Paris Opera Ballet - Opening Gala 2021

[Jeannette]

9 hours ago, Naomi M said:

Paris Opera Ballet's Gala is already available for streaming.

https://chezsoi.operadeparis.fr/videos/gala-ouverture

 

Ballet Defile
Choreography: Albert Aveline, Serge Lifar
Music: Hector Berlioz

 

   

  

Wow - that was quite a powerful, deeply touching Defile from POB! Row and rows of masked performers walking towards an empty auditorium, as the glorious orchestra plays the Berlioz march.   Usually there’s wild applause as each etoile steps forward...usually a huge ovation at the end. What fortitude of the participants to put this on for their citizens and the world! 

[Stevie]

16 hours ago, Naomi M said:

Paris Opera Ballet's Gala is already available for streaming.

https://chezsoi.operadeparis.fr/videos/gala-ouverture

 

Ballet Defile
Choreography: Albert Aveline, Serge Lifar
Music: Hector Berlioz

 

Grand pas Classique
Choreography: Victor Gsovsky
Music: Daniel-François E. Auber
Costumes: created by CHANEL

 

In the night
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Frédéric Chopin
Costumes: Anthony Dowell

The vertiginous thrill of exactitude
Choreography: William Forsythe
Music: Franz Schubert
Costumes: Stephen Galloway

 

Distributions
Grand pas Classique
Valentine Colasante, Etoile Dancer
Hugo Marchand, Etoile Dancer

 

In the night
1st pas de deux:
Ludmila Pagliero, Dancer Etoile
Mathieu Ganio, Dancer Etoile
2nd pas de deux:
Léonore Baulac, Dancer Etoile
Germain Louvet, Dancer Etoile
3rd pas de deux:
Alice Renavand, Dancer Etoile
Stéphane Bullion, Dancer Etoile

 

The vertiginous thrill of exactitude
Amandine Albisson, Etoile Dancer
Ludmila Pagliero, Etoile Dancer
Paul Marque, Etoile Dancer
Hannah O'Neill, 

Pablo Legasa

One of the best treats for me since lockdown started.

[Janite]

POB was wonderful. The contrast of the flowing Pas de Deux with the geometric shapes of the last piece by Forsythe was excellent,  and I liked the first bit where the dancers all walked on, ballet dancers can walk in a way that is beautiful and interesting.

I notice that there are videos that can be rented, has anyone seen any of them?

[Don Q Fan]

The POB gala was great. Really lovely selection of works. So glad I caught it whilst it is free. I was pleased to see Valentine Colasante as I witnessed her promotion to Etoile after a DonQ in Jan 2018. Such a special event! I thought her balances were pretty good and her pointe work in the solo in Grand Pas Classique was great. That was my favourite of the 3 works for sure and really enjoyed Thrill and the latter part of In The Night. A lovely way to spend just over an hour, or which was good because my attention capacity is somewhat reduced at the moment (too much time staring at a phone no doubt!) (I did post the event on the calendar yesterday but it's disappeared for some reason) 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Don Q Fan

[capybara]

12 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:

The POB gala was great. Really lovely selection of works. So glad I caught it whilst it is free. 

The POB Grand Defile at the beginning was no more than a boring walk on. OK, I’m sure, for those familiar with the dancers but not for me! 

The dancing (Grand Pas Classique) starts at 18 minutes. Love the piece, less enthusiastic about the musicality and technique of Colasante but maybe seeing Sylvia Guillem dance it set my expectations too high.

[DanJL]

I've just seen the POB gala. I'm not familiar at all with POB. I enjoyed and thought the dancing was beautiful and precise from start to finish, but at the same time I have to confess I didn't feel a lot of personality from the dancing - the facial expressions were generally very blank. Is this a deliberate style choice?

[Stevie]

1 hour ago, DanJL said:

I've just seen the POB gala. I'm not familiar at all with POB. I enjoyed and thought the dancing was beautiful and precise from start to finish, but at the same time I have to confess I didn't feel a lot of personality from the dancing - the facial expressions were generally very blank. Is this a deliberate style choice?

Did you not notice all that facial expression underneath their face masks ?

It is very difficult for artists to perform in an empty theatre of this size without the atmosphere created by a large audience. They coped extremely well under the circumstances.

[DanJL]

Sorry, I wasn't thinking of the Grand Defile. I did wonder if it was due to the lack of audience, which as you say would understandably have an effect. I just found it a contrast to the joy of the dancing in the Royal Ballet galas and genuinely wondered if it might be an artistic decision - to let the steps speak for themselves.

