Jump to content

Your Highlights/Lowlights of the Season?


Recommended Posts

25 minutes ago, ChrisG said:

 

Royal Ballet - Winter Dreams - Royal Opera House (was looking forward to this but again left somewhat underwhelmed. Maybe it was in the wrong programme)

 

 

 

 

How interesting.  I was up and down about it too.  I have to say, however, that with Muntagirov I felt it was a different show entirely.  He brought a Russian soul to the proceedings that seemed somehow to magically weave flesh unto all other characterisations.  He was a noble yet tellingly vulnerable heart.  He and Sarah Lamb siphoned ours.  It was utterly magical.  Well, that's how I read it.  

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

11 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:
39 minutes ago, ChrisG said:

 

Royal Ballet - Winter Dreams - Royal Opera House (was looking forward to this but again left somewhat underwhelmed. Maybe it was in the wrong programme)

 

 

 

 

How interesting.  I was up and down about it too.  I have to say, however, that with Muntagirov I felt it was a different show entirely.  He brought a Russian soul to the proceedings that seemed somehow to magically weave flesh unto all other characterisations.  He was a noble yet tellingly vulnerable heart.  He and Sarah Lamb siphoned ours.  It was utterly magical.  Well, that's how I read it. 

 

I probably need to see it again (one of the drawbacks of living up north is that I can only afford to see one performance of each production), but my main feeling was that it was two-dimensional, both in terms of the set and the way the story was presented.  If felt like a set of attractive and occasionally comical scenes, rather than something more coherent, though maybe that's the point.  Also context is everything, and placing it alongside Les Patineurs and The Concert probably didn't show it off to its best advantage to a first-time viewer.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My highlights for the Spring have been:

 

Northern Ballet - The Great Gatsby at The Lowry

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet - Hobson's Choice at Birmingham Hippodrome

 

Russell Maliphant's Silent Lines at The Lowry

 

I wouldn't have said that any of the performances this season have fallen into the lowlights category.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/06/2019 at 19:33, Bruce Wall said:

 

 

(i) Seeing Stephane Bullion give a blistering performance as Armand opposite the exquisite Eleonora Abbagnato in Neumeier's Dame at the Garnier.  The first time I saw this piece was 22 years ago in Paris with Bullion.  In between he has been ravaged by cancer and returned victoriously.  I continually read with admiration on these boards of people bursting into tears at the deaths in Mayerling and R&J.  I found Bonelli's (RB) and Frola's (ENB) final moments in Manon very moving certainly.  I rarely - if ever - find myself weeping I must admit.  I did tear with joy filled pride at seeing O'Sullivan and Sambe's debut in the Tschai PDD in NYC.  Here as well Bullion's personal history (one which I have shared) mixed with his stunningly committed performance made this Dame a complete eye-weller for me on more than one occasion during the traffic of its stage.  Memorable certainly.

 

 

 

Wait.... I think I have missed something there !  Did Stéphane Bullion talked openly and publicly about his cancer ?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, MAX said:

 

Wait.... I think I have missed something there !  Did Stéphane Bullion talked openly and publicly about his cancer ?

 

 

Indeed he did.

 

https://www.oncovia.com/blog/en/stephane-bullion-professional-ballet-dancer-at-the-paris-opera-living-normaly-for-me-meant-dancing/

 

My admiration knows few bounds in this extraordinary artist's regard. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, ChrisG said:

Royal Ballet - Winter Dreams - Royal Opera House (was looking forward to this but again left somewhat underwhelmed. Maybe it was in the wrong programme)

 

 

Hi Chris G, welcome to a fellow Northerner! it's interesting what you said about Winter Dreams because I saw it twice in the same day (being a northerner if I've got to stay over I try and see a matinee as well). I definately wanted to see Vadim in the evening so I saw the matinee cast also and was very disappointed in it. it seemed overlong and rather boring. Then with Vadim in the evening it was like seeing a different ballet (as Bruce said also). it was totally entrancing and the time seemed to fly by. So I think casting is important in how you view a ballet and influences your opinion as to whether the ballet is a seasonal lowlight or highlight.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, ChrisG said:

 

I probably need to see it again (one of the drawbacks of living up north is that I can only afford to see one performance of each production), but my main feeling was that it was two-dimensional, both in terms of the set and the way the story was presented.  If felt like a set of attractive and occasionally comical scenes, rather than something more coherent, though maybe that's the point.  Also context is everything, and placing it alongside Les Patineurs and The Concert probably didn't show it off to its best advantage to a first-time viewer.

