capybara Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 A packed and enthusiastic house at Milton Keynes yesterday afternoon for ENB's Sleeping Beauty for a very enjoyable performance. Erina Takahashi's Aurora was simply beautiful and there were fine performances also from various fairies, the Act III characters and the King and Queen. Yonah Acosta is injured and was replaced by Esteban Berlanga. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Eek! Forgot this was on, I've been meaning to get tickets for ages... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfbrew Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I couldn't go but one of my students missed her ballet lesson to see this- with my whole hearted approval! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 They're coming to London with it in January....! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Not to mention various other places around the country Here's the link: http://www.ballet.org.uk/details.php?id=18 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I was lucky enough to attend the dress rehearsal up in Milton Keynes, earlier in the week, and here are some photos from that. Looked great! English National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty - Daria Klimentova as the Lilac Fairy © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr English National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty - Vadim Muntagirov as The Prince © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr English National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty - Tamara Rojo as Aurora © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set on Flickr - English National Ballet's 'Sleeping Beauty' Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Ooooo Dave - wonderful photographs. I am even more excited now about the performances I have booked to see in Liverpool! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Well the new Boss looks at home - indeed, like she'd never gone away. All concerned looking good - just a pity there's no Begoña! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Well the new Boss looks at home - indeed, like she'd never gone away. All concerned looking good - just a pity there's no Begoña! No, sadly - she just popped into the auditorium to watch for a bit, and I didn't think swiveling the camera around would have met approval! ;-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabriole Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Went up to Milton Keynes and saw the first night of Sleeping Beauty ,the company is looking good ,the fairies were very nice and a special mention to Daria Klimentova super solo ,she lit the stage when she was on.Some Cavaliers were a bit long in the tooth!! is that what happens when casting from the top.I had great expectations and was looking so forward to seeing Tamara Rojo as Aurora ,but I must be honest I felt very underwhelmed , her connection to her fellow dancers and the audience was no where to be seen , she is a brilliant dramatic dancer (her Juliet is wonderful) but as a pure classical dancer ,her line ,i.e stiiff shoulders and an over muscled lower leg .Her arms in the act two solo were totally lacking the lyricism of the choreography,On a good note she did redeem herself in act three ,lovely solo and pas de deux . Vadim Muntagirov danced very elegantly with perhaps less "Elan" as usual ,after all he must have been nervous dancing with THE BOSS, Other notable performances were Shiori Kase as Princess Florine and Esteban Berlanga as Gold very stylish and not helped by the Tiara he had to wear.Te company must find a Bluebird who can do a Temps de Poisson and good batteries. The corps were very spirited. I am looking forward to London and seeing perhaps some of the younger members being featured, as promised by the AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Great photographs, Dave. I particularly like the penultimate one (the grand pas de deux). There is such perfect alignment between Tamara and Vadim. I'm really looking forward to seeing this production now even though, to be honest, Sleeping Beauty is not one of my favourite ballets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I love Sleeping Beauty. Fantastic photos Dave! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The photograph to which I was referring is on flickr. Is it your photograph which appears on ENB's website, Dave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The photograph to which I was referring is on flickr. Is it your photograph which appears on ENB's website, Dave? Gosh, no - they have their own in-house photographers, and/or commissioned photographers to get those. Ours are independent of those - a sorta nice addition, as we can put up more than a few, and more of the company members, so capture more of the entire performance. Which is nice (I hope!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 thanks all - for the kind words about the photos :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Saw production in MK last night: delightful, but slightly spoiled for me by an over-zealous curtain-puller, particularly just after the awakening kiss. The scenery was stupendous, but we only had a nano-second to admire it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Who did you see Taxi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 thanks all - for the kind words about the photos :-) And may I add mine too...they are beautiful as always! So lovely and clear and expressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Who did you see Taxi? Elena Glurdjidze as Aurora and Arionel Vargas as the Prince. We haven't seen ENB before, so I'm unfamiliar with the dancers, but on the cast handout we were given it was nice to see that several dancers had their debut in some roles, including Alison McWhinney as the Lilac Fairy. My dd aged 13 was mesmerised throughout, and was thrilled when another audience member commented that she was obviously a ballet dancer, asked her about her future aspirations, and wished her well, asking how long she needed to wait before she could watch her too! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Wow Glad to see Alison getting a chance, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 taxi4ballet, Elena is probably the strongest ballerina technically at ENB. She is also extremely conscientious and seems to be a very modest person. I hope that she will be at ENB for many years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Lovely performance of SB last night in Liverpool - opening the run here were Erina Takahashi and Esteban Berlanga with Daria Klimentova as a super Lilac Fairy and her cavalier was Arionel Vargas, Begona Cao was one of the Fairies - I can never tell which is which but all the fairies were really very good with some really good foot work. I can't really fault the performance it was very good and the orchestra was just fabulous the sound was just lovely (only marred by the dreaded rustling sweet papers). Fabian Reimar played Carabosse and got the usual boos at the end! Tamara Rojo was sitting in the Circle near me so she was obviously keeping and eye on ENB which is good, as I have noticed that BRB always have some of the bosses watching their performances too. I think I will have to go to Manchester to catch Tamara with Vadim as I am in Berlin this weekend for Onegin and La Bayadere. Does anyone know if the costumes are new this run or if they are still the ABT ones? Either way they were very nice. Well done to ENB anyway a very enjoyable evening. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 There are so many casts that I want to see but I would particularly like to see Esteban dancing with Ksenia (currently just one performance - the matinee on 15 January). They looked very good together when I saw them dancing during the Tate residency earlier this year. DQ, what a lovely weekend you have coming up. Who will you be seeing in Berlin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I very much enjoyed the performance last night too. I though Erina Takahashi and Esteban Berlanga were terrific together. The fairies were all good and I particularly noticed the always wonderful Begona Cao, Laurretta Summerscales and Shiori Kase. Shiori Kase was also a delight in Bluebird with Laurent Liotardo. I thought the hunting scene goes on a bit too long and could do with some judicious cutting and I wasn't overly excited by the section where the Lilac Fairy leads the Prince to Aurora - I didn't feel that it had the menace and expectation that I am used to with Sir Peter Wright's version for BRB. These are, however, very minor quibbles. I'm looking forward to the matinees tomorrow and on Saturday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I thought the hunting scene goes on a bit too long and could do with some judicious cutting And then people complain that the hunt scene in the RB version is too short . It's a no-win situation, I think. (I can't remember what differences there are between the two productions at the moment). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 "What's On Stage" loved the performance on Tuesday evening. Here is their review: http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/london/E8831351702582/The+Sleeping+Beauty+-+English+National+Ballet+%28Tour-+Liverpool%29.html John has also included it in the links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 There are so many casts that I want to see but I would particularly like to see Esteban dancing with Ksenia (currently just one performance - the matinee on 15 January). They looked very good together when I saw them dancing during the Tate residency earlier this year. DQ, what a lovely weekend you have coming up. Who will you be seeing in Berlin? When I booked it was originally Svetlana Zakharova guesting in Bayadere but it got changed so its Shoko Nakamura (Nikia), Elisa Carillo-Cabrera (Gamzatti) with Mikhail Kaniskin as Solor in Baydere and Nadja Saidakova (Tatiana), Iana Salenko (Olga),Dinu Tamazlacaru (Lensky) with Kaniskin as Onegin - Svetlana is dancing Bayadere tonight!! I am not too sad as I love Mikahil Kaniskin and Dinu Tamazlacaru is super too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) There are so many casts that I want to see but I would particularly like to see Esteban dancing with Ksenia (currently just one performance - the matinee on 15 January). I've just noticed that Ksenia and Esteban were due to perform at the matinee today as well. DQ, it sounds great. Have a lovely time and let us know how you find the performances. It's interesting that the RB are performing both of these ballets this season as well. Edited November 1, 2012 by aileen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 The Liverpool Daily Post reviews Tuesday evening's performance: http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-culture/liverpool-arts/2012/11/01/dance-review-english-national-ballet-presents-sleeping-beauty-at-the-liverpool-empire-99623-32134046/#.UJJeyyAkU1o.twitter I was fortunate indeed to be at the matinee this afternoon to see Ksenia Ovsyanick make her debut as Aurora. She was an absolute delight from her first entrance, dancing with expansive expressiveness and portraying the tranformation of a young girl to young woman beautifully. Her Prince was Esteban Berlanga and he was wonderful too. Lauretta Summerscales was delightul as the Lilac Fairy. Great also to see Nigel Gaynor in the pit conducting the orchestra which was magnificent. I was in my more usual place on the front row this afternoon and was able to enjoy the beauty of the tutus. The costumes really are splendid in this production. A performance to savour and remember for years to come. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Janet, I'm so glad that Ksenia's debut went well. She's a technically strong and confident dancer but the role of Aurora is a very demanding one and it's good to hear that she pulled it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 She pulled it off - and how!! A very accomplished and moving performance (I always cry in the Rose Adagio, especially when it's well done and the gpdd too!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I wonder how many more performances Nigel Gaynor is doing in the UK before he joins RNZB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Well I saw my third and final performance of the week yesterday afternoon. Elena Glurdjize was wonderful, her Rose Adagio was very special. You could see her growing from an awestruck teenager to a young woman during the course of it. Arionel Vargas was her noble Prince. Shevelle Dynott was tremendous as Carabosse. He has got a very expressive face and was really scarey. Again, I thought all the fairies were on good form with Nancy Osbaldeston standing out as the Songbird Fairy. Junor Souza and Ksenia Ovsyanick were splendid as Gold and Diamond. This is a lovely production and I would like to see it again! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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