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Beryl H

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Everything posted by Beryl H

  1. Beryl H
    Well, I feel the complete opposite to above posters, for me the only thing that made this version of Cinderella watchable was Diana Vishneva, and happily Konstantin Zverev too, who was relaxed, happy, and responsive to his Cinderella as well as showing the dancing he is capable of. I've never seen so many emotions as Diana Vishneva showed in her dancing, they changed all the time, from ecstasy to fear that it was all a dream. Nadezhda Batoeva danced in a beautiful soft manner but didn't engage me in the same way, Vladimir Shklarov of course was technically brilliant but again I found Konstantin Zverev more likeable. Personally I have always liked Prokofiev's Cinderella much more than R and J so was looking forward to seeing this, but found it unfunny, horrible designs, bit of a sad way to finish the Season, what I did enjoy was the extra dancing for the Prince in the last act and the final pdd, which are missing from the Ashton version, the men's variations for the Seasons were good too, though don't know why everyone kept throwing themselves to the ground, I wondered whether Diana Vishneva had fallen over at the end of her ballroom solo or if it was deliberate, bit of both, as the next night Nadezhda Batoeva just bumped into a man and didn't fall over, but what a daft way to end a solo! I have to say I usually admire Ratmansky, but I much prefer Bright Stream, Flames of Paris and even Bolt to this.
  2. Beryl H
    I'm glad again that I saw both performances of this triple bill, I think Timur Askerov should have partnered both Marguerite's as he was so much better in this role than Konstantin Zverev, Diana Vishneva was left to act by herself, she was still beautiful though and the broken bourrees were so well done. Tuesday was better but still had almost no effect on me at all. I like the costumes and scenery of this version of The Firebird though as usual I was too high up to see the final tableau, I've never noticed the lighting change to red every time the Firebird enters before, it looked tacky. Thought both Firebirds were equal, Anastasia Matvienko has a gorgeous jete at the beginning whereas Yulia Stepanova hasn't, but then Stepanova was so good in expressing the enchanted bird, both in her eyes, and her arm movements, not overdone, and I've never seen the Prince danced with such vigour and belief as both these dancers did, it brought the ballet to life. Concerto DSCH looked much better on Monday, either it looks less good with repeated viewings, or more probably because the first cast was fabulous, have to mention Kimin Kim's fast turns down the middle of the stage, what are they called, chaines?
  3. Beryl H
    I saw all three performances and really appreciated the chance to see mostly completely different casts, the exception being Terpsichore which was danced every time by Kristina Shapran, lovely dancer but not that expressive, nor were most of the other girls, one that did look more lively was Renata Shakirova at the Saturday evening (hope I've got the right name). The music sounded dreadful but the three Apollo's made the ballet watchable, slightly preferred Alexander Sergeyev, also like the opening scene which is sometimes omitted. MND was a total pleasure, the audience rightly loved it, clever mix of humour, feeling for Shakespeare's play, and not great but very beautiful dancing for corps de ballet, principal and soloist roles. I was surprised at how classical it looks, probably why it suits the Mariinsky so much. The story has more time to evolve as this is a full length ballet (generous to throw in Apollo as a bonus) and the extra Mendelssohn music adds drama to the sometimes over sweet MND music. All the performances were humourous and enjoyable, the opening night was probably the best, Viktoria Tereshkina looked so joyous, but it was lovely to also see Oxana Skorik and Uliana Lopatkina in happy smiling roles too!
  4. Beryl H
    Sounds as if Ratmansky's "half crazed ballet fans" have travelled north from Moscow to St.Petersburg and worldwide, not to be taken too seriously, although their viciousness amazes me.
  5. Beryl H
    I agree with all the comments so far, this was the programme I was most looking forward to and it more than lived up to my expectations, had only seen MND on DVD and it looked wonderful from high up, masterful Balanchine and so much humour too, Tereshkina radiant!
