simonbfisher

Amelia - this so clearly expresses my understanding too - and while watching it on Saturday the self-same quotation came into my mind. I know Brecht used it as well, but who is the original French from? I'd also like to say a word or two about the court dances and the actor/actress : the lengthy dance in court, which some find superfluous, I find brilliant as long as it is undermined (as it was so well by Kretova and Ovcharenko) with fairly obvious irony to show it's essential vacuousness : the steps and the costumes and the conceits are all so highly wrought and precious and serve, like the self-conciously baroque architecture they reflect, but to entertain an empty-headed and bored court. The hopping monarch (almost frog-like - am I allowed to say that?) reinforces this. Then when they appear post-revolution in almost the same dance but to the glory of the People it shows, to me anyway, how the revolution may be thought to use and adapt what it ostensibly replaces. Let's remember, too, that the original Flames of Paris would have been staged in a city where culture really was accessible to the masses, as the actress/actor now are. One of the few things one misses in the old Eastern Europe is the price of tickets to ballet/opera/theatre : ridiculously cheap not only for the Western visitor but also for the locals.

Brilliant !! Thank you!

Meunier - I love your posts : baroque, wise, funny, stylish .... Just as well this is not a competitive forum! Ah yes, Jane Eyre. Terribly slow to start, demonstrating control and lack of wobbles but not much else. Picked up speed and interest as it went along. We enjoyed the wasteland scenes - the mobile rocks were very atmospheric and genuinely transfixing in their contrapuntal moves; the dancing of Zang Wen Jung; the lighting; the set of the ruined house; the choreographic tic of "missing" contact within a pdd - hands slipping away ... ; the concentration of the dancers as an ensemble. A really mixed audience, too, that looked to have the potential for being quite interactive, but turned out to be silent and respectful, even when a bit of encouragement would have been welcome. I except from that praise the person in Stalls right who couldn't leave his/her mobile alone. Distracting even from upstairs.

We were not going to see Jewels originally, but I'm so glad we did, even if it was just to see the performance turn into an event, as Meunier rightly says, with the attendance of Filin. We were behind his party in SCS, and I burbled something crass like "Than you so much for coming...". He was quite charming and wanted to know how I found the company, and what could I see that was best. It bought a lump to my throat. Did not appreciate Rubies at all - the pdq boys looked under-rehearsed, and the running around was a mess - without the slight irony and humour that the RB brings to it it seemed just like "oh well, what shall we do now?" Chudin and Smirnova were a dream in Diamonds, though. It is a very odd piece, I think - sometimes the choreography completely ignores the swirling moods of the Tchaikovsky, and yet sometimes the steps seem follow the notes too slavishly. However, the performance itself was high grade!

After my second Sleeping Beauty : random thoughts - The floor is awful. Noisy and squeaky, with a loose section downstage right last night. Very distracting patterns and the golden reflection upwards seemed tonight to clash wwith the Lilac costume so that Smirnova was wearing white knee-length socks. (She was wonderful, though! Fisrt time I'd seen her, won't be the last!) - The music is treated very cavalierly as per post nr 36 above I felt that the bluebirds , and also the intro to the Act 4 odd, were woefully slow, whereas other parts (incl the overture) were amazingly fast. - Someone fell off their points at the same time and in the same place during the maids of honour dance on both nights. Is this becoming a tradition . . ? - Krysanova was accurate but warm, disciplined to a fault yet melting at the right times. She and Chudin seemed a good partnership. - Chudin has a lovely bounciness and silent landing; really reminds me of someone in the RB but I'm darned if I can think who. (whom??) - Lunkina and Medvedev stood out for me on Wed; Litvinova and Tsvirko were not as satisfyingly catty tonight. Too tired to continue now, but I'm glad I got a ticket to see it again, despite promises (to bank manager) to restrict self to one of each production!

Right - that takes some of the pressure off. Thank you.

Oh well, I'll keep an open mind!

Thank you for that, Alison. I had actually forgotten about that but booked anyway. Am now a leetle worried that because we shall not be able to pick up until about 7.15 we may not get the "best" selection. But I guess that's the price of a half-price ticket, as it were. On our only other Time Out evening we were there on the dot of 6.30 and got pretty good seats . . . We'll see. Is there any wisdom from others on here about this company? What to look out for? Past form? We ere in Shanghai a couple of years ago but were not aware of them. Shame.

