Jamesrhblack

Of course, it's on opinion, with the disclaimer cited, but at a dispassionate level i'd stand by what I wrote.

With respect, I did write "from the Balcony Stalls." Some years ago, I really enjoyed seeing Yuhui Choe in Dances at a Gathering and am sorry that the promise displayed then doesn't seem to have been fulfilled. I don't know if the stalling of her career is due to management prejudice or a levelling out of her own achievement, but dance also deals in absolutes, and I'm afraid I see no reason further to modify my comment beyond what I had already done.

Finishing my posts, as I've had stallings and lost material hence writing separate reports, Scènes de ballet (which I don't know well, admittedly) seemed out of sorts last night. The men were heavy in their landings, the girls out of sync in a way that certainly didn't look intentional and although Yuhui Choe has her admirers who lament her lack of promotion, from the Balcony Stalls she was certainly giving a First Soloist performance last night, lacking in projection and brilliance. Zucchetti seemed most successful to me, although I absolutely take on board a previous poster who found his performance demi-charactère rather than danseur noble.

James Hay did look at the sky but he didn't really tilt off centre. I should have said that Reece Clarke's unison dancing with his considerably shorter male colleagues was impressively in unison - schooling shows. I also enjoyed Romany Pajdak's spontaneity in the Brahms. You could hear her exhaling before she launched into movement. Reading the programme, I was surprised to learn that she had been in the company for ten years and yet has done so little of solo import before this how incredibly frustrating for her, and what a waste of talent and potential.

Symphonic Variations is so beautiful but I don't understand the constant switching of casts. Shouldnt cohesion between the six dancers be paramount, and that can only come from repeated performances. Although technically precise and disciplined, I thought that with the exception of Nunez, incongruously leading a very junior cast, the dancers maintained technical and musical precision but at the expense of the glow that comes from total control of the material. Both James Hay and Tristan Dyer seemed winded by the end. Opposite them were Mayara Magri (the third dancer for this role? Emma Maguire is photographed in rehearsal in the programme but I don't she's danced a public performance) and Letitifa Stock, neat and well matched but seeming small scale. Reece Clarke did excellently. A handsome physical presence with some beautifully articulated dancing, although the effort of some of the partnering was apparent. Nevertheless, hugely commendable and great to see him seizing this opportunity so well.

I'd been looking forward to this programme very much, quite as much for the choreography as the dancers, so perhaps the anticipation had proved too great as enjoyment proved very muted until Month in which Osipova was truly exquisite (not a trace of exaggeration, quite the reverse - she's the only Natalia I've seen not to get an embarrassed laugh at the melodramatic exit through the side doors) with her astounding fluency and musicality illuminating score, choreography and character in a remarkable way. She wasn't afraid to show Natalia's irritability and her bleakness at the end was manifest. If her first performances had been overblown this just shows how a true artist will learn to strip away what is unnecessary to convey the simplicity of truth, Bonelli seemed more varied and involved than I had ever seen him while his high extensions and lyrical line spoke of sensibility allied to a certain narcissism. Hayward and Hay were also outstanding and although I read criticism of the pianist in earlier posts I actually found myself at one point during the final pas de deux noting how very beautifully she was playing. Terrific. As my iPad has a disconcerting tendency to freeze and then lose text, I will continue my thoughts in a further post.

Not sure if it's rats per se - more the implications of poverty and squalor...

That's a shame for Fumi. Was just thinking hadn't seen Deirdre Chapman (who I like very much) for a long time so I'm pleased she is still being cast...

