The Royal Ballet: Romeo and Juliet, Spring 2019

[Dawnstar]

10 hours ago, Mandy Kent said:

Yes, Dawnstar, I had better seats for Ball/Cuthbertson and Hirano/Takada.  But dont get me wrong, I enjoyed Andrijashenko/Hamilton very much indeed. She danced beautifully as did he. But I wasnt moved to tears or holding my breath....and I think thats because I couldn't see or feel the emotion from my perch in the Amphi !

 

I wonder if anyone's done research on how distance from the stage affects the enjoyment of performances? Is there a direct relationship? Could be an interesting dissertation!

 

6 hours ago, Lindsay said:

I also thought Andrijashenko and Hamilton gave a beautiful performance.  He is a gorgeous dancer, with a stunning grand jete and his acting with Zucchetti and Nicol made for the most lively trio I have seen in this run - he must be around the same age as Ball but somehow his Romeo seemed much more youthful.  It helps that Zucchetti is such a good Mercutio - I think the quick choreography suits him more than many other ballets and his sometimes rather over the top stage presence is perfect for this loud, 'cheeky' character.  Hamilton is truly lovely in MacMillan's pas de deux - perhaps because she has the best legs in the company, shown off to great effect in all those extended lifts.....

 

I Googled Andrijashenko when the cast change was announced & one for the first results was an interview from September 18 that gave his age as 23 so that makes him a year or so younger than Ball. I agree he looks more than a year younger though. (If they still need a replacement for Clarke later this month then I can't really imagine Andrijashenko working opposite Nunez; I think he'd look too young for her.) On Friday I felt Zuchetti was slightly overshadowed by Hay as Benvolio but on Saturday I thought he (Zuchetti) came over more strongly. Although it may also have been because I could see more of Zuchetti's acting on Saturday. Although I don't know what the choreography should look like, there were several occasions when I was watching Hamilton & thought she made it look absolutely right. I don't know if that was actually the case but I just got this feeling that that was what it "should" look like.

 

5 hours ago, alison said:

I must say that I was very impressed with Andrijashenko: not only did he act very well, but he merged into the production - and particularly into the Romeo/Mercution/Benvolio trio - so well that if I hadn't known better I'd have thought he'd been a company member for half a decade.  There was absolutely no feeling of a guest having been "parachuted in", as is sometimes the case in similar circumstances.

 

I totally agree, and it can't be an easy role to step into as there is a lot of interaction with quite a few characters, not to mention the sword fighting - and I know it's all choreographed but it felt like he & Kish were really going for it at the start of their duel. I'd assumed that Andrijashenko had been able to step in on a week's rehearsal because the La Scala production was the same as the RB's but when I stage doored afterwards & I asked him & he said it's not all the same, so I can't imagine how he managed it. (He also speaks extremely good English!)

[Lizbie1]

30 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I wonder if anyone's done research on how distance from the stage affects the enjoyment of performances? Is there a direct relationship? Could be an interesting dissertation!

 

As an amphi-dweller I like to tell myself that we're best placed to tell if a dancer really has it: if they can project as far as us, then they must be special. But maybe there are some dancers who look better from afar - I don't mean technically, I mean that perhaps close-up their gestures and expressions are overcooked. I wouldn't know, though - I'm never close enough at ROH to draw a comparison.

 

In general terms, though, the few times I've been really close to the dancers, I've found it interesting but not particularly enjoyable: I'm too conscious of the sheer effort involved.

[Richard LH]

11 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

But maybe there are some dancers who look better from afar - I don't mean technically, I mean that perhaps close-up their gestures and expressions are overcooked. I wouldn't know, though - I'm never close enough at ROH to draw a comparison.

Lizbie I wonder if you have tried  a live cinema performance to get an idea of expressions closer up?

[Lizbie1]

10 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Lizbie I wonder if you have tried  a live cinema performance to get an idea of expressions closer up?

 

Yes - but for me it would be like comparing apples with pears, just as recordings can't tell me what a singer really sounds like.

