The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker, London, November 2016

[Colman]

I much prefer that production to the ones I've seen where it's all "just a dream" - it makes the narrative structure of the ballet much more satisfying.

 

Thought it was really nicely done last nice: Hayward and Campbell did a wonderful job.

[zxDaveM]

Ok, one question that my daughter asked that stumped me - when did the gingerbreads appear?

 

I always thought they were the 'nationals' attacked by the mice at the start of the battle - though I can't say I'm in any way certain about that!! :-)

[zxDaveM]

 

 

But I resisted: obviously we need lots of cutting around or we'll get bored.

 

fast cutting around has ruined live music coverage. I want to see the band, not how clever you are at snapping between different camera angles... grrrr!

[FLOSS]

I do hope that some of those who were frustrated by the clever camera work actually post their concerns on the ROH website so that the organisation knows what you think about last night's streaming. Perhaps the powers that be need to be told that while some people may find close ups of a dancer's left nostril, or dancers cut off at the knees of particular interest most people interested in dance don't. Perhaps they need to be reminded that there is a whole audience out there who are interested in dancers dancing, and that for that part of their audience what dancer's feet are doing is more important than most of the close ups they choose to show. I don't feel entitled to comment on the editorial choices as I was not at the cinema last night.

Edited December 9, 2016 by FLOSS

[Lindsay]

Dave is right, the White Lodge children playing the small 'national dress' figures in the mouse fight scene are supposed to represent gingerbread decorations from the tree that have come to life.

[Two Pigeons]

I saw the cinema relay last night and found it hugely interesting.  Hubby came with me at his own request, which thrilled me more than I can tell you.  He has only ever seen one live Ballet at the was the BRB Nutcracker last year so his take on it was very valuable.

 

I will start with the negatives.  The venue we were seeing it in was highly uncomfortable with very little leg room.  good job it is such a short ballet.  We were surrounded by a group of girl guides who had all been given food in plastic containers which they happily chomped and rattled all the way through the first act.  Grrrrr.

 

I agree about the overly frenetic short cutting and we lost the sound momentarily about half a dozen times through the broadcast.  I was most amused when Alessandra Ferri turned up and talked for what seemed like 15 minutes about Woolf Works.  I was sorry no one asked her about the time she described the Royal Ballet as 'the sinking ship' as she jumped it for greater stardom at ABT.  Sorry, not a lady I have ever warmed to.

 

Lastly, for the second consecutive broadcast I have seen the weak link was Frederico Bonelli.  Not only was his partnering a real strain which showed in the close ups but his solo went all over the place.  

 

I was at the premiere of this production in 1984 and I have pretty clear memories of it.  I remember the Opera House being decorated with the most wonderful flowers and all the Royal Family in the Grand Tier.  I also remember the principal sponsor, one Robert Maxwell, being looking like a stuffed sausage in evening dress and trying to get to speak to the Royals.

 

It was very interesting to see how much of the later BRB production has been interpolated into the RB one and how similar in choreographic terms they are to each other in the second act.  The amendments to the Chinese dance were welcome but I found the endless angels as wearisome as ever.

 

Right, the positives - 

 

Francesca Hayward

Francesca Hayward 

Francesca Hayward

 

I was really keen to see her as we are both from Worthing and I have read so much of the buzz about her shows.  Well, the girl is an utter star and I can see why she really is the hot hope for the future of British Ballet.

 

I loved Alex Campbell, but then I always did, and I really enjoyed Sir Peter lapping up all the honour and affection bestowed on him. It still makes me smile that he says he didn't like Giselle but has turned out the finest productions of it ever.  I still think Darcey should not do interviews but the real warmth between them really showed.  had I been in the theatre I would happily have given Sir Peter a standing ovation to thank him for enriching my ballet going existence since I first saw SWRB in his production of, what else, Giselle with Margaret Barbieri.

