annamk

12 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

Thank you @DrewCo for your insightful and positive remarks.  I know they are much appreciated.

 

I just want to post a link to an CNN interview with Ratmansky that shows both clips and photographs of his TRIUMPHANT WORK - SOLITUDE.  There has been universal praise for this work - already attributed by many as a 'masterwork'.  I know of people (including some friends and NYCB volunteers) who seeing it once are now buying tickets for the remaining three performances.  There has only been one negative remark that has come within my knowledge on this piece and that was - most sadly - here.  I am certain the correspondent was sincere in her opinion but I just want to ensure that BcoF readers have a sense of perspective otherwise.  

 

Please do watch this clip if you can.  Ratmansky - in his abject honesty - is - as ever - moving.  You will see two brief clips from the ballet itself and you will - in small part - be able to make a better judgement on what you have read here.  

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2024/02/21/alexei-ratmansky-amanpour-solitude-ballet.cnn

 

Sadly I doubt that London will see this work.  The orchestration of the Mahler is large and the stage it was mounted on larger than any in our city.  Still you can I think get a sense of its pull.

  

Thank you for posting this clip, it's utterly heart-rending. 

Both tx spoken for. 

D45 spoken for.

£14 each, message me if interested. 

Anna 

A friend and I went to Birmingham for the first night of Sleeping Beauty, Neither of us had seen this Peter Wright production before and we were interested to compare it with the Royal Ballet version, being the one we are most familiar with. 

We loved the muted colour palette of the costumes and the staging which were very different to the some of vibrant colours seen at Covent Garden. The simple stage scenery is very attractive. 

The choreography and story telling are mostly familiar with relatively minor differences here and there: 

- we noted the absence of knitting ladies (a plus); 

- the Lilac fairy is a non dancing role (also a plus), this worked particularly effectively in the contrast between Carabosse and the Lilac Fairy in the scene leading up to the awakening; 

- there is no interminably meandering chariot to transport the Prince and the Lilac fairy through the forest to the castle in which Aurora lies sleeping, this whole scene was dispatched much more swiftly and was by the far the better for it;

- Florestan and his sisters have become a pd4.

So to the performances. 

Due to injury the opening night honours went to First Soloist Yu Kurihara and Principal Lachlan Monnaghan, both ex Royal Ballet School. I remember him from the graduate show in which he really impressed me although the last time I saw him I was slightly underwhelmed. My friend remembered Yu Kurihara from the school but I’ve not seen her dance before. 

Further up this thread @Pas de Quatre wrote some words about Yu’s debut in Southampton and I agree with them. Yu was absolutely delightful, confident, technically very good, particularly in the difficult solo which follows the Rose Adagio, she has a beautiful jump and a charming stage presence. Lachlan Monaghan gave a quality performance: he's unshowy, light on his feet, his solos were neat, his tours particularly well executed with tidy landings and he was a most warm, generous and secure partner. They had a lovely chemistry together. 

The overall standard of dancing was very good indeed, we were impressed by many of the soloists and corps -  Reina Fuchigami’s Fairy of the Song, Riku Ito and Shuailun Wu in the pd4 to single out a few.

Philip Ellis conducted the Royal Ballet Sinfonia at a terrific pace - it was truly thrilling to hear and it really added to the drama and the joy of the evening.

I highly recommend catching this beautiful production at Sadlers Wells if Birmingham is not an option. 

I agree with @Sim last night was a tremendous performance. 

I think it was the best thing I've seen either Lauren Cuthbertson or Matt Ball do.  This is a partnership that absolutely works: they are an ideal match, not only physically but equally in their nuanced, detailed, powerful acting. They give themselves so completely to their characters that together they become more than the sum of them as individuals. 

A shout out too for Thomas Whitehead's jailor; a mini masterclass in playing, but not overplaying, an entirely revolting character. 

6 minutes ago, FionaM said:

 

IMO William Bracewell is miscast as Florizel.  He should be Leontes. 

I thought exactly that.

59 minutes ago, Sim said:

Hi Bruce.  We will not lock or delete anything.  Your reports are much appreciated, especially to those of us who cannot get to see NYCB.   However, I do disagree with you that McGregor is now the 'house style' of the Royal Ballet.  There are many dancers who could dance the Balanchine beautifully, especially the two you mention.  As a matter of fact, the RB should dance much more Balanchine than it does.  

I agree with all of that Sim. 

46 minutes ago, capybara said:

Or not at all. Her continuing ‘public’ presence with the RB is (yet another) factor which, to my mind at least, is getting in the way of the current generation of dancers gaining wider recognition for the huge stars they are.

