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annamk

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Everything posted by annamk

  1. annamk
    Why does every poster have to offer constructive comments ? Surely this forum is a place where people can register briefly likes or dislikes without offering useful suggestions for improvement. My own post on Strapless was short and lacked constructive comments because, having seen the ballet twice, for myself it was "45 numbing minutes" beyond any salvation.
  2. annamk
    Funny how a second viewing with different casts can change perceptions, and not. I nearly decided to miss After The Rain because I thought it was incredibly tedious at the General. That would have been an error to rank alongside missing Vadim's Des Grieux. At last, in Reece Clarke, the RB have a terrific partner for Zenaida, better late than never. They were superb in the pdd. Reece partnered her with total confidence and she seemed entirely at ease with him. Beautiful to behold. More please. As for Strapless, the valiant efforts of the dancers - Reece Clarke again oozing star quality and charisma as Pozzi - can't save this. I found it so tedious, I've rarely felt so much like walking out half way through. Hard to pinpoint exactly what doesn't work for me although I strongly agree with the posters who've criticised the music. I thought In the Golden Hour was less impressive with the second cast. I feel the style of choreography (like Balanchine) suits taller dancers and this shorter cast aren't helped by deeply unflattering costumes.
  3. annamk
    Sim I agree with you on Osipova/McRae. Unfortunately I didn't see Hay/Hayward but last night I was thinking how much I preferred the long ago Morera/Polunin performances. At the time I was a huge McRae fan but in the intervening years my taste has changed & I feel he has gradually lost any emotional depth he once might have had - now it's all spiky bravura. I thought in places last night the male corps were shockingly untogether - maybe it just needs a couple of performances to bed down but possibly the casting didn't help ..... I have mixed feelings about Marcelino Sambe mainly because he doesn't have a classic balletic shape but last night I thought his quality of movement was far & away superior to the other men. Maybe this unbalanced the group I don't know. Also liked Choe/Campbell very much.
  4. annamk
    Bayadere at Mariinsky:with star prima Viktoria Tereshkina & Vladimir Shklyarov at the top of their game - the best Bayadere I ever saw. Sylvia at Mariinsky : Tereshkina made Ashton's fiendishly difficult choreography look effortless and her partner Shklyarov is easily the most charismatic of the Mariinsky men. Muntagirov/Morera Fille :why I go to ballet - to find in unexpected places the warmest, most wonderful performances. Lauren Cuthbertson Song of the Earth : because finally I understood why people love this ballet. Richard Alston Dance Company 20th anniversary programme at The Place :Mazur with Goddard & Riddick. Kim Brandstrup’s Transfigured Night for the terrific Rambert dancers at Sadlers Wells. RB Onegin : Osipova again giving everything of herself to bring freshness to a role I've seen many times. Naghdi & Ball in the same cast because I was expecting them to be too inexperienced and overwhelmed to bring it off but they did, and in great style. Naghdi & Ball R & J the most exciting performance of MacMillan's R & J I’ve seen at Covent Garden for years. Turkey: I wish it didn’t have to be so but it was - Acosta's Carmen
  5. annamk
    Although I enjoyed this doc drama it didn't have the impact of the BBC 2007 documentary Nureyev:From Russia with Love. I think the reconstruction format is difficult to make feel convincing and the casting of Nureyev didn't help. Lovely dancer & lookalike Ovcharenko is too tidy and he simply doesn't have Nureyev's raw energy/intensity. Edgy rebel Polunin might have been a better choice.
  6. annamk
    I just watched a clip of Haydee/Liska black pdd and it answered my own question: it was the principal performers.
  7. annamk
    I think you're spot on about the structure in the second act - I completely forgot that they were supposed to be living a different life because, as you say, it just looked the same only sunny ! We were speculating as to why Revazov was cast instead of Lantratov who has been Zakharova's Armand in most of the recent Bolshoi performances. We wondered whether it was because Revazov is more representative of what Neumeier wants. I think Chudin is an incredible dancer so I found it particularly frustrating that the cameras often focused on close ups of Margeurite and Armand and cut some of the peripheral dancing - particularly towards the end where Armand is reading the diary.
  8. annamk
    It's such a pity the RB doesn't give advance notice for retirement of First Soloists, especially when they are loved as much as Ric. I'm gutted I won't be there to acknowledge his retirement from the stage & to express thanks for pleasure his performances have given over the years. I hope someone will report.
  9. annamk
    The bespectacled suitor was Lopatin. I really didn't enjoy it but as it was my first time seeing Dame Aux Camelias I can't tell whether it was this particular performance and the performers or the production that didn't work for me. I love the watching the Bolshoi and their terrific dancers but this afternoon seemed interminable. Maybe that isn't entirely surprising because DauxC runs to 3 hours for a story that Ashton has distilled into a 30 minute drama. The additional hour provided employment for the superb Bolshoi dancers rather than serving to illuminate in any way the characters or their motivations.
  10. annamk
    I find Ismene Brown's reviews refreshing reading. Rather than just giving an uncomplicated critical appraisal of the performances she sees, she raises worthwhile and sometimes contentious points. Whether I agree with her or not I like that she offers a more thought provoking view. I enjoyed 2Ps but I didn't love it and I found a good deal of truth in her references to it being overly twee.
  11. annamk
    Very interesting to read Luke Jennings more negative review of Two Ps leads and corps this morning .....: even Matthew Ball's hair doesn't escape his critical eye
  12. annamk
    Floss, I am in awe of your terrific post.
  13. annamk
    Personally, I think Soares dancing has generally been weak and usually below what you would expect from a principal in a company of the standing of the RB. It always seemed to me it would have more sense for him to have stayed as a First Soloist and concentrated on acting roles requiring less in the way of technical dance ability.
