English National Ballet: Le Corsaire, Winter 2015/16

[Jan McNulty]

John has linked to Ismene Brown's review in the Spectator but I thought it was worth adding the link in here too for everyone to enjoy again:

 

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/01/sex-trafficking-pirates-slaves-english-national-ballets-le-corsaire-is-bang-on-current/

[northstar]

Thanks so much Janet for reposting that excellent review I had missed it. Great to hear reactions on this forum and in the press to Le Corsaire at the Coliseum. I also attended on Tuesday (having seen it in Liverpool last November), originally I had chosen this performance for Cojocaru who had not danced in Liverpool; Laurretta Summerscales replaced her with Osiel Gouneo as Conrad.

 

It was most interesting and exciting to see Summerscales in a lead role (first time I have seen her lead a ballet), and her technical and artistic strength provided both a splendid performance and great promise for the future. I would be keen to see her in lead roles again. Ditto for Ovsyanick as Gulnare. I would echo Floss' appreciation of them - and also I must admit that like Floss I found the showjumping nature of the mens' roles somewhat less interesting this time. This may reflect a more general lack of electricity in the theatre, compared to Liverpool, where I was quite thrilled by the ballet and caught up in the atmosphere. Here, I felt the excitement in the audience was more subdued, and sometimes one can't help letting this affect one's own excitement.

 

Objectively I must say the overall standard of the performance was at the superlative level I would expect.  Sad not to see Cojocaru and even sadder to see the unfortunate state of her ankle that she has shared publicly. But very encouraged by the wonderful depth of talent in the company, and very appreciative of their tremendous skill and artistry.

Edited January 21, 2016 by northstar

[Mummykool]

We just loved the two performances seen so far. So much so we have just booked another. Yes it's ballet panto but it is great entertainment and the standard of dancing has been astonishing. We get so much depressing and earnest stuff at the Royal, it is joy to sit back and enjoy a bit of fun for a change.

It is also of a length that those of us from further afield can get to see the whole show and still get home. The Bolshoi might be the truest to the original but I have seen this three times when they have come to London and never been able to stay for the final act! I think at one point I downloaded the whole ballet from YouTube, but with all the favourite bits being in the first Act anyway, I still didn't see the end..it is just too long.

 

I was glad that Tamara got this version as I was already familiar with it from ABT. It would be great if should also get their version of Don Q but I digress...

There were a few minor wobbles on opening night. Osiel Guneo is a fine dancer but I didn't think he was comfortable with the choreography for the role of Conrad. Last night he danced Ali and was in his element.  Caesar Corrales danced Ali on opening night and stole the show. What a talent!

Last night we had the privilege of seeing Isaac Hernandez dance Conrad and I don't think I've seen anyone do it better (including the glorious Vadim Muntagirov). His line and elevation were wondrous to behold and his acting skills are already improving. Tamara danced Medora both times and, as usual, led her company from the front in fine style.

If anyone else was there last night I would love to know how the Odalisques fared. I was so busy watching James Streeter's pirate character get drunk and try to fondle all the women (including any soloist near enough to grab) only to get shoved away by Lankendem's bully boys, that I missed all three solos. Talk about being in character! He was equally obstreperous in Act 2 and it was totally brilliant. In so many companies the corps just stand around like puppets but he was living his part to the full. Kudos to him and everyone else for delivering such great entertainment

[Don Q Fan]

I saw the matinee on Thursday and enjoyed it very much.  Ksenia Ovsyanick was very good as Medora and Shiore Kase as Gulnare was very good too.  I was really wowed by Brooklyn Mack and loved the height of his jumps - we even met his mum who was very proud indeed.  It was Brooklyn's final performance with ENB and I am just sorry I did not see him as Ali!  Cesar Corrales did not dance Lankendem and was replaced by Zhang.  The performance whilst very good was not quite the "wow" spectacle I saw in Liverpool on opening night there and I wonder if sometimes with matinees the dancers hold back because they have another show to do who knows.  One addition to the performance was the children in the garden scene as they did not dance in the Liverpool show(obvious logistical reasons) and whilst nice, on balance I think I prefer the version without as the stage became rather overcrowded.  Now looking forward to tomorrow's matinee.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Don Q Fan

[MAB]

I was also wowed by Brooklyn Mack, the real McCoy when it comes to virtuosity.  Thought he made a terrific pirate too, hate to say this but down the years I've seen too many Conrads that look as if they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag let alone take on Birbanto and the unruly crew single handed.  Not so Mr Mack, so tough he looked as if he could keelhaul a man as soon as look at him.  Great stuff.  I would also like to add that this dancer has exceptional partnering skills too.  I predict a bright future.  His Mum has every right to feel very proud indeed.

 

I saw Ksenia Ovsyanick's debut as Medora and was amazed at the self assurance she has developed since then, she has really blossomed in the role and gave a top notch performance.  I've always admired this young dancer and it's wonderful to see her reaching her full potential.

