The Royal Ballet: Ashton Triple Bill, June 2017

[capybara]

 

Can't quite come to terms with the fact that the Ashton programme and the RB's 2016/17 season are over. I've loved every minute of the last triple bill which felt like a celebration of everything one values in the RB.. 

 

A huge THANK YOU to all the dancers and the whole Company for all the enjoyment . Now fingers crossed for some hoped-for promotions.

 

 

[Geoff]

25 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Can't quite come to terms with the fact that the Ashton programme and the RB's 2016/17 season are over.

 

 

 

And just about the last thing we saw was Osipova kissing Shklyarov full on the lips at their curtain call, even more passionately than on their first night in the short M&A run. Not so often seen on the stage of the Royal Opera. 

 

In any case, thank you all the company and KOH for this year, most especially, if I might just pick one piece out of so many, most surprising to me, Emeralds.

 

 

[nycitybird]

57 minutes ago, Fonty said:

The only thing I would change is the long blonde wig that poor Titania is forced to wear.  Fine if you happen to be fair to start with, for someone of Takada's colouring it was deeply unflattering, I thought.  By all means give the Fairy Queen a tumble of lustrous locks, but in a colour somewhere nearer the dancer's natural colouring, please.   

 

Agree about Titania's wig. All three Titanias this run had darker features and didn't suit the wig. I also thought Princess Stephanie's wig in Mayerling didn't look good on anyone, even Hinkis, who is already blond. Yellow hair is not easy to pull off!

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, Vanartus said:

Really interested by Luke Jenning' piece. Personally I adore all elements of SV - it's a Gesamtkunstwerk wow! But I get what he says...I'd quite like to see it done "naked" - white set, no set, white or flesh leotard just to see what difference there is. I remember back in the 80's talking to Alastair Macaulay and he couldn't stand a"po-faced" over reverential approach to the staging of the work, which should seem fresh not like a mausoleum. He had a point. I enjoy the original setting because I can sense the link to the 40's, I like the almost religious feel to the piece but...I would be up for a radical strip back. (Warning - it has to be done well, Rhapsody reverted to a good reinvention of the original!) M&A is fine in my book - now wigless there ain't much less to strip back...it is what it is! However much as I love the now brilliantly lit set and costumes in The Dream, this ain't a holy work and I would like a completely new approach to this. Ironically Opera is far more radical and less precious re keeping original designs ...perhaps we need to be too...or have parallel designs...

 

It was an interesting piece, but I disagree with the premise that the design and costumes of a work are somehow secondary and so can be changed at a later stage by someone other than the choreographer. The design and costumes of any successful work are integral to their success and it's pretty insulting to designers to suggest otherwise. And I have no problem at all with the costumes for either The Dream or SV - they seem to me to be timeless rather than old-fashioned. Besides which if everything has to be changed to appeal to current taste, it will have to be changed constantly. And it's essential in my view that current taste is exposed to the taste of previous ages rather than simply staying in its comfort zone. That isn't to say that costumes should never be changed; but it should be done only in exceptional circumstances where there is widely felt (or felt by the choreographer) to be a real problem with the originals.

[LinMM]

Have to go off to allotment duty but would like to add something later but largely agree with bridiem on this. It's the same as changing the tunes to well known hymns ( not that I'm religious these days) but why? Write a new hymn by all means but leave the standards alone!! 

And absolutely NO dancing in the nude PLEASE!!

[ninamargaret]

22 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Have to go off to allotment duty but would like to add something later but largely agree with bridiem on this. It's the same as changing the tunes to well known hymns ( not that I'm religious these days) but why? Write a new hymn by all means but leave the standards alone!! 

And absolutely NO dancing in the nude PLEASE!!

I think one of the Dutch companies did a nude ballet about 40 years ago and it was not a pretty sight!

[Vanartus]

Is it on YouTube? ?

[Vanartus]

Sorry...that was a bit Carry On...

[Pas de Quatre]

Nederlands Dans Theater - saw it live, it just looked silly!

[MAB]

One of many remember.

[Two Pigeons]

The history of the redesign of Ashton's ballets is not a happy one, anything by David Walker apart.

 

My concern is once the designs go the next thing will be a revaluation of the style.  We are now being told that Marguerite and Armand is the work most wanted by foreign companies.  They may be keeping the designs, or at least an approximation of them, but the required understanding and style........................

