Personal Highlights of the 2011/2012 Season

[aileen]

Before the new season starts I thought that it would be interesting to hear what people's highlights of the last season were. I'll start us off.

 

Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet (Kobborg/Cojacaru); Ballo/Sylphide (despite slightly disappointing dancing); Les Noces.

 

ENB: Rite of Spring; Apollo (Muntagirov and Konvalina casts); Suite en Blanc.

 

BRB: Beauty and the Beast; Symphonic Variations; Two Pigeons.

 

Scottish Ballet: Streetcar.

 

Royal Ballet of Flanders: Artifact.

 

Richmond Ballet: Made in the USA programme.

[DavidW]

Personally my highlights were:

 

Royal Ballet: Romeo & Juliet (Cuthbertson/Bonelli), La Sylphide (Rojo/Trzensimiech), Sweet Violets (2nd CastL Gartside et al), Prince of the Pagodas (Nuñez/Kish/Rojo)

 

English National Ballet: Rite of Spring, Apollo (Muntagirov), Suite en Blanc

 

ABT: Swan Lake (Semionova/Hallberg)

 

National Ballet of Canada: Song of a Wayfarer (Côté/Kovalina)

 

ROH2: Metamorphosis (Watson)

 

BalletBoyz - The Talent: Void

 

And I'm sure I'm forgetting some others. All in all a great season I think!

[JaneL]

My hightlights, though some seem a long time ago now:

 

Metamorphosis - I wasn't sure what to expect, and wasn't even sure if I'd like it, but this was incredible and I can't wait to see it again!

 

Reqiuem - seen from above in the amphitheatre - breathtaking!

 

Manon (McRae/Marquez) - one of the best performances of this ballet I've ever seen.

 

Romeo & Juliet (Rojo/Acosta) because I took my sister to see it for the first time and she was completely blown away. And now it's even more special in retrospect because I'm unlikely ever to see them dance it together again.

 

Gloria, which I'd never seen before and which moved me to tears.

 

Sweet Violets/Polyphonia/Carbon Life - just because of the buzz and discussion that it created. And also because Sweet Violets was awesome.

 

And because this list seems very MacMillan-heavy, and because my mum treated me to interval afternoon tea in the Crush Room as a books-published-celebration, La Fille Mal Gardee - as lovely and sparkling as ever!

 

Edited to add: AfterLight as part of Men in Motion at Sadler's Wells - can't believe I forgot that, I was completely mesmerised!

 

Now... roll on 2012/2013!

 

Jane

Edited September 4, 2012 by JaneL

[Jan McNulty]

I seem to have loved everything I have seen this year but especial highlights have been:

 

Northern Ballet's mixed programme at Quarry Hill in February.

 

Madame Butterfly (Northern Ballet) in Leeds

 

Northern Ballet in I Got Rhythm in Leeds and Norwich. The sheer joie-de-vivre of all the company ended the season on a huge high.

 

A truly fabulous Coppelia in Sunderland with BRB and Chi Cao in spectacular form as Franz

 

BRB Two Pigeons - wept happy buckets at every performance

 

BRB's midscale tour both North and South

 

BRB's two performances in Munich were the ultimate highlight. The theatre was breath-takingly beautiful and the company made full use of the ENORMOUS stage.

[Willie]

Swan Lake by The Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam (a birthday gift to myself).

 

Onéguine by Paris Opera Ballet at Palais Garnier in Paris (with my ex-wife).

 

Giselle by Prague State Opera Ballet in Prague (with my sister).

 

Les Saisons Russes by Mariinsky Ballet in Washington, DC. (Yekaterina Kondaurova

was phenomenal as the Firebird).

 

La Fille mal gardée by National Ballet of Canada in Toronto (extremely entertaining).

 

Swan Lake by Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Ballet) in Detroit (Ángel Corella was fantastic; I hope the Barcelona Ballet survives its financial issues).

 

Swan Lake by Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg (beautifully danced by Anastasia and Denis Matvienko).

 

La Bayadère by American Ballet Theater in New York (beautifully danced by Polina Semionova and David Hallberg).

 

Coppélia by Bolshoi Ballet in Washington, DC. (very entertaining).

 

Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake by Australian Ballet in New York (interesting version).

 

[Aruna S]

For me it was Romeo and Juliet with Rojo-Acosta, because it was a wonderful performance, because it was the fulfilment of a promise made to my son when he saw the dvd, and like Jane, in retrospect because it was the last time I'm likely to see them dancing it together. It's a lifetime personal highlight, both for me and for my son.

Edited September 4, 2012 by afds

[webfoot]

I'm afraid I usually only get to see performances in Birmingham, and I have enjoyed all of BRBs performances this year.

 

My one highlight has to be Symphonic Variations. It literally took my breath away it was so beautiful.

I love Pineapple Poll that followed Symphonic on the programme I saw, but I almost didn't want to watch it as it could only bring me down from such a sublime experience.

 

I still get a thrill when I think about it today.

[aileen]

webfoot, I agree with you about Symphonic Variations. I saw it at Sadler's Wells and it was stunning.

 

I should have included in my list Sergei Polunin's Narcissus solo in the first Men in Motion programme. He had just left the RB and everyone at Sadler's Wells was wondering whether he would actually appear. When he leapt onto the stage a gasp went round the auditorium. I found him mesmerising, and the subject matter of the piece and its associations with the tragic Nijinsky made the solo uncannily pertinent and poignant at the same time. I understood for the first time what all the fuss was about.