ENB: Bausch / Forsythe / van Manen, London, March 2017

[capybara]

There are three 'chosen ones' in the frame. Two have appeared already (Francesca Velicu twice and Emily Suzuki twice). The third dancer may well be 'chosen' tonight.

 

The cast lists are not always up to date for Sacre and changes are not announced - neither is the name of the 'chosen one' even after the performance.

[Living the Dream]

Does anyone know who danced the Chosen One on Friday night?  I'm pretty sure both from my own eyes and a subsequent social media photo that it wasn't Francesca, indeed I thought I saw her among the other non-chosen dancers, but couldn't recognise who it was. 

Hi Quintus, the Chosen One on Friday night was Francesca Velicu. LTD

[capybara]

Hi Quintus, the Chosen One on Friday night was Francesca Velicu. LTD

 

Sorry, no. Emily Suzuki danced the Chosen One last Friday.

 

All this confusion goes to show how important it is for lead dancers to be acknowledged. They are turning in stunning performances and most of the audience don't know who they are.

Edited March 28, 2017 by capybara

[Quintus]

Thanks Capybara - I was pretty confident it was not Francesca Velicu as I took a brief video clip of the curtain call and could see her in the line up before the chosen one ran back on for her bow.  I haven't seen Emily Suzuki enough to recognise her.  The two performances, even when viewed remotely and with a rapid dropping of binoculars for sartorial respect's sake after the 'choosing', also looked quite distinct to me.  I wonder if it is all part of the Pina Bausch ethos to treat the cast as an ensemble, and not highlight those in the more prominent roles?

[capybara]

 I wonder if it is all part of the Pina Bausch ethos to treat the cast as an ensemble, and not highlight those in the more prominent roles?

 

Yes, it may be. However, this is ENB in 2017 not The Bausch Company in 1975! These dancers must have worked exceptionally hard for weeks and weeks and weeks and should be enabled to take credit for their performances.

[Living the Dream]

Sorry, no. Emily Suzuki danced the Chosen One last Friday.

 

All this confusion goes to show how important it is for lead dancers to be acknowledged. They are turning in stunning performances and most of the audience don't know who they are.

Apologies, but I got my days muddled 

[petperj]

I went to see this over the weekend, and was completely overwhelmed by Rite of Spring. Really magnificent. I have a couple of (hopefully small) questions about it.

 

I thought it was brilliant that the preparation of the soil was done with the curtain up; it gave the interval a real sense of ritual and helped to build the anticipation in a way that you wouldn't have just grabbing an ice cream in the foyer while stagehands work behind closed doors. Is this dictated by Bausch and always like this, or just what was decided by the ENB/Sadlers Wells?

 

In the interview linked at the bottom Tamara Rojo says:

 

"I am grateful that the Pina Bausch foundation gave us this opportunity to present Sacre ... I wanted to start with one of the works that I consider to be quite based on contemporary and classical techniques so that it was the first step for the dancers into the Pina Bausch language."

 

Does this mean that ENB are intending to/have the rights to perform more Bausch ballets soon? I couldn't see anything obvious on the website.

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by petperj

[alison]

I can answer the question about the peat, in that we were able to watch the stage being prepared when the Bausch company performed Sacre some years ago at Sadler's Wells.  Whether Rojo is planning on more Bausch works for the company, I wouldn't like to guess: I'm not sure how many of them would be suitable for a classically-based troupe, although as you say the wording does suggest that more could be on the horizon?

[MellissaHuntsley]

Forsythe was sharper, possibly because Cesar Corrales was in the cast and he is one of those dancers who seems to energize everyone else on stage. I'm not saying that he was the best dancer in this (I don't think that he was) but I feel that when he's on stage everyone tries to compete with him and raises their game. Everyone really went for it yesterday. Tiffany Hedman is not a favourite dancer of mine but she had the insouciance and sass for what I think of as the 'Scary Girl' role. This piece seems to suit the Americans so well and they were out in force yesterday. I'm hoping to see Precious Adams later in the week. It's interesting that several of the dancers have been cast in more than one part in this.

Edited March 28, 2017 by MellissaHuntsley

[MellissaHuntsley]

I'm sorry if I'm not getting this quoting right.... referring to In The Middle... Barry Drummond was fabulous when he was in stage, I believe Prescious Adams might be injured, what does "Scary Girl" mean - I've watched so much of Sylvie G - is that what the reference is to - I'm liking Tiffany Hedman with Isaac Hernandez the more I see them and I am hoping ENB gets the rights to The Second Detail by Forsythe. The second cast of Adagio had Katya K in it - her expressions are heartfelt - I see there are 2 more casts for that piece - regrettably I won't get to see either one

[aileen]

'Scary Girl' is my own invention, Melissa. That's the character which I have given to Tiffany Hedman's role, which I believe was the one created by Sylvie G. There's another role which I have named 'The Princess' (which was take by Alison McWhinney) as she seems a more aloof and primer character with her hair in a neat bun, whereas Scary Girl's hair is loose.

