art_enthusiast

10 hours ago, MildConcern said:

It’s not Francesca Hayward’s wheelhouse but she gave it a good attempt and was better as Odette. I’m afraid her Odile was rather unconvincing, though I do give her plaudits for managing to muscle through the fouettés when she was clearly out of steam and laboured.

 

That was my impression after seeing her portrayal in 2022. It sounds like she’s made advancements as Odile though, I don’t think she got through all the fouettés last time.

In terms of classical roles, I really liked her Aurora last year. 

A very interesting insight with lovely dancing. I had no idea there was another version of Giselle set in New Orleans, it would be great to see the whole thing.

16 minutes ago, Silver Capricorn said:

And it was Vadim, who was asked in the course of the interview whether the applause during the performance after the variations disturbs him, who answered that he welcomes every such interruption, because every second of applause means a moment to rest and catch his breath for the next dance. Few people can imagine the physical strain dancers are exposed to during a performance. For me personally, it certainly does not spoil the artistic experience.

Exactly. I know from watching Kathryn Morgan’s ballet commentary videos on YouTube that they use that applause time to breathe. So they should certainly have it - not for too long obviously but I see the need for it.

On 23/04/2024 at 22:47, Roberta said:

Ballet Shoes on film,  a discussion.

 

1975 v 2007 versions (with comments underneath) 

 

https://pargoletta.livejournal.com/126261.html

 

 

 

I think some of the 1975 series is on YouTube. I watched some of it a few years ago and thought the child actors were pretty good 

I assume it helps if the cygnets are all of similar height? As they have to stay linked together the whole time. I don't think the casting is always the same height wise though.

On 20/04/2024 at 22:40, San Perregrino said:

Can we expect the same for Ballet Shoes or some gender swapping of the characters perhaps? 

I am hoping for colour blind casting, otherwise I hope they don't change much.

On 21/04/2024 at 08:22, CCL said:

‘Garnie’ and Theo were rivals for the love of Mr Simpson, if I remember correctly? That put me right off! 

Yes and I have to say I found that hilarious, given that he is happily married in the book. I liked the actor for Mr Simpson though, I remember seeing him in Doctor Who around the same time. His bond with Petrova was sweet and well done on screen (loved the Petrova actress, though since this and Sarah Jane adventures I haven’t seen much of her which is sad). I think it was pretty well cast overall, all the sisters had a good family bond on screen.

However, I do think it would have been a good idea to cast a more unknown actress who needed the exposure as Pauline, instead of Emma Watson - though she was so big at the time casting her was a guarantee loads of kids would watch it. I thought Theo was a good choice of actress minus the love story, lol. Loved Emilia Fox and Victoria Wood’s relationship on screen.

I remember the actor who played Mr Dursley from Harry Potter was also in it as Gum. I watched it so many times as a kid (think we recorded it on a disc) and I used to act out scenes with my friends at sleepovers. Book sales must have had a resurgence around that time, I remember getting a copy for my Xmas present. Maybe because of nostalgia I will go and see this production, not sure yet! I assume they will definitely cast an actual ballet dancer as Posy this time - I very much liked Posy in the 2007 adaptation though. The main thing I didn’t like was how they made Winnifred out to be a bit catty, when she was a sweet child and friend of theirs in the book.

4 hours ago, Lindsay said:

True.  And I suspect Mariko Sasaki (who was a beautiful big swan on opening night of this run) has been focusing on her Odette/Odile debut so we haven't seen so much of her in soloist roles recently either

Yep, I was thinking that might be why she didn’t have a shot at the Mistress role in Manon (I imagine she would be amazing in that)

It’s certainly fine to hum along to the radio in your car, for example. But in a public place where people have paid to hear live music/a live performance, it does seem bizarre. It should be obvious that opera and ballet don’t require audience participation as maybe pantomimes or musicals do. Maybe they need to start putting that on the cast sheets.

I certainly hope people don’t do it at the Proms (I haven’t been for a while so I don’t know)

16 hours ago, Rachel H said:

At the matinee of 'Swan Lake' this afternoon, the couple next to me started humming along during act 2! I shushed them, and the woman looked at me as if to say 'what's the problem? This is jolly isn't it,' and started humming a bit louder. They got another 'shush' from me, which did the trick. Mind you, she was also a finger tapper as well. They behaved a bit better during act 3 thank goodness! I know the conductor was good, but I would rather listen to his interpretation of the Tchaikovsky score, that their off tone humming, personally!

How incredibly annoying. I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of sitting near someone who felt the need to bob their head and wave their fingers around as if they were the conductor… Extremely irritating!

On 17/04/2024 at 18:45, LinMM said:

I just booked Fille at Sadlers Wells today …it seems such a long way ahead but as only three performances thought best to get on with it! 