 

I don't disagree that the male costumes for the men in Symphonic could be revised ( although be careful by whom) but I would want the company to keep the backcloth.   I don't think anyone would miss the blonde wig for Titania but the Victorian designs reflect the period of the music.  I do wonder if the issues raised in The Observer about Oberon's eyeshadow us a long felt and deeply held concerned or a reaction to all those unnecessary close ups of McRea this week.  Like Petrushka I would argue that The Dream is a piece of art in its entirety and little of it should be changed.

 

This is an area where you just cannot please everyone.  When I see what a dog's breakfast was made of the redesigns for Les Rendezvous I hope that very great care to preserve the spirit of the Ashton works is preserved if the works are redesigned.  Some would undoubtedly benefit, Online being a prime example,  but in my view the most recent designs for Cinderella  (whether or not we may ever see them again) were absolutely no improvement whatsoever on the previous ones.

 

Symphonic is never going to be a ballet for beginners, whether it us redesigned or not.  It is like a fine wine and appreciation comes with experience.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Two Pigeons

[penelopesimpson]

3 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

It was an interesting piece, but I disagree with the premise that the design and costumes of a work are somehow secondary and so can be changed at a later stage by someone other than the choreographer. The design and costumes of any successful work are integral to their success and it's pretty insulting to designers to suggest otherwise. And I have no problem at all with the costumes for either The Dream or SV - they seem to me to be timeless rather than old-fashioned. Besides which if everything has to be changed to appeal to current taste, it will have to be changed constantly. And it's essential in my view that current taste is exposed to the taste of previous ages rather than simply staying in its comfort zone. That isn't to say that costumes should never be changed; but it should be done only in exceptional circumstances where there is widely felt (or felt by the choreographer) to be a real problem with the originals.

I find the costumes ghastly but would not want them changed.   This is a piece of its time and the choreographers work should be preserved in its entirety.  

[Lizbie1]

Personally speaking, I'm struggling to understand what there is for Luke Jennings to dislike about the SV designs - in my view the men's costumes in particular have dated very well and remain far more masculine, elegant and flattering than the average. I think a case could be made for revising the hairstyles: this is where the charge of campness holds most water for me.

 

I think that there are far stronger candidates for a redesign than any of the recent triple bill ballets: Month just looks drably 70s to my eye, as does Mayerling (whose plot is hard enough to get to grips with before you add in the difficulty of recognising the dancers under those wigs).

 

Further afield (sorry for going off topic) I've always found one or two of the costumes in the Bolshoi's Spartacus, a ballet I unashamedly love, pretty toe-curling.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Lizbie1

[Sim]

I agree about not altering or changing costumes.  Who are we to decide that they look old fashioned and therefore should be brought 'up to date'?  Are we to lose everything about our ballet heritage?  While we're at it, why don't we take a paint brush and change the colour of Fedorovitch's backdrop because yellowy green is so last year??  

 

I agree with Penelope Simpson:  even if I hate the costumes in a production, I strongly feel that they should stay because they are part and parcel of the whole, and to tamper with them would ruin the balance, and prevent future generations from seeing a piece as it was originally conceived.  I even hate the fact that the Gaoler in Manon now has to wear breeches instead of tights.  

 

If you want modern costumes, there is always McGregor, Kylian, et al.  

[Sim]

14 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

 Is this the Shkyarov who will be dancing Bayadere with Yhe Marinsky?

Yes indeed, and he was brilliant in it.  I saw this cast dance it in St. Petersburg a couple of years ago and it was unforgettable:  in more than 50 years of ballet-going, this was one of the finest performances I had ever seen on any stage, anywhere.  

[ninamargaret]

2 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Nederlands Dans Theater - saw it live, it just looked silly!

Thank you - I knew it was either them or Dutch National.  Saw quite a lot of both companies around that time.

[penelopesimpson]

40 minutes ago, Sim said:

Yes indeed, and he was brilliant in it.  I saw this cast dance it in St. Petersburg a couple of years ago and it was unforgettable:  in more than 50 years of ballet-going, this was one of the finest performances I had ever seen on any stage, anywhere.  

Oh, I have a treat in store, then!

 

He just mesmerised me last night.  Such beautiful lines, such confident, accomplished dancing, such understated emotion.  Pure ballet at its best.  Osipova was wonderful with him, none of that nervous energy, just a profound sadness.  

