Luke Jennings slams RB as "turkey of the year"

[A frog]

 

 

As far as repertory is concerned I don't think that the balance between old and new works is right nor do I think that the balance between the Ashton and MacMillan repertory is right.If the RB still regards itself as a classical ballet company then the AD will need to appoint dancers to the rank of Principal who are able to dance the classics well. In order to do that the dancers need to have the opportunity to dance them As the company can not be expected to restrict itself to the classics then it should at least be dancing works which are as technically demanding as the classics and which provide no opportunity to substitute emoting for dancing.This would mean more performances of a wider range of Ashton works each season and performing more of MacMillan's pure dance works and rather fewer performances of his one act and full length dance dramas.Wayne MacGregor's works would receive the eight to ten performances which the Ashton repertory receives in most seasons.Choice of repertory is central to the future of both the company and the dancer's in it. At some point O'Hare is going to have to decide whether his company is a classical company which occasionally dabbles in modern dance or whether it is a modern dance company which occasionally dabbles in classical dance. It can not go on trying to be all things to all people.

 

McGregor currently gets eight to twelve performances a year, I appreciate that for his detractors it is already too much, but it is currently as much as, if not less than, Ashton gets (especially if you factor in running times).

[alison]

I so agree with you on this - an opportunity missed i reckon. Ms Naghdi would have been particularly fine as her dance-acting is amongst the best in the company to my eyes. And both she and Ms Haywood would be more than technically able, I reckon

 

I would hope that, at the very least, they will be getting Moyna and Zulme as a step on the way.

[FLOSS]

The ROH takes a very large slice of the Arts Council England pie. It is the home of two "elite" art forms attended by an audience composed of the "elite". It is in London. I can't think of many more damning things that can be said about it. The AD should be aware that anything the RB does will be subject to careful scrutiny. Its size means it is damned if it  does not make new works and damned if it makes them and they are failures.

 

I am surprised that O'Hare spent money on reviving Raven Girl and the fact that he did so rather than putting on a mixed bill that was more likely  to succeed opened him up to greater criticism  for allowing Acosta's Carmen to make it to the stage in the form it did, than would otherwise have been the case.I think that staging  Untouchable, Raven Girl and Acosta's Carmen in one year, although not in one season, made it inevitable that someone would comment on it adversely.It would be unreasonable to expect a dance critic not to comment on the good work produced by smaller, less well funded, organisations and to compare the RB's new works of 2015 unfavorably with what he has seen elsewhere. None of this should come as any surprise to anyone at the RB or on this forum. The RB's successes and failures are always the subject of comment but given the size of its budget and all the belt tightening that is going on, elsewhere,any failure that is less than noble and any expenditure which looks profligate is going to be heavily criticised. 

Edited December 15, 2015 by FLOSS

[Jam Dancer]

I am no fan of Mr Crisp because I loathe the way he writes about contemporary dance, it seems to me he only goes to modern performances so that he can display his acid sarcasm at the expense of creative artists whose work he hasn't the intellectual capacity to understand. 

 

His writings on classical dance however, whilst still delivered with his trademark toxicity, frequently hit the mark as shown in the extract FLOSS has quoted.  Every word is true and as for poor productions I can only say that Mr O'Hare's detractors should remember that this present director is taking the initiative to finally rid us of the execrable version of Swan Lake that has polluted the Opera House stage for far too long.  It's a start.  

Whilst I am one who likes to make my mind up about what I see, I do read the critics (OK not Ismene Brown) ... I find  Mr Crisp sometimes unnecessarily acerbic and I don't understand the wholesale dismissal of modern dance...I don't like all of it but his reaction often strikes me a bit as throwing the baby out with the bath water. I prefer reading Alistair Macaulay who unfortunately does not often review the RB or other British companies as I find that even when I disagree with him, I often still take something away from the article.

