The Royal Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty performances, 2016-2017

[Anna C]

I hope Yasmine Naghdi recovers quickly - she's been brilliant during this run, not just as Aurora but as fairies, friends and Florestan's sister.

 

Edited to add: posting at the same time as Capybara.

[SPD444]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I have just read that a DVD of Nela and Vadim's cinema performance is being released in April 2018. That was quick.

[bangorballetboy]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I have just read that a DVD of Nela and Vadim's cinema performance is being released in April 2018. That was quick.

 

I thought that might be the case as I left the ROH after the show!

[alison]

Er, that's next year, SPD!!

[RuthE]

Perhaps SPD meant that the announcement was quick. Rather than making us beg for months like we had to with Giselle

[David]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I have just read that a DVD of Nela and Vadim's cinema performance is being released in April 2018. That was quick.

 

Is this not the Nunez/Muntagirov Giselle that has just been released? Or is there another Nunez/Muntagirov en route? Incidentally i have been told that Anastasia is scheduled for Sept but that Nutcracker - I assume the cinema relay from Xmas 2016 - will not be released till Xmas 2018! Can that be right?

[LinMM]

Sorry all ......I'm sure you are right about the fairy variations!! It's probably because I don't know the dancers Anna Rose O Sullivan or Isabella Gasparini that well .....but have a feeling I will be getting to know them better....as I enjoyed the last two fairy variations a lot especially the last one as so much energy in it......although all of them were pretty good on Wednesday anyway.

I may well have remembered them the wrong way around of course .....hence the facial recognition problem!!

 

Osipova has a very individual interpretation of this role .....more expansive and ...enthusive...which I enjoyed and her dancing is always enjoyable to watch as she puts the whole of herself into it and I think has a lot of courage. Something of the dancers personality should shine through this role and hers did. There is so much spaciousness in her dancing and because she is so on top of the technique she does really "dance" it as another poster pointed out. A nice feisty Princess who was always going to marry for love!

However I was not at any point moved in this ballet ....and rarely am in Beauty.....well not since Fonteyn and Nureyev ....and the bit that moved me with them seems to have been cut out of this production ....in the vision scene. But all the main dancing was brilliant making the most of the choreography.

I thought Hirano was a lovely Prince .....a noble rather sweet reserved and reflective soul ....but is he the right partner for Osipova ....am not so sure.

But it did seem to work in that they both seemed so delighted with each other ......she had found a much better Prince than the earlier ones she had had to dance with!! In fact Osipova was almost more coy and girlish in the final Act than in Act one .....in which ALL her youthful enthusiasm was on display! But shyer in front of the one she really loved.

 

Hiranos dancing is very classical so he suited this role perfectly I thought and certainly a wonderful partner.

So all in all a lovely feast of dancing from the two main characters which was very satisfying.

 

What to say about the other characters from the final Act.....all well done and Isabella certainly had loads of energy and projection as Little red riding hood ......a role I hardly ever take much note of .....so someone to watch.....now I've sorted out exactly who she is!!!

 

With Bluebirds I did think Matthew Ball was very good but and I hate to say this did not enjoy so much Itziar Mendizabal in this role. I love her as a dancer especially in dramatic parts but to me she wasn't the little bluebird trying to fly.....a shame as she does have lovely arms and could have made much more use of them in this role. However she is always a pleasure to watch generally and has a lovely stage manner perhaps she hasn't performed Bluebirds that much.....I don't know.

 

I will be ready for another fix of Beauty in about two years time .....not one I need to see every year inspite of the lovely score which some people in the theatre rudely talked through....in the usual... now notorious place .....and in two years time all will be very exciting with all the new young dancers coming through.

 

I'm very glad I saw Osipova this time round ......will she still be with the Royal in another two years....I hope so ....but .....

[bangorballetboy]

 she wasn't the little bluebird trying to fly.....

 

Princess Florine isn't a bluebird.  In the fairy tale, the bluebird is really a prince who has been turned into a bluebird because Florine's mother wants him to marry Florine's (ugly) big sister but he falls in love with Florine (who gets placed by her mother, Rapunzel-like, in a tall tower) and refuses to marry the sister.  It all turns out alright for Florine and her prince (as you would imagine).

