postie

I have to go. It's what started me on this wonderful journey into dance: homage meets gateway drug ..

Quick warning, for those interested there are only 3 matinees, so grease up the hip replacement and get booking >>

https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/english-national-ballet-akram-khans-giselle/#book

Fwiw, it crossed my mind that, at the ending of Different Drummer - it is quite abstract - Woyzeck killed their love before disappearing into the void, effectively releasing her.

At that point Woyzeck and Marie were in some ethereal, different place.

It's not particularly convincing but, at this point, I'm open to any offers ...

5 hours ago, Sebastian said:

Different Drummer is based on what was once very well-known source material, the play by Büchner. Over the years it became almost as ubiquitous a story as Faust or Romeo and Juliet. A useful list of just some of many versions is given on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woyzeck#Adaptations 

 

Back in 1984 MacMillan may have assumed his audience was familiar with the stark outlines of this drama and so felt free to work variations on it. Some of the comments here - and overheard after the performance - suggest this is no longer the case. Seen in the correct context it is a shattering work, among the most successful of his later creations, as indeed I felt it to be yesterday. 

"Based on" seems an understatement when the three-act play is reduced to a one-act ballet.

By 1984, the characterisation of Mary as a repentant whore had been challenged by the Church itself, though the debate remained open. On that basis, Macmillan was very free.

Imo, what we now witness is, to an extent, an interpretation of Macmillan's interpretation.

In this work, I find myself guided - somewhat - by the costumes, which seem to inform the narratives (more so than in most).

This is fun, though. What a fascinating work to piece together.

Clarification / spoiler >>

RE Different Drummer: it seemed to me the three men in the woman's life were the ghost of her dead partner/husband (and father of the baby), an overbearing new suitor, and a manifestation of Christ (who she went to when pressed by the suitor). I was so utterly captivated by this story. The despair and choices of the post-war period amid a renewing world ... am I a long way off?

ETA: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-42-spring-2018/story-artwork-mark-gertler-merry-go-round-1916-sarah-macdougall

Coming here, I was expecting to see dozens of effusive comments. Others will be far more eloquent than me but I was captivated from the moment the curtain raised until it stopped twitching at the end.

Everything was so fresh; brimming with confidence, ideas, and witticisms, meaning, pathos.  I love the post-war period for that, and I think Macmillan personifies all of it.

And, here, it's in every dimension from dance to the sets, lighting, clothes, colours, and the perfect relationships between sound and actions.

To be fair, Macmillan wasn't keen on Germans at this point, though after the preceding 35-years ... anyway, there was a little fun, perhaps mockery. Fwiw, I was occasionally reminded of the war work of John Singer Sargent and Mark Gertler.

I adored this. I actually felt a little proud to be a, albeit, minor Friend.  Goodness knows how those on the stage and in the Pit feel.

I've been to a couple of events where you agree, at the time of purchase, to have your phone put in a secure bag and kept by staff. That was in situations where the venue didn't want any production images to leak out. These were both large, busy events. It worked seamlessly, at least with me.

Another approach I like is the 'quiet carriage' on trains, which is really just a way of excluding phone usage as best I can tell.

I wonder if we will get to that point in theatres; give audiences the option of attending a phone-free performance ..

I'd sign up straight away.

It's quite instructive to be in audiences and see the growing extent of phone-social media dependency.

The warning given at Sadler's Wells is the best I have experienced, and still it doesn't matter to some. I sat in the stalls side seats last week and, in the corner of my eye, screens popped up regularly everywhere.

It seems to be mostly a female problem, unless there is a football/cricket/rugby match on. And this is middle-aged mums.  Goodness knows what the youngsters will be like when they start coming independently.

Seems to me to be a manifestation of a great societal problem. I don't know why we aren't more shocked by growing dependency, and manipulation by US corporations.

At least there are signs some schools are starting to take actions to protect children.

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I think that's if they begin exactly at 7.30pm and it doesn't include any time for applause or curtain calls after the performance.

Sorry for the bold. It was a copy and paste from the email and I just couldn't get rid of it. The 'Hmm' was in response to the production - I'd hoped for a little longer.

Giant hologram fish, you say? I knew there was a reason.

Anyway, the email for tonight (Friday) says '1 hour, 12 minutes (no interval)'. Hmm.

On 08/03/2024 at 17:25, FionaM said:

Matthew Ball is 5’10” and that is a reliable statistic as he’s a model and will have been measured.

I was curious about this as I've seen him wandering around the building and he seems pretty much my height. Matthew says he's taller, here - 5' 11 1/2:

Quote

How tall are you, Matthew? I'll just let you know why I am asking that" I add, nearly laughing.

„In centimeters, I am 182cm.! Why?" Now he is curious. I can see that.

https://www.attitude-devant.com/blog/2022/10/24/matthew-ball-principal-the-royal-ballet-an-interview-part-2

I don't know anything about technique in ballet but, in sport, an inch and a half is significant.