 

I  am giving Kevin O'Hare the benefit of the doubt and hopefully things will get better. I think there will still be many critics whatever he does. For me part of the issue is ballet and how the art form is still perceived and how it manages to evolve/change whilst staying true to what it is.  We (on this forum)  all know what we want to see and what we think the identity of the company should be etc...none of us know if our ideas would translate to the company being successful or even being seen as successful... It's helpful to have the debate and I think we should voice our concerns and preferences but I can't help but feel that this is the easy part...

[Tony Newcombe]

The ROH takes a very large slice of the Arts Council England pie. It is the home of two "elite" art forms attended by an audience composed of the "elite". It is in London. I can't think of many more damning things that can be said about it. The AD should be aware that anything the RB does will be subject to careful scrutiny. Its size means it is damned if it  does not make new works and damned if it makes them and they are failures.

 

I am surprised that O'Hare spent money on reviving Raven Girl and the fact that he did so rather than putting on a mixed bill that was more likely  to succeed opened him up to greater criticism  for allowing Acosta's Carmen to make it to the stage in the form it did, than would otherwise have been the case.I think that staging  Untouchable, Raven Girl and Acosta's Carmen in one year, although not in one season, made it inevitable that someone would comment on it adversely.It would be unreasonable to expect a dance critic not to comment on the good work produced by smaller, less well funded, organisations and to compare the RB's new works of 2015 unfavorably with what he has seen elsewhere. None of this should come as any surprise to anyone at the RB or on this forum. The RB's successes and failures are always the subject of comment but given the size of its budget and all the belt tightening that is going on, elsewhere,any failure that is less than noble and any expenditure which looks profligate is going to be heavily criticised. 

I travel from Bristol to see the Royal Ballet and most certainly do not consider myself as a member of the London elite

[Sim]

Neither do I....and neither do all of the 'regulars' who stand night after night, often in jeans and trainers, to watch their beloved art form. Yes, there are rich people who go along, but much of the audience is made up of the hoi polloi such as me.

[alison]

Neither do I....and neither do all of the 'regulars' who stand night after night, often in jeans and trainers, to watch their beloved art form. Yes, there are rich people who go along, but much of the audience is made up of the hoi polloi such as me.

 

And me.

[Fonty]

Neither am I, nor is anyone else I know who frequents the ballet.  Can't pass judgement on the opera audience, I've never been.  However, I am guessing the word "elite" is used by those who don't go to the ROH, who presume that those who do are nobs and toffs.  

 

Edited to add that I remember John Sim being interrogated on the Jonathon Ross show about his attendance at the ballet.  Mr Ross seemed to think this was a most unusual interest for someone to have, who wasn't born into the aristocracy.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Fonty

[MAB]

Likewise.  Doubt if an elite outfit would let me through the door.  Opera audiences are similar, a bit younger and more cosmopolitan but otherwise much the same.

[FLOSS]

The point that I was trying to make at post 36 was quite simply that the ROH gets a large wad of public money. It is perceived, or depicted by the media as a place where the rich are entertained at public expense. Some MPs speak in those terms too.Most accounts of the activities  at Covent Garden, not published on the arts pages of newspapers, include the details of the cost of the most expensive seats in the lead up to the actual story.As a result of these factors It was inevitable that an organisation as well financed as the RB was going to be singled out for opprobrium for its three expensive failures in 2015.

 

I am not suggesting that anyone who goes to opera or ballet is a member of an elite merely that the art forms are often described as elite arts. It is strange that the public seems to be quite comfortable with elite sports but has problems with the expenditure on the arts. So no one has to prove how plebian they are by boasting about their humble origins or current way of life.You can all relax. I would like to suggest that those of you who have never been to the opera should try it, You might enjoy it.

Edited December 15, 2015 by FLOSS

[Tony Newcombe]

You said that it was attended by an audience composed of the "elite"

[toursenlair]

One thing that Hamilton's time at Dresden will give her is the opportunity to dance a wider range of ballets and more nineteenth century classics than the 2015-16 season would have given her at Covent Garden..

