The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker, December 2018 - January 2019

[penelopesimpson]

4 minutes ago, Fiz said:

I am sorry that I appear to have offended people. I used the names I did out of affection and pleasure at the achievement of the principals concerned.

Dear Fiz:  You certainly haven’t offended me - your affection is obvious.   I made my comment because I think that using short forms of people’s names implies a close personal relationshipwith a dancer and may make others feel excluded..  For all I know you are a friend of Marianela, but I just find it a little bit inappropriate on a public forum.  That’s just my view and others may feel differently. 

[Jan McNulty]

7 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

Dear Fiz:  You certainly haven’t offended me - your affection is obvious.   I made my comment because I think that using short forms of people’s names implies a close personal relationshipwith a dancer and may make others feel excluded..  For all I know you are a friend of Marianela, but I just find it a little bit inappropriate on a public forum.  That’s just my view and others may feel differently. 

 

I suppose it's all down to our own perceptions.  Without thinking a couple of weeks ago I responded to a friend's FB post using the name we have known a dancer by for over 20 years.  The friend had absolutely no idea who I was talking about and I felt really guilty when I had to explain.

 

I love the Vadream nickname!

[Fiz]

I have reason to believe he does too, Jan.

[capybara]

45 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Wasn't there ... seeing this cast at a later performance ... but lovely to see Benjamin Ella back amongst the throng.  

 

Yes - his first show back this season with Princes and Hans Peters a-plenty to come. He was looking good.

[Clara_f]

13 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Yes - his first show back this season with Princes and Hans Peters a-plenty to come. He was looking good.

Capybara has Ella been injured this season?

[alison]

Apparently.  My impression is that there have been quite a few injuries, at least among the men, this season.

[Clara_f]

42 minutes ago, alison said:

Apparently.  My impression is that there have been quite a few injuries, at least among the men, this season.

What a shame for him, he's really been riddled with injuries in his career I read in one of the Ballet Association interviews that he's been out for 3 years in total due to various serious injuries poor thing, which at his age is substantial! All the best to Ella and a speedy recovery to all those who've been sidelined. 

[Sophoife]

2 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

Wasn't there ... seeing this cast at a later performance ... but lovely to see Benjamin Ella back amongst the throng.  

 

And for those of us who remember his parents' dancing there's an extra fillip 😀

 

and with regards to Mr Muntagirov and Jan and Fiz' comments above which I can't figure how to quote in an edited post: Ha nearly every post Marianela Nuñez makes on Instagram featuring him just calls him "Vadream", as in fact do posts by most of his dancing partners. I think if he had a problem with it he'd have told them by now. IIRC it was Daria Klimentová who started it.

 

I think it speaks volumes as to their various feelings when partnering him, and from what others have said over the last 40-odd years, it's by no means all or even a majority of partners who are "a dream" to work with.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Sophoife
Merged two posts

[Xandra Newman]

I'd like to spare a sympathetic thought too for the Australian Principal Kevin Jackson who was due to appear on the Covent Garden stage (as Prince to Naghdi's Sugar Plum Fairy) but due to injury he had to cancel all his performances as an RB Guest Principal. 

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Sophoife said:

 

and with regards to Mr Muntagirov and Jan and Fiz' comments above which I can't figure how to quote in an edited post: Ha nearly every post Marianela Nuñez makes on Instagram featuring him just calls him "Vadream", as in fact do posts by most of his dancing partners. I think if he had a problem with it he'd have told them by now. IIRC it was Daria Klimentová who started it.

I think it speaks volumes as to their various feelings when partnering him, and from what others have said over the last 40-odd years, it's by no means all or even a majority of partners who are "a dream" to work with.

 

I believe that "Vadream" was coined by Marcelino Sambe. It certainly originated within the last two years.

 

[Lizbie1]

4 hours ago, Fiz said:

Jan, I know why you said it and I understand. However other people were also upset, apparently.

