The Royal Ballet in ten years' time?

[KyleCheng]

i quite agree with the apprehension expressed by Rina and many others...

On the other hand there is the effect of "survival bias", the phenomenon that things that survived a certain selection process are very different to those that did not. The classical repertory we so love today is really the creme de la creme, whereas the contemporary works have yet to be held against the harsh selection process of time.

Perhaps ultimately it depends on how confident we are in our collective (aesthetic) consciousness. I for one am inclined to believe that, if great pieces such as Bach, Handel, and Mozart were able to survive the many social changes and historical turbulence to remained canonical to this day, our dearly held classical and neoclassical ballets will similarly outlive us for centuries. 

[Two Pigeons]

1 hour ago, KyleCheng said:

i quite agree with the apprehension expressed by Rina and many others...

On the other hand there is the effect of "survival bias", the phenomenon that things that survived a certain selection process are very different to those that did not. The classical repertory we so love today is really the creme de la creme, whereas the contemporary works have yet to be held against the harsh selection process of time.

Perhaps ultimately it depends on how confident we are in our collective (aesthetic) consciousness. I for one am inclined to believe that, if great pieces such as Bach, Handel, and Mozart were able to survive the many social changes and historical turbulence to remained canonical to this day, our dearly held classical and neoclassical ballets will similarly outlive us for centuries. 

I do so hope you are right Kyle - if I may call you that.

[Meetmeatthebarre]

On 17/07/2021 at 21:45, Jan McNulty said:

It’s BRB who perform Pineapple Poll.  It was a mainstay of their mid scale tours and saw the final performance of Robert Parker (at The Lowry).

I think you are right! Come to think of it, I've only ever seen full length Northern Ballet works - I got confused as I tend to see both them and the BRB at Sadlers. 

 

The ROH performance database suggests that it hasn't been performed since 1960!

[trog]

On 16/07/2021 at 16:09, MaddieRose said:

And as for electronic music, particularly a full-length ballet, that petrifies me. I think I'd get a headache. 
 

 

 

I get a headache when I see a performance of In The Upper Room.

[Bruce Wall]

6 minutes ago, trog said:

 

I get a headache when I see a performance of In The Upper Room.

 

I seem to recall the volume level of the opening performances of McGregor's Multiverse at the ROH really bringing it on for me .... if memory reliably survives to serve that is   ...

Edited July 19, 2021 by Bruce Wall

[Ian Macmillan]

The 1960 date is true of the London company who only danced it in 1959 and 1960.  The Touring Company, for which it was created, had it in rep from 1951 to 1979.  Source: Appendices to "The Royal Ballet - the first 50 years"   .................... and my wife!  All of which might suggest why it is still mainly danced by BRB, lineal successor to the Touring Company.

[Meetmeatthebarre]

16 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

The 1960 date is true of the London company who only danced it in 1959 and 1960.  The Touring Company, for which it was created, had it in rep from 1951 to 1979.  Source: Appendices to "The Royal Ballet - the first 50 years"   .................... and my wife!  All of which might suggest why it is still mainly danced by BRB, lineal successor to the Touring Company.

I truly appreciate the wealth of knowledge on this forum! Thank you!

[FLOSS]

While I feel that there will be general rejoicing at the prospect of the company's centennial celebrations culminating in a sort of MacMillanfest I can't help wondering what part the first two directors will be permitted to play during the celebratory season and whether by 2031 the company will, in the absence of special  "Ashton classes" based on de Valois 1947 syllabus, be able to dance the sort of works they created.

 

I am pretty certain that the company will choose to emphasise MacMillan's dark challenging works rather than works which reveal his skill as a classical choreographer so I think it is safe to assume that there will be a series of mixed bills which include such dark and challenging "masterpieces" as Different Drummer, Valley of Shadows, Playground, My Brother My Sisters,The Judas Tree and possibly Rituals, which while tedious rather than challenging, brings the list of works up to an even number which may make it a little easier to construct the programmes which include them. There might even be a Marriott retrospective. The Linbury will host performances of dance works such as The Invitation, The Burrow and Checkpoint which work better in a smaller auditorium and of course the festival will culminate with the main stage revival of the full length Isadora. The publicity for the exciting MacMillan revival will probably go something like this :-

 

" The centennial year's MacMillan Festival will culminate with the long awaited revival of the original three act version of his unjustly neglected masterpiece Isadora which was created to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the company's foundation by its sole choreographer of genius".