 

Dresden is doing 8 Nutcrackers, 8 Beauties, and 6 Bayaderes This year.  Not sure how that works out to significntly  "more nineteenth century classics" than 23 Nuts and 15 Giselles at Covent Garden.

[Lindsay]

I absolutely agree with Floss's point that the RB is (and rightly so) accountable for its spending of a huge amount of public money.

 

She is also correct to state that is 'perceived' as elitist and, as someone who has sat all over the house for many years, I would say that the tag is not wholly undeserved.  For both ballet and opera, I have encountered and overheard (particularly in the Grand Tier and the Stalls) some of the worst and rudest snobbishness I have ever experienced.  Of course this is NOT the case for everybody present and the comment is NOT directed at anyone here, but it is certainly something which gives me pause before taking non-ballet/opera friends to a performance.

 

And before anyone advises me to stick to the amphi or SCS, I absolutely accept that there is less risk of such behaviour there, but these days I prefer to go to fewer performances and splash out for a seat with a better view.

[FLOSS]

Katherine, It is not the number of classics that are being programmed by the two companies that is of significance here but the opportunities Hamilton might get to dance in them.  She has gone to Dresden as a Guest Principal which means she stands a good chance of being cast and coached in some of the classics and any other ballets that are being danced there throughout the season..At Covent Garden as a First Soloist the best she might have hoped for,this year, would be a couple of SPFs, I don't think that she would have been management's first choice as cover for Giselle and I don't think that she would be in the running for  Myrthe either. In fact there was not much else for her in the rest of the season as she does not appear to be a dancer who interests either Wheeldon or Scarlett.

 

She is no longer the only young hopeful in the company and the others such as Hayward and Naghdi seem to be better suited to the works that have been .programmed this season.Hamilton's season in Dresden could prove to be  a very shrewd career move on her part.A student who leaves a ballet school where the teachers had failed to see her potential to continue training with the one person who had  belief in her talent is likely to be able, as a professional dancer, to know how she can best develop her career. 

 

 

.

Edited December 15, 2015 by FLOSS

[SwissBalletFan]

.A student who leaves a ballet school where the teachers had failed to see her potential to continue training with the one person who had  belief in her talent is likely to be able, as a professional dancer, to know how she can best develop her career. 

 

Like Xander Parish.

[Bleaden94]

I personally think Kevin O'Hare has done well to foster upcoming and younger talent in the company during his tenureship, as there is a current crisis in the higher ranks. The loss of Acosta, Pennefather, Marquez this year, combined with the loss of Cojocaru, Kobborg, Rojo in 2011/12 + fewer appearances of Watson & Yanowsky, has hit the RB hard, with the remaining Principals holding the fort as best as they can = Nunez & Morera being stars as always. 

 

Lets try & think of the positive of the last few years: Winters Tale, Woolf Works, the success of Rhapsody & Symphonic Variations, revival of Two Pigeons, Muntagirov joining RB & thriving, Osipova's Giselle, Ball & Naghdi in R&J - I could go on! 

The Royal Ballet seems to be drowning in the comparisons made to the days of Fonteyn, Dowell & Sibley - which I personally believe is not fair! (Maybe because I have never seen them dance). 

 

There may have been some artistic flops - but surely thats what art is all about - a famous writer can write a sloppy novel, films flop at the Box Office - its about experimenting creatively - risking the applause & criticism that comes with it. 

 

This is just my opinion anyway!

[bridiem]

You said that it was attended by an audience composed of the "elite"

 

I think the quote marks are significant here - ballet and opera audiences are certainly perceived as being from the 'elite' and the expenditure etc is therefore scrutinised especially stringently. And in any case, to be honest I would struggle to say that from what I see the ballet audiences at the ROH (I don't go to opera) fully reflect our wider society (though I also don't think that they're as 'elite' as many people imagine). Which is why I think the screen relays are so brilliant and so important - they can easily be seen by anyone, almost regardless of income or location, and that helps to justify the level of public funding for the ROH.

