northstar Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) Haven't found this posted elsewhere on the forum, so thought I would post it. An interview with Alina Cojocaru by Savannah Saunders for thewonderfulworldofdance.com https://www.thewonderfulworldofdance.com/alina-cojocaru-principal-ballerina-creating-new-show-love-dance-unexpected-words-wisdom talking about her forthcoming Sadler's Wells show, and much more besides. It's great stuff, I can't remember ever seeing/hearing such a long interview with AC before. Her thoughts on personal development I found particularly striking and powerful - she could become a motivational speaker if she wanted! I found it from AC's own twitter feed. Edited January 26, 2020 by northstar 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janite Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Thank you for this, she is very interesting to listen to and I can't wait to see her at Sadlers Wells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 I have to say that ticket sales for her performances do look very “slow”. There appears to be a lot of unsold seats still available, which does surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 27/01/2020 at 10:52, SPD444 said: I have to say that ticket sales for her performances do look very “slow”. There appears to be a lot of unsold seats still available, which does surprise me. best invite all our friends ..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 27/01/2020 at 10:52, SPD444 said: I have to say that ticket sales for her performances do look very “slow”. There appears to be a lot of unsold seats still available, which does surprise me. I don’t know if this offers any insight, but I’m not going because the programme doesn’t do much for me and I feel there are better opportunities to see Cojocaru with ENB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Just now, Lizbie1 said: I don’t know if this offers any insight, but I’m not going because the programme doesn’t do much for me and I feel there are better opportunities to see Cojocaru with ENB. I am going especially to see Alina in Ashton’s Marguerite & Armand. It’s a ballet she has performed elsewhere, but never in the UK. I am sure her performance will be fabulous whoever partners her. (Hopefully one of RB principals.) The other pieces will be interesting but I agree starters to the main course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said: I don’t know if this offers any insight, but I’m not going because the programme doesn’t do much for me and I feel there are better opportunities to see Cojocaru with ENB. Well, not so far this season, alas..............She danced only one performance of Nutcracker at the Coli and I didn't see her on tour with Cinderella or Le Corsaire either last autumn (I don't think she was cast). Next up for ENB is Akram Khan's The Creature and then it's Swan Lake in the round. None of that augurs well for seeing Alina which is why I've booked for as many of her own shows as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamk Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Kobborg is clearly part of this programme which reminded me that the bill he put on at QEH many years ago was superb so maybe this could be too. I will certainly go if she invites Friedemann Vogel to dance Armand ! She could do with a big name to help shift the 100s of unsold tickets (it looks a disaster at the moment) and I'm not sure he's well known enough here to make a significant difference. Edited January 29, 2020 by annamk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Are they going to let us know the Armand in advance? Wonder if it will be Polunin??!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 59 minutes ago, Sim said: Are they going to let us know the Armand in advance? Wonder if it will be Polunin??!! Presumably if they are going to announce in advance it must happen soon as we're only about 2 weeks away...I was also thinking it could be Polunin given they recently danced Kobborg's Romeo and Juliet together, and I believe (?) he's dancing/danced the Armand in her Dream Programme in Japan which has a near identical repertoire to this one. Haven't been following this closely though so could be totally wrong/things may have changed! 1 hour ago, capybara said: Well, not so far this season, alas..............She danced only one performance of Nutcracker at the Coli and I didn't see her on tour with Cinderella or Le Corsaire either last autumn (I don't think she was cast). Next up for ENB is Akram Khan's The Creature and then it's Swan Lake in the round. None of that augurs well for seeing Alina which is why I've booked for as many of her own shows as possible. Yes Alina hasn't really done much with ENB recently, which is a shame. I know she was ill for Le Corsaire in London which is completely out of anyone's control but as you say she wasn't cast in Le Corsaire outside of London and I don't know how involved she'll be in the new Creature work. She seems to be focussing a lot on doing other projects such as Romeo and Juliet and solo shows, which is completely fair but equally I hope this doesn't mean she is less involved with ENB (currently to me she feels more like a guest principal rather than a full time one, whether this is a fair comment or not I think only time will tell). I do hope ticket sales pick up - I agree the repertoire is perhaps a bit hit and miss and wouldn't necessarily be enough to entice someone who isn't an Alina fan but I was sold with Marguerite and Armand and the fact that Kobborg is involved also bodes well I think. