Wayne McGregor's Inferno for The Royal Ballet

[penelopesimpson]

Genuine question.  If Wayne Macgregor is RB’s resident choreographer, why his his new work using RB dancers, being premiered in LA?

[bangorballetboy]

Just now, penelopesimpson said:

Genuine question.  If Wayne Macgregor is RB’s resident choreographer, why his his new work using RB dancers, being premiered in LA?

 

Why not?  What took place in LA was only part of the piece; a co-operation with the LA Philharmonic using other dancers too.  The premiere of the full piece will be at ROH.

[bridiem]

I had assumed that money is involved somewhere along the line.

[Jan McNulty]

If you look at the reviews linked at the time, although dancers from the RB were involved it was all about the music.

[Buddy]

8 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

If you look at the reviews linked at the time, although dancers from the RB were involved it was all about the music.

 

Jan, I think that you're implying that the choice of LA might had to do with the music, the composer, I believe, being LA based. This could be very correct but I would like to add a personal response having been there. Knowing nothing about the composer and only having seen one work by Wayne McGregor the dancing for me dominated everything, although in ballet, for me, it always does.

[bangorballetboy]

13 hours ago, Buddy said:

 

Jan, I think that you're implying that the choice of LA might had to do with the music, the composer, I believe, being LA based. This could be very correct but I would like to add a personal response having been there. Knowing nothing about the composer and only having seen one work by Wayne McGregor the dancing for me dominated everything, although in ballet, for me, it always does.

 

The composer, Thomas Adès, in not LA based; he is based in London.  The piece (so far as the music is concerned) is a joint commission between the LA Philharmonic (as part of its centenary celebrations) and the Royal Ballet, with a co-commission credit for the Concertgebouw for concert performance.  The original commission from the LA Phil was “open” so there was no initial expectation that this would turn into a ballet/dance piece.

[penelopesimpson]

On 25/08/2019 at 10:30, bangorballetboy said:

 

Why not?  What took place in LA was only part of the piece; a co-operation with the LA Philharmonic using other dancers too.  The premiere of the full piece will be at ROH.

And I would know this, how?

 

Look, it was a question, not an invitation to mortal combat.  I have no problems with it, just wanted to know.  How encouraging do you think this is to posters seeking information?  Genuine question surely deserves polite answer?

Edited August 26, 2019 by penelopesimpson

[penelopesimpson]

10 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

The composer, Thomas Adès, in not LA based; he is based in London.  The piece (so far as the music is concerned) is a joint commission between the LA Philharmonic (as part of its centenary celebrations) and the Royal Ballet, with a co-commission credit for the Concertgebouw for concert performance.  The original commission from the LA Phil was “open” so there was no initial expectation that this would turn into a ballet/dance piece.

Now THAT is informative, for which many thanks.

[penelopesimpson]

On 25/08/2019 at 11:37, Jan McNulty said:

If you look at the reviews linked at the time, although dancers from the RB were involved it was all about the music.

Thank you, Janet, for a genuinely helpful response.

[Jan McNulty]

40 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

And I would know this, how?

 

 

 

The same way I did, perhaps?  I read the reviews which were all from music rather than dance critics.

[alison]

That's mainly how I found out, too, not being as au fait with the contemporary classical music world as some others on this forum.

[bangorballetboy]

3 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

And I would know this, how?

 

Look, it was a question, not an invitation to mortal combat.  I have no problems with it, just wanted to know.  How encouraging do you think this is to posters seeking information?  Genuine question surely deserves polite answer?

 

I said “why not?” because sometimes that is an appropriate answer to a question as not everything needs to have a reason, or even a reason that we, the general public, need to know or understand.  There could be a myriad of important reasons or none as to why this decision was taken by RB management.  As it is, I have tried to explain my understanding of the position using information that is publicly available on the internet.

 

As you say not everything is an invitation to mortal combat but, on the other hand, not everything I post is an attempt at mortal combat either.  Perhaps next time, I’ll just not bother responding and leave you to your own devices and google.com.

[Ian Macmillan]

Perhaps these articles will add further clarification - from Links on 12 July:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-thomas-ades-inferno-mcgregor-20190711-story.html

 

https://www.laweekly.com/thomas-ades-modern-opera-and-divine-comedy/

[Josette]

I was at the two performances of Inferno, as well as the three Mayerlings and the Mayerling orchestra/stage rehearsal the prior weekend.  Inferno was commissioned by LA Phil for its 100th anniversary - it was a wonderful event.   Ades's composition Inferno was premiered  at Disney Hall in May, I believe.  I was at the after-performance reception after the second performance and it is my understanding, from talking with the choreographer and the director of the Royal Ballet and listening to speeches, that this was a collaborative event involving collaborative funding.  I do not know the particulars to give a detailed analysis of from whom the financial support was obtained.  Inferno is one part of The Dante Project, which we will have the opportunity to see when it opens on May 7, 2019, at the ROH.   Ades's compositions are frequently featured and/or premiered with LA Phil - I have season tickets and have heard many of Ades's compositions there with Ades present to take a bow after the performance. 

 

Also, the  LA Music Center initially advertised the Ades-MacGregor performance, with Ades conducting three of his works, as a LA Phil event, when it should have been equally advertised as a Royal Ballet event.  I checked the ticket sales for all RB performances the week before Mayerling, and Mayerling was nearly sold out - amazing on an Independence Day weekend when so many LA residents go out of town - but the Ades-MacGregor performances were not selling so rapidly.  Someone obviously woke up in management  as it was announced before each Mayerling performance that the RB would be performing the following week.  Consequently, the Ades-MacGregor performances were sold out, now with both dance lovers who were thrilled to have seen Mayerling with the Royal Ballet, as well as with the LA Phil crowd.    All performances were thrilling.  Here in LA, we are starved for first-rate ballet.  

 

In addition, the Royal Ballet is a beloved ballet company that had an ongoing presence in Los Angeles for decades, and a lot of us remember going to their performances when we were children. Ex-principal RB dancer, Stanley Holden, settled in LA, was greatly loved  by all, and had a well-known and flourishing dance studio for decades (he was my teacher and I went on to a ballet career), so the Royal Ballet is known by reputation as well.  Margaret Graham Hills, ex-teacher at the Royal Ballet School, settled here as well, and is another loved and respected teacher. 

 

As for the reviews, the critic who reviewed Mayerling is known for hating classical ballet and retired many years ago; but, as Mayerling opened the day after Independence Day, someone had to review it because  having the Royal Ballet perform here is an event.    It was not at all odd for the LA Times music critic to review the Ades-MacGregor premiere; there is no permanent LA Times dance critic. 

 

Having attended these marvelous performances, I am planning a trip to London in May for the ballet and to revisit beautiful London. 

 

If there are any spelling or other errors, please overlook them. I took a break from work to churn this out.  

 

 

 

[alison]

Thank you very much for that informative post, Josette, and welcome to the forum.