Royal Ballet: Carmen, Viscera mixed bill, October 2015

[A frog]

Except that I seem to remember Wayne, when Niffenegger expressed doubts, saying something along the lines of "leave the narrative to me", or at least I think he said that in an interview.  The whole thing was a collaboration between the two, wasn't it, rather than a staging of an existing work?

 

If I remember correctly, he told her to write the story without worrying about how it could be told in dance, I seem to recall him joking during the insight evening that he ended regretting it. While the book didn't exist before the commission, neither had much if any input in what the other was doing. 

[alison]

My mistake: thanks for the correction

[Fonty]

it is far too easy to think of Ashton and MacMillan as choreographers who did not require assistance at any stage of their careers.

 

Perhaps everyone has forgotten that both Ashton and MacMillan occasionally worked with people other than the dancers in the rehearsal room.John Cranko, who was definitely a man of the theatre down to his fingertips, was very supportive of MacMillan in the early days of his career as a choreographer.Perhaps it doesn't fit in with the idea of MacMillan as outsider and universal genius for us to be reminded of this too often.

 

In the case of Carmen a dramaturg might have helped to eliminate the feeling that the dramatic scenes and those for the corps exist almost entirely separate from each other with the scenes with the corps having the effect of putting the brakes on the drama each time it seems to be going somewhere. A friendly, trusted pair of eyes in the rehearsal room might have persuaded Acosta that little of what he was doing was that revolutionary and that much of the choreography that he had set for the corps goes on for far too long and merely draws attention to the fact that he has far more music than he has ideas to fill it with. 

 

Thanks very much, Floss.  I was going to ask about Ashton and MacMillan.  It seems to make perfect sense to have a "friendly, trusted pair of eyes" to come along and offer a word or two of advice.

 

And on a practical level, I am slightly surprised the people holding the purse strings don't think it is necessary.  Or perhaps they do, and the final Carmen is the result of somebody else giving it the once over and making suggestions!   

Edited November 2, 2015 by Fonty

[nycitybird]

Does anyone in the world have a more joyful, contagious smile than Marianela Nunez? Although Vadim gave her a run for her money tonight!

[Jam Dancer]

I attended Monday's night performance of the quadruple bill and was seated in the Amph upper slips (right) after I got my dates wrong and had to return the original ticket and quickly grab another. This didn't make for the best viewing experience - will try not to do that again.

 

I do like Viscera and after seeing Morera rehearse the female lead bit on World Ballet day I was looking forward to seeing that part of the piece. Apart from not being able to see all of the stage and looking around heads and clasped hands, it felt a bit flat for me with Hinkis. All the precision and the definition of the movements that I saw Morera rehearse and refine on the broadcast didn't really makes it way up to me... perhaps it was just my position. The portions of the pas de deux section that I could see were better.

 

Lauren and Eric were very enjoyable to watch in Faun and the audience seemed to really love that performance. I think Some of the ladies were cheering at the sight of Eric's bare torso but I could be mistaken because of my less than ideal vantage point..

 

I always enjoy seeing the Tchaikovsky pas de deux and it was good to see the RB do it again. Lovely well judged performance by Marianela Nunez and Vadim! How does he manage to land his jumps so softly? I do remember seeing Marianela and Carlos ( if memory serves me right) do this some years ago and Marianela put on the afterburners and then had a bit of a wobble and made a funny face then smiled and managed to get through it.

 

I think I was pretty much anaesthetised to Carmen having read all the details here on the forum before seeing it. I really didn't expect much at all. It wasn't as awful as I'd feared and I was actually impressed with the dancers giving it their best. Morera did a great job and it was quite a physical performance for her... I did giggle in bits (horned man) and I agree with the suggestions of pruning. Am I the only one who noticed the twerking moves in one bit? It was during the section that has a sort of cabaret-cum-musical feel to it. I was also intrigued with the rather tatty looking wig they gave Carmen... Whose idea was it that Carmen should have mousy-brown coloured hair with a bird nest effect ? Usually I tend not to notice hair but that was quite a bad wig...

 

Second viewing (first cast) is on Friday and not in the upper slips this time

[alison]

 I think Some of the ladies were cheering at the sight of Eric's bare torso but I could be mistaken because of my less than ideal vantage point.

 

Based on previous performances where his bare chest has played a part (and now I start to think of it, there are quite a few of them), I doubt you were mistaken

[Geoff]

Just out, Ismene Brown's review of Carmen (and Connectome / Raven Girl) in The Spectator, based on several viewings, as befits a name critic:-

 

http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/carlos-acostas-incoherent-carmen-is-a-disaster/

 

Actually, have any of the professional critics given Carmen a good review? I haven't found one yet.

[John Mallinson]

Actually, have any of the professional critics given Carmen a good review? I haven't found one yet.

 

Jann Parry on DanceTabs was kindest: "Acosta’s Carmen is far from a disaster…"

[RuthE]

Just out, Ismene Brown's review of Carmen (and Connectome / Raven Girl) in The Spectator, based on several viewings, as befits a name critic:-

 

http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/carlos-acostas-incoherent-carmen-is-a-disaster/

 

Actually, have any of the professional critics given Carmen a good review? I haven't found one yet.

