annamicro

The clumsy and awkward (I am trying to be gentle) posts of Polunin are still a resource for people seeking for attention (homophoby is a problem in bigoted Italy): gay associations failed to boycott the show and ticket sale (the numbered seats seem sold out), but are planning to protest at time of gate opening on the day of the event

https://www.veronasera.it/attualita/boicottaggio-protesta-polunin-arena-13-agosto-2019.html

Here two clips from Belgrade "press rehearsals". The first one is especially interesting, having Juliet "stealing" a scene 😊

https://www.danzaedanzaweb.com/articolo/1908/polunin-cojocaru-passione-e-talento-per-shakespeare

On 13/08/2019 at 15:57, FLOSS said:

A final thought, perhaps it would have helped if Kobborg's name rather than Polunin's had appeared first at the head of this discussion as sacrilegious though it may seem to some I think that his involvement in this enterprise is of far greater interest and far less controversial than that of Polunin.

Oh, well, for me it would always be "Cojocaru &..." 😂, but IMO Polunin, whatever one think of him, deserves to to have this R&J under his name.

I don't think this project could ever had happened without Polunin: it's a huge investment of money and risky and he (or somebody for him) clearly is able to make money flow around him. If this is aimed to artistic quality and not to screaming hordes of fans is for sure a good thing.

There is a massive press coverage, totally unusual in Italy, and journalists (maybe also TVs: I saw a Sky clip of rehearsals) were in invited to Belgrade for a press conference and open rehearsals. I don't think journalists travelled from Italy to Serbia on their budget.

The show is mainly advertised (especially by general press) with "the bad boy" line, as it was his longish summer tour: Bolle was sold for ages to Italian audience as the greatest dancer of the world and that was believed. Maybe the organizers are hoping to move aldo the horde of Bolle crazy fans to Polunin, but they need an "easy" bait, sparkling and colourful, to do that: to hook that kind of audience quality is obviously not the option. Creating a popular figure is the key: I remember myself saying to Cojocaru, after one of her LaScala show, a few years ago, that she is not enough a Diva for this Country ...things are not changed, but I am happy she will be in Verona, with Kobborg and Polunin😊.

I saw the poster with the cast a few days ago and Kobborg tweeted it yesterday: interesting costume design and a strong mark as Kobborg production in the scenic decoration.

40 minutes ago, JNC said:

 

I am now remembering I did watch the BBC televised version of this which had Cirio in it (believe it is the same version as the DVD). I did think he was good, but (in my personal opinion) he didn't come close to Corrales, who was on another level. However, I often connect more with a live performance and I did see Corrales live. I do wish Corrales was in the filmed version because his performance was electric, to the point where whilst Rojo was absolutely amazing, Corrales had true star power and was the standout for me when I first saw it. I made of a note of his name for future performances (this was back when I didn't 'follow' ballet as much as I do now so he made a strong impression!) and knew he'd be onto big things, so was not surprised at all when he moved to the Royal Ballet. I am really hoping he can get his teeth into more contemporary ballet at the Royal over the coming year or so. 

 

Overall I feel very lucky with the cast I've got, I hedged my bets as I wanted to get fairly good seats in the price range so booked for the closing night cast in the hope that it would either be Rojo/Cojocaru and lucked out. Nothing against other ENB dancers but I have to admit I'm not that familiar with them and as I like both Rojo/Cojocaru I try and book for their performances if possible/try to guess what dates they will do which is an entirely speculative exercise! 

 

 

Is she? Where does it say this? My understanding was she worked in the factory and obviously Hilarion has his eye on her, but she turns him down in favour of Albrecht - the overarching story therefore being quite similar to the 'original'. I was not aware she was pregnant and also did not get this feeling at all when I watched it a live, and also when it was televised on the BBC. I also don't recall reading anything about her being pregnant? If she is pregnant at the start who is the father, clearly not Hilarion as she pushes him away and is clearly not interested in him, and not Albrecht either as she's not met him yet? I find it hard to believe they would work in a story about her being pregnant but not take this anywhere as it seemingly doesn't add much to the plot and the overall dynamic between Giselle/Hilarion/Albrecht/Bathilde? 

 

Giselle and Albrecht are clearly in a relationship since the beginning (this also in the traditional version) and she put his hand on her womb making clear she is pregnant.

23 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

I didn't realise that Tamara Rojo was still dancing.  A 45 year old playing a young virgin.... are there no other suitable dancers at ENB?

A young virgin???

Today Catholics celebrate the Assumption of Mary, but Khan's Giselle is another story.

And Tamara Rojo in an Artist.

47 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

To anyone from overseas, a comment such as ‘yawn’ is, perhaps, a peculiarly British response

Be sure that also overseas we know the "yawns".😊
It has been made very popular by comics also in non English speaking Countries: the fact that the word is onomatopoeic and shorter than the Italian "sbadiglio" makes it much more effective.
Personally, I have never had the slightest impression to be treated differently than Britons in this forum and find its editorial policy much more balanced that others I have experienced.

