thewinelake Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Not sure if anyone’s particularly interested, but ISTR vague mutterings in the past! This is a ballet show from the club that is not restricted to students - quite a few “townies” in it. More here : https://adcticketing.com/whats-on/dance/don-quixote 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Am hoping to get to see this!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 FWIW, my advice would be to avoid the first performance - time is at such a premium that rehearsals are never as plentiful as one would like! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Hee hee I do recognise that scenario with amateur ballet performances over the years! All sorts of things can go wrong at venues so what looked like a whole afternoon/ eve of rehearsals can be a rushed couple of hours!! Then the lighting won't work, the sound system is kaput.....you name it....yes the first performance is usually the dress rehearsal lol!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted January 25, 2019 Author Share Posted January 25, 2019 (edited) They have a cast of a little over 120, so the logisitics aren't trivial. I'm always amazed that they manage to cobble together a show at all! Did a photoshoot at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.... One thing they do have is lots of nice backdrops! Edited January 25, 2019 by thewinelake 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 If there are, indeed to be over 100 performers on that West Road stage area, I'm guessing that many won't be moving too far, and that there will be no live orchestra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted January 25, 2019 Author Share Posted January 25, 2019 (edited) No live orchestra. The idea was considered, but it’s all rather impractical! They don’t even have wings. I doubt that the entire cast will be on stage simultaneously other than at the curtain call. Edited January 25, 2019 by thewinelake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annekh510 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 On 23/01/2019 at 19:23, thewinelake said: Not sure if anyone’s particularly interested, but ISTR vague mutterings in the past! This is a ballet show from the club that is not restricted to students - quite a few “townies” in it. More here : https://adcticketing.com/whats-on/dance/don-quixote That's a big change from my student days, I went to some of their classes at Kelsey Kerridge and the non beginners class had only 2 girls (including me) who had every done pointe work, so it clearly wasn't going to advance my ballet skills, so I took up other forms of dancing. I shall keep this in mind, I'll have to check on blue badge parking, it's a long time since I've been in the West Road area - I did get a bit confused by it being adcticketing and it being at West Road not the ADC. West Road is bigger, but it's not exactly an ideal venue for ballet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 1 hour ago, annekh510 said: That's a big change from my student days, I went to some of their classes at Kelsey Kerridge and the non beginners class had only 2 girls (including me) who had every done pointe work, so it clearly wasn't going to advance my ballet skills, so I took up other forms of dancing. I shall keep this in mind, I'll have to check on blue badge parking, it's a long time since I've been in the West Road area - I did get a bit confused by it being adcticketing and it being at West Road not the ADC. West Road is bigger, but it's not exactly an ideal venue for ballet. I think West Road has excellent parking, for normal cars as well as blue-badge holders. I don't know if there is an ideal venue for ballet. Leys School is often used, and has a very good theatre. I think it's quite small. That's the trouble with a collegiate system, the central facilities aren't as good as at a more university-centric institution (eg. Bath or Exeter or many others). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Interesting that ticket sales this year have been somewhat sluggish. I think that Don Q seems to have limited appeal for non-balletphiles. Actually, even many here have been skeptical about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 17 minutes ago, thewinelake said: Interesting that ticket sales this year have been somewhat sluggish. I think that Don Q seems to have limited appeal for non-balletphiles. Actually, even many here have been skeptical about it. Do you mean because they haven't heard of it, or because it wouldn't appeal to them for some reason, thewinelake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 More the former! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Might putting it on at the same time as the RB's production affect the ticket sales? If they were doing a piece I'd never seen & didn't have the opportunity to see done professionally then I might have considered going after this thread had alerted me to the performances, as I live near Cambridge. However having just seen the RB's production I don't feel the need to see an amateur version which, however well done by amateur standards, I cannot believe could come anywhere near the RB's standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) Mmm, interesting notion! I thought that could work both ways - i.e. those who loved the RB version might want to see it again (admittedly differently) and maybe some couldn't make RB and thought this would be a consolation! But really I think that big names like Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Giselle would attract the crowds. Not sure how many went to see Romeo & Juliet, but would guess that would be another less-famous ballet. Actually, I think a more relevant fact is that the cast is a bit smaller (perhaps because there's less attraction there - what amateur ballerina wouldn't want to be a swan?!) and with these shows, 90%+ of the audience will be friends and family. Edited February 24, 2019 by thewinelake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Yes, you're probably right. I've seen a few amateur productions of G&S & musicals in Cambridge, and some fringe productions of musicals in London, where I've felt as if I'm the only person in the audience who doesn't know anyone in the cast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Some rough cuts here from the first night (AKA dress rehearsal), mostly of Kitri, danced by Jasmine Coomber Edited March 2, 2019 by thewinelake 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) BTW, is there a way to make those floors less slippery? Maybe cleaning with white spirit? Edited March 2, 2019 by thewinelake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 The traditional way was to wash the floor with Coca Cola. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Not bad performances at all for amateur dancers...at least the main dancers were really confident on pointe which is really good ...I hate to see amateurs allowed to totter around in public performances....and some pretty good fouettés there ....brave of her even to opt to do them ...so quite an achievement. I had hoped to be in Cambridge this weekend to see this but it didn't work out in the end.....waiting for a baby to arrive!! But lucky Cambridge dancers to have this opportunity....I know how much hard work ( and angst) goes into these performances!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) A slightly odd review here. Not often that the photographers get name-checked and the producer/director don’t? https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2019/03/03/review-cubcs-don-quixote-121861/amp a more conventional review here https://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/review-don-quixote/ Edited March 5, 2019 by thewinelake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewinelake Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 Ooh, best of luck with the baby! Agree about over ambitious pointe in general. That was a bit of an issue in this production among the intermediate level dancers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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