Royal Ballet: The Dante Project - October 2021

[Richard LH]

15 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

That's fine, for people who enjoy long episodes of abstract puzzlement.  The fact that the programme had to include detailed text suggests a deficit to me, though.

The programme includes  some  interesting and useful background articles about The Divine Comedy, and pointers to elements reflected within  the ballet (and with some lovely photos is well worth £8 in my view! ) but I don't think that means The Dante Project can't be appreciated without it, as perhaps you are suggesting.  I think at times one can enjoy the relatively abstract without feeling there  necessarily has to be  a clear narrative that one must work out and follow sequentially. I think the work generally achieves  what ballet does best -  portraying meaning and emotion,  without words, through dance, music, and staging. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Richard LH

[maryrosesatonapin]

15 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

The programme includes  some  interesting and useful background articles about The Divine Comedy, and pointers to elements reflected within  the ballet (and with some lovely photos is well worth £8 in my view! ) but I don't think that means The Dante Project can't be appreciated without it, as perhaps you are suggesting.  I think at times one can enjoy the relatively abstract without feeling there  necessarily has to be  a clear narrative that one must work out and follow sequentially. I think the work generally achieves  what ballet does best -  portraying meaning and emotion,  without words, through dance, music, and staging. 

Sure, different strokes for different folks I guess!  I do like some abstract dance performances very much, but preferably not so long and preferably not 'intending' to have a narrative as this was.

[Scheherezade]

I saw this on Friday and since I don't want to repeat what has already been said in the many and varied reactions and in-depth analysis, I will keep this as brief as I can, dealing with the music, sets and costumes before coming to the dance content.

 

Thomas Ades' score - Brilliant! It gave us heaven and hell with total and satisfying clarity, and if I wasn't quite sure what the middle eastern references had to do with purgatory, I loved the music so that was fine by me. A class act.

 

The sets - The inferno worked well for me, it was suitably murky, slimy and oppressive. I liked the massive, dominant jacaranda tree in purgatorio but, again, had no idea how this was supposed to portray purgatory; when linked with Dante's nostalgic recollections of the young and adolescent Beatrice, it had a somewhat parochial feel. Moving on to paradiso, there was a cosmic and celestial swell, not unlike the tunnels of moving light that frequently accompany near death experiences, in the swirling light show at the top of the stage, but I wish that it had not been contained in the finite screen above the dancers' heads; would it not have been possible to project this rather splendid display of light onto a large backdrop?

 

The costumes - By and large, these did the trick, although I would have liked a more generous allocation of the diaphanous skirts worn by Beatrice in her adult incarnations during the Paradiso section. The white body suits certainly helped create the feeling of perpetuum mobile introduced by the music but a little more diaphanous fabric would have cloaked paradise in a mantle of contentment. And what had poor Dante and Virgil done to deserve those dreadful sacks that they were dressed in? Shapeless, hideous and, to be honest, more than a tad comic, there was a definite Up Pompeii vibe to them - or perhaps that should be Up Pompeii's 21st century, slightly more pc-conscious offspring, Plebs. Whatever. But please do something about those awful frocks!

 

The dancers - As expected, they were superb, an ensemble cast working together to provide an evening to remember and send the audience home on a high. I will put aside the fact that it was often difficult to discern the individual sins or sinners,  that Fumi Kaneko was more pre-fall Lucifer than devilish Satan and that the virtuoso passages and humorous interludes in the inferno section were anything but infernal because I enjoyed them. I liked the pas de deux, would have liked more of Dante and Beatrice (Lamb and Hayward were both perfectly cast), loved the rapid blur of the bodies in paradise...

 

If, overall, it wasn't the best ballet I have ever seen, it was certainly one of the best Wayne McGregor ballets and, even without any programme notes (or for anyone with no knowledge of Dante), it was possible to make some sense of what was happening: the inferno was, for the most part, unpleasant for those unfortunate souls forced to reside there; purgatory, while not a walk in the park, was a step up from the inferno and paradise was white and light and, well, paradisal. Enjoyable on many levels if not without its faults.

 

 

[capybara]

Such contrasting reactions from the Press and online critics. Interesting.

[DVDfan]

I've a rule of thumb about critic's reactions. If they all say it's good, it's alright and will be revived two or three times and then quietly drop out of the repertoire. If they all say it's bad, then it's dreadful and should sink without trace.

