Jump to content

Jamesrhblack

Members
  • Posts

    886
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Jamesrhblack

  1. According to The Arts Desk, Nunez and Muntagirov refused to dance the ballet...
  2. Would absolutely second Morera for Vetsera after tonight. She was absolutely wonderful, as was the entire cast.
  3. Don't forget Jennifer France for Breakthrough in Opera: vey proud to be her manager
  4. Still digesting the first night, I thought the music and design outstanding. Act One, with lots of narrative, seemed overlong and bitty, but Act Two really go into its stride: Scarlett can really use movement to convey emotion. Act Three was absolutely stunning.
  5. I found Anastasia fascinating evening in the theatre when I saw the new production of this in ?1996 and the ?2004 revival, not only for the riveting third act but for, in particular, the dream like evocation of the Romanov world in Act One (the Revolutionaries' entrance at the end of Act Two didn't seem to work though). I don't think that the proof that Anna Anderson wasn't Anastasia discredits the ballet. It's not a history ballet in the sense of a true narrative, and its themes of identity, memory and wish fulfilment have a resonance beyond the literally historic. I didn't see Seymour but remember Leanne Benjamin, Mara Galeazzi and, in particular, Sarah Wildor as being a bewildering fascination of child early on and tragic woman clutching at anything to give her a sense of who she might be. It will be interesting to see who is cast this time: Lauren Cuthbertson, Laura Morera and Natalia Osipova might seem obvious but I wouldn't be surprised if something unexpected is thrown into the mix. I'm pleased to see it coming back. The designs are wonderful, the scenario intriguing, there's some beautiful choreography and the scores are wonderful - of course, the Tchaikovsky is beautiful but Martinu is one if my favourite composers and the hair raising sororities of the Sixth Symphony are perfectly attuned to the situation.
  6. One of my young artists is singing in this too. It's great to have an event bringing together speech, dance and song (especially as Shakespeare incorporated all three arts into his plays)
  7. "How dancers perceive their performance and how the audience sees it can be two totally different perspectives. In my experience too, dancers are always seeking perfection in their performances but, in their own opinion, they never achieve it." ​I remember from my own professional days (I sang rather than danced) that such a response is sometimes a knee-jerk to counter balance any embarrassment at praise - not all artists are very good at taking compliments. A colleague did once rebuke me for making such a response though saying that it wasn't necessarily courteous to the audience member who had liked what they had heard (or seen) and that a simple "thank you" could be more appropriate.
  8. Again, words of insight from FLOSS. I believe that Kevin O'Hare went public with his thing that the company had too many principals and the fact that five ballerinas have departed since Summer 2013 and not been replaced other than by guest engagements gives credence to that. I'm fairly confident Takada will be promoted and would be very pleased if Campbell were too, although I can see that that might be contentious and that he is very useful where he is. Re the "sick note," to which FLOSS refers, wasn't McRae due to partner Takada at her original Sleeping Beauty debut, the one that was cancelled owing to injury - he danced with Lamb in the end as I recall. If a Character Principal is to be appointed, I could also see a case for Gartside. If that happened, would it take him out if things such as Leontes and Rudolf? I remember Rosato dancing Larisch as a Character Principal, and marvellous she was too (although I loved her work so much I probably overlooked some weaknesses). I'd also agree that whilst Naghdi, Stix-Brunell, Ball and Clarke deserve their chances (Katsura caught my eye in the Viscera broadcast) moving higher in opportunity as well as ranking, it is important that dancers such as Harrod and Maguire are not overlooked. They may not be principal material to my eyes but they real qualities that deserve more recognition. The company certainly seems in transition and O'Hare seems very sure in his wish to develop from within, a legacy perhaps from his time at BRB (although I'm much less aware than somebody like Janet of the internal developing there). It's potentially very exciting and with major additions to the repertoire such as The Winter's Tale and Woolf Works (is it for sure that Galeazzi will dance this next season? If so, what wonderful news) and, hopefully, Frankenstein, as well as some very interesting new well apart from the big three, I am optimistic that Classicsl ballet will not sink into the rut of an entreating museum art but retain its ability to move and enhance as well as entertain us, the repertoire a judicious mix of old and new (and, inevitably, some failures along the way).