Edited January 31, 2021 by DanJL
Typo

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks Capybara!  I managed about five minutes of the walk-on and then fast-forwarded to the dance.

 

I greatly enjoyed the three danced items and admit to welling up at the silent curtain calls.  

[Stevie]

4 hours ago, DanJL said:

Sorry, I wasn't thinking of the Grand Defile. I did wonder if it was due to the lack of audience, which as you say would understandably have an effect. I just found it a contrast to the joy of the dancing in the Royal Ballet galas and genuinely wondered if it might be an artistic decision - to let the steps speak for themselves.

The Royal Ballet Gala from October, unlike this POB Gala, did benefit from an appreciative audience, albeit made up mainly of school children and health workers. A completely different atmosphere for performing artists to react. 

I compare with the performance of football teams, playing mainly in empty stadiums.

 

[DanJL]

True enough. I have seen and greatly enjoyed other very recent performances to empty theatres (San Francisco Ballet virtual gala and last night's La Scala Giselle for example). But since everyone else seems to have enjoyed the POB gala, probably it's just my own lack of ballet watching experience. Or maybe the style just happens to not be to my taste.

[capybara]

The Royal Ballet’s gala, which was streamed on the 13th Nov did not IIRC have an audience.

 

But, no matter, each and every offering is appreciated at the moment. So thank you POB.

[Stevie]

2 hours ago, capybara said:

The Royal Ballet’s gala, which was streamed on the 13th Nov did not IIRC have an audience.

 

But, no matter, each and every offering is appreciated at the moment. So thank you POB.

Attached extract from Royal Opera House news update. 

"The Royal Ballet is Back on Stage and returns for a special live-streamed celebration performance on Friday 9 October at 7.30pm BST.

This milestone performance follows one of the most challenging periods for the Royal Opera House and will be treated as an important pilot on the road back to public performances adhering to government guidelines. A specially, socially distanced audience, including student and health workers, will join us in a first live performance with an audience since the beginning of lockdown."

[capybara]

Yes, correct Stevie. I was mentioning the 13th November and put IIRC because I wasn’t absolutely sure. The UK was definitely in lockdown then.

 

[Stevie]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

Yes, correct Stevie. I was mentioning the 13th November and put IIRC because I wasn’t absolutely sure. The UK was definitely in lockdown then.

 

England's second lockdown started on Thursday November the 5th, almost a month after the Royal Ballet presented their Gala performance, to a live audience on 9th October. At that time there was great optimism that things were gradually getting back to some form  of normality. Alas, it wasn't to be and hence the POB being reduced to a Gala in front of nearly 2000 empty seats.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Stevie
typo

[myrtle]

Thank you all.  I enjoyed POB and La Scala and I can see the appeal of both.   For me it's pleasant to have fewer discussions with the spousal unit about what I once saw described (by a dance critic?) as 'misplaced dramatic accents.'   

 

FWIW I thought the emotional expression by the third 'In the night' couple superb.  But I'm no expert--I only know this balance of emotion and dance appeals to me.

[Stevie]

11 hours ago, Stevie said:

England's second lockdown started on Thursday November the 5th, almost a month after the Royal Ballet presented their Gala performance, to a live audience on 9th October. At that time there was great optimism that things were gradually getting back to some form  of normality. Alas, it wasn't to be and hence the POB being reduced to a Gala in front of nearly 2000 empty seats.

 

 

The initial discussion was around the differences between performing in front of a live audience and an empty theatre. The live theatre streaming on 13th November was filmed in the isolation of a rehearsal studio and hence not a Gala as such. That is yet again very different to performing in front of a large empty theatre. 

[Guest oncnp]

22 minutes ago, Stevie said:

 The live theatre streaming on 13th November was filmed in the isolation of a rehearsal studio and hence not a Gala as such. That is yet again very different to performing in front of a large empty theatre. 

 

I may be missing the point but the 13 Nov stream that I saw (Within the Golden Hour) was clearly on the ROH stage so I think qualifies as a gala......

Edited February 1, 2021 by oncnp

[Stevie]

58 minutes ago, oncnp said:

 

I may be missing the point but the 13 Nov stream that I saw (Within the Golden Hour) was clearly on the ROH stage so I think qualifies as a gala......

 

 The original point that you believe to have missed, is that the Royal Ballet performed their Gala in front of a live audience on 9th October and this contrasted with the POB Gala being in front of an empty theatre.