That first section was like a teenage ribbon dance. Or it could have been lifted from the Moscow Olympics Opening Ceremony in 1980. Felt disappointed for the performers.

'mixed' is the operative word for me. I don't want to say much. To repeat myself from another production, we are just so fortunate - spoilt - in what we have available here, and for it to be so well-founded and resourced.

Very gracious of the New Yorkers to include English music, including closing the show with Atmosphere.

I guess if Vadim wobbles in Act 1 on Tuesday, we'll know it's excellent acting implying hesitation or shyness ..

#wobblegate

SCS for moi. Very excited. Don't know whether to rub my hands or my knees ..

We must surely be at the point where NHS workers are among the most informed opera watchers the world has seen.

Yes, smooth; though hard choices to be made when you have an interest in both sides of the House.

Well, I've caved in. I am now following approx. 50% of the English-speaking ballet world (plus balletoperadeparis). 

So many gorgeous images.  I love the combination of the very artful with mundane 'at work' shots.

I clicked on something called 'threads' but it took me to a strange world. More later.

I went back to have a look at Sarah Crompton's original review, just two years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/oct/24/the-dante-project-royal-ballet-review-wayne-mcgregor-thomas-ades-tacita-dean-edward-watson

As it settles with me, I can quite understand that some come primarily for Thomas Ades' score. The woman next to me (at the dress) was there for it all, though marvelled at Tacita Dean's contribution. Others, of course, are drawn to the art of McGregor and artistry of the dancers.

To come to it can certainly be a slightly overwhelming, multi-sensory, intellectual, emotional experience.  It's a grand scale - there is a lot to 'get' - but to dismiss what these tremendous artists have achieved .. I think it pays dividends to put the work in.

Ouf. That's quite the troupe.

I am probably misreading but I wondered if Matthew Ball - at the curtain call - wasn't completely happy with how he went ..

It will take me another visit to start to get my head around this. Hugely ambitious, very free - and that's just the design of stage and music.

I'm generally uncomfortable judging art at this level (in the end, it is what it is), though it's clear Mcgregor and Team Mcgregor took a very big, measured swing at the source material.

Quite the cast today. Will we get a full list of runners and riders?

Let's hope the website hasn't cocked this up ...So I just checked the cast list and it seems we will have Fumi (Beatrice) and Billy Bracewell (Dante) for the Dress tomorrow, with Gary Avis as Virgil.

Merry Christmas

33 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Well that was exciting.  Got to the cinema and sat there with the other 2 people who had booked.  Watched the countdown on the screen get to 4 minutes.....and the screen went blank.  After about 5 minutes a member of staff came in and asked if the screen had been on before.  Turned out the entire cinema had experienced a power cut. 

 

We heard someone in the room behind us shouting expletives into a phone as he tried to sort things out.  Eventually the picture was restored but not the sound.  We admired Darcey's earrings, saw the King and Queen arrive, watched a soundless overture by the orchestra, and then some silent dancing.  One of the other audience members tried to find the music for Don Quixote on her phone, and we sat for about 20 minutes in case the sound came back.  Eventually we trooped out, got our money back, and walked home.  

 

Makes you proud to be British ..

Ah I see. So the panning to audience moments won't be filled with the usual Stalls-area regulars "rattling their jewellery" (as John Lennon once said of the Royal Variety Performance at the Palladium). Instead cameras will track to a multicultural panoply of gleeful children and grateful NHS workers.

Probably not paying £52 to sit 4 rows from the back of the Amph, then. With a beguiling view dominated by snaking handrails.

Cynicism aside, who can begrudge them. Hope they all have a lovely evening.

21 hours ago, Ondine said:

I think Saturday 11th November's 'ceasfire' demo (it's a democratic right to peacefully protest) is going to be huge to be honest. Coaches are booked from all over the country, I think the meeting place is Hyde Park at midday.  I'll see if I can find the planned route, but anyone going to London needs to be aware of this and plan accordingly.

 

But there have been marches every Saturday for weeks, with numbers in 6 figures, and just as you describe (coaches from all over, starting at Hyde Park (or the Embankment).

These have been family events. I have seen them. In sun and in downpours.

I suppose what one media outlet describes as a "demo" is another's 'protest' is another's 'peaceful march'.

My point is I'm not aware of anything substantially different happening this Saturday (than there has been for the past 4 Saturdays). Arguably, more politicians have now spoken out (rather than continue to ignore the size of the marches), and a new spin may have been added ('stop' replaced by 'ceasefire').

There is no intention the event itself will be different. It will still be the same family groups and interest groups and concerned people.  Having largely ignored it for a month, national media will do what it does.

They seem to attract more publicity than 100,000 people marching through the West End every Saturday at the moment.