But if half of them like it and half of them hate it - it's a keeper!

[Mary]

23 minutes ago, capybara said:

Such contrasting reactions from the Press and online critics. Interesting.

Very interesting, yes.  I note Gerald Dowler's point that the choreography does not follow the music - they were separate creative processes, apparently. Is that really so in this case?

 

I think it has always been my reservation about McGregor's work that his dance rarely seems to be made to the music- in contrast to the choreographers I most admire - it usually seems to use the music, or the sound, more as a backdrop.

 

[JohnS]

I found Dowler’s review distinctly odd, not helped by his confusing Inferno and Purgatorio:

 

“Tacita Dean’s designs are striking.  Purgatorio is the strongest with a stage-wide panel depicting inverted mountains in negative evoking the bleak coldness of Dante’s Hell.”

He also seemed to blame McGregor for the time imbalance between the 3 Acts when the length of each Act I’d have thought is more down to Adès.

 

Or is he suggesting that McGregor should move to Purgatorio before the end of Adès’s Inferno score? That would then perhaps justify his barb that: “Fatally, McGregor’s choreography pays little attention to what is coming from the pit.”

 

[Scheherezade]

46 minutes ago, JohnS said:

He also seemed to blame McGregor for the time imbalance between the 3 Acts when the length of each Act I’d have thought is more down to Adès.

Agreed. As Ades’ score was said to have been provided as a precursor to the choreography, it was pretty much a done deal, I’d have thought. Unless Dowler was suggesting that McGregor should have padded out acts 2 & 3 with some other pieces of music, which I’m fairly certain he wasn’t. 

[Lizbie1]

14 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

Agreed. As Ades’ score was said to have been provided as a precursor to the choreography, it was pretty much a done deal, I’d have thought. Unless Dowler was suggesting that McGregor should have padded out acts 2 & 3 with some other pieces of music, which I’m fairly certain he wasn’t. 

 

He seems to think that the LIszt should be reserved exclusively for Mayerling (I don't know why) so maybe he thinks Act 1 should be shorter.

 

I really struggle with Dowler's reviews - I seldom get any sense of enjoyment from them and can usually guess what he'll have to say even before I've seen the ballet myself. Others may perceive that as high standards; I just find it narrow minded.

[Nogoat]

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

He [Dowler] seems to think that the LIszt should be reserved exclusively for Mayerling...

 

I haven't read his review, but I might support that suggestion if it covered only those bits that feature in Mayerling, regardless of any other connection to Dante. 

 

Why? Because even if I knew of the Dante connection of Liszt's music (and I admit I didn't at the time) a much louder Mayerling voice would have been shouting in my head and leading me up the garden path - presumably inappropriately from the creatives' point of view. 

 

There is a lovely example of this sort of unintended, experience-based effect I saw in a book (the name of which escapes me at the moment).

Imagine an unknown Mozart manuscript was discovered in some dusty library. Initial excitement is replaced with confusion when it is realised that the central melody is essentially that of 'Happy Birthday to You'. Only those who have never heard that birthday tune can appreciate the music close to that intended; anyone else will have a completely different experience of the new work - and it's an experience they cannot avoid.

In this hypothetical case, of course, Mozart's work was not known to the composer of Happy Birthday; in the case of The Dante Project and Mayerling's use of the same Liszt music, the existence of Mayerling was.

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Nogoat
Clarity?

[Silke H]

22 hours ago, KyleCheng said:

Does anyone recognise Ms Nadia Mullova-Barley, current an artist with the RB, in any of them? I saw her name on the cast sheet but I am terribly bad with faces.

I believe she was only in the first act (the black leotards) who didn't take bows after the premiere.

[Rob S]

Some pics from last night’s performance 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rina]

16 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

I really struggle with Dowler's reviews - I seldom get any sense of enjoyment from them and can usually guess what he'll have to say even before I've seen the ballet myself. Others may perceive that as high standards; I just find it narrow minded.

 

As is oft said on the forum, each to their own. For me, Gerald Dowler is one of the best critics around. His review of Dante Project also has some Crisp touches to savour. But personal preferences aside, he is drawing attention to aspects of McGregor's aesthetic which he argues don't make for a satisfying work.