 

Do you see any of the offerings "Up North" Chris?  My ballet and dance watching was almost exclusively London based until I discovered the myriad of opportunities in other cities to see the touring companies.  Depending on where you sit in ROHH, the tickets can be considerably cheaper and accommodation much more affordable. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Depending on where you sit in ROHH, the tickets can be considerably cheaper and accommodation much more affordable. 

 

I’m afraid I can’t think what ROHH stands for and Google hasn’t offered its usual help.  No doubt I’ll kick myself when told!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On re-reading, I can now see it is the Royal Opera House and the comparison is with a number of unspecified northern venues but I was thinking about Hull and the Halle which I couldn’t get to work.   I’m slightly reassured that it wasn’t just me.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, JohnS said:

On re-reading, I can now see it is the Royal Opera House and the comparison is with a number of unspecified northern venues but I was thinking about Hull and the Halle which I couldn’t get to work.   I’m slightly reassured that it wasn’t just me.

 

It was a typo.  It was, of course, the Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London.

 

Northern and Midlands venues:

The Lowry (Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet, Rambert plus lots of other dance)

            Liverpool Empire (English National Ballet)

Manchester Palace (or sometimes Opera House) (English National Ballet)

Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Quarry Hill (Northern Ballet, Phoenix, Ballet Black & others)

Sheffield Lyceum (Northern Ballet & others)

Sunderland Empire (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

Birmingham Hippodrome (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

 

To name but a few.

 

                                 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 27/06/2019 at 20:37, Jan McNulty said:

 

Do you see any of the offerings "Up North" Chris?  My ballet and dance watching was almost exclusively London based until I discovered the myriad of opportunities in other cities to see the touring companies.  Depending on where you sit in ROHH, the tickets can be considerably cheaper and accommodation much more affordable. 

I do indeed.  Where I live is an easy drive or train ride from Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield, so I get a healthy dose of BRB, ENB and NB.   Also close to home I have Theatr Clwyd in Mold,  which has lots of good contemporary dance, Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury, and on my doorstep Storyhouse in Chester.  My London trips are governed by a mixture of cost and artistic decisions.  If I can get a matinee with a cast I want to see then Bob is my uncle!  If not, or if there are no matinees (which sometime happens) I scan the Premier Inn Hubs for the cheapest night and that often makes the cast decision for me!  

 

I realise now I should have added Hobson's Choice to my list of highlights.  Just got back from a matinee at Sadler's Wells (cheaper than the matinees in Birmingham!). Never seen it before except for the clog dance and Lily of Laguna pas de deux but loved every minute of it.  Beatrice Parma was a pocket dynamo as Maggie and Max Maslen as Will exuded Northern-ness!  I wish I could have stayed for the evening show - I didn't realise when I booked that that would be David Bintley's last show, but I'm sure he was given a wonderful send off with this wonderful ballet.

Edited by ChrisG
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TOP TEN HIGHLIGHTS

1. Winter Dreams (Muntagirov cast - slightly edging it over #2 because William Bracewell was also superb in that line-up)

2. Month in the Country (Muntagirov cast further enhanced by Anna-Rose O'Sullivan, in particular)

3. Mayerling (Ball especially, but also Bonelli/Morera - and Corrales as the First Hungarian Officer)

4. La Bayadere (the Osipova/Nunez re-mix cast which, to my surprise, was exceptionally effective)

5. Romeo and Juliet (not the ballet itself which I have tired of but the equally wonderful performances from Sambe/O'Sullivan and Corrales/Hayward)

6. The RB's Fonteyn Celebration (loved it all - more programmes of snippets like this, please!)

7. Don Quixote (Nunez/Muntagirov/Kaneko: a super-charged performance produced an electric atmosphere; also Naghdi/Sambe)

8. Symphony in C

9. ENB's Manon (with Cojocaru and Cao especially)

10. The Two Pigeons/Asphodel Meadows mixed bill (and many individual performances within that)

 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

1. ENB's She Persisted

2. Ivan Putrov's "Against the Stream"

3. BRB's Hobson Choice

4. The Linbury Cinema Season

5. 'The Royal Ballet Live' rehearsals in the Floral Hall

 