I doubt that I can write more eloquently than Lyn about what seemed to me a truly remarkable evening. The emotion was palpable and, as Beryl wrote, Manon's physical anguish at the end seemed all too real. Bolle too, who I had mistakenly pre-judged as a blandly handsome dancer, was utterly involved, almost howling by the end, and it was this emotional truth that, for me, was at the heart of the performance's success. Neither Yanowsky nor Bolle is in the first flush of youth and her height and physical maturity as well as his own length of limb might seem to mitigate against them in roles conceived for much more compact dancers. Yet so convinced were they that they were utterly convincing, and as the passion of new love gave way to physical abandon, the desolation and guilt of betrayal, the heartbreak of recrimination and the struggle and humiliation of deportation and death the audience was caught up completely in what it is too easy and simplistic to call their "journey." It was a real example of Juliet syndrome - that you'll play it better at forty if you get the chance. Both dancers exhibited remarkable technical brilliance too, wonderfully well matched in line. Not a step, extension, turn or lift seemed shirked, a real achievement given that physically there is just so much more of the dancer to be accommodated, but there was no sense of rush or discomfort. Bolle's long, elegant line as he wooed Manon was truly beautiful, sculpting pictures of emotion in the air and his solo of loss at the Hotel Particulier heart rending in its simple anguish. His height and strength helped flesh out Des Grieux and this also enabled Yanowsky to release all her powers as a dance actress secure in the knowledge that she would not be over powering her partner. In many ways, her entry in Act 3 was the most shattering moment, all physical confidence drained away. The contrast was so marked from the glittering creature we had seen swimming above the men, leg lifted high in the previous act. Just as some singers are not afraid to make an ugly sound in the pursuit of emotional truth she seems able to use her body to create desolation and loss without caricature but with overwhelming conviction. Acosta has fun as Lescaut. I missed the more sinister, complicit edge that Campbell brought to the role and his dancing looks a bit lumpy and heavy thighed next to Bolle but his charisma carries him through and he and Morera, who was dancing as usual with great detail and attack, were genuinely amusing (and risk taking) in the Drunken pas de deux. Tuckett's slightly insipid decadence as G. M. was pretty creepy and Avis, such an extraordinarily versatile dance actor (I know I'm stating the obvious) managed to physically as well as emotionally dominate Manon in the scene that finally breaks her with the physical violation that is the ultimate trajectory of her decline from eager young girl through courtesan to the vehicle for a thug's brutally physical satisfaction. A wonderful performance such as this, aided by some splendid playing from the orchestra under Martin Yates, also reinforces MacMillan's choreographic skill. Yes, there are an awful lot of harlots and beggars padding out the ballet, but there are moments that for me are truly compelling. It's not just the obvious things - the purely physical manipulation of Manon by Lescaut and G M. in that unsettling trio, the degraded girls shaking their shaven heads in shame while running after lost dreams, Manon sashaying her way on pointe in her signature walk looking neither to left as she ignores the detritus around her - but little details - that extraordinary moment when four essentially predators literally put their hands on Manon to lay claim and she in a sudden and all too temporary gesture of independence rejects them, Manon joyfully partnering Des Grieux, Manon desperately reaching for the stars in her last moments echoing the moment when she is lifted aloft in triumph in Act 2. Everyone loves the Bedroom Pas de deux but the end of the ballet with Manon desperately running across the stage before falling to be caught by Des Grieux at the last moment and her death in mid air are surely amongst the most original and arresting dance images of the last forty years since the ballet's premiere. They thrill but unnerve even now.

Is Naghdi switching roles or staying on the same side? It does seem extraordinarily mix and match for what I think of as a very integrated work. Seeing this on 5 November. In the play, isn't Natalua meant to be 28? I appreciate that Seymour was older than that when she created the ballet and that there has been a tradition of more mature ballerinas taking the role.

Nope, that doesn't work. Hmm....

Am on Safari. Just about to try again now...

Hmm, the timeline is filled in in red and I can't get any change. Never mind, I'm enjoying the Canadians (I enjoyed hearing Dowell encouraging more arm from a Manon "very Antoinette") and perhaps as Jane L writes it'll be possible to rematch once it's finished.

Completely forgot this was one. Enjoying the Canadians but was wondering if anybody knew how to access the earlier streams, in particular the Royal Ballet one.

