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Bolshoi cinema broadcast feedback thread 2016-17


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Firstly, to answer (in part) the previous post, it was announced during the Bolshoi's live relay today that they will open the cinema season with Le Corsaire and end with Coppelia.

 

It was a delight to see Etudes again, although I think that the version given may have been a longer one than that shown by ENB. That's the way to end a triple bill on a real high.

 

The programme was a well-balanced one. The Cage (Robbins) is 'interesting' but mercifully short (15 mins). I think maybe that one needs to be Russian to appreciate The Russian Seasons (Ratmansky). It seemed more straightforward in its 12 episodes than The Human Seasons but it felt like a series of folk-like dances which didn't really go anywhere or have any depth.

 

Yet again, there was a need to intervene to persuade the cinema to adjust the frame of the projection to ensure the audience could see dancers' feet. Success achieved by the time Etudes started!

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I saw the broadcast today. I only liked Etudes the rest was meh and I nearly fell asleep. Some of the camera work was poor in Etudes as one half of the stage was missed out when both Chudin and Ovcharenko were dancing simultaneously which was a shame. Felt it was a bit of a waste of money for me. Live and learn.

Edited by Don Q Fan
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Sorry moderators- I posted on the News thread- foolish mistake.

agree Don Q about the rotten camera work in that ill-judged moment when they moved away from Chudin/Ovcharenko- I was unable to help myself muttering 'Back, go back!' Chudin was on lovely form. He has that  quality of taste, restraint and artistry.

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A lovely afternoon -agree this was a well balanced programme. I expected to like The Cage the least but I absolutely loved it. I found it so dramatically satisfying and economical and tense. In contrast The Russian Seasons felt as it could have been shorter and it would have felt tighter. There was a section towards the middle with the girl in orange, devoid of partner and a wonderful section of the most moving music with the singer which I found very poignant. Less keen on all those endless strident strings accompanying movements that looked as if they were depicting harvest and made me feel that this was some kind of homage to Soviet collective farming. There seemed to be such an uplift in the musical quality and emotional depth of the choreography in the sung sections.

 

I could find very little about this or the other works on the Bolshoi website, and the usual information sheet just had timings and cast. I suppose they thought that as the ballets were plotless it wasn't necessary but it would have been interesting to know the words for the soprano part.

 

Etudes I was expecting to like the most but for me it came second after The Cage.

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It was a delight to see Etudes again, although I think that the version given may have been a longer one than that shown by ENB. That's the way to end a triple bill on a real high.

 

The programme was a well-balanced one. The Cage (Robbins) is 'interesting' but mercifully short (15 mins). I think maybe that one needs to be Russian to appreciate The Russian Seasons (Ratmansky). It seemed more straightforward in its 12 episodes than The Human Seasons but it felt like a series of folk-like dances which didn't really go anywhere or have any depth.

 

The Russian Seasons is, unfortunately, weak, no match for Lander's Etudes, I am afraid somebody at Bolshoi made a calculation to the effect that Ratmansky's name 'sells' no matter what you show. Perhaps in New York, not in London (or Paris).

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The Russian Seasons is, unfortunately, weak, no match for Lander's Etudes, I am afraid somebody at Bolshoi made a calculation to the effect that Ratmansky's name 'sells' no matter what you show. Perhaps in New York, not in London (or Paris).

 

That's interesting.  I think RS would be a great hit here in San Francisco.  I am not a fan of everything Ratmanksy does, but his ability here to create inventive choreography that interacts fully with musical forms and ideas seems to put him in the same league as Balanchine and Mark Morris.  Each time I watch this ballet more is revealed, and frankly, that's what I look for in a work of art.  Having said that, today's was not the best performance I've seen of this work. 

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Our transmission today in California did not seem to be in HD -- it was washed out and fuzzy.  It looks better streamed on my Mac from the Bolshoi website.

 

I actually liked The Cage and was surprised at how well the Bolshoi danced this avant garde kind of work. I don't know if the movements were exactly as Robbins would have wanted them, but the dancers certainly conveyed something quite unusual and creepy.  Those pyramids of bodies were extraordinary -- it was hard to tell which body parts belonged to whom!

 

I loved Russian Seasons.  I can't get over the beauty of the music (yes, including the violin hijinks!) and the gorgeous soprano. As for the dancers,  Krysanova (girl in red) was good but oddly lacking in energy, especially when compared to the standard set by Natalia Osipova, whose performance you can see on YouTube.  I thought that tiny Anna Nikulina's performance as the girl in green was quite remarkable, very different from that of the tall girls (e.g. Shipulina) who usually dance this part.  The song of grief (for want of a better word) danced by Stepanova as the girl in orange was poignant and somehow formally satisfying with its thrice repeated refrain, sensitively danced each time with subtle variations.  What are the words to this song? i wish I knew.  The last of the 12 sections, about marriage and (premature?) death were, to me, immensely effective as a reflection on the brevity of life.  On the technical side, the lighting was weird, with dancers' faces intermittently in shadow, often at inopportune times, who knows why.

