Royal Ballet mixed bill: Within the Golden Hour / Medusa / Flight Pattern, May 2019

[Shade]

What an interesting evening. First time viewing of all the pieces for me and I think I really need a second one!

The music and singing were excellent. Loved the ballerina’s costumes for the first two but think the men were hard done by.

The dancing was great though.

i admire Hirano’s pure strength  I didn’t see a single tremble in the “leg lift” in Medusa, he was menacing too. Have to say I hoped there wasn’t going to be any damage to the dancers from the scarf wrapping and kicks. Osipova really went for it.

[Anthony]

Gorecki and Flight Pattern lingered in my consciousness all day.. And the music for Medusa was enchanting. Simplicity and starling-like murmations of dancers in Flight Pattern resonated with the musical canons. Marvellous...

[Vanartus]

OK. Head above parapet: I really liked Medusa. I read the synopsis. No problem following the flow. And flow it did. The 40 minutes flowed by. I liked the distance. I liked the tableaux feel. I liked the music. And the mix. The costumes were superb as was the set. Perhaps the wig.... No, but not a no no. The pdd between Poseidon and Medusa was breathtaking. The relationship and dance between Athena and Medusa icily fascinating. The pdd between Medusa and Perseus disturbing - the decapitation stunning. The final solo a triumph. Some things could be reduced, some things expanded. I liked the restraint and will try to see the live relay. Would love to see Takada in the role. 

[Richard LH]

Vanartus I agree with all that!

But I would add that the whole work is held together by Medusa herself and Natalia Osipova did that brilliantly. I would also love to see what Takada makes of the role and really hope she will recover from being unwell in time to perform it this run.

I particularly loved Within the Golden Hour in this triple bill...such beautiful lightning, music, and costumes, stylish choreography and glorious dancing. And so good to see Ms Hayward back! Lovely dancing from her, along with Yuhui Choe and Yasmine Nagdhi, who was a wonderful short notice replacement for Takada.

[Vanartus]

PS I thought Emma Byrne’s review in the Evening Standard was shockingly self-indulgent, amateurish and I really question why she was appointed. Her reviews are consistently below standard.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello Anthony and welcome to the Forum!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Vanartus said:

PS I thought Emma Byrne’s review in the Evening Standard was shockingly self-indulgent, amateurish and I really question why she was appointed. Her reviews are consistently below standard.

Even below the standard of the Evening Standard? Must be quite shocking because their previous critic was pretty poor... sub-standard, you might say! 

[Sim]

Having read all the links today (except the FT because of the paywall), the critics are pretty unanimous.....lukewarm reviews of Medusa, brilliant reviews of WGH and Flight Pattern.  For once, I agree with them!!

 

Can anyone report on the second cast for WGH last night?  

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

 

Can anyone report on the second cast for WGH last night?  

 

Both Francesca Hayward and Yasmine Naghdi were luminous (in the Cuthbertson and Lamb roles respectively) in their dancing. An utter joy to watch 🙂

[Sim]

Now even more jealous!  

[mart]

Teo Dubreuil and David Donnelly were superb in the men’s duet 

[capybara]

38 minutes ago, mart said:

Teo Dubreuil and David Donnelly were superb in the men’s duet 

 

They were in the last run.

 

[Sim]

So according to a couple of the critics, this is a 'MeToo Medusa'.  Hey, you know what, fictional females (and real ones) have been taking revenge on men for a long time before MeToo came along (sorry, my hashtag is broken).  Women were empowered before three years ago!  I don't think MeToo has anything to do with it;  these stories have been around for thousands of years....

 

I guess next time Giselle is shown it will of course have to be a 'MeToo Myrtha'.  

[Mandy Kent]

Within The Golden Hour triple bill Thursday 9th May

Mandy Kent

 

Thursday's cast consisted of Yuhui Choe with James Hay, Francesca Hayward with Valentino Zucchetti and Yasmine Naghdi with Tristan Dyer. 

The four girls were Grace Blundell, Ashley Dean, Isabella Gasparini and Romany Padjak, the four men were Leo Dixon, David Donnelly, Teo Dubreil and David Yudes. 

