hope that somebody like Floss whose experience and eloquence always give pleasure might be willing to put their own take on this, but, to put it bluntly, for all their dance eloquence, is a lack of inches hindering the consolidation of Hayward’s and Campbell’s progress, despite the examples of Collier and, more recently, McRae?

I so agree with this. I like Kaneko, Magri and, particularly, Heap very much, but Clarke is not only a splendid dancer but has now undertaken with distinction several full length roles (as well as mastering Symphonic Variations) ...

Dave, I was in no way criticising Kish who I like very much (unlike it seems some people on here). I saw Yanowsky in the theatre with Bolle but have seen the excellent Black Swan Pas de Deux with Kish on YouTube. Perhaps I didn’t express myself well. My comment wasn’t against Kish: it was rather to wonder if her wonderful freedom meant that she was able to let go with an experienced partner thus justifying KOH’s decision to give her such (Kish would fit that category too) in these first performances rather than the anticipated doubled debut. Probably still not well expressed, for which apologies.

Didn’t she just 🙂 Glad it wasn’t just me that felt something might have gone amiss Wasn’t it Deborah Bull who wrote of being to release her internal safety catch when dancing Swan Lake with Jonathan Cope. I didn’t see her with Kish but I do wonder if the absolute freedom of Naghdi’s wonderful performance on Monday had something to do with feeling just that with Federico Bonelli’s experience behind her, even if rehearsal time must have been limited. I’ve not seen Cesar Corrales at ENB but do you think LinMM that he might be exactly the sort of rule-breaking partner with whom Natalia Osipova might really engage? I am sure also that his time with Matthew Bourne will see an advance in Matthew Ball’s projection of character: it’s an excellent opportunity for him I think.

Finally getting around to posting some thoughts on Tuesday’s performance. Having seen the production live the previous evening, I felt in a better position to watch the performance more if that makes any sense and I have to say that it looked terrific from the Balcony Stalls, and actually better than from the Grand Tier the evening before. The additional height really opened up the perspectives as well as allowing me to see the beautiful formation of the corps de ballet numbers (and not just the Swans). Although there wasn’t the astonishing electricity that developed during Monday’s performance, there was much to enjoy, although I’d agree with Lenore that the emotional temperature remained a little low. Different people see things in different ways (hence the varying opinions posted on this forum), but I found Natalia Osipova entirely convincing, even mesmerising. She caught the wildness of Swan (however far removed this may be from pre-conceptions of a pure, restrained Odette) with the beating of wings and the arching through the air in a way that absolutely captured me. When Rothbart (a terrific Gary Avis) stretches out towards her, you actually felt her body being pulled backwards. She is so physically engaged and responsive at every moment so that everything, however studied and calculated, feels almost improvised. This “wilder” Odette meant that the transition to Odile was less abrupt than it can seem with other dancers and I liked the fact that she didn’t over play initially. I also seem to be in a minority as I had no issue with her turning sequence: it seemed a splendid evocation of Odile “consecrating” her place of triumph and I found it preferable to some of the travelling, off the music foutées I have seen over the years. Again, I’m in a minority in that I wasn’t blown away by Matthew Ball. He has an elegant presence and is a good partner but as a solo dancer I don’t find him as polished or exciting as some, or, indeed, as expressive as others. I was castigated for mentioning what I saw as a technical struggle during his Albrecht debut but it seemed to me that the double tours to one leg in Act 3 were uncertain and there was a long wait in position before the next turning sequence, which made it look, even if it was not the case, as if a third tours had been omitted. i dispute neither his talent nor his promise but I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Osipova evidently enjoys dancing with him (her demeanour at the final curtain call made that absolutely clear) and he will undoubtedly develop his powers of projection working with such a strong and charismatic partner. I look forward to that development very much. It is hard for the younger, most promising dancers as we put them against the highest standards not just of our memory but of our imagination. Other particulatly vivid pleasures included Itziar Mendizabal as a Big Swan (her musicality and space devouring dancing rather showed up her colleague), Yuhui Choe as a Sister projecting in a way i’d Rarely seen her do before (her Mistress in Manon was a revelation for that), Mayara Magdi and Tristan Dyer whizzing through the Neapolitan with technical aplomb and vivid characterisation and Tierney Heap, not always suited to the Other Sister’s turning choreography but generous of jump and presence. Sambé has great energy as Benno but I find his dancing can lack exactness and polish, enthusiastic and exciting as it can be. Full marks too to the corps and soloists who must be exhausted with this long run of performances which sees many of them chopping and changing between a large variety of roles too. It will be interesting to to see what, if any, changes are implemented when the production returns but despite the doom-laden scenarios that seemed overly prevalent when the production was announced Liam Scarlett seems to have risen to the opportunity (with which I am sure he would not have been entrusted had KO’H not thought him capable) and given us something that is already far more than a work in progress.