If someone wants to try the contest the popular Italian radio RTL  102.5 is giving away two tickets

https://www.rtl.it/notizie/articoli/romeo-e-giulietta-la-prima-mondiale-all-arena-di-verona/

At the bottom of the page there is one of the best rehearsal clip released so far.

The event seems to sell well (at least for numbered seats). The press office made for sure an excellent work. (It has also to be said that a few weeks ago half priced tickets were made available for the employees of some  Verona public and private companies, as mine...of course I already had my full priced one 😖: not too bad anyway, since the sector me and my colleagues considered the best was already sold out)

7 hours ago, bridiem said:

From FionaE's original post, I think it must be Nikolas Gaifullin.

Yes, he is. Gaifullin is just 23 and seems to be dynamic in a very exciting way: an unusual profile for a Tybalt...it will be interesting to discover Kobborg's view of this character.

Lady Capulet wears pointe shoes also in Neumeier's Romeo and Juliet. One of my favourite moments of that version is the mirrored pdd between Lady and Lord Capulet and Juliet and Paris in the girl room. Lady Capulet detachment and Juliet distress during that pdd make evident that the daughter is not just fighting for her adolescent love but also refusing the role model proposed by the mother and imposed by social convenience.
The young rebel seeking for freedom and independence is one of my favourite among the many Juliets of Alina Cojocaru and I am very curious to see what her cooperation with Johan Kobborg will generate: after many performances in already existing "Juliets" (I saw her in the six other version she danced - McMillan, Lavrovsky, Moricone, Neumeier, Deane, Nureyev) she has finally the opportunity not only to find and add new nuances to the role but to unleash her imagination from the very first moments of the creative process.

4 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

If they are from public accounts could you please put up some links or tell us where to find them?  I've just checked Tamara Rojo and ENB on twitter and can't see anything specific about audience reaction.

They are mainly in the Intagram "stories" (both Tamara and ENB) but also one on Cojocaru account that I think is public.

Ticket no longer available

Thank you

Anns

Hi,

I am selling:

Balcony Standing D33 £8 for Firebird matinee on 7 june.

I'll be  at the perfomance.

Plase send a message if interested.

Thank you

Anna

Ticket no more available, thank you.

Anna

Hi,

I am selling:

Lower Slips 4A, A-27 £13 for Firebird matinee on 7 june.

Plase send a message if interested.

Thank you

Anna

Hi Bill, I am interested in Stalls Circle D50 - (Standing) - £8

Anna

Hi Sim, I am interested in D33.

Thank you

Anna

A charity auction has just been launched by Hospice of Hope: they offer 4 tickets for ENB Manonwith Alina Cojocaru on January 20th, with the possibility to meet Alina when collecting tickets.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alina-Cojocaru-Ballet-4-Tickets-Meet-Alina-when-collecting-tickets-/123588542451?pageci=8c953b95-2bec-4dbb-a35b-a2ca691d9ccd

On 29/11/2018 at 14:59, Clara_f said:

Anyone see cojocaru and cirio in SL last night? I'd be intrigued about their partnership! Thank you! 

 the partnership worked well: Alina is Alina and Cirio was by far the most interesting Siegfried of Bristol run so far (I have not seen Caley that is dancing today matinee). He is a good  dancer with personality and empathy and can act: he definitely confirmed the good impression I had from his Lescaut and also Des Grieux (he was my favourite in the first solo adagio)

On 18/07/2018 at 17:23, Livia said:

 

Hello Anna

 

Cojocaru became principal first on Monday April 23rd 2001 after her astonishing matinee debut on Saturday 21st April. Up until that point she'd danced Fonteyn's role in Symphonic and Juliet. Both substituting for injured dancers. Nunez became a principal under Stretton, but yes indeed under Dowell she'd danced Lilac and Myrtha.

To be accurate, Alina Cojocaru become principal on April 17th 2001, after her second Giselle. The first was on April 14th, as you can see in the Royal Opera House performance database

http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/SearchResults.aspx?searchtype=workprodperf&title=Giselle&person=Alina cojocaru&keyword=Giselle

1 hour ago, Angela said:

Neumeier and his increasingly peculiar taste in dancers

I've been thinking for a while that in my previous rant about Hamburg I spoke just of the men, better to not start now with the other side of the moon...😁😱😱😱

40 minutes ago, pasdedeux said:

There are some pictures on instagram under "salscalzo" 's page (I think he acts as agent for a few RB dancers? Not sure). His page is public. Yuhui looks wonderful. 

Salvatore Scalzo works at the Royal Opera House and is a long time friend of some dancers, I don't think he has any agent activity with them.