 

Shiori Kase's Gulanare is on the way to becoming the definitive interpretation,  What a wonderful trio these three made, along with the rest of the cast they really brightened up the winter gloom for me.

[SusanR]

I can only endorse the comments by Don Q Fan & Mab! Wonderful way to spend a dreary January afternoon. Beautiful costumes too! Brooklyn's jumps were really spectacular.

Susan

[aileen]

Agree about Brooklyn Mack as Conrad. He definitely convinced as the boss of the pirates.

[capybara]

 Cesar Corrales did not dance Lankendem and was replaced by Zhang.  

 

Jinhao Zhang is a good Lankendem but it is a pity that Cesar did not get a second chance to dance Lankendem (he had his debut in Liverpool). However, he seems to have been on as Ali or Birbanto in almost every show and there is the question of overdoing things, especially when his performances are so "full on". He was on stage in the matinee, however, as one of Lakendem's assistants.

[Coated]

I think MAB and Don Q have pretty much summed it up for me as well. It was a fun and charming matinee and definitely worth a day off to see Brooklyn Mack as Conrad. I loved Ksenia's soft dancing and gorgeous smile - she really did look like she owns the stage. Can't wait to see her in other principal roles.

 

Oh, and Zhang's pirate-repelling sneer was truly fearful. If anyone looked at me like that, I'd drop the odalisque as well...

[alison]

Jinhao Zhang is a good Lankendem but it is a pity that Cesar did not get a second chance to dance Lankendem (he had his debut in Liverpool). However, he seems to have been on as Ali or Birbanto in almost every show and there is the question of overdoing things, especially when his performances are so "full on".

 

Yes, I was disappointed not to have seen Corrales in a different role, too (I've missed his Birbanto, too )  Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable matinee.  Rina Kanehara - who I understand is "only" a Prix de Lausanne apprentice - was one of the Odalisques, and looks very promising.  I hope ENB can keep her.  She reminded quite a lot of Fumi Kaneko at the Royal Ballet.

 

I'm tempted to go again tonight, but am not sure how well I'm feeling, so may have to give it a miss.

[aileen]

I ended up seeing four performances and found much to enjoy in all of them. I think that Ian makes an interesting point about the male leads perhaps not being sufficiently differentiated in some performances, particularly on opening night when there were three very 'macho' leads. For that reason, much as I loved Corrales performance as Ali I preferred Souza and Gouneo in the role as they had a more enigmatic persona which contrasted with the more powerful male characters. I thought that Corrales was absolutely terrific as a macho Birbanto. He established his character the minute he arrived on the stage. Some young virtuoso dancers are weak on the acting front but he really understood that he had to tell a story. He seemed to have an instinctive understanding of how to make the peripheral movements to most effect eg spying on Conrad, lurking around brooding. Sarahusi provided a very different Lankadem to Mack's physically powerful slave trader. His was a wily opportunist and his portrayal worked really well. Hernandez danced with great finesse as a more boyish Conrad. Unfortunately, I didn't see his Ali.

 

Turning to the women, I thought that Shiori Kase excelled in both female lead roles. Her sparkling footwork and light jump are perfect for both roles and she brought the right amount of gravitas to the vision scene. She was a playful Medora and a gentle Gulnare. She received huge applause for her soulful pdds with Lankedam in Act 1. I feel that Medora and Gulnare could be more strongly differentiated in character, possibly by altering the casting.

[capybara]

 Unfortunately, I didn't see his Ali.

 

 Isaac Hernandez was sensational as Ali but also subservient to his Conrad, which is how it should be.

[alison]

I feel that Medora and Gulnare could be more strongly differentiated in character, possibly by altering the casting.

Yes. My impression from when I originally saw the Kirov production was that Gulnare was more of a soubrette while Medora was the more classically-based role. Yet in this production we have Medora being all flirty, and I was a bit surprised to see that. I don't think Tamara Rojo carries that side of things off so well, as I imagine I've said before.

[billboyd]

Laurretta Summerscales was made a Principal on stage today.

 

Congratulations!

 

Happy Birthday!

[aileen]

Wow! I wonder if anyone took any photographs. Congratulations to Laurretta.

[Scheherezade]

Yes, many congratulations to Laurretta, and much deserved! I saw her Gulnare on opening night and found her dancing characteristically beautiful and beguiling although, as others have hinted, Tamara's feisty, minx-like Medora alongside Laurretta's more reserved and ladylike Medora, might have been better suited to alternative casting. I saw Shiori Kase the following Friday and she brought strong soubrette qualities to the role but, as others have pointed out, when teamed with Tamara's Medora it did feel that there was not all that much differentiation between lead females.

 

So on to the fantastic roster of virtuoso males. Corrales danced Ali at each of the performances that I  saw and deservedly brought the house down at both. It is, of course, a gift of a role and total crowd pleaser and can diminish the other male roles when delivered with assurance and dynamism, as it was here. I was therefore disappointed by Gouneo, a dancer whom I had been looking forward to seeing, whose Conrad seemed, at least on opening night, unsteady and uncertain and I don't think that I was the only one who held my breath during some of the overhead lifts.