Highly amusing indeed that Siegfried’s breaking of his vow leads to his death and Odette being condemned to remain a swan. I laughed all the way to the last chord.

Having Seen through a glass darkly at the cinema and begun to find my way around the production on Monday (when not being dazzled by Naghdi), it was good to enjoy last night from my preferred seating in the Balcony Stalls with a perspective on the staging and greater mental freedom to attend to performance. In reference to Shade’s comment, I thought that the conducting of Valery Osyanikov was, in general,a little faster and more fluent than what I heard last week,but I appreciate different dancers will have different requirements. I’m not a big fan of over slow in Adagio I must confesss... So, some incidentals.... We all see things differently I guess. It didn’t amuse me then, and it doesn’t amuse me now.

It was interesting seeing the new Swan Lake two nights in succession after a rather depressing experience at the cinema in Newcastle where the feed really was too dark to distinguish a great deal. Indeed, it was so discouraging that the friend with whom I viewed and I actually considered returning our tickets for last night. I’m very glad we didn’t and was also very grateful to an inside contact who managed to get me an excellent ticket for Monday when Naghdi was announced to replace Cuthbertson. The atmosphere on Monday was increasingly electric. The audience was almost screaming with excitement during Black Swan (Naghdi’s balance, her foutées, Bonelli’s coda) and even more rapturous at the end. The last time I heard an audience erupt mid show was during Alexander Campbell’s Floimund Variation over a year ago. This being my first proper viewing of the production much of my initial attention was to the detail of the new staging quite as much as on the dancing but one or two things were immediately clear. I yield no nobody (apart from Janet McN) in my admiration for Alexander Campbell, and yet I felt Benno worked better as danced by Tristan Dyer. AC has become not only a virtuoso dancer but one whose physical projection is that of a principal dancer (it’s been loving to watch that growing since his first principal outing as Colas) and with the additional material he couldn’t help but pull focus appealing as his characterisation is and outstandingly as he dances. Of course, I was watching through the murk of the cinema transmission but even there he shone almost too brightly. Dyer is a dancer of beautiful neatness and clarity with an engaging personality and I thought he was a delight in the role. During the Act 3 pas de trois I loved the new choreography and with a mental ear worm from the Nureyev film almost thought all three, Benno included, were going to foutée at the climax given the preparatory step for the pirouette, this being the music to which Fonteyn does the foutées in the film. Other incidental pleasures: Tierney Heap, who I like very much indeed, is a dazzler in the Spanish Dance and also danced with superb stretch as a Big Swan alongside Nathalie Harrison: it’s lovely to see the latter back on stage and really glowing - one of those under noticed stalwarts on whom a company is based, rather like Romnay Pajdak, who with Paul Kay delivered a spiffing Neapolitan Dance, much neater than what I had observed from the First Cast on screen. Federico Bonelli turned in one of the best performances I have seen from him of late. He’s always a dancer I like to watch for his cleanness and elegance but, apart from that extraordinary Mayerling, he can seem almost too well bred and reserved. On Monday night, he seemed rejuvenated: involved, with beautiful stretch of feet and height of extension and a lovely yearning line in the new solo bridging Acts One and Two. If he seemed to be pushing himself almost to the limit in his Act Three Coda that only contributed to the exilearation of the moment and his solicitous partnering of Yasmine Naghdi brought real dividends in Act Four’s troubled misery. Of course, Yasmine Naghdi was the centrepoint and she confirmed yet again that she is a young dancer of not only outstanding promise but already outstanding achievement. I’m sure it van have been nothing but helpful for her to have undertaken four performances of what is a new role for her in such a short period of time giving her time immediately both to consolidate and develop. The long lines, the fluent musicality, the clear mime as Odette: all of these were to be expected and cherished as experienced. What did astonish me was her glittering virtuosity as Odile. I think there remains work to be done on the balance of that characterisation: a couple of moments were more vamping than glamorous and she doesn’t seem quite to have found the way of showering the putative White Swan within the allure of the Black (and any great characterisation can take a whole career to polish) but her dancing was simply dazzling. I still long to see 32 clean foutées old style but even with a bit of travel her exceptional musicality keep her rhythmically precise even as she produced doubles and, at one point, I think a triple: I can’t recall seeing anything quite like it (I’ve seen Nunez and Lamb execute their doubles but rarely completely on the music). It wasn’t a perfect performance (such things exist only in the imagination) but it was expert, involving, very moving in the last Act and thrilling to see a dancer reaching so early such a level in one of the absolutely cornerstones of the repertoire. The audience’s acclaim was absolutely justified.