 

Not upset - and I wasn’t aiming it at you, Fiz, but sometimes (seldom on this forum and certainly not on this occasion) I am given pause by the habit. I thought it worth mentioning because I think sometimes we’re unaware of how our innocent words can come across.

[Fiz]

I’m not a close personal friend of either of them, oddly enough.😂 I do follow Vadim Muntagirov on Instagram and I meesaged him to say how much my husband and I - I sound like the dear Queen! - had enjoyed the ballet and the Sugar Plum section in particular and he sent me a heart emoticon! Not just is he a beautiful dancer but a really nice person.

[Katniss]

Hi,

Can I just add a huge well done too to all the soldiers , mice and party children etc! They also have been rehearsing very hard  with 5.45 am calls the the ROH  this week . 

[Fiz]

They did so well. It all hung together seamlessly and I looked at all those bright young faces wondering if there were any future stars there.

[Springbourne3]

This was a double treat for my birthday weekend (ENB on Saturday and RB Nutcracker last night and my husband is not really a ballet fan but he really enjoyed both ballets - it seems I’ll get him to become a ballet fan yet 😄).  

What an opening night of ‘Nutcracker’ - as soon as I hear that Tchaikovsky Overture I always feel so emotional 😭!  I’ve seen Wright’s production since it was first performed by the RB and I’ll never tire of it as it’s just so magical - fantastic to see the man himself enjoying the curtain calls at the end too. 

 

I enjoyed Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambé’s partnership - she has really developed as an artiste over the last few seasons.  Lots of new students from WL dancing with enthusiasm and having fun as the various children in Act 1 - well done to them.

Gary Avis is my favourite Drosselmeyer I have to say.

The snowflakes were full of energy and sparkle - great work from the corps again and those lovely smiling RBS students as the angels.

 

In Act 2 I preferred it when Clara and Hans Peter didn’t dance with the various divertissements - I liked the previous three ‘Ivans’ Russian dance and the three male dancers in the Chinese dance - it feels slightly like C and HP are getting in the way at times (just my opinion).

The Arabian was beautifully danced by M Hamilton and R Clarke, D Donnelly and ?T Dubreuil (I think) it wasn’t listed on the cinema cast sheet and I missed the end titles - I think Hamilton dances this role the best out of all the other Arabian dancers I’ve seen - the role is so suited to her physical qualities.

Loved Fumi Kaneko as the Rose Fairy - another artiste who has really developed over the previous season and she’s fast becoming a favourite of mine - looking forward to seeing her as Kitri. 

 

M Nunez and V Muntagirov were just sublime as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince  - faultless in their classical technique and they both looked so relaxed and happy on stage.  Vadim’s landings from every jump were as light as a feather into perfectly crossed fifth positions - just phenomenal. 

Marianela was gracious and beautiful as ever.

What a treat to see such fine classical dancers dancing together.

 

All in all a great opening night.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Springbourne3

[Fiz]

That’s a lovely review, Springbourne3 and belated Happy Birthday! The grand pas music always makes me well up, especially after watching and reading about Valentina Semulkova dancing it, and I thought the memory of her would finish me off completely but I was smiling from sheer delight by the end. I do wish it had been recorded. Kevin O’Hare has a company which anyone would envy. Bravo encore!

[Rob S]

8 hours ago, Fiz said:

Jan, I know why you said it and I understand. However other people were also upset, apparently.

 

I’m not upset, just thoroughly disappointed you didn’t call her Nelly-welly 😞

[jules_skichick]

9 hours ago, Fiz said:

I am sorry that I appear to have offended people. I used the names I did out of affection and pleasure at the achievement of the principals concerned.

Don't worry you did nothing untoward at all. KOH and Dame Darcey B and ORE all called Marianella  - Nela. As was the title of a new ballet NELA on-screen for film viewers so not a problem. We do not live in the 1930 s......

[Fiz]

Thank you. 