The distraction of the 13th Nov performance, not in front of a live audience, not really relevant, because we were in lockdown and was introduced later. I cant think of a better explanation

 See attached extract from Royal Ballet Live on 13th Nov. This is really only a distraction from the original point being made

https://youtu.be/XwDax5tmFtw

 

Attached below is the Gala from the 9th October and you can clearly hear the applause from the live audience.

https://youtu.be/eEV-WOnJv2U

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Stevie

[DanJL]

The first Royal Ballet gala was certainly in front of a selected audience. I had forgotten this originally. The second set of gala type performances were intended to be in front of a paying audience, but only one night was possible due to the lockdown. However a further night was filmed and streamed (on stage) with only a small number of ROH staff in the audience.

 

I think the original point that these are difficult times and that performing in front of an empty theatre is very difficult was well made to be honest. I also echo an earlier post in greatly appreciating all companies who stream content for us in these times. I did enjoy the POB gala, but was just a little confused by some aspects of the presentation, which I decided to explore in case there was a useful style explanation. It seems like there probably wasn't. Maybe it was even a function of my mood at the time I watched it. I haven't seen much by POB, but I will be exploring further and may even re-watch this gala if I have chance before it disappears 🙂

[Guest oncnp]

3 minutes ago, DanJL said:

The first Royal Ballet gala was certainly in front of a selected audience. I had forgotten this originally. The second set of gala type performances were intended to be in front of a paying audience, but only one night was possible due to the lockdown. However a further night was filmed and streamed (on stage) with only a small number of ROH staff in the audience.

 

I think the original point that these are difficult times and that performing in front of an empty theatre is very difficult was well made to be honest. I also echo an earlier post in greatly appreciating all companies who stream content for us in these times. I did enjoy the POB gala, but was just a little confused by some aspects of the presentation, which I decided to explore in case there was a useful style explanation. It seems like there probably wasn't. Maybe it was even a function of my mood at the time I watched it. I haven't seen much by POB, but I will be exploring further and may even re-watch this gala if I have chance before it disappears 🙂

 

16 minutes ago, Stevie said:

 

 The original point that you believe to have missed, is that the Royal Ballet performed their Gala in front of a live audience on 9th October and this contrasted with the POB Gala being in front of an empty theatre.

The distraction of the 13th Nov performance, not in front of a live audience, not really relevant, because we were in lockdown and was introduced later. I cant think of a better explanation

 See attached extract from Royal Ballet Live on 13th Nov. This is really only a distraction from the original point being made

https://youtu.be/XwDax5tmFtw

 

Attached below is the Gala from the 9th October and you can clearly hear the applause from the live audience.

https://youtu.be/eEV-WOnJv2U

 

 

 

Sorry - my point was only to address your assertion above that "The live theatre streaming on 13th November was filmed in the isolation of a rehearsal studio and hence not a Gala as such" which is factually incorrect, nothing more.  'Couldn't care less about the rest of the discussion. 

[Stevie]

3 minutes ago, DanJL said:

The first Royal Ballet gala was certainly in front of a selected audience. I had forgotten this originally. The second set of gala type performances were intended to be in front of a paying audience, but only one night was possible due to the lockdown. However a further night was filmed and streamed (on stage) with only a small number of ROH staff in the audience.

 

I think the original point that these are difficult times and that performing in front of an empty theatre is very difficult was well made to be honest. I also echo an earlier post in greatly appreciating all companies who stream content for us in these times. I did enjoy the POB gala, but was just a little confused by some aspects of the presentation, which I decided to explore in case there was a useful style explanation. It seems like there probably wasn't. Maybe it was even a function of my mood at the time I watched it. I haven't seen much by POB, but I will be exploring further and may even re-watch this gala if I have chance before it disappears 🙂

 

3 minutes ago, DanJL said:

The first Royal Ballet gala was certainly in front of a selected audience. I had forgotten this originally. The second set of gala type performances were intended to be in front of a paying audience, but only one night was possible due to the lockdown. However a further night was filmed and streamed (on stage) with only a small number of ROH staff in the audience.

 

I think the original point that these are difficult times and that performing in front of an empty theatre is very difficult was well made to be honest. I also echo an earlier post in greatly appreciating all companies who stream content for us in these times. I did enjoy the POB gala, but was just a little confused by some aspects of the presentation, which I decided to explore in case there was a useful style explanation. It seems like there probably wasn't. Maybe it was even a function of my mood at the time I watched it. I haven't seen much by POB, but I will be exploring further and may even re-watch this gala if I have chance before it disappears 🙂

Thanks Dan, such a relief that someone understood the point I was making. I will now concentrate my efforts into persuading Donald Trump that he didn't win the election. 😂

 

[Guest oncnp]

1 minute ago, Stevie said:

 

Thanks Dan, such a relief that someone understood the point I was making. I will now concentrate my efforts into persuading Donald Trump that he didn't win the election. 😂

 

Right there with you on that one! 

