Ondine

1 hour ago, Jane S said:

Elvin

The gorgeous Violetta Elvin ( Prokhorova)! Lest we forget:

Elvin, said Margot Fonteyn, “influenced our dancing long after the 10 years she stayed with us”.

Created roles in Ashton ballets but retired far too young.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jun/06/violetta-elvin-obituary

There's a lovely short tribute here (official link)

1 hour ago, Jane S said:

The mention of Les Sylphides led me to find my DVD of the 1953 performance, with Markova, Elvin, Beriosova and John Field

It's on the internet via John Hall but it's Vimeo and you have to log in.

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Ricardo Castellanos from Norwegian National Ballet

 Interview from a year ago.

https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2022/11/15/congratulations-to-principal-dancer-ricardo-castellanos/

8 minutes ago, Silke H said:

Stanislaw Węgrzyn

 Off topic I know but...

He is gorgeous, his dance was gorgeous, so much gorgeousness in this video

One of the comments under.

His own YouTube channel. Very interesting. 

A thread with origins in 2002. A great deal of interest.

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/4498-les-sylphides/

I think I remember reading that Baryshnikov brought with him the sllo he'd learned in Russia. There are, I believe, as many different versions of Les Sylphides as there are companies Fokine visited.

And Wiki.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Sylphides

7 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Enigma Variations/Symphonic Variations/Les Noces

A serious threesome! Wonderful music. Great choreographers.

Official link.

4 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

So Ondine is voting B? Or D?  

I'd like Les Noces too, but I think B.

Les Noces could be in a bill with some Ashton, as he was taught by / worked with / was influenced by Nijinska.

And I do love a nice frock, especially one worn by Fonteyn:

https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/record.aspx?ref=13423&row=0&work=337&collection=Costume+Coll

Add some Massine and Balanchine?

Nothing wrong with 'heritage' works!

8 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Les Sylphides

Les Sylphides is being neglected I fear so that. With William Bracewell. He has the soul of a poet I think.

https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/work.aspx?work=337

Three choreographers who danced for Diaghilev?

6 minutes ago, Jane S said:

Though some may not realise this was just its ROH premiere - it was already 10 years old.

Premiered in fact in France!

https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/work.aspx?work=514

Ballet: Work details

It would be good to have a revival. If anyone wishes to see it, YouTube will oblige. 

Not Jephtha but a little more of the glorious countertenor voice of Cameron Shahbazi and Handel (official link):

The first two hours of this was broadcast, and can now be watched free here:

Checkmate anniversary!  Premiered 18th November 1947.

I think it fitting and so very kind that the Royal Ballet did this.

There is no doubt that Natalia Petrovna Osipova is a world class star, an amazing dancer,  and the RB is fortunate that she chose to make the company her home.

BALLET IN THREE ACTS

17.11.2023 7:30 PM

We are getting way off topic but this fits here re Giselle,  I see updated in August 2023:

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/giselle-questions-answers

So I'll add this which IS about Symphonic Variations, and is much more succinct (with photo of original cast):

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/oyg6ku6ehrut9zwxykms59by2e7iwn

51 minutes ago, Amelia said:

She often danced with Rudolf Nureyev

As here.  https://youtu.be/_I4_oJP9CJk?feature=shared

21 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

I loved this, Sebastian: the musicality, the wit and, my goodness, those lifts and throws! Thank you so much for posting.

Me too! Also doing all that without losing the fan or the cane!

And the frock. Sigh.  

1 hour ago, PeterS said:

Is Njinska’s choreography akin to Nijinsky? A forerunner of Ashton? Of MacMillan? Or McGregor even? 
Any feedback welcomed

Nijinska was a big influence on Ashton in his early years as a dancer & choreographer

http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/biog.html

https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/27506-cecchetti-ashton-and-the-royal-ballet/

When we used to get Glyndebourne livestreamed to my local cinema (which was lovely) it used also to be on YouTube free and remained there for I think a month. I wonder how the cinemas felt about that? I watched 'live' at the cinema and then again online.

My local was always packed for the popular ballets (we had the Bolshoi too, Sunday afternoons) and mostly the opera from the ROH (though not so much Glyndebourne) and also musicals and NT etc but it appears many cinemas are not full and are cinemas losing money?  I don't have a clue how the finance of livestreaming works. 

2 hours ago, Jane S said:

was puzzled by the Symphonic Variations programme you linked to, and wondered if the Symphonic Interlude it mentions was an additional orchestral piece rather than another ballet - so looked on eBay and found this one, which clearly shows an extra bit of music, rather than an interval, between SV and Facade - and I also found another which had an extra bit of Stravinsky played before Scenes de Ballet and one which had an extra bit of Meyerbeer before Les Patineurs.

 

It presumably had something to do with the lengths of intervals or the overall length of the programme but seems quite random from such a small sample! Anyone remember this happening more recently?

That one puzzled me also and I was going to delve and didn't get round to it, so thanks for that!  Interesting isn't it? Also Giselle with another ballet. It is possible Giselle then wasn't as long as it is now, but I do feel a night at the ballet may have been better value for money then!

39 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Lancaster Grand Theatre

Worth the (very reasonable) ticket price to be in that lovely historic theatre! It is indeed 'grand'. (Lancaster is a delight to visit too.)

https://visitlancaster.org.uk/attractions/lancaster-grand-theatre/

Lancaster Grand Theatre first opened in 1782 and was known simply as The Theatre, Lancaster.  1908 saw a fire which gutted the interior but less than eight months later, it reopened in the form it is today.

The Theatre has been in continuous use for 200 years. In 1951 the Lancaster Footlights bought the theatre to secure a venue for amateur drama and music in the city. It hosts many popular comedians, singers, bands and theatre touring shows as well as in-house productions. Guided tours of the interior offer the chance of sighting the reputed ghost of actress Sarah Siddons!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theatre,_Lancaster

17 minutes ago, oncnp said:

anyone planning to visit on 15 November

 Imagine how much it must cost to hire the ROH for a day!

5 hours ago, FLOSS said:

Ashton's Symphonic Variations

While searching for something else I came across this.

Note on the 18th June 1947 there was a QUADRUPLE bill which included Symphonic Variations, and it's interesting to see all the other works danced by the company (then the Sadler's Wells Ballet) in the post war years.

https://www.theatricalia.co.uk/13dance/royal.htm

This is the triple bill it premiered with, in 1946: Ashton's Les Patineurs and Robert Helpmann's Adam Zero.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_Variations_(ballet)

I don't know if this has already been posted elsewhere  but I'll put it here in case not

BBC Radio 4 Spotlights Keep Northern Ballet Live Campaign

BBC Radio 4’s Front Row heard from MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl on the campaign to keep Northern Ballet music live and why it comes down to Arts Council England.

https://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/bbc-radio-4-spotlights-keep-northern-ballet-live-campaign

The radio segment is at around 17.30 in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001rynq

27 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Just saw the speech from your video

 Sadly it won't work for me!