 

On the way out I said to hubby that it was interesting that the dreaded girl guides who had made such a noise through Act 1 were so quiet during Act 2. his reaction was that he was pleased he had seen the live version first which had made him want to see the ballet again and was interested to see a screening.  Having said that he really missed the interaction of being part of an audience which could applaud and feel part of the performance.  Had he seen the screening first he would have been less keen to see the live performance.

 

Even more interestingly he said that with BRB he loved the first act and all the cosy Christmas goings on but was less involved with the second.  With the RB version it was the other way around, not least as he was not that enraptured by the transformation scene and he missed the mice and the entrance of King Rat.  

 

Anyway, looking forward to Woolf Works, Jewels and - best of all - the Ashton triple, but I will be seeking a more comfortable cinema in which to view them.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Two Pigeons

[JohnS]

Wonderful performance last night. I just hope Francesca carries on dancing Clara - loved her SPF debut but for me it's Clara's ballet and she is exquisite. I recall her Clara in 2013/14 and it's been a privilege to see her triumph in so many roles since then. Aurora in February will be special.

Many thanks to Alex, Gary et al for making an unforgettable evening. I thought the camera work was better than on some occasions and certainly captured the magical moment when Clara recognises her necklace and its import - for me very much the start of Christmas.

[Colman]

The camera work settled down a lot in the second act - the director had obviously run out of steam trying to impose a cinematic playbook on a load of non-narrative dancing.

[thewinelake]

Thanks for the gingerbread info - we were curious because the girl being interviewed said she was a gingerbread so we were looking out for her!

Fast panning was a problem at our cinema and the screen could usefully have been wider and higher definition. Gauzes don't work so well on camera either...

[Colman]

Floss, I've complained on Twitter and (at rather more length) on their web page. We'll see if it makes it through moderation.

[Arky]

A delight from start to finish. Francesca was outstanding and we were treated to a marvellous pdd from Lauren and Federico. Indeed, all of last night’s dancers gave of their best and seemed to enjoy dancing as much as we enjoyed watching them. What a memorable evening!

[alison]

Sounds as though I didn't miss much by giving the screening a miss - and I'm sure the audience will have appreciated the absence of my coughing.  But yes, I agree, if you felt the filming fell below par, do let your feelings be known in the right place - only that way will we get improvement.  When you're shelling out £20 for a cinema ticket, you deserve a premium experience.

[JohnS]

I'm sorry you're under the weather Alison. Whilst some comments above are critical of the camera work, others are supportive and many of the comments here and on the ROH website highlight how much people enjoyed the relay. If you're feeling better, I'd strongly recommend catching the encore!

[Fonty]

Unfortunately, I could not make yesterday's film showing, and I am out all day Sunday. What a pity. 

[Jam Dancer]

Sadly, I couldn't make yesterday's performance (or the live cinema relay) but I thought I'd thank those of you that commented for your sense of humour and giving me a sense of what went on. @Colman - you made me guffaw out loud.  I've only managed to see one Nutcracker this year and normally I wouldn't be that bothered but this year I honestly think I could attend each performance (OK - perhaps the different casts).  After the kicking 2016 has given me, I am in need of all the calories that the SPF and her gang can provide.  It probably would've been a good thing to try Friday Rush today to try and snag a cheeky ticket for Monday's performance...

[JulieW]

The gingerbreads were certainly there!!! You don't get to see much of them but they start off in the dolls house and they're on stage while the fortress is coming out and the fight starts.

 

I've seen many an RB Nutcracker and I enjoyed the one last night more than I have for a while. Frankie was lovely (I saw her when she first did it and commented back then that she was the best Clara I'd seen) for the same reasons others like her, and loved Lauren and Frederico.

 

I too was annoyed by the camera work early on - too much close up stuff, but I didn't feel that in the second act. That's my Christmas started now.

[Saodan]

The issue of questionable camera work was raised in the comments on the Royal Opera House website for the Anastasia screening. One commenter suggested that the director did not understand ballet. In response a member of staff said the director is a former Royal Ballet dancer and the intention of the camera work is to allow the audience to see the nuance and detail of the performance and draw them in to the story. I guess it remains up for debate whether they achieve this... 

