Jump to content

World Ballet Day 2017 discussion

Fiz
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 128
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Sim

Sim

Posted
Posted

Yes, it was Isabella Gasparini, a Brazilian dancer.  She and Yasmine also danced in Symphonic Variations together at the end of last season.  I can't believe she is still only a First Artist;  she does very well dancing with the Principals.   Definitely a candidate for promotion at the end of this season, methinks!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FrankH

FrankH

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

Good question.  I think its more that the BBC are trying to establish him as the go-to dance guy

While I normally dislike the over-use of "celebrities", I actually find him quite acceptable. And I think the transmission is improved by someone like him alongside the ballet experts.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
capybara

capybara

Posted
Posted

It was Nathalie Harrison. They showed a reminder of what had happened earlier so it was possible to double-check.

 

Other tall, fair or fairish women in the RB are, as suggested above, Julia Roscoe, Isabel Lubach, and Gina Storm-Jensen - and, of course, Melissa Hamilton. Grace Blundell is also fair.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bluebird

Bluebird

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Who is the tall blonde lady in blue top and pink skirt?  Anyone know?

 

I recorded the class and just went back to check for you.  Nathalie Harrison is tall and blonde and she was wearing a blue top and a pink skirt so I assume she's the dancer you picked out.

 

Edit: Sorry, Capybara, we were posting at the same time!

Edited by Bluebird
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fonty

Fonty

Posted
Posted (edited)

I had to work earlier on today (Boo!) so I am now enjoying the class from Canada.  I am most intrigued by the dancer who appears to have forgotten her ballet shoes, and so is doing the class in her Ugg boots. 

 

As I was typing, she went up on pointe.  :o  Turns out she was wearing her shoes under her boots.  :)

Edited by Fonty
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
penelopesimpson

penelopesimpson

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

I recorded the class and just went back to check for you.  Nathalie Harrison is tall and blonde and she was wearing a blue top and a pink skirt so I assume she's the dancer you picked out.

 

Edit: Sorry, Capybara, we were posting at the same time!

Thanks Bluebird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Springbourne3

Springbourne3

Posted
Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, Fonty said:

I had to work earlier on today (Boo!) so I am now enjoying the class from Canada.  I am most intrigued by the dancer who appears to have forgotten her ballet shoes, and so is doing the class in her Ugg boots. 

 

As I was typing, she went up on pointe.  :o  Turns out she was wearing her shoes under her boots.  :)

I believe that was Principal dancer Heather Ogden as I also noticed her rise en pointe in second in her warm up boots too! 😀

Edited by Springbourne3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FLOSS

FLOSS

Posted
Posted (edited)

junedancer,

Of course  it depends on what you mean by "training at the Royal Ballet School" but if you look at the entire company and the apprentices at least thirty of the dancers have taken the White Lodge, Upper School route into the company. Kevin does not seem to be exaggerating the part that the school has played in training his dancers.Some begin their involvement with the RBS when they attend the Upper School but not everyone who does so is an international prize winner. Several dancers mention  Elmhurst in their biographies while other started their dance training at schools which teach dance as preparation for a stage career. Gary Avis is a good example of someone who was identified as having an aptitude for ballet at stage school and who completed his training at the Upper School. 

 

The RB has always been an international company but this was not so obvious when virtually everyone in the company had a British sounding surname, there was general consensus about ballet aesthetics and training and the company had a uniform performance style because they danced so much Ashton repertory. The so called " English style"  which was the company's hallmark until the early 1980's essentially reflected Ashton's aesthetics,choreographic style and musicality. 

 

Of the current sixteen Principal dancers as opposed to guest Principals five attended both White Lodge and the Upper School, six had at least a year at the Upper School, this group includes Nunez who was too young to be employed when Dowell signed her up, and only five received none of their training at the school.Ballet companies can change very quickly,recruitment and departures can change them almost beyond recognition in a matter of seasons. It seems to me that at present the improved standards at the RBS during Gailene Stock's directorship are to be seen in all ranks of the company.

 

At the beginning of the century some of the most interesting  dancers in the company were those who had been trained abroad and had little or no connection with the school. It seems to me that this is no longer so obviously the case and that some of the potentially most interesting dancers are those who have received their training at the school which was created to be the company's feeder school. It will be interesting to see whether that continues to be the case and whether the school which is still very young when compared with the great and historically important schools in France, Copenhagen and Russia, has finally got the formula right and is now able to produce well trained, technically strong and artistically sensitive dancers in a consistent and regular manner. I say this not because I only want to see RBS trained dancers on the Covent Garden stage but because I am aware of the effort and sacrifice that families make when their child goes to an institution like the RBS. It seems to me that it is only reasonable to expect that the school which is regarded by many, perhaps ill advisedly, as the country's best ballet school should be capable of producing excellent dancers consistently year in year out.  

 

As for World Ballet Day it was compelling as always and sad as there are so many fine dancers across the world who we shall almost certainly never see live in the theatre.   

Edited by FLOSS
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fonty

Fonty

Posted
Posted

With regard to Floss's comments above, I remember being quite shocked when I watched a documentary about Darcey Bussell.  I think she said she was one of only 5 girls out of the 20 in her year who went on from White Lodge to the Upper School.  

 

Now, I know that not everyone can make it into the Upper School, but I would have expected the weeding out process to take place well before the final year at White Lodge.  Made me wonder what was wrong with the other girls, and more to the point, why they were allowed to stay at the school for so long, when the teachers must have known well before the age of 16 that they were not good enough to go on. 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...