On 19/06/2018 at 17:07, Bruce Wall said:

What a FANTASTIC line up ... So wish I was there.  I'm going to do my very best to make it (and get a ticket for) next year   So pleased that Tiler Peck is getting to do the SB grand pas ... as she (aside the EVER GLORIOUS Cojocaru) is one of the best Aurora's going.  Moreover to see Peck in the Tschi Pas (with Cornejo) should be so thrilling.  No one can do speed as she does - It leaves her the time to add so many delicious details.  (They are followed by Smirnova/Chudin in the Diamonds PDD).  So pleased Alina is getting the Rose Adagio - She is SO special in it as we saw in London as recently as last week. So pleased too the Royal Ballet School graduate, Jacopo Bellussi, is being featured so heavily.   I saw him in two recent Hamburg Ballet performances of La Dame aux Camelias (one with Smirnova) and thought he was truly stellar.  And the EVER STUNNING Silvia Azzoni and Alexandre Riabko (two GREAT dancers) in Nureyev's Don Juan segment would be worth the price of the ticket unto themselves.  WHAT A FEAST!!   

Well, I love your enthusiasm but to say that Bellussi is heavily featured seems quite an excess 🙂 : he is one of 4 men in the second part and one of the 4 porteurs in the rose adagio... He has a wonderful lyrical soul and is fantastic when he can show it out; in the Kameliendame he was cast as Gaston and Des Grieux, probably to push him to try other ways to express himself: in the first role he made the character more elegant and delicate than usual, in my opinion successfully, in the second he was good but I think he should push his dancing a little more...maybe it was just the comparison with Sascha Riabko, seen in other shows: Riabko brought the role of De Grieux to a level I could have never imagined...a small consolation for not having him cast as Armand...nor as The King in Illusions, nor in The Seagull, nor as DQ first cast as requested by Legris (he was not cast at all, and Legris loosed also his "second", the ebullient Azatyan, for an injury and had just Trusch...) and so on, with the exception of Nijisnky. Returning to Bellussi: I hope to see him being cast more often in leading roles and I'm looking forward seeing him grow on stage as he can do. In a recent past he was particularly fine as Luciano Nicastro in Duse (giving a sense to the role that looked quite odd in the first cast...) and wonderful in the second abstract part of Duse.

I'm sorry to not see Aleix Martinez, one of the more interesting dancer of the company (and the leading dancer in Beethoven-Projekt, that premiered few days ago - I have not seen it), apparently not cast at all. The one heavily featured is Trusch: an unelegant and ordinary dancer in my opinion, with a good technique but not style, and a bad actor. Unfortunately he will be cast again with Alina Cojocaru: he proved not only to be too short for her (short arms and small dancing...) but was also able to annihilate her artistry in Die Kameliendame and not for the first time (they were ok in Romeo and Juliet - quite obvious considering that the other I've seen with her was Revazov - but definitely not adequate in the bad Neumeier version of Giselle... to see Cojocaru dancing the Skeaping one with Hernandez was as to see a resurrection and I was so relieved, even if many others thought she was not up to her usual standard...just imagine in the other context!).

As Angela was pointing out in another thread, Hamburg is not the company it was 10 years ago and seems going down by the minute: major coaching problems are reported (Kevin Haigen is rarely present) and to have a decent Armand from the last run, I have to think to Artem Ovcharenko, guesting from the Bolshoi (he danced two excellent shows with Cojocaru, and 3 even better Seagull with her - of these 3 I saw just the first). The three "Armands" of the company (the dull Revazon, the truly awful Trusch, and the surprising better than expected Evans - the only one looking really in love for his Marguerite...a Smirnova good in the first act but completely absent in the other two) were so modest that the spreading theory that Riabko is not cast in almost anything because clearly head and shoulder (and waist..) above the other technically and artistically gains consent (age cannot be an issue: the stiff and modest Jung is older than him and has been cast much more then Riabko in the past few years). The real best of Kameliendame run were Silvia Azzoni and Sascha Riabko as Manon and Des Grieux; she is absolutely fantastic especially when dancing with Cojocaru: an incredible "partnership"! You can really feel the tension in some parts and the continuous exchange of emotions between the two...in the pdt these three wonderful dancers and actors made me cry (... in the shows with Ovcharenko, the two Trush ones were so compromised couldn't be saved)

Regarding the Gala I see that Neumeier's imagination is really at a minimal point: Smirnova and Chudin have already danced Jewels in 2014 (I'm sure their repertory is quite wide). The same happened with Cojocaru: she danced Le Corsaire in 2014 with Yonah Acosta and 2016 with Hernan Cornejo...little imagination here too but at least a change of cast (Cornejo is a fantastic dancer, but I preferred Acosta as Alì). The gala costs the double than a season show and is usually gorgeous and looong (also for the introduction to the pieces by Neumeier, in German...I understand a little bit), but not always I felt I was changed enough: at least an effort to show only new things from the guests should be made, I think.

8 hours ago, MAB said:

Can we deduce from the joint award that Lantratov was the true winner and the other a sop to the juror who clearly nominated him?

 Joint awards are quite common: Tamara Rojo herself won it joint to Silvia Azzoni in one of the few occasions when the prize was given to two really outstanding artists.

Unfortunately in too many editions I had the suspect that the prize has become an exchange of favours between directors (two of them especially) and I have lost most of my interest in it.

An addtion: Hernandez was primarily nominated for his Don Q with Opera di Roma, whose director was in the jury too. This company has had very unexpected nominations in the last few years.

ticket found, thank you

Anna