[Springbourne3]

1 hour ago, Fiz said:

That’s a lovely review, Springbourne3 and belated Happy Birthday! The grand pas music always makes me well up, especially after watching and reading about Valentina Semulkova dancing it, and I thought the memory of her would finish me off completely but I was smiling from sheer delight by the end. I do wish it had been recorded. Kevin O’Hare has a company which anyone would envy. Bravo encore!

Thanks Fiz - I get the same ‘lump in throat’ feeling with the overture to ‘Swan Lake’ 😥too 

[Fiz]

I did my ironing to the orchestral version of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake this morning. I kept visualising the ballets whilst doing it. It was far preferable to concentrating on bedsheets!

[JennyTaylor]

10 hours ago, Fiz said:

I am sorry that I appear to have offended people. I used the names I did out of affection and pleasure at the achievement of the principals concerned.

You haven't offended me at all. Both these names are well known on social media - Marianela Nunez publicly calls Vadim (Vadream) - so it's in the public domain, and, as someone else has commented, her film featured during the interval was titled Nela.  If you go to any RB events/ conversations, the forename is always used to introduce the dancers. 

 

For me, calling them just by their surnames is also a little "harsh", so are we expected to call them by their full names every time we want to write about them. 

 

So, perhaps, we could all loosen up a little??  

 

Fiz - continue with your affection and pleasure

[capybara]

2 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

You haven't offended me at all. Both these names are well known on social media - Marianela Nunez publicly calls Vadim (Vadream) - so it's in the public domain, and, as someone else has commented, her film featured during the interval was titled Nela.  If you go to any RB events/ conversations, the forename is always used to introduce the dancers. 

For me, calling them just by their surnames is also a little "harsh", so are we expected to call them by their full names every time we want to write about them. 

So, perhaps, we could all loosen up a little??  

 

I think that the dialogue about names arose because Janet interjected on behalf of Forum Members who might not be familiar with 'Nela' and 'Vadream'. Conversationally, we probably all use first names when referring to dancers in the companies we follow. It just gets a bit more complicated when it's in print.

 

However, the key thing was that last night's Nutcracker was phenomenal from all concerned.

 

[FrankH]

Unlike with La Bayadère, my local Curzon, while quite full, wasn’t sold out. However the ROH live performances are also available at a larger cinema less than 100 yds away, so perhaps that’s where most of the viewers went. There weren’t many children in the Curzon audience, which suggests that my surmise might be correct.Thanks are due to Richard LH, who provided the link in his OP to the full cast list. As usual, the programme we got was very skimpy – only 5 cast members given. I’m at last beginning to be able to recognise some of the “lesser” names of the RB by sight, but a proper cast list is still very much appreciated, as most are still not known to me.

 

Random comments:

It was seeing Francesca Hayward in the role of Clara (again in a live transmitted cinema viewing) which convinced me that all the rave reviews about her at the RB were totally justified. As Anna Rose O’Sullivan has been receiving similarly enthusiastic comments in this forum, I wondered if I would have a similar experience.The answer is, quite frankly, no.

 

As a ballet ignoramus, I can only claim to be able to (I hope) tell the difference between bad dancing and good dancing. At the top end, as represented by the elite dancers of the leading ballet companies, I cannot claim to be able to tell the difference between the exceptional and the merely excellent. Thus I am not able to judge, who of Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’Sullivan etc.etc., is the best dancer. All I can do is to record my personal emotional reaction to a performance. In the case of Francesca as Clara, she lit up the stage whenever Clara was the centre of the action, and often even when she was just a bystander. This was not the case with Anna Rose, excellent dancer as she clearly is. To me at least, she doesn’t as yet have that indefinable extra something, as the captivating Francesca certainly has.