 

If by 2031 Sir Wayne is in charge of the company then the season will include any number of mixed bills composed of his pretentiously titled one act works. Now while I have not fallen asleep during performances of any of his works I have seen I have to confess I find them , in general, remarkably unmemorable as far as their dance content is concerned. Perhaps I  am alone in this but I generally find that I remember more about his work's designs and lighting schemes than the individuality of the movements he has selected for each piece.  In fact I tend to find that as soon as I have left the auditorium I have forgotten everything about his choreography. If in 2031 the company is run by Sir Carlos then it is much more difficult to say what we might see during the celebrations except that the programme will almost certainly include his first main stage masterpiece Carmen.

 

 

[Sim]

23 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

except that the programme will almost certainly include his first main stage masterpiece Carmen.

 

 

Oh no...please, no...

[capybara]

29 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

 

 

You are definitely not alone, Floss 🤭

(Edited to say that the quote which has gone missing was where FLOSS  said she remembered more about the designs etc of McGregor’s works than the choreography.)

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by capybara
Lost quote!

[Meetmeatthebarre]

22 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

Perhaps I  am alone in this but I generally find that I remember more about his work's designs and lighting schemes than the individuality of the movements he has selected for each piece.  In fact I tend to find that as soon as I have left the auditorium I have forgotten everything about his choreography.

 

 

 

Interesting - perhaps this is why Winter's Tale, though much lauded, left me cold and whilst I loved finding the little homages to other choreographers in Alice, have not been in a rush to see again after a couple of viewings. I do enjoy much of Wheeldon's work though; I'd welcome a DGV revival for one!

 

I've just had a think about the works I do and don't enjoy, and it's almost directly correlated! I can picture tens of moments in many of the one-act and story ballets I love, but if it weren't for having actually danced a (much pared down) version of the Sugar Plum Fairy, I would remember literally nothing about the Nutcracker...

[bangorballetboy]

2 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

I seem to recall the volume level of the opening performances of McGregor's Multiverse at the ROH really bringing it on for me .... if memory reliably survives to serve that is   ...

 

I wore ear plugs for Multiverse (multiworse...)

[Jan McNulty]

2 hours ago, trog said:

 

I get a headache when I see a performance of In The Upper Room.

 

Wash your keyboard out with soap Trog!!

 

I love the music to Upper Room and most of the other Philip Glass music I have heard.

 

[DanJL]

1 hour ago, Meetmeatthebarre said:

I'd welcome a DGV revival for one!

This is programmed next spring 🙂

[Fonty]

1 hour ago, FLOSS said:

 

 

I am pretty certain that the company will choose to emphasise MacMillan's dark challenging works rather than works which reveal his skill as a classical choreographer so I think it is safe to assume that there will be a series of mixed bills which include such dark and challenging "masterpieces" as Different Drummer, Valley of Shadows, Playground, My Brother My Sisters,The Judas Tree and possibly Rituals,

 

The only one of those I have seen was The Judas Tree.  Thought it was an awful waste of Irek Mukhamedov and Leanne Benjamin (I think).  Never willingly seen it since.

 

1 hour ago, FLOSS said:

Now while I have not fallen asleep during performances of any of his works I have seen I have to confess I find them , in general, remarkably unmemorable as far as their dance content is concerned. Perhaps I  am alone in this but I generally find that I remember more about his work's designs and lighting schemes than the individuality of the movements he has selected for each piece.  

 

 

 

 You are not alone.  The only one I can remember anything about is Woolf Works, and that is mainly because of the voice over.  There was one other one with weird robotic figures going across a screen at the back, but I have no  idea what it was called.  Otherwise, just a blank as far as I am concerned.

[zxDaveM]

2 hours ago, FLOSS said:

 

I am pretty certain that the company will choose to emphasise MacMillan's dark challenging works rather than works which reveal his skill as a classical choreographer so I think it is safe to assume that there will be a series of mixed bills which include such dark and challenging "masterpieces" as Different Drummer, Valley of Shadows, Playground, My Brother My Sisters,The Judas Tree and possibly Rituals, which while tedious rather than challenging,

 

 

 

gach! - I'd much rather see Concerto, Gloria, Rite of Spring, and especially Requiem than that lot, I cannot deny

[zxDaveM]

8 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

The only one of those I have seen was The Judas Tree.  Thought it was an awful waste of Irek Mukhamedov and Leanne Benjamin (I think).  Never willingly seen it since.

