jmhopton Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 My first choice would definitely have been Fille but as its already been taken several times perhaps I could slightly cheat and go for an Ashton mixed bill (still only one programme!) that would include Vadim dancing Month in the Country, but also possibly some Ashton not already mentioned such as Patiners, Facade or Birthday Offering. The whole programme being filmed for cinema broadcast with hopefully a dvd or TV slot to follow. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 James Hay as Oberon.....we can keep dreaming hopefully!! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, jmhopton said: ... The whole programme being filmed for cinema broadcast with hopefully a dvd or TV slot to follow. Yes! In that case, let’s move Les Rendezvous - with the “gates” design - to the top of the list. I’m not sure how much longer my scratchy film from ca1978 (Tait/Ashmole) will last. Time to have it in hi-def, with a new 2021/22 cast. I’d buy it just to have that glorious pas de trois on my big screen...but, of course, there’s so much more! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, bridiem said: Good thinking, Dawnstar; but I seem to remember that last time I saw Winter Dreams my eyes were very far from dry... 😭 I've only seen it once, the last time the RB did it, & I didn't cry then. Admittedly it might be one of those ones that gets increasingly moving the more you see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sitter In Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 What...no McGregor, no Wheeldon, no Marston, no Pita, no Cherkaoui on people's wish-lists? Wonder why....Perhaps the RB management should take note. My choice...Symphonic 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Fille with Sambe and O’Sullivan in the lead roles. Sigh. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 First time I go back I know I shall weep- all tips for how to cry safely in a mask welcome... Any Ashton gets my vote and Symphony in C to round off would be like a dream come true.. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 37 minutes ago, Sim said: Fille with Sambe and O’Sullivan in the lead roles. Sigh. Breaking my own rule here but, since others have mentioned Giselle, O’Sullivan in the title role, please (along with her gorgeous Vera in Month). 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I must admit, I'm pretty surprised at quite how weighted this thread seems to be in favour of Ashton 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 46 minutes ago, capybara said: Breaking my own rule here but, since others have mentioned Giselle, O’Sullivan in the title role, please (along with her gorgeous Vera in Month). She posted a video on Instagram a couple of days ago showing her messing around in the studio to some music from Giselle. I told her that I really, really hope she gets to dance the eponymous role next season...keeping everything crossed! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanJL Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, The Sitter In said: What...no McGregor, no Wheeldon, no Marston, no Pita, no Cherkaoui on people's wish-lists? Wonder why....Perhaps the RB management should take note. I was close to putting either Winter's Tale or Woolf Works, but was partly influenced by the knowledge that we're expecting Dante project and a new Wheeldon 3 act ballet. Although I guess I shouldn't have let that influence my choice in this fantasy season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Sim said: She posted a video on Instagram a couple of days ago showing her messing around in the studio to some music from Giselle. I told her that I really, really hope she gets to dance the eponymous role next season...keeping everything crossed! If Giselle is in the rep. the RB simply HAS to cast her. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 15 minutes ago, capybara said: If Giselle is in the rep. the RB simply HAS to cast her. Absolutely agree! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Along with rather a lot of others ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, alison said: I must admit, I'm pretty surprised at quite how weighted this thread seems to be in favour of Ashton I don't think I'm surprised, really. I mean he is the master of beauty/purity/lyricism/romance/joy/harmony/optimism etc and is therefore a feast for the eyes, heart and soul at any time but would especially be so after all that has happened. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 47 minutes ago, alison said: Along with rather a lot of others ... This is the problem*! Last time round all eight of our principal ladies were cast, and I don't see who you'd easily cut from them. Unless it's a very long run it will be difficult to fit others in. *Nice problem to have. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sitter In Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 On the back of the Fonteyn Gala, Naghdi as Ondine and O'Sullivan as Chloe... Symphonic with revival of Nijinska - Les Biches AND Les Noces - to sandwich it. That programme was done years and years ago and was SO good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamk Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 17 hours ago, alison said: Oh yes, that's a point: gulping through a face mask is very uncomfortable. Okay, then I'll have to rule out Requiem, as that sent me into floods of tears the first time it came back in the new House. Although come to think of it, it might well be appropriate. If we're going for happy ballets, then I guess La Fille Mal Gardée. Fille gets my vote too but also I am really hoping that by the Autumn we won't have to wear face masks in the auditorium .......... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 hour ago, The Sitter In said: On the back of the Fonteyn Gala, Naghdi as Ondine and O'Sullivan as Chloe... Symphonic with revival of Nijinska - Les Biches AND Les Noces - to sandwich it. That programme was done years and years ago and was SO good. Maybe you are thinking of Hayward as Ondine (which she danced so wonderfully at the said gala). Naghdi danced Le Corsaire. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmhopton Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, bridiem said: I don't think I'm surprised, really. I mean he is the master of beauty/purity/lyricism/romance/joy/harmony/optimism etc and is therefore a feast for the eyes, heart and soul at any time but would especially be so after all that has happened. Hear, hear Bridem! A great way of expressing the effect Ashton choreography has on so many of us. I felt I had to say this as the computer would only allow me to 'like' your performance once instead of the (minimum) 5 'likes' I would have otherwise given your comment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Well, tomorrow all should be revealed. Can't wait! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 42 minutes ago, capybara said: Well, tomorrow all should be revealed. Can't wait! Really? Any idea when? