Christmas TV and New Year dance programmes - discussion 2016

[Fonty]

I just assumed that as Ms Bussell's name was on the cast sheet as a coach she was there that day to work hence checking the rehearsals board.

 

I'm sure she could have looked much more glamorous if it was set up for a 'famous dancer'

 

Goodness, you must have sharp eyes.  I missed that, and I also thought it was odd that Bussell had turned up.  I did wonder why she was examining the cast lists so intently.  

[Tony Newcombe]

Sad that people are always looking for a chance to have a dig at Darcey.

She is most certainly coaching Claire Calvert as SPF.

The other two people in the shot were Collier and Choe.

[Shirley]

Goodness, you must have sharp eyes. I missed that, and I also thought it was odd that Bussell had turned up. I did wonder why she was examining the cast lists so intently.

No my eyes are not that great

 

I actually meant that I had noticed her name on cast sheets that are given out at performances earlier. My poor poor punctuation probably caused the confusion if you thought I'd seen her name on the boards.

[Fonty]

Sad that people are always looking for a chance to have a dig at Darcey.

She is most certainly coaching Claire Calvert as SPF.

The other two people in the shot were Collier and Choe.

 

Speaking personally, I wasn't having a dig at Darcey.  I was just curious as to why she was there, and I did wonder if it was because she was doing some coaching.  I think it would have been nice if the commentary had mentioned this as her reason for being there, bearing in mind that she is a familiar face on the BBC.  

[Jacqueline]

Speaking personally, I wasn't having a dig at Darcey. I was just curious as to why she was there, and I did wonder if it was because she was doing some coaching. I think it would have been nice if the commentary had mentioned this as her reason for being there, bearing in mind that she is a familiar face on the BBC.

 

Quite. I wasn't having a dig at her either, merely asking why she was there. Now I know she was there to coach, my question has been answered. It would indeed have been helpful for the commentary just to mention this simple fact. Edited December 27, 2016 by Jacqueline

[zxDaveM]

I dare say it was contrived - but not by Darcey herself, more by the production team/director. Having someone 'pop in' to coach would be meaningless to most non-ballet people, unless it was Darcey who is known outside the ballet world, and so the students excitement at the famous face makes sense.

[capybara]

I had another look at the provisional cast sheet shown early in the BBC's Nutcracker documentary. Interestingly, Matthew Ball was not listed as one of the dancers down to do The Prince! Very glad that there was a change of heart somewhere along the line 

[alison]

Well, it must have been an incredibly early provisional casting, then.  The autumn booking programme went to press in May, and his name was in it by then.

[SPD444]

I don't know for sure but I think that 'learning the steps' happens with the help of notators, repetiteurs, videos and watching others. Lesley Collier's role at the stage we saw on the film was to burnish the dancing and the interpretation.

 

I watched the Nut's documentary last night and would be interested if anyone else, other than me, noticed that during the section when Frankie and Alexander were rehearsing the GPDD in front of Ms Collier and Sir Peter the director cut to a picture of Ms Collier and Sir Peter exchanging a quick look with each other, both with expressions that said to me that this girl has got it. Hope it isn't me being fanciful but that look said more than any words.

 

I really enjoyed the whole documentary, the feeling of excitement at the school was very well captured and it didn't strike me that Darcey's appearance at the stage door was a set up nor the children's response at seeing her.

 

Frankie has posted a photo of herself on her Instagram account today ( frankiegoestohayward ) of life as a ballerina which is wonderful.

[Pas de Quatre]

I noted the look, and hope that it really did mean that Ms Collier and Sir Peter were approving what they were watching at that moment as portrayed by the documentary.  However, I am somewhat cynical, that glance could have been in reaction to practically anything done or said, and just edited in.

 

It was generally a really effective documentary and I enjoyed it, but I also feel it might have confused people who weren't familiar with Nutcracker.  More explanation should have been given of the importance of Hans Peter and Clara to the plot. You could wonder why a girl in her nightie suddenly muscles in on the new Chinese dance they were so proud of!  As Anna-Rose O'Sullivan also came up through White Lodge it could have added an extra dimension.