[LinMM]

Well thanks BBB for that info about the original fairy tale.....much appreciated will have to try and find this one as have never read the original

HOWEVER ........for balletic purposes ......this pas de deux has always been about birds!! ( Rightly or wrongly as it were)

I understood it .....that for choreographic purposes ....the female is being taught to fly by the male!! When originally composed ....but no doubt FLOSS or someone with more balletic history knowledge can enlighten in this respect.

[bridiem]

In fact I really enjoyed Mendizabal as Princess Florine. I thought she was very elegant, expansive and gracious.

[LinMM]

Yes I like those general qualities about her dancing usually but just not sure about this particular role.

She was still enjoyable to watch just didn't think she really got the bluebird thing ....perhaps Sibley is the best exponent of this role....going back a bit I know ....but I haven't seen anyone else do it this run.

 

Did Anna Rose O Sullivan get to do it.....I'm not sure but think somebody mentioned that she did ....I would have liked to have seen her give this a go!

[Nina G.]

I hope Yasmine Naghdi recovers quickly - she's been brilliant during this run, not just as Aurora but as fairies, friends and Florestan's sister.

 

Edited to add: posting at the same time as Capybara.

 

 

I wish Yasmine Naghdi a very speedy recovery too as I am vey much looking forward to seeing her in Emeralds, and in what is left for her this Season.

 

Besides dancing 3 Auroras in one week, dancing various Fairies, Aurora's Friends and Florestan's sisters, she also danced the Bluebird Variation/Princess Florine.

She has had it full on I suspect (and -overheard - apparently when Hayward had to dance her debut, Naghdi was on full stand-by in the wings ready to replace her and take over the role together with Mr Campbell...which would have meant dancing her debut before her own official debut - no pressure there!

[LinMM]

Its obvious Naghdi just loves dancing ....can't get enough of it!!

 

Seriously though what troupers some of these dancers are....a role like Beauty is enough to exhaust one for a week I'm sure let alone all,the other dancing....totally amazing.

Edited March 3, 2017 by LinMM

[bangorballetboy]

Did Anna Rose O Sullivan get to do it.....I'm not sure but think somebody mentioned that she did ....I would have liked to have seen her give this a go!

 

Yes, with Sambé.  And very good they were too.

[SPD444]

Er, that's next year, SPD!!

 

Yes, that's what was stated, see below.

 

 

Perhaps SPD meant that the announcement was quick. Rather than making us beg for months like we had to with Giselle

 

Spot on RuthE, I remember clearly how hard we worked on the RB to get that DVD.

 

Is this not the Nunez/Muntagirov Giselle that has just been released? Or is there another Nunez/Muntagirov en route? Incidentally i have been told that Anastasia is scheduled for Sept but that Nutcracker - I assume the cinema relay from Xmas 2016 - will not be released till Xmas 2018! Can that be right?

 

 

Here is a copy from the ROH website on the SB comments thread.

 

 

Anne Rose-Smith responded on 1 March 2017 at 6:08pm Reply

Wonderful performances all round. Are there any plans to release it as a DVD? I would imagine there would be a high demand

 

RB replied with:-

• Noelia Moreno responded on 2 March 2017 at 11:03am

  Hello Anne,

  I'm happy to announce that a DVD is planned for release in April 2018.

  Best wishes,

  Noelia

  ROH Cinema

   

   

[Jan McNulty]

 

What to say about the other characters from the final Act.....all well done and Isabella certainly had loads of energy and projection as Little red riding hood ......a role I hardly ever take much note of .....so someone to watch.....now I've sorted out exactly who she is!!!

 

 

 

As all her NB fans could have told you when she joined the RB!

[ninamargaret]

Dancers certainly are troopers! I think many years ago Annette Page danced the name part of Cinderella in both the matinee and evening performances one Saturday. Usual problems with winter colds etc meant she was the only one still standing.

