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ENB's Khan Giselle - would you buy a DVD? [NOW DVD released!]


ENB's Khan Giselle - would you buy a DVD?  

84 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you be interested in buying a DVD of English National Ballet's new Giselle by Akram Khan, if there was one?

    • Definitely
      67
    • Maybe
      8
    • No
      10


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Thought we might as well use the Poll feature for a change!  I'm thinking probably the Rojo/Streeter/Corrales/Quagebeur cast, but open to alternatives.  All views welcome, no included, so as to get an accurate idea of potential interest.

 

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I would buy a dvd of this work although I know there's nowt like actually being there. I haven't seen this Giselle live and I know some things work better than others on the small screen, but I enjoyed viewing Elizabeth on dvd recently and there is something appealing about being in the comfort of my own home, not having to deal with audience behaviour or the slog of travelling on public transport.

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I'd definitely buy the DVD - just a few minutes ago I thought about writing to Sadler's Wells and pleading for one!

As I have several DVDs of works by Khan and/or Cherkaoui which are co-produced by them I thought there might be a chance.

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I would need Alina Cojocaru as Giselle and Cesar Corrales as Hilarion which is a combination not being fielded at SW, although it was (to powerful effect) on tour.

 

and James Streeter as Albrecht, another combination not available in London: he is the one making the greater difference, IMO

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I wouldn't want to buy a DVD. I am afraid that I didn't find this piece sufficiently compelling choreographically or musically to bear repeated viewing, I will admit that bits of it were clever but large tracts of it were not. Mr Khan succeeded in established that he knew the choreography of the original Giselle, but for me at least.clever is not the same as  compelling. Giselle refracted both musically and choreographically with a few ideas culled from elsewhere such as dancing with a corpse from the end of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet and ideas which looked as if they were heavily influenced by Ashton's Five Brahm's Waltzes just did not add up to a work which I would want to view or listen to repeatedly.

 

Don't misunderstand me I have nothing against allusions,borrowing or recycling but the choreographer has to do something with the material. He has to make the ballet work and for me it he did not succeed in doing so. As far as the score is concerned I don't think that it adds up to much,a couple of sections from the original score transformed by distortion and re-orchestration giving it a vaguely Indian flavour and long sections with a lot of repetition and the sort of orchestration which suggests that something momentous is happening on stage.Unfortunately in this case there isn't. The result is a work which is underwhelming. A strong dance work is one which is not wholly dependent on a particular combination of performers for its effect. Other casts might have convinced me of the value of this work, the one I saw didn't. Anyway, fortunately for those who want a DVD, whether or not one is issued does not depend on me.

Edited by FLOSS
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I think they just don't have the money to do so. They don’t have a theatre and I don’t think any of the theatres they use have recording facilities and/or online transmissions to cinemas around the world. Being so tight on money must be a real problem and a continuous headache for ENB

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The working stage rehearsal was filmed (and apart from the recorded music was effectively a performance), but perhaps that can't/won't be used commercially?

I believe general rehearsals are only recorded for archives, using one fix camera and not close up so it would not be suitable for distribution

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The working stage rehearsal was filmed (and apart from the recorded music was effectively a performance), but perhaps that can't/won't be used commercially?

 

Bridie, that night the BBC was filming a documentary there - they would have been able to get the clips they needed of the performance from that, but it's likely not how one would approach filming a DVD version

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  • 1 year later...
  • alison changed the title to POLL: ENB's Khan Giselle - would you buy a DVD?
  • 2 months later...

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