 

I agree about Katya K. She is a true classical dancer.

[Vanartus]

So sorry I missed this - it's my fave Rite...

[cavycapers]

Interesting article on Radio 4 Front Row tonight about Rite of Spring

[petperj]

So sorry I missed this - it's my fave Rite...

 

There are still a few performances remaining. Although it's 'sold out' tickets have popped up online sporadically most days so it's probably worth keeping an eye on the website if you're still interested.

 

When tickets do become available they don't bother to update the text on the main page that says "This show is currently sold out, but keep checking for returns." so it's best to just ignore that text and click on 'book tickets' to see if any have popped online.

Edited March 28, 2017 by petperj

[Lynette H]

I'm quite curious to know how the company go about rehearsing the Rite of Spring.  The movement must be heavily influenced by the soil (peat?) underfoot.  Do they only get the chance to rehearse with the actual soil underfoot on stage ? Or is there an opportunity to do this in the studio? It must be quite a logistical problem.  Does anyone have any insight into this ? 

[nycitybird]

I saw on Madison Keesler's Instagram that they rehearsed in a warehouse in Kent with the soil.

[Beryl H]

I saw the first two ballets last night, late night train problems plus the longer travelling time needed from SW (and the late starts)meant I missed The Rite of Spring, actually I didn't mind too much anyway and and found it to be a fascinating double bill, I've always liked In the Middle, even the "music" and thought the dancers were exciting although can anyone compare with Sylvie Guillem and Laurent Hilaire? I would really like to see the complete Impressing The Czar ballet.

 

I have the DVD of Adagio Hammerklavier and tend to think it of it as boring, but seeing it live brought out the beauty and drama, Lauretta Summerscales and Emilio Pavan are especially right for very slow dancing, tall and statuesque.

[LinMM]

What a shame you had to miss the Rite of Spring yesterday it was the best thing of the evening for me in the end....just brilliant and now one of the critics ....from the Guardian I think...can say that classical dancers including ENB ones I gathered just are not possessed enough by the music ( as if all contemporary dancers always are) I really don't know....sorry just had to get that gripe in!

 

Unfortunately I feel the opposite about the Forsythe piece ....and I have seen Guillem in this when it was first performed at the Royal...I even did an ENB workshop recently which focussed on this piece( the opening sequence) so a bit of insight into the movements... but I find every time after about 15 mins of watching I just start switching off .....even if the dancers are brilliant ....including when I saw Guillem!! I always hope that it will grow on me but it just never does. It's just sort of "okay" but I'm always pleased to,get it over with....sorry Mr. Forsythe as I'm sure when originally choreographed it was really innovative and I can appreciate that but I have to say won't worry if I never see it again now!! I was struck by the dancer Barry Drummond in this piece and would have liked to see him in the next piece the Van Manen!

I did enjoy the Van Manen more .....at least the music was to feast on .....not my favourite late Beethoven sonata but beautiful nevertheless. The choreography had some weird quirks in it which I had forgotten about ....those staccato penchées ....and strange lifting of the heels before extension but this piece I think is very dependent on the three couples dancing to really pull off and blend the choreography with the music and I thought Summerscales and Pavan ( the latter new for me) in particular did but the other two sets of dancers .....Katja Khaniukova with Bufala and Senri Kou with Ken Saruhashi were also very good. I would love to have seen Isabelle Brouwers, Madison Keesler and Shiori Kase in this piece .....don't know whether they were down to perform it this run or not.

And then there was the Rite of Spring!!

My goodness what a tour de force .....how do they do this so many nights running .....as its the sort of dancing that it really cathartic a sort of really full on Five Rythms session and you only usually want to do that at the least once a week but more likely once a month....perhaps every full moon!!

I thought this was a terrific performance and talking about blending the choreography with the music....an absolute master class in it from Pina Bausch and the ENB dancers FULLY .....200 per cent responded ( as have mentioned disagree with the well know critic apparently!!!) I believe the chosen one was Crystal Costa but she got across her sheer agonised terror wonderfully but then all the dancers did. There was one point when you could hear the collective breathing of the female dancers .....but this added to the awful reality of the situation......definitely one which made me feel uncomfortable .....eg the full on power of the men over the women ....though there were some tender moments when you felt even they wanted to be relieved of this burden.

Some truely beautiful moments of whole corps dancing from both the women's and men's choreography.

