ENB Cinderella - Royal Albert Hall - June 2019

[Lizbie1]

15 minutes ago, Irmgard said:

I, too, hate his use of flexed feet, which I especially noticed in “Within the Golden Hour”, for no apparent purpose apart from destroying the line of some of the most beautiful feet and legs on the planet! 

 

It's one of the things which prevents me from enjoying his choreography.

 

I did notice in the San Francisco Ballet season that a few of the (also neo-classical) choreographers on offer threw in flexed feet from time to time, again for no reason that I could see. Maybe it's a thing for US-based choreographers? (I think of Wheeldon as essentially transatlantic.)

[MAX]

which means that, for you, Irmgard and Lizbie, line is the most important thing in choreography ?

[Lizbie1]

8 minutes ago, MAX said:

which means that, for you, Irmgard and Lizbie, line is the most important thing in choreography ?

 

No - if I saw a reason for it (e.g. in expressing an emotion or if it made sense in the context) it wouldn’t really bother me. As it is, it often seems just thrown in as a sort of wink to the audience.

[Irmgard]

33 minutes ago, MAX said:

which means that, for you, Irmgard and Lizbie, line is the most important thing in choreography ?

Not THE most important thing - that for me would be musicality - but a beautiful line, which dancers take years perfecting, is one of the things I enjoy most in choreography.  Like Lizbie, I have no problem with the use of flexed feet when it enhances the choreography (thinking of "Two Pigeons", "Taming of the Shrew" and the third song in "Song of the Earth" etc.) but not when it appears to have been done at random, adding nothing to the choreography.

[Dawnstar]

3 hours ago, Irmgard said:

 

Dawnstar, I am surprised by your reaction to the music for “Cinderella” as I have had lovely melodies swirling around in my head since the dress rehearsal. 

 

Maybe it's because I'd never heard the music for Cinderella before, whereas R&J I knew already. Perhaps it's one of those ones that becomes more memorable on repeated listening. I doubt it's down to the conductor as I find I can rarely tell the difference between different conductors. Frankly I'm so uninterested in conductors that I not infrequently see a conductor entering the pit at the start of an ROH performance & realise I have no idea who he is, as I check all the cast but not the conductor!

[Lizbie1]

I don’t know Wheeldon’s version, but I think the 30 seconds or so of music which Ashton uses to accompany Cinderella’s entrance at the ball is one of the most magical things in ballet - though that might be down to Ashton’s use of it.

[capybara]

I have a feeling that one's enjoyment/appreciation of this production 'in the round' has depended very much on one's position in the vast space which is the RAH. On my second viewing yesterday, I was near to the 'side' staircase and it seemed that much of the action, including the key pas de deux, was taking place right there, leaving acres of space between that spot and the more 'forward-facing' seats.

Others have covered much of what I have been moved to comment on but I did find it extra enjoyable to be next to a 'family outing' and, therefore,  party to the joy of two delightful 10 year old cousins. No prizes for guessing what they liked the most? The gorgeous Erina Takahashi dancing like a dream as Cinderella? No! The charming Joseph Caley, projecting well as The Prince? No! The delightful Barry Drummond as Benjamin, the Prince's friend? No! The colourful Seasons? No! The clever stage effects (I loved the lighting which turned gathered drapes into a tree)? No! The Tree Gnomes (the conkers) were the winners by a mile and the level of excitement when they came back on was high!

I think that there is a slight problem with the story-telling, especially at the beginning when much of the action is dwarfed by the moveable columns and Madame Mansard seems to be there only for a cheap laugh or two. But, otherwise (flexed feet for no obvious reason apart!) and despite feeling slightly short-changed by the choreography for the pas de deux, I quite like this production - and I love the music.

I shall hope to see the proscenium version on tour in the autumn.

I do hope that the ENB corps has a moment to draw breath before rehearsals to take Khan's Giselle on tour resume.

[maryrosesatonapin]

The RAH has put up some photos of the production: 

 

 https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2019/june/cinderella-in-the-round-at-the-royal-albert-hall-the-reviews-are-in/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=postshow&utm_term=2019-cinderella&utm_content=version_A&emailsource=44975

 

[RuthE]

On ‎16‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 13:17, Dawnstar said:

I doubt it's down to the conductor as I find I can rarely tell the difference between different conductors. Frankly I'm so uninterested in conductors that I not infrequently see a conductor entering the pit at the start of an ROH performance & realise I have no idea who he is, as I check all the cast but not the conductor!

 

I have a conductor friend who, if I check into a ballet on Facebook, will often ask me how the conducting was, especially if the conductor is a friend of hers (she has one particular friend who quite regularly conducts bits of RB mixed bills) and when she gets round to going to a ballet herself, always sits where she can see the conductor.  And I never have a clue.  In opera or concerts the conducting is much more part of the things I will notice about a performance than in ballet, where I typically only notice the conductor if they do something badly!

[alison]

Plus, of course, there are a lot of seats from which you can't see the conductor in the ROH auditorium anyway.  I'm often quite surprised to see who it is when he (or occasionally she) comes on stage at the end.