 

“Charisma” (or – ugh! – the “X factor”) is a debatable concept, and much depends on personal response.  But if it means anything objective, then Francesca Hayward has it in buckets, while Anna Rose, as yet, only has it in teacups. I’m not sure it’s something which can be learnt. Charisma may not always be an advantage. It may lead to the person being diverted away from the artistic environment to which they are best suited, into the more "popular" and superficial (“Cats”?). I very much hope this will not happen with Miss Hayward. In the meantime Misses Naghdi, O’Sullivan, etc. will have more opportunities to shine.

 

As for Marianela Núñez and Vadim Muntagirov, of course they were excellent. And yet, I didn’t find their performances as compelling as previous performances in other ballets. I realise that this is because of the rather unsatisfactory nature of The Nutcracker as an example of “narrative ballet”, in that the two leading parts in terms of the choreography, are given to characters who are peripheral to any dramatic thrust the “story” might have. When I have seen Núñez and Muntagirov previously (Manon, Two Pigeons, La Bayadère etc.) it has generally been in ballets where they have to dance and act out situations of great emotional depth, which of course they do wonderfully. Here in The Nutcracker, they were required merely (!) to dance excellently, while their facial expressions were frozen into rather vapid grins (please forgive me for these heretical thoughts).

 

Melissa Hamilton (Arabian Dance).  Vanartus wrote “Just a quick addition - loved Melissa Hamilton at her silky slinky best!”. 

Springbourne3 wrote “I think Hamilton dances this role the best out of all the other Arabian dancers I’ve seen - the role is so suited to her physical qualities.”

Absolutely! It has been mentioned a number of times in this forum that Miss Hamilton is not suited to more strictly “classical” roles. But in this particular sort of role she is superb. Dare I write that she has the “sex appeal” necessary to carry this sort of thing off?

 

The Corps were as usual almost flawless – not a weak link among them. They are all such good actors as well as dancers. And that goes too for the delightful youngsters from the Royal Ballet School. You obviously need to be a good actor as well as a brilliant dancer to get there. Let's hope we see some of them progress to the RB.

 

And I could go on and on and on, about the glorious music, so well played by the ROH orchestra. It includes what is to me one of the high points of late 19th century Romantic music – the andante maestoso from the Grand Pas-de-Deux, heavenly in its perfection. Tchaikovsky one of the greatest composers in being able to write music which directly affects the heart strings, and the tear ducts.

 

On my way home after a great evening, I passed the other cinema as people were still coming out. Among them two teenage girls, singing the theme of the "Waltz of The Flowers".

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by FrankH

[bridiem]

32 minutes ago, FrankH said:

As for Marianela Núñez and Vadim Muntagirov, of course they were excellent. And yet, I didn’t find their performances as compelling as previous performances in other ballets. I realise that this is because of the rather unsatisfactory nature of The Nutcracker as an example of “narrative ballet”, in that the two leading parts in terms of the choreography, are given to characters who are peripheral to any dramatic thrust the “story” might have. When I have seen Núñez and Muntagirov previously (Manon, Two Pigeons, La Bayadère etc.) it has generally been in ballets where they have to dance and act out situations of great emotional depth, which of course they do wonderfully. Here in The Nutcracker, they were required merely (!) to dance excellently, while their facial expressions were frozen into rather vapid grins (please forgive me for these heretical thoughts).

 

Thanks for your interesting review, FrankH.

 

About the Sugar Plum Fairy/Prince: although they don't literally take the narrative forward, I think the pas de deux expresses everything the ballet is about and distils it in 10 breathtaking minutes. Clara and Hans Peter see beauty, love, grandeur, mystery, brilliance, unity and joy personified, and they realise that their lives too can express these things. That is what they take back with them into the 'real' world. So for me it's more abstracted but even more powerful than a traditional narrative process.

[alison]

1 hour ago, FrankH said:

Unlike with La Bayadère, my local Curzon, while quite full, wasn’t sold out. However the ROH live performances are also available at a larger cinema less than 100 yds away, so perhaps that’s where most of the viewers went.