 

I found Within The Golden Hour to be just as delicious with the second cast as on the first night. Yuhui Choe and James Hay had a wonderful rapport in those delightful opening waltzing moments, all smiles and blushing charm from Choe and gallant partnering from Hay. Hayward reprised Cuthbertson's role with those tricky 'one foot held' leaning forward arabesques to the point where you felt she might end on her nose but of course her partner Zucchetti  was 'strong and stable' and the beautiful slow duet was accomplished with grace and great aplomb.  Naghdi partnered by Dyer were also 'charmant'. I love this ballet , it makes you feel happy and content to bask in the glorious sunset glow. As I was sitting close to the stage I particularly noticed Leo Dixon amongst the four men as he has great ability and a lovely line in arabesque . The duo of Dixon and Donnelly partnering each other with Wheeldon's bold and characterful movements was super and well received by the audience. 

 

My second viewing of Medusa made me feel even more than on the first night that some judicious pruning, not only of Medusa's head but of her loooong final solo would have made the piece 10 minutes shorter and more impactful. Surely it should end at the death of Medusa? I do like the sinuous movements and the girls' costumes. As I said before the men's costumes are unflattering and they don't look like soldiers, they look like janitors or detectives at a crime scene in protective body suits.  However I do like the choreography of Medusa with the soldiers, how she 'kick's a*s' and how they coil and squirm around her. Some fabulous lifts from Lukas BB who seemed to have all the more complex lifts of Osipova, and he achieved these very well. 

I think the lighting, sets and theme could work better if revised, so hopefully SLC will regard this as a 'work in progress', I hear he often works this way....

 

Finally, the stunning Flight Pattern. Because I knew what to expect having watched it on Wednesday I was not quite the emotional wreck that the first viewing created. Watching it from nearer also made a difference, I could see the dancers faces and that meant the characterisation was more compelling. Solos by Calvin Richardson, Benjamin Ella with Ashley Dean, Isabella Gasparini and Joseph Sissens punctuated the group movements. towards the end the group look like a flock of birds, trying to fly to freedom, its a beautiful moment.

The sheer emotion between McNally and Sambe had you on the edge of your seat...so sad and so brave. 

The finale, with Sambe writhing and hurting, was painful but essential to watch. 

[Mandy Kent]

3 hours ago, mart said:

Teo Dubreuil and David Donnelly were superb in the men’s duet 

Was Leo Dixon and David Donnelly I believe.....

[RuthE]

7 minutes ago, Sim said:

So according to a couple of the critics, this is a 'MeToo Medusa'.  Hey, you know what, fictional females (and real ones) have been taking revenge on men for a long time before MeToo came along (sorry, my hashtag is broken).  Women were empowered before three years ago!  I don't think MeToo has anything to do with it;  these stories have been around for thousands of years....

 

I was watching an episode of Endeavour last weekend in which I picked up really early that there was a "Biblical/Apocryphal women's revenge" theme going on that was going to turn out to be the key to the murders, and it was.  I got there WAY before Morse did...

[Richard LH]

22 minutes ago, Sim said:

So according to a couple of the critics, this is a 'MeToo Medusa'. 

Yes and fortunately of course it is  totally "relevant" because so many women nowadays are abused by the gods and turned into snake-headed monsters....

[Thalia]

49 minutes ago, Mandy Kent said:

Was Leo Dixon and David Donnelly I believe.....

 

It was definitely Teo Dubrueil and David Donnelly. They were great.

 

[Rob S]

I definitely think the soldier outfits need some work....the Unknown Soldier outfits were similarly thin weren't they?

 

 

[Sim]

Gorgeous as he is, this is just so wrong.  Like Speedos, no-one can look good in this costume!  

[Bluebird]

5 hours ago, mart said:

Teo Dubreuil and David Donnelly were superb in the men’s duet 

 

1 hour ago, Mandy Kent said:

Was Leo Dixon and David Donnelly I believe.....

 

24 minutes ago, Thalia said:

 

It was definitely Teo Dubrueil and David Donnelly. They were great.

 

 

There are two men's duets.  In some casts they have both been danced by the same two dancers.  However, if I remember correctly, last night Leo Dixon and David Yudes danced the opening duet and Téo Dubreuil and David Donnelly danced the later one.

