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Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the rehearsal of Elizabeth at the Barbican, May 2018
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Sonya Cullingford, Katie Deacon, Zenaida Yanowsky, Yuri Yanowsky
© Foteini Christofilopoulou. 
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


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Zenaida Yanowsky
© Foteini Christofilopoulou. 
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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Set from DanceTabs: Elizabeth
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
 

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Dave, as ever, thanks a bunch - but we know she looks good in almost anything!  I marked the opening last night by watching the DVD of the original run at home once again.  I note that the supporting ladies are as before, and the DVD shows Katie Deacon to be a nimble dancer.  The Baritone has changed and I'm delighted to see that Julien Van Mellaerts, who sang as Onegin with us in Cambridge Phil's staged production in December, has reappeared here.  The significant change is that Zenaida's brother has taken over from Carlos Acosta in the several male roles - and I've just seen that Jenny Gilbert (Arts Desk) expresses a degree of unease at the pairing of siblings in the various relationships portrayed.  I'd tend to trust Zenaida's artistic judgement in this but will be interested to hear what others have to say.

 

https://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/elizabeth-barbican-review-royal-romance-under-scrutiny

 

And on watching once again last night, I found myself wondering once again if there might not be an acting career still available to Mme Yanowsky?  Yes, she has an accent, but that need not be a bar to someone who has such an imposing presence on stage.  Those eyes!

 

I've now seen that other reviews have started to appear - I'll leave the links to tomorrow's list - but I'm surprised to see that the piece is being played on the main Barbican stage as I'd have thought it best suited in scale to a more intimate studio ambience.

Edited by Ian Macmillan
Afterthought.
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the way its lit on that big main stage, is to give it a huge apron at the sides, where the wings usually go. So in effect, you had that studio feel, to a much bigger audience. Gives the cello player somewhere to sit too!

Had no problem with the siblings issue - as the male characters were mainly guilty of 'bonking away from home' as it were. Only chaste hand kisses exchanged between the siblings-in-real-life, so I can't really see what the problem was. They were dance/acting after all.

Really enjoyed it last night (despite the fidget sitting next to doing his best to nick half my seat - and his was half as big again as most seats, sited on the corner as it was). 

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I really enjoyed this performance too, probably more than I did at the Linbury - although being pragmatic this may be because I was standing there as opposed to having a lovely comfy seat with plenty of legroom! didn't think the bigger space was in any way detrimental to the piece, although when it first began I thought the music was going to drown the words which didn't in fact happen at all. I must admit to missing Acosta and his particular brand of charisma for the male dancing roles - I thought he did a slightly better job of differentiating between the characters but the difference wasn't enough to in any way spoil the evening. And I totally agree about Zenaida's acting abilities - it's amazing how she is able to convey so much emotion through such small physical moves or, as mentioned above, through her eyes. Even when she was still, you could really feel her anguish at the betrayal by Essex. I also liked the way she was so reluctant to take a solo curtain call, in the end taking a tentative little half version. Very good audience at the Barbican - looked 85% full (?) - and very enthusiastic applause. So glad I saw this again.

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  • John Mallinson changed the title to The Royal Ballet: Elizabeth, London, May 2018

I was at the performance on Friday evening and found the piece absolutely riveting.

 

I thought that Will Tuckett's choreography matched the spoken words beautifully and that all the cast was excellent.  What a bonus having Samantha Bond in the cast.

 

Of course the evening belonged to Zenaida Yanowsky.  She gave such a finely judged performance and was so telling in every nuanced gesture.  It was incredible to watch the haggard, dying old woman at the start and seeing her transform (really just by body language) into the young woman finding out she has become Queen.

 

A great evening! 

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  • alison changed the title to Elizabeth, London, May 2018

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