Royal Ballet: The Cellist/Dances at a Gathering (change of programme)

[Bruce Wall]

Although not specifically about DAAG, this podcast (on Opus 19/The Dreamer) in the new on-going NYCB series gives great insight into working with, for and on Robbins.  It is hosted by a NYCB corps member, with a very articulate NYCB Orchestra soloist, the NYCB principal, Taylor Stanley who dances both this work and DAAG - and makes the comparison - and Jean Pierre Frohlich, who is now - as he latterly was during Robbins' own reign - the Ballet Master responsible for mounting all Robbins works for NYCB.  I found it very interesting 'plane' listening. 

http://podcast.nycballet.com/episode-3-hear-the-dance-opus-19the-dreamer

 

 

 

[Angela]

15 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

Didn't one critic  at the time of the original London production also say that the ballet was about exiles and grief for their homeland

 

There are so many ways to see this ballet and the famous small hand gesture of setting something free, that all ten dancers wave in the air at the end: is it a farewell to the innocent, playful days of youth, to a carefree life? DaaG marks Robbins's return to pure, classical ballet after a very long period of musicals and show dance. It was made in 1969, when the Judson Dance Theater and postmodern dance had emerged and thrived in New York, maybe Robbins felt that dance would move in a different direction from now on and he made one last hymn to classical dance, with a gentle sense of farewell and goodbye. It was the time of the hippie movement, love and peace for all, somehow you can see those ideas reflected in there, too. Right, Floss: it is a ballet about community, about decency, gentleness, friendship. Robbins makes ballet look like it is the natural way of movement for these young people, just watch the first solo, how easily it develops from a normal walk into dance steps. No posing, no bland virtuosity, just pure joy. I could watch it over and over again.

 

 

 

[Lizbie1]

On 24/09/2019 at 20:28, Dawnstar said:

I hope that the casting for Dances at a Gathering will work out in conjunction with The Cellist in the same way that the new Scarlett was supposed to. As in, I've booked 2 performances with the aim of seeing both casts of each piece so I hope the Dances at a Gathering casts are arranged so I end up seeing different casts each time rather than the seeing same cast twice & missing another cast (I'm assuming there will be at least 2 casts). 

 

Dawnstar: I’m in the “live relays are a poor substitute” camp, but if neither of your tickets is for February 25th, it does provide a potential opportunity to see another cast.

[Douglas Allen]

I very much hope that the Royal Ballet does not fall into the trap of simply having two casts for the performances of Dances and that they do not make the mistake of assuming that the colour of costume is an indicator of which dances the person wearing it performs. Both would be major errors. The colour of costume is simply an identifier of the performer - nothing more. Who performs which dance  is (or should be) a decision of the choreographer (or authorised person). This can vary from performance to performance. I understand and accept that huge variations from one performance to the next isn't possible for obvious reasons, but there needs to be flexibility. When the Royal first performed the ballet in 1970 the casting was unchanged for the first few performances after which one or two new dancers were introduced but when the new dancers came in, they didn't simply take over the dances the original dancer performed; there was a reshuffling of the allocation of dances across the board. It wasn't total change, just changes to reflect the particular skills of the dancer coming out of the cast and their replacement. Robbins had rehearsed his chosen dancers so that everyone had learnt a larger number of dances than they were asked to perform. I hope (but don't necessarily expect) the Royal Ballet to do this in the coming season.

It's a great ballet and I'm immensely pleased to have the chance to see it again.

[LinMM]

I think the slight sadness felt at the end for me was a sense that this group may not see each other again or for a very long time.

As this was fairly close to me leaving college when I first saw  the ballet there was a sort of resonance with that ....friends parting for different destinies so a sort of end of an era feel. 

When I saw it the last time it was in Rep ( and back then the first time I had seen it for years) I didn't really get this sense of loss at all so I guess this is a magic the dancers have to somehow create together for it to work fully.

[Toria]

The only version of Dances at a Gathering that I have seen is the recent recording of POB dancing it. I was wondering what anyone thought about how this performance measures up to how it should ideally be danced? 

 

I must admit that I was a little disappointed. I'd heard so much about this ballet but I didn't really get a sense of the magic of it in that recording. 

[Dawnstar]

9 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Dawnstar: I’m in the “live relays are a poor substitute” camp, but if neither of your tickets is for February 25th, it does provide a potential opportunity to see another cast.

 

They're not. I deliberately avoid booking for anything on cinecast dates. I'll definitely be using the Concerto triple bill, Coppelia & Sleeping Beauty cinecasts to see another cast for each piece. I'll decide whether to do the same for this once the full casting is announced but I've left myself the option.

[JNC]

I wonder when they'll announce casting for DAAG? 