We were at Bayadere on Friday - the Night of the Injury. Sitting practically next to the stage SC Left we could see what a disaster that was - and what went on in the wings. A distinct CLICK when it happened, quite horrible. And the look of fury . . . Poor girl, I don't expect we shall see her here again during this season. But apart from that, and the necessary adjustments afterwards, which went smoothly enough, it was not a performance that compared, for me, anyway, with some of those by the RB this year. No complaints about the principals (as if ! !) but the shades were very imprecise and wobbly - and I don't think that was because we were so close. I don't mean that the sight of us (understandably) quite put them off - but we're not used to seeing so much detail. Taken in the context of the progamme note from Grigorevitch about how the ballet has to end on the high point of this act, and not with a satisfying smiting of temples and general showing off from the special effects people, which is usually so remarkable, it was particularly disappointing. Could it be that there was a sense of unhappiness about what had happened to their colleague contributing to carelessness, or had they just not rehearsed this enough during the run of Swan Lake? I don't know enough to judge. The Golden Idol WAS superb, even if I agree that the blacked up dancers around his "best" dance were dreadfully off-putting and need axing! The ILEA is turning in its grave, and I am pretty uncomfortable too.

Thank you, John. That was like emerging into the sunlight after crawling around in the dark!

Hi - I can't work out how to access this on the Time Out site. Can anyone give me any pointers? Thanks!

"Don't expect I'll be bumping into Zakharova in the corridor" ...... Well, Quintus, you never know! We shared a lift with T. Soares last time. These tours are really good as long as the group isn't unwieldy. Enjoy!

I got a last-minute ticket to this tonight, largely because of what I had read on this thread, and I'm so glad I did! A really "meaty" evening, with such different, and differently challenging, ballets, and such heavy-weight - in a good way - scores. The chap sitting next to me, who said it was his first visit to the ballet for 30 odd years, didn't know what had hit him! Petrushka had me welling up, which I usually do even when just listening to the music. It's such a cruel world, especially in the Moor's cell . . . and Petrushka's final appearance on the roof makes me wish I believed in souls! All of the puppets were fantastic - and it must be so difficult (for the doll in particular) to show such emotion with such a limited and limiting range of movement. The Song of a Wayfarer was mesmerising. It was the first time I had watched Berlanga properly and now he's off! Such an emotional goodbye. And Muntagirov was even better than I had been led to believe. He's one of those dancers who let one (well, me anyway) relax because I know that nothing is going to go wrong, and that what I am seeing is completely sincere. Those qualities he shares with (the very different) Ed Watson, I think. And Raymonda III (which I last saw in the hands of the Ballets Trocs . . ) was just so stylish! It seemed that everyone - in the auditorium and on stage - was thoroughly enjoying themselves. And it is obvious why it was such a favourite of Nureyev's. Looking forward to the Acosta Acstravaganza next!

I am really looking forward to this! In the early - mid 70's I spent a fair bit of time working and studying in Stuttgart and saw them as often as I could afford to. A splendid company - and those were the glory days of Haydee, Cragun, Madsen, Keil . . . Although I have seen them occasionally since (most recently with Cranko's R and J in London, with Haydee still magnificent as Lady Capulet) I've not seen Taming since those days, and can't wait to re-acquaint myself. I really recommend it!

Janet - the yomping continues . . . I hope they're not too blistered for the Don Q on Thurs and Giselle on Fri in Woking. Very much looking forward to the second look at these, and in complete agreement with you about anticipating the faked death - it was excellent in Aylesbury!

We saw Don Quixote in Aylesbury yesterday with a "non ballet" friend whose comment was "It's very jolly!" As indeed it was - Petkova seemed a bit out of sorts in the first (long) Act but was really sparkling by the end, and Hadjitanev was pretty good, I thought! The final pdd was just as exciting as any I had seen. Impressed by the corps, too - plenty of individuality without being mannered in the crowd scenes, and fine (if a bit squashed against the backdrop) in the dances. The comments about the castanets are true - hours of practice, obviously! - and Espada was a real stand-out in all sorts of ways, including his forward-thrust hips! Sod's law means that we shall not be able to see any of the other ballets anywhere, but we have booked to be jollified by Don Q again when they hit Woking. It's a very taxing tour, by the look of it. They are here, there, and everywhere. Slightly off topic (but only slightly, honest) : we were stranded in Sofia for a week during the Icelandic volcano affair a couple of years back .... saw the National Ballet several times there, and during the first perf (Giselle) had cause loudly to shush a chap in one of the boxes behind the Stalls who was talking throughout to his lady companion and shuffling papers constantly. He was CROSS with us. We found out later, when he appeared for a curtain call, that he was a Big Cheese who had been taking notes about the performance. We then had to creep around avoiding him in the foyer on successive nights ....