 

Etudes.  Well. Having gotten used to the Mariinsky version danced by Tereshkina or Novikova, backed by that glorious Mariinsky corps, I can only say the Bolshoi has a way to go.  It wasn't BAD bad, but the lack of uniformity in the corps, the tentativeness of the soloists (my goodness, what happened to Chudin?) and the general atmosphere of terror made it uncomfortable for me to watch. For the first time in memory, Olga Smirnova fell off point!  I'm sure after a number of performances it will be much better, but it seems this worldwide premiere was overly ambitious.  Have to add that I liked Ovcharenko's evident good humor, even when things weren't going exactly perfectly. :)

Edited by Lexy
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I must admit, I was very surprised to see the Bolshoi broadcasting two company premieres to a worldwide audience: I do think that's a bit tough on the dancers.

 

So, can anyone confirm (or correct) the running order and rough running time as follows?

 

The Cage - full-length interval - Russian Seasons - interval - Etudes?  That was *so* not the impression given by any of the websites :(

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I enjoyed The Cage - it's a ballet that I've been wanting to see every since I read about it, in Balanchine's Festival of Ballet. I found Russian Seasons a bit dull and confusing. There was no contrast between the four seasons. I found Etudes patchy but as Lexy said, it might improve over time. When I was watching Etudes, I was thinking I'm sure I'd seen Tamara Rojo do it years ago, and reading capybara's post above, maybe I did.
 
Ten people in the Dudley cinema - bliss after the 40 or so for Swan Lake - much less chit chat during the performances.

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Just finished watching this triple.  Thrilled to have a chance to watch the whole and certainly to indulge in the Robbins' spare dramatic treatise, The Cage - even if this is but a shadow of other performances I have seen.  (It was as if it was a tad fuzzy whereas the others had been vibrant in their stealth defying focus.  To watch Wendy Whelan travel from innocence to the consciousness behind destruction was life changing.  The air was charge with lightening)  Part of fuzz in this Bolshoi premiere may have been due to a certain indulgence in the playing of the score - in loosening the reigns on the margins - but then that was true in varying degrees throughout - perhaps most especially in Etudes.  Russian Seasons I felt was better danced by the Bolshoi in London - with a truly stunning contribution by Osipova, a Ratmansky favourite - and certainly much more distinctly etched (which surprised me) when danced by NYCB (for whom it was created) at the Coliseum in 2008.  

 

Loved the Etudes adagio with Ovcharenko and Smirnova ... and, well, Smirnova in much of it - even when deviating on the bias her smile is so bewitching - and certainly Chudin's last vibrant solo.  T'was truly rousing in the grip of a stir.  That said, I was a little shocked how inconsistent Chudin could be here in terms of the placement of his centre (witness the first solo) and how bedraggled and botched some of the other ensembles were.  At times it looked as if they had learnt it by counts with music only added at the end - which we know wasn't the case.  Still it is a vibrant work ... and always a privilege to revisit.  I'm sure the Bolshoi will grow happily into the intoxication of its thong.  Would be grand to see this on a Bolshoi London bill for that reason.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

Five people in Dudley yesterday for A Hero Of Our Time, although one left 1/2 way through the third act.

 

I didn't really like this as a ballet. I found the story confusing and and I really didn't warm to any of the characters. There were some excellent moments, such as the drowning and having musicians on stage, but overall I found it quite dull. I think the second act was the strongest but I found the bit where Yanko emerges from the fat woman just plain weird. I very much liked the score.

 

Perhaps the most interesting bit of the broadcast was watching the stage crew setup for act three. There was a lot of fake parquetry flooring to lay and it took them nearly all of the interval.

 

Did anyone else think that Svetlana Zakharova looked a bit off-form? Maybe this role didn't suit her as she is fab in the classics. Ekaterina Shipulina I thought danced beautifully as Undine. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, trog said:

Five people in Dudley yesterday for A Hero Of Our Time, although one left 1/2 way through the third act.

 

Not many at the Phoenix in East Finchley (usually rammed) either. But then it's a new(ish) work, based on a book many people in the UK don't know.

 

Quote

I didn't really like this as a ballet. I found the story confusing and and I really didn't warm to any of the characters. There were some excellent moments, such as the drowning and having musicians on stage, but overall I found it quite dull. I think the second act was the strongest but I found the bit where Yanko emerges from the fat woman just plain weird.

 

I know what you mean Trog. My heart sank slightly when the (always amazing) presenter, who yesterday I finally worked out is the head of the Bolshoi press office, told us that the book A Hero Of Our Time is "perhaps the most famous book in Russian literature" (there was me thinking this might be War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov or Eugene Onegin). My sense is that the makers of this ballet therefore relied heavily on the audience's familiarity with the source material, a familiarity we don't share.

