zxDaveM

Programme B - more photos! :-)

Maria Kochetkova, grandly! (in Helgi Tomasson's 'Trio')

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith, in Christopher Wheeldon's 'Ghosts'

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Sarah van Patten and Carlos Quenedit in Ashley Page's 'Guide to Strange Places

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - San Francisco Ballet's Programme B

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Terrific stuff in my view. A couple of sample pics, more to follow:

Divertimento No 15

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Yuan Yuan Tan and Vito Mazzeo, in Symphonic Dances

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Frances Chung and Daniel Deivison-Oliveira in Christopher Wheeldon's Number Nine

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more in the gallery of 36 pictures at....

DanceTabs on Flickr

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Edit: Link corrected to point to gallery of 36 pictures. BM

I'm starting to lose track of the number of pieces where the end has been ruined by that one person who just *has* to get in first with a "bravo!" or applause, even if the notes are still audible (even if it's only to those on stage).

ah yes, the superior 'clever-clogs', look-at-me I know it all, type. Grrr!

I was at a gig one evening, where I realise the amplified music usually drowns out most chatter, but this particualr support band were playing largely acoustically, so relatively quiet. Three young women worked their way to the front of the crowd where a good few people were listening to this band, and somehow manged to position themselves in such a way that none of them actually faced the stage, and then proceeded to talk and shriek VERY loudly. After several people asked them, rather nicely under the circumstances, to be quiet, someone told them to get to the back, or go to the bar, if they wanted to talk, and stop spoiling it for the people who DID want to listen to the music. They went, reluctantly, still not getting it though!

The other side of that, is a wee venue in Kilburn (name escapes - not sure its even still there), that has firm notices on the walls saying anyone talking during the music, will be asked to leave. Now there's a thought for the chatterers and texters and twitterers of theatre audiences!! ;-)

Some more pics from the dress rehearsal - featuring Anais Chalendard as Odette/Odile

Anais Chalendard as Odile

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Lead Swans - Jenna Lee and Laurretta Summerscales

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Odette and Prince Siegfried - Anais Chalendard and Junor Souza

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - ENB's Swan Lake at The Coliseum, Aug 2012

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Last night was my third and final visit to ENB’s “Swan Lake” at the Coliseum to see Begona Cao and Esteban Berlanga in the leading roles, They have one more performance on Thursday 9 August and I would urge you to grab a ticket if you can!

 

I'd second that - and I would if I wasn't working late. They were utterly delicious last night, as I managed to do a late swap at work and get myself a ticket. Phew - Begona as Odile scorched up the stage - they must have had the fire extinguishers out in the interval! :-)

'wow' moments for me were the caudron being lit - the passing of the flame from the last generation to the new, and then the raising of the copper petals, was stunningly beautiful. The Akram Khan section to 'Abide with Me' made me well up - with pride and emotion.

The section with Mr Bean doing his Van Gelis 'Chariots' made me laugh out loud, as did 'Her Maj' sky diving into the arena (though she must have done herself a mischief doing so, as she didn't look too happy about it for the rest of the ceremony! ;-) ). The transformation into the industrial age, and the forging of the rings spectacular too - and a burst of pride as Team GB came into the arena. Loved all the pop stuff too (even the hippity-hoppity bits), though think Macca finally run his course, methinks.

Great night, all told, as far as I'm concerned - now lets get going and win some gold medals! Go Team GB!!!! (not that I'm biased or anything!!)

 

On Thursday 2nd August, 4.45 pm - is Nuages ballet?

Yes it is - its been on a few times already (its a duet from 2 POB dancers)

Puke green? Do you know, I've been wondering about a colour for the new sitting-room carpet and this has given me ideas.....

green, green grass of home green, surely! ;-)

Is Olympic tat going to be worse than ROH tat?

on a par I should imagine

Though I was hoping to get a Dancing Times over the summer, as there is an interview in there I was hoping to read (think its the August issue - or the one that comes out in August, not sure which). Anywhere recommended to find a copy?

as an aside, that was the first CD album (rather than vinyl) I ever bought.

And very apt, considering Monica's roots.

It ended for most of us just after 11 pm and we left the ROH to the uplifting sound of South African jazz playing over the loudspeakers.

I think some of that was Paul Simon's 'Graceland' (currently back in the charts) - or maybe some of the music that inspired that wonderful album.

thanks all - there are a couple of other galleries around (Silke did one, along with the BalletBag ladies), so think we got it all covered between us.

I thought it was a marvelously presented evening with the film clips and talking heads reminisces - and lets not forget the dancing was damned fine too!! It captured the joy of the last 54 years, whilst conveying the sense of - yes, its a wrench to leave but going out with a forward looking bang, and handing on to the next person at the helm with the past looked after, and a 'this is what we can do if minds put to it" sensibility. Upward and onwards!

In an emotional and joyous celebration of her 54 years at the Royal (10 at the helm), sees Dame Monica Mason bow out on a high.

A bouquet from Sir Anthony, for Dame Monica

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Dame Monica Mason

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - Farewell to Monica!

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

This was Tamara's last performance as a member of the company before becoming ENB's Artistic Director. We WILL see her guest at ROH though, thank goodness!

Tamara Rojo after her last Royal Ballet performance, as a company member

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Tamara Rojo gets the ultimate accolade from Carlos Acosta

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - Au revoir, Tamara

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Thanks Bluebird

some exciting casting in there, as far as I'm concerned - except - no Beatriz!