 

Silly them, if you're where I think you are, then - and the tickets are more expensive there, if I recall correctly  

[Amelia]

8 hours ago, Fiz said:

... The grand pas music always makes me well up, especially after watching and reading about Valentina Semulkova dancing it, and I thought the memory of her would finish me off completely but I was smiling from sheer delight by the end...

 

Did you write about Valentina Simukova, Fiz?

[Fiz]

No, I read Luke Jenning’s old article about her and watched the recording made of her and her dance partner six months before she died. Such a tragedy.

[annamk]

9 hours ago, FrankH said:

 

As for Marianela Núñez and Vadim Muntagirov, of course they were excellent. And yet, I didn’t find their performances as compelling as previous performances in other ballets. I realise that this is because of the rather unsatisfactory nature of The Nutcracker as an example of “narrative ballet”, in that the two leading parts in terms of the choreography, are given to characters who are peripheral to any dramatic thrust the “story” might have. When I have seen Núñez and Muntagirov previously (Manon, Two Pigeons, La Bayadère etc.) it has generally been in ballets where they have to dance and act out situations of great emotional depth, which of course they do wonderfully. Here in The Nutcracker, they were required merely (!) to dance excellently, while their facial expressions were frozen into rather vapid grins (please forgive me for these heretical thoughts).

 

 

 

Interesting ...... because I actually prefer them (either individually or together) in those ballets where they don't need to act;  there is not a trace of tension in their execution of the steps, they just show us how technically superb they are. 

[Richard LH]

9 hours ago, FrankH said:

Dare I write that she has the “sex appeal” necessary to carry this sort of thing off?

Well you just did !

I liked Hamilton but I think I prefer  the formidable Itziar Mendizabal  in this role. I love her startling and intense  facial expressions!

 © Royal Opera House

Edited December 5, 2018 by Richard LH

[Richard LH]

9 hours ago, FrankH said:

In the case of Francesca as Clara, she lit up the stage whenever Clara was the centre of the action, and often even when she was just a bystander. This was not the case with Anna Rose, excellent dancer as she clearly is. To me at least, she doesn’t as yet have that indefinable extra something, as the captivating Francesca certainly has.

Well you have me there Frank... seeing Miss Francesca Hayward as Clara last year at the cinema, partnered by the wonderful Mr Alexander Campbell, was what brought me back into a love of ballet. I am not really expecting anyone else to enchant me more than those two in this production. Indefinable charisma, as you say. That said, I do think Miss Anna Rose O'Sullivan is a brilliant  young dancer who will hopefully have many opportunities to develop her acting skills further.

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

Well you have me there Frank... seeing Miss Francesca Hayward as Clara last year at the cinema, partnered by the wonderful Mr Alexander Campbell, was what brought me back into a love of ballet. I am not really expecting anyone else to enchant me more than those two in this production. Indefinable charisma, as you say. That said, I do think Miss Anna Rose O'Sullivan is a brilliant  young dancer who will hopefully have many opportunities to develop her acting skills further.

 

I find the differences in our perceptions on here so interesting. It's Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe for me in these two roles as, in the cinema at least,  I found myself connected with them and their journey far more than was the case with the Francesca Hayward (wonderful, of course) and Alexander Campbell combo.

[Legseleven]

15 hours ago, FrankH said:

Unlike with La Bayadère, my local Curzon, while quite full, wasn’t sold out. However the ROH live performances are also available at a larger cinema less than 100 yds away, so perhaps that’s where most of the viewers went. There weren’t many children in the Curzon audience, which suggests that my surmise might be correct.Thanks are due to Richard LH, who provided the link in his OP to the full cast list. As usual, the programme we got was very skimpy – only 5 cast members given. I’m at last beginning to be able to recognise some of the “lesser” names of the RB by sight, but a proper cast list is still very much appreciated, as most are still not known to me.