 

I actually spent about a year watching recordings of ballet, and thoroughly enjoying them, before I bit the financial bullet of going to a performance. Now, I find recordings frustrating. I really don't like having my attention directed to what someone deems important, rather than making my own choices. Still, you get a different perspective than you do from the auditorium. Complimentary, but perhaps not comparable experiences. 

 

Production issues aside, the performance went down very well in my local cinema, especially act II with the Diverts and Pas de Deux getting oohs and aahs and applause. It was particularly satisfying to see very few empty seats after barely a dozen turned up for Anastasia. 

[Two Pigeons]

On the whole Ross MacGibon does a very good job directing ballet videos but I think the first act of Nutcracker causes particular problems because it is so 'bitty' for want of a better word. There is a huge cast doing lots of different things rather than a corps de ballet all acting as one.

 

For all that the filming irritated me I think no director could please everyone with this particular work.

[Odyssey]

I had to miss the screening last night and am disappointed to discover how few of my local cinemas in the Midlands are showing the encore . The one near me in an arts centre is a complete sellout. Still, I had the pleasure of a BRB performance on Tuesday which was a delight.

[taxi4ballet]

The issue of questionable camera work was raised in the comments on the Royal Opera House website for the Anastasia screening. One commenter suggested that the director did not understand ballet. In response a member of staff said the director is a former Royal Ballet dancer and the intention of the camera work is to allow the audience to see the nuance and detail of the performance and draw them in to the story. I guess it remains up for debate whether they achieve this... 

I don't want nuance and detail during a big scene, I want to be able to see the whole thing, not close-ups. The whole mice/soldier scene was completely ruined last night. Furthermore...I want to be able to see the dancers' bloody feet!

[Fonty]

The issue of questionable camera work was raised in the comments on the Royal Opera House website for the Anastasia screening. One commenter suggested that the director did not understand ballet. In response a member of staff said the director is a former Royal Ballet dancer and the intention of the camera work is to allow the audience to see the nuance and detail of the performance and draw them in to the story. I guess it remains up for debate whether they achieve this... 

 

I agree that some of the camera work is very odd, given that the director is an ex dancer.  I can only assume that the film course he went on trained him to use tricksy angles, and told him that feet were very dull in comparison to faces.

[FLOSS]

Two Pigeons I was not at the ROH last night nor at a cinema watching the performance.You say that Bonelli's "solo went all over the place" I am curious as to what exactly he was doing.last night to make you say that. His performance earlier on in the run did not look radically different from what Muntagirov was doing a couple of nights back.

 

I was also at the premiere of this production.The grand pas de deux is now, perhaps,the only bit of the original Ivanov/Petipa choreography in the current production. But even if the choreographic text has not been altered by Sir Peter performing style and musicality have altered so much since the 1980's I suspect that a comparison between between the ballet then and now might come as a bit of a shock.

 

Ivy Lin. Of course one difference between your response to Nureyev's version and, say mine, is that Nureyev's was the first production of the Nutcracker which I saw. Wild horses would not have got me to go to a more traditional version of the ballet, if ballet going as a child had been a possibility.My ballet going habit was prompted by seeing Christopher Bruce in Pierrot Lunaire. Not, I think, the conventional route to ballet going.

 

I still think that de Valois' assessment of the relative merits of the RB's current production and the production it replaced were spot on. Her opinion of Nureyev's production can be found on at least one Nureyev documentary.In short she thought the Nureyev production was the best she had seen and she said that she could not understand why the company had got rid of it. I seem to recall that by the end of the interval on the first night Madam's opinion of the new production had miraculously made its way to the Amphi. In the Nureyev documentary she also commented that she did not care whose version the Nureyev production really was. The point here is that large sections of the version of the Nutcracker which Nureyev staged for the RB bore a striking resemblance to Vainonen's 1934 staging for the Kirov. The reality is that both Nureyev's and Bayshnikov's stagings of Nutcracker owed a considerable debt to the Kirov's iconic production.Nureyev's version contained quite a bit of choreography devised to show him to best advantage rather than the over elaborate balletic show jumping course which appears in later versions. He also set about giving the ballet psychological depth. This approach worked in the theatre as it had the over all effect of creating a ballet which worked on different levels for the adults and children in the audience.