[Jillykins]

What a terrific season it has been! Thank you Kevin O'Hare, dancers and musicians. Enjoyed last night enormously, loved Laura's Titania, an elegant , gracious fairy queen. I am a great fan of Alexander Campbell and he danced beautifully despite one or two wobbles. However he lacked the lightness and twinkling movement of McCrae. Not quite supercilious enough. Please don't change the costumes, they are part of the Ashton feel. It is how ballet was for me as a child in the 1940's and still is. A Magical dream.

SV love the costumes,music, set and choreography. It makes me think of Sir Fred. The dancers did it justice. There seems to me to be a spot on the stage that make all landings sound heavy. Is it my imagination? It is almost an echo. For me the ballet is timeless. Pleased to see Lauren dancing so beautifully , loved Reece and the talent of young Sissons. What a future for us!

i am so glad we are allowed to be different on the forum because I stand alone feeling unmoved by Osipova. Sorry despite her beautiful dancing I did not feel the passion. She didn't convince me of her illness or of the courtesan nature of her past. Beautiful line, clean neat dancing but just didn't move me. Armand ( sorry can't spell his name) did convince me after a bit of a wobble in the first two arabesques. A lovely caring partner and really devastated at the end. I think my introduction to this ballet by Fonteyn and Nureyev has made it difficult to accept current performances, I can only say how I feel! Poor Marguerite must be exhausted after the quick costume changes! I think Sir Fred would have been thrilled to see this run of his work. Will miss my trips to Covent Garden until the Autumn, not completely as I have a Don Quixote and Swan Lake to look forward to. Ballet gives me so much joy and I love reading all the views on the forum. Thanks to those who provide the arena.

[ninamargaret]

So pleased that  Jillikins has said what she has about Osipova! I haven't dared to say it, given the general admiration for her. She's a beautiful dancer, and I 've seen her several times, but she leaves me cold.  But that's one of the great joys of the Ba!let Forum - the pleasure it gives to read different views. What a good thing we all have our likes and dislikes.

[mauriceC]

Having been brought up on Ashton,SV will always remain my favourite ballet.It is the perfect combination of dance,music and design:my elder son on first viewing said the dance was like an extra musical stave on the score.I have seen very few ballets in 50 years that have achieved this and agree with Bruce that it should be performed every season though I once said this to  the late John Percival,the dance critic and he did not agree.Some prefer "Scenes De Ballet"(when did we last see that?)

No dancer should actually stand out in this ballet which I imagine was why Ashton resisted for a long  time,Nureyev's pleas to dance it and Nunez interestingly made reference to dancing as a group  in the Live relay interview.It should sing and in no way be po faced and reverential.The Sibley/Dowell performances of the 70s will forever be in my memory but the last BRB revival was superb and Clement Crisp thought them the best performances since the original.I very much enjoyed the first cast at this revival(regrettably screen only).

[Vanartus]

"I'll be the judge of that..."

 

Drat! This one liner refers back to the NDT ballet - it's ended up out of synch!"

Edited June 11, 2017 by Vanartus

[Guest]

What a fantastic triple bill to round off a wonderful season. I managed to see 3 performances/casts. If I had to single out one performer, I just couldn't: there was so much to enjoy. The performances that will remain etched on my memory came from Hayward (perfection!)/Sambé/Campbell (such intelligence, such control, such clear mime)/Yudes (just wow!)/Acri/Mendizabal/Ball (perfectly judged comedy from these two lovers)/Pitchley-Gale (conveying the sheer joy of dance) in The Dream. Muntagirov/Choe/Sissons in Symphonic. All three Marguerites and Bonelli/Skhylarov as Armand. This list isn't meant to detract from the fabulous performances from the rest of the casts. 

 

Regarding redesigns, does anybody know why The Dream was redone by David Walker in the 80s? Whose idea was it? Walker had originally designed just the costumes, with sets from Henry Bardon. It can be viewed on YouTube. It looks fairly similar, although Titania doesn't have ringlets in the original. I remember at a rehearsal Sibley said she preferred her old hair arrangement; she missed the roses! I never saw the original production. Does anybody here prefer the 1964 designs? I love all elements of the current production: sheer magic.

 

Looking at the dresses of Symphonic, it would seem that the cut has changed over the years: a nod to changing fashions or is it the use of different fabrics? I love Fedorovich's  sets and costumes for this: don't mess! 

 

Marguerite and Armand isn't my favourite ballet, but I was riveted by the performances this time around. Like so many people on this forum I will miss Yanowsky immensely and hope she comes back asap.

