Sim Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I have always enjoyed Matthew's performances. Partnering is important because I recall the rave reviews for the DonQ he danced with Anna Tsygankova who replaced Osipova at very short notice. I just hope he doesn't read the forum as I know many dancers do. Well even if he does there are many nice, positive words about him here. All performers know that some people will like them, and some won't. It is part of the 'job'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 ...and I can't think of another dancer who could have "grabbed the bull by its horns" with such conviction as Golding had to in Accosta's Carmen! He's a trouper, and there's a genuine quality to him in whatever he does. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Well the performances open tomorrow night and I look forward to hearing what people think about it. Who "produced" this version? It's not entirely clear to me on the website - choreography by Petipa, Ashton and Wheeldon is mentioned. My last experience of Sleeping Beauty (in 1999 IIRC) at ROH was not good - the production IMHO was so awful that I was bored rigid by Miyako Yoshida and Johan Kobborg!!! I am very much looking forward to seeing the matinee on 18th February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Who "produced" this version? Monica Mason, reviving Messel. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assoluta Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) Personally, I'm not sure I've ever bought a ticket for Beauty based on anything but who the scheduled ballerina is. I suppose if it were someone I was slightly iffy about a really good Prince might just sway me, though. (And as I started typing this I remembered that last time around Lamb was dancing with McRae) I have known performances where, after the very female-orientated Prologue and Act 1, a really special Prince has come on in Act 2 and transformed the whole proceedings Well, I 've been to Swan Lake performances where Rothbart outshone both Odette/Odile and the Prince. This does not make the point made by Alison any less valid, when deciding which Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake to see, the main factor in my decision is who the female principal is. Edited December 20, 2016 by assoluta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 The trouble is that no matter how wonderful the female principal is, if the prince is not equally wonderful/convincing the performance as a whole just doesn't work as it should (for me). Which is why performances that DO work completely are so rare and so much to be treasured. E.g. I've seen countless brilliant performances by Tamara Rojo, including in the classics, but very few where for me the show as a whole has been equally sensational because I think she has so rarely had a partner who was completely her equal. Unlike lucky Cojocaru, who has had Kobborg; and (e.g.) Lesley Collier, who had a range of brilliant male partners. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 It's good to be able to book for the dancers you particularly want to see but the two companies I follow leave casting publication very late, if at all. If you want to sit where you want to sit you have to book early and I have seen some wonderful and unexpected performances over the years because of that. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Much as I can agree with what you are saying Janet I would still make the point that were the casting available at time of booking I would spend more money. I have booked two seats for hubby's birthday for BRB's Nutcracker next year. As we were so early I got front row seats and I am sure we will have a fab time. However, for all that I know such an idea is pretty impractical a year in advance, if I could see other performances where the scheduled casts were Tyrone Singleton with Celine Gittens or Brandon Lawrence with Delia Mathews I would book a seat for me for of those as well. By the time the casting is announce the seats I would want would have gone and I am very fussy where I sit, especially at those prices. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Matthew Golding excels at the 'prince' rolls, where he is required to be handsome, charming and slightly baffled! Oh dear. This did make me laugh! I am not a fan of Sleeping Beauty but have booked a seat for Naghdi and Ball and another for Hayward and Campbell so they better be good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Shall I just change the thread title to "Matthew Golding"? Well, I suppose you could.... The elephant in the room is surely what people aren't asking which is why exactly was he brought in to RB? This is not meant as a criticism. Although I have only seen him perform four times, he has on each occasion been exemplary in his partnering, very easy on the eye and every inch the Prince. But....(and it's a big but), is an interminable diet of Sleeping Beauty really what he wants to do and how does his particular skill set fit with RB's current repertoire and direction of travel? I would appreciate some informed comment if anybody has the inside track. I read upthread that he was bought in for Osipova but I find this hard to understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Except that the question has been asked - several times. Sleeping Beauty starts in a few hours' time - perhaps we could start getting this thread back on track before then? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 … I would appreciate some informed comment if anybody has the inside track. … That would be gossip and disallowed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I do hope, as it is starting tonight, that we can hear people's views on the performances and the dancers that they see performing. I am looking forward to hearing those views. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I do hope, as it is starting tonight, that we can hear people's views on the performances and the dancers that they see performing. I am looking forward to hearing those views. As am I. Dd and I aren't seeing it until February, so reading people's thoughts on the production and performances adds to my anticipation. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Graham Spicer has put a group of new photos by Bill Cooper (©ROH) of Ms Lamb and Mr Muntagirov on his blog. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 That would be gossip and disallowed. Sorry, that came out wrong. As a relative novice to ballet, I am just always interested in the nuts and bolts and from where I sit in the junior seats, I am unsure of where this particular dancer, wonderful though he is, fits in to the scheme of things. I also wonder about Salenko when RB has so many wonderful female leads. I don't think these questions should be seen as in any way negative, I am just interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penelopesimpson Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I do hope, as it is starting tonight, that we can hear people's views on the performances and the dancers that they see performing. I am looking forward to hearing those views. Me, too. I expect there will be lots of reviews and, I hope, a lot of information sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I shall be very interested indeed, because this must be the umpteenth adaptation for the RB. I think Darcey Bussell said she was in about three different productions, didn't she? Although I love the music, I have found in the past that sections have tended to drag, particularly in the Prologue. However, I have purchased a ticket for February, so I shall keep my fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) Interested to know who danced the main roles at the General Rehearsal today - i.e. Aurora; Prince; Lilac Fairy and Carabosse. [Not asking for any comment on their dancing.] Edited December 21, 2016 by capybara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Interested to know who danced the main roles at the General Rehearsal today - i.e. Aurora; Prince; Lilac Fairy and Carabosse. [Not asking for any comment on their dancing.] In that order, Takada, Hay, Calvert (replacing Heap due to illness), Arestis. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Drat - is Heap down to do Lilac Fairy? It wasn't her who went off injured during Nutcracker the other night, was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 No, that was Tara-Brigette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) I'm not sure that I would agree that this is the umpteenth version of the Sleeping Beauty which the Royal Ballet has danced. There has not been much of a turn-over of productions in recent years. It has been dancing the same text since 2006 which, with the exception of Wheeldon's uninspired Garland dance, is the text which the company danced from 1977 to 1993 and that text was almost entirely what it had danced in 1946. Twentieth Century. The company first danced the ballet in !939 staged by Nicholai Sergeyev and designed by Nadia Benois. Then there was the famous 1946 production staged by Nicholai. Sergeyev and de Valois with designs by Oliver Messel. This was replaced in 1968 by Peter Wright's production with designs by Lila de Nobili. This was not a popular production and MacMillan replaced it with his own production in 1973. This too was a short lived production and not much liked. It was performed between 1973 and 1976 and replaced by a new production by de Valois in 1977. This production was much admired as far as the text was concerned although it was thought by some to be insufficiently grand. It lasted until 1993. In 1994 Dowell replaced it with his own production with fussy costume designs and sets by Maria Bjornson which suggested that the king's palace had struck an iceberg and was sinking. Twenty First Century. Ross Stretton decided that what the company needed was the Kirov production by Konstantine Sergeyev and gor Markarova in to stage it. That production was heartily disliked by many people who thought it was something of an insult to abandon the company's own traditions.and replace what the company usually danced with a version which was further removed from the original and only dated back to the early 1950's. It was only performed in in 2003 and 2004. Mason scrapped it and staged the current version in 2006. I believe that the Sainsbury's made a substantial contribution to this production. However something was not quite right in Farmer's original costume designs for the 2006 production which were pastel shades rather than something close to Messel's positive colours. The 2006 costume designs were replaced, I think, in 2009. Edited December 21, 2016 by FLOSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Well, I'm giving it a miss this time but it is to be hoped that the run will not be plagued with the kind of injury problems which the production has last time it was performed, in 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 After long deliberation the moderators have decided that FLOSS's post on page 1, which had been hidden, should stand. The moderators were obliged to consider the post after a forum member reported it to us as breaching the rule that 'highly critical comments' should be made under a user's full name rather than hiding behind a pseudonym. Members must pay attention to this rule, though in this case it was felt the post could remain. When being critical of a dancer, please remember that many of them, as well as their families and friends, read this forum on a regular basis. Now that Sleeping Beauty is opening, let's please keep this thread to discussing the performances and dancers you have seen. I am sure there will be varied opinions, and I look forward to reading them....within the parameters of our AUP. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Thank you for restoring my "Ouch!" , which still stands as my reaction to FLOSS' comments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 ...but if I read this " ruling " correctly, then the post must contain FLOSS' name. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 That's still a fair few productions, FLOSS! Mason scrapped it and staged the current version in 2006. [...] However something was not quite right in Farmer's original costume designs for the 2006 production which were pastel shades rather than something close to Messel's positive colours. The 2006 costume designs were replaced, I think, in 2009. Ill-health played a part in the costumes not being reproduced as desired: http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/reports/2011/Mason_11.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamk Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Terrific performances in the rehearsal today from Takada/Hay today. She: on the music, beautiful phrasing, technically entirely secure, strong but dainty and delicate. Him: elegant, attentive, generous partner, and he delivered a pretty classy variation. They look good together. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Curses - they only have those two performances, don't they? And I can't do two in one day - and can't make the other date, I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Terrific performances in the rehearsal today from Takada/Hay today. She: on the music, beautiful phrasing, technically entirely secure, strong but dainty and delicate. Him: elegant, attentive, generous partner, and he delivered a pretty classy variation. They look good together. Good to hear....am seeing them on Friday! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 ...but if I read this " ruling " correctly, then the post must contain FLOSS' name. No, it mustn't....because the moderators have decided that the post is not highly critical. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Well, although I wasn't the member who reported it to the moderators, I still feel (and I'm not the only one) that boundaries were crossed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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