[Two Pigeons]

My main irritation with the RB is that they don't tour and they offer very few matinées. I realise that a lot of posters spend a lot of time, energy and money travelling to London to see the company. I used to but a change in my circumstances means that I have not seen the company live for over 12 years.

 

FLOSS is quite right in pointing out that the grant given to the two Opera House companies is so much larger than that given to other ballet companies so I would describe the RB as elitist as 75% of the country will never have the chance to see them.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Two Pigeons

[Nina G.]

..but do you think 75% of the country, even when given the chance, would be interested in seeing a ballet?

[Two Pigeons]

Probably not. But they are paying for it.

[FLOSS]

I think Mr.O'Hare needs to make up his mind what sort of company he wants the RB to be in the future. Is it to be a classical company which dabbles with modern choreography or a modern dance company which dabbles in the classics?If the AD wants his company to be taken seriously as a classical company in the future he needs to programme works that will develop his dancers as classicists and ensures that the company's principals can dance the both the nineteenth century classics and those created for it in the twentieth century.

 

It is not a simple question of whether there are as many performances of Ashton's ballets as MacGregor's works or whether there are as many performances of MacMillan's works as there are of Ashton's but the nature of the works that are being programmed.If you want to develop classical dancers you programme ballets which use the classical lexicon, where the dancers have no hiding place and have either danced the steps correctly or they haven't and where there is no opportunity to give the audience edited highlights or to cover failures with "being a good actor".In other words you programme lots of Ashton particularly the early works  such as Les Rendezvous and Les Patineurs because he always uses classical steps  and those works which show MacMillan as a classicist.You programme Concerto which he devised to identify dancers with technical problems and The Four Seasons. You programme a couple of nineteenth  century works plus Cinderella,Sylvia and MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet because bad foot work stands out a mile in R and J,The AD would avoid works  which require  the dancers to  move in ways that are totally at variance with classical dance, If the AD did that we would rapidly see an all round improvement in technique and in the performance of individual works,Of course it's not going to happen, Everything will go on much as before and we will have this discussion at regular intervals for years to come.

 

Bleadon94 I hope that the RB is back on course to produce truly great dancers, If it is then I am afraid  you will inevitably see performances that stick in your memory years after the event and you will inevitably compare what you see subsequently with those performances..Those performances set the standards against which you judge every other performance.It is one of the hazards you run as a ballet goer.

 

If you can do so try to see Morera as the Gipsy in the Two Pigeons She is,according to a friend,who saw the original cast the best since the role's originator danced it.

 

 

I 

Edited December 15, 2015 by FLOSS

[MAB]

Frankly I don't see much difference between the Royal Ballet and other major companies when it comes to dancing modern work.  The Paris Opera Ballet has in fact gone much further in this respect and even the Kirov dances Forsythe.  There is a theory (which I subscribe to) that the mixing of styles is physically dangerous and the increasing number of injuries seems to bear that out.  Personally I prefer to see modern dancers dance the contemporary rep but there is no doubt that certain works have looked fabulous on classical dancers.  Is part of the problem down to the greater creativity in the contemporary field?  How many major choreographers are capable of creating works purely in the classical idiom and of those how many are at home with narrative ballets?  For me that is the crux of the matter and though some of us would like to bridge the creativity gap by reviving more of the back catalogue, others will complain that is simply turning the company into a museum.

 

No easy answers that I can see.

[Nina G.]

Morera was out of this world as the Gypsy!

 

I hope Mr. O'Hare reads your post FLOSS, exactly my line of thinking too: 

If the AD wants his company to be taken seriously as a classical company in the future he needs to programme works that will develop his dancers as classicists and ensures that the company's principals can dance the both the nineteenth century classics and those created for it in the twentieth century.

 

I hope Mr. O'Hare will nurture not only a few great partnerships (they already have a potential one) but also the dancers who do show great Classical potential: some are great dancers, others have the potential to become great classical ballerinas.

[Mary]

I think Jennings is absurdly harsh , it really hasn't been THAT bad,.