 

Its been a great season. There is, however, one thing that needs attention: 'if you can see the audience, the audience can see you'. I accept that if one is sat far enough to the side of the horseshoe shaped auditorium that, of course, you're going to be able to see into the wings, but as I sat a little to the side of the auditorium, an arm repeatedly coming out of the wing as one lead dancer warmed up for Emeralds; another dancer standing so close to the edge of the stage, upstage in the wing while he watched Soares in his Diamonds' solo (I could also see the stage manager at one point too in that particular performance), it just takes the edge off the performance. The other night, in The Dream, too many dancers 'gave up' too soon whilst running into the wings, (part of the magic of the set is the gauze through which we view dancers entering and exiting into the depths of the forest), and one soloist actually 'gave up' whilst exiting at the wing - on this particular performance I was sat in the central section - I've seen him do the same in other performances. Apart from that - no complaints, just sheer gratitude for the tremendous talent in the company. Wishing all dancers and staff a successful tour and relaxing holidays.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, mauriceC said:

Having been brought up on Ashton,SV will always remain my favourite ballet.It is the perfect combination of dance,music and design:my elder son on first viewing said the dance was like an extra musical stave on the score.I have seen very few ballets in 50 years that have achieved this and agree with Bruce that it should be performed every season though I once said this to  the late John Percival,the dance critic and he did not agree.Some prefer "Scenes De Ballet"(when did we last see that?)

Scenes de Ballet was last performed at Covent Garden in November 2014

 

Edited June 11, 2017 by Darlex

[penelopesimpson]

I gather the company is going to Australia.  Does anyone know what ballets they are taking?

[Ian Macmillan]

This thread in News might be a good place to find out:

 

http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/14987-press-release-royal-ballet-announces-casting-for-the-australia-tour-of-the-winter’s-tale-and-woolf-works/

[capybara]

12 minutes ago, Darlex said:

. There is, however, one thing that needs attention: 'if you can see the audience, the audience can see you'.

 

I do so agree, Darlex. So many dancers were 'relaxing' too soon on their exits.

 

7 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

I gather the company is going to Australia.  Does anyone know what ballets they are taking?

 

It's all in this thread, Penelope: 

 

[John Mallinson]

…and this is the latest casting.

[alison]

2 hours ago, mauriceC said:

Some prefer "Scenes De Ballet"(when did we last see that?)

[...]

No dancer should actually stand out in this ballet which I imagine was why Ashton resisted for a long  time,Nureyev's pleas to dance it and Nunez interestingly made reference to dancing as a group  in the Live relay interview.

 

Only a few seasons ago, actually

 

Which is why I'm all the more surprised at a "lead couple" being the only ones named in advance casting.

 

7 hours ago, Two Pigeons said:

I do wonder if the issues raised in The Observer about Oberon's eyeshadow us a long felt and deeply held concerned or a reaction to all those unnecessary close ups of McRea this week.  Like Petrushka I would argue that The Dream is a piece of art in its entirety and little of it should be changed.

 

Except it already has been changed once, hasn't it?

The mention of the makeup reminds me of something that's been bugging me since the live relay: some years ago, there was some insight evening - can't remember whether it was actually on The Dream, or whether it was a costume and makeup thing - but I seem to remember Ed Watson as Oberon in full makeup and costume, I think, with the tendrilly green streaks extending on down his neck and shoulders.  McRae's didn't seem to go beyond his face, which seems to me rather less ... organic, I suppose. 

 

I'm sure Mandy'll be able to tell us for certain, if she's reading this

 

(Incidentally, I was impressed at how well McRae's makeup "stayed" until the end of the piece)

 

20 hours ago, Sim said:

The tall dancer in the middle was Reece Clark.  Sissens was the dark-skinned dancer and the third was Ben Ella.  Wonderful all three.   Being able to nail this piece with relatively little experience is mighty impressive. The same goes for Mayara Magri and Leticia Stock.

 

(Stock was in it last time around, not sure about Magri). 

Could someone clarify, please?  That is not the "second cast" on the cast sheet in the second performance of the run.  So, when people have been enthusing about the "second cast", which unfortunately I didn't get to see at all, who exactly were they talking about, apart from Clarke and Cuthbertson?

 

12 hours ago, Fonty said:

  Funny, isn't it, how we all think differently?  What you see as stark, bright lighting I see as the lighting which is the perfect level to allow us to see the entire stage properly from all parts of the auditorium.

 

 

11 hours ago, MAB said:

 

So was I.  The lighting has changed, it used to be far more subtle and I was irritated by the garish look the piece now has.