 

I *love* what this review says about Tierney Heap!

[Jacqueline]

I *love* what this review says about Tierney Heap!

I agree. I thought this was a terrific review, it summed up so much of what I thought of Carmen. I only saw the Morera cast on the Saturday afternoon, and I agree she and Bonelli in particular, were trying their best to give the proceedings some dramatic oomph. But they were fighting a losing battle. I felt sorry and faintly embarrassed for them. Would be good to see it played with a sense of humour, might even be enough to rescue it from oblivion. Then again, maybe not.

[RuthE]

By the way, I asked this question on Twitter but got no reply, so perhaps somebody here knows the answer.  In Carmen, besides the many instantly recognisable bits of music adapted from the opera score plus a chunk of the Farandole from L'Arlesienne, there is a piece of music I don't recognise.  It's the slow music for Carmen's pas de deux with Escamillo.  Can somebody please tell me what it is?  I've watched that ballet twice now and it was no more familiar the second time.

[aileen]

I know the piece of music you mean, Ruth. Matthew Bourne also used it, far more effectively, in his version, The Car Man, but there it was used for the Don Jose figure and his sweetheart rather than Carmen. I don't know what it's called though and where it comes from. I had assumed that it was from the opera. Like Ismene Brown, I thought that it didn't fit well with a pdd for Escamillo and Carmen.

[Jan McNulty]

I'm seeing the performance on Monday evening if anyone is around to say hello!

[RuthE]

I know the piece of music you mean, Ruth. Matthew Bourne also used it, far more effectively, in his version, The Car Man, but there it was used for the Don Jose figure and his sweetheart rather than Carmen. I don't know what it's called though and where it comes from. I had assumed that it was from the opera. Like Ismene Brown, I thought that it didn't fit well with a pdd for Escamillo and Carmen.

 

Maybe when I see it for the last time (tomorrow) I will suddenly realise that it's something obvious, just in a strange arrangement... but I know the opera really well and it didn't seem familiar at all.

[Delph]

I'm going on Monday Janet - it would be great to say hello.

[capybara]

.....there is a piece of music I don't recognise.  It's the slow music for Carmen's pas de deux with Escamillo.  Can somebody please tell me what it is?  I've watched that ballet twice now and it was no more familiar the second time.

 

 Is it another extract from L'Arlesienne? The music is familiar to me but I know it isn't from the opera, Carmen.

[Jan McNulty]

I'm going on Monday Janet - it would be great to say hello.

 

I shall lurk near the piano in the Floral Hall during the interval.

[RuthE]

 Is it another extract from L'Arlesienne? The music is familiar to me but I know it isn't from the opera, Carmen.

 

That's entirely possible - the only bit of L'Arlesienne I know is the Farandole, mainly because we used to play it in school orchestra! 

[Delph]

I'll see if I can spot you Janet!

[SPD444]

Went to Friday nights production and, like others, I loved the first three but the last piece, Carmen, was a total anti-climax. Everything was so predictable, table dancing, shouts of Ole, hand clapping, Having a chorus onstage was a bit different but added nothing to the experience. And what Carlos was thinking of in having the boys push the girls across the stage on chairs with wheels during the Toreador song was a complete mystery, Cheaper than bulls I suppose. Matthew with horns is still Matthew, his pdd with Nela was silly. She is a game girl and was thrown around quite happily so credit to her. People cheered at the end but will not go to the cinema showing after this. Speaking of the other ballets, Sarah and Vadim was lovely in Faun as was Steven and Iana in the Tchaikovsky and I was very interested to see Chisato Katsura, who graduated from the RBS this year, dancing in Viscera. She is one for the future, mark my words.

[capybara]

For me, both Fumi Kaneko (lead in the second cast) and Chisato Katsura have been outstanding in Viscera

[Jacqueline]

He's doing a retirement tour, apparently.  Not sure how I managed to miss out on that.

Is there any further information about the retirement tour? Having missed all Mr Acosta's live performances bar one, over the last 17 years, I would like to see him again before he departs the stage and I can't get to the Coli in December. Thank you in advance.

[Jan McNulty]

He's appearing at The Lowry on 13th and 14th May:

 

http://www.thelowry.com/event/carlos-acosta1

[Jacqueline]

He's appearing at The Lowry on 13th and 14th May:

 

http://www.thelowry.com/event/carlos-acosta1

Thanks for that Janet. I just looked this up - couldn't find any mention on his website - and see he is also appearing at Nottingham and Birmingham Hippodrome. Which is the best theatre for view and comfort would you say. 

Edited November 8, 2015 by Jacqueline

[Jan McNulty]

I've started a thread about Carlos Acosta's Farewell tour in news:

 

http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/11024-carlos-acosta-farewell-tour/#entry148216

 

 

It depends where you like to sit Jacqueline.  The front row of the stalls at the Lowry is somewhat cramped because of the way the orchestra pit is put in.  The front row in Birmingham is very good but the rake on the stalls isn't that great till about half way back.  