 

I have a faint hope that for it to be before general booking but perhaps this is too optimistic. Also not ideal for members who have already bought tickets! Despite the late announcement I feel casting should be decided by now as surely the dancers will be starting rehearsals for this soon anyway?

[alison]

Pretty late on (if at all?) would be my guess.

[alison]

Also, I'd expect overlap between casts, assuming there's more than one, so I doubt it will be cut and dried - I don't think it was last time round.

[now voyager]

I saw nearly the original NYCB cast of DAAG (everyone except for Jonathan Prinz) several times, and then over the years with some additional changes but several of the core dancers remaining, and always loved it.  As I did some subsequent performances with wonders like the young Gelsey Kirkland.  And I saw nearly the original RB cast (everyone except, I think, for Jonathan Kelly), and time stood still.  What a glorious performance!  If I could magically go back in time and see again only five of the thousands of performances I've seen, that would be one of them.  So I greatly anticipated the RB's revival, but I found the two performances I saw in the first cycle disappointing and flat.  (To be fair, I've seen many other DAAG performances by other companies, including NYCB, in the last two decades or so that featured individual performances of brilliance, but were in their entirety unsatisfying.)

I had been planning to skip the Marston/Scarlett program.  There are a number of RB dancers, though, that I'd love to see in DAAG, and I suspect many of them will be cast, although not necessarily in the roles I would choose for them.  (Casting may well be subject to the wishes of the Robbins Trust stagers.)  So I think I will wait until casting is announced, and then if scheduling works and decent tickets are available, give it another chance.

Edited September 27, 2019 by now voyager

[Bruce Wall]

A new NYCB reflection on DAAG has just been issued.  Thought it might be of interest.

 

https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/d/dances-at-a-gathering.aspx?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FY20MKTRELBalletBriefing-October&utm_content=version_A&uid=1053270&promo=42041

[mart]

On 25/09/2019 at 15:39, Lizbie1 said:

 

Multiplicity by Nacho Duato. I loathed it - to me it reeked of misogyny and abuse. Though I fully accept others will have received it very differently.

Would it have been different if the cellist had been a woman or is it the subject that reminds you of abuse, I just saw a very clever short piece of choreography 

[Lizbie1]

54 minutes ago, mart said:

Would it have been different if the cellist had been a woman or is it the subject that reminds you of abuse, I just saw a very clever short piece of choreography 

 

I don't think it would have the same resonance if the roles were reversed. 

 

I'm aware that women also abuse men - and I take a very dim view of that as well - but the majority of physical abuse between the sexes is, and always has been, committed by men on women. That women dancers in particular have been physically and sexually exploited by men for centuries is pertinent IMO. (I do wonder whether Duato would choreograph this the same way today, and whether he'd be given a harder time for it if he did.)

 

I think also that it was a young dancer at that performance amplified the effect it had on me.

[Angela]

Lizbie1, in the scene you mean, it is Johann Sebastian Bach himself who plays the Cello - so of course he seems older. It is the beginning of the ballet, first we see Bach directing an orchestra of human instruments, then they leave and one women comes back, obviously the cello, because we hear a cello and he plays on her like on a cello. So we had "male" and "female" instruments before. I don't know if that softens your impression...

Here are the scenes, the second scene follows directly after the first, but I can't find a video with both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lizbie1]

We had excerpts at the RBS show - I’m fairly sure there were the group instruments as well but I don’t remember clearly!

 

I can’t watch the videos right now but I think it was the one-on-one nature combined with the much greater physical intimacy of the cello excerpt which jarred particularly; the rest of it was pretty unexceptionable. I will try and watch later to check my reactions afresh, though - without wishing to pre-judge them - I don’t think the context would soften my impression anyway - too easy to see parallels with “favourites” or separating the weakest off from the herd.

 

I did wonder whether it was just me who was bothered by all this, but I’ve seen a few reviews which pick up on it as well - though my reaction may be stronger than most, it seems I’m not alone.

 

As a rather trivial aside: what bothered me almost more was that Bach’s wig is all wrong!

[Richard LH]

4 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

I think it was the one-on-one nature combined with the much greater physical intimacy of the cello excerpt which jarred particularly

 

Agreed, I really didn't like how this came across.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Richard LH

[Mary]

You are not alone Lizbie- my reaction is  'yuk'.

It is quite unpleasant. His being fully clothed and her in underwear adds to the impression you have most accurately described.

 

[Lizbie1]

Well - I’ve watched the video now and I find it even more unpleasant than I remembered. I had wondered whether a professional performance would reveal something the students hadn’t but no such luck

[Angela]

What about Man Ray's "Violon d'Ingres" then - art or yuk?

[Lizbie1]

7 hours ago, Angela said:

What about Man Ray's "Violon d'Ingres" then - art or yuk?

 

I don't love it but there's no revulsion like I feel with the Duato piece (which I found difficult to watch till the end). The absence of the "cellist" - though you could say he's just behind the lens - and his manipulations of her almost listless body is the difference I suppose.