[SheilaC]

I agree, DanJL, that one's mood can often affect our response to a performance, it certainly does mine. but your reaction to Paris Opera Ballet is not uncommon, I have heard English ballet fans describing their dancers as cold.

 

So far as the defile is concerned, the face masks didn't help, I couldn't recognise most of the dancers and it dehumanised them. But the company was right to show it as the programme was primarily for POB friends and subscribers, like myself. The defile takes place at the start of the ballet season and is usually very impressive, even moving, as everyone, from the youngest pupil to the grandest etoile slowly descends down the huge rake of the stage (which seemed to have disappeared on the streaming!).

 

I was slightly disappointed by the Grand Pas Classique, not my favourite piece admittedly. Hugo Marchand was fine but Valentine Colasante was tense and couldn't hold her balances for as long as this gala piece requires. As Capybara implies Sylvie Guillem was extraordinary in this, sending it up, teasing the audience and holding those poses for ever.

 

In The Night usually has greater variety between the couples as the ballet is essentially depicting differing types of romantic relationship (or even, in my view, different phases of relationship of the same couple). In particular the first couple  embody joyous young love, as when the Royal did it, rather than the more staid relationship shown here. The second pair have on the surface a more formal relationship but elements of passion are revealed towards the end of the pdd. I thought Leonore Baulac, whom I normally admire, was a bit stilted but Germain Louvet coped well with the difficult partnering as the lifts generally go wrong, even when the Royal did it. The final pair have a tempestuous relationship and Alice Renavand, whom I've admired since she was in the corps, and Stephane Bullion, who like Alice R has more personality than many current POB dancers, pull it off. When POB first performed it the company was in a golden age with wonderful dance artists that Nureyev had developed when he was director, and the emotional depth of the piece was conveyed to the full.

 

The Vertiginious Thrill of Exactitude was a lively contrast to the Robbins piece and it was good to see newly promoted Paul Marque among others. The full programme contained Etudes, not an especially good ballet but great fun and shows off the full company, and presumably had some of their other stars, but they weren't allowed to stream it for legal reasons.

[DanJL]

Many thanks SheilaC, for an extremely interesting and helpful description of the pieces. I'm even more inclined to re-watch with those in mind - perhaps especially In The Night, which I think should be much clearer following your explanation.

 

It's interesting to know that my reaction isn't uncommon. In that case I wonder if it may be a case of taking time to get used to a different style. I have a few Paris Opera Ballet DVDs that I haven't had chance to watch yet, so look forward to seeing them and hopefully learning a little more.

[Don Q Fan]

On 31/01/2021 at 17:18, DanJL said:

True enough. I have seen and greatly enjoyed other very recent performances to empty theatres (San Francisco Ballet virtual gala and last night's La Scala Giselle for example). But since everyone else seems to have enjoyed the POB gala, probably it's just my own lack of ballet watching experience. Or maybe the style just happens to not be to my taste.

It may have been because these 3 ballets are more or less plotless as well. Nonetheless I enjoyed them. 

[LACAD]

The POB goes digital this year with its annual gala, and thanks to support from donors and sponsors Chanel and Rolex is viewable to all for a limited time on their website.

 

While the debate over the future of the Paris Opera Ballet’s tightly held traditions rages on, it was nevertheless interesting to see one of their more wholesome customs; the Défilé. Despite being masked one could still easily spot out their favourite danseurs/danseuses, a notable addition to the Étoile rank is the newly promoted Paul Marque who beamed as he took his bow. However (perhaps in accordance to custom) there was an insistence throughout the stream on bowing... in complete silence. At first it was shocking- a grim reminder of the current state of the performing arts- but later just became awkward and unnatural.

 

The gala got into full swing with the iconic ‘Grand Pas Classique’ with new costumes by Chanel. The costumes were pretty, not necessarily spectacular, but what was spectacular were the performances of Étoiles Hugo Marchand and Valentine Colasante who took on those notoriously bravado variations with a grin. Colasante’s right foot may have been cramping after the relevés but her joyous presence would have us think it was all a walk in the park!