Gosh @capybara that is a rather unkind comment given all that Dame Darcey Bussell has done to promote ballet to the wider public. It is well known that she suffers from dyslexia, surely audiences these days are more sympathetic these days to disabilities, not everyone has to be a pitch perfect presenter.

As for her getting in the way of the current generation I don't understand your point at all. 

10 hours ago, capybara said:

I’m afraid that I can’t resist a segue from these posts to the kind of comment which is being made within other threads.

 

On the face of it, we British fans (and media) seem to find it easier to elevate non UK ballerinas to superstardom status than to recognise that we have their ‘equivalents’ in our midst - each with their unique qualities, of course, but no less worthy of celebration.

Personally I really don't care what nationality a dancer is, (it's not football where I will have my flag out cheering on my home team); nationality simply doesn't inform my response to the artistic qualities of a dancer, whether it does for the British media or other fans here I couldn't say. 

41 minutes ago, Buddy said:

 

 

This is a nice video interview (only audio content) that some of you probably know about from January. Nothing really new, but some good thoughts along with the mention that she was working with Wayne McGregor at the Royal Dutch Ballet in January.

 

An interview with Olga Smirnova | Why Dance Matters

Royal Academy of Dance

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLak7u3Xm20

I hadn't noticed this interview so thank you for highlighting it. I really enjoyed listening to her. 

54 minutes ago, capybara said:

The leading dancer roster will surely be very different in 3 to 4 years time with the following likely to feature when Manon returns (alphabetical order):

Hayward

Kaneko

Magri

Naghdi

O'Sullivan

Takada

Ball

Bracewell

Clarke

Corrales

Muntagirov

(Richardson)

Sambe

(Sissens)

 

This smaller number (there could be other emerging talent of course) would enable each couple to have 3 shows, which is what everyone (dancers as well as audience) seems to favour. It might seem harsh but the  'missing names' have had many opportunities to take the leading roles over the years. Time for the current late 20s/30-somethings to be put firmly in the limelight - and not only in Manon. 

 

 

 

I see your point but I think it's more difficult than pensioning off your "missing names"  

- I look at Leanne Benjamin who didn't retire until she was 48 and some of the performances in the latter part of her career were truly astonishing - a completely convincing Juliet in her late 40's; and

- Lauren Cuthbertson will be 40 this year but her Manon (at the rehearsal) was one of the best things I've seen her do and one of the most memorable performances of Manon I've seen;

- Alina Cojocaru at 42 is still bringing her unique artistry to roles;

- when ticket sales are slow retiring Marienela Nunez or Natalia Osipova might not be an appealing prospect to the powers that be. It seems to me that the following a dancer generates is more about them and less about the RoH putting them in the limelight. Some artists are unique: the audience know it when they see it and once they've seen it they return time and time again. For myself, I only had to see Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojocaru together once and I was hooked, I wouldn't miss a performance; same with young Natalia Osipova, same with Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell.  

Maybe there need to be more performances, or maybe time for a rethink when it comes to casting every principal dancer in every principal role regardless of suitability. 

It's all very difficult .... I wouldn't care to be in Kevin O'Hare's shoes.

4 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Agreed. On both fronts. I am keeping my fingers crossed that these ballets will come to London, and with the same casts, and I would love to see both Goldberg and Invitus Invitam revived by the RB, and/or a new commission for Kim Brandstrup, whose choreography I far prefer to almost all of the RB’s current commissions. 

Exactly what I was thinking thinking. 

Other than occasionally watching some clips of the final I've never watched much of the Prix in the past but this year I've managed to catch quite a bit and am really enjoying it. 

There's so much on offer I have found it more rewarding to focus on what really interests me which so far has been

- the individual coaching sessions for the classical variations. I am bowled over by the wonderful Nicolas Le Riche coaching the boys: what a superb coach: articulate, expressive, encouraging, spot on in his eye for detail; and

- Elizabeth Patel's class for the girls. 

I went to an encore showing - only 4 of us in a small screen in North London. 

I saw it live in Amsterdam and it was fabulous to see again with all the close ups allowing me to appreciate more detail.

DNB's world class dancers were on display: the superb Olga Smirnova, beautifully partnered by Jacopo Tissi's understated and divinely elegant Albrecht and their foil, Hilarion, the eye catching, simply jaw dropping, Giorgi Potskhishvili.  There is impressive talent at other levels too: Floor Eimeer's Myrtha was terrific with incredibly beautiful bourees; the pd4 dancers impressed as did all the willis. 