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but VAI have a sale on at the moment - I have used them in the past and been very happy with them. http://www.vaimusic.com

On the other hand, there's Apollo, where he starts out weak/vulnerable and grows to strength. Perhaps a more magnificently drawn process than any other Apollo I've seen. I guess we can't all be good at everything (!!) - even Acosta (should I now duck to avoid thunderbolts?)

Indeed she was. I am equivocal about Acosta's Rudolf, though : the scene with Yanowsky was heartbreaking, and all their subsequent interactions were remarkable, but in other scenes he just seemed too strong, somehow : Pennefather and (especially) Watson seem to show more clearly the physical as well as the psychological disintegration. Can't put my finger on it any more accurately than that. Every time I see this ballet I am more intrigued by the character of Larisch - fascinating to see the steps, the motivations, the utter pathos and desperation. Last night Morera was amazing - I almost felt more involved with her "thread" than with anyone else's.

I saw this for a second time last night as well, and from a central stalls seat this time. The gauze wasn't quite so obtrusive as it had been from SC side seat, and I think, like A Frog above, that the lighting had been improved a little. Perhaps the corps were cranking the generator in the basement : more productive than mere barre work. I really wanted to like/understand/"get into" it more, but sadly I didn't. Is it all a dream starting from the Postman's head sinking to the table-top? If so, it would excuse, perhaps, the non-sequitors. Does the Boy turn into the Raven Prince? What on earth are the Nineteenth Century Couple about? Where does the Postman go - and why? The slightly Infra-ish figures in the town and the raven chorus are underused - or is it overused? My feeling is that those two episodes are worthy of some "proper" dancing, or that they shouldn't be there at all. But Gartside's earnest Doctor and Hirano's splendidly lithe Prince were just as good as Soares and Underwood last week - real highlights. And Symphony in C was wonderful. I'm sorry, of course, about the injuries and consequent disappointments on both sides of the curtain, but the opportunity to see Mr and Mrs Soares again was just great. Her arms are l i q u i d !

Goodness, that's something to look forward to! I hadn't heard about this, but my immediate reaction was "yes, of course!" It's such a brilliant subject for a narrative ballet - has it ever been tackled before?

I'm afraid I'm going to add my voice to the negative comments about Raven Girl, what I could see of it ! I was sitting in SC86, so quite a sideways view, and from the side the gauze actually makes it impossible, not just difficult, to see what is over on the other side of the stage. It isn't until the action moves to the centre that it comes sort of into focus, but it remains a real barrier, and one that I resent, however much it is a central part of the is ballet's design. The other thing is, as others have said, the general low light. Older eyes (as both of mine are ... ) find this challenging, and I really don't want to be peering into the shadows as I was. At least in Bayadere the shades stand out Persil-like through the gauze and the gloom! Maybe these problems meant that I missed some wonderful things - did I? - but I did enjoy for example the interaction of the postman and the raven - a wonderfully off-kilter pdd - and the odd with the prince at the end was glorious. BUT (negative again) it wasn't until I saw the photos later that I realised what a fantastic pair of costumes they had : on stage they just looked vaguely black and grey! Finally, I think it is a a great idea to let "them" know about these concerns - but in this instance which "them" should I write to? Advice please!

Excellent - thanks!

I've just seen Ballet Central at the Newbury Corn Exchange - sadly not a full house, but a great evening with a nicely mixed audience who were very appreciative. The curtain calls, particularly after the individual items, were too short, really, and the house obviously wanted to keep clapping! The Bhuller was wonderful - completely gripping, and the Marney was delightful, with the humour obviously coming from the same cradle as the lighter parts of his recent piece for Ballet Black (can't remember the name - and it was only a couple of months ago. Oh dear ...) Ones to watch in my view are Tom Broderick and Bethany Pike.

"As a PS to this and all other versions, is there anyone who can explain to me how a young girl falls so instantly, totally, and catastrophically in love with a chap wearing a mask?" Pheromones, Ian, pheromones!