Edited May 10, 2019 by Bluebird

[capybara]

4 minutes ago, Sim said:

Gorgeous as he is, this is just so wrong.  Like Speedos, no-one can look good in this costume!  

 

I thought he did  - look good in this costume, that is. But I do agree that the see-through look is somehow wrong.

[Jane S]

On 09/05/2019 at 15:32, RuthE said:

 

That's a tricky question. It's been a while since I last saw a ballet with vocal music accompaniment, but I've always had a big mental-processing problem with it in principle.  My main interest is vocal music (ingrained since childhood) and I find it impossible to concentrate on the dancing because the voices draw my attention.  I even at one point last night realized I'd closed my eyes to listen to the singing, and forgotten that I was at a ballet and therefore supposed to be watching the stage.  So I'm really not the best person to ask - I could tell you what the singing was like, but the ballet that was going on at the same time has virtually evaporated from my memory!  The only reason it's "virtually" and not "completely" is that the Purcell songs were alternated with passages of electronic instrumental music which snapped my concentration back onto the stage.  The visual image that really stuck in my mind - it happened as one of the Purcell songs ended and the electronic music came back - was the "leg lift" with Hirano lying on the ground and suspending (and turning) Osipova in the air with his lower legs.

 

Assigning the very distinctive bass aria "What power art thou" to countertenor gave it a totally new and almost unrecognisable character, which I would say was "right" in the context of the character of this ballet score (due to the intensity created by the higher voice as it climbs to the top of the scale), but sounded totally wrong to my ear (indeed, the song is currently on a TV ad for PurpleBricks.com, so I imagine much of the audience would have vaguely recognized it as something meant for a bass).

 

I was also suddenly jerked out of concentrating on anything at the very end of the ballet as I seem to remember the final section and playout of The Plaint were cut, and the curtain suddenly descended when I assumed we were still in the middle of something.

 

Thanks - I hope to see the cinema broadcast next week and look forward to hearing it for myself!

[Shade]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

 

I thought he did  - look good in this costume, that is. But I do agree that the see-through look is somehow wrong.

mr Ball would look good in anything I think but I just thought those costumes were such a disappointment. The ballerinas costumes were beautiful. It was interesting to read the Vogue article- apparently Medusa had a full mask/snakes head but of course then the face was obscured so it was changed to a headpiece. I wonder if the men’s headgear should also have been changed. I prefer to see faces myself.

who was Athene last night please?

[Rob S]

8 minutes ago, Shade said:

mr Ball would look good in anything I think but I just thought those costumes were such a disappointment. The ballerinas costumes were beautiful. It was interesting to read the Vogue article- apparently Medusa had a full mask/snakes head but of course then the face was obscured so it was changed to a headpiece. I wonder if the men’s headgear should also have been changed. I prefer to see faces myself.

who was Athene last night please?

 

Fumi Kaneko

[Richard LH]

2 minutes ago, Rob S said:

 

Fumi Kaneko

And didn't she look striking!

[Rob S]

7 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

And didn't she look striking!

 

Ummm....yes, I have to say I wasn't a big  fan of the look really, I think it was the hair

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Rob S

[Mandy Kent]

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

 

 

 

There are two men's duets.  In some casts they have both been danced by the same two dancers.  However, if I remember correctly, last night Leo Dixon and David Yudes danced the opening duet and Téo Dubreuil and David Donnelly danced the later one.

Thank you for clarifying Bluebird xx 

 

1 hour ago, Thalia said:

 

It was definitely Teo Dubrueil and David Donnelly. They were great.

 

Thanks for your correction Thalia. Apologies to mart and all readers for my error . Teo you were terrific . I still stand by my general comments on Leo, one to watch, I think . 

[Thalia]

30 minutes ago, Mandy Kent said:

Teo you were terrific . I still stand by my general comments on Leo, one to watch, I think . 

 

I’m more and more impressed by Téo every time I see him perform; such a beautiful dancer. As for Leo – I completely agree and have been keenly following his progress for a long while now. 