The production is gorgeous and really suits the company. 

I agree with @Blossom further up this thread, DNB are a brilliant company and worthy of a summer invite.

43 minutes ago, alison said:

Fear not, Bruce, sadler's Wells was selling well the last time I looked.

Definitely; I booked tickets yesterday because it was much more sold than last time I looked. 

Well that is that for Mary Skeaping's Giselle and as far as I'm concerned it can't come back soon enough. 

Two weekend matinee performances of exceptional quality ended my run. 

Saturday with Shiori Kase and Francesco Gabriele Frola. What beautiful dancers they are with impeccable technique and what a strong and believable connection they had. A detail new to me emerged as I was sitting on the left side of the auditorium - after the royal party have retired to the cottage when Albrecht reappears on stage, he sees the necklace Giselle is wearing and a shadow so subtly passes across his face .... he knows trouble is coming. 

On Sunday the final performance was given wonderfully  by the ethereal Katja Khaniukova (what incredible arms she has) and the noble Aitor Arrieta. Interestingly at this performance Katja chose to dance the diagonal - as did Shiori Kase on Saturday.

At both performances the pd2 dancers were Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick. They were exceptional; he was notable in that difficult, stamina sapping first solo. I wish I had seen his Albrecht and surely Ivana will dance Giselle before too long. The future of the company is in great hands. 

A final word for the superb corps - no sagging in quality even after 39 Nutcrackers and 13 Giselles. Remarkable.

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Thanks. Maybe Cuthbertson was somewhat marking it at the rehearsal, which would be understandable given it's her first full length ballet in a year and a half.

 
IMO no way was she marking anything at the rehearsal: quite simply she was outstanding and gave a masterclass in how to do Manon. 

9 hours ago, alison said:

I am so tempted ...

I couldn't resist !

Mine says Frola.

6 hours ago, FionaM said:

 

Smirnova left Russia as a ‘trailing spouse’ (as a boss of mine used to call it).  Her husband works for one of the US investment banks who left Moscow immediately two years ago.  It will have been his (or maybe a joint) choice to leave to keep his job.  Fortunately for her, being a prima from the Bolshoi, she was able to get a job at one of the eminent European companies.  I really hope her husband didn’t have to commit financially to support it, she’s good enough not to need that, but I do wonder.  (Royal Ballet wasn’t able to arrange extra funding to hire any elite dancers that left Russia.)

 

 

Do you actually know it wasn't Smirnova's choice to leave Russia ? She was very outspoken about her feelings on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

I was at the matinee in a packed Coli today.

Emma Hawes was an exquisite Giselle, everything was there and so it was impossible to believe it was her debut. Her partner: young, tall, elegant Vsevolod Maievskiy also making his debut, impressed with his considerate partnering, the sincerity of his acting, and that nothing was done for show or effect. Surely he has a very promising future.

Noam Durand and Chloe Keneally were excellent in the pdd.

Precious Adams Myrtha has the most spectacular jump, hers was an all round terrific performance. 

Hats off to Gavin Sutherland conducting - no glacial tempo here, brisk and terrific ! 

I could watch this production over and over and now am wishing I'd stayed for this evening. It can't come back soon enough for me. The wonderful thing about this run is that all the casts I've seen have been immensely satisfying - a tribute to the production, the quality of the coaching and the dancers. 

6 minutes ago, alison said:

Oh no!  And I've just got home from the matinee.  And I really can't go out again.  Hope he and Kase do well.

Me too ! It's too cold. 🥲

Did anyone else think that Marco Masciari was one of the Gentlemen this afternoon and not Taisuke Nakao who is named on the cast sheet - or was it my eyesight ? 

I thought last night Katja Khaniukova (so lyrical, so fragile and so poetic) and Francesco Gabriele Frola (what an elegant dancer, what a perfect partner) gave one of the best performances of Giselle I've ever seen. 

Myrtha, her attendants, the corps were all sublime, with notably beautiful port de bras. 

As I said earlier in the thread, I love the authenticity of this production and the many many little details that make so much sense of the story. In particular watching Khaniukova's interpretation yesterday I felt almost for the first time that I was watching Giselle in the 19th century rather than a 20th century "prima" ballerina giving a technically perfect performance of a peasant girl.

Every time I watch this production I notice more marvellous details: the dramatic impact of the moment Giselle realises that Albrecht has deceived her when everyone else on stage is frozen in time; in Act 2 towards the end of the first pdd Giselle leaves the stage and Albrecht runs to her grave and gestures "where are you ?"