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Thought I might try the Stratford Picture House for Raymonda next month as I have never seen it before but was a bit shocked to find it lasts 250 minutes! Does this include intervals?

 

The Phoenix in East Finchley gives a running time of 2 hours 35mins, maybe your cinema made a typo and means 2 hours 50 mins rather than 250 minutes !

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Thanks everyone for the reassurance - I'm now seriously thinking about booking. Is the cast known or is it only announced nearer to the time of transmission?

 

According to Svetlana Zakharova's website she should be dancing in Raymonda on 24th June.

 

My local cinema says it's 3 hours and 45 minutes long!

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Just got home from seeing La Fille at the cinema in Preston and had to log on immediately to say what a joy it was. I thought the whole cast was wonderful but special mention to Roberta and Steven. They were sensational!!!!!!!!! I can't remember such an enjoyable and moving performance in all my 25 years of ballet going. I was moved to tears for the final pas de deux which sounds a bit strange for Fille but it was such perfect dancing and such a perfect interpretation. Being able to see facial expressions in close up made such a diference too as you often miss out on such details when you're in the amphi. I only regret cinemas don't show repeats of ballets. I would have gone every night for a week (or longer). Please issue a dvd of it, despite the others available. This was such a special performance I'm already desperate to see it again. Joan

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Just got home from seeing La Fille at the cinema in Preston and had to log on immediately to say what a joy it was. I thought the whole cast was wonderful but special mention to Roberta and Steven. They were sensational!!!!!!!!! I can't remember such an enjoyable and moving performance in all my 25 years of ballet going. I was moved to tears for the final pas de deux which sounds a bit strange for Fille but it was such perfect dancing and such a perfect interpretation. Being able to see facial expressions in close up made such a diference too as you often miss out on such details when you're in the amphi. I only regret cinemas don't show repeats of ballets. I would have gone every night for a week (or longer). Please issue a dvd of it, despite the others available. This was such a special performance I'm already desperate to see it again. Joan

 

I agree with Joan that it was a wonderful evening - so good to see everything so clearly and superb dancing. We also enjoyed the two films preceding the two acts - it made a good introduction for the friend with me who has not seen much ballet. So a really enjoyable evening and looking forward to seeing more like it. It would be really nice if the they would do a live relay of a matinee eg Alice next season - then I can take grandchildren.

 

Margaret

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Did anyone see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake in 3D ? It was due to be shown at Watford Palace Theatre this afternoon but the immediate area suffered a power cut so after an hours wait with fingers crossed we were all told that the screening would not take place and although the power was restored 2 minutes later, there was then not enough time to set up and run the film. I do hope that no one had made a long journey to Watford :(

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I'd heartily recomend watching ballet at the cinema. No its not the same as the theatre but there are a lot of pluses.

First it is an awful lot cheaper.Second, you do get great close ups. Third, the behind the scenes footage and interviews during the intervals are a womderful insight and fun.. Lastly, I think it goes a long way to demystify ballet and hopefully introduce it to a wider audience. Also its easy to do and a good deal less formal.T shirt and jeans, rainy sunday afternoon with a friend in a warm cinema watching great dancers...what's not to like ????

If you haven't tried it well worth giving it a go. Also, where else are you going to get to see the Bolshoi ?

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Watford Palace have rescheduled Matthew Bourne's 3D Swan Lake for this Saturday, June 9th, at 7:30 - let's hope they have sorted out the water in the junction box problem as the rain doesn't look like it is going to stop any time soon :)

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Just saw Raymonda - with Maria Alexandrova and Ruslan Skvortsov and it was fabulous. Beautiful dancing , costumes and sets the whole thing was sumptuous. I really like Maria Alexandrova so was more than happy to see her in the role of Raymonda. It was a really good transmission no hiccups and good shots of the important bits. The music was glorious.

 

I am looking foward now the live screening of The Pharoah's Daughter on 25 November!

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It was a really good transmission no hiccups and good shots of the important bits.