  6. Beryl H
    The Osipova/Acosta Giselle DVD and Blu-Ray are available at the ROH shop in advance of the release date, and cheaper than Amazon at the moment.
  7. Beryl H
    Glad it went so well, wanted to see Kimin Kim and had thought about swapping my Tuesday ticket for Thursday, but it meant travelling to London 4 nights in a row which I knew was impossible, the great thing about ballet is that you can never tell how a performance will go
  8. Beryl H
    Okay, I'm going to mention Yulia Stepanova but ONLY as an aside, I saw my third Swan Lake on Tuesday and after the excitement of Friday and Saturday, this one did seem less enjoyable, partly because I had booked to see Yulia Stepanova and obviously didn't see her. I've seen Alina Somova before in Swan Lake and like her and I still think she is beautiful in the second act, but thought she struggled a bit with the Black Swan pdd, her variation and fouettes looked rough (particularly noticeable after Tereshkina on Saturday). After seeing Konstantin Zverev as Rothbart I was surprised at how subdued his Prince was, perhaps it was nerves, his partnering was very gentle and supportive though, but there was a lack of chemistry, maybe the last act was better, I was very tired and left early.
  9. Beryl H
    I had been feeling doubtful about Solo for Two, having paid a lot of money to sit in the Upper Circle then to find the Balcony had been opened, and general reports about the ballets and short running times, but last night was a revelation, thoroughly enjoyed the experience of seeing Osipova and Vasiliev closer up than usual, it didn't finish until just after 9.30pm, and was worth every penny to see surely the most exciting couple in ballet today, such intensity, dedication and chemistry! I liked the first and last ballets best, especially Facada, which is unlike any other ballet I've seen I think, black humour, wonderful Portugese music, and great dancing, Arthur Pita was clearly inspired by Osipova and Vasiliev, loved the Giselle references, think this may become a masterpiece of it's kind.
  10. Beryl H
    The Times gives Xander Parish an outstanding review, much less so Yulia Stepanova, and the FT is online, CC likes Oxana Skorik!!!
  11. Beryl H
    The Houses of Parliament will be in the dark from 10-11pm tonight, wish I was going to the ROH as I could have seen it from the bus on the way back to Victoria, I'll watch it on TV.
  12. Beryl H
    Last night's audience were even more ecstatic than Friday's, and rightly so as Viktoria Tereshkina and Vladimir Shklyarov were in what I imagine their best form, I've never seen her looking more joyous than in the Black Swan pdd, she must have been hard to partner as when he thought she had stopped the supported turns, she just kept on spinning, and as Bruce Wall says above, her variation and coda were totally brilliant! Most of the other roles were the same cast as Friday except for another fine male soloist in the pas de trois, Filipp Stepin. The higher you are, the better the corps de ballet look and I was very high up last night so could see their sheer perfection!
  13. Beryl H
    Last night was my first Mariinsky (I had a ticket for R and J on Monday but health, and weather stopped me seeing it) so very pleased to have made it, very warm exciting atmosphere throughout, there is a special magic about these Russian Summer Seasons! I was intrigued by the thought of seeing Oxana Skorik for myself and was surprised at how good her technique was, she makes wonderful shapes, has very long slender hands and beautiful arched feet, but I would agree with MAB that her general expression was "sullen", there were a few moments when she gave the Prince a wistful yearning look though, this transformed her, Odile suited her better, really exciting multiple turns and fouettes. Timur Askerov was a very personable Prince and had good stage presence, Vladislav Shumakov was rather sweet as the jester, not as obnoxious as usual, Kimin Kim (another dancer I had really looked forward to seeing) has amazing light jumps, and Konstantin Zvrerev was exciting as Rothbart (not something I usually expect).
  14. Beryl H
    The Judas Tree was set in the time it was created, in London Docklands, this is the most contemporary ballet I can think of.