 

 

 You are not alone.  The only one I can remember anything about is Woolf Works, and that is mainly because of the voice over.  There was one other one with weird robotic figures going across a screen at the back, but I have no  idea what it was called.  Otherwise, just a blank as far as I am concerned.

 

Don't blame you on Judas Tree - I stopped seeing it when it was in the last mixed bill it was part of. If I never saw it again, I wouldn't be upset (even if one of my fave dancers featured)

Infra is the piece I think you mean. I liked that A LOT, I have to admit; loved the Max Richter score, and it went from there. Some of the position he got his dancers in were extrordinary (and some, not all, strikingly beautiful - those that weren't did tend to bend into ugliness)

[Two Pigeons]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Oh no...please, no...

Interesting that no plans have been announced for the BRB audiences to be inflicted with this work.  Maybe Don Q is/was enough for the time being.

[Jan McNulty]

7 minutes ago, Two Pigeons said:

Interesting that no plans have been announced for the BRB audiences to be inflicted with this work.  Maybe Don Q is/was enough for the time being.

 

I hope you haven't spoken too soon TP!

[Rina]

6 hours ago, FLOSS said:

If by 2031 Sir Wayne is in charge of the company then the season will include any number of mixed bills composed of his pretentiously titled one act works. Now while I have not fallen asleep during performances of any of his works I have seen I have to confess I find them , in general, remarkably unmemorable as far as their dance content is concerned.

 

I'd suggest two possible reasons for this. One is that his works lack what we generally understand by choreographic invention: steps, expressive use of hands and feet, the face communicating a range of emotions, musicality, lots of variety in terms of movements. Peter Wright makes these points towards the end of his autobiography. A second is that his movement lacks any real drama or emotion. Jennifer Homans argues this in her article in The New Republic "The crisis in contemporary ballet: how emotion left dance" (available online if you type her name and the title). Without dance or real emotion, what is there to remember in a deep sense?

An explanation of the conceptual basis of a piece doesn't go very far with me. The test is whether it moves me or not. Homans refers in a positive way to the tension and release in McGregor's work, but watching this leaves me feeling tired and edgy. I can't understand why he is so popular. Do others find nourishment in his work that I don't? The darkness seems necessary in order to make the light effects more striking, but these are spirit phenomena - bodiless, and going nowhere. His work is a dead end for ballet, but seems to fit in with the RB's current frantic experimentation with anything and everything.

Turning to the positive, if I could write a utopian version of a press conference in 2031, it would probably be led by Sir Iain Webb, as the RB's new director! Looking forward to seeing him tomorrow on Zoom at London Ballet Circle, along with National Treasure Margaret Barbieri!

[Scheherezade]

Oh purlease, everyone, what a depressing picture you all paint. Where are the glass-half-full forum members? Galloping up like the cavalry in a standard B western, I hope. Well do make it quick, I’m not sure I can stand any more of these gloomy predictions.  

 

[NJH]

1 hour ago, Scheherezade said:

Oh purlease, everyone, what a depressing picture you all paint. Where are the glass-half-full forum members? Galloping up like the cavalry in a standard B western, I hope. Well do make it quick, I’m not sure I can stand any more of these gloomy predictions.  

 

probably not well enough versed on the various Repetories  or  have other  interests company / dancer / director  wise 

[Fonty]

12 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Oh purlease, everyone, what a depressing picture you all paint. Where are the glass-half-full forum members? Galloping up like the cavalry in a standard B western, I hope. Well do make it quick, I’m not sure I can stand any more of these gloomy predictions.  

 

 

The trouble is, the glass-half-full members are galloping along on pure bred horses, a breed which is gradually fading away, while the Arts Council introduce a new hybrid mount - able to cover many more terrains that the pure bred, but much less attractive.  🙂

[DanJL]

Well I'm a big fan of a couple of McGregor's works (as well as various other modern pieces), most of which I specifically enjoy because of their emotional impact and great use of music, reflected perfectly in the movement. 

 

The first time I ever saw Royal Ballet was a performance of Woolf Works. I went as a fan of Virginia Woolf, but left completely affected and inspired by the incredible art form of ballet - I had no idea it was possible to convey emotion so effectively through dance and to reflect so accurately the spirit of some fairly complex novels. Whilst other ballets have surpassed Woolf Works in my affections to become my absolute favourites, this still must rank in my top five ballets. 