 

Perhaps it was lack of rehearsal time, perhaps a question of chemistry, but for me Hernandez was, by way of contrast, an utterly convincing Conrad who more than held his own, even with Corrales on dazzling form, and put me in mind of Vadim's terrific Conrad during the last run.

 

Which leaves the fabulous Brooklyn Mack. What can I say? More, please, and soon!

[capybara]

Wow! I wonder if anyone took any photographs. Congratulations to Laurretta.

 

ENB is Tweeting that it will post a clip on its website.

 

Edited to add that there is now a photo on ENB's Facebook page.

Edited January 24, 2016 by capybara

[LinMM]

Well done to her and very well deserved ....a nice touch on her birthday too.

 

There is a piccie on the ENB Facebook page.

[Coated]

Very chuffed for Lauretta

 

It was quite a lively show with an enthusiastic crowd, and the onstage promotion was the icing on the cake. Perfect ending for a long run of very entertaining pirates.

[Don Q Fan]

Photos of Laurretta also on Twitter.

 

I agree about Brooklyn Mack he was fab and hope we see more of him.

[Irmgard]

It is rather late, but I thought I might as well post my impressions of the performances on 21 January.  Putting aside this production’s facile treatment of a rather dark plot about the slave trade, it offers a feast of dancing for the entire company.  Some of the choreography for the pirates also borders on the facile but they perform it with such commitment and vitality that it looks much better than it really is.  This was the first time I had seen Brooklyn Mack on stage and he made a most genial Conrad and was a superb partner in the Act II pas de deux.  My one reservation was that I would have liked tidier footwork and landings.  Max Westwell, as Birbanto, is a very powerful dancer but always displays beautiful footwork and clean landings and he partnered the wonderfully exuberant Anjuli Hudson with great gusto in the Act I ensemble dance before becoming the thoroughly believable villain of the piece. Jinhao Zhang was Lankendem (replacing Cesar Corrales who was dancing in the evening) and danced the choreography well but made no attempt to give any character to the role.  Junor Souza brought his impeccable elegance and grace to the role of Ali.  He is a dancer of such intelligence that he can turn the merest cypher of a role into a real person.  When I watched his Ali, not only did I see the brilliance of his technique, which allowed him to cross the vast Coliseum stage in only two grands jetés, but also an exotic prince, captured and enslaved who obviously owed his life to Conrad to whom he was fiercely loyal.  There was real luxury casting in the afternoon’s Odalisques, not only Adela Ramirez with her beautiful petite batterie demonstrated in entrechats, brisés and the daintiest of gargouillades, but also principal Begoña Cao in the second solo, with her unique blend of languorous upper body movements and ports de bras and fleet footwork, including a most delicate diagonal of brisés in which her feet seemed to barely touch the floor.  Rina Kanehara, in the third solo, seemed unfortunately out of her depth compare to these two ballerina performances.  Shiori Kase was a charming Gulnare, enjoying every minute on stage, whether brilliantly tossing off her difficult solos or flirting with her admirers.  The matinee was the London debut of Ksenia Ovsyanick as Medora, and her one and only performance in the role this season, and she was simply radiant.  She brought her usual ballerina sheen to the role and there was an ease and grace to her dancing that belied the fiendish difficulty of much of the choreography.  Whether in the tenderest moments of the pas de deux or throwing off a flawless set of fouettés, her joyousness was almost palpable – truly a performance and an artist to treasure.

 

I stayed on for the evening performance to see the exquisite Erina Takahashi as Medora.  As expected, she also made even the most challenging choreography look effortless and she obviously enjoyed having such a secure and responsive partner in Osiel Gouneo, who was a benevolent and ardent Conrad with a beautifully stylish elegance to his dancing.  Cesar Corrales, as Birbanto, cannot yet match Westwell for depth of character, but the sheer virtuosity of his dancing made his an exciting performance.  Isaac Hernandez was a surprisingly nondescript Ali until his firecracker of a solo in the Act II pas de trois when he pulled out all the stops and was rewarded with much whooping and hollering from the well-oiled audience (there seemed to be a lot of corporate entertaining going on at this performance).  Ken Saruhashi made much of the sleazy, deceitful character of Lankendem as well as demonstrating the power and beauty of his technique.  I have admired the quiet elegance of Katja Khaniukova’s dancing since she joined the company but in this performance she was also remarkable for bringing depth to the rather two-dimensional character of Gulnare, showing her despair with her body as well as her face in her predicament at being sold as a slave in the Act I pas de deux with Lankendem.  In the same Act, Adela Ramirez repeated her glorious solo and outclassed the other two Odalisques.  In Act III, there was gorgeous bouquet of Roses danced by Crystal Costa, Senri Kou, Alison McWhinney and Laurretta Summerscales. 

 

Throughout both performances, the orchestra sounded as if they were thoroughly enjoying their romp through the Who’s Who of 19^th century ballet composers (bar Tchaikovsky) whether under the baton of the excellent Tom Seligman or Maestro Gavin Sutherland.