Same! I am eager to see it live for the first time.

I’m so happy for her.

Just a query, I’m a bit confused as to why he was performing today if he had already pulled out of future shows due to his existing injury? I would have thought he’d be off fully.

Oh dear, I hope he’s OK.

I'm curious about Queen of Hearts casting - really loved Laura Morera and Zenaida Yanowsky in the recordings, not sure who else has done it?

2 hours ago, OnePigeon said:

So far that’s a pretty disappointing season for me as I have no wish to Cinderella again so soon and I’m not bothered about Alice, but I am pleased to see R&J 

Same here, I feel like Cinderella is way too soon - I really liked it but I remember it so well that I don't feel the need to see it again. It feels like they literally just did it (I felt the same when they brought back the Dante Project). I might go but only if there's an interesting debut (or to catch Hayward's portrayal as I missed her in the last run).

I saw R&J so many times in the last run that I would mainly go if there are more debuts at first soloist/soloist level or potentially first artist/artist (Joseph Sissens, Mariko Sasaki, Isabella Gasparini, Marco Masciari, Daichi Ikarashi etc).

Alice in Wonderland I haven't yet seen. I have watched clips from the main pas de deux online, and the Queen of Hearts/Rose Adagio spoof, they do look lovely but I don't know if I would like to watch the whole piece in full... also I don't know if it's something mainly for children, wondering if I would feel odd going without any!

I would definitely be booking for Onegin if it was announced, for the others I'm really not sure and it would very much depend on the casting.

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

Yes she was cast with Nicol Edmonds as the Prince last time.....wonderful!

Yep, she was originally cast with Sambe who was injured so Edmonds stepped in.

4 hours ago, Silke H said:

Onegin was on January/February 2020 including Thiago Soares' farewell on 29th Feb 2020

Guess they can’t do Feb this time as that’s when Paris Opera are doing it 

22 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

Is it Taisuke Nakao’s debut as Benno?

If so, good luck to him! I’m sure he’ll be brilliant.

I went to this last night (in terms of star spotting, I think I glimpsed Lauren Cuthbertson down the row from me and Joonhyuk Jun elsewhere in the audience!) 

It was good overall, but I don't really think that many pieces stood out to me - particularly not the more contemporary ones. I do understand the perspective of people on here who aren't impressed by Joseph Toonga's works - I don't think they're completely terrible and I think in this one a few ballet moves were incorporated, they were on pointe at least, but I agree that it could be a lot better if he's aiming to achieve some sort of fusion between contemporary and ballet.

The pieces I liked the most were - definitely Norwegian National Ballet, Xander Parish and Eugenie Skilnand were absolutely beautiful. Also National Theatre Brno - a very creative and inventive comedic piece. The dancer in the purple top - I don't know his name - stood out in particular. I found parts of it a bit repetitive though.

i liked the Semperoper Dresden piece a lot, Anri Sugiura is a lovely dancer. Two other very good pieces were the ones from Birmingham Royal Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet. The Birmingham Royal Ballet piece in particular was very choreographically strong and so brilliantly executed, what amazing dancers they have. As a Londoner I do wish I could see more of them, definitely aiming to see their Sleeping Beauty at Sadler's Wells.

The other pieces were not too worthy of note in my opinion, nothing too special. The Korean National Ballet piece was beautifully creative, stunning costumes and a lovely representation of spring. Gorgeous dancers, I just think the choreography could have been a bit more interesting.

Forgot to mention Matthew Ball's piece. I did like it, I haven't seen much of his choreography before. However I wasn't sure if I liked it just due to the choreography, or due to the fact that it was performed by him and Mayara Magri, two of my favourite RB dancers.

44 minutes ago, Neverdancedjustamum said:

Glad to see two are joining the ABT Studio Co. Seems to be a very exciting and vibrant company for young dancers.

Definitely - when they performed as part of the 2022 Next Generation festival, it was the best performance out of all in my opinion. I would love to see them live again.

I’m excited to see him, I’ve never seen him live 

14 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Wow. Sounds really dangerous to me. I do not like heights, so can't understand why anyone would do that! 😱

Exactly, how bizarre. I’ve seen people put small bags/glasses on the ledge part around the stalls circle and have been told by the usher to remove them. This is a step above that - I feel like they should get an official warning as they are endangering others and themselves.

I’m going tomorrow, looks like an interesting line up

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

I adore Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, I find it incredibly moving.  But I can understand why people who were expecting a ballet might be a bit startled.   I think having all male swans rather than all female ones is a terrific concept.  We are so used to seeing them as beautiful and graceful.  Bourne emphasises their power.

I am so looking forward to seeing it for the first time in December. I have wanted to see this version since I saw that ending of Billy Elliot where he performs in it.