DANCERS WHO HAVE GIVEN ME THE MOST PLEASURE (in alphabetical order): Ball, Bracewell, Cao (ENB), Cojocaru (ENB), Corrales, Dias, Dixon, Dubreuil, Ella, Hayward, Kaneko, Kaniukova (ENB), Magri, McNally, Muntagirov, Naghdi, O'Sullivan, Pajdak, Sambe, Saruhashi (ENB), Sissens, Suzuki (ENB), Takada, Velicu (ENB), Woolhouse (ENB)

 

LOWLIGHTS

1. Osipova: Pure Dance

2. Medusa

3. Unknown Soldier (sad to say!)

4. David Hallberg

5. Bourne's Swan Lake (maybe it would benefit from a bit of updating?)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by capybara
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1 hour ago, alison said:

Erm, I believe MB's Swan Lake was updated for this run, capybara!

 

Not as much as was intended, I believe. The choreographer himself vouchsafed this, although he might have been thinking mainly in terms of ditching ‘Fergie’ for Meghan..

A pair of scissors might also come in handy. Changing times; changing perceptions - well, mine at least.

 

 

Edited by capybara
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My highlights (more or less in date order):

Carlos Acosta Celebration (Royal Albert Hall)

The glorious Makarova coaching Takada and Naghdi at La Bayadere Insight (RB ROH Clore)

La Fille Mal Gardee (BRB Sadlers Wells) - Ashton heaven.

La Bayadere (RB ROH) dress rehearsal with Nunez, Osipova,  and Muntagirov

La Bayadere (RB ROH)  performances of Takada, Naghdi and McRae, and Shades ladies

Infra (RB ROH)  in  first triple bill (Bracewell, O’Sullivan, Takada all standing out)

Symphony in C (RB ROH)   in  first (and last) triple bill – Brilliant Balanchine

Backstage Tour (ROH)   – Nunez/Soares rehearsing; Lamb & Takada passing us by

Les Patineurs (RB ROH)   Sambe standing out, plus Lamb in The Concert, from second triple bill

Alina Cojocaru in Swan Lake (ENB Coliseum)

Takada/Hay in Two Pigeons (RB ROH)

Don Quixote (RB ROH) – just non-stop bonkers ballet bliss!  Especially first night where Nunez & Muntagirov had an amazing performance and audience reception, and all the Takada/Campbell performances; also binged at the Cinema. Loved Saunders as Don Q, Hirano as Espada and O’Sullivan as Amour.

4 Ballet Studio Live RB Rehearsals- (Paul Hamlyn Hall ROH) Hamilton/Clarke, Avis/Acri, Naghdi/Ball coached by Watson, Stix-Brunell/Sambe coached by Wayne McGregor  - up close and personal!

Takada/Hirano/Hay triple debut in Romeo and Juliet (RB ROH); also Hayward with three amigos Corrales, Sambe and Hay

The Rite of Spring (ENB from She Persisted Sadlers Wells), with Francesca Velicu as The Chosen One -indescribable - just has to be experienced.

Within the Golden Hour (RB ROH) including Hayward’s return, plus  Osipova as Medusa, from third triple bill

Naghdi dazzling as the Firebird (RB ROH) in last  triple bill; Hayward sublime in A Month in the Country, also Hay brilliant; Campbell outstanding in Symphony in C. A great way to end the season.

 

Finally, pinching capybara's  DANCERS WHO HAVE GIVEN ME THE MOST PLEASURE (extracted from capybara's list in alphabetical order ):  Bracewell, Cao (ENB), Cojocaru (ENB), Corrales, Dixon,  Ella, Hayward, Lamb,  McNally, Muntagirov, Naghdi, O'Sullivan, Pajdak, Sambe,  Sissens,  Takada, Velicu (ENB) 

- and  I would add Avis,  Campbell, Edmonds, Gartside, Hay, Hirano, McCormick (ENB), McRae, Mendizabal, Nunez, Osipova,  Saunders,  Stix-Brunell, Whitehead

(RB unless stated)

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have hesitated with this as I always find these things very difficult, plus I don’t get to see such a variety of performances as those living closer, so I always feel my accounts may be a bit limited, or one-sided, so apologies in advance. But here goes - in chronological order as far as I can remember it.....