Thanks Sim, I was really discouraged post Giselle with one or two very sharp retorts so I’ll consider my thoughts and determine whether or not I’ll post them.

Managed to get to the cinema broadcast and, with some luck, Naghdi / Bonelli on Monday and Osipova / Ball last night. Still musing on the dancing (and the broadcast in Newcastle was almost too dark to see) but a couple of reactions to the production. Initially, I wasn’t struck by the need for the Prolopgue. Further viewings have, of course, brought home how vital this is as a framing device. Am I alone in finding the vision of Odette at the end rather sentimental? Perhaps I’m influenced by a very early memory of the Nureyev film with the drowned Prince dead in Benno’s arms and Odette still in swan form floating away but, essentially, the plot is one of human failure and I think that could work strong;ly. I accept that there elements of apotheosis about the music but that could also work in terms of the self knowledge Siegfried appreciating the enormity of what has happened through his folly. Perhaps one shouldn’t be too literal. By giving Rothbart a place at court (but why is he clean shaven rather than with a red beard?) it then makes no sense in Act Three that nobody realises he has a “daughter,” and if she isn’t his daughter why does he introduce / chaperone her through one of the shortest courtship to engagement rituals out there. And if Siegfried survives does this mean that he then has to marry Odile and be faced with a living identkikit memorial of what he has lost. I’m not being intentionally facetious but I’m not always sure “realism” has to have a place within a wider symbolic context. Loud Hurrahs for getting rid of the Drunken Tutor. Seen from the Balcony, the floor patterns in Act Four are really beautiful and I think Liam Scarlett has done some wonderful work here, as well as in the pas de deux of Farewell (wasn’t this music used in Act 4 of the Ashton version), although I’m not the only one it seems concerned that Siegfried is “hors de combat” for so long at the climax. Overall, I like the production very much and am sure that there will be tweaks when it returns, as it’s surely must, the season after next. Thoughts on the dancers possibilities to follow, although I’m wary as not everything was to my liking and I realise that any hint of adverse obesrvation tends to get jumped on.

I’ve just managed to watch the Cinema Broadcast of Manon and wanted to record how hugely impressed I was by Sarah Lamb. For some reason, she is a dancer I haven’t always warmed to in the theatre, for all her technical accomplishment, and have had my reservations about her being featured in quite so many of the live relays. However, in close up it is possible to see exactly why she is chosen. Her face reads absolutely beautifully and expressively which allied to her pliancy and elegance of movement made for a very moving performance. What has read as “coolness” in a large theatre is revealed on the screen as “intelligence and understanding.” I’d be interested to know if other members have had similar experiences with this artist.