 

I had always understood that the score for this ballet was the finest of the composer's ballet scores and that it had been let down by its original libretto and choreography which had failed to produce a ballet which matched up to its music.As I knew no other version I had nothing with which to compare the Nureyev version. It has taken more than twenty years to give the current production the level of detail it now enjoys. The dancers now have a tradition to work with but even so I still think that Nureyev's production for the RB is the one which gets closest to doing full justice to the score.

Edited December 9, 2016 by FLOSS

[alison]

Unfortunately, I could not make yesterday's film showing, and I am out all day Sunday. What a pity. 

 

Fonty, I don't know if there's a Picturehouse anywhere near you, but someone recently referred to them doing weekday daytime repeats of RB broadcasts, if that's any good to you.

[thewinelake]

Is there a page somewhere talking about the technical side of these broadcasts?

[MAB]

Two Pigeons I was not at the ROH last night nor at a cinema watching the performance.You say that Bonelli's "solo went all over the place" I am curious as to what exactly he was doing.last night to make you say that. His performance earlier on in the run did not look radically different from what Muntagirov was doing a couple of nights back.

 

I was also at the premiere of this production.The grand pas de deux is now, perhaps,the only bit of the original Ivanov/Petipa choreography in the current production. But even if the choreographic text has not been altered by Sir Peter performing style and musicality have altered so much since the 1980's I suspect that a comparison between between the ballet then and now might come as a bit of a shock.

 

Ivy Lin. Of course one difference between your response to Nureyev's version and, say mine, is that Nureyev's was the first production of the Nutcracker which I saw. Wild horses would not have got me to go to a more traditional version of the ballet, if ballet going as a child had been a possibility.My ballet going habit was prompted by seeing Christopher Bruce in Pierrot Lunaire. Not, I think, the conventional route to ballet going.

 

I still think that de Valois' assessment of the relative merits of the RB's current production and the production it replaced were spot on. Her opinion of Nureyev's production can be found on at least one Nureyev documentary.In short she thought the Nureyev production was the best she had seen and she said that she could not understand why the company had got rid of it. I seem to recall that by the end of the interval on the first night Madam's opinion of the new production had miraculously made its way to the Amphi. In the Nureyev documentary she also commented that she did not care whose version the Nureyev production really was. The point here is that large sections of the version of the Nutcracker which Nureyev staged for the RB bore a striking resemblance to Vainonen's 1934 staging for the Kirov. The reality is that both Nureyev's and Bayshnikov's stagings of Nutcracker owed a considerable debt to the Kirov's iconic production.Nureyev's version contained quite a bit of choreography devised to show him to best advantage rather than the over elaborate balletic show jumping course which appears in later versions. He also set about giving the ballet psychological depth. This approach worked in the theatre as it had the over all effect of creating a ballet which worked on different levels for the adults and children in the audience.

 

I had always understood that the score for this ballet was the finest of the composer's ballet scores and that it had been let down by its original libretto and choreography which had failed to produce a ballet which matched up to its music.As I knew no other version I had nothing with which to compare the Nureyev version. It has taken more than twenty years to give the current production the level of detail it now enjoys. The dancers now have a tradition to work with but even so I still think that Nureyev's production for the RB is the one which gets closest to doing full justice to the score.

 

Agree wholeheartedly.  For anyone with an interest in the Nureyev version I recommend reading Nureyev by John Percival (1975) as it has a huge section on Nureyev's working methods and describes vividly his instructions to the dancers in this ballet.  Written during Nureyev's lifetime it gives a clearer idea of the artist at work than the many biographies published after his death, some of which were execrable and the majority written by authors that never saw him at the height of his powers.

