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Birmingham Royal Ballet: The Dream, A Month in the Country, Birmingham, February 2016


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I was at both performances on Thursday.

 

The Dream is absolutely one of my favourite ballets and I was really happy to be seeing it again.  I enjoyed the performance in the afternoon with Momoko Hirata and Cesar Morales although I felt a little that their interpretations were a work in progress.  They danced beautifully but my impression was that they hadn't quite got the depth of characterisation yet.  James Barton is probably my favourite Puck ever - he just inhabits the role and was a total joy on Thursday afternoon.  The lovers were ... just perfect!!  Huge kudos to Brelia and Celiain  (Brandon and Delia and Celine and Iain.

 

On Thursday night it was my dream cast as Oberon and Titania in the shape of Chi Cao and Nao Sakuma.  They both commanded the stage and it was all to easy to believe that they were the KING and QUEEN of the fairies.    They have always had an amazing rapport on stage and look just wonderful together.  Chi's scherzo was scintillating and the duet was beautifully moving.  Tau-Chao Chou looked as though he was powered by internal rockets as Puck he moved around the stage so fast!  I thought he was terrific.  Again, the lovers were pitch-perfect so take a bow Yijing Zhang / Yasuo Atsuji and Ana Albutashvili /Tyrone Singleton.

 

The fairies were spot on in both performances and I, like Two Pigeons, was thrilled to see Maureya Leibowitz back on stage after such a long break.

 

 

It's many years since I saw A Month in the Country (could anybody tell me if my memory is correct and that I may have seen Altynai Assylmuratova?).  I saw both casts on Thursday - they were very different and, I thought, equally valid.  Samara Downs looked almost driven to distraction by boredom and dissatisfaction with her life.  It was easy to see that she was clutching at straws when Beliaev turned up.  I found Jamie Bond very moving in this role.  His character seemed to lack confidence and he was bowled over by Natalia.  Laura Day absolutely sparkled as Vera and Tzu-Chao Chou scintillated as Kolya.  With Rory MacKay and Fergus Campbell adding gravitas to the piece it was a delight.

 

I agree with every word Two Pigeons said about Delia and Iain and the rest of their cast.  I was swept away on a sea of emotion.

 

It was also nice to see so many Forum members and lurkers in the afternoon and I finally got to meet Alison.  I hope the Forum members making the trek today enjoy their day as much as I enjoyed mine on Thursday.

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I was at both performances on Thursday.

 

On Thursday night it was my dream cast as Oberon and Titania in the shape of Chi Cao and Nao Sakuma.  They both commanded the stage and it was all to easy to believe that they were the KING and QUEEN of the fairies.    They have always had an amazing rapport on stage and look just wonderful together.  Chi's scherzo was scintillating and the duet was beautifully moving.  Tau-Chao Chou looked as though he was powered by internal rockets as Puck he moved around the stage so fast!  I thought he was terrific.  Again, the lovers were pitch-perfect so take a bow Yijing Zhang / Yasuo Atsuji and Ana Albutashvili /Tyrone Singleton.

 

 

Goodness.  With all those names, it could have been the Ballet of the Far East! 

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Saw the matinee and can only echo the above comments in reviews. A beautiful double bill from start to finish.

The Dream cast I saw was Jenna Roberts/ William Bracewell as T & O and Tzu Chao Chou was an amazing Puck. Not sure anyone could jump any higher or pirouette any faster he was brilliant. Feargus Campbell was a very nice Bottom too. Lovely fairies. I particularly enjoyed the singing from Birmingham Cathedral Choir. I do not ever recall hearing singing in The Dream before...anyone advise if this was a new addition? I loved it.

Month was danced by the wonderful Delia Mathews and Iain MacKay with Karla Doorbar as Vera and Mathias Dingman as Kolia. The story was beautifully told by the dancers and after Zenaida Yanowsky, Delia is now my next favourite Natalia Petrovna. I must mention the Chopin piano music which was played exquisitely by Jonathan Higgins, superb.

Rapturous applause greeted both casts. Oh to see it all again!!

Edited by Don Q Fan
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Just want to thoroughly agree with all the posters above who applauded BRB's glorious Saturday matinee of the Ashton double bill.  It was a magnificent way to spend an afternoon of dull weather.  Certainly the theatrical sun came out to shine within the Birmingham Hippodrome.  I only wish more seats had been sold so that a bevy of others might have shared in the glory of the BRB's resplendent Company glow.    

 

Jeanna Roberts glimmered within the moxie of her own saucy chutzpah as Titania every bit as much as Tzu-Chao Chou radiated with a witty inner brashness; vivaciously devouring Puck's headroom.  (I was delighted - when I found the latter standing in front of the theatre after the performance - to be able to briefly thank him for the joy he had gifted.)  I was captivated too by the detailed turbulence of Feargus Campbell's self-abashed Bottom.  In ALL this DREAM was a delight.  

