The Royal Ballet: Margot Fonteyn - A Celebration, June 2019

[zxDaveM]

probably not filmed for fear of the odd mistake (or typo!!) being captured for posterity, what with unfamiliar partnerships in some cases, and a somewhat lack of thorough rehearsal time for pieces not in the current rep. Which is a shame, but wholly understandable

[bridiem]

18 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

They are doing what I surely must assume is a similar gala - sorry Celebration - but CALLED 'gala' I believe in Japan. Perhaps that will be filmed.     In that way all will have had a dry run ... so to speak.  

 

 

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the Japan programme! I'm glad this wasn't quite a one-off.

[Lizbie1]

Lovely picture of the participants posted by Claire Calvert. Love how Hayward has gone on pointe to even the row up!

 

 

 

[Jamesrhblack]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

 

They also danced briefly together in Wayne Eagling's Jeux in The Clore in the autumn of 2017.

Completely agree - MORE PLEASE!

 

[Did anyone else notice the Fonetyn typo which preceded, I think, Daphnis and Chloe? Whoops?]

It was before R & J and I was very surprised to see it. Nevertheless, a lovely evening 🙂

Edited June 9, 2019 by Jamesrhblack

[Legseleven]

Slightly rambling detour comment coming up - it looks from this photo as though Naghdi is shorter than Nuñez and Osipova - and possibly only very slightly taller than Hayward? I have often thought that she isn’t perhaps as tall as she can sometimes appear and that her leg length gives the illusion of rather more height than she possesses. 

 

[Xandra Newman]

10 hours ago, HelenLoveAppleJuice said:

The music seemed a bit rushed during the middle of the variation and Naghdi made a mistake at the first one of Grand Fouettes but well executed the rest.

 

Something clearly happened to the music at a crucial moment in their Variation, the music sounded increasingly rushed (and not nicely played). The conductor changed the tempo (why? did he loose his concentration?) right at the start of Naghdi's killer fouttees and she only got a fraction of a second time to adjust to the conductor's tempo. Must be nervewrecking when this happens. Well done to her. When the conductor makes a mistake he rarely gets the blame...

[jmhopton]

I bought a last minute ticket for the the celebration and I'm so glad I did. Haven't been so impressed with a ballet celebration since the 50th anniversary of sleeping beauty in 1996 and that was just a straightforward performance albeit with very special touches to make it totally memorable even now. 

I thought this gala was very well planned with a great mixture of known and not so well known pieces. There were very few mistakes given the very crowded rehearsal time the dancers must have at the moment and at a time when they might be expected to be winding down a little. 

I thought the whole event showcased the entire company splendidly from the lead principles to the artists and apprentices. My main disappointment (like several other people) is that it wasn't filmed for others to enjoy but perhaps there might be hopes for one of the Japanese galas to be filmed. 

My other plea is for more unusual Ashton to be more regularly performed, even if it's in the Linbury rather than the main house. Once the likes of Christopher Carr, Monica Mason, Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell are no longer teaching who will be able to restore these almost lost masterpieces? 

Anyway a fabulous evening. Everyone was so good it seems unfair to select individual performances but Francesca 

Haywards WAS Fonteyn in Ondine. She was incredible and made me want to go and watch the dvd immediately. 

Also Vadim Muntagirov was Nureyev. His first variation in particular was the most awesome I've ever seen and I've seen Ruzimatov in the nineties and Vasiliev from 2007 onwards. He leapt so high and so far twisting in the middle you got the same feeling of danger you must have got from seeing Nureyev. It seemed incredible he landed safely without injuring himself or crashing into the backdrop such was his commitment to his illustrious predecessor. 

To follow that with Apparitions seemed rather strange though it enabled many of the company to be onstage but when that was followed by the film of Salute D'Amour it made perfect sense and yet another example of Kevin O'Hares excellent planning and attention to detail. 

Bravo everyone for a perfect evening but please don't let us wait another hundred years for a similar celebration. 

 

 

 

[capybara]

This programme was a welcome history lesson for me as I was unfamiliar with many of the works on show. Birthday Offering, Ondine and Apparitions seemed to emphasise (at least to me) how the role of the male dancer was once little more than a frame for the ballerina. No wonder the audience went wild for Naghdi/Muntagirov in Le Corsaire, most of which evoked the famous version danced  by Fonteyn and Nureyev.