And the ending.....just timed to perfection....in the sense that just as you felt you couldn't take it any more ( for all the right reasons really though) it was over....such a fitting dramatic ending. Wow what a piece.

I have a feeling I might not be so enamoured of all of Bausch's works ....but this one is a masterpiece to me and cannot see anything ever topping it.

So the ENB have done it again with their Spring programme.

I was reading that when they are on tour they rarely perform these triple bills because the big classics like Swan lake etc bring in the punters but what a shame that so many may miss this.

If this programme does come anywhere outside London DO GO.

[LinMM]

I believe it was with Luke Jennings of the Observer who I disagreed with in his comment that the dancers in this Bausch piece .....and classical dancers in general was his gist....only "occupied" stravinskys music rather than were "possessed" by it (as contemporary dancers are more likely to be)

 

I just could not see this divorce at all in the performance yesterday evening I thought they were totally possessed by the music .....I think Bausch's choreography demands this anyway....but I never at any moment in the Piece thought that there was a disconnect with the music .....they were right in it as far as I could see but of course am not a seasoned critic ....just my view.

[bridiem]

You very much reflect my views about last night's performance, LinMM. I found it hard to believe that it's 30 years since In the Middle was created - I remember how radical it seemed then. Now, it seems quite standard and also rather repetitive, but I did quite enjoy it and there are some good moments (I like big leaps to loud noise!). I also thought it was well danced.

I'd never seen Adagio Hammerklavier before. Rather to my surprise I enjoyed it very much (though I would happily lose the men's necklaces). In its way it seemed almost more daring now than In the Middle - attractive, lyrical dancing to beautiful piano music!! A good contrast to the first (and the third) work.

The Rite of Spring - absolutely brilliant and devastating. And magnificently danced. Perhaps classical dancers are (literally) lighter than those on whom the work was created, but I think that works just as well.

All in all an excellent bill. ENB are really on a roll.

[LinMM]

I must say I really didn't like the way the men were dressed for Adagio....they looked like woolly longjohns!! The girls costumes were lovely but completely at odds to the men's in my view!!

[Geoff]

Last night it seemed to me that the cast of In The Middle - strong and focussed dancing taken for granted of course - do not quite have the attack or the attitude I remember being such an integral part of the work. Caesar Corrales came closest, with a bigger, stronger performance that had those sexy witty hints of just not seeming to care, which to me are what makes this piece more than just exercises.

 

Another way of making the same point: like with Balanchine, there is a lot of walking in this work, yet somehow the mood of the walking last night was not stroppy / insouciant / 'cool' enough. Great dancing though.

 

I liked the Hammerklavier, if only as this is one of my favourite movements from all of Beethoven. Maybe there should be a separate thread about using music which is perhaps too complex, subtle, involving to be danced to. Certainly I kept finding my attention being drawn away from the dancing as I was concentrating too hard on the music.

 

The Rite is sensational, what a work! This has to be great news for ENB. I hadn't seen it before so have no point of comparison: perhaps someone who knows it could comment on whether the more traditional ballet moves were perhaps more 'pure' (careful? accurate? 'better'?) than is idiomatic for the work.  In other words where is the balance between classical training / technique and the theatrical demands of the piece?

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by Geoff

[aileen]

I saw two more performances of this, seeing the opening night cast for the van Manen and some different people (Streeter, Hunt and Kundi) in the Forsythe. Sadly, I never got to see Precious Adams who is apparently injured. Last night Rina Kanehara really impressed me. I marvelled at how such a young dancer (just 19) could take on such an exposing role in an iconic contemporary work. I understand that one evening she and Madison Keesler had to share a role which they had to step into at short notice, presumably because of another dancer's injury. I wonder how that was organised. Whilst ENB is not alone in this I do wonder why   companies don't cast a larger number of dancers in programmes like this as injuries cause a domino effect resulting in a lot of recasting. Several dancers performed in both the exhausting looking Forsythe and the van Manen and some took on more than one role in the Forsythe.

 

Rite of Spring seemed to reach a new high last with Velicu giving a harrowing account as The Chosen One. She seemed quite overcome at the end and, unsurprisingly, received huge applause from the audience. I've seen an interview with her in which she said how challenging it was for her dancing Akram Khan's Giselle because she hadn't danced much (any?) contemporary work before and so this role is a huge achievement for her.
 

I have very much enjoyed this programme. I loved all the works, which is unusual in a triple bill. I am looking forward to seeing the RB tackle Forsythe in a few weeks time but I will have to endure Strapless again - and I don't have high hopes for the new Scarlett either, I'm afraid - for this.

[Sim]

Feel free to join me and a few others out on the terrace during Strapless, Aileen!  ?