aileen Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this but I just wanted to tell people about a masterclass with Maina Gielgud which I attended (as an audience member, I hasten to add) on Thursday evening. I was so impressed with Maina. She was coaching Anais Chalendard for her debut as Odette/Odile in her forthcoming performance at the Coliseum in August. Her coaching was precise and authoritative but also positive and her whole manner was really attractive. Afterwards there was a question and answer session and it was clear what a wealth of knowledge (she danced with a number of companies and has coached many companies around the world) and, most importantly, love of ballet she had. Two things particularly stood out. Firstly, she treated the dancers as individuals; she adjusted her coaching to suit the dancer she was working with and understood and accepted that different dancers would bring different things to the same role (and she welcomed their imput into the role). Secondly, she felt that it was very easy for dancers to get fixated on performing their steps perfectly at the expense of telling the story. In her view, minor imperfections were not important to the audience; what mattered was that the dancers connected with the audience (the eyes were very important) and inhabited the character. It was really refreshing to hear this. As well as coaching dancers for ENB's Swan Lake, Maina was responsible for staging ENB's critically acclaimed Suite en Blanc which I personally absolutely loved. I understand that Maina is a guest coach rather than a permanent member of staff, and I do hope that ENB will not lose her following the change of management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 It is a pity that this praise of Maina Gielgud, with which we agree wholeheartedly, is located in the section about Jose Martin. We have had the privilege of seeing Maina at work in the studio on many occasions and can attest to the fact that she is always as good as she was at the MasterClass. She really does treat every Principal as an individual and can often be heard exploring interpretations with them and then giving detailed feedback as to whether or not they are conveying what they themselves intend. We too hope that ENB will continue to use her skills to the full - and, of course, her links back into the history of ballets and interpreters make her an invaluable source of knowledge for today's generation of dancers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I've moved Aileen's report to this new thread for further discussion. Thanks for posting your comments Aileen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim b Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I too am a great fan of Maina's & also thoroughly enjoyed watching her coach Anais last Thurs evening -you have already described the aptness & sensitivity of her coaching - I have nothing to add to that but we must not forget that (as well as having successful international dancing & coaching careers) she has directed big national companies like the Australians and the Royal Danes too - basically she has been there,done it & got all the T-shirts! You started me trawling thro my ballet ephemera & for my personal nostalgia trip, I note that the first cast list I have of her is as Siren in Prodigal Son with SWRB October 1976 and then as Raymonda (just Act 3) April 77 - that got me looking at early Etudes casts I liked - anything to get out of the gardening But I will write about those in another place! Brava Maina - she is a treasure - I trust she will continue her work with ENB for many years. Â A tiny postscript - does anyone else treasure the memory like me of her last Swan Lake at Covent Garden partnered by guess who? ENB Director (till August anyway) Wayne Eagling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 tim b, very interesting to hear about some of Maina's performances, particularly the Swan Lake with Wayne Eagling! She's had a fascinating career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 A tiny postscript - does anyone else treasure the memory like me of her last Swan Lake at Covent Garden partnered by guess who? ENB Director (till August anyway) Wayne Eagling. Â Too far back for me, although I was there for Eagling's last performance: a triple bill, I think Requiem, Agon and Month in the Country, though I may be wrong. This was back in the days when they actually acknowledged principals' last performances with a photo and acknowledgement in the cast sheet. Didn't last long after that ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I remember - and I AM OLD - seeing Gielgud dance Swan Lake at the Royal Festival Hall with Adam Luders .... NOW THAT GOES BACK A LONG, LONG TIME ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim b Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yes yes and then he went on to scale Olympian heights and star at the then "New York State Theatre" on Lincoln Plaza as a principal of NYCB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Â Have added a link to a youtube video of her in Bejart's Squeaky Door - absolutely amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmgard Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 I hate to pour cold water on all these lovely tributes to Maina but I have just heard from her that she and Rosalyn Whitten will be leaving ENB at the end of the season, i.e. at the end of August! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 This is terrible news. Â Maina and Ros are the ones primarily responsible for the amazingly high standards currently attained by ENB and will be sorely missed. Â We would like to thank them for everything they have done for the Company and for our enjoyment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 (edited) That is a shame, but perhaps they both have exciting news in terms of their future prospects. It is often understandable when a transition is a difficult one - as by common consent I think Tamara's is seen to be - that it start with a clean slate. Perhaps that is the advice that has been offered to Tamara in terms of most effectively dealing with the combative cuts which we know are concrete. If there is to be blood letting surely it is best delivered with a short sharp shock rather than the drip-drip effect currently dividing Europe and depressing the world. I am certain everyone on this Board wishes ALL the very best wishes and greatest admiration. We are in each of their considerable debt. Sadly, these things were NEVER going to be easy. Edited August 2, 2012 by Meunier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Yes, of course, one is very happy for Maina and Ros if new, exciting opportunities have opened up for them - and Maina is in great demand as a coach all over the world. But, although changes are almost inevitable when a new Artistic Director arrives, the consummate skill these two amazing former Principal dancers bring to their work will be very hard to replace at ENB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTL Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 We would like to thank them for everything they have done for the Company and for our enjoyment. Â Seconded. It has been a great privilege to watch them coaching in the public classes and rehearsals that ENB have so generously and imaginatively offered to all-comers at various London venues in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Very best wishes for the future to both of them and many thanks for their contributions to some lovely performances which my daughter and I have seen over the last few years. Swan Lake and Suite en Blanc (the latter staged by Maina) have been real highlights for us. I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to attend what must be Maina's last masterclass with ENB. You never know; perhaps Maina will be back to stage Bejart's Songs of a Wayfarer or Nureyev's Don Quixote, recently performed by National Ballet of Canada and Boston Ballet respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim b Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Of course ENB had Nureyev's production of Don Q for many years & he performed it many, many times with Eva Evdokimova & Patricia Ruanne (and others) with great success - I don't know whether they still have it - stored down at Marden - but I imagine its re-mounting would have to have permission from the Nureyev foundation who closely guard the rights to most of his productions - I know Pat Ruanne "looks after" his R&J - she and her husband figured largely in the R&J episode of the Agony and the Ecstasy - and she also mounts the Nureyev Nutcracker which will be on in Vienna this Christmas - I understand Denis Cherevichko who just won gold at Varna will be one of its Prince/Drosselmeyers - very much worth a visit I guess if one is at a loose end December time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Of course ENB had Nureyev's production of Don Q for many years  Did they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) >>>> Of course ENB had Nureyev's production of Don Q for many years  Did they?  I'm not at all sure ENB has the Nureyev DonQ. For the record I believe that MainaG has been given the right to stage DonQ by the Nureyev Foundation... which is what she did in Boston. Edited August 3, 2012 by Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim b Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Thanks for the info - that's very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 ENB presented Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet as part of their 60th Anniversay celebrations in 2010. It was in Southampton 20 - 23 October 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) Oops - rushing starting thinking of R & J not Don Q! Edited August 3, 2012 by Pas de Quatre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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