 

ETA: one dancer who I very much enjoy watching from the amphi, but who I enjoy less on film is Marianela Nunez, who has an occasional habit of working her jaw ina sort of "chattering" motion, particularly in the more intense passages: I can overlook it in the theatre, but I find a bit distracting in close-up. I don't know it's intentional or even conscious.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Lizbie1

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Yes - but for me it would be like comparing apples with pears, just as recordings can't tell me what a singer really sounds like.

 

ETA: one dancer who I very much enjoy watching from the amphi, but who I enjoy less on film is Marianela Nunez, who has an occasional habit of working her jaw ina sort of "chattering" motion, particularly in the more intense passages: I can overlook it in the theatre, but I find a bit distracting in close-up. I don't know it's intentional or even conscious.

Good observation, Lizbie1. 

[alison]

5 hours ago, Mandy Kent said:

Was it Nichol Edmonds first Benvolio? I’m a bit out of touch with casting of this role. He gave a very good interpretation with his enjoyment  of the role plain to see 😀

 

I'm sure it wasn't: I'm sure he's done it in previous runs.

[Dawnstar]

10 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

As an amphi-dweller I like to tell myself that we're best placed to tell if a dancer really has it: if they can project as far as us, then they must be special. But maybe there are some dancers who look better from afar - I don't mean technically, I mean that perhaps close-up their gestures and expressions are overcooked. I wouldn't know, though - I'm never close enough at ROH to draw a comparison.

 

In general terms, though, the few times I've been really close to the dancers, I've found it interesting but not particularly enjoyable: I'm too conscious of the sheer effort involved.

 

That's really interesting to find someone who prefers the amphi visually. (Though I know some people prefer it for opera because of the sound.) I guess you are most interested in seeing the overall choreography & stage "picture"? I've never seen ballet from the amphi but I gave up on opera from there several years ago when I found I just didn't enjoy it when I couldn't see facial expressions, as for me the acting is the most important thing (which I know is "wrong" for opera & dance). I don't find the effort too visible from the stalls/stalls circle, though I would agree that the cinema close-ups do show it.

[Lizbie1]

8 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

That's really interesting to find someone who prefers the amphi visually. (Though I know some people prefer it for opera because of the sound.) I guess you are most interested in seeing the overall choreography & stage "picture"? 

 

TBH it’s mostly affordability which dictates where I sit, but I do like seeing the patterns from slightly above.

 

Sorry for pulling this thread off course yet again!

[alison]

One of the "off courses" has already been separated off into another thread:

 

[CCL]

I’m going this evening - very excited!

[Richard LH]

On 30/04/2019 at 16:40, alison said:

(Although not in the Royal Ballet's version?)

Yes, particularly  in the RB's version!

 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Richard LH

[Richard LH]

31 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Yes, particularly  in the RB's version!

 

 

 

[Dawnstar]

5 hours ago, CCL said:

I’m going this evening - very excited!

 

I know it's Lamb & Muntagirov's first performance this run but have they done the roles opposite each other before or is this run the first time?

[Balletfanp]

They were cast together in the last run as well.

[Dawnstar]

Thanks. I had a vague idea I'd seen a photo of Lamb with McRae but maybe I'm getting mixed up with Mayerling - Juliet & Mary Vetsera having a rather similar taste in nighties! - or maybe that was an earlier run. The lack of the ROH database for the last few years is annoying.

 

ETA: Following some digging around, I've found that Lamb danced with both McRae & Muntagirov in the last run so I'm not quite as confused as I thought!

Edited May 1, 2019 by Dawnstar

[Ian Macmillan]

I note from a DanceTabs tweet that tonight's performance has been dedicated to Clement Crisp, till recently and for many years the Dance Critic of the Financial Times.

[CCL]

Quite right, Ian- KOH gave a little speech before the performance and Mr Crisp was warmly applauded

[alison]

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

ETA: Following some digging around, I've found that Lamb danced with both McRae & Muntagirov in the last run so I'm not quite as confused as I thought!

 

Yes, McRae replaced Rupert Pennefather after the latter left the company, didn't he?