 

The MONTH too passed all too quickly being endowed (as it was throughout) with a meticulous humility which rendered Ashton's inventiveness with a dynamic vigour.  Delia Matthews electrified as Natalia Petrova.  Her's was every inch a Hedda Gabler - 'the General's daughter' - trapped tellingly within the dangers of her own boredom's intrigue.   As Matthews lurched forward at the end I thought I could hear a trace of gunfire in Jonathan Higgins' extraordinary keyboard mastery.   Still for me - (as none of us can speak for anyone else) - what made THIS etching so richly noteworthy was the vital grace of every one of the supporting personages - each so forcibly wrought within the rich fabric of the whole.  Their detail was - as it should be - ALL.  Karla Doorbar (Vera); Yvette Knight (Katia); Michael O'Hare (Yslaev) and - most extraordinarily -  Jonathan Payn as Rakitin created full-blooded characterizations that were - in effect - ballets unto themselves rendering the ultimate extremity of the entirety as one potently eloquent polestar.  

 

I'm not surprised that Dowell had 'tears in his eyes' watching this.  

 

I did too. 

Edited by Bruce Wall
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I have left it a couple of days to write my review of Friday night to see if I still felt as strongly about the performance as I did at the end of it. I cannot remember having been so enraptured by a theatrical performance as I was when the curtain came down after A Month in the Country. The evening had started well in a rather perverse way. I had got myself a pretty decent seat in the stalls for £10 but the unfortunate indisposition of a good friend meant that I was able to use her front row seat. I do not mention this in any form of smugness or gloating but it meant that I saw something in the performance which I had missed every other time I have seen this wonderful work.

 

I do not wish to get into a 'who was better' debate as I would say that both the Wednesday and Friday night performances I saw were equally good, just different. The cast for the Dream was universally excellent and I was hugely impressed with the Oberon of Cesar Morales but this did not really surprise me. He is always good. What did surprise me was how much of the character Momoko Hirata made of Titania. That she could dance it like a dream (sorry for the pun) was expected but she really brought out the mischief of the role. I agree with the previous comments made about James Barton, Kit Holder and the quartet of lovers.

 

All this was pretty glorious but the main attraction of the evening for me was to see Samara Downs and Jamie Bond in A Month in the Country. I am increasingly an admirer of Ms Downs and, now that Ambra Vallo has retired, she was my first choice to see as Natalia. All I can say is that she completely exceeded my already very high expectations. She was different from Delia Matthews in that I found her less romantic but sharper and more dramatic. She has been dancing a fair bit with Jamie Bond recently and I think they have real chemistry.

 

This was a very good pairing as he was also a bit sharper, more dramatic and less romantic than Iain Mackay. Whereas I found Iain a rather passive Beliaev who was slightly embarrassed as young women flocked around him while his attention was clearly homed on Natalia I found Jamie to have a greater air of danger who was quite happy to have Vera and Katia pander his ego.

 

Admirable though Tzu-Chao Chou was dance wise he was cramped by the small dance area, too tall for the part and hampered by the dreaded blond wig which looked slightly ridiculous. However, I heard him in a pre-performance talk where he talked so enthusiastically about loving the works of Ashton to the extent that I became a fan on the spot. He said that he left Australian ballet and came to BRB purely to dance more works by Ashton and Macmillan. With that sort of attitude you have to admire him.

 

I cannot finish this review without saying that if ever there was a dancer born to dance Vera it is Laura Day. She was faultless and so right for the part. I thought Ashton would have adored her. One of the posters above commented that it sounded as though BRB was a Far Eastern company. Although I can agree that this may seem the case I would like to point out that of the first cast of Month if you discount Delia Matthew as a New Zealander and Mathias Dingman who is American all the cast was British. There were two Far Eastern members of the second cast but the rest were British. This is not a xenophobic point but I think it should be appreciated how many British dancers get real opportunities at BRB. This point was made in an article in the Dancing Times a couple of months ago where four male dancers, including Xander Parish, all of whom had had to find their success away from Britain were interviewed.

 

Right, back to the point which had never struck me before. Fergus Campbell was playing Ratikin and being so close I was able to observe his reactions to his Natalia, who also happens to be his wife. Watching Fergus watching Samara with real love and pride is not a new experience but this was the first time I had been them interacting at this level. I have never seen a Ratikin so adore Natalia or looked so devastated as she spun away from him due to her love for another man. He looked as bereft as he left the household and I have never really appreciated before that as well as losing Beliaev she is also losing Ratikin. For all that she does not love him the way he loves her the boredom without him will be even greater.