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) The programme for Alina’s show in Japan is very different to London .... as Japan includes Kimin Kim, Alina Somova, Nancy Osbaldeston, Osiel Gouneo. 5/6 February is Ballet Imperial (with Vogel) plus Don Q divertissements 8/9/11 February is Marguerite & Armand (Polunin) plus variety of other pieces only 1 of which is also at Sadlers Wells (Rushton pdd for Johan and Alina) https://www.nbs.or.jp/english/news/program-and-cast-updates-alina-cojocaru-dream-project-2020.html https://www.biwako-hall.or.jp/en/performance/2019/03/alina-cojocaru-dream-project-2020.html Edited January 31, 2020 by FionaE Add links 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 I wonder if the fact that she was announced as injured for Le Corsaire has also affected sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, alison said: I wonder if the fact that she was announced as injured for Le Corsaire has also affected sales. It would have to be a very serious injury to affect the Sadlers Wells shows which are 5/6 weeks after the Le Corsaire and 70th gala cancellations. She also cancelled Nutcracker with ENB a week or so before ‘due to illness’. I prefer to think all the ENB cancellations in December and early January may have been precautionary. I hope! Edited January 31, 2020 by FionaE Clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamicro Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) Cancellations over Christmas period include also Hamburg Ballet Nutcrackers, but finally Alina Cojocaru was back on stage in Hamburg on Sunday dancing Laura in The Glass Menagerie. She is scheduled to dance this role also tonight and I presume she danced it also yesterday (the ballet at the moment has just one cast...). I think we can really be confident that her injury is over 🙂 In the past she danced Marguerite & Armand with Robert Enache in Bucharest and with Friedemann Vogel in New York (in one of her ballet galas in favour of Hospice of Hope): I'd love so much to see her again with Vogel, probably one of her very best partners after Johan Kobborg's golden era (I cannot forget their wonderful performances of Derek Deane Romeo and Juliet!) Edited January 31, 2020 by annamicro 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
now voyager Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 39 minutes ago, annamicro said: In the past she danced Marguerite & Armand with Robert Enache in Bucharest and with Friedemann Vogel in New York (in one of her ballet galas in favour of Hospice of Hope): I'd love so much to see her again with Vogel, probably one of her very best partners after Johan Kobborg's golden era (I cannot forget their wonderful performances of Derek Deane Romeo and Juliet!) I was unable to attend that New York gala, but I believe that she and Friedemann danced only excerpts from M&A that evening. They danced the entire work (wonderfully) with Sarasota Ballet in New York in the 2016 Fall for Dance festival. They also danced the MacMillan Romeo & Juliet on tour with La Scala Ballet in Tokyo in 2013, IIRC. I agree wholeheatedly with your assessment of their partnership. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamicro Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 6 minutes ago, now voyager said: I was unable to attend that New York gala, but I believe that she and Friedemann danced only excerpts from M&A that evening. They danced the entire work (wonderfully) with Sarasota Ballet in New York in the 2016 Fall for Dance festival. They also danced the MacMillan Romeo & Juliet on tour with La Scala Ballet in Tokyo in 2013, IIRC. I agree wholeheatedly with your assessment of their partnership. You are right, the gala was in 2015, they danced the whole ballet in 2016: I mixed up the two having not attendet to any... I missed also Tokyo Romeo and Juliet with La Scala (but some clips were available on youtube!) having seen the 5 Juliet she danced in Milan, unfortunatley with the much less interesting Bolle and Sutera... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xandra Newman Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 On 31/01/2020 at 13:05, FionaE said: The programme for Alina’s show in Japan is very different to London .... as Japan includes Kimin Kim, Alina Somova, Nancy Osbaldeston, Osiel Gouneo. 5/6 February is Ballet Imperial (with Vogel) plus Don Q divertissements 8/9/11 February is Marguerite & Armand (Polunin) plus variety of other pieces only 1 of which is also at Sadlers Wells (Rushton pdd for Johan and Alina) https://www.nbs.or.jp/english/news/program-and-cast-updates-alina-cojocaru-dream-project-2020.html https://www.biwako-hall.or.jp/en/performance/2019/03/alina-cojocaru-dream-project-2020.html Based on social media posts by Johan Kobborg and others: it seems that Yasmine Naghdi is replacing Alina Cojocaru, and Naghdi will be dancing "Ballet Imperial" with Friedmann Vogel in Tokyo on 5th and 6th February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi M Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Here is the cast change announcement in Japanese, as I could not find the English announcement. https://www.nbs.or.jp/publish/news/2020/02/-2020-3.html Cojocaru is dancing a pas de deux from Manon Act 1 with Vogel, and