[alison]

1 hour ago, Ian Macmillan said:

I note from a DanceTabs tweet that tonight's performance has been dedicated to Clement Crisp, till recently and for many years the Dance Critic of the Financial Times.

 

I was looking at "his" seat and missing him only last Saturday ...

[bridiem]

Overwhelmed by this evening's R&J. Lamb and Muntagirov gave performances of such beauty, purity and goodness that the tragedy became unbearable. This was a relationship not just of passion but of love, not just eros but (right from the start) agape. When he saw her at the ball, long before she saw him, he recognised in her something of inestimable value. When she saw him, her world expanded to encapsulate the whole universe. Their harmony when dancing together was emblematic of their inner peace; they knew what they had found. The balcony scene was so beautiful and expressive that it was like watching a poem being created. When they were being married, I felt overcome with grief at the realisation that this innocent and joyful love should have led to happiness, to a fulfilled life, to children, to the spreading of harmony; and none of this would happen. After their marriage, their love has been consummated and deepened so they are no longer two but one. At one moment in the bedroom pas de deux, Romeo carries Juliet forward in his arms, foreshadowing the moment later in the act when he will again carry forward her body, believing her to be dead - such terrible poignancy. When she is left on her own and sits on the bed, she's like a marble statue on the outside whilst inside a volcano is erupting, before she flies out of the bedroom to find Friar Laurence. When she is refusing Paris, she stands in front of the window out of which Romeo left, and blazes like Myrthe - you shall not pass, you shall not go where he went, you shall not enter my heart or soul. Positively frightening. When she finally appears to consent, she does so in a trance-like manner, unable to summon any more strength to fight what she knows is coming. And when she takes the potion, her convulsions are as ugly as her fear. When Romeo finds her in the tomb, he dispatches Paris with the same venom with which he had killed Tybalt; no lily-livered lover here. And he desperately 'dances' with Juliet, willing her to live, willing her to be alive. Accepting her death, he turns his venom on himself and takes the poison in total despair. Then as Juliet awakes, she stretches blissfully to her left to touch her Romeo, unaware that his dead body is to her right. As the full horror dawns on her, her dancing fragments. As she kneels by his body, her grief builds up from the depths of her body and pours upwards until it bursts out of her upturned mouth in a terrible scream. All harmony gone, and the inevitable end follows. But as she crawls over the tomb, as she nears Romeo, as she finally touches him and turns over, the harmony returns as they are united again in death.

 

Great performances also from Sambé as Mercutio, Dubreuil as Benvolio and Whitehead as Tybalt. The fight scenes were really vicious, the deaths shockingly real. A wonderful company performance, and one I will always remember.

 

I'm normally an Amphi-dweller, but my sister generously bought us seats in row B of the stalls for this performance, as a belated birthday present for me. What a treat to be so near! And what a treat to witness such a performance.

[Sim]

Wow.....thanks for that beautiful review, Bridie.  I feel like I was there, and now I wish I had been!

[JohnS]

Many thanks Bridie - looking forward immensely to 11 May evening performance in light of your post.  Quite a day with Francesca Hayward/Cesar Corrales dancing the matinee.

[Dawnstar]

I too am very much looking forward to 11th May - though I'm only seeing Lamb/Muntagirov that day & seeing Hayward/Corrales 2 weeks later - though I'm sure that no matter how moved I am I won't be able to describe it even a fractionally as eloquently as Bridie has.

[bridiem]

30 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I too am very much looking forward to 11th May - though I'm only seeing Lamb/Muntagirov that day & seeing Hayward/Corrales 2 weeks later - though I'm sure that no matter how moved I am I won't be able to describe it even a fractionally as eloquently as Bridie has.

 

That's very kind of you, Dawnstar. I'll really look forward to hearing your thoughts about both performances.

[penelopesimpson]

Just wanted to thank Bridiem for such a wonderfully written and totally atmospheric revue.  I am not seeing R&J until 14th but your beautiful prose only increased my anticipation.  