 

We lost part of the second act when the satellite connection froze, for 7 minutes according to the Pathe Live rep who was interviewed during the interval that followed. I thought it was a glitch that affected the transmission everywhere but if you had no hiccups that wasn't the case. It was indeed fabulous, a very good end to this season of telecasts. The new season looks wonderful, but with the again very poor turnout in my local cinema I'm not getting my hopes up.

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We had the NDT adverts during the transmission, too, although I'm not sure to what extent they'll be being shown in the UK. What I saw didn't entice me sufficiently to make me go out of my way to see it (and all Picturehouses are "out of my way" from where I live).

 

We did have some rather sticky patches in transmission, but fortunately most of them were just prior to the performance, although one of Jean de Brienne's early entries did get messed up for a minute or two.

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Oh no, I was planning to watch it this evening! I'll have to be quicker off the mark next time. When will we know if Picturehouse cinemas will be showing the next lot of Bolshoi live screenings? I'd really like to see Don Q as I've never seen it.

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On the French sites, they're saying that the outage was due to the European Football Championships hogging all the satellite capacity, or words to that effect.

 

What I really want to know is, what on earth happened to the White Lady? How can you have Raymonda without her? (or have I been watching the Trocks too much? :) )

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Yes alison you have! after all she only brings on the mobile phone doesn't she? Despite all the careful planning and diary warnings i missed it (partly because i have vowed not to go within a 5 mile radius of stratford east london until at least september!) - still i will always have paris where i saw the divine maria A. as raymonda a couple? of xmas's ago

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What I really want to know is, what on earth happened to the White Lady? How can you have Raymonda without her? (or have I been watching the Trocks too much? :) )

 

 

One of the things I like about the reconstructed Scala production is the mime sequence for the White Lady when she descends from her pedestal and leads Raymonda into the garden for the vision scene, in fact the whole story is made clear when the mime is restored, another moment is the adagio when Jean de Brienne appears in full Crusader costume and presents his sword to Raymonda, who then dances with it before stabbing it into the floor, completely dotty but charming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We do not get to see the Bolshoi Raymonda until later in July. But I gather it is basically the same Grigorovitch production as can be seen in the DVD with Ludmilla Semenyaka or Natalia Bessmertnova. He revised it in 2003 and the differences seem to be 1. the excision of the white lady. 2. changed sets (at least in Act 2 of which I saw a glimpse in a promo) more in line with the original sets. 3. some updated costumes (though not that of Jean de Brienne) by Simon Virsaladze.

I think the Paris Raymonda is fantastic but I understand that it has been deleted from the repertoire now and the sets and costumes have already been disposed of. The last revival in 2008 was very poorly coached, and under rehearsed. And it showed.

It was filmed for DVD at the time but there is no sign of it being released.

 

(The dancers do not like the Nureyev repertoire and bit by bit the productions are being discarded. Sleeping Beauty has not been danced for years.)

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Well, his Beauty is alive and well in Canada where the dancers say they love it - presumably Ms. Kain is a fan too - nor do I think Mademoiselle Lefevre's view of the Nureyev productions is other than fully in favour - after all they fill the Bastille, one of the biggest theatres in Europe, for weeks night after night

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We do not get to see the Bolshoi Raymonda until later in July. But I gather it is basically the same Grigorovitch production as can be seen in the DVD with Ludmilla Semenyaka or Natalia Bessmertnova.

 

Stucha, thank you for the information, I adore Semenyaka and didn't know this DVD existed. It even seems to be available on Amazon, hurrah!

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Tim, I think La Scala have the Nureyev Beauty as well, but I could be wrong there. It is good to hear the Canadians still do it. My comments were about POB only. I think the company underrates his productions and don't realise what treasures they have. It is a tragedy they have discarded Raymonda. At least they are doing Don Q next season.

In the French ballet blogs Madame Lefevre is quoted as saying that it is probably time that the Nureyev productions are replaced, but also says that it will not happen during her tenure as director. But as that finishes next year, it remains to be seen what will happen. Manuel Legris is often mentioned as a possible replacement for her and he is a Nureyev fan. Interesting times for the company.

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Tim, I think La Scala have the Nureyev Beauty as well, but I could be wrong there.

 

You're not wrong. I have a recording of a TV broadcast of their Nureyev Beauty with Vishneva as Aurora

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