 

The first is musicality - not in any literal, illustrative sense, but the creative interplay between dance images and musical images. McGregor doesn't seem to care about that. The second is collaboration. There are a few choreographers whose work deliberately kept dance and sound apart to good effect - Merce Cunningham being the supreme example - but it needs a rationale. In Dante Project the rationale would surely have pointed to the greatest possible collaboration but from the interviews given by both composer and designer this never happened.

 

I'm left with the odd impression that for McGregor it's OK to make ballets in which the choreography takes an inferior role, riding parasitically on the waves created by others, but not adding enough to create a coherent work. Dowler was right to give different star ratings to each of the three elements. He accuses McGregor of "choreographic hubris". A good phrase I think - for me a good ballet is like any other work of art, it requires craftsmanship. The craftsman is a modest image but one that Dante would have appreciated - it has close links in Greek with sophia - wisdom. 

[Lizbie1]

3 hours ago, Rina said:

As is oft said on the forum, each to their own. For me, Gerald Dowler is one of the best critics around. His review of Dante Project also has some Crisp touches to savour. But personal preferences aside, he is drawing attention to aspects of McGregor's aesthetic which he argues don't make for a satisfying work.

 

To be clear: I haven't seen the Dante Project myself yet and am in no way a McGregor fan (not even of Woolf Works!); furthermore I often agree with Dowler's opinions. My beef is with Dowler's tone in general. I understand the comparison but whereas with Crisp I never doubt that he loves the art form and often finds new things to interest him, I sometimes find myself wondering why Dowler is there in the first place.

[Fonty]

Goodness, poor old Dante really did go through hell and purgatory didn't he?   Look at the state of his tatty dressing gown.  Does he get a pristine vest and pants set when he gets to heaven?  And possibly a leg wax too?

 

Sorry, but that outfit is right up there with some of ugliest I have seen 

[RobR]

27 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by RobR
Miss post

[zxDaveM]

39 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Goodness, poor old Dante really did go through hell and purgatory didn't he?   Look at the state of his tatty dressing gown. 

 

Sorry, but that outfit is right up there with some of ugliest I have seen 

 

yes, I thought he had been playing dress-up with his Nan's old dress - but yes, does remind of the old style dressing gowns circa mid-60's worn by the old 'femme-fatale' in sit-coms on telly

[Beryl H]

I noticed how unattractive the men's dresses were from the photos, haven't seen the ballet yet, I have liked swirling dresses/gowns the men have worn in other ballets but not these.

[Bruce Wall]

Saw the second cast of The Dante Project and in several ways preferred it to the first - which overall I enjoyed for many of the same reasons which have already been previously itemised here.  Certainly this was true in the case of the second cast’s Bonelli (Dante) and Kaneko (Beatrice).  There was much more of a defining arc for Dante with Bonelli - and consequently - Beatrice in which Fumi glowed - made a fuller impact.  I also thought that Olivia Cowley was much more astutely telling in her instructive force as Satan than Kaneko had been in the first cast - but that too may have been as a result of Bonelli's enriched thread for the legend.  In so many ways he added lustre - at least for me.  Somehow the frame he generously supplied seemed much more diverse and not simply a well trodden path of yet another character’s angular angst. 

 

As common to all here relayed, it was Thomas Ades' music which really provided the poetry.  It provided it gloriously throughout.  McGregor I often find is a choreographer who writes dance 'against' as opposed to 'to' music.  In many instances I found that true here too.  Still, with a fantastical score like that Ades has created for The Dante Project, it made those McGregor elements which inevitably stuck (the odds always have it) a far more noted pleasure than it might otherwise have been.

 

Unlike other commentaries above I actually preferred the Purgatory section over The Dante Project’s other two - and not just because it was the shortest – (although I, myself, confess to find facing the demands of brevity oft providing a certain creative edge).    I thought Tacita Dean's scenic design here - again away from others’ thoughts on this particular Board - inspired.  I have often thought of Los Angeles – as Dean so, SO very clearly depicted here - as being a perfect representation for Purgatory.  I have, myself, felt the glare of its over-exposed rays radiate unto mine own eyes.  Everyone seemingly is laid back but even so they - and, as a result, IT - are ALWAYS working.  The proverbial Everyman here (as there) is perpetually waiting for SOMETHING.  Here, (as there), there is no question but that nature itself is over-exposed.  I thought Ades’ calls to various Jewish prayers were an inspired introduction.  These were calls which could - we know - never be answered.  Hell knows the City itself puts you on perpetual hold.  The city itself may be deemed by some as a waiting room for life but as Dante and Virgil here encircle it, (talking ‘at’ as opposed to 'to' each other as I imagine they do in McGregor's hands), this enveloping pit becomes an antechamber for perdition.  Everything grows as putrid as that tree which diffuses via its own clever lambency upon the shared boundaries of the previous netherworld’s ever darkening and icy abyss.  

