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annamk

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Everything posted by annamk

  1. annamk
    Yes please and I'd also love to see Shklyarov in Mayerling and MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet, neither of which he has danced before. We can hope I also agree that Corales will make a terrific Solor !
  2. annamk
    I SO wish I could have seen him perform live. I have to confess that I only knew the headlines until recently when I read Julie Kavanagh's excellent biography. I found him such an extraordinary and fascinating man that I couldn't resist buying the Diane Solway and Clive Barnes books !
  3. annamk
    You are not alone, it keeps happening to me - my latest paper tickets arrived this morning ! Is it because the option to select a delivery method is not very prominent and if you don't click the link which takes you clearly to the e-ticket option then it defaults to a paper ticket ?
  4. annamk
    This triple gets a meh from me too. I liked the McGregor very much, possibly helped by the fact that at 19 minutes it could hardly outstay it’s welcome. The movement was more lyrical than much of McGregor’s past work for the RB and it was very effective. I liked his choice of dancers, it’s good to see some new faces in there. When I watched the insight it felt to me at times that Sarah Lamb was being parcelled around rather too much by the men but somehow the loose fitting costumes made the those movements look more attractive than they might otherwise have done. I hate Age of Anxiety: I watched the general just in case I could find anything redeeming in it and although I thought Campbell a definite improvement on McRae, I still felt it should have been strangled at birth. How on earth did the RB management conclude it was worthy of revival ? It’s like a second rate West End song and dance production without the singing. I had mixed feelings about the Wheeldon - I should say that I was on the sides so not a great viewpoint. It was probably unfortunate to have seen Ratmansky’s sophisticated and musically responsive choreography for the same Bernstein. In comparison Wheeldon felt at times like a poor relation. I thought the opening movement involving Ball and Bracewell was strong. Parts of the corps sections were also very attractive. But it seemed to me that the principal couple - Cuthbertson & Hirano - were underused. They deserved a more substantial pdd which might also have helped the sag I felt 3/4 of the way through. Much of what they did have to dance was in semi darkness, competing for attention with two other couples. Also, although Magri and Sambe were impressive in their section, the choreography here wasn’t the most interesting I’ve seen for a pair of fast, dynamic dancers. I love Erdem but the costumes didn’t live up to hopes. I’m not saying they were ugly just that they could have been better. What did the bits of black tape flapping around randomly mean ? Was there a programme note to shed any light on this ?
  5. annamk
    Shklyarov will be fabulous and I’m beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to see him in MacMillan.
  6. annamk
    YEs please will pm you.
  7. annamk
    I am sorted thank you
  8. annamk
    still looking .....
  9. annamk
    Looking for a SCS if anyone has a spare please message me. Thank you. Anna
  10. annamk
    Me too - I think they disappear off stage.
  11. annamk
    In his acceptance speech Liam Roddick referred to coming into his last season with the (Richard Alston) company. I hadn't heard this before, maybe I missed an announcement, but does anyone know where he's going ?
  12. annamk
    I'm not sure what falls into the category of "unnecessarily critical" ? I do try not to be rude but this is supposed to be a discussion forum not a fan club so if you can't say anything negative what's the point of contributing ? It feels to me as though it is becoming more difficult on this forum to criticise performances. Just to take one example, and it wasn't me who said it, the poster(s) on the Giselle thread who pointed out that Matthew Ball almost stumbled in one of his variations, was criticised for saying so. I mean dancers are praised if they dance well, they are praised if they act well so why not say it how it is when it doesn't go as well ? How else can someone who didn't see the performance know what was good and what wasn't so good ? Are we supposed to deduce from what's not said - which is what some of my posts are being reduced to lately.
  13. annamk
    I agree with you about Popov - I was being generous The Olga/Lensky Act 1 pdd was not a highlight, I assume nerves & the mismatched heights didn’t help. I thought Popov improved in Act 2 though: as you say his acting was convincing and I thought the pre duel solo was well enough danced. Sadly, I’ve never seen Vogel dance it, my current favourite is the Bolshoi’s outstanding Semyon Chudin.