Romeo and Juliet, the Viscera/mixed bill -except Carmen- were good

Woolf Works and Two Pigeons/Monotones - very good.

 

I have seen a lot of fine performances, and a few duller ones so far this year.

The RB has to dance some modern work, or just be seen as hopelessly behind the times, and the balance seems on the whole fairly reasonable though I would prefer less McGregor and more new young- and female- choreographers showing us different styles. On the whole, it hsn't been a vintage year, but pretty good.

 

Speaking as a regular  who is not at all rich or posh  and never has been, and no longer lives in London, I do not feel the ROH is an elitist place. Over about 20 years I have taken most of my family and friends  there at least once and they have all enjoyed it and many have started going themselves. It's a lovely place. It raises the spirits. I've never felt uncomfortable and don't know anyone who has.

Yes, ROH is perceived by the lazier elements of the media as posh and elitist, but, as we know, the media is wrong about a lot of things, including this! Those of us who know otherwise about it should speak up.

 

Of course the tax payer should contribute towards a state-of- the-art, splendid opera house for the nation. It's there for anyone who wants to go, let's enjoy it .

The audience in the amphi looks pretty normal to me most times-(and, after all, does a football  or a cricket audience really 'fully reflect wider society'?I don't feel it represents me, but I don't begrudge a sports stadium being subsidised.)

The live screenings are pretty successsful and seem to be widening  the audience. They are a great new development. More weekend matinees would be a jolly good thing too,  I do agree about that.

 

 

Off to enjoy watching Kish at a live screening with a ballet newbie tomorrow ,and a Merry Xmas one and all.

[FLOSS]

I don't think that it matters what other companies are performing.An AD should programme ballets which achieve and maintain high technical standards and develop the members of his company as artists. If that means reviving old works and avoiding modern ones for a season then that is what he should do.Once the company achieves the required standard he would need to ensure that each season's programmes included works that would maintain it Not too difficult for someone with a real vision for his company and the ability to implement his ideas but impossible if you don't have much of an idea about what you want the company to be and achieve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited December 16, 2015 by FLOSS

[loveclassics]

Probably not. But they are paying for it.

And I had to pay for the Olympics in 2012 though I have zero interest in sport!

[Jan McNulty]

Mark Monahan joins the band wagon:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/dance-in-2015-has-the-royal-ballet-lost-the-plot/

[capybara]

Mark Monahan joins the band wagon:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/dance-in-2015-has-the-royal-ballet-lost-the-plot/

 

Actually, this piece was in a printed version of The Telegraph (one of the Saturday supplements, I believe) before Luke Jennings got going

[penelopesimpson]

Well, I personally feel that during his tenure to date O'Hare has programmed a good balance of old and new works with the nineteenth century classics, Ashton and MacMillan all well represented. Winter's Tale and Woolf Works, whilst they did not appeal to everyone (nothing does), were generally well received by the critics and public alike. The RB's in-house choreographers (and I include Acosta in that description) do seem to be given a pretty free reign, and certainly money seems to be no object when it comes to expensive staging, but there is a limit to how much choreographers can be controlled and even the greatest have had failures and have substantially reworked their ballets sometimes more than once. I'm not convinced that a whole evening of a single choreographer makes for attractive programming unless you are a fan of that particular choreographer; there's generally not enough variety, particularly if the works are abstract.

 

I'm going to make myself unpopular when I say this, but I, personally, have more issue with the performances themselves. I have seen too many performances which have been lacklustre or which have been derailed by one of the leads who has proved to be disappointing either technically or artistically. I feel that the company is a bit stale overall and that there are too many colourless dancers in senior positions. Whilst I'm not a particular fan, and I feel that she is not suited to some roles, Osipova's absence has seriously dented the star power of the company. Like her or loathe her, she is a dominant force on the stage. With Acosta gone and Watson dancing a limited repertoire, the senior male ranks are looking distinctly low wattage. I think that a system of sabbaticals (with other companies) for principals and senior soloists could be beneficial to those dancers who have danced with the company for many years. I wonder whether Melissa Hamilton will start a trend.