For me, the other 'class acts' were Marianela Nunez as Aurora, Fumi Kaneko in Birthday Offering, Francesca Hayward as Ondine, Anna Rose O'Sullivan as Chloe (after only two days' preparation),Gary Avis (who showed up Darcey Bussell) in Facade, and, of course, Fonteyn herself in Salut D'Amour. It would be interesting to see how the styles of today compared with those of Fonteyn in her prime but, one thing's for sure, the RB's current principals and soloists we saw yesterday all had winning stage personalities too and are also loved and hugely appreciated by their audience.

With a little more time for preparation, maybe the staging could have been upgraded with a projected backcloth or two but, overall, I just sat there enjoying it and marvelling at how the dancers had managed to prepare for the event alongside their already crowded schedule.

I agree that this 'gala' format merits an occasional repeat. It seems to engender a 'feel good factor' in the Company and audience alike.

[onemouseplace]

7 minutes ago, capybara said:

I agree that this 'gala' format merits an occasional repeat. It seems to engender a 'feel good factor' in the Company and audience alike.

 

Yes, I feel the same, and I came away from last night feeling that it was not only a fitting tribute to Fonteyn, but also a wonderful celebration of the current Company.

 

 

[Bruce]

Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the Margot Fonteyn Celebration photocall, if sadly Darcey Bussell wasn't at the call...

 

Francesca Hayward in Ondine
© Foteini Christofilopoulou/ROH. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
 

 

Natalia Osipova in Romeo and Juliet
© Foteini Christofilopoulou/ROH. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
 

 

Lauren Cuthbertson in Apparitions
© Foteini Christofilopoulou/ROH. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...
Foteini Christofilopoulou: Royal Ballet's Margot Fonteyn: A Celebration
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Edited June 9, 2019 by Bruce

[JNC]

30 minutes ago, capybara said:

 Anna Rose O'Sullivan as Chloe (after only two days' preparation)

 

What!! How do you know this capybara?

 

I am even more amazed and my respect for her only grows! She was one of the standouts for me (along with Hayward/Naghdi and of course Vadim!) 

 

Also as someone had already mentioned but it was also tweeted by the RB that it was twelve years to the day to Darcey’s farewell performance - what serendipity! I wonder if KOH knew this when we asked her to perform - what knowledge! 

 

What a missed opportunity for filming but agree some performances weren’t perfect (completely understandable considering rehearsal time and other commitments) so understand they didn’t want to do so; but all the more reason for a similar event in the next season, or at least the following. I wonder what the next anniversary event is for the RB? 

[zxDaveM]

40 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Fumi Kaneko in Birthday Offering, Francesca Hayward as Ondine, Anna Rose O'Sullivan as Chloe (after only two days' preparation),Gary Avis (who showed up Darcey Bussell) in Facade,

 

I also though Sarah Lamb was rather gorgeous in 'Birthday Offering' - and to be fair to Darcey, Gary still dancing, whereas she isn't, so I thought that duet went rather well 🙂

[Sim]

I totally agree with all the positive posts above.  Any fear of this being thought of as a cobbled-together evening that wouldn't pay correct homage to the RB's Prima Ballerina Assoluta dissipated as soon as I saw the evening's programme.  What a joy it was to see Dame Margot's illustrious career replayed by her artistic descendants in such a beautiful way.  

 

I won't go through it all, but highlights for me were:

 

