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Mary

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  1. Mary
    I just watched my dvd of NYCB Four Temperaments-thinking it might rather put RB in the shade, but no- I really thought Watson, McRae especially, - and Yanowsky were better, both technically sharper and more characterful in their interpretations, though the RB corps were not as sharp ( I saw the first performance.) -insofar of course as one can compare a dvd today with a performance last week... Wish I could see them again. Melancholic and Phlegmatic solos really could have been made for those two dancers. Two wonderful, very different, talents. I too really want to read Mr Crisp and wish he would peek round from behind that wretched paywall thing; perhaps start a blog we could all read...:-)
  2. Mary
    Cracked and bought a ticket - how otherwise will I be able to criticise it? :-) Not fair- it might be really good. At least he is taking an interesting subject, and using a lot of dancers, and doing something ambitious.
  3. Mary
    I have a DVD of Selections by NYCB including The Four Temperaments,Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and 2 Jewels- 1977 I think? and another with Chaconne, Prodigal Son.Ballo della Regina.. I don't know if they are still available. Thanks for reminding me I must re watch Tempermanets (Merrill Ashley, Daniel Duell). But no Serenade or Apollo indeed. Thanks for Serenade Bruce!
  4. Mary
    It's a fascinating topic to discuss. To complicate matters even further, I can see that McGregor is modern ballet not dance, I like the complexity of it, I admire the highly technical nature of it...but I usually don't like his pieces! (a lot to do with the music, also the lack of variety- it is involved and complicated but all in the same way.) But it seems to me much more interesting to watch than a piece like the Shechter. I objected to that largely because of the lack of visible interesting movement. Marching about- grovelling- good word Beryl- don't seem to me sufficiently visually interesting. Also, ballet is about the contrast between corps and solos or small groups. Dance en masse, which, on some principle, does not foreground individual dancers, is less interesting to me. Ballet is highly technical and it's interesting. At the same time it imposes constraints, and all art is about working with constraints ( discuss.) If all the constraints are removed,and any movement at all is allowed, it gets progressively less interesting.. But if the style is adhered to rigidly with no development it can get fossilised and boring.Of course it never really has because as we all know there are endless versions of even the classics. Recent modern ballet such as in Winter's Tale seemed to me- MOSTLY ( not all of it) a very good development of ballet, using some elements of modern dance, to dance a story. Different characters had different styles-(whereas in McGregor they all have the same style.)
  5. Mary
    That is what I'd always thought, which is why I'd prefer to see them really use the training they have to perform ballet works, rather than have to spend a lot of time- "months" did someone say ?- trying to unlearn their training and "adapt" to do something else..it just seems a bit wasteful- especially when you consider how short a dancer's life can be. Why is there perceived to be some moral virtue or political necessity in making ballet dancers dance other styles? I feel it is entirely possible that new ballets using the ballet language could be genuinely interesting and engaged with the world. Why not? True, there are some small ballet companies whose presentations do feel a bit fossilised at times but golly that's true in all the performing arts. Most of us on the forum want to see new work and we also want to see a much wider rep in the RB, not just 2 or 3 classics. I am often to be found boring the forum on the subject of encouraging young female choreographic talent in the RB- they should do more of this. Noone is saying ballet is superior, but it is a specific art many love and want to see- and indeed can't get enough of, which you only have to skim the forum for half an hour to gather!
  6. Mary
    Petunia I don't think logging in well before is generally advised- if the system isn't working it will just throw you out anyway. Best to just log in after and keep fingers crossed! The triple bills don't normally sell out that fast in my experience.
  7. Mary
    It looks as if we are all looking for some ballet in August to look forward to! perhaps missing the ROH August residency by Bolshoi or Marinsky. Is Muntagirov dancing both nights with SPBT? Tempted to lash out on a ticket with a good view as I haven't seen as much of him this year as I might have hoped at ROH...
  8. Mary
    I do think it's reasonable to ask The Royal Ballet to perform ballet; experimental contemporary dance can be very good , but why do the RB have to spend precious time and money on it? To me there is already not enough time and money for either the dancers, or the audience, to spend performing and watching ballet, so I do resent the waste of one third of the programme on something that isn't ballet at all in any way. After all if I go and see a flamenco group- which I do- I don't want them to launch into Swan Lake, and so on and so on. I want to see the RB dancers do what they are trained to do. Yes it's great to see so many young dancers on the stage but in what way was their special training related to what they were doing? Many posts have listed countless ballet works people would like to see, and often they haven't been seen for years. It is hardly as if there is any shortage of good ballet works to stage.There are also talented people in the company whose work does not get onto the main stage-but I refuse to believe the Shechter piece was better than anything they could produce. Why not an innovative new ballet piece by one of the RB's own choreographer dancers?