[FrankH]

Although it's now three days past since I attended the live screeing at my local Curzon cinema, I feel I have to express my appreciation for one of the most entrancing performances I have seen, since I first began to take a serious interest in ballet two years ago.

 

I have only a rudimentary knowledge of the finer points of ballet technique, so I can only add my subjective opinion on what seemed to me the highlights of the performance, and of the live screening.

 

Negatives? Almost none for me. I agree that, in the first act especially, the live screening could have done less switching away from the dancers' feet. I understand that those with more advanced ballet appreciation than myself, would find this frustrating. Yet in this particular performance I found that the occasional switch to other features of the dancers actually enhanced my appreciation. I will explain shortly.

 

The ballet itself? While Sir Peter Wright has clearly done a great deal to improve on the original libretto, it still doesn't quite work for me. There's still the fact that Clara is largely irrelevant, dramatically speaking, in the second act. I saw a version by the Moscow City Ballet last year in which the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy + Prince were eliminated. The Grand Pas de Deux was danced by Clara and, if I recall correctly, as a Pas de Trois. While this might not be the best solution, something along these lines should be attempted. SPW's version still makes more sense than the original mess, which as it stood, hardly qualifies as "narrative ballet" at all.

 

Positives? Too many beautiful performances to mention all, but one standout - Francesca Hayward. I had read a lot about this young lady. She must be the most "hyped" young ballet dancer in the UK at present, and has even received what is probably for the general public the ultimate imprimatur - great praise from Darcey Bussell! This screening was the first time I have seen Francesca Hayward in anything like a major role. So is the hype justified? Yes, yes, yes......and many more so! I can't think of many instances when I have been so captivated by an artistic performance. I am not qualified to judge her technique, except that she seemed to make the difficult and demanding look easy and effortless. But important as technique is, great art is about more than this. I read that Maria Callas had an imperfect vocal technique, but she overcame this through force of personality, and her ability as an actress, to become one of the greatest operatic sopranos. She had, forgive my use of a now overused term, the "X Factor".

 

And Francesca Hayward has this too, in "buckets". I did not see her in "Manon", but I remember reading a review which highlighted the emotional intensity of her performance. That was in a role which clearly demands such an intensity to perform properly. Here, in the much lighter role of Clara, she lit up the stage whenever she was involved. And here was the positive side of the rather peculiar editing in the screening of the first act. No, we don't need close-ups of her left nostril, but I certainly appreciated a few close-ups of her very expressive face.Those in the audience at the ROH will have missed out on this, unless they sat near the front or had binoculars. But I expect that even at a distance, something of the extra special quality of her performance will have come across. I now appreciate what all the hype has been about, and I hope that many more will do so as well.

 

Apart from her, I must mention the Grand Pas de Deux, not of course danced by Clara in this version. The first part of the Pdd, the realy "Grand" bit, is for me one of the most moving pieces of music ever written. I cannot listen to it without my eyes watering up. What a genius Tchaikovsky was! Of all the great composers he is the one who seems to find the surest path to the heart-strings, and the tear ducts.

 

I could simply listen to any of his ballet scores with pleasure. But seeing the dancing adds so much to the experience, if of course the choreography and dancing matches the music. On Thursday night it certainly did. FLOSS writes above that the Gpdd is the only bit of the original Ivanov/Petipa choreography to survive in the present production. This must be because SPW felt he couldn't improve on it.

 

So thanks to the Royal Ballet for another uplifting experience. In a year when the worst side of human nature, its capacity for hatred, intolerance, and gullibility (for lies which suit one's own biased viewpoints) has been only too apparent, it gives me a little hope that one day the designation Homo sapiens might not seem quite as inappropriate, as it all too often seems in the present world situation.

 

May I wish you all, and especially all who work to keep this forum going, a happy and blessed Christmas and New Year.

[Sim]

What a lovely review, Frank! Thanks so much, and for your kind Christmas wishes. Warm wishes right back to you.