[jmhopton]

 Many thanks to Briedem for her fabulous review for the Muntagirov/Lamb Romeo and Juliet. Really whetted my appetite for tomorrow's evening performance which I am attending. Did anyone else attend this performance? I'd love to hear what other people think of their performances. 

[jmhopton]

 Of course Muntagirov/Lamb are performing tomorrow afternoon not evening as I just said. Was thinking ahead to the Hayward /Coralles performance I'm also really looking forward to on the 25th. 

[CCL]

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

 Many thanks to Briedem for her fabulous review for the Muntagirov/Lamb Romeo and Juliet.

I second this!

 

1 hour ago, jmhopton said:

Did anyone else attend this performance? I'd love to hear what other people think of their performances. 

I did and I’ll do my best to add my random jottings later 

[jm365]

I did - and it's yet another example of how ballet.commers can differ!  I might have been at a completely different performance.  I was in the amphi, though, and felt absolutely nothing.  Muntagirov is one of my favourite dancers, Lamb less so, but on this occasion I found my thoughts wandering, my opera glasses left in my lap, and was only slightly moved for the first time in the death scene at the end, when normally I am welling up.  No complaints about the dance quality, but .......  I am going again on Saturday evening and it will be interesting to make the comparison, both in the auditorium and then afterwards on this site.

[alison]

That's interesting - I've often found my perceptions at odds with other posters', and wondered to what extent they are affected by where we are.  I've managed to grab a standing for tomorrow's matinee, so will see how I find it.

 

And I feel a new thread coming on ...

[jmhopton]

2 hours ago, jm365 said:

I did - and it's yet another example of how ballet.commers can differ!  I might have been at a completely different performance.  I was in the amphi, though, and felt absolutely nothing.  Muntagirov is one of my favourite dancers, Lamb less so, but on this occasion I found my thoughts wandering, my opera glasses left in my lap, and was only slightly moved for the first time in the death scene at the end, when normally I am welling up.  No complaints about the dance quality, but .......  I am going again on Saturday evening and it will be interesting to make the comparison, both in the auditorium and then afterwards on this site.

That's very interesting as the only performance of Vadim's I've ever attended when I've not been really bowled over was a Romeo and Juliet performance in the last run. I put it down to Vadim not being long with the RB at that point and romeo and Juliet not being a favourite of mine. Be interesting to see what I think tomorrow especially as I'm in the stalls circle though too close to the stage to see everything. 

[standingticket]

I also found myself strangely unmoved until the closing parts of the death scene (that Juliet silent scream, together with the music gets me every time). Initially I wondered whether O'sullivan and Sambe have just spoilt me for the rest of the run, but on reflection I was also left uncharacteristically cold by Muntagirov and Lamb's Manon. On both occasions highly anticipated performances. 

 

If I'm truthful, with the very notable exception of Winter Dreams, I've not been fully convinced by Muntagirov in Macmillan yet (and I cannot emphasise strongly enough how much I love watching this man dance!). My feeling is it something to do with the extensions (e.g. En arabesque) not being pushed to their limit/held quite long enough.. It all feels a tiny bit snatched and 'neat' and not as liquid as his usual movement or as the role requires. 

 

But perhaps expectations are just so high where he is concerned that I'm being unfair. It was still a very good performance (and  Sambe's Mercutio was electric! Wow!) 

[bridiem]

It's good to hear other people's reactions to the same performance, even if (or maybe particularly if) they weren't moved in the way I was. Hearing a range of reactions is really interesting. And I do think that a response to a performance is dictated by all sorts of things in both the viewer and the dancers at any given time, and by tastes and preferences and expectations (which can be fulfilled or confounded). Sometimes, everything just comes together for the viewer; that doesn't mean it does or will for all viewers. Which is why it's so valuable hearing as many responses as possible on this forum.

 

I also wanted to add that the way Lamb and Muntagirov danced at this performance brought to my mind some words from what is probably my favourite poem, Little Gidding by T. S. Eliot:

'A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than everything)

And all shall be well

And all manner of thing shall be well'

 

That really expresses it all for me.