 

•Managing to score a “first” for once, and bagging a last minute ticket to see Matthew Ball’s unexpected debut in Plymouth, of all places, in Bourne’s Swan Lake. I’m not a massive Bourne fan but thought Ball would be excellent in this - and he was. And good to see him in my home town!

•Nunez, Muntagirov and Osipova in La Bayadere on opening night. Wonderful performances all round, with Makarova’s appearance on stage to take applause the icing on a special cake (we won’t mention the tumbling conductor....!).

•Les Patineurs triple bill just before Christmas. I enjoyed the whole bill. I loved The Concert - Lauren Cuthbertson very funny - and also Kish was a real surprise. However, the honours of the evening went to Muntagirov and Lamb in Winter Dreams (probably my performance of the season, just edging it over Month in the Country). Passionate, heartbreaking, stunning dancing from Muntagirov, with a wild edge that I had never seen in him before. Superb. Bracewell also a standout in this.

•Don Q on opening night with Nunez/Muntagirov. What a performance from both! Rightly greeted with a full standing ovation - especially since Marianela was ill! Amazing.

•Within the Golden Hour - an abstract ballet that somehow manages to move me. Wonderful choreography and incredible music.

• The recent Firebird Triple - enjoyed all ballets but the Month in the Country performances from Cuthbertson, Muntagirov and O’Sullivan were the standouts. There was real chemistry between all three, and Muntagirov’s dancing and acting were wonderful - that first solo!

•Symphony in C! What can I say? Just a joy to watch!

 

Individuals:-

•As others have said, Muntagirov just seems to get better and better and is a constant joy. He does dreamy and yearning to perfection, with those meltingly beautiful lines, but can also roll out the fireworks and the showmanship and make audiences gasp, but with apparently no effort, and never displaying an ounce of “ego.” An incredible dancer who never fails to move me in everything he does.

•Anna Rose O’Sullivan in everything I have seen her in this season. Her Cupid in Don Q was exquisite and her Vera truly drawn, touching and brilliantly danced. I wish I had seen her Juliet. I confidently await news of a promotion....🤞!

•Romany Pajdak - a dancer I have always liked and wondered at her not being promoted. It has been lovely to see her getting more opportunities this season and I hope we will be hearing about a promotion for her very soon.

•William Bracewell - again I have liked him in everything I have seen him in. Such a shame he has been injured and I look forward to seeing more of him.

•Sarah Lamb - opinions seem to be polarised on her, but I like her. Her Masha in Winter Dreams was amazing and although some say she is cold, she certainly didn’t come over as cold in that!

•Marcelino Sambe - especially his Mercutio!

•Beatriz Stix-Brunell - she has a unique stage presence.

 

Lowlights:-

 

I’m not sure I have any real lowlights but there were things that were a slight disappointment.

 

•BRB’s Fille in Plymouth. Maybe I had had a bad day (I had!) but it didn’t seem to have the spark of the RB version, and just lacked...something. On the plus side I did meet Peregrine on the grass verge outside, attracting a lot of puzzled attention from Friday night club-goers! He was not remotely interested in me or anyone else!

•The Unknown Soldier. It was a nice idea, but didn’t quite come off as far as I was concerned.

•Medusa. Started off promisingly, then I found I was thinking about what to cook for dinner the following night. Never a good sign.....

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sticking to the shows which made everything worthwhile:

 

The Trocks - I hadn’t seen them before and worried that the joke would wear thin, but both programmes I saw at the Peacock were an absolute joy and notable for their sheer respect for ballet.

 

Patineurs: *such* a high.

 

Asphodel Meadows/Two Pigeons with Stix-Brunell as the Young Girl - please, please can we see her as Lise?

 

The Naghdi/Ball Romeo and Juliet - they made me believe!

 

The Fonteyn Gala, which against early expectations was brilliantly planned and beautifully executed.

 

Dancers I particularly enjoyed this season are:

 

Muntagirov: what can I say?

 

Stix-Brunell - I love her in everything, but she’s *such* a fine comedian.

 

Sambe - what a season! Maybe it’s a case of his injury being a blessing in disguise - he just seems so much stronger in every respect.

 

Pajdak - brings quality to everything she does - a name I always look for on the cast sheet.

 

As for lowlights: 

 

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake didn’t do it for me - I really want to like his work but I just don’t.

 

TRIO ConcertDance with Ferri. I know I’m in the minority but I found the choreography pretentious and uninspired and Bruce Levingston’s playing not to my taste.