[Don Q Fan]

Don Q Fan said

"I noticed the program said it was Alexander Campbell's debut in a principal role but it was not - his debut as principal was with Roberta Marquez in Fille."

 

​It as stated that this was his first Principal role in a Classic

but is Fille not a classic too?!

[balletbean]

I loved it, but for someone with theatrical background (me) watching a programme with a title of "behind the scenes" I would have liked to see more and hear more about the real behind the scenes incl the costs, metres of fabric for costumes and budget, shoes, cast size, staff behind the scenes. Even the orchestra.

 

What it actually takes to put a ballet together for its opening night.

 

Who makes up a ballet company from the youngest member of the company to the soloists themselves incl the hours put in.

 

And not just a biography on the SPF as fascinating as it was, without the rest there would be no RBC and the Nutcracker. 

[bridiem]

but is Fille not a classic too?!

 

A modern classic, I suppose - not a Classic with a big C! Which is presumably what they meant.

[FLOSS]

The company still reserves the description "classic" for its nineteenth century repertory. I am not sure whether it continues to restrict this description to the five nineteenth century works which de Valois selected for her young company in the 1930's  or whether it has extended the category to include the other nineteenth century works which have subsequently entered its repertory. I don't think that I would extend the description to include Don Q which in its current choreographic form is almost entirely twentieth century, but I would as far as La Bayadere and La Sylphide are concerned.

 

As the company still persists in describing its twentieth century repertory as "heritage works" performing roles in ballets such as Fille does not count as appearing in the "classics". My own view is that as we approach the end of the second decade of the twenty first century  the company should really come to terms with its twentieth century repertory, which includes major works created for it by Ashton and MacMillan and major works by other significant twentieth century choreographers, and find a better description for it. The use of the word "heritage" does not seem to carry the same weight as "classic" does. The description "heritage work" suggests a ballet which may only be of local and short term significance to a company whereas the description "classic" suggests something of universal and continuing value

 

It was de Valois who decided that the five nineteenth century ballets which she had selected to form the technical touch stone for her young company should be described as "the classics". She selected the ballets in question for their  musical, choreographical and historical significance in the development of ballet as well as their utility as a training resource. She knew that she had to persuade an audience who  were used to seeing new works and knew and cared nothing about pre-DIaghilev repertory that the nineteenth century ballets she was going to stage had inherent value which was both universal and continuing.In short, her choice of the words " the classics " to describe these ballets was a marketing ploy which has proved to be a very effective one.

 

As the description "nineteenth century classics" has worked so well for the ballets in question I think that I would describe the major twentieth century works which the company dances as "twentieth century classics". I am not sure that "modern classic" is particularly appropriate for a ballets first seen in the 1960's such as Fille and Romeo and Juliet let alone those dating back to the 1940's such as Cinderella, Symphonic Variations, Scenes de Ballet and Serenade. 

Edited December 28, 2016 by FLOSS

[FLOSS]

As far as coaching the principal roles is concerned there were,I think, eleven pairs of SPFs and Cavaliers to be coached and almost as many pairs of Claras and Hans Peters. I know that some of the Cavaliers are dancing with more than one SPF but they all have to train as a partner with each of the SPFs with whom they are to dance. There are nine people listed as coaches for the principal dancers which is the largest number that I have seen for a single production. I am not really sure that there is anything to be gained from speculating about whether the footage of Darcey looking at the noticeboard was staged, and to what purpose.The reality is that it is always a complicated job to get this production onto the stage and with the number of different casts and the number of debuts this season, considerably more complicated than usual.

Edited December 28, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jan McNulty]

I finally caught up with the Darcey at the BBC programme and thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the clips from over the years.  A lovely delve into the archives.

