Bruce Wall

I have read that once they get persmission from the health and fire authorities to begin the repairs that it will require digging up much of the Kingsway between Holborn and Aldwych. Apparently the situation was complicated by the fact that the old tube line (going to the old Strand Station) still is in situ.

Certainly it is possible. Enough said.

I have already said I was happy to do so. There is no need - at least from my perspective - for the repetition.

Happy to, capybara, but the source was, after all, a BBC site

From @bbcTravelAlert for those whose budgets are stretched to the breaking point ... regardless what the government might say about the economy (read election) ... and the fact that interest rates are at their lowest level for more than 300 years and have been so for over six years ... destination due to yesterday's fire incident in Holborn. Bus tickets are currently accepted on London Underground services within Zone 1

For those who haven't seen it ... and wish to prepare ... here is a film of THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk9dG6p5bFg I also attach this as - in the opening's third variation - you will find KIPLING HOUSTON (NYCB 1975-2003). He was/is British born. His father was in the RAF. I remember having several animated chats with him - such a nice chap - during that period when I would occasionally give docent talks on the Fourth Ring of State Theatre. He - like several others such as Jenifer Ringer and Darci Kistler - were always so very generous with their time. Also ADAM LUDERS, who, of course was trained and had danced with the RDB, was with LFB/ENB before his long career with NYCB where he was a mainstay. Indeed he danced Seigfried in the very first SL I ever saw - which was with LFB/ENB at the RFH with Mania Gielgud as O/O. Also COLEEN NEARY - who features in the final section - is the sister of PATRICIA NEARY who staged the current RB production on behalf of the Balanchine Trust. I am surprised that there have not been more comments about Muntagirov in this current RB round. I thought he was TRULY OUTSTANDING in his debut in this Balanchine glory.

Didn't want to start a new page for this - hardly worth it - but as FILLE is up this month at our London local - I thought I'd just add this clip from the Mikhailovsky production that appeared on Vasiliev's YouTube channel and is dated 29.3.15. Here he is seen with Anna Kuligina. No doubt this was filmed by one of Vasiliev's many zealous fans who proudly 'tableted' the entire affair:

Wasn't 'Ballet 422' independently produced? I do tend to agree with the director, however. SOME ballets - if not immaculately filmed - can - unfairly - loose the spontaneity they possess in the theatre ... and that, in and of itself, can be rather deadly. I seem to recall Justin Peck saying in an interview that up UNTIL that point (i.e., Ballet 422) he wasn't always entirely happy with the filming of his dance works. I, myself, thought the promo for Heatscape (his most recent premiere, i.e., this month) which I posted on another page hereabouts was truly thrilling in giving a wonderfully vivid sense of the dance itself. Indeed I have felt that when I read the reviews of the final work over the past few days. The clip almost seemed to make the dancers jump out of my computer's screen.

This is all fascinating ... truly .... but isn't it getting a tad off topic. That was, I think, -- or at least started off as - opinions/considerations in, round and about the 'Four Temperaments Triple Bill' currently being performed by the Royal Ballet.

Source Plus samplings of Wheeldon (x2) and McGregor ... i.e., The RB Triumvirate. Oh, and a smattering of Justin Peck.

Just what one might expect under a one star banner, huh?

Oh, and at least one avid contraction ...

I'm smiling ... Bless you, Dave

Sorry. Note to myself. MUST STOP TRYING TO BE FUNNY. It never seems to work. Apologies.

Hey, seems Virginia's 'electrifying ... and she's not even trying' .... but then she won't be the only 'Gypsy' in town this time

Here's a full length Serenade for you, Alison, with NYCB and, I think, some mighty fine dancers including the current NYCB Ballet Master in Chief. (PS: I know this is not available on DVD but I just thought I'd add it lest you were hungry You will find a certain Ms. Ashley in the ensemble as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0ruEZeqa0

As I suggested they might - new tickets came up for the Watson/Whelan programme ... I managed to grab one for the second performance I wanted. I'm sure there will be more. Worth keeping eyes peeled.

I had no difficulty - short of my own equipment. Booking on your phone with large, aged fingers is not easy - and getting rid of that pesky donation even worse. Got all I wanted short of the second Watson/Whelan. Hoping that - as in the past - there may be a magical appearance of more spaces there in the not too distant future. Fingers crossed and eyes peeled.