Although not a favourite ballet of mine (too much passing), Manon contains some of my favourite choreography, not just in the justly celebrated duets, but in the sad dance of the fallen women chasing lost dreams and the astonishing sequence in Act 2 where Manon is lifted by the men in thrall to her yet also manipulating her in every sense. Although memory is haunted by Sibley's arms and Penney's legs, literally embodied in the choreography, Francesca Hayward, in an astonishingly assured debut, here brought out something I'd never noticed before. At the risk of seemingly indelicate. It was as if she was consciously mirroring with her lifted leg the effect she kmowingly enjoyed creating on those who both supported and manipulated her. If nothing else was quite so vivid, she also brought out the wilful, even spiteful side to Manon's character more than I'd seen elsewhere and danced throughout with ease and confidence. There were some little slips (including forgetting to take the Old Gentleman's Bag to Paris) but those are insignificant given the tremendous achievement. I am sure she will find more projection and variety as her confidence grows but full marks to Kevin O'Hare for having the prescience to cast her. Her entrance in Act 2 brought tears to my eyes (and I'm damp even as I recall that now) as without the inevitable tension of needing to dance a role for the first time her promenade showed the glamour and seductuve authority already present within this slip of a girl. Edward Watson partnered her well and supportively. I thought he started slowly and (memories again) the astonishing purity of his high arabesque so vividly recalled from a performance with Mara Galeazzi around four years ago really wasn't thefe until the middle of Act 2. For me, the most complete performance came from Alexander Campbell with a combination of charm and malevolence allied to impressively virtuoso dancing that reminded one that Lescaut was created by a top principal David Wall (and later danced by others such as Anthony Dowell and Stephen Jeffries. Soared seems out of it this time but Acosta is giving it a go which could be interesting and it really benefits from dance acting at that level. Campbell is still a First Soloist but there was nothing lacking at all here). The Mistress was also written for a major principal with technical strength (Mason and then Collier I think) and, not for the first time, I wasn't entirely convinced that Helen Crawford was quite on top of things. I know she is coming back from injury and have no wish to be overly critical. Thomas Whitehead was wonderful as GM (another debut?) with authority and a certain sinister sensuality too and Genesia Rosato remains one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen on stage. It was a good afternoon and I'm very pleased that inspired by The Sunday Times I yielded to impulse.

More detail later but a wonderfully assured debut. Must say, though, how absolutely outstandingly good Alexandef Vampbell is.

Have come up to town early and on an impulse have booked a ticket for today's debut. Looking forward to it :-)

A feature on Francesca Hayward in today's Sunday Times Culture section :-)

Absolutely - such a beautiful woman too. I'll never forget her as Larisch back in 2002 and it's lovely to see her illuminating character roles these days.

No Soares and no Mendizabal - does anybody know what is going on?

Samsova did dance Isadora in London with David Wall in what was to have been his created role too.

So enjoyed watching this, thank you. I still remember the disapproving audience at the first night of Isadora. Looking back, we all know that David Wall was the most handsome man the RB ever had but I can't be the only one to have forgotten how ravishing was Marguerite Porter.

Just managed to exchange my tickets despite being in middle of Staffordshire Union Canal thanks to wifi phone signal at the pub. Or rather. I had to buy new tickets and the others will be refunded when I can return them. Graciously, the ROH isn't going to charge an exchange fee for needing to do this! Now to change my hotel booking,,..

Yes, I remember him as a most touching and elegant Lensky. Interesting that Marquez (again). Crawford, Hamilton and McRae are all out of Onegin. The Cranko Trust does pull its rank. On other matters, Takada's O/O was surely inevitable after her cancelled debut and recent promotion. As I wrote on another post, it does seem as if Choe's Aurora jump in for Osipova was a management tactic that seems to have left her wanting in their eyes: certainly, I was surprised that having danced Swan Lake elsewhere she wash;t offered some performances but, of course, a guest has been brought in to dance with McRae. With Marquez also out of Symphonic it's looking thin for her too...

You're right to write that we shouldn't speculate and I am as guilty as the next in sometimes so doing. By comparison, though it would seem that Akane Takada's debuts in Don Q and Beauty have struck a chord with management (of course, she was due to debut in Swan Lake a couple of seasons ago) and it will be very interesting to see how she develops from this promotion. Francesca Hayward's promotion was inevitable (and deserved), especially given recent casting announcements, but I was particularly delighted re Tristan Dyer, who impressed me enormously (with Takada) in DGV.