 

There's so much stuff going on in London, especially at the moment, that it's impossible to keep up.

A glut before a famine?

OK, a few thoughts from me. First time I watched was through a lens, which is never ideal for a first viewing of a ballet! Watching it again 'in full' last night confirmed most of my ideas about what I'd been thinking from the rehearsal. Thought the new scores were great - especially 'Trespass' and some of the sublime sections of Machina. The pdds in Machina were outstanding to my eyes, and the pdt with Edward Watson, Leanne Benjamin and Carlos Acosta. Tamara Rojo was in commanding form - boy, are we going to miss her! I thought they rather missed a trick with the robot; had it been used more as voyeuristic (and malevolent) 'thinking machine' presence, following the dancers around the stage, providing an alternative light source (as it did indeed often do), it could have been very effective, as it gradually emerged from the mist and shadows. The silly wizzing about bits just made it feel a distraction, and an annoying one at that.

My favourite piece was Trespass. Thought the whole was larger than the sum of the very fine parts - the score, the effective staging, glowing lighting, some wonderful choreography, and some outstanding dancing, not just from the 5 leads (who were all uniformly excellent) but also from the corps, who all played a vibrant part in the proceedings. Personally, I think this the most successful of the 3 - at least, I found it the most satisfying. And OK, there were a lot of my favourite dancers in it, which certainly didn't hurt!

I must confess struggling a little but with Diana & Actaeon. As anyone who knows me knows, I'm not exactly a Glen Tetley fan, and this had the feel of some of his work in it. Not sure what to do next - get Marianela to throw in a huge arabesque! Hmm - not keen on the histrionics. The wigs and make-up weren't a hit with me either - but the sets/staging was superb! Federico Bonelli as Actaeon didn't seem to get that much to do except die horribly, the corps dancing as the Nymphs was too shadowy/dark for my liking - ,though what I could make out looked nice.

All in all, certainly looking forward to seeing it again during next week.

This brand new mixed bill by The Royal Ballet, opened this evening for 4 performances only:

Machina: Carlos Acosta and Leanne Benjamin

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Trespass - Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Diana and Actaeon - Marianela Nunez as Diana

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - RB's new Metamorphosis: Titian 2012

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

I booked a ticket on 10th July in the afternoon and have never received a confirmation, I E-mailed them and have been told the order has completed, so just await the ticket in the post now.

Same here - no confirmation at all. Lets see how much of what I think i booked, will arrive Saturday/Monday in the post. Certainly not up on my listing in the ROH website of what I'm going to be seeing

I can't see Jenny Gilbert's name either. At least we now know that she was the writer of the piece which included comments about Monica Mason's hiring decisions/policy. The ROH lawyers may care to take a look at what she has said, but perhaps I am putting an unfair interpretation on her comments, although I don't think that I am. Both pieces are poor, in my opinion. I don't read The Independent and I'm not inclined to start doing so if these pieces are representative of the writing in the paper. Oh, and I don't care if Matthew Bell was away; the anonymous piece should have carried the writer's name. If you are in the privileged position of writing for a national newspaper then you should have the decency to put your name to what you have written especially if you are making critical comments about another person or an organisation.

Don't know if I'm reading this correctly, but I thought Ms Gilbert was indicating that had she wrote the piece, her name would have been on it.

Sadly, the quality of the whole paper (under the latest editor) has gone downhill of late. For my personal interests The Indy used to be the best. For example, the racing pages used to be amongst the very best around - now they are a joke. And I find so many mistakes in things I DO know about, its worrying for the things that I don't, that I would hope they would keep me accurately informed about. The same people now run the London Standard evening paper, so at least they have reigned in that rabid right-wing beat a little (though reading the letters page, not sure many of the readers have mellowed as yet) - but again, the racing page has all but disappeared (the used to have the card or cards for the top meeting for the following day - this June they didn't even have the opening couple of days of Royal Ascot!). Probably that pleases many - but for me, is just an indication of their downward slide.

I'm sure my word in Monica's ear paid dividends, seeing both Yasmine and Beatriz promoted!!

(Actually, they were probably already decided when I had that word - just joshing LOL )

I had lots of problems. Clicking on some links just produced the page "sorry there is a fault, would you like to report it" (clicking the back button and trying again usually resolved after 2-3 goes).

The time left on the basket seemed fairly random, and I managed to time out, losing nearly all my decent tickets.

So did in smaller batches - but once the basket decided to lop off the 2 most recent additions, which meant the totals didn't match during the payment process - so it canceled the lot, which was infuriating.

And because I'd gotten myself in a tiswas, and the notification mails not forthcoming, wasn't sure whether or not I have now double booked for some shows, whilst missing out on some I meant to book!

Mind you, not many tickets left in my fave spots anyway (which is predictable really). So watch out, I'll be on te lookout for spares!! :-)

No, I couldn't make any of the shows either, sadly - so if anyone went, a few words of what they thought would be most welcome

A new company, driven by Karen Pilkington-Miksa, featuring and nurturing new, young talent, in dancers, choreographers, designers, composers and musicians, convened at the Peacock Theatre recently, for a stellar mixed bill (which included a few guest stars, especially on the Thursday gala show).

Here are a couple of tasters:

New English Ballet Theatre, perform Jenna Lee's Classical Symphony'

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

New English Ballet Theatre (NEBT) in George Wiliamson's 'Threefold'

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set on Flickr - NEBT 'Synergies'

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr