RosiesDream

Such a sweetheart [And an exquisite dancer] I will miss her performances enormously

I had a look at the costumes on line, and the costume for Mythe resembles one of the Mexican "Day of the Dead" faces, so the identity of the dancer might be ambiguous. https://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/dance/giselle The photos are terrific, very imaginative.

There's the frillies and the floaties...Titania's Tutu in The Dream...Any of the Faeries costumes from same. The Firebird. It's red. It has a lot of feathers. Who needs more?...Ondine's dress...Alice's tutu in Alice In Wonderland. I love a couple of the queen's costumes in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - the lilac silk from Act 1, the red ballgown... Bolshoi, so many but I particularly like the tutus in The Pharoah's Daughter. The latter search brought up my dream pairing of Ananiashvili & Filin on Youtube. Just wonderful. And not a hyper-extension in sight. Made my week. Ashton's Cinderella "dancing with a broomstick scene"...Giselle "madness", just love the way the hem of the skirt is weighted. Kudos to the costume dept...

That's rather sad in a way. Cecchetti is not the only method, and other schools across Europe have longer traditions.

What did they rediscover? They do an Ashton Retrospective every year? - I'm not complaining, just interested, as it's well-trodden ground

I hope I'm not bringing fire and brimstone raining down on my head, but this thread is about non-narrative ballets. Correct me, but opera must have a story, otherwise it becomes another genre, so a non-narrative ballet is not ballet, it’s dance. I’m drawn to ballet because my background is in literature, theatre, and the visual arts, and frankly, I don’t know anything about the technicalities, but I know what I like. I’m very familiar with that phrase from the art world, and I understand why folk prefer Pre-Raphaelite paintings to Marc Rothko’s, even though I don’t; even though I find a Rothko deeply emotive, I understand why they don’t. But exhibitions possibly hang a figurative painting from Rothko’s early work to show how he reached his abstract style, and maybe promote some understanding. I know what I like in ballet i.e. I’m interested, I’ve watched quite a bit, I like the shapes and the colour and the stories, but I don’t really know a great deal about the technicalities, and I need some sort of guidance to initiate me into the mysteries of abstract dance. I can, sort of, go along with the like of Ashton’s Rhapsody, with familiar music, and colourful costumes, but to someone who doesn’t dance, many of these pieces look identical. I wish companies who perform them could add a little more colour, fewer look-alike leotards and bare male torsos, it’s all down to "Differentiation", a plea for more identity, one dance piece from another.

Didn't know that...I must have lockdown lag...I did see ENB have now got Jurgita Dronina, in fact I watched the live stream of her La Sylphide, now I come to think of it...and still the penny didn't drop.

I have a feeling that Acosta has boundless passion, drive, ambition - but maybe not so much managerial ability. It's a whole different ball[et] game, after all. Hope he proves me wrong for the sake of the company.

I echo your feelings about Ramonda, it could do with a make-over. although in contradiction to what Tamara says about the ballet, her gala performance of the Ramonda pas de deux with Steven McRae is breathtaking. I'm quite passionate about ENB. In my eyes, they dance for the right reasons, not the gloss and the fame, but to bring ballet to ordinary folk like me. And I wish I saw as much written about Alina Cojocaru on here as is printed about RB Nunez. Alina is such an exquisite dancer, her technique is quite flawless, and she is one of the few dancers who can make me feel a shred of sympathy for stupid Manon...

I hope this thread carries on after Covid, smiles are always good. This is a piece by one of the world's greatest finger-pickin' style guitarists. It's royalty free as it was made as a tribute to Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, but it's played on an accoustic guitar. Mike Dawes, playing his arrangement of Jump

It's a nice balance but I do wonder how much the content would rate for attracting new followers to ballet. I get the feeling the paying public prefers fewer grey leotards and more frou-frou.

Thank you for the help.

So am I. Why would someone on this forum worry about my partner's name? It's nothing to do with ballet or cricket. I gave random initials because he has a right to be anonymous with anything I post.

PS My post was intended to entertain, not offend

Brian Daniel? I mentioned it to him, and he said "I'll take that as a compliment."

I am truly sorry about this - I just didn't look to see who posted it. I was trying to do a good deed. The Osipova/ Acosta Giselle is on my DVD shelf already, although I must say I would like to buy the Coppelia. I'm going to have to put it down to a [steep] learning curve

I do have on external drive but it's not terribly convenient as I mostly use the laptop in bed. I have some DVDs on it's hard drive, but it's quite full, and of course, not the Giselle. I keep telling BD that I need a better laptop with a bigger drive and wouldn't-you-know-it's-my-birthday-in-a-couple-of-months...It might work

No, it was my fault, I got over-excited I actually have the Acosta DVD, but, of course, these days computers don't have the capability. It's why I spend too much time on YouTube - my 500 music CDs are mostly redundant, because now playing them is confined to one room, and then not late at night. I shall have to be more careful.

I'm sorry, I didn't look to see who posted it

Not sure whether this is the correct place, but didn't know where to post it. Please relocate it as fit. If you search, there is the FULL Acosta / Osipova Giselle being streamed on YouTube. I've no idea how long it might remain up There is also a full Osipova Coppelia with the Bolshoi.

I have had cricket forced upon me over the last 5 decades, but it's slowly turned me into a fan. I still don't get test matches, although I think I voice my complaints in proper fashion i.e Me, when the England score is approaching 600 - "Why doesn't Root declare so we get a proper 5 day match"; BD, patiently "Because it's all about winning": Me "But that's so boring..." It will come as no surprise to you that I live for the IPL I love the bravado and the mad Indian grannies in the crowd! And Kohli, though I'm off him a bit at the moment, on account of India pulling out of the last test. This love of a bravura hit dates back to the time BD and I went to a Hampshire one-dayer at Basingstoke. Viv Richards was playing, and he hit a six out of the ground. The ball smashed into the roof of the house opposite, and the resulting glorious cascade of tiles was one of the seminal moments of my life (Although probably not the house owner's) PS Any fans of Le Tour on the forum? BD & I have to reach a compromise during those three weeks June-July. He takes his radio into the garden and the dog and I watch the cycling. Fortunately, none of us are tennis fans.

I was going to say no, and then I remembered a toe-curling birthday outing in 2008. Not mine, but worse, a present from me to a friend who had never seen a dance performance. I wasn't very well off at the time, so ROH was going to be out of the question, and then I saw a review of Matthew Bourne's new Dorian Gray at Saddlers Wells... Perfect! My friend was actually an author and familiar with the Wilde story, I won't have to explain why those girls in white are meant to be swans...Great Galloping,,,swans...but it was dire. We stuck it to the end, but I've never been to any other performance where the entire audience walked out without applauding when the curtain came down.

Yes, I have been donating on line as much as I am able, and will think very hard about giving to a company that is going to withdraw this kind of support because after decades of theatre going I find myself no longer able to travel, and the Arts, one and all, but especially the streamed and on-line ballets have been my reason d'etre. RIP co-operation.

I adore Osipova, even when she gets it wrong. Her commitment to the role is absolute. I loved her in Flames of Paris for the Bolshoi, and for her mesmerising Sylphide, her Giselle with Acosta, her Lise with Steven McRae and her Ramonda. Athough I prefer Sarah Lamb in the Macmillan roles, I'd still rather watch Osipova in any of them, compared with another Principal because she inhabits her roles. I haven't watched her Dying Swan, because I don't want to compare it to Lopatakina's heartbreaking interpretation, but it's probably the only one for which I would not be standing on my seat and applauding. I hate it when these backlashes occur, it's almost as if people are scared of admitting they got so excited about the dancer.

Yes priorities have definitely changed. Personally, I think hyper mobility is making ballet freakish, and I am morbidly bored with gratuitous knicker flashes. I expect anytime now, hoops, clubs and ropes will become normal props (I'll allow ribbons. La Fille Mal Gardee is one of my favourites) Surely there's got to be more to ballet? Maybe I'm just getting old...? (Don't answer that one!).