  14. annamk
    It's a pity the reviews are too late to save ticket sales, at least for this evening. There are a truly shocking number of unsold seats
  15. annamk
    If Osipova didn't want to dance with Coviello and the management of La Scala couldn't come up with someone she was happy with then I think it's her prerogative to withdraw. Particularly in a ballet like Manon with some tricky choreography, part of which (the slide) we know has been the cause of an accident to more than one ballerina in the past.
  16. annamk
    No definitely nowhere else - it says these are their only UK dates in 2016.
  17. annamk
    It doesn't say when general booking opens. I noticed there is pricing £15-£49 and a Premium Package £64-£85 apparently one of the best seats in the theatre and a programme.
  18. annamk
    Mailing from the Mariinsky Trust this morning. Wales Millennium Centre 14th - 17th April 2016. Dancers will include Kondaurova, Tereshkina, Pavlenko, Shklyarov and Smekalov. 14 & 15 April 7.30 Five Tangos, Infra, In The Night 16 April 7.30 & 17 April 5pm Sacre, Concerto DSCH Priority booking opens Monday for Mariinsky Trust members.
  19. annamk
    A bit late to post here but I just wanted to say that I also went to this bill on Saturday evening. I've seen Rambert occasionally before but by no means am I a "Rambert faithful". This bill appealed to me because I admire Brandstrup's choreography very much and the Royal Ballet programmes this season are disappointing to put it politely. Anyway, it was one of the most enjoyable dance programmes I've seen for a while and it knocked the current RB mixed bill firmly into a cocked hat ! It served to emphasise that expensive staging, costumes and fancy lighting are no substitute for skilful choreography which was executed to perfection by the superb Rambert dancers. The Brandstrup was the standout piece for me : wonderful dancing to the gorgeous Schoenberg music played live ! I've seen Rooster before and I thought it was a fun choice to close the evening and a good balance to the other two more sombre pieces.
  20. annamk
    I didn't enjoy Romeo & Juliet at all last night largely I think because of the way it was cast. I don't have a problem with Matthew Golding as Romeo but I do think he has a tricky look to make himself convincing in the part so it's particularly crucial he's well matched with his Juliet. The physical differences between Golding and Hayward seemed amplified by their being together: she looked younger, smaller and slighter and he looked older, taller and broader. It just didn't make for a convincing pairing & probably as a consequence I felt it was an exercise in dancing the steps and making the gestures, but there was no chemistry between them. Unfortunately the casting problems extended to Sambe's Mercutio who looked like someone's little brother next to Golding and Edmonds and maybe that size difference partly explained why the masks pdt was the sloppiest I've seen for a long time. I left at the interval.
  21. annamk
    I agree, the English version of the Mariinsky website is simple to use and you can print your tickets at home. If you're going to the old theatre I'd avoid the stalls unless you're tall because the rake is poor. Best place to sit is the front row of the stalls boxes or dress circle as central as possible, again avoid the rows behind unless you're tall. I haven't noticed the differential pricing recently. Top price these days for full length classics is about 8000 roubles, mixed bills are cheaper.
  22. annamk
    This is a pretty disappointing mixed bill, following hot on the heels of Raven Girl/Connectome (which I wouldn't see again if they paid me) and a long long run of Romeo & Juliet - it doesn't make for an enticing season so far. For some reason I didn't find Viscera thrilling although with the fast pace music and dramatic lighting it felt as though it should be. Personally, I think it needed absolutely spot on timing in the corps sections and that didn't always happen in the two performances I saw. The choreography is quite busy, Fumi Kaneko draws your eye in one direction but there are distracting groupings of corps in your peripheral field of vision. Fumi and Leticia Stock were electrifying and Nehemiah Kish in the pdd with the latter was elegant. I found it unattractive to see the women in the body of the ballet partnered by such short men: Sambe, Zucchetti, Dyer, Acri, I guess I better get used to it because most of the upcoming male dancers seem to be tiny. The evening performance of Faun yesterday was terrific with Matthew Ball and Olivia Cowley. As someone already said Tchaikovsky pdd seems like it belongs in a gala, but who could pass up the opportunity to see Vadim Muntagirov making it look so effortless. For a tall dancer he's unusual in landing so softly and in his ability to get his long legs in perfect horizontal mid-air splits. It's a pity his performance won't be featured in the live relay. I could happily watch either Lauren or Marianela in the female role: Marianela seems technically sharper but Lauren's dancing has such a lovely lyrical quality. As for Carmen, I didn't enjoy it and I don't want to see it again. I agree with everything Luke Jennings said in his Observer review today. I think it's deeply depressing that it's part of a live relay and even more depressing to add another poor quality new work to the lengthening list of average or below average new works being commissioned at the RB.
  23. annamk
    I think it partly depends how much you want to spend as well as how close you like to be. From Row A of the central stalls circle seats the view is excellent and there will be no tall people's heads in front of you (although you don't see the patterns quite like you do in the amphi) but it's more expensive than the amphi. Personally, I would prefer the amphi over all the stalls circle except Row A central blocks. The sound is also excellent in the Amphi.
  24. annamk
    I have yet to see Carmen but your point is exactly what I was thinking. I suppose that the commitment to Carmen was already made by the time Acosta's Don Q premiered, but given that Don Q could hardly be described as a resounding success, why on earth didn't the RB management intervene more to steer this new Acosta production to a better end result ?
  25. annamk
    I can't remember the last time I found an RB season quite as unappealing ...... is it a foretaste of Kevin O'Hare's idea that in 2020 he'd like to programme a whole year of work made in the preceding decade ?
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