• Hayward's Ondine (I have never liked this ballet, but after her performance last night I want to give it another chance), which sparkled and managed to tell her whole story in just this one section.  Hayward seems to be the natural successor to previous 'Ashton specialists' and boy do we need an Ashton specialist.  I have just loved her in every Ashton in which I've seen her:  Dream, Month, Rhapsody, Fille, Ondine.....she has such fleet footwork, lovely epaulement and the supple back required to pull off this difficult choreography.  Long may it continue;
• Naghdi/Muntagirov's Le Corsaire.....fireworks left, right and centre, but always respecting the choreography.  A shame the music didn't respect them;  maybe the conductor was getting tired towards the end of the night, but the abrupt changes in tempi were inexplicable.  No wonder Naghdi had a slight slip during those amazing Italian fouettes, but like the true pro that she is she recovered immediately and finished off those difficult moves perfectly.  As for Vadream....I have no words.  He just gets better and better:  every time I think 'surely he can't ever be better than this'.....he goes and gets better than this!!  A rare, rare gem;
• Bussell and Avis dancing together again.  They both looked so comfortable with each other and their turn raised the laughs the piece deserves.  I loved Avis gurning when the hat feathers were brushing against his face.  Bussell looked absolutely thrilled to be dancing on the ROH stage again, and the audience was thrilled to have her back;
• O'Sullivan and Campbell in Daphnis and Chloe.  If O'Sullivan isn't a Principal within the next two years I will eat one of her pointe shoes;
• And finally, a few funny/strange moments:  a woman in the Stalls shouting something out during Kevin O'Hare's introductory speech (couldn't hear what it was);  the spelling mistake referred to above that was there for us all to feast our eyes on for a seemingly very long time (Fonetyn), and my favourite....when two of Sylvia's attendants briefly appeared from the wings during the curtain calls then dashed back in;  they had got their cue wrong but it made the audience laugh!

I feel a bit disingenuous picking out highlights because everyone did a great job.  I didn't like Osipova's wild and way-out Juliet, but I liked Hallberg much better this time.  He did fluff one of the lifts, but otherwise his dancing was very good.   Unlike most other people, I liked seeing Apparitions as it was a first for me.  The costumes and set were borrowed from Sarasota ballet and made for a very colourful ending, followed by that gorgeous film of Salut d'Amour which surely must have brought a tear to every eye in the House.  Having said this, I would much prefer to have seen Cuthbertson/Ball dance something from Marguerite and Armand, especially since they had done it together before, and so passionately.  But it was nice to see something different.

 

Speaking of different....I so enjoyed seeing snippets of some of Ashton's early works.  The evening made me realise a few things:

• How much Ashton is in the RB repertoire that we never get to see.  After everything he did for the RB and British ballet as a whole, his works do not deserve to be abandoned and forgotten, especially at a time when there are dancers who, with the proper coaching, can dance the choreography as it should be danced.  The difficulty is still there, the choreographic challenges are still there, even in the earliest pieces, and I am sure many dancers would relish tackling them, just as much of the audience would relish seeing them;
• How sad it makes me that I am too young to have ever seen Fonteyn dance;
• How happy it makes me that the ballet fates aligned in the 20th century and gave us Sir Fred, and this special muse who inspired such gorgeous works.  

Many congratulations to all involved in last night's centenial commemmoration.  I am sure that Dame Margot, looking down from ballet heaven, was smiling that beautiful smile and with it lighting up the ROH stage from start to finish.

[Lizbie1]

4 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

... and to be fair to Darcey, Gary still dancing, whereas she isn't, so I thought that duet went rather well 🙂

 

I agree - I know it’s considered OK to take potshots at her on this forum but I thought it very sporting  of her to take part.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Lizbie1
for clarity

[zxDaveM]

Ondine is one of those strange ballets where some of it is sublime (mainly when Ondine onstage) and the rest just seems like filler (f-fwd on the dvd), to give her a breather. Would love to see Frankie and Yasmine have a crack at this (I'd happily put up with the filler to see it!)

[Lizbie1]

20 minutes ago, Sim said:

How happy it makes me that the ballet fates aligned in the 20th century and gave us Sir Fred, and this special muse who inspired such gorgeous works.  

 

And Dame Ninette, the woman who made it happen!

[zxDaveM]

1 hour ago, Xandra Newman said:

 

Something clearly happened to the music at a crucial moment in their Variation, the music sounded increasingly rushed (and not nicely played). The conductor changed the tempo (why? did he loose his concentration?) right at the start of Naghdi's killer fouttees and she only got a fraction of a second time to adjust to the conductor's tempo. Must be nervewrecking when this happens. Well done to her. When the conductor makes a mistake he rarely gets the blame...