[Ellie]

Well thanks BBB for that info about the original fairy tale.....much appreciated will have to try and find this one as have never read the original

HOWEVER ........for balletic purposes ......this pas de deux has always been about birds!! ( Rightly or wrongly as it were)

I understood it .....that for choreographic purposes ....the female is being taught to fly by the male!! When originally composed ....but no doubt FLOSS or someone with more balletic history knowledge can enlighten in this respect.

Lin, your comment reminded me of a passage in Sir Peter Wright's book. (I had to search for it as couldn't remember exactly what he said), but here it is...

 

"The bluebird pas de deux is, strictly speaking, a demi - caractere number although many dancers do not understand that. She is a princess under the spell of a magical bird, which is all in the choreography if you look at it, but the nuance needs to be pointed out in performance. It is often done, at both Covent Garden and Birmingham Royal Ballet, too classically, just two birds twittering together"  ( Peter Wright, Wrights and Wrongs, pp 262-263)

[alison]

Interesting.

 

Also interesting to note, from today's Links, is that Gillian Revie is still performing Carabosse, but down under

There's footage of Monica Mason coaching her in the role, isn't there?

[Sim]

A beautiful, graceful and deeply-felt Aurora from Lauren Cuthberson tonight. One of the best I've seen anywhere, and certainly a high point in her illustrious career. Made me choke up from the sheer joy and beauty of it all.

[Tony Newcombe]

Totally agree, Sim. Technically she was superb but it is her musicality and phrasing that makes her an outstanding Aurora.

A performance to treasure

[alison]

So sorry to have missed her - again - but glad you enjoyed it, Sim

[LinMM]

I can imagine her being amazing in this role just not enough money to see all the Beauty's this time.

[LinMM]

Ellie thanks for that info re bluebirds.

SO

How should the female part be danced? Is she being made to dance like a bird ( not quite the same as a little bluebird being taught to fly .....much nicer image ....) under duress of spell or is she trying to support the male who has been turned into a bird ...by dancing mainly as a Princess but sort of sympathetically humouring him with bird like movements. On the night I was there Mendizabal was certainly very princess like but not so bird like .....as have seen other dancers in the role be like.

 

Janet had no idea Isabella was from Northern.....did she train at the Royal.

I'm sure it was her that was the standout fairy variation that night but just may have been the 4th rather than the 5 th ( both the last two were really very good) but I remembered her as being the last one ...wrongly I think ...as the facial resemblance was to Little red riding hood of the fairy I really enjoyed the most. Also when they first came on stage before the variations I thought Naghdi was there and ai think she looks more like Naghdi ( from a distance of course) than Anna Rose O Sullivan does. Sorry to harp back to this.

 

Am looking forward to seeing Cuthbertson in Jewels...among others!

[LinMM]

Sorry really last mention of this!

 

I've actually had a reply from the ROH about who was dancing which variation ....amazing I somehow didn't expect a reply!! and it's as most of you who commented said!

 

So the 4 th was Isabella and the 5th was Anna Rose.

 

I'm pretty sure now that I did remember them the wrong way around which makes Isabella my favourite variation that night.

 

I know I was confused because I knew whoever the last fairy was it wasn't Naghdi so in the interval I was looking at their male partners on the sheet to see if I could sort it out that way but the male dancer in the last variation I had no clue who he was either so didn't really help much.

Anyway it's good to know that it's not even just Hayward and Naghdi who are hugely talented among younger members but with Isabella and Anna Rose coming up too is very good news for RB.

Sorry if I was being a stubborn old balletomane but really got quite confused that evening!! ( like my partner and me desperately trying to remember Toya Willcox's name on the radio this morning.....we got the T but just couldn't get her name for the life of us ...I could only come up with Tallulah which I knew wasn't right.....but for another thread I think....about the confusion of being post 65!

[Beryl H]

So pleased that Lauren Cuthbertson was recovered last night, another beautiful Rose Adagio, she got applause halfway through after holding a perfect balance, so unhurried and serene, and finished with another.  Never imagined Reece Clarke would be quite so good in only his second performance, secure partnering and a very good solo, and they looked a fairy-tale couple too.