[RuthE]

Thanks to a friend on Twitter, it appears I have finally tracked down the identity of the mystery pas-de-deux music in Carmen.  It appears to be a slowed-down version of the Danse Bohemienne from Bizet's "La jolie fille de Perth": https://t.co/uU6y6orKbI

 

Another friend on Facebook has further identified it (and posted a picture of part of the sheet music) as something she's encountered as an orchestral player in a ballet suite supposedly from Carmen-the-opera, though it doesn't appear in any version of the opera I've ever come across.

[Vanartus]

The quickest of comments - was at last night's performance. Really enjoyed Viscera, second cast of Stock, Kish, Kaneko and corps really nailed it. This time it seemed more "homage" to rather than sub-Balanchine. Loved Cowley and Ball in Faune, thought Golding spectacular and Cuthbertson sublime in Tach Pas...and (deep breath) because I knew what to expect in Carmen, I sat back and actually enjoyed it. (OK , not all of it...) Tierney Heap was a revelation - feisty, gutsy, cheap, vulgar and danced her pointe shoes off - she somehow made it work. It was "shameless". I actually thought she'll make a great Vetsera in Mayerling. Muntagirov gave the role both vulnerability and style - almost Woyzeck and again I want to see him as Rudolf. Ball was great...and Golding had a very knowing way with his horns. Anyway, heaven knows what the RB will do with it. I can't make out if there's a good ballet trying to get out or trying to get in. If he cut it down to just the main 3 (4 including Fate) could it work as a sort of Moor's Pavane chamber piece? OK the choreograohly is derivative but some bits do work - certainly with last night's cast. The "cabaret" scenes could all go - that'd be a start as they really are Bourne pastiche. Or perhaps the who thing could work as part of a "Carlos and friends evening. Who knows?

[Vanartus]

...I'm sure some of you are thinking - "and who cares? ;-) "

 

Apologies for typos in previous - nervous thumb in iPhone

[capybara]

and (deep breath) because I knew what to expect in Carmen, I sat back and actually enjoyed it. (OK , not all of it...) Tierney Heap was a revelation - feisty, gutsy, cheap, vulgar and danced her pointe shoes off - she somehow made it work. It was "shameless". ............... Muntagirov gave the role both vulnerability and style - almost Woyzeck and again I want to see him as Rudolf. Ball was great.

 

To my absolute amazement, I find myself agreeing with you. Heap, Muntagirov and Ball were all terrific. Pity about the ballet as a whole, though.

[RuthE]

To my absolute amazement, I find myself agreeing with you. Heap, Muntagirov and Ball were all terrific. Pity about the ballet as a whole, though.

 

Yes, I almost liked that cast best, on the whole, and I did see all three.  I'm glad Ismene Brown was so complimentary about them in her Arts Desk review.  (Though, on a separate note, I was baffled as to why she identified the Carmen/Jose pas de deux music - which is the Act 3 prelude from the opera - as the music of Micaela's aria.)

[aileen]

Ooh, well done Ruth for tracking down the music for the Escamillo / Carmen pdd. It's very fast in the clip which you linked to. In Bourne's The Car Man it was played more slowly, and used to far greater effect than in the RB's Carmen: Angelo was clearly very unstable after his (wrongful) incarceration and abuse in prison and forced the frightened Rita to dance with him all the while holding a loaded pistol and looking as if he might shoot himself or Rita at any moment. The 'pdd' was absolutely gripping and was one of the highlights of the piece. Is it coincidence that Martin Yates used the same music in the RB Carmen or is it often used in ballet versions of Carmen?

[FLOSS]

As far as the Royal Ballet is concerned the kindest thing would be to give Carmen a decent burial as quickly as possible regardless of the money it cost. I can see nothing worth salvaging in it. But we now know that not only Muntagirov but both Matthew Ball and Tierney Heap are well worth watching out for in other things.I would like to think that if management finds that it needs replacements during the run of Two Pigeons that Ball would be in the running to dance the Young Man and Heap would get a chance as the Gypsy.They have both earned the opportunity to appear in something better after giving Acosta's choreography a much better performance than he was entitled to expect given that he has failed to create credible characters and the choreography is like other people's choreographic off cuts.

[Jamesrhblack]

As far as the Royal Ballet is concerned the kindest thing would be to give Carmen a decent burial as quickly as possible regardless of the money it cost. I can see nothing worth salvaging in it. But we now know that not only Muntagirov but both Matthew Ball and Tierney Heap are well worth watching out for in other things.I would like to think that if management finds that it needs replacements during the run of Two Pigeons that Ball would be in the running to dance the Young Man and Heap would get a chance as the Gypsy.They have both earned the opportunity to appear in something better after giving Acosta's choreography a much better performance than he was entitled to expect given that he has failed to create credible characters and the choreography is like other people's choreographic off cuts.

Matthew Ball is cast as The Young Man on 23 and 28 January as it happens .....