nottsballetlover

Oh DQF. How lovely they are! I was profuse in thanking them for this wonderful uk tour and they just hugged me! Both shows today were utterly brilliant. Jaw droppingly amazing. Both Kitris stunning: Chase Johnsey and Carlos Hupoy. Words fail.

Well, this afternoon matinee in Birmingham was incredible. Swan Queen was the divine Carlos Hupoy. Kitri was Chase Johnsey, dazzling performances from both. Well frankly, astounding performances from the whole company on this last day of their UK tour. I was somewhat surprised to be the only person at stage door after today's matinee. Had huge hugs and great chat with some of the Trocks. I had really good chat with Phillip Martin Neilson. He was just lovely.I run a charity and he wants to start one also for kids with autism. It was lovely talking to them. They are all looking forward to their thanksgiving & Xmas break. They are just joy on a plate, on and off stage.

DQF - the classes with The Trocks sounds absolutely fabulous! I'm extremely jealous!! I got to see both their shows in Nottingham as well as the open rehearsal. Tomorrow I will be in Birmingham for both the matinee and evening show so hopefully the dancers will come out to greet people after the matinee. It's their last UK show tomorrow night ! Like you, I may need to travel to Europe to see them as I don;t think I can wait another 2 to 3 years for them to come back to the UK!! They have been a sheer delight for every performance I have seen.

Thanks Don Q Fan - not sure I would have hung around at stage door if you hadn't been there! As both Don Q Fan and myself experienced today, the dancers came out to chat to people at stage door after the matinee today (leaving the make up on) and they were utterly charming! One of them wanted tips on where to party in Nottingham after show, once I told them where I was from!! He said they are looking forward to touring the UK. I said to one Trock that I need to bunk off work to maybe get to see them in Birmingham, and he said 'absolutely'!!! Anyway. Fabulous show. Les Sylphides, Patterns in Space Go for Barocco, Dying Swan, Don Q. Dancing was superb. I cried with laughter throughout, my tissue was wet through by the end. I can't go into detail without spoiling things for anyone who hasn't seen the show. Suffice to say, the quality of the dancing is beyond brilliant. Don Q particularly just wowed me. That pdd and the fouettes was just mind blowing. With the Don Q, they don't even play for laughs. They just knock it out of the ball park in term of technical brilliance. For me, the Trocks challenge my mind in every way and I think they really do make you question things. Kitri for example. Why should it not be danced by a man? This was Chase Johnsey I believe. Anyway, talking to 'Kitri' at stage door after the show, I said I would love to see him dance the whole Don Q. He said ;so would I'. So, utterly fabulous show. I can't wait to see them again in Nottingham.

Wow, just met them at Stage Door! Charming guys. Review to follow!

My thoughts and deepest sympathy are with Jonathan Olivier's family, friends and colleagues. I will treasure my memories of seeing him twice dancing The Swan/Stranger, the best in that role I have ever seen. A huge loss to the dance world today.

Utterly shocking, tragic news.

According to Facebook yes, he danced Luca on 5 Aug, which is fantastic news. He is also due to dance Luca Sat matinee and the closing show Sun pm. Wish I had seen all 3 Lucas!

I loved last night's show led by Gomes, Strallen, North and Lowenhoff. I thought the whole cast was on fire last night; they were utterly in character all the way through. They work so well as an ensemble cast and each individual dancer is inhabiting their role even before the show starts (for those that haven't seen it, most of the dancers are on stage in character a good 10 mins before the start, fixing cars, getting a drink at the diner etc!). The energy and emotion was palpable (and audible!). I was gripped throughout, and appreciated all the nuances so much more this second time seeing it live, plus having seen the Sky recording on Monday. It really adds to the impact of the show being in the front row stalls, having a live orchestra and maybe having Mr Bourne in the audience as well! The orchestra was small but incredibly good. 3 percussionists and a staggering array of percussion instruments I've rarely seen. Marcelo Gomes oozed sex appeal and charisma from his first entrance and his balletic prowess was very evident, particularly when leaping over a cafe table at one point! Zizi Strallen was a sizzling match for his Luca. Then there is Dominic North as the aptly named Angelo. He has an angelic quality for sure. He absolutely melts your heart in this and every other role he does. Really moving interaction between Angelo and Rita (wonderfully played by Katy Lowenhoff) and his second act character development intensely emotional. North's performance as Angelo is up there as one of my top dance memories, along with his Edward Scissorhands. So, overall, fabulous show, well deserving of the standing ovation.

And I couldn't resist, so just booked for 6 August. I did see Car Man earlier in the run at Leicester with Chris Trenfield as Luca, utterly devastatingly fabulous! In fact the whole company was on dazzling form so I'd be happy with any cast! Chris, Dominic North and Ashley Shaw did a great Q&A after the show and I got a question in. Really interesting to hear them talk about the production and how Matthew Bourne and his company works.

I'm afraid 1st October is not the one I can attend! I can only do 26 Sept or possibly wangle a day off for 11 November. Thanks for your kind thoughts though and hope you work out both your holiday and chosen performances!!