 

Akane Takada and Valentino Zucchetti were the Bluebirds, and I think Benjamin Ella, Mayara Magri and Leticia Stock were the best matched Florestan trio I saw, was also able to see Hayley Forskitt as Carabosse for the first time.

 

Have got SB fatigue now though, have enjoyed this run as there have been so many different casts and debuts in all roles.

[Jan McNulty]

Janet had no idea Isabella was from Northern.....did she train at the Royal.

 

 

 

No - she trained in Brazil and at NBoC.

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/people/isabella-gasparini

[WoodlandGladeFairy]

Just got back from a encore showing at my local cinema of Marianela Núñez and Vadim Muntagirov in 'The Sleeping Beauty', just amazing dancing from everyone at the Royal Ballet.

 

Marianela Núñez was wonderful during the Rose Adagio, her smile was just glorious like pure sunshine on stage. The vision scene was so romantic and the Wedding PDD in the final act was grand and gorgeous.

 

Vadim Muntagirov was a dreamy handsome Prince and he danced his bits beautifully, he is such a very fine dancer.

 

Claire Calvet was a wonderfully warm Lilac Fairy.

 

Kristine McNally was a furiously scary Carabosse as well.

 

After having seen it live last weekend I felt a deeper appreciation of the ballet, music and choreography today and to admire how pretty the costumes were!

 

My mum thoroughly enjoyed it as well, she is a massive fan of Vadim Muntagirov as well So glad it's going to come out on blu-ray/DVD next year! 

[capybara]

I loved it in the cinema today. It is a very different experience from being at a live show but equally enjoyable, not least for all the close ups.

[alison]

I missed it - again - and don't think the other Encore dates are feasible

[capybara]

Geoff wrote the following in the Audience Behaviour thread:

 

Apropos back of the amphi, I have a question, also relating to last night SB but not only last night. At the start of the garland dance (not my favourite part of the ballet but that is another subject) there is introductory moving around, which finishes with the corps lined up in two diagonal rows. Last night - but not only last night - the back of the amphi, and no other part of the house, applauded this, even though it was not the end of anything, rather a brief break before "the start of the dance".
And when I say it was the back of the amphi, I don't mean eight people, I mean most of those rows, a whole section of the auditorium.
What is it that they are seeing - or think they are seeing - from back there that the rest of us are not seeing?

Maybe they are prompted by what they are hearing, Geoff?

 

I ask this because I have been pondering also what it is, at several places in The Sleeping Beauty, that causes the audience to burst into applause before a solo or pas de deux has ended. Yes, there are poses which look like 'finales' but there is also something about the cadences in the music which seem to signal 'endings' more than in any other ballet. Conversely the final cadence of the Prince's Act 2 soliloquy almost tells us not to applaud.

[pianolady]

Saw the Encore screening today and loved it. Agree with all of WoodlandGladeFairy's comments. Only little gripe is that I find my local odeon sound a little on the quiet side, and a few camera shots cut off the feet a bit but generally lovely balance between close-ups and ensemble. I especially enjoyed the views of the orchestra in the overture. I did find the production sets and lighting a bit on the dark side, don't know if it worked maybe much better in the theatre rather than the screening? It was noticeable especially with Carabosse's rats who sometimes struggled to be seen clearly against the sombre background. I wasn't keen on the brown garland dance skirts. But these are minor observations, it was a wonderful afternoon and I came out feeling I'd have liked to see it all over again!

 

Meant to say how wonderfully a female Carabosse worked- so much better than the panto quality of the male version.

Edited March 5, 2017 by pianolady

[Johnpw]

 

I was lucky enough to be in the audience on Tuesday and attended a cinema Encore today. I very much enjoyed the close-ups (almost always appropriate, in the sense of not detracting from the full stage view) and the extras (not least Dame Beryl Grey). But I was mystified by the lighting - apart from close-ups, the whole thing looked as if it had been filmed at twilight. This did not reflect at all the lighting in the theatre itself. I wondered if it had something to do with the "setting" selected by the projectionist, but it seems not. I hope the DVD addresses this, because in the cinema the lighting was far from "natural".