Not immediate to this page's title, but related ... (Didn't want to cloud the news area with a new page) ... Russia's Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky has appointed banana billionaire, Vladimir Kehkman as the new Director of the Novosibirsk Theatre of Opera & Ballet. Kehkman will also keep his current position as Director of St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Theatre of Opera & Ballet. http://siberiantimes...gious-backlash/ Wonder if Messerer will soon split duties as well .... with perhaps the sharing of other resources between the two entities?

Aileen, I think the point - at least as far as I was trying to reference it - (and I certainly wouldn't want to begin to speak for any other 'couple' you speak of here) - was the fact that the programme - this triple bill - was balanced between Balanchine's 4Ts and MacMillian's stunning Song of the Earth. That is all. I was speaking of its overall construct. I think the framing by ENB of the Lest We Forget programme - one about which I wrote about admiringly on more than one occasion on the appropriate Board - was truly stunning and vividly enforced the key achievements of Rojo's brilliant leadership. Indeed, I think Scarlett's No Man's Land was his finest work that we have seen since his fourth choreographed piece, Asphodel Meadows, in 2010. I thought too Malphant's PDD for Cojocaru and Souza in Second Breath was vivid in its telling detail and did very much succeed in joining two art forms. The ravishing forward development wrought via ENB's two way access with Kahn in Dust was also evident from my perspective - certainly in that potent snare of that final union between Rojo and the choreographer himself. I believe both of these contemporary artists have spoken of the impact of such on their artistry. It was, at least for me, a joy to behold. I so look forward to Kahn's imagining of Giselle next year. I know it will be innovative in its instruction at the very least.

Just a brief note about tonight's (30.3.15) Triple Bill performance. Muntagirov was a true revelation in the First Melancholic Variation of THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS. His performance was one of exquisite form; fully expressing Hindemith's musical demands replete with all of that score's richly spiked grace notes - even when the actual rendition in the pit - as it sometimes sounded - appeared to be pasteurized. The RB has much to be proud of in this young man. There can be no question but that from a Balanchinian perspective Muntagirov is a defining boon. Bonelli again shone as he had on the first night but oh, how I wished that Naghdi had gotten a chance to lead the female division of the Sanguinic campaign after Osipova's minor injury. She WHOLLY deserves to as evidenced by her characterful effervescence here. Eric Underwood was not as clear in focus as Watson had been in Phelegmatic ... largely I think because he was simply too loose, much as Albert Evans had often been in the same assignment at NYCB. Zenaida Yanowsky was again spiritedly pointed in her Choleric thrill. UNTOUCHABLE had the same cast as on the opening, although I did notice that several people disappeared after the initial lights out at the end (James Hay among them). The audience again were in a sincere reverie and, on the whole, I must say I enjoyed it more than I had done on Friday .... perhaps because I now (i) know better what to expect and (ii) know how to best focus/level my observational regard. SONG OF THE EARTH saw an exquisite performance this evening - certainly one much better framed than the opening effort had been. This was - from my perspective - largely due to a much more evenly cast trio of leading players - although the entire supporting team seemed to benefit from the previous evening's outings and Thomas Randle was a very welcome addition as the tenor in a wonderfully rich dramatic flow. What a stunning ballet it is. Like FOUR TEMPERAMENTS - it espouses the wit and genius of a true master and surely helped define the balletic idiom for the last century. Both works have, after all, already withstood the test of time. This is, I think, one of my favourite MacMillan ballets. Laura Morera as the female lead veritably defined loss and was every bit as searing as Leanne Benjamin had been in this intoxicating role. Morera elicited soul by exorting, educing and squeezing our hearts. There is no question but that she had the advantage of a partner of much stronger lyrical stealth/line than Soares had provided last week in Kish and that Watson was oh, so much more clear in his dramatic evolution as the Messenger of Death. Here the work - as it should - shone in its entirety rather than in parts. I so hope that Morera gets at least one outing in this treasure in New York. From my perspective she is owed it.

Also he was featured in the second cast of the inaugural run of Wheeldon's 'The Winter's Tale' for the RB.