 

She is the only dancer I've seen recover doing those Italian fouettes after a hiccup. What normally ensues is complete disaster as they struggle to get back into the swing and in the music. So hats off to her for that, for sure, as if you'd blinked you'd have missed it  🙂

[Beryl H]

What a wonderful programme, cast and performance, am hoping that it might just be filmed in Japan! Since I'm always going on about it, you can imagine how happy I was with Daphnis and Chloe, it looked so modern, and very much liked the partnership of O'Sullivan and Campbell. I've always wanted to see Apparitions and Nocturne, Beatriz Stix-Brunell looked exquisite in the solo from the latter. If I had to pick out one highlight it would be Birthday Offering, Fumi Kaneko's solo and the pdd for Sarah Lamb and Ryoichi Hirano were brilliantly danced! Didn't believe I would see Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg again so soon, thrilling pdd from R and J. The production was so good too, Margot Fonteyn always remained the true star, loved the way the stage was lit for Le Corsaire just as it was for the cinema film, I was expecting Fonteyn and Nureyev to run on, it gave me the shivers! Many congratulations to everyone involved in the Gala!

 

 

[capybara]

1 hour ago, JNC said:

 

What!! How do you know this capybara?

 

 

Last night, other dancers were expressing their admiration for Anna Rose. But I think that she has now posted something herself on Instagram about the short preparation time she had. Truly remarkable!!

[Douglas Allen]

Many congratulations to the whole company for this performance.

 

Beforehand, I had been concerned that it would be tokenistic, but I was wrong. It was a properly thought out and worthy tribute to a great dancer and in the time available it was as comprehensive as could reasonably be desired. The evening covered a fully representative selection of the range of Fonteyn's roles with the company. Hayward's Ondine was, in some ways, the revelation. I don't really like the ballet (the word boring comes to mind), but Hayward came close to convert me to think that it might still have purpose in the occasional revival. Also loved the Birthday Offering pieces and the Corsaire (by the way, JNC, the Royal have never done the complete ballet only this pas de deux).

 

The evening was more or less a complete joy. Thanks to everyone for their efforts.

[JNC]

Ah thanks for the knowledge Douglas! An RB le corsaire may be brilliant to showcase the wealth of male talent in the RB now! But I'd rather have other things first I suppose, and as long as they bring back the pas de deux every now and again I'll be quite happy!

 

I agree that I'm not sure if I'd want a full Ondine to come back, but perhaps we could get one act as part of a mixed bill to test it out? Although I guess the costs of this would be similar to a proper revival (or not? I don't know how it would work out) so perhaps they may as well do the whole thing?

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jan McNulty]

Just as an aside Nao Sakura has (re-posted) on Instagram that she was teaching Laura Morera's Everybody Ballet class today:

 

 

[alison]

I'm not really sure which act of Ondine you could excerpt: the third is the one with the divertissements, and of course the tragic ending, but it would be odd to have it without the rest of the backstory.  I'd prefer to have the whole thing back - it's now a decade since the company last performed it.

[Lizbie1]

Amazing pictures, Rob S!

[Peanut68]

Sorry to go off thread folks, but what is ‘Everybody Ballet’? Interested if there’s chances to do classes taught by RB dancers! 

[Jam Dancer]

7 hours ago, Legseleven said:

Slightly rambling detour comment coming up - it looks from this photo as though Naghdi is shorter than Nuñez and Osipova - and possibly only very slightly taller than Hayward? I have often thought that she isn’t perhaps as tall as she can sometimes appear and that her leg length gives the illusion of rather more height than she possesses. 

 

Although I think this is indeed true - Hayward is standing on pointe in the photo.

[bridiem]

Thanks for posting those amazing photos, Rob S!

[capybara]

49 minutes ago, alison said:

I'm not really sure which act of Ondine you could excerpt: the third is the one with the divertissements, and of course the tragic ending, but it would be odd to have it without the rest of the backstory.  I'd prefer to have the whole thing back - it's now a decade since the company last performed it.

 

I agree that Hayward's stellar performance of the Shadow Dance sequence from Ondine prompts thoughts of the ballet being revived. However,  I find the music eternally difficult and tuneless  to the real detriment of the work.

[Douglas Allen]

27 minutes ago, capybara said:

 I find the music eternally difficult and tuneless

I agree with you and I also think that another problem is that the rhythmic impetus is so inconsistent throughout the work. It's strange, because I usually like and admire Henze's work. I always smile, though, when I remember the well-known story of Ashton's housekeeper.

