annamk

This ticket is still available. 

Well one person's cloud is another's silver lining

I hadn't focused on the fact that McRae had the Don Q broadcast (I wish they'd share them out a bit more) so I'm very happy someone else will get the opportunity - and that Akane Takada will have a different partner - she seems to be have been cast with McRae in most full lengths so far this season  

yes it is I will pm you 

Both tx spoken for. 

E tickets, message me and please post on here to say you've done so. Anna

It's an e ticket message me if interested and post here to say you've done so.  Anna

Takada was a dream of a Nikiya yesterday: meltingly fluid arms, sublime classical elegance, deeply expressive. 

The Solor's seem to have been given licence to compose their own versions of their final variation at the close of the shades scene in Act 2. McRae's choice looked to me more like it belonged in DonQ with some flashy but ugly, awkward looking jumps (Corrales did one also - I wish I knew the name) which seemed to cause McRae to run out of steam and deliver and a concluding manege of somewhat earth bound tours en l'air. Not a patch on Muntagirov's elegant and more appropriate grand assemble en tournant. I wasn't sure why McRae didn't leave the stage immediately before his variation. (Perhaps someone can correct me if I have the terminology wrong.) 

So far I only saw the Nunez Nikiya cast at the rehearsal but on the basis of that I prefer the roles as danced this evening. It may be that's because the balance between the two ladies felt better to me rather than saying that one or the other danced better although I have to add that I found Nunez faultless this evening. 

As for Corrales, his performance would be commendable under any circumstances but considering he is only 22, he was making his RoH debut in a principal role, he was (I believe) making his debut as Solor and he was partnering two of the most senior ballerinas in the company, it was astonishingly good. He is clearly an assured young man and he obviously has a huge bag of tricks which for the most part this evening he quite sensibly held in check focusing his energies on partnering his ballerinas which he did with skill, care and respect. That's not meant to imply that his solo dancing was less than excellent. I personally think he's a great addition to the RoH male line up. 

3 hours ago, bridiem said:

Interesting though - can charisma really be subjective? Whether one responds to it or not is subjective, but I would have thought that its existence should be unarguable.

 

Perhaps some people resist responding for some reason and instead deny its existence.

 

Surely charisma is subjective otherwise one would be able to define it in a way that everyone could agree on in any particular case.

It is difficult sometimes to understand why other people don't respond as warmly to a dancer as one does oneself.

Some years ago there was a particular RB dancer who was my absolute favourite - I wouldn't miss a performance of his. I assumed everyone else felt the same and some people certainly did but a number of people whose opinions I respected, absolutely did not. I was perplexed and disappointed at the time but the funny thing is now I can't stand him myself

11 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

If it's The Guardian, they are usually much more hung up on the so-called toffs in the audience than the art infront of them.

What ? 

2 hours ago, Darlex said:

If that is a review written by Lindsay Winship it won't be worth taking seriously. 

Why ? 

4 hours ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

^ it annoys me that the Guardian gave it 3 stars when their only criticism seems to be Muntagirov's lack of charisma (what planet are they on???) But yes, why they docked it two stars is a mystery given that the review is largely very positive. 

Surely people feel charisma differently. I find Muntagirov's dancing thrilling but myself well, I don't find him particularly charismatic ...... 

3 hours ago, Ivy Lin said:

I attended the first three performances. I thought O'Sullivan and Sambé were absolutely glorious in the Tchai pas. Here's what I thought of the rest of the festival:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2018/11/international-festival-of-balanchine.html

Thank you so much I really enjoyed reading this detailed and interesting review ! 

Ticket gone. 

It's an eticket. Message me if interested & post here to say you've done so. Anna

Al tickets have gone. 

For 1/11 I have D32 & 33 

For 8/11 I have D5 

All £8 

All e tickets 

Message me. 

Just to wade in here and put the other point of view  ...... to me Campbell is a very good dancer with a clean technique; he is excellent in a certain type of role e.g Colas but I just don't see him as a Prince or a Romantic Hero so from my perspective KoH's casting decisions make sense. I think in years gone by casting decisions were based much more on suitability for a role rather than all the principals getting to dance everything, perhaps suitability is making a comeback if we consider there is a larger pool of talented dancers at the RB.  Now I will duck down behind the parapet ..... 

10 hours ago, Irmgard said:

 

This is a very long post but I hope it may encourage more people to make the trip to Southampton to give the performers the full audiences they so richly deserve.

 

It has, I just booked my train ticket  

Can anyone tell me about the stalls ?  The first row is E, the others are taken out for the orchestra. Would you see the dancers feet in Row E or is it better to be in row H back where the rake starts or even L ? I prefer to be near the stage rather than say front row dress circle where I guess you need binoculars ?

25 minutes ago, Minder said:

There is nobody who can touch Alina for the subtle nuances of acting 

It’s so true Minder. 

I made the trip to MK and on a cold, wet afternoon the theatre was just the place to be. Alina Cojocaru’s performance was as good, if not better, than the very finest I remember her giving in her years at the RB. It’s not only her acting which sets her apart from other interpreters of the role but something in her quality of movement - feather light and so quick - which constantly leaves you catching your breath. 

I find Caley a much more sympathetic partner for her than others at ENB. As Des Grieux he certainly looks the part; he danced and acted with complete comittment and partnered with care and total passion. 

Cirio, Khaniukova and Streeter also gave strong performances.

It’s hard to pinpoint what it was but in almost every scene from the very first one I felt a strong sense of the impending tragedy simmering just beneath the surface in a way that I’ve never noticed at the RB. 

The orchestra were terrific. 

Both tx taken. 

1 hour ago, capybara said:

I was slightly fearful that, after the knock-out performance Matthew Ball gave last Saturday night, the Bonelli/Morera cast would feel ever so slightly anti-climactic. I needn't have worried. It was different, of course, but absolutely terrific from all concerned. I liked Kobayashi as Larisch and, in my view,  Mendizabal/Bonelli gave us the most affecting account of the mother/son scene this run - phew! And we had Corrales and Stix-Brunell livening up the proceedings and a delightfully suave Kish as Bay Middleton.

 

Yes, this cast should have had the cinema relay.

I had wondered how I would feel too because I thought Ball & Hamilton were terrific, the freshness & excitement of youth and a debut.

But I found Bonelli & Morera on quite a different level; the years of experience really told in the partnering, in Bonelli's presence & bearing, in the nuances of expression from both - there in every gesture no matter how tiny. It meant that for me Bonelli and Morera climbed into the skin of the characters and for 3 hours they became living and breathing Rudolf and Mary. 

Just bumping this up D8 is still available 

Any worries I had that Bonelli & Morera would not live up to their terrific performances in the last run were entirely unnecessary.

Bonelli & Morera lived and breathed these roles like no one since Kobborg & Cojocaru. 

So so sad these magnificent, masterly accounts were not filmed. 

Ticket spoken for. 

It's an eticket message me if interested. Anna 

Both tx spoken for.