 

Watching it a second time I was reminded of one distinct memory of LA from my own canon.  I did two television series in that fair city and heavens knows how many pilots back in those days when television studios ruled where once the legendary film studios had done.  Those days too now, of course, are long past as are many of the locations.  Still – back then - long black cars would be sent at 4.30 am and you – aside others - would glide up and through the famed gates of the Universal back-lots where for at least one of those series we shot.  We always seemed to stop on the way at one particular juncture on Sunset Boulevard.  The florescent glow from the billboard lights perched high above pierced through the expensively shaded automobile windows.  They too radiated.  As long as I live I will remember the huge ad they framed.  It was for a funeral parlour which proudly proclaimed you could have your loved one’s body displayed in a choice of four ‘natural’ different positions.  ‘Natural’ I remember always made me giggle.  They were dead for heaven sake.  (If they weren't then they surely should have been.) Two of these positions so-called I now recall were playing cards or golf.  They had absurd pictures to match.  I thought that Ades'  music captured both the wit and horror of this – and Dante – perfectly.  His score is an inspired joy.  His score – for me – is what stands out.  His score literally dances.  Provocatively so. 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Bruce Wall

[Richard LH]

On 20/10/2021 at 15:54, Bruce Wall said:

I actually preferred the Purgatory section over The Dante Project’s other two

I think I agree Bruce.  The slow, controlled movements in this section, combined with the haunting choral music, are wonderfully moving. In his Penitent role William Bracewell, in particular, displays remarkable balance and sensitivity - combined with his Romeo, he is having a tremendous start to the season!

 

I would prefer  Inferno  to be a little shorter and Purgatorio a little longer. The gentlemens' frantic dancing in "Thieves" is the stand out for me, and it gets tremendous applause, although I wonder if it is a bit incongruous - is  hell this exuberant?

 

I find Paradiso very enjoyable and uplifting too, but last night there seemed to be an awful lot of mist clouding one's vision of the Celestial Bodies, unless they were dancing right at the front of the stage - at least as seen from the Stall Circles side. I didn't notice this so much last week sitting in the Orchestra Stalls.  Combined (again) with relatively low lighting levels (also in Inferno) this was somewhat annoying. The choice of seating position is important, to see the staging at its best, as from the Stall Circles left side, for example, you don't properly  see the mirror disc on high, in Inferno, or the Penitents'  resting place.

 

Filming  was  in evidence  last night, presumably as fill-in/backup for next week's "live" stream (the main filming is scheduled for the 26th but it is only available to view from the 29th) .  Looking forward to seeing how this all comes across in that format.

[AnticaFiamma]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

I would prefer  Inferno  to be a little shorter and  The gentlemens' frantic dancing in "Thieves" is the stand out for me, and it gets tremendous applause, although I wonder if it is a bit incongruous - is  hell this exuberant?

I think the general idea is that they are so jumpy because they are being bitten by (and transforming into) snakes. But it's great fun, and I also love the soothsayers! For me the Ulysses episode after Paolo and Francesca is just sublime, the highlight of the act - and Calvin Richardson is magnificent

[alison]

Really?  I had no idea about the snakes!  (BTW, can anyone explain why it's Ulysses, when the music says it's Gluttons?)

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed Inferno both times, and although I had difficulty adjusting to Purgatory the first time it's definitely growing on me.

 

One thing I was surprised about when watching it the other night was the various comments about the choreography not linking that much with the actual music: I registered numerous times when it did.

[Bruce Wall]

I love the idea of the snakes.  I saw it again last night - and have been well and truly bitten.  SO love that score and there is no question but that the dance ... erm ... definitely grows on you.  Naghdi was supreme at taming her Styx and thought Richardson - slithering so seductively, Sissens - as ever - entirely eye-catching - and both Bracewell and Masciari tantilizing in their tremendous turn outs were revelatory.  I also hugely enjoyed the Hamilton/Magri cat fights.  They were both so delightfully impish.  Still it seems churlish to pick out a few when the entire ensemble were every bit as dazzling as those last act costumes.  There can be no question but that they glistened as a whole.  