  9. Mary
    I agree, Untouchable was very boring in my opinion. It was gloomily lit. I felt as if I'd seen it before-the choreography was unoriginal and dull. There was a lot of walking around,then rushing about and huddling in groups. The "music" was monotonous, loud and over bearing with a lot of dull thumping percussive effects and zero subtlety. I felt it was a waste of dancers' abilities to make them do this. There was no hope of seeing inidividual dancers with their individual qualities- the costumes were heavy, ( old combat gear with, for some reason what looked like wigs imitating very matted dreadlocks) the lighting dark and there was so much huddling. It was as if the dancers had had a thick layer of sludge poured over them. Yes I preferred Raven Girl! At least there was some chance to recognise who was dancing in that. Four Temperaments was a total contrast with individuals being able to use their own talents to illuminate the varied aspects of the varied and interesting choreography. McRae shone with his very precise, sharp movements and Yanowsky was exciting and powerful as Beryl says, Watson and Takada also brought their own strengths to the solos. I loved it. I always find Song of the Earth very moving . Nunez, Soares and Acosta who I have seen dance it before were very good.Some of the other dancers might need a little bit of fine tuning but overall it was a moving performance of a sublime piece. Strange evening!
  10. Mary
    This looks great- am keen to book as I have greatly enkoyed his year, but my cinema-Picturehouse- is currently having major problems with its website( like most organisations I seem to deal with!) Have the other chains put them on sale yet?
  11. Mary
    It looks stunning! Thank you! Next google search Cheap flights to Copenhagen-someone has to review this for ballet forum after all...
  12. Mary
    Oh tell me Gary Avis isn't retiring! Best actor in the company. He can dance too.
  13. Mary
    I have to agree. It was the first time I had seen him. If he had not acted at all, that would have been all right, but he seemed to be making faces all the time that I found distracting. It looked more as if he had a terrible attack of indigestion than anything else. If he could just relax his facial muscles completely, the overall look would be so much better. In fact in act 2 they both looked as if they were in acute physical pain. I found it off-putting. It is difficult because, as with the theatre, acting on stage and on film are two different things and it is hard for them to be filmed close-up when they are projecting to a big theatre. That said, I have not noticed a problem with the other live screenings so it seems to me these two performers overdo the dramatics.
  14. Mary
    Sim I preferred Obraztsova, even if I am in a minority of one!
  15. Mary
    Just home from the screening...What a pleasure to see Johnny Cope in the live streaming tonight. He's so natural on screen he should really be doing the whole presentation. It was good to hear Osipova's respectful coments about his performances and see a short clip of him coaching her and Golding. Also interesting to see Anthony Dowell. Otherwise I was unimpressed by the presentation and interviews. There wasn't enough information for a complete newcomer,( e.g. the history or even the plot of the ballet beyond a very broad sketch) or, on the other hand, enough to engage ballet lovers. I have every respect for Darcey Bussell and many fond memories of her dancing, but this role is not her forte. A marvellous evening though in which the corps and all the artists of the RB really showed themselves at their best I thought. Gary Avis even managed to act effectively from under the several kilos of mouldy sheepskin of the Rothbart costume. Wasn't the pas de trois excellent -! So much better than last night. The national dances were also all very good. I shall really miss them when this production goes! I am not convinced by Osipova. To me, she is a miraculously gifted dancer who overdoes everything. But that might be my funny taste. She and Golding seemed to come from a different production, excellent as they were, techically. It was very unusual. What a pleasure to sit in a quiet,though full, cinema, so much quieter than the opera house was last night...(and what a pleasure instead of the late night train, to be able to cycle home..I was doing swan arm signals)
  16. Mary
    Absolutely.! So despite a very late night last night I am tempted to venture out to see Osipova Golding tonight in the live screening if there is a ticket still left....it would be so interesting to compare Osipova's interpretation with Obraztsova's, which we all seem to agree was outstanding...while it's fresh in the mind..
  17. Mary
    Sorry, Aileen, falling down on the job: Pas de trois on 16th-Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Mayara Magri, Marcelino Sambe. Neil, my sympathies, I was near the coughing too- I felt sorry for someone who was clearly very ill; perhaps more sorry for their nearest neighbours, who must have had the performance ruined. It was an appalling noise.