  9. Well, for Titania don't they have Lamb, Morera and Osipova, and I'd have thought Hayward a shoe in for that....
  10. Well, a dramatic reduction in her number of scheduled performances, the bringing in of an external Guest to take over what had been performances with her regular dance partner whilst this reduction in performances continued, and a confirmation that she was leaving the company only days before what was her final official performance seems "shabby" to me....
  11. Thankfully, the ROH holds firmly to its no food or drink in the auditorium principle.
  12. I had wondered if it might be Beauy but Fille definitely makes sense and I really hope they let her dance with Alexander Campbell - their partnership in that and in Don Q was entrancing. Does anybody know what Marquez is currently doing? I did think the whole business was very shabbily handled. Even if many of us had seen it coming, the very belated official confirmation rankled with me. However, there will inevitably be things going on behind the scenes of which we are not aware and one should probably resist the inevitable urge to speculate.
  13. People seem often to write that the reason Choe isn't always effective dramatically is because she has not been given chances as Juliet or Giselle, so let us hope that if Golding is cast as Rudolf those inclined to be negative are not on vehement. I have to say although I'm not Mr Golding's biggest fan in performance, he invariably comes across very well in the rehearsal videos made, and his qualities of height, strength and absolutely secure partnering are surely major positives. I'm not sure if some of the hostility is because he was brought in at principal level, but didn't he spend some time at the RBS. I'd agree that he seems to be cast other ubiquitously and I can't see how the pairing with Hayward would ever have worked but that's managerial practice: sometimes, what is written seems to veer uncomfortably towards the personal ....
  14. So, with the announcement of the new season, is it too soon to move into promotion prediction mode?
  15. I'm a huge fan too but not sure he is quite right for Rudolf. Has the role ever been danced by somebody of more compact stature? It iOS certainly impact on the female casting ...
  16. I'd be inclined to disagree with this statement. In a narrative work, I like the choreography to relate to situation and to respond to the music, otherwise there is the risk of something becoming just a sequence of technical stunts. I appreciate that this is a personal response, and it may be why I respond to Don Quixote and Le Corsaire less positively than many others....
  17. Clement Crisp is such an eloquent writer as well as hugely experienced critic: I was so pleased to read his wonderful words about Takada. I've not yet managed to see her in a full length role but have really enjoyed her work in smaller roles and have been baffled by what seems a general lack of enthusiasm on this site for her work. I very much hope to see her in a full length role next season and am fairly confident that she will be appointed a principal from next season.
  18. It's possible that one of the dancers who had a bad night and a wardrobe malfunction might not wish the experience to be preserved for posterity and universally distributed ....
  19. Irrespective of personal allegiance, isn't an artist's first responsibility to the audience that has paid good money to see them? I appreciate circumstances are not always simple...
  20. One can understand her wish to concentrate on creating Elizabeth and not to lose out on a second broadcast. Particularly sad re the Giselle though, although I understand Takada has been doing wonderfully well....
  21. According to Norman Lebrecht, Tiberiu Soare has been removed from his post .... http://slippedisc.com/2016/04/mayhem-as-bucharest-replaces-opera-chief-after-four-days/
  22. Absolutely loved watching this, truly insightful. Music, choreography and design look wonderfully integrated and I have the intensity of Liam Scarlett's demonstrations was truly remarkable.
  23. Perhaps exaggerated by the cinema cameras for me the incessant staring became rather tedious. The wry smile that Nunez allows herself in the earlier DVD is much more interesting and true authority comes from inner strength not eternally enforced lack of emotion. Who knows, if she'd relaxed her face a bit more, she might have danced father better (having been very impressed on previous occasions with her I was truly disappointed on Tuesday) and given a more interestingly nuanced portrayal.
×
×
  • Create New...