[zxDaveM]

14 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Oh purlease, everyone, what a depressing picture you all paint. Where are the glass-half-full forum members? Galloping up like the cavalry in a standard B western, I hope. Well do make it quick, I’m not sure I can stand any more of these gloomy predictions.  

 

 

we still await your glowing contribution... 😉

 

[Ian Macmillan]

I'm with the half-full tendency.  Maybe the effect of Covid on theatres, economic activity and the nation at large will have a more lasting effect than any single choreographer.  I'll tell you in 10 years.

[loveclassics]

On 16/07/2021 at 18:19, bangorballetboy said:

 

There are some very impressive/interesting commissioned scores (particularly some of those for Northern).  There are also some absolutely shocking ones!

I have to agree.  I loved their score for Three Musketeers and still listen to it.

[NJH]

9 hours ago, Ian Macmillan said:

I'm with the half-full tendency.  Maybe the effect of Covid on theatres, economic activity and the nation at large will have a more lasting effect than any single choreographer.  I'll tell you in 10 years.

yep   there is  always the risk  that a company  can 'disappear up it's own posterior' even with  others snapping  at  your heels ...  

[Rina]

 

In more utopian mood, here is an imaginary interview in 2030 with the joint directors of the RB, husband and wife team, Lise and Colas.

Can you tell us about the rationale for the changes you are bringing about?

- In our pitch to become directors, we likened the RB to a department store which had quality own brands but was overwhelmed by franchises from other outlets, or to a garden where some plants weren’t flourishing because others were taking up too much space.

Is that why you terminated Wayne McGregor’s contract?

- We parted by mutual consent but it’s true that many felt his concept of ballet as a sound and light show had gone as far as it could. It was a shame he took all his works with him.

Was “Pulse” the final straw?

- The idea of synchronising the strobe lasers, electronic sound, and dancers’ movements to Wayne’s heartbeat in real time was certainly an interesting one, but it was based on his pulse in the studio rehearsal room. What was making his heart race so much during the actual performance we don’t know. We are taking care of the dancers who were hospitalised and offering counselling to audience members affected.

In his last year Kevin O’Hare only allowed the company to perform new works. You seem to be returning to a more traditional approach.

- The classics are our ancestors, they inhabit our bodies and care for us, as a poem learned by heart sometimes pops into awareness at the right moment. They are the company. But our ancestors want us to lead our own lives, and new work gives dancers a sense of sharing in the renewal of the art. We think having up to 25 per cent of performances devoted to new work is about right.

And you have returned to a more classical approach to new work.

- Yes, we are not so keen on a smorgasbord of styles. As well as Chris and Valentino, there is new talent in the form of Freddie Valois with his striking blend of poetry and drama.

Can you tell us about the Ashton Project?

- Sir Fred was almost a father to us, so we had the idea of reviving all his extant works and making them available on YouTube. We hope that way to raise his reputation worldwide to where it should be.

What are your plans for the 100^th anniversary season?

- The overall theme will be the joy of dance. La Fille mal Gardee will be broadcast on big screens in parks all over the country. The Royal Opera House will be painted pink and wrapped in a giant ribbon.

What does your uncle Iain Webb think of your ideas?

- He is very supportive. Since he became director of Birmingham Royal Ballet it’s been possible for us to co-ordinate our programming. Now that he’s brought back Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet, we’ve all got the chance to compare it with MacMillan’s version.

Any final thoughts?

- We both think that the world would be a better place if people were allowed to marry who they love. Dancing is a form of loving, it’s not a sport or a science, so let’s do it! (Colas adds: That’s what Lise’s mother always says, and who am I to disagree?)

[DanJL]

Interesting, I was hoping a more optimistic take would value the work of all skilled modern choreographers but recognise that the vast majority of works programmed would continue to be classical, including revivals of all the key works from the past. Rather than being utopian, this reflects everything I've seen from Royal Ballet up to this point and I'm sure will continue many more than 10 years into the future 🙂

 

 

[capybara]

At least Kevin O'Hare abandoned his promise/threat of having a season devoted only to work created during his time as Director. Well, he has for the time being ,at least...........

[DanJL]

16 minutes ago, capybara said:

At least Kevin O'Hare abandoned his promise/threat of having a season devoted only to work created during his time as Director.

Wasn't calendar year 2020 originally going to do this (until changes were required)? But it turned out that rather than being completely new works, it also included new productions (eg Swan Lake) and of course balanced by older productions in the 2019 part of the 19/20 season. So whilst it sounded like a break from the usual balance, it was actually still in keeping.