So true. I felt a huge anguish this morning knowing that at 9 am when the booking opened I was stuck at work and banned from using any personal computer devices. Really, if the ROH are going to call it 'general public booking' they should at least open it at a time that gives more people more of a chance. You know, like 6 am on a weekday, midnight even (I'd stay up!). Actually I work shifts over 7 days so it would still be a lottery for me whether I could log on!! Anyway, all hope is lost for me to see Muntagirov/Osipova in R & J, as no decent tickets left for the one performance I can actually attend, due to my rota. I console myself not remotely unhappily by booking 2 lots of BRB Romeo and Juliet in Birmingham, which is the MacMillan version, and which I know will be fabulously danced, even though I don't know the cast, as it is with BRB, who don't announce casts until about 1/2 weeks in advance. And there's also ENB R&J in Manchester, which I have just booked a front row seat for, even though booking opened eons ago. No stress getting a seat there..... I adore and love the Royal Ballet and will happily travel from Nottingham to see them, even though it is a huge expense. But personally, of late I have come to feel that the stress of trying to get a decent ticket is too much. And I can't really justify huge train fare plus possible overnight stay if I'm not in a 100% view seat. I am most happy for all those here on the forum who have a Muntagirov/Osipova R&J ticket! I vow not to be jealous at all! (but heavens do I wish that was the one that was being filmed....!) Meanwhile, I'll stay up here up north!!! We have fab shows up here too!!

It was an absolute privilege to see BRB in class when they came to Nottingham in May. A really insightful experience that I would highly recommend. I applaud BRB for offering more opportunities to see them in class next season. Fabulous news!

Added note to above: the full POB Nureyev version is available on YouTube.

Routing through my DVD collection, I've got the Nureyev Cinderella. Will watch it later and report back! It is with Guillem and Jude.

Just been to see today's matinee of Wheeldon's Cinderella with DNB. I really enjoyed it as a holistic production. Fabulous designs, scenery and effects including elevating chairs! Very magical although not sure I was following what Wheeldon was trying to do at times (not sure why Cinderella ended up under a tree with weird creatures......). Loved the carriage bit: spectacular piece of theatre! In terms of dancing I saw Maia Makhateli and Artur Shestirikov in the leading roles and thought they were superb. Also shining as a fab character was Sasha Mukhamedov as step mother. Wow did she disgrace herself spectularly drunk at the ball!! (Uncanny resemblance to me in my youth!!). I liked the characterisation of the sisters, wonderfully danced and acted by Erica Horwood and Susanna Kaic. I also liked that the prince had a pal with his own love storyline, finely danced by Sergei Endinian. Orchestra and conductor were superb. Not credited on the cast sheet which is a bit disrespectful. I love the Prokoviev score and find it equally moving as R&J. All in all, Wheeldon has wheeled out a very enjoyable version of Cinderella Hardly conventional but I don't mind!

Great review Linn, thanks. I'm now really looking forward to seeing it tomorrow matinee!

I was indeed! Mr Lawrence is an outstanding dancer - hope he gets promoted as he only a First Artist currently. It was such a treat to see him in company class when BRB came to Nottingham last month - he really puts the work in. He is charming in his tweet replies as well! I loved both the ballets yesterday. The King Dances is a spectacular spectacle; the costume designs were wonderful and I love that Louis IV long hair for the men! Yesterday was the first time I've seen the Bintley Carmina and I thought it was fabulous. The singing of the Ex Cathedra Choir was just perfection. I sang this piece in a choir many years ago, I adore the piece. I came out on a real high and my only annoyance is not booking to see more performances. Would have loved to see the other cast. BRB is by far my favourite company at the moment but I agree with the comment by two pigeons above - I wish they would announce casting sooner. Mind you BRB are fielding so many strong dancers right now....

Interesting TP!! I am at the matinee today so I will go with an open mind!

Personally I would stick to front row at Leicester Curve, I was in Row K stalls, had a quite large person in front of me and 1/3 of stage was obscured. It was annoying as my ticket was a top price one. Having said that, so worth going to this wondrous NB programme. I was shattered last night hence the just 'it was fab' comment above. To elaborate a bit more, Perpetuum Mobile is a lovely piece, Clean crisp and classical. Showed off the incredible talents of the NB dancers. I thought it was stunning and loved it. Butterfly, not Butterly as I wrote above while half asleep!! As Janet said above, this was a very moving piece with some superb choreography, especially in the pdd, The emotion put into last night's performance by the leads Rachel Gillespie and Javier Torres was intense and beautiful - what a priviledge to see. A very fine ballet, delectable choreography and superbly interpreted. I wholeheartedly concur with Janet on this: go see this NB production if you can!

I saw Butterfly this pm in Leicester. Thought it was amazing. NB are totally fabulous. Rachael Gillespie as Butterly was just perfection. Rest of the cast were fab too. It really was a stunning performance. Fab!!!

Great reviews, thanks. I've just managed to get a last minute ticket to see this in Leicester on Saturday!

Good idea! Thanks Alison!

I agree with everything Janet said above about the Saturday matinee show. Kin really grows on me the more times I see it so and it is a very powerful piece. I love the sparkle of Les Rendezvous, with the whole cast on joyful sparkling form. And wow, Brandon Lawrence in Elite/Friday Night solo was just dazzling! I had the privilege of being able to watch the whole company class on stage. There were only about 30 people in the audience and we were able to sit right up in the front few rows of the stalls. I've never watched a whole class in this way before - I've only seen it on TV. It was really insightful to watch the BRB dancers do their class and I was mesmerized throughout. The class was taken by Marion Tait, who came into the stalls to introduce the class; what an amazing lady! She explained that a lot of their class today would be to get the dancers used to the rake of Nottingham's theatre (which is particularly steep) and about doing balances and turns on the rake. She also also seemed to give a lot of fast footwork steps (I have no idea what these are called!) which when you see Les Rendezvous, makes perfect sense! It was just a fantastic experience to watch the class and would highly recommend it to anyone on either the north or south tour, if it's on offer. The ticket for class was only £7.50 and it was 75 minutes well spent which really helped me better connect the dancers' preparation and the actual performance. A brilliant Saturday day out!

Accidently posted a review for north into south. Moving it now!