[Nogoat]

Wednesday’s Triple Bill – Opening Night

In The Golden Hour:

I was rather underwhelmed the first time I saw this a few years ago, so I was a bit surprised to find myself rather enjoying (most of) it on Wednesday evening. I had not heard any of Bosso’s music before, and was intrigued enough first time round to listen to it on Spotify (a lot of the music in the ballet comes from his album The Way of 1000 and One Comet). 
The first half of the ballet appealed to me the most as it contained more ensemble dancing, with the second half containing more duets; Wheeldon’s choreography for pairs doesn’t capture my attention particularly well, and I think part of the reason is that he tends to break up, in my view, the dancers’ ‘flow’ with his own brand of awkward (ugly?) moves (in that sense there is something McGregor-esque about Wheeldon’s choreography, though thankfully diluted to near-homeopathic levels). When this happens with a lot of dancers on stage, the effect is less intrusive compared to when it happens with just a pair.

For example, what on earth is added to the overall effect of an otherwise engaging duet when Campbell lifts Lamb flat above his head and Lamb sticks her arms and legs up in the air in the pose of the dead mouse-king in the ABT Nutcracker? It grates – especially when Lamb’s character otherwise comes across as serenity personified (and no one does ’serene’ like Sarah Lamb!). 

The new costumes did not work for all the male dancers – the hairy legs and pale complexion of one of the male leads made for a rather unflattering contrast to the shimmering, pastel finish of his costume. 

 

Medusa:

I found this a sufficiently fascinating piece to want to see it again, but perhaps that is more to do with Osipova taking the eponymous lead rather than the piece itself (I’m basically happy to watch anything with Osipova in over and over again - even when that was ‘Hanging Out With Sergei’ [© Quintus]  in Project Polunin).

She completely inhabits her roles, and when this is amplified though the choreography the effects can be devastating (Anastasia, Manon, Giselle, etc). In Medusa, the choreography was more cryptic and less familiar, but she still managed to make the story her own and convey terror, preternatural power, and loss and reflection. For the stage call she looked drained, emotional, overwhelmed, triumphant, happy – she had given it her all and was greeted by a deservedly rapturous reception. 

I don’t know if this is the choreographer’s first ‘narrative’ ballet, but the narrative thread seemed very understated, almost ‘flat’. In the programme notes he alludes to the difficulties inherent in presenting the core of the story – essentially the victim-blaming and punishment of the violated priestess.

There is no room, therefore, for melodrama. Instead, the story is almost relayed to us in an unemotional, slow, steady, documentary style. We are left to digest the facts of the matter and draw our own conclusions.

Correctly, there is also no room for anything graphic – the parallels with the modern world of a powerful male figure abusing a female ‘employee’ do not require it and, in fact, debar it. Instead, the terrorising of Medusa by Poseidon is highly abstract and stylised, almost ritualistic, and its impact increased by being played out with the slow inevitability of ‘bullet time’ in films.

One particular sequence conveyed the totality of the power he held over her, and her helplessness to resist the abuse – Poseidon lying on the floor, legs vertical, with Medusa balanced on her side on his feet (one in her armpit, one on her hip); she with legs and arms outstretched; him slowly turning her.

Another key moment that was dealt with non-sensationally was the decapitation of Medusa by Perseus. There was no sword-swinging or hacking; he approached Medusa, who was on the floor, with the scarf she had given him, placed it over her head, and pulled off the headdress/her head; she leaned back to put her head on the stage, hidden, and convulsed a bit while he took the ‘head’ back to present to Athena. There was nothing triumphant about him – he looked sad at having had to do it.

Having mulled it over and consigned it to print, I think I’ve just convinced myself that the fairly low-key choreography and story-telling was deliberate. This is less a heroic tale of the defeat of a monster, and more a tragedy arising from the crass arrogance of god-like power.

The staging supported the stark, documentary style of the story-telling well. Everything was bare and minimalistic, the only embellishments being the large brass dish-like vessels scattered around the stage - the lighting of which from above gave the impression they contained lit candles. The back-lit (stone?) pillars that descended for the middle section provided a more claustrophobic atmosphere for the ‘fight’ scenes between Medusa and the soldiers, amongst whom was Perseus (Matthew Ball).

These fights, too, were highly stylised and played out in slow-motion; Medusa’s superhuman power was evident in the way she toyed with and then dispatched her soldier victims. 