  15. Beryl H
    I wondered what people who had seen both the Tamara Rojo performances thought of last night, I think she is a variable dancer but yesterday she was at her best, beautiful smooth technique, also very glad to see Alban Lendorf who is very stylish and a great actor, the audience were more involved than on Wednesday, it reminded me of when Tamara Rojo was partnered by Johan Kobborg in Giselle at the ROH, I could certainly imagine both Rojo/Lendorf and Kase/Acosta in this ballet when ENB dance it again. Very sensible of ENB not to clash with the Mariinsky, though not sure whether this was planned or not.
  16. Beryl H
    I was sad to read this, years ago she was a regular passenger on the Brighton Belle which left Victoria at 11pm, accompanied by her little dogs, all the porters made a huge fuss of her, although there was a compulsory extra payment for this train it was always worth it as it was a theatrical event in itself.
  17. Beryl H
    Lovely photos of last night's cast, I never used to like Coppelia but now appreciate the softer, almost Romantic style of this ballet which suited Shiori Kase, after a slightly nervous start she soon relaxed and was charming, Yonah Acosta's style was gentler than usual and in keeping with this ballet , they were well paired.The programme explains that Franz was danced en travesti which explains why his solo's can seem rather vapid (some productions use different music) also why there is no really big pdd. Michael Coleman was amazing, all that running about, he plays Coppelius as a sweet old man with no sinister tones which is a nice change these days, and the whole production has a very old-fashioned pretty quality.
  18. Beryl H
  19. Beryl H
    Period 1 was huge, I'm still booking extra performances now, although period 2 will be much cheaper there are still lots of Onegin's too good to miss! Shame there isn't another triple bill instead of all those Swan Lakes.
  20. Beryl H
    Heavens, it's too much to take in, when does the booking for this lot start? Two quick things before I have another look, glad Valeri Hristov gets repeat performances as Onegin, and pleased to see Matthew Ball as Lensky, I noticed him for the first time in Connectome!
  21. Beryl H
    Glad I didn't post anything yesterday, it's changed again, today's make more sense, M and A (which is on tonight at the Mariinksy) is still the original casts not TBC, Firebird is now Matvienko on Monday and Stepanova on Tuesday. Other notable changes (for me) are Kondaurova is replaced by Skoryk in MND at the matinee, and Shirinkina is replaced by Batoeva in Cinderella on the 9th evening.
  22. Beryl H
    This was the perfect ballet to show at Glastonbury, a classical piece would have been completely wrong, also the day and time in the morning was as near to 100 years ago as you could get to the Sarayevo assassination that started the war! I was pleasantly surprised at how good it looked in the open, though I think the TV audience had the best view, have watched it twice already and will do so again tonight, very well done ENB!
  23. Beryl H
    Like Mummykool, I had been dreading this morning and couldn't believe how easy it was, my favourite seats available for everything, even Osipova/Acosta which I made my first target, too easy really as I've bought even more than scheduled and feel really guilty, but this was a huge booking period with incredible casting!
  24. Beryl H
    Thanks for this info, couldn't resist seeing Carlos Acosta in Brighton, so have booked for both nights, although there's a huge CG Friends booking to pay for on Tuesday too
  25. Beryl H
    I can't put it as well as Bruce Wall, but was more than pleased to see Natalia Osipova and Matthew Golding dance together at last, thought they produced that extra thrill that comes with such exceptional dancers, liked the way he presented her to the audience at the curtain calls too! Valentino Zucchetti has become a great Puck. The lighting could have been a little stronger although it increased noticeably for the final pas de deux, or perhaps it was just the glow coming from Osipova and Golding Enjoyed the second cast of Connectome although the atmosphere wasn't as intense as with the first, this was more serene, great to see Alexander Campbell in a modern work, it suited him, also Sarah Lamb and Ricardo Cervera were moving in the pdd, pleased to see 4 different young men in the supporting roles, think this ballet takes a few viewings to appreciate and best to concentrate on the dancers, it's easy to just watch the projections.
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