 

Having looked at a summary of the book online it seems the novel is not only episodic but also multilayered in its narrative styles and somewhat interior in its expression (indeed as hinted at by the presenter of the ballet). This might further remove it from direct appreciation by a western audience. Which is another way of saying, like many novels, particularly clever and complicated ones, it is not perhaps obviously well suited to be set as a ballet.

 

However my real problem with the ballet was the relatively limited range of choreographic expression. There was a lot of dancing, yes, and it was all pretty amazing in a Bolshoi sort of a way, but the vocabulary struck me as fairly repetitive, which may have drawn attention to narrative slackness. Perhaps that is another reason you might have found it dull?

 

I have a completely different question: anyone know why the Bolshoi website has this marked as "Adults only"? Yes, the choreography for the women had a few visit-to-the-gynaecologist lifts but everyone stayed dressed and nothing explicit happened, so what am I missing?

Edited by Geoff
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Don't disagree trog.

I did think Smirnova was beautiful in act 1- she brought the most exquisite phrasing and line to what was really a fairly unsatisfactory chaacrter and sceanrio.

Overall it seemed to be Man mistreats women and then ehines x 3, not really brigning out what Lermontov's novel is about.

 

Act 2 I could have done without entirely.

Act 3 seemed much more successful to me and could almost stand alone. I liked the inetersting set of a 19th C gym with soldiers in different states of well being adding interest to the dancing. i thought the wheelchair dancers were moving and oustandingly skilled.

The music was very good I agree- and especially the fine soloists. A lot of the choreography seemed vaguely recognisable from here and there.

On the whole, there was much I really liked  a lot, but,  it didn't work as a coherent piece for me.

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1 hour ago, Geoff said:

I know what you mean Trog. My heart sank slightly when the (always amazing) presenter, who yesterday I finally worked out is the head of the Bolshoi press office, told us that the book A Hero Of Our Time is "perhaps the most famous book in Russian literature" (there was me thinking this might be War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov or Eugene Onegin). My sense is that the makers of this ballet therefore relied heavily on the audience's familiarity with the source material, a familiarity we don't share.

 

Yes I wondered about that too. BTW Crime and Punishment might be another candidate. I read War and Peace once; I found it extremely well written but quite boring.

 

1 hour ago, Mary said:

Act 3 seemed much more successful to me and could almost stand alone. I liked the inetersting set of a 19th C gym with soldiers in different states of well being adding interest to the dancing.

 

Here are some illustrations of the actual gym equipment featured Dr. Zander's exercise machines

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Thanks for the link trog - these machines look like the inspiration for Joseph Pilates machines. He emigrated to America in 1926 after developing 'Contrology' during his several years internment here. His method  later became known as Pilates.

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Enjoyed Act 1 and most of Act 2-thought Act 3 very clever, loved the use of the wheelchair dancers, but I thought some of it could have been cut, it felt overlong in parts, and instead, I would have loved the exquisite final section to be extended instead- the music and the 3 Heros was very moving and left tingles down the spine. Overall it felt to me like a slightly uneasy mix between episodic and more reflective, with perhaps too much narrative being squeezed in. A more dreamlike approach with use of the idea of the 3 different versions of the Hero throughout instead of just at the end perhaps?

 

Absolutely loved the music and the singing especially that final section.

Edited by pianolady
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  • 4 years later...

The Bolshoi dancing The Golden Age is being streamed on the Marquee Channel. If anyone else is able to see it I would love to hear their opinion. I'm new to the forum and not a dancer myself. I found it absolutely stunning, the choreography in the speakeasies [14 minutes in] being reminiscent of Macmillan's Elite Syncopations. The original ballet dates from 1930, this choreography from 1982 and the black-and-white costumes quite amazing in the way they enhance the choreography.

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15 hours ago, RosiesDream said:

The Bolshoi dancing The Golden Age is being streamed on the Marquee Channel. If anyone else is able to see it I would love to hear their opinion. I'm new to the forum and not a dancer myself. I found it absolutely stunning, the choreography in the speakeasies [14 minutes in] being reminiscent of Macmillan's Elite Syncopations. The original ballet dates from 1930, this choreography from 1982 and the black-and-white costumes quite amazing in the way they enhance the choreography.


I watched this ballet free during the Bolshoi lockdown livestreams … loved it.      Great cast.  Nina Kaptsova was mesmerising, Ruslan Skvortsov smooth and dashing.  Mikhail Lobukhin in his prime … always gives a dramatic performance. 
 

I’ve only come to know the Grigirovich ballets later in my balletomane life … they are so rich and this is one of his best IMO.   Love the jazzy scene you mention. 

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16 hours ago, RosiesDream said:

The Bolshoi dancing The Golden Age is being streamed on the Marquee Channel. If anyone else is able to see it I would love to hear their opinion. I'm new to the forum and not a dancer myself.

 

A belated welcome to the forum, RosiesDream.  As we already had a(n old) thread for discussing The Golden Age, I've moved your post to it.

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