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Bruce Wall

[Sharon]

Is there a reason why Dante wears a red dress? Sorry if that has already been explained. 

[LinMM]

Not sure about the red colour but I wondered whether the costume is supposed to be a sort of sackcloth and ashes thingy? 

[alison]

I always assumed the costumes for Dante and Virgil were supposed to reflect the rather homespun tunics that the average man from Dante's era (I think) might well have worn.  They certainly look more appropriate to the period than the original turquoise long-sleeved T-shirt and trousers Ed Watson is shown wearing in the 2019 footage.  And the tunic is only red in the last act: it starts off as fully turquoise in Inferno and half-and-half in Purgatory, so implying a transition between the three.

 

And I keep forgetting to mention the score which seems to me to be excellent, even if I find what appears to be a couple of large sections from Mayerling slightly disconcerting.

[Richard LH]

7 hours ago, AnticaFiamma said:

I think the general idea is that they are so jumpy because they are being bitten by (and transforming into) snakes.

Ouch! no wonder then....now it makes perfect sense! 🐍🐍🐍🐍🤣

[AnticaFiamma]

9 hours ago, alison said:

BTW, can anyone explain why it's Ulysses, when the music says it's Gluttons?

There are some discrepancies between the name of the tracks in the score and the choreography. Adès for instance seems to have written a "Deviants" section, which I think McGregor turned into "the Wrathful".

 

The "Gluttons" section is interesting because it actually merges two storylines: the gluttons' and Ulysses'. After having met Paolo and Francesca, in the sixth canto Dante and Virgil meet the gluttons, who are punished by wallowing in slime and mud (hence the crawling around at the beginning and the end). But most of scene represents Ulysses' final journey, in which he tried to sail to Mount Purgatory but God punished his hubris by sinking his ship. Dante will meet Ulysses later on, in the eighth bolgia, where he is being punished as a counsellor of fraud.

[maryrosesatonapin]

1 minute ago, AnticaFiamma said:

There are some discrepancies between the name of the tracks in the score and the choreography. Adès for instance seems to have written a "Deviants" section, which I think McGregor turned into "the Wrathful".

 

Yes, I found it really weird that the programme notes provided a different scenario from the listed dance sections.  To me it seemed confusing at best, slapdash at worst.

[Odyssey]

I’m wondering how much information will be available for the live streaming. It would be good if the ROH resurrected the digital programmes they used to produce in the early days of the live screenings.

[maryrosesatonapin]

Honest question: was Fumi Kaneka (in the cast I saw) being cast as Satan a joke?  I find it difficult to imagine a less evil dancer.  She is sweetness, light and goodness.  Was this the point?  What WAS the point?  Explanations gratefully received.

 

Ignorant of Essex. 

[DanJL]

I thought she danced the role with a wonderful look of evil in her eyes. Maybe this didn't carry (I was lucky to be near the front)? But from my view I thought it was great acting, playing against type. Perhaps the casting reflected faith in her abilities as a newly promoted principal? 

[Richard LH]

8 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

Honest question: was Fumi Kaneka (in the cast I saw) being cast as Satan a joke?  I find it difficult to imagine a less evil dancer.  She is sweetness, light and goodness.  Was this the point?  What WAS the point?  Explanations gratefully received.

 

Ignorant of Essex. 

I did initially wonder about Fumi Kaneko in this role - in Dante,  Satan is a three-face (male)  beast with bat-like wings, freezing all around him, and chewing on various sinners. But here, Satan is portrayed very differently - seemingly now almost devoid of power and menace. Perhaps just a fallen angel? Yet as DanJL points out, Kaneko still manages a pretty evil stare as can be seen here (link to photo in Guardian review).

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2a6b17e1074e88dac1324fcbf85fc791d8d67b73/226_669_4022_2413/master/4022.jpg?width=1020&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=01a71492dcb819f0d73b3ffeee8e8d4c

 

Actually I think Kaneko is particularly striking when playing against what might be perceived as her type. For example I recall her roles as Medusa, and  as Athena (also in Medusa), and as the  love-torn woman in Marston's "In Our Wishes".