[taxi4ballet]

I agree that, in the first act especially, the live screening could have done less switching away from the dancers' feet. I understand that those with more advanced ballet appreciation than myself, would find this frustrating. Yet in this particular performance I found that the occasional switch to other features of the dancers actually enhanced my appreciation. I will explain shortly.

Lovely review

 

The issue we had with feet was not the switching of cameras to close-ups and missing the action, but that the whole of the front of the stage seemed to be cut off at the bottom of the screen, together with the dancers' feet. For quite a lot of the first half the dancers could only be seen from the ankles up!

[Tony Newcombe]

I watched an Encore performance today in Bristol. As always there was no problem with the screening as regards cutting off the feet. It seems that this problem is cinema related. 

[zxDaveM]

I watched an Encore performance today in Bristol. As always there was no problem with the screening as regards cutting off the feet. It seems that this problem is cinema related. 

 

I went to one live showing (Winters Tale) where the dancers' feet were cut off - at the knees in fact. We all complained at the interval and to the manager's credit it was fixed. And if you complained via their website, a free token was issued to see another cinema special of your chosing.

 

It would seem that the projectionist used his judgement on this occasion to fill as much of the screen as possible from the live feed. In the 'warm up' before the curtain went up, this appeared OK and it only became apprent that it wasn't, once the dancing started. I think the live feed is not a standard cinema screen size, hence their problem.

[alison]

I think the cinema screens are all different ratios, that's the problem I know I've seen live relays on extremely wide screens, wide screens and what I'd think of as "normal" cinema screens, so I guess something has to give.

[capybara]

Amazingly, this Nutcracker thread had slipped to 22nd in the list!!!!!

 

Today's matinee saw Francesca Hayward, Alexander Campbell, Anna-Rose O'Sullivan and James Hay reprise their leading roles delightfully.

 

Right from the beginning, with her warm and lively portrayal of Clara, Anna-Rose made it feel as if she was welcoming the audience to join in the party on stage. James's Hans Peter didn't show an ounce of the tiredness he must have felt after 2 Florimunds and a Florestan since Wednesday (phew!). Frankie was an especially beautiful Sugar Plum - she has a delicacy and a soft radiance which suit the role perfectly.

 

Kudos also to the corps and character dancers for exuding so much positive energy. 

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and thank you RB !!!!

Edited December 24, 2016 by capybara

[bridiem]

Amazingly, this Nutcracker thread had slipped to 22nd in the list!!!!!

 

Today's matinee saw Francesca Hayward, Alexander Campbell, Anna-Rose O'Sullivan and James Hay reprise their leading roles delightfully.

 

Right from the beginning, with her warm and lively portrayal of Clara, Anna-Rose made it feel as if she was welcoming the audience to join in the party on stage. James's Hans Peter didn't show an ounce of the tiredness he must have felt after 2 Florimunds and a Florestan since Wednesday (phew!). Frankie was an especially beautiful Sugar Plum - she has a delicacy and a soft radiance which suit the role perfectly.

 

Kudos also to the corps and character dancers for exuding so much positive energy. 

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and thank you RB !!!!

 

Completely agree, capybara! What a joyful performance. O'Sullivan was a terrific Clara and danced with such beauty, grace and musicality. I can't wait to see her in (even) bigger roles. And Hay matched her wonderfully - they seem to have a real chemistry between them. I hadn't seen Hayward and Campbell in this yet - what a treat! Hayward exuded delight as she welcomed Clara and Hans-Peter to her kingdom - as if she too was overcome with wonder at the beauty of her world. And Campbell was proud, confident and full of chivalric pleasure as he showed off his precious princess. They both danced superbly and glittered and shimmered as they created their magic. The national dances were performed with such strength, verve and artistry, and Claire Calvert was a lovely, gentle Rose Fairy. I found Thomas Whitehead a darker Drosselmeyer than Gary Avis's, but also very powerful and commanding. Lots of children in the audience (of course) and they seemed to be spellbound, and everyone got a great reception at the end. Brilliant.