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said: Really? Any idea when? The ROH tweeted earlier about "exciting announcements from 10am" so presumably they're referring to announcing the next season tomorrow. Edit: found the tweet Edited March 22, 2021 by Dawnstar 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Well, I was listening to Radio 3 this evening, and they said Oliver Mears would be on tomorrow discussing the opera schedule for next season. Nothing about Kevin O'Hare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peony Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Les sylphides as part of a double bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPD444 Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Swan Lake with Francesca please. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 If it were possible to add a new piece to the repertoire, I’d love to see the RB harnessing a year of pent up energy to explode onstage with Forsythe’s ‘Playlist’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 26 minutes ago, prs59 said: If it were possible to add a new piece to the repertoire, I’d love to see the RB harnessing a year of pent up energy to explode onstage with Forsythe’s ‘Playlist’ Great idea, but the piece was commissioned by ENB and, therefore, unlikely to be made available to another London-based company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 Well the three-acters are already set out in today's Times: Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Dante Project and Like Water for Chocolate (the new Wheeldon). Further news is expected in June and bookings open in August. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sitter In Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Whose Swan Lake, I wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 We've now got a separate thread for the season announcement here: So please post your reactions to that there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Anyone who is interested in the company, its artistic identity and its future development will inevitably start at some point to think about the riches left unperformed in the company's back catalogue and about the Ashton repertory in particular. It is not nostalgia which prompts this but the certain knowledge that there are important works by Nijinska, Fokine, Ashton, and others quietly mouldering away which rarely see the light of day but deserve their place in the company's active repertory rather than being granted the occasional exhumation under the category "Heritage Work" and are then generally cast in a way that suggests that management lacks complete confidence in the work's ability to attract an audience on its own. There may be all sorts of reasons for the neglect of a particular work or works which seem perfectly valid to management. The excuses include the cost of reviving a work and the perception that a certain style of ballet will not appeal to the current audience, of course the AD's personal taste may come into it but no one will admit that openly.The cost of revival is almost certainly management's justification for the neglect of works like Les Noces and The Song of the Earth. Long neglect of ballets like these means an entire cast will be on a steep learning curve working their way into the ballet whenever the work is revived, with the result that most audiences will see a less than perfect account of them. This sadly does not seem to matter. Casting is a dark art which calls for an understanding, on management's part, of the dancer types required in many of the older works which lie dormant, collecting dust in the company's heritage cupboard. While dancers today are very versatile they are not suited to every role that may need to be filled. Seniority, technical ability, fame and popularity are no substitute for suitability for a specific role whether in works by Fokine, de Valois or Ashton. Management failed to make a compelling case for Les Sylphides, La Fete Etrange, Lilac Garden and Birthday Offering when they were last seen on the Opera House stage. Indeed they probably put paid to arguments for their significance or their regular revival. The company's revival of Les Sylphides struggled to establish any sort of mood other than tedium and was scarcely the evocation of the Romantic era which Fokine had intended it to be. There are plenty of neglected Ashton ballets which I think would be worth reviving. They range from works he made for Rambert in the years immediately following Diaghilev's death when the future of ballet in this country was so uncertain to those he made at the very end of his career.Some are entertainments,some have dance as their subject, some are abstract works while others are clearly story ballets. If you say "Balanchine" you know you are talking about abstract works; if you say "MacMillan" you can be pretty certain the work in question will be dramatic but if you say "Ashton" it is not that obvious what sort of dance work it will be. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for the neglect of such a large part of his output. The problem is that it is difficult to find an all encompassing description for his output which ranges from Capriol Suite to Varii Capricci. As the company's centenary is only ten years away I should like to think that Kevin would do more than merely pay lip service to Ashton's memory and the contribution he made to the company's repertory by making a much greater part of his output available to the audience on a regular basis. The ballets which tend to be revived at present are not representative of the range and variety of his output for the company and even his earliest surviving works are worth investigation for their sheer energy and inventiveness. The work of the Ashton Foundation has reminded me of how much I enjoyed The Walk to the Paradise Garden all those years ago while it has also shown, I think, that Foyer de Danse would be worth reviving. The Fonteyn centenary was a reminder of other works that have been out of the repertory for far too long. It suggested that the full Apparitions would be well worth reviving with the right cast. The excerpt from Ondine suggested that the title role is one that Hayward was born to dance . Now while I hope that Kevin revives it for her , the ballet I would most like to see revived, is Daphnis and Chloe which was last staged in 2004 for the Ashton centenary. The company has several young men who would be excellent as Daphnis while I can think of at least three dancers who should be given the opportunity to dance Chloe. I have seen next season's programme and to be honest the choice of full length works does not come as that much of a surprise.It is essentially a couple of works held over from last season, the perennial Nutcracker plus the works which probably were scheduled for revival this season any way. No doubt casting details will make what is proposed look a bit more exciting.I can't help wondering whether Wheeldon has made a sensible choice of subject for his new ballet. I am not convinced that the novel or the film based on it will transform that easily into a ballet as the family relationships in the story appear to be too complex to be easily portrayed in balletic terms. I sincerely hope that it proves to be another Winter's Tale rather than a Strapless or Wind. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Have been talking about this on another thread but is there any reason why Van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier is hardly ever performed by RB any more. I would love this to be performed by ether company RB or BRB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now