  14. annamk
    Beautifully put Angela
  15. annamk
    Just to put the other point of view here ...... I wasn't at the schools' matinee but I did see Act 1 of Hayward/Campbell's public debut and I entirely share Jann Parry's (DanceTabs) opinion that Campbell was inexpressive and miscast. I've enjoyed watching Campbell in a number of roles (Two Pigeons, Hans Peter) but I was disappointed with his performance on Friday evening and I thought I could see why he wasn't originally cast as Albrecht. I was in the stalls circle near the stage and to me in Act 1 Campbell was a blank page. I thought Ball, at the Saturday matinee, was a better actor, using small gestures and changes of expression effectively. Ball's dancing was also a considerable improvement on his recent Nutcracker prince. Also at the Saturday matinee James Hay gave by far the best account in this run of the pd6 lead male role - such a pity he wasn't given the opportunity to dance Albrecht. I hope that Fumi Kaneko stays injury free so that by the time of the next run we can see her dance Giselle - she will surely be wonderful.
  16. annamk
    Angela thank you for posting this ! My friend and I went to Munich for the performance because we adore Vladimir Shklyarov he's a fine dancer with great charisma. I always thought he would be fabulous in the kind of dramatic ballets which sadly the Mariinsky doesn't have in it's rep so I was very happy when it was announced that he would be dancing in Munich with the opportunity to expand his rep. Recently the Bavarian State Ballet have started to post casting for his performances further in advance it's possible to organise tickets and flights. It was fun to bump into other London ballet-coers who also made the trip ! There were role debuts for the four principal parts on Sunday evening : Shklyarov/Amista Popov/Zeisal and they gave a very good account of themselves. The final pdd between Shklyarov and Amista was finely acted, with great attention to detail, very emotional. The audience were hugely enthusiastic, I lost count of the curtain calls.
  17. annamk
    I agree with all your lovely comments about the characterisations. The quality of the dancing from Takada, Ella and Kaneko was exceptionally high. The Act 2 pdd was remarkable for the synchronisation between Takada & Ella: all three of the cross stage jumps were executed and landed EXACTLY together !
  18. annamk
    Ticket has gone.
  19. annamk
    It's an e-ticket. Message me and post here. Anna
  20. annamk
    The full ballet is there now
  21. annamk
    https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/ it seems it can be watched online in the Bolshoi website until 9am Moscow time tomorrow. I haven’t tried the link yet though.
  22. annamk
    Vladislav Lantratov, Ekaterina Krysanova and Igor Tsvirko gave unbelievably intense, passionate and committed performances yesterday. The enormous red minimalist sets looked terrific on the Bolshoi stage. Typically Ratmansky, the choreography is very busy; a lot of small movements made very quickly, as Tsvirko said in the interval. It takes some getting used to a different version when you know another like the back of your hand (MacMillan in my case) and whilst occasionally I longed for some MacMillan style choreographic stillness there were some immensely powerful moments to more than compensate: Juliet rushing on in the balcony scene took my breath away. When I saw the National Ballet of Canada dance this at Sadlers Wells in 2013 I was uncomfortable with Ratmansky's choice of ending, but yesterday it felt astonishing and brilliant. I only wish there was an encore showing.
  23. annamk
    I must admit I would never have thought of Ben Ella as a replacement for Steven McRae. Nothing to do with his dancing which impressed me recently as Hans Peter but that Albrecht is such a monumental role in every sense : solos, partnering, and acting, it requires incredible stamina. All of which makes his debut yesterday so impressive. Because he looks very young I think he had to work extra hard to be convincing. I was standing close to the stage and it helped considerably that even from his first entrance he looked comfortable, if he was feeling the pressure of the occasion, it didn’t show from my vantage point. His solo dancing was pretty much faultless: tidy landings, everything cleanly finished. His partnering looked secure - the Act 2 high overhead lift, no problem and again 30 seconds later, no problem ! His acting was credible, I mean you wouldn’t expect it to be full of every little nuance at this stage, but he definitely has presence. Very very promising indeed for him. IMO Akane was wonderful - as well as being completely secure technically she brings a lovely softness and musicality to her dancing and her arms are exquisite. Clare Calvert’s Myrtha was everything you want that role to be, she’s really blossomed over the last couple of years and with that has come an increased confidence in her dancing. The corps also were very impressive.
  24. annamk
    Yes I definitely agree with that Sim !
  25. annamk
    I was thinking of his 2014 performance with Hayward but I probably also saw him in 2008 with Mara Galeazzi.
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