 

The second piece was an all Étoiles performance of Robbins’ meditation on love and relationships ‘In the Night’. Each pas de deux is different, though in this performance not so much. I felt a certain limpness in each couple, not necessarily committing to the characters as much as they were to the movement. I had the impression that it took them about a minute or two into the pas before they came to embody their characters. The youngest pair- Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet -were lovely to watch on a physical level, but it felt like things only got interesting between them just as they left. The glamorous Alice Renavand and smouldering Stéphane Bullion cut to the chase a bit faster, however I didn’t feel any urgence amoreuse from the cast until the very last movement. However I could just be splitting hairs here, the POB may just be sticking to a more pragmatic and Parisian approach to romance.

 

What really blew me away was the champagne at the end, Forsythe’s ‘The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude’. The five dancers did away with all the previous formalities and just danced. While admittedly I am a big Forsythe nerd and do love to see his work, I feel having this 10 minute marathon may have been a tad cruel to the dancers who are still getting back into full performance shape. Yet notwithstanding the occasional wobble, the dancers faced the task with aplomb. They embraced the intentionally challenging choreography and the elusive yet necessary element when approaching Forsythe rep, risk. Special mentions to the men (bouncy Marque and precise Premier Danseur Pablo Legasa), and spitfire Première Danseuse Hannah O’Neill (who, along with Sae Eun Park, is surely up for Étoile consideration). But the champion of the work was Étoile Amandine Albisson, musical and playful. She breezed through the quick directional changes and rapid engagement of legs and arms, and could seriously take up a side gig as a martial artist with her big swooping legs. 

 

Overall it was a pleasure to see the Paris Opera Ballet facing this pandemic with its typical brave face of brilliance and class. While the company’s image may still feel a bit haughty, they also continue to try and push the boundaries of the art form and endeavour to set a standard. Whether you agree with their methods or not, their intentions are earnest and to be applauded - hopefully an applause that the dancers will get to bow to. 

Edited February 2, 2021 by LACAD

[jmhopton]

On 31/01/2021 at 17:18, DanJL said:

True enough. I have seen and greatly enjoyed other very recent performances to empty theatres (San Francisco Ballet virtual gala and last night's La Scala Giselle for example). But since everyone else seems to have enjoyed the POB gala, probably it's just my own lack of ballet watching experience. Or maybe the style just happens to not be to my taste.

I just caught up with this performance today and it's still free. While enjoying the performance I can sympathise with DanJLs point of view as I often have the same reaction to POB dancers. I suppose it's not really fair to compare them with RB dancers as I know the latter so much better and they always do a lot more for me, especially in the dramatic ballets like Macmillan's. I gave up with POB Manon as I felt the characters such as GM didn't do it justice (though I was probably just missing Gary, or Christopher Saunders!) I too often find POB a bit 'cold', especially the female dancers, and not so easy to relate to though I'm not sure why. Perhaps they don't have the RB acting skills. The great thing about ballet is we all see things differently. It would be boring if we all liked the same. I think I enjoyed this programme more than I thought I would because they were essentially plotless ballets where I think POB excels. 

I even enjoyed the masked defile and thought it a great way to launch a new season and would like the RB to do the same to launch their new season every year. It made the stage look incredibly deep and I found it really quite emotional. Loved all the ballets too. 

[Don Q Fan]

Oh yes wouldn't a full Royal Ballet Company Grand Defile at ROH be fabulous!  Think I have only ever seen the RBS do it in their annual gala.  Dutch National Ballet always do a full GD at their season opening gala and it is wonderful to see the whole company glittering on stage - here's the GD at DNB from 2018.

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Don Q Fan

[Jeannette]

3 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:

Oh yes wouldn't a full Royal Ballet Company Grand Defile at ROH be fabulous!  Think I have only ever seen the RBS do it in their annual gala.  Dutch National Ballet always do a full GD at their season opening gala and it is wonderful to see the whole company glittering on stage - here's the GD at DNB from 2018.

 

 For sheer enthusiasm, nothing beats the Defiles at the Cuban National Ballet, usually performed at the start of the biennial Havana Intl Ballet Festivals...at least they were until the passing of Alicia Alonso...who appearances at the end of each Defile drove  audiences into a frenzy! However, I recall audiences beginning to stand and stomp well before Alonso’s appearances. They’d crank up the volume as soloists took to the stage. Due to COVID, the 2020 edition was cancelled...but we can begin to count down to Oct/Nov 2022.

[EMoo]

Enjoying the gala so far - just wanted to mention the beautiful, delicate playing of Ryoko Hisayama in In the night. All such exposed pieces, sensitively handled (not always the case!).