 

 

Certainly not unpopular with me, Aileen.  I made the point about lack of star quality some months back and was howled down.  Now, as you identify, there is little in the male Principal cateogory.  The only ones I want to see are Muntagirov and Watson and I presume Watson will not be there for very many years longer.  Soares is so-so, Bonelli okay when he is with Cuthbertson, but I have no idea what Golding is doing at RB and Kish leaves me cold.  Macrae is fabulous but I prefer him in the modern stuff - for me his Romeo was more cheeky chappy than doomed lover.  

 

It simply isn't good enough.  Money is hard to come by and my visits to ROH involve a lot of travelling and I want more and don't mind saying so.  I don't want these mix-and-match combinations we are being served up - the divine Hayward is not enough when partnered with the less impressive Golding.

 

There is now not one star partnership left at RB and Mr. O'Hare needs to nurture Naghdi and Ball and any other pairings that may be simmering below the Principal level.  Macrae and Salenko are impressive but do not move me in the way of Cojocaru and Kobborg or Acosta and Rojo.  I still believe that more should have been done to coax at least one more season out of Cojocaru and Kobborg and the way of their leaving rankles.

 

I am an Osipova fan but even if I wasn't, I would have to admit that when she is injured there is gap.  I think we need to see much more of Hayward and Naghdi (why have neither been given a Giselle?) and, if there isn't anybody else, Mr. O'Hare needs to look outside.  What is urgently needed is at least one fabulous partnership and at least two more top-rank male Principals, as well as one more female Principal.  I simply am not going to shell out the sort of money I've spent this year to see people who are not right at the top of their game.

[Fonty]

I think Mr.O'Hare needs to make up his mind what sort of company he wants the RB to be in the future. Is it to be a classical company which dabbles with modern choreography or a modern dance company which dabbles in the classics?If the AD wants his company to be taken seriously as a classical company in the future he needs to programme works that will develop his dancers as classicists and ensures that the company's principals can dance the both the nineteenth century classics and those created for it in the twentieth century.

If you have a resident choreographer who is classified as modern rather than classical, then it means you either have to have a large cast of dancers who specialise in one or the other, or give them more time to rehearse and adjust between styles. If dancers perform too much contemporary work, many of them seem to lose the finer edge of their classical technique.  Which means we then get workmanlike, but uninspired renditions of what I think of as "proper" ballet.  When I watch Mr MacGregor's fast and frenzied steps, I have no idea whether they are being well danced or not.   When I watch something like Monotones, with its moments of stillness and emphasis on graceful lines, it is crystal clear when it is being danced to perfection, and when it is not.

 

I think the critics are being a bit harsh on MacGregor.  I am not his greatest fan myself, but I am not against new works, and in spite of earlier comments I have made, I do like a lot of contemporary dance.  It is just when I look at some of the new offerings by the RB, I think that a good deal of it could be performed just as well, if not better, by dance companies who specialise in that style.  In short, it seems a waste of a classical ballet company.

 

And I don't think it is sufficient argument that the dancers themselves need new works created on them, or they get bored.  If a senior dancer is tired of churning out Swan Lake or Giselle, then let them retire, or join another company.  There are plenty of new and eager recruits just desperate for the chance to move up the ranks, and show what they can do in these "tired" old classics.  And plenty of audience members keen to watch them. 

[Sim]

I am very surprised that Monahan does not even mention Naghdi/Ball's R&J as an RB highlight of the year, as well as a wonderful partnership waiting to happen, if only O'Hare would let it.

[Balletfanp]

Well, at least in this article (despite the title) he does highlight a number of the positives as well.

[penelopesimpson]

I am very surprised that Monahan does not even mention Naghdi/Ball's R&J as an RB highlight of the year, as well as a wonderful partnership waiting to happen, if only O'Hare would let it.

Hear, hear.  Why on earth isn't he featuring them?