 

I am so pleased that this double bill has been so well received but I am sorry that there does not appear to be any appreciation by the national critics. I do hope that some positive reviews will start to appear next week. My last observation has to be that no one, no one other than Ashton could condense two long plays into such tightly crafted ballets of one act with such effectiveness. Much as I enjoyed both performances of The Dream it is Month which will stay with me for a very long time. There were moments on Friday night which were so good I could barely breathe. When the curtain came down on Samara Downs looking into a future of tedium and lack of love was so haunting it will stay with me for weeks yet. It will be a long time before I am that moved again.

Edited by Two Pigeons
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I have only seen The Dream a couple of times prior to this viewing, once at RB and once at ABT(Vishneva!), and then it was a while ago so I cannot remember the choir at all.  I loved it though, just as I do in Nutcracker it adds such a lovely dimension.

 

Is it usual for The Dream to be danced behind a gauze screen?  I tend to dislike those screens that as distances me from the dancers and there was hardly any use of dry ice to warrant it.  Maybe it's done to make you feel like you are indeed witnessing something you should not?!!!

 

I have to say that despite being tired from a day of travel I could not get to sleep last night and I am blaming BRB's stellar performances as I kept seeing them over and over in my mind's eye!

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P.s. Jonathan Payne was also at the pre-performance talk and I specifically asked him who did the casting for Month as this had been an utter triumph. Jonathan said he didn't really know but he thought it had started with David Bintley but when Grant Coyle came to teach the ballet he came with Anthony Dowell's full authority to make any cast changes he thought necessary. Dowell came in during the latter stages of rehearsal. He also commented that Marguerite Porter spent a lot of time coaching both Delia and Samara which included telling them Natalia's back story.

 

Whatever was the combination of contributors or in what order the results were spectacular and I really do hope we get the chance to see this production again.

Edited by Two Pigeons
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Hi Don Q Fan. As long as I have seen The Dream danced by SWRB/BRB it has had a front cloth. Seen close to it is actually rather beautiful and painted to give a frame of more trees in front of the action. However, as I have got older and my eyesight is not what it was I find that I could do without it these days.

 

I cannot remember what happens at the Opera House. In the time that I saw the work there it was over two sets of designs. Whether or not there was a cloth escapes my memory now.

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Having read all those enthusiastic posts above, I am getting myself to Birmingham too!

 

Two Pigeons: "This is not a xenophobic point but I think it should be appreciated how many British dancers get real opportunities at BRB. This point was made in an article in the Dancing Times a couple of months ago where four male dancers, including Xander Parish, all of whom had had to find their success away from Britain were interviewed".  

 

I'd say this is also happening at the RB where British dancers such as Hay, Ball, Clarke, Naghdi, Hayward, O'Sullivan (sorry if I forgot one) are getting great opportunities to develop their career, it's no longer the "prerogative" of the foreign trained dancers joining the company!

 

ENB still seems to relay on numerous foreign dancers, except a few.

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I saw three performances of the BRB Double Bill. "Month" moved me with either cast and I totally understand why Dowell was so taken with these true and beautifully danced performances. No false histrionics, just honest and moving interpretations. Please, please Mr Bintley bring it back soon.

 

The Dream was also gorgeously danced by all three casts I saw and if I have a preference for Jenna and William, well that is no suggestion that other casts were not just as fine.. I feel that Mathias Dingman is too tall for Puck, however fabulous a dancer.

 

I wish Christopher Wheeldon would takes some lessons from Ashton - and Bintley - on how to tell the story IN DANCE. Something he signally fails to do in "Strapless". With Ashton you hardly need programme notes and the action is advanced through beautiful dance alone.

 

Did anyone see much National Press review of BRB? More and more I think our National Press becomes a Metropolitan press. If it is not in London it is too far away to bother with. BRB is dancing so brilliantly across the whole Company and I wish the public in London heard about them more often. I think most National Newspaper critics think Birmingham is a sort of frontier town beyond the deserts and mountain ranges.

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Please could someone tell me why, as I tryto change my password for this benighted site I am three timestold my old Password is incorrect when IT IS NOT!!!!

 

 

Hello Barnes2, I'm glad you finally managed to log on to post.  As regards changing your password, I hate to say this but the technology is usually OK.  Did you have caps lock on or something?

 

In respect of the critics, because of the dire straits of the newspaper industry they are reluctant to send journalists out and about where it may involve overnight stays.  I believe both BRB and NB offer matinees as press performances to encourage them.  Doing the links I have noticed that there seems to be less and less press coverage of the arts full stop (internationally too). 

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Just to say that I attended yesterday evening's performance and wrote a brief review this morning.

 

It was the first time I had seen Dream in decades. It is a very special ballet for me because it was created for Sibley and Dowell and I don't think I have ever seen anyone else dance it live. I go wobbly at the knees when I hear the final pas de deux because of those associations and I am not sure that's a good thing. From where I was sitting (centre of row P of stalls) I imagined I was watching Sibley and Dowell (possibly because of the blonde wig) even though I knew it was Sakuma and Caley. I can't see why Titania has to be Northern European and she is a fine dancer. That niggle apart I enjoyed the show. Great dancing from the others and good to see Farmer's designs.