 

I don't remember noticing it as particularly bright in the theatre, but it certainly didn't look overly so onscreen.  I don't suppose they bumped up the wattage for the live relay, did they?

 

21 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

My post implies that the 'failure' Is,mine, Alison, because  don't get Ashton, try as I may.

 

But it could also have been a failure in performance, couldn't it, if you didn't pick up any, or much, emotional content from it?  Now I think of it, that may have been missing for me too.

 

And can I just say that I'm not keen on the redesign of the lovers?

[alison]

I really hope the lady who complained on the ROH page about the disruptions to the transmission at Beckenham Odeon didn't bother trying again for today's Encore screening   I decided to go as it was my closest Encore screening, and really wished I hadn't - I suspect it may have been even worse.  I'm only comforted by the fact that the French Open final which I missed as a result was so one-sided.

[FLOSS]

The right's holders have a long and seriously inglorious history of redesigning Ashton's ballets. None have been an improvement on the original versions. I much preferred the original Dream designs. The current ones were devised for SWRB because the original sets were not suitable for touring. However that does not explain why it was felt necessary to redesign the costumes as well. The original designs succeeded in evoking the golden age of Romantic ballet and the world of Victorian fairy painting but the costumes also had a certain stream lined simplicity in them for example Oberon did not have puff sleeves. 

 

 The 1978 recording to which Petunia has provided a link will show you all sorts of essential  detail which you don't see in performance today. The recording it seems to me reveals the Dream to be a ballet whose choreographer was more concerned with effective story telling and creating character than the performance of unmodified classical steps. Somehow over the years some of the clear narrative details have been lost and a smoother more obviously classical ballet has been created which now takes 55 minutes to dance compared with the 51 minutes it took in 1974. The main exception to the smoothing down process are the "rustics"  whose portrayal has become so coarse that they now look as if they would be more at home in a cartoon.

 

I did not intend to post it in that state, I was not even aware that I had done anything to post it.

Edited June 11, 2017 by FLOSS

[alison]

Oops, your post needs editing, FLOSS.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

I much preferred the original Dream designs. The current ones were devised for SWRB because the original sets were not suitable for touring. However that does not explain why it was felt necessary to redesign the costumes as well.

I knew the BRB/SWRB have had designs by Peter Farmer for years. I didn't know they had also had Walker's designs too.

9 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

 

Yudes gave an excellent account of Puck's choreography not only reproducing the text and capturing the character's

 satyr-like,shape shifting nature far more effectively than either Zucchetti or Acri  managed but making the narrative elements of it register. He too placed his technical skill at the service of the choreography rather than treating the choreography as an excuse for display. There were times with both Zucchetti and Acri when it appeared that they were aiming for something other than playing the the demi-caractere role which they had been allotted. Yudes' second performance was, if anything, even better than his debut which was itself pretty impressive.

Yudes was also, in my opinion, by far the best Puck, but I also enjoyed Acri's account - his sense of mischief.

 

9 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

 

 Hayward danced the role of Titania very nicely at her debut but she performed it with much greater freedom last night the detail was clearer, her upper body movement was more expansive and she seemed to be far more willing to be off balance than Takada was prepared to be. Takada is a very fine classical dancer but her upper body is too contained and not really expansive enough to successfully embody Ashton's portrait of the Fairy Queen.At times Hayward reminded me of Sibley, the role's originator,  although at present she seems unable to capture the voluptuous, louche quality of the movement which Ashton devised for Titania's upper body and arms at the end of the reconciliation pas de deux. Perhaps this will come with further performances. Takada is too obviously in control of herself at this point in the ballet and fails to display the yielding sexuality which Sibley managed to convey when she danced the role. Takada is not a natural Ashton dancer in the way that Hayward is. You can see Takada  working to achieve a close approximation of the choreographic text a bit like someone who speaks a foreign language but does not do so idiomatically. It may be superficially convincing to those who are not overly familiar with the language but it is not idiomatic in part because it is too careful .

I loved Hayward's performance on Thursday. I saw Takada (replacing Lamb) and also felt that it looked more 'learnt' than instinctive.

 

9 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

 

Hayward on the other hand is in her element dancing Ashton's choreography she understands his musicality without having to think about it and because she has internalised the style she is able to cope with being off balance and dances the text with fearless abandon.

Yep! 

[alison]

"Too much verticality" was another thing I registered while watching these performances.  Really wish I'd managed to make Thursday's performance, but I'd never had got away from work in time

 

I'd be interested in takes on Merle Park's Titania, talking of that video.