 

Random comments:

It was seeing Francesca Hayward in the role of Clara (again in a live transmitted cinema viewing) which convinced me that all the rave reviews about her at the RB were totally justified. As Anna Rose O’Sullivan has been receiving similarly enthusiastic comments in this forum, I wondered if I would have a similar experience.The answer is, quite frankly, no.

 

As a ballet ignoramus, I can only claim to be able to (I hope) tell the difference between bad dancing and good dancing. At the top end, as represented by the elite dancers of the leading ballet companies, I cannot claim to be able to tell the difference between the exceptional and the merely excellent. Thus I am not able to judge, who of Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’Sullivan etc.etc., is the best dancer. All I can do is to record my personal emotional reaction to a performance. In the case of Francesca as Clara, she lit up the stage whenever Clara was the centre of the action, and often even when she was just a bystander. This was not the case with Anna Rose, excellent dancer as she clearly is. To me at least, she doesn’t as yet have that indefinable extra something, as the captivating Francesca certainly has.

 

“Charisma” (or – ugh! – the “X factor”) is a debatable concept, and much depends on personal response.  But if it means anything objective, then Francesca Hayward has it in buckets, while Anna Rose, as yet, only has it in teacups. I’m not sure it’s something which can be learnt. Charisma may not always be an advantage. It may lead to the person being diverted away from the artistic environment to which they are best suited, into the more "popular" and superficial (“Cats”?). I very much hope this will not happen with Miss Hayward. In the meantime Misses Naghdi, O’Sullivan, etc. will have more opportunities to shine.

 

As for Marianela Núñez and Vadim Muntagirov, of course they were excellent. And yet, I didn’t find their performances as compelling as previous performances in other ballets. I realise that this is because of the rather unsatisfactory nature of The Nutcracker as an example of “narrative ballet”, in that the two leading parts in terms of the choreography, are given to characters who are peripheral to any dramatic thrust the “story” might have. When I have seen Núñez and Muntagirov previously (Manon, Two Pigeons, La Bayadère etc.) it has generally been in ballets where they have to dance and act out situations of great emotional depth, which of course they do wonderfully. Here in The Nutcracker, they were required merely (!) to dance excellently, while their facial expressions were frozen into rather vapid grins (please forgive me for these heretical thoughts).

 

Melissa Hamilton (Arabian Dance).  Vanartus wrote “Just a quick addition - loved Melissa Hamilton at her silky slinky best!”. 

Springbourne3 wrote “I think Hamilton dances this role the best out of all the other Arabian dancers I’ve seen - the role is so suited to her physical qualities.”

Absolutely! It has been mentioned a number of times in this forum that Miss Hamilton is not suited to more strictly “classical” roles. But in this particular sort of role she is superb. Dare I write that she has the “sex appeal” necessary to carry this sort of thing off?

 

The Corps were as usual almost flawless – not a weak link among them. They are all such good actors as well as dancers. And that goes too for the delightful youngsters from the Royal Ballet School. You obviously need to be a good actor as well as a brilliant dancer to get there. Let's hope we see some of them progress to the RB.

 

And I could go on and on and on, about the glorious music, so well played by the ROH orchestra. It includes what is to me one of the high points of late 19th century Romantic music – the andante maestoso from the Grand Pas-de-Deux, heavenly in its perfection. Tchaikovsky one of the greatest composers in being able to write music which directly affects the heart strings, and the tear ducts.

 

On my way home after a great evening, I passed the other cinema as people were still coming out. Among them two teenage girls, singing the theme of the "Waltz of The Flowers".

 

I haven’t seen this production with Anna Rose O’Sullivan as Clara so I can’t comment on her performance, but you also mentioned Yasmine Naghdi having more opportunities to shine because of Francesca Hayward’s absence. Naghdi certainly didn’t need Hayward to be absent to shine when she danced the Rose Fairy about three years ago in the Nutcracker live cinema relay; she more than held her own in a small role alongside the main characters with Hayward as Clara and Lauren Cuthbertson as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Naghdi certainly has that indefinable ‘it’ factor and charisma.