 

Golden Hour/Medusa/Flight Pattern mixed bill: I liked Within the Golden Hour less than I remembered (why the pointless interjected uglinesses?), leading me effectively to give up on liking Wheeldon; Medusa was a wasted opportunity; and though at the time I blamed my not reacting positively to Flight Pattern on my mood, I think it was never really going to work for me.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, capybara said:

Love all the detail, RichardLH. So you liked pretty much everything?☺️

Well not quite, there were various performances that I didn't particularly "get", but nothing in 2018/19 that I really felt strongly enough about to put in a list (I avoided going to see any Bourne)! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Balletfanp said:

On the plus side I did meet Peregrine on the grass verge outside, attracting a lot of puzzled attention from Friday night club-goers! He was not remotely interested in me or anyone else!

 

I had that pleasure too, at Sadlers Wells, but as you found, he does rather keep himself aloof from his adoring fans. 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Richard LH said:

DANCERS WHO HAVE GIVEN ME THE MOST PLEASURE (extracted from capybara's list in alphabetical order )

 

With apologies...I should have put Lamb  into  my own  list, I added her to capybara's by mistake

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think most of the 'highs' for me have been set out in other posts.  I only have one totally abysmal and offensive 'low' -  Unknown Soldier, which I thought was an insult to the men and women on the film extracts.  There were other things I didn't particularly like, but not to call them actual lows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

A late addition to this thread as the season here has only just ended. It was very much a season in two halves, with Sep 2018 through to March 2019 encompassing all the lows & “so-sos” as well as works that were fine, except for two works that I’ve put into the list of highs.

So the list of highs in chronological order

  • Stuttgart Ballet, Triple bill “Shades of White” – Cranko/ Concerto for Flute & Harp, Balanchine/ Symphony in C … musicality, serenity, joy & exuberance

  • Keersmaker – a video screening of an extract from Fase … this was a completely unexpected bonus as I went to a Long Night of Minimal Music, didn’t expect any dance to be on the programme, and much to my surprise & delight, it did include this video

  • Stuttgart Ballet – Triple bill “Break-through”: Clug/ Patterns in ¾ … creative, funny, great music

  • Stuttgart Ballet – Triple bill “Breath-taking”: Galili/ Hikarizatto, Inger/ Out of Breath, Khan/ Kaash … energetic, thought-provoking, inducing a trance-like status, and moreover a triple bill that I really enjoyed from start to finish

  • Stuttgart Ballet – Young Choreographer’s Evening: Roach/ Demon Days … hilariously funny & completely over the top

  • The Royal Ballet – a cinema sceening of Pite’s Flight Pattern … utterly moving & compelling

  • Colours International Dance Festival in Stuttgart with so much to offer, in particular

    • Maguy Marin – May B … unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before & profoundly moving

    • Ballet BC – Sharon Eyal/ Bedroom Folk … energetic & hypnotising

    • Akram Khan – Outwitting the Devil – thought provoking, a fantastic cast with a standout performance by Dominique Petit. Furthermore, having the world premiere of a work by Akram Khan in Stuttgart, I mean ...

  • John Cranko School – Annual Performances: Scholz/ Air!, Scholz/ Extracts from The Creation … musicality, liveliness, poetry, emotions. The performance of all students on stage, but in particular seeing Gabriel Figueredo perform live … unbelievable

  • Stuttgart Ballet – ballet talks with Juergen Rose in relation to MacMillan’s Mayerling, and in particular seeing a number of costumes, hats and helmets in close up … Rose’s attention to detail is simply awe inspiring

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Sim, I think your post sums it up perfectly! All in all, the season was superb; my hope for upcoming seasons would be to spread out the "highs" right across the season rather than basically covering it all in the space of 6-8 weeks ...

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Duck said:

Thanks, Sim, I think your post sums it up perfectly! All in all, the season was superb; my hope for upcoming seasons would be to spread out the "highs" right across the season rather than basically covering it all in the space of 6-8 weeks ...

 

If we *knew* exactly when a 6-8 week period of brilliance would occur in any given year, and could plan in advance to take time out of our daily lives and dedicate ourselves to it, and then not spend that much time or money bothering with everything else for the rest of the year, and just being able to get on with our lives and jobs, I think that would suit most of us just fine :lol:

Edited by RuthE
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...