When Henze came to London to work on the composition of Ondine he stayed with Ashton in his house, working at the piano there. Ashton, at the Opera House and the School during the day carefully refrained from enquiring how the composition was going, but kept asking (discreetly) of his housekeeper what she had heard during the day. On being told that all kind of kerplunks were heard day after day, he became somewhat worried and depressed, wondering what he would have to work with. After some days of this, Ashton was much relieved when he was told, in answer to his daily question, "Oh wonderful tunes, Mr. Ashton, wonderful tunes". He then felt sufficiently confident to ask Henze directly how things were going, only to be flattened by being told  "Today I felt totally blocked, so spent the day just playing some of my favourite Mozart"...

[JennyTaylor]

I went last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not normally a fan of galas because although you get to see some very well known pieces, seeing them and getting the full emotional impact is sometimes quite difficult out of context of the whole ballet. I was offered a ticket at an extortionate price initially by the ROH with dinner afterwards, so I declined. However, I then discovered you could buy tickets at "normal" prices, so I did and was happy with my choice of E1 in the Orch Stalls. That meant I could view the dancers at close hand at a price I would normally expect to pay at the ROH if that was my choice. 

 

As soon as I saw Vadim was performing in Le Corsaire, my evening was made and he performed beyond my expectations. Just enjoy this dancer while he is performing like this.  He is phenomenal. Interesting to note who the audience applauded when they came on stage, as opposed to at the end - Marianela, Vadim and Darcey Bussell. 

 

I hadn't seen this particular cast for the Firebird, so that was interesting in itself. I am a big fan of Itziar Mendizabal and loved her interpretation. 

 

As for all the gala performances. Marianela nailed the Rose Adagio and watching her face as she went through the final balances and the radiant smile as the 4th balance was completed, told me she knew she had too. Very well supported by her princes Gary Avis, Nicol Edmonds, Nehemiah Kish., Thomas Whitehead.

 

I'm not a big fan of Ondine (hate the music) but Francesca Hayward was phenomenal and perhaps the most emotive of the spirit of Margot Fonteyn in the entire evening. It also reminded me how much we have missed Ed Watson.

 

I was very distracted during Romeo and Juliet because I was reminded of all the comments on this Forum about Natalia Osipova's shoes.  I thought her ballet shoes looked messy but couldn't see the particular features that have been mentioned. It was my first viewing of the Osipova/ Hallberg partnership as I have never booked for them, but I saw enough to be interested if not overwhelmed. I don't mind different interpretations of Juliet, and hers is different. but I had no objection to that.      

 

Gary Avis did out dance Darcey Bussell and I was slightly surprised by that, but he is just so good, he would probably out dance anyone. I enjoyed the humour of the piece and it did make for light relief within the context of the programme. 

 

I loved Le Corsaire, because of Vadim of course,  but Yasmine Naghdi really went for it and apart from the 1 slip, was excellent. In Swan Lake in Madrid, her fouettes in Act 3 travelled significantly down stage and we were worried she was going to end up on the queen's throne. Last night, she remained on the spot for what was a lot more fouettes and only travelled slightly in the last few.  It must be really pressurised being asked to perform such an iconic piece on such an occasion. I wonder also, if when Vadim is SO good, it's an additional pressure to perform with him.

 

I'd never seen Apparitions so was pleased to see it, but did feel I was sort of reliving a version of the 2 Pigeons.  Lauren Cuthertson and Matthew Ball were exemplary in the main roles. 

 

I would have liked to see Marguerite and Armand (Cuthbertson/ Ball) as it was such an iconic ballet for Fonteyn.

 

I never saw Margot Fonteyn dance live. My mother once secured tickets on the phone but the ROH never sent them on.  She berated herself for not going up and collecting them, but in those days a trip to London was a very big thing.   

[Lizbie1]

32 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

He is phenomenal. Interesting to note who the audience applauded when they came on stage, as opposed to at the end - Marianela, Vadim and Darcey Bussell. 

 

In fairness, that may have been down - at least in part - to the nature of the pieces they were performing.

 

32 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

Last night, she remained on the spot for what was a lot more fouettes and only travelled slightly in the last few.

 

I'm not nitpicking at Naghdi - she was indeed terrific - but as this has been said, from where I was in the amphi you could see her travelling quite far forward and two or three yards to the left during the first half of the fouettes, though much less during the remainder.

Edited June 9, 2019 by Lizbie1
Typo!

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Amazing pictures, Rob S!

 

Definitely. I'm looking at them in awe wondering how people manage to take such brilliant pics (and very glad I haven't posted mine, as they look terrible by comparison).