Does anybody know what has happened to Christina Arestis? I thought she was wonderful in Anastasia, Mayerling and The Winter’s Tale and was so pleased at her promotion to Principal Character Artist. However, she was replaced in TWT this season and isn’t cast in Mayerling next season. She doesn’t seem to have appeared in any “Prinicpal Character” roles this season either, although I’m willing to be corrected. Equally, does anybody have any thoughts on why Hikaru Kobayashi isn’t cast in La Bayadère (having danced Nikiya and Gamzatti last time) or The Nutcracker, or Yuhui Choe in La Bayadère (having danced Ganzatti last time or Nikiya previously) or Melissa Hamilton in The Nutcracker? There’s a very honest interview with Thiago Soares in The Dancing Times addressing some of the casting decisions now being made for him, and, looking at the casting, I’m guessing they are beginning to apply to Nehemiah Kish (who I really like, as opposed to many, it seems on here). It must be very difficult for the AD balancing his casting decisions against the established and the up-coming, but I sense we are at a time of change...

And she isn’t cast in Nutcracker next season, suggesting that the AD may share your concerns....

I had sworn I wouldn’t post again, but cannot resist joining the praise for Alexander Campbell this evening. Of course, his performance was immaculately danced (and, intelligently too, with no over stretching of line for a length of limb not naturally his and hence no wobbles in the first solo) and superbly partnered, but what struck me, yet again, was how complete his interpretation was, and this in a role for which he had scant notice and rehearsal. So many Des Grieux have a poetic ardency that is pleasing but can pall over three hours: his Des Grieux was always alert, responsive, occasionally self pitiful (he wiped away tears in Act 2 Scene 1) but also possessive (those arms around Manon in the bracelet duet) and with his own jealousies. With a character who isn’t just a “romantic,” the ability to knife the Gaoler becomes more plausible and the journey is also his. Indeed, with the Massenet Élegie underpinning his key moments, I was even struck that the role is perhaps more central to the structure than we think: Dowell was, I believe, a constant in the creative process whereas as is now known the creation of the title role was shared between Sibley and Penney. This also makes sense of the music for the first pas de deux. Somebody wrote earlier that they couldn’t relate to its gloomily passionate nature, but this evening, it seemed the point. The affair was always going to end in disaster. If the first pas de deux were sheerly blissful rather than explorational the much loved Bedroom pas de deux would surely not make the effect it does. I very much hope Alexander Campbell will have an opportunity to dance Romeo next season, ideally with Francesca Hayward as their performances together seem to have a special intensity, but I understand he has danced the role elsewhere with Yasmine Naghdi which might also be magical: two such musical dancers....

Wasn’t there a Mayerling double day where Galaeazzi danced Vetsera at one show and Larisch in the other?

Dowell and Wall danced both roles, and Acosta certainly did Lescaut in 2014 (not sure if he was still dancing Des Grieux by then)...

I absolutely understand your position. I have long enjoyed reading this forum and sharing my views but, of late, I have found that if I have had the temerity to wax less than lyrically eulogistic the opprobrium strikes and I too am minded not to contribute further.

Gosh, glad I saw this. I’m still stuck in London and had been tempted to get a ticket to see Laura Morera...

Alexander Campbell stood at the back centre interacting with the ladies of the corps de ballet and Francesca Hayward was alongside Berthe reacting to the dancing of the Pas de Six.

Hayward and Campbell certainly didn’t ....

I noticed that both Osipova and Hallberg left the stage during the Harvest Scene. With hindsight perhaps they needed to consult with Stage Management (a source told me that the injury happened early on) about the best way to continue....

Respect might extend to calling him by his proper name in a public forum ...