  18. Mary
    Obraztsova was marvellous last night. I found her acting through dance some of the best I have ever seen in an Odette. It was very affecting, especially at those key moments,moments which are at the heart of why this ballet goes on being so emotionally powerful, when in Act 2 she is pulled back by Rothbart and turns back into a swan, and in Act 4 when she tells Siegfried it is hopeless, the enchantment must claim her. Tears. McRae was superb. His Act 1 solo shone like a beacon on the crowded stage. If only the production gave the Prince more to do ( as in ENB or Bolshoi) It does seem a waste to have a McRae on the stage, wound up like a coiled spring, ready to go, and then all he has to do is walk around! His Act 3 solo was precisely perfect. The pas de trois was not the best in this run, I would judge. Sambe is super though, he has tremendous jumps. I like some aspects of this production but I agree with so many who say it is messy in Act 1.The Act 3 is starting to look very dated. I hope a new production finds a way of managing the pause between Acts 1 and 2- at present I dread it every time because as soon as the lights go down hundreds of phones come on, everyone starts talking, some people try to go out not remembering it's a pause, etc etc and the atmosphere, so arduously built up, is lost..just when you need it most.
  19. Mary
    McRae is always self effacing in curtain calls- unlike his fizzy stage personality! and he is always notably warm and appreciative about his partners on his blog, which is a pleasing trait. His Rubies with Osipova was one of last year's absolute highlights. I so much wish I could have been at the gala, and thanks very much DQ,Bruce and GTL for these detailed reviews which brought it all to life for me.
  20. Mary
    Isn't it Marinksy who do the wing- tearing- off bit? I know, he ends up looking like a plucked chicken- I think the word is 'bathetic'. In one production I saw by a small company I swear Rothbart was represented by the same large stuffed owl who appeared in their Nutcracker, and hobbled about the stage pecking at people. Even in ENB's very nice production there was far too much cloak-swirling- and- flapping from Rothbart for my liking. He was here there and everywhere flapping his cloak for all he was worth, perhaps making up for a lack of wings. It's all quite hilarious and yet Swan Lake remains for me, and ever will, the Sacred Ballet....
  21. Mary
    Re 'Nightmare' Swan Lakes; how about this idea- a corps of jesters choreographed by Wayne McGregor Only kidding Wayne :-) it could actually be quite dramatic...
  22. Mary
    Noone seems to raise objections to Modern Masters.. I see the point that noone wants special treatment but it's a bit like Ballet Black- they say that they wish they didn't need to exist. In the case of ballet which is such a female art form in many ways it is sadly ironic that so few women seem to get the chance to choreograph, and there do seem to be barriers. Look at RB- I have written asking them where the new female talent is, or what they are doing to nurture it- twice in fact- and had no reply. Ballet- here's a fanciful idea that just occurred to me- is a bit like the Church of England: the audience is all women, the people in charge all men...(except the C of E is trying hard to change..) Ony joking- of course.
  23. Mary
    Agree the 8 girls in act 1 were weak in both performances I saw and indeed there was a certain amount of thumping and galumphing. Very unusual.
  24. Mary
    I know just what you mean, Alison. But, for me, this is one of the strengths of the ballet-the human complexity. It acknowledges and presents these different types of love, this great conflict of feeling. Life is not simple and people may, indeed, be happily married yet be made to remember overwhelmingly passionate feelings for someone else which causes inner conflict and trauma. I think the choreography explores the difference in these feelings, and dramatises their resolution-which in itself can be read in different ways - very effectively. It gives scope for different interpretations by performers, just as do Macmillans ballets, which must be one reason for its popularity..
  25. Mary
    I was lucky to have a birthday treat Onegin matinee today- not only that, but got Morera's Tatiana , a Naghdi surprise Olga replacing poor Choe- and GARY AVIS as Gremin, one of my favourite ballet characters!* As capbara says the final pas de deux was sensational- very intense but also danced with technical excellence. I agree Donald Thom was quite good but not the best Lensky I have seen-the first act partnering was shaky but, he was dancing with an unexpected partner to be fair. But the duel scene was much stronger. All praise to the wonderful Morera- and Bonelli made a very handsome and more attractive, less sinister Onegin than others I have seen-which made a nice change. What a treat! *must be the epaulettes
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