Yasmine Naghdi (who happened to be in Tokyo because there was a gala by 10 RB dancers) will dance Ballet Imperial. Also Somova will not come so they invited Madoka Sugai of Hamburg Ballet and Elisa Badenes of Stuttgart Ballet to fill in. Sergei Polunin will only be dancing in Marguerite and Armand on Saturday and Sunday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 9 hours ago, Naomi M said: Here is the cast change announcement in Japanese, as I could not find the English announcement. https://www.nbs.or.jp/publish/news/2020/02/-2020-3.html Cojocaru is dancing a pas de deux from Manon Act 1 with Vogel, and Yasmine Naghdi (who happened to be in Tokyo because there was a gala by 10 RB dancers) will dance Ballet Imperial. Also Somova will not come so they invited Madoka Sugai of Hamburg Ballet and Elisa Badenes of Stuttgart Ballet to fill in. Sergei Polunin will only be dancing in Marguerite and Armand on Saturday and Sunday. Yes it seems Alina is carrying an injury or was injured further in Hamburg. So she is scaling back her participation in Japan. To clarify Sergei Polunin is also due to dance in M&A with Alina in Otsu-Shiga (Osaka) on Tuesday 11/2. Here is the revised programme https://www.nbs.or.jp/publish/news/2020/02/-2020-3.html (apologies for poor translation by google): 2020/02/03 NEW <Arena Kojokar Dream Project 2020> Announcement of performers and program changes The performers of <Arena Kojokar Dream Project 2020>, which will be on their first day on February 5, are coming to Japan one after another. I'll let you know. Initially, Kojokar was scheduled to appear in Ballet Imperial in the A program, but was injured in a rehearsal just before coming to Japan and was unable to perform in the same work that was physically demanding. As a result, the performances had to be changed, and the first act, Pas de Dou, was performed from Friedemann Vogel and Manon. Jasmine Nagdi (Royal Ballet Principal, UK) will soon be replacing Ballet Imperial instead of Kojokar. In addition, we have made adjustments so that we can perform in "Don Quixote @ Divertisman", but we would like to acknowledge that the final appearance will be announced on the day. Sergey Polunin will only appear in "Marguerite and Armand" in the B program (Tokyo) and the C program (Otsu). Also, Arena Somowa has been unable to come to Japan due to sudden personal circumstances. Due to these last minute changes, with special consideration from the Hamburg Ballet Company and the Stuttgart Ballet Company, which are closely related to the Foundation, Enka Sugai (Principal of the Hamburg Ballet Company) in the A / B program and Elisa S. in the B program. Two principals, Badenes (Stuttgart Ballet Principal), have been sent. We apologize to the people who were looking forward to the performance for the announcement of the performers and the performances that were announced at the beginning because of multiple reasons. The program after the change is as follows. We appreciate your understanding of this change. NBS / Japan Performing Arts Foundation <Arena Kojokar Dream Project 2020> A Program Performances and Performers "Ballet Imperial" Choreography: George Baranshin Music: Peter Tchaikovsky Yasmin Nagdi-Friedemann Vogel Miyuki Nakagawa Miyagawa Shindai-Ryunosuke Ikukata Hitomi Kaneko-Akiyama Ai Tokyo Ballet "Pirates" Choreography: Marius Petipa Music: Riccardo Dorrigo Enga Sugai, Osir Guneo "Edit" (New World Premiere) Choreography: Nancy Osbaldeston Music: Edith Piaf Nancy Osbaldeston "ABC" Choreography: Eric Gautier Music: Philip Kanicht Johan Kobo From "Manon" パ Pas de Do in Act 1 Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan Music: Jules Masne Arena Kojokar, Friedemann Vogel "Don Quixote Divertisman" Choreography: Marius Petipa Music: Leon Minx Nancy Osbaldeston, Enka Sugai Osir Guneo, Kim Kim Min, Johan Kobo Tokyo Ballet * Arena Kojokar will be announced on the day of the event. Conductor: Katsuhiro Ida Performance: Theater Orchestra Tokyo Piano: Kyohei Imaizumi ("Ballet Imperial") * "ABC" and "Edit" will be performed on recorded sound sources. <Arena Kojokar Dream Project 2020> B Program Performances and Performers "Diana and Acteon" Choreography: Agrippina Vaganova, Music: Cesare Puni Nancy Osbaldeston, Osir Guneo From "Vaslav" Choreography: John Neumeier Music: Johann Sebastian Bach Enga Sugai "Reminiscence" (New World Premiere) Choreography: Tim Rushton, Music: Alvo Pelt Arena Kojokar, Johan Kobo "Edit" (New World Premiere) Choreography: Nancy Osbaldeston, Music: Edith Piaf Nancy Osbaldeston "Legend" Choreography: John Kranko Music: Henrik Wienyawski Elisa Badenes, Friedemann Vogel "Pirates" Choreography: Marius Petipa Music: Riccardo Dorrigo Enga Sugai, Kim Kimmin "Marguerite and Armand" full version Choreography: Frederick Ashton Music: Franz Liszt Marguerite: Arena Kojokar Armand: Sergey Polunin Armand's Father: Johann Kobo Tokyo Ballet Piano: Ana Silvestri (Marguerite and Armand) * Except for "Marguerite and Alman" * Performers and performances are scheduled as of February 3, 2020. Please note that it may change depending on the performer's injury, illness, or other circumstances. No refunds or changes to performance dates or ticket types will be given. Official performers and performances will be announced on the day. * The performers and programs of the Otsu performance on 2/11 (Tuesday / holiday) will be announced on our homepage as soon as they are decided. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 9 hours ago, Naomi M said: Here is the cast change announcement in Japanese, as I could not find the English announcement. https://www.nbs.or.jp/publish/news/2020/02/-2020-3.html Cojocaru is dancing a pas de deux from Manon Act 1 with Vogel, and Yasmine Naghdi (who happened to be in Tokyo because there was a gala by 10 RB dancers) will dance Ballet Imperial. Also Somova will not come so they invited Madoka Sugai of Hamburg Ballet and Elisa Badenes of Stuttgart Ballet to fill in. Sergei Polunin will only be dancing in Marguerite and Armand on Saturday and Sunday. hi Naomi thank you for the information. Do you know specifically that Sergei does not dance M&A in Otsu on Tuesday 11th February? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xandra Newman Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) That is such super short notice for Yasmine Naghdi to replace Alina Cojocaru...two days (according to IG) to learn Balanchine's "Ballet Imperial", dancing with new partner Friedmann Vogel, and be on stage tomorrow night 😱😱. I believe she has never danced "Ballet Imperial", this will be a debut prepared for in two days. Wishing Yasmine Naghdi and Friedmann Vogel much success, as well as all the other dancers involved! Edited February 4, 2020 by Xandra Newman . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Xandra Newman said: That is such super short notice for Yasmine Naghdi to replace Alina Cojocaru...two days (according to IG) to learn Balanchine's "Ballet Imperial", dancing with new partner Friedmann Vogel, and be on stage tomorrow night 😱😱. I believe she has never danced "Ballet Imperial", this will be a debut prepared for in two days. Wishing Yasmine Naghdi and Friedmann Vogel much success, as well as all the other dancers involved! I am sure she will be amazing. She has formidable technique as well as innate elegance. I do hope we get a short clip or two 🤞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Indeed...Miss Naghdi had 72 hours to learn Ballet Imperial...she had never danced it, and had never danced with Friedemann Vogel, either. I hear that there was huge applause for them, and I'm sure there will be tomorrow night as well. A wonderful achievement. How I would love to see them dance together! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xandra Newman Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 15 hours ago, FionaE said: I do hope we get a short clip or two 🤞 I'd love to see a (short or long!) clip of Naghdi dancing with Vogel! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Sim said: Indeed...Miss Naghdi had 72 hours to learn Ballet Imperial...she had never danced it, and had never danced with Friedemann Vogel, either. I hear that there was huge applause for them, and I'm sure there will be tomorrow night as well. A wonderful achievement. How I would love to see them dance together! has Friedemann ever guested at ROH? Would be so good ..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, FionaE said: has Friedemann ever guested at ROH? Would be so good ..... He's guested with ENB - he was fabulous in Manon with Daria Klimentova. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 4 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: He's guested with ENB - he was fabulous in Manon with Daria Klimentova. He certainly was. He guested a few times with ENB as he was Daria’s favourite partner pre-Vadim Muntagirov...and who can blame her?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xandra Newman Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Well now that Friedmann Vogel has danced with Yasmine Naghdi in Tokyo there may be a possibility for Vogel to dance with Naghdi here at the ROH. Who knows. I'd dearly love to see that happen! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi M Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 22 hours ago, FionaE said: hi Naomi thank you for the information. Do you know specifically that Sergei does not dance M&A in Otsu on Tuesday 11th February? Currently it is announced Segei Polunin will dance Armand in Tokyo and Biwako (Ohtsu) . btw I will be interviewing him on Friday (unfortunately in Japanese though but will go online) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 5 hours ago, Jan McNulty said: He's guested with ENB - he was fabulous in Manon with Daria Klimentova. ........and he danced in Romeo and Juliet (in the round in 2014) with Alina Cojocaru. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Cojocaru has posted a photo of herself and Polunin in M and A on Instagram, with the text: '@poluninink thank you so much for joining our project! Amazing to share the stage with you again. Very much look forward to our next show @royalalberthall' I suppose we can therefore assume that he is not doing Armand at Sadler's Wells? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 The SW website now gives Francesco Gabriel Frola as Armand, such a shame about the slow ticket sales. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Dancer Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, Beryl H said: The SW website now gives Francesco Gabriel Frola as Armand, such a shame about the slow ticket sales. Awesome, I loved him in Le Corsaire, his jumps werea thing of beauty. If he's in it I'll definitely see if I can afford a ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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