Muntagirov was wonderful with ENB in Song of a Wayfarer. Also he said - at an LBC meeting - that it was his (then) 'favourite role'.

May I recommend that if you attend an encore that you stay away from the Islington Vue Cinema. The state of the relay was as if mirrored via the 'Untouchable' black scrim for the recent RB SL Encore presentation on 22.3.15 at 2.00 pm. Truly shocking. An exercise in frustration. A waste of valuable time. It was so bad that the management was forced to give each patron a full refund. Be warned.

According to the ROH web site all performances are sold out, Fonty. Proudly so. For me, the Balanchine last night was the highlight - but then that was always going to be case inthe greatest likelihood. It was, after all, Balanchine in the late 70's and early 80's in NYC who truly sealed my passion for drama through ballet and who taught me - in the most meaningful manner - a true appreciation for music given that such was always Balanchine's master. He called himself 'a servant'. While I didn't feel that last night's was the most inspired rendition of 4T's I'd ever seen, I was much enamoured by the input of Messrs. McRae and Watson and the unique perfume that a certain Ms. Naghdi brought to her supporting role. She very much had the Balanchine stretch living in her body and it was a joy for me to behold in this masterwork. I also seemed to enjoy the Song of the Earth by MacMillan more than some others on this board appear to have done. I very much like the music and felt that the tenor rendered it especially well under the carefully husbanded baton of the outgoing Barry Wordsworth. Nunez - as ever - was radiant - and served her choreographer brilliantly whilst continuing to incite her own personality unto its full fruition within the striking largess of this role. Thought too that Campbell and Dyer were compelling in their support. As to 'Untouchable'; there were elements of the Shechter that I admired. I glowed with glee at the 'Nigel Farage Chorus'. (I seemed to have been alone in that amongst my section of the amphi. I don't think the audience otherwise 'got it'. I giggled with the certain knowledge that such will surely not be long sustainable. There could be no question but that the commitment of the young RB dancers was obvious. The determination of their energy brought a fervor to the militaristic aspects of the piece. While I could certainly see Shechter honouring certain key/current RB influences (e.g., the occasional hyper-extended pulls favoured by McGregor and the rough-hewn staccato chants as enervated in Acosta's work) I felt that somehow Hofesh Shechter did not exactly meet the RB in an equal compromise (which I thought surely to be the point of any such enterprise). Indeed, he employed - apart from the most cursory and basic detail - no classical/neo-classical elements in his dance making here. I, myself, came away feeling that this work could have been done by any number of contemporary ensembles in any number of locations right now. Furthermore I thought it might well have been best suited to the much admired ROH community dancers where it might have been developed in their Thurrock base. I'm sure their appreciation levels would have been vast as well. Indeed, they might well have brought an even keener fever to the obvious edge of this work. I, myself, have felt for some time that Shechter's work is becoming a tad repetitive and felt 'Untouchable' was again in a very similar mold. I had so hoped that with the additional challenge/benefit of the RB dancers this might not have been the case. I, in part, agree with Timmie above. There are so few ballet companies in this nation - and many more contemporary ensembles. With the UK media devotion too largely given over to Contemporary dance (e.g., BalletBoyz - both with The Talent and before; Matthew Bourne and DV8) there are I think many more opportunities for UK contemporary choreographers to exercise their dance imaginations than there are for their balletic brethren. For this reason I SO admire Peter Martins at NYCB who - for OVER 40 YEARS - has insisted that the works created for NYCB - be it for a Diamond Project or for the Choreographic Institute or for a basic NYCB season piece - be fundamental in their use of a 'balletic idiom'. That is one of the few mandates. That requirement certainly still gives vast scope but it also ensures that the artform itself is enhanced; that the language of the ballet might somehow too move on. While I have not always admired Martins own choreographic output (with the exceptions certainly of such fine pieces as Ash and Fearful Symmetries - the scores for both of which - as with so many - he - like Balanchne before him - as in 4Ts - commissioned) - I do heartily applaud his firm intent a la the balletic idiom and I feel confident that it will ensure Martins' place in the long term of balletic/dance history. Personally I would like to see that same - given the relative paucity of opportunity - undertaken by the RB in a concerted effort to maintain a similar balletic endorsement for this nation. With the talents on display surely this fine Company deserves it.