Costume design was mostly effective. The non-mortals (Athena, Poseidon and Medusa) all had striking vertical lines drawn down their faces/bodies. Apart from Athena’s scarf, the only significant amount of colour was in Medusa’s Gorgon dress, with the lower half blood red. Her Gorgon headdress (a mass of thick, black, semi-opaque tendrils) pulled off the trick of simultaneously being rigid – so they didn’t just bounce around – but appearing to be in motion due to their coiled, translucent nature.

One particular aspect of the staging was not convincing -  the soldiers’ costumes (gauze-like jumpsuits) looked like they had been borrowed from The Unknown Soldier (though their face-masks – a means of hiding from Medusa’s gaze? – looked the part).

Perhaps the most ‘dramatic’ aspect of the production was the music. A curious mix of Purcell songs and electronica, the result was a score that provided a kind of aural illumination of the on-stage events. It worked for me (though, thinking of another thread on ballet scores, it’s not one I’d want to sit down and listen to in isolation!).

Perhaps it was the presence of the vocals, but I couldn't help thinking back to another ballet based on mythology – Diana and Actaeon from the Titian Metamorphosis trilogy in 2012. What a contrast between the two, with Diana and Actaeon played out for (melo)dramatic effect (complete with a ‘torn flesh’ costume) against the priapic, riot-of-colour backdrop by Chris Ofili. I would like to think there is room in the ROH’s pantheon of original work for both pieces.

Flight Pattern:

Wednesday’s performance was my first opportunity to see this work, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again next week. Triple bills tend to end with big, loud pieces that send the audience out happy, even if that’s briefly into the cold and rain on their way home to warmth and shelter. This is a different beast – an unrelentingly serious work that makes us appreciate our good fortune in having those welcoming destinations rather than just an interminable journey between one place and another.

 

It starts very slowly, with a poorly-lit, huddled mass of people making slow progress across the stage. It’s one of the triumphs of this production that, over the course of the next half an hour, this swarm (to call out the dog-whistle vocabulary of certain politicians) resolves itself into what it really is - individuals united in their predicament, but with their own stories to tell and relationships to explore.

Small movements by large numbers of dancers, and explosive movements by individual dancers (such as the angry despair portrayed by Sambé right at the end), combined with atmospheric lighting and the use of huge, black, mobile walls to ‘channel’ the refugees’ journey, are used to great effect throughout.

A stand-out moment for me was the sight of one of the women (McNally?) cradling a swaddled ‘baby’ in her arms, only to turn around to unravel and drop an empty coat on the floor. After a brief duet with Sambé she picks the coat up and walks towards the back of the stage. One by one, other dancers put garments on her outstretched arms, until she collapses to the floor under the load; at this point, all the other dancers rush up behind her for support, helping her to carry on - very poignant, and speaking volumes about loss and suffering.

My own personal interpretation of this episode was that it was not the death of her child being portrayed, but rather it was the thwarting of her dreams of a life in which she could have one; such is the unrelenting plight of the refugee that ‘ordinary’ things that might otherwise come to pass are denied and can only be imagined, and that realisation only adds to the suffering. As she made her way to the back of the stage, the weight of all those broken dreams overwhelmed her.

 

Overall, very sobering and thought-provoking. Thank you, Crystal Pite.

 

[Vanartus]

 Nogoat - thank you for rescuing me and my sanity! You absolutely nailed Medusa...I’m not alone. Actually the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung really liked it too in a very detailed review. I’m micro-obsessed with it, I think it’s a fascinating piece and I’m so disappointed that it’s not come across so well. Interesting....

Edited May 10, 2019 by Vanartus
Sp

[alison]

Frustrated to find out that the second cast doesn't have many performances - having just decided I need to see Flight Pattern from above, that leaves me only one performance, as the amphi's student-only for the other one.  And I'm getting really sick of 1.30 matinees - somehow they seem to be the worst of all possible worlds!

 

As for the cinema showings, I haven't as yet found anywhere that wants to charge me less than it would cost me to go and see the bill live 4 times as frequently, so I think I'm giving those a miss ...

[Sim]

It does look a bit Star Trek!