[Ian Macmillan]

Following the discussion, above, on the evidence of the short rehearsal piece seen in to day's World Ballet Day RB coverage, nobody should have any fears about how the cello looks to be portrayed in The Cellist.  It is male, an active participant, and in no way submissive.

[ninamargaret]

just had rwo emails from ROH advising that Sambe is being replaced by Calvin Richardson in The Cellist on28 Feb and 4March, and Richardson by Sambe on 17,18 and25 Feb, and 2March. 

 

[JennyTaylor]

I went to an Insight evening on the Cellist this week and am very excited by the whole project. I'm guessing that RB fans have now seen a preview video but if not, happy to provide more details. 

[ElleC]

2 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

I went to an Insight evening on the Cellist this week and am very excited by the whole project. I'm guessing that RB fans have now seen a preview video but if not, happy to provide more details. 

Yes please, Jenny - eager to hear more, if you’re allowed to reveal anything.

[JennyTaylor]

On 23/11/2019 at 23:36, ElleC said:

Yes please, Jenny - eager to hear more, if you’re allowed to reveal anything.

I'm assuming that everyone has read what's on the ROH website already, seen the casting and the clip on You Tube. 

So, I attended an In Conversation with Cathy Marston held by the ROH, during which she gave some background to the production and also talked about how she liked to use dancers as objects - ie, in this case the cello. There will be further examples of dancers being choreographed in this way during the ballet and it has a surprisingly large cast, as the corps will play the orchestra  (interesting!). There was some discussion about the cello being male or female (musical instruments often seen as female), but in this case, practicalities of better pdd between Jacqui and male dancers influenced this decision.  Anyone who has seen the clip of Lauren Cuthbertson (Jacqui) dancing with Marcelino Sambe (cello) will hopefully understand why.      

 

The change of dates mentioned in this thread was because she decided to change the music in the ballet at a fairly late stage. The evening also featured 2 beautiful recitals of cello music by Liubov Ulybysheva, a cellist with the ROH orchestra, of Elgar's cello concerto (1st movement) and Mendelsohn's Lied ohne Worte Op. 109 both of which will feature in the ballet. They did say which other music would feature but sorry I can't remember the specifics. I do remember that it was all lovely classical music - Rachmaninov for example.  

 

The 1st cast is obviously stellar, but I think the 2nd cast will also be really interesting. I loved Beatriz Stix-Brunell's Juliet so will be fascinated to see what she makes of this role. .. and Cesar Corrales as Daniel Barenboim!  Cathy Marston also divulged that she had travelled to meet Daniel Barenboim to share the concept of the ballet.  

 

I was enthused by Cathy and the whole evening and prospect of the ballet (I'm not a huge fan of new modern choreography - sorry, although I was converted by The Winter's Tale) and immediately went and bought tickets for more shows. I'm hoping for an emotional ballet journey. 

[capybara]

Thanks for sharing, Jenny. I'm really looking forward to this new work and extra insights like yours really help.

[ElleC]

Thanks very much, Jenny. I can also be a bit iffy about choreography that’s too modern, but was impressed by the bit of rehearsal of The Cellist that was streamed on World Ballet Live. Also, for me, music is absolutely key and, from what you say, this sounds as though, musically, it will be right up my street. I’ve booked both casts and am now very much looking forward to it. Also very interested to hear that a large-ish cast will be involved as well as the obviously impressive casting of main roles!

[Ian Macmillan]

Jenny, taking up your remark that the Corps will be used as an 'orchestra' in The Cellist, Cathy has done something similar before, albeit on the smaller scale of her former Bern company.  Others may recall that when they brought her Clara to the Linbury some years ago, a ballet based on the relationship of Clara Schumann, her husband Robert, and Johannes Brahms, we saw dancers used as piano keys.  And by the sound of it, this will simply (?) be another example of Cathy using dancers to provide context to the unfolding main story that will presumably focus on a very few individuals.  The D-Men in Jane Eyre, the librarians in Victoria, the wind in Snowblind (for San Francisco Ballet) are recent examples.  And I guess that a large group of white swans has done something similar over many years.

[Ian Macmillan]

Cathy Marston tweeted today that she will be doing an evening on "Making The Cellist" in Oxford on Monday 20 January, and that two RB dancers will assist.  Admission will be Free, but you would have to book/register here.

[capybara]

Interesting...........but an unfortunate clash with Vadim Muntagirov's 'talk' at The London Ballet Circle, also on 20th January.

[Ian Macmillan]

Has anyone been at the event above in Oxford this evening?  I was unable to be there.

[Rob S]

Not me, but the two dancers were Beatriz Stix Brunell and Calvin Richardson

Edited January 20, 2020 by Rob S