 

A Month in the Country was new to me and I enjoyed that too. Three great female roles danced well by Downs, Day and Zhang and a fine performance by Bond as Beliaev. More familiar music and rich stage designs from Osman.

 

As it was a belated birthday treat my Team Terpsichore colleague and I dined at the Circle Restaurant and were delighted to find Lancashire hotpot on the menu. Never seen that at The Lowry or indeed anywhere else in Manchester.

 

Impressed with the Hippodrome.   Only disappointment was that the theatre was nowhere near full. I am sure the company will do better when it brings R & J to the Lowry.

Edited by terpsichore
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It is a shame there weren't more national critics at the Thursday matinee and then they may have written about it in time to encourage more people to attend. it was quite well attended but such great performances should have ensured there were no empty seats which a reviewer may have helped achieve. I was only able to go to the Saturday matinee and I heartily concur with all the praise heaped on this performance by previous posters. Both performances were brilliant but what a shame such a wonderful double bill was only performed for such a few days. It is also a pity the Lowry never seems to stage the BRB's double/triple bills but concentrate on the full length ballets. Manchester audiences are missing many treats and I would certainly go to more than one performance if I could get home easily in the evening. I'm sure the Royal ballet next season's programme is already finalised by now but perhaps Mr O'Hare would take note of the acclaim given to this double bill and think of programming another Ashton double bill if he hasn't already. This one would be great, especially if it was to be filmed for cinema relay. I don't recall a Royal Ballet film of The Dream (the only commercially available one I know of is the ABT Stiefel/Ferri performance.) While this is a great performance it would be wonderful to have a Royal Ballet version. Also the only Month in the Country film I know of is a very early film (possibly for the BBC) which is on YouTube in segments, though complete. it captures the ballet really well but it would be good to have a more recent version, possibly with Vadim as the tutor.

Great to see Bluebird and DonQ fan in Birmingham.

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Oh don't tease Janet!!!!  But I guess you are under an embargo?  When will we hear?

 

A recording of the Dream AND Month would be fab!  We really do need more DVDs of BRB, ENB, NB etc as they have such talented dancers.

Edited by Don Q Fan
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Haven't been to the Hippodrome for many, many years but was so glad to have made the trip last week. Well, who wouldn't given the irresistible double bill on offer?

 

The Dream came across in a really 'fresh' way particularly thanks to Momoko Hirata who was a simply lovely Titania, James Barton who invested his Puck with much mischievous energy, and the excellent group of lovers. Brandon Lawrence's long limbs give him a wonderful line and he manages comedy rather well too. Unfortunately, from where I was sitting, the fairies sounded as if they were clad in tap shoes - not their fault, of course.

 

It was great to see Month in the hands of a company other than the RB and to see BRB make such a splendid fist of it. There must be something about Royal Ballet School trained dancers when it comes to Beliaev as Jamie Bond's movement and spot on interpretation recalled for me both Jonathan Cope and Rupert Pennefather in the role. [RB guests did not have the same qualities.] Unlike others on here, I was less taken with Samara Downs' Natalia Petrovna. For me, her characterisation came across as a bit brittle and rushed (rather as did Osipova's in her 2014 debut) but I expect she will grow into the role as have others before her.

 

It is disappointing that this programme is not being taken on tour. I would love to be able to catch Delia Matthews leading Month.

Edited by capybara
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I forgot I hadn't posted here yet! I was lucky enough to make it to the Ashton Double Bill twice - seeing the Sakuma/Caley cast of The Dream on both occasions and catching both casts in A Month in the Country. 

The Dream was exquisite on both occasions for me, the perfect mix of classical romanticism and humour! The fairies were delightful, and I particularly enjoyed Miki Mizutani, Karla Doorbar, Reina Fuchigami and Laura Purkiss as the lead four on Saturday evening. Nao Sakuma and Joseph Caley were a wonderful pairing, both with such sound technique. I did crave a little more fire in the relationship, as I feel this must just be the latest in a long line of spats between Titania and Oberon and would love this reflected in the performances! Mathias Dingman was such a joy as Puck, he really stole the show for me. 

I was swept away by A Month In The Country on both occasions; the narrative and atmosphere is so absorbing despite the short performance time. Both Delia Matthews and Samara Downs were excellent as Natalia; I think Delia just edged it for me with the subtlety of her interpretation. Both Veras (Karla Doorbar and Laura Day) were fantastic - especially Laura's passionate acting towards the end. Despite Iain Mackay's beautiful dancing in the adage solo, I really loved Jamie Bond's interpretation - more of a loveable rogue! 

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