[Odyssey]

Thought I would share the following with you. Just going through some early DVDs I recorded round about 2005(?), I came across a BBC half hour documentary about Darcey from which quite a few clips in this Christmas' documentary are taken. To my delight there is a wonderful sequence of Darcey coaching some girls at White Lodge and having fun with the dance of the cygnets. Two of these 'cygnets' are Yasmine and Francesca. Yasmine makes a further appearance as a young White Lodge student in a further recording I made on the same DVD of a masterclass for the Nutcracker in which she relates part of the story. A lovely find.

[Fonty]

I remember that clip as well, Odyssey, and being amused at the time that there were 5 cygnets, rather than the usual 4.  

[Mary]

I just caught up with the Nutcracker documentary and really enjoyed it.

 

For me Campbell was the star of the show! what a completely charming man -and I love his dancing so it was a treat to see him preparing the role. he is fine partner.

 

I do agree with those who suggest that just a little less about Hayward- lovely dancer as she is- and  a little more on others would have improved it. But also, I wonder if it is really always wise or kind to boost people up so VERY much so early in their careers.

A little mystique is also a good thing for a ballerina.  One reason Fonteyn was so great is that she kept the mask on. Like the Queen.

 

However, it was interesting, moving and very entertaining to see the chlldren - who were a credit to the school- and the whole company working together as a team with such dedication. Thank goodness the trend for 'knocking' documentaries seems to have passed.

[Fiz]

I completely agree with you, Mary.

[Tatasmum]

I'm currently watching Ballroom Boys on CH4+1. One of the Mums said her son's ballroom dancing costs £100 per week!!!

[alison]

Oops, sorry, I knew there was something I'd forgotten in my list!

[Jane S]

Interesting that the Nutcracker programme and the Bussell/Fonteyn programme are already available as downloads from the BBC Store - £3.99 and £1.89 respectively, a bit more if you want HD. I hope they'll soon start releasing some of their older programmes too...

[thewinelake]

Presumably you can download them with iPlayer anyway? Never quite sure on the legitimacy of keeping those recordings (eg. on DVD) compared to using a DVD recorder to record them from the live TV stream.

[alison]

I had been totally unaware that the BBC made them available to buy at all. I suppose it's another income stream ...

[Quintus]

I had been totally unaware that the BBC made them available to buy at all. I suppose it's another income stream ...

 

Given we've already effectively paid, I expect we can deduct the cost from our next license fee 

[Jamesrhblack]

I had another look at the provisional cast sheet shown early in the BBC's Nutcracker documentary. Interestingly, Matthew Ball was not listed as one of the dancers down to do The Prince! Very glad that there was a change of heart somewhere along the line 

Interesting. I wonder with whom Naghdi had been intended to dance given that they seem increasingly partnered together to wonderful reports: I'm looking forward to their Beauty very much. I understand that current management prefers a degree of flexibility rather than established partnerships but they do seem to be developing: not just Naghdi and Ball (let's not forget Salenko and McRae) but also Hayward and Campbell (who could well be the Collier and Jeffries of their generation as well as wonderful artists in their own right), Nunez and Muntagirov and Takada and Hay (does his stature obviate success in the Prince roles? I've yet to see him in that capacity but he's a dancer I like). Who will snaffle Reece Clarke? Cuthbertson and Yanowsky are both getting a chance, although the wonderful Zenaida is, of course, retiring ....

[Jan McNulty]

I'm just watching and loving all over again Matthew Bourne/New Adventures Sleeping Beauty.  

[thewinelake]

Same here!

[nottsballetlover]

Double ditto on the Matthew Bourne Sleeping Beauty!

 

I also enjoyed the dance sections on the Vienna Concert earlier today; I loved how they showed clips of the dancing to Blue Danube through the decades! 

[Quintus]

I joined it late but couldn't take the Matthew Bourne Sleeping Beauty for more than about 25 minutes, it left me absolutely cold.  I put on my new Mata Hari bluray instead, which was much more to my taste.

[aileen]

Actually, I'm not keen on MB's Sleeping Beauty either (I saw it live last year).

[tabitha]

Not keen on anything I've seen from MB. I've really tried and it's OK but I'm just left with a feeling that's it's a pale imitation of classical ballet and I'd rather watch the real thing.