Royal Ballet: The Dante Project - October 2021

[capybara]

2 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

I think we the audience members are still not allowed to present flowers ourselves, but ROH staff carefully throw individual blooms onto the stage from the side boxes so there isn't any health and safety issue.  

There actually was a health and safety issue as the long stems had not been cut off and the flowers were descending like spears - as can be seen in several photos.

 

But lovely that Ed was given a flower throw as part of  fabulous send-off, of course.

[bangorballetboy]

Just to be clear, the ROH’s silver medal is awarded to anyone who has been employed at the Royal Opera House in any capacity for 25 years.  It is not limited to singers and dancers and this can be seen in the pictures of recipients adorning the area just inside the stage door.

 

There have been quite a number of silver medals presented since the House reopened.

[Scheherezade]

3 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

 … Calvin Richardson was superb as Ulysses but my favourite piece was the Thieves performed by  Luca Acri, Matthew Ball, Leo Dixon, Benjamin Ella, James Hay, Joshua Junker, Paul Kay, Giacomo Rovero, Marcelino Sambé, Joseph Sissens and Stanisław Węgrzyn.  The speed of attack was phenomenal and Joe Sissens climaxed the piece with the fastest turns I think I have ever seen…

 

…A short film was shown featuring short clips of verbal appreciation of Ed.  Contributors included: Deborah Bull, Mara Galeazzi, Thiago Soares, Deborah McMillan, Marianela Nunez,  Kate Shipway, Johanna Adams-Farley,  Gary Avis, Darcey Bussell, Philip Mosely, Christopher Saunders, Christopher Wheeldon, Marcelino Sambe, Monica Mason, Jeanetta Lawrence. Wayne McGregor, Koen Kessels,  Natalia Osipova, Christopher Carr,  Elizabeth Anderton, Zenaida Yanowsky…

i see you’ve been taking to heart the instructions given by the unnamed US company mentioned in A Dance Writer’s Fears, Jenny. I am a little concerned, however, about the erasure of the dancers and contributors you failed to mention! 😜

[capybara]

54 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

 

I was pleased to discover yesterday afternoon that the Royal Opera House still awards silver medals to those performers fortunate enough to enjoy lengthy careers with the opera and ballet companies resident there when Watson received what is a small token marking the end of a truly distinguished career. ………….According to Kevin this award was one of several due to be made to members of the ballet company during this season.

 

Christina Arestis and Thomas Whitehead joined the same year as Edward Watson, with Laura Morera and Bennet Gartside the year after.

Marianela Nunez’s 20 years was celebrated on stage but not - yet - anyone else’s.

[Lizbie1]

I saw this for the first time yesterday and I thought I'd add my ha'porth, though others will have covered this ground already.

 

When I listen to a lot of contemporary classical music it's normally pretty easy to separate out whether I'm enjoying the performance (very highly trained professionals making lovely sounds) or the piece itself. That's increasingly how I watch McGregor's works for the RB - to me, his choreography doesn't come well out of that assessment, whereas Ades's score very much does. On a slightly more positive note, it struck me  how much of the choreography is classically derived - I just wish that it were stuck together with more coherence and less repetition.

 

Many people have already singled out Richardson and Sissens - and I agree! - but I thought everyone on stage was terrific. One I'd like to mention specifically is Melissa Hamilton, who has tremendous stage presence IMO.

 

As for the designs: I thought the sets were nice enough, the lighting a notch too low in Purgatorio (with no paper cast sheet to hand I spent too much time wondering who was dancing) and the costumes didn't look like they'd had a lot of thought going into them. 

 

 

 

[FionaM]

Hmmm … the Dante Project itself.  I’ve only seen it once live, and was hoping to follow-up with the stream.  Which is now delayed.  So on the basis of one viewing:

STAGING

I loved the negative inverted backdrop of Inferno and the tree/street picture of Purgatory, but was not convinced by film only for Paradiso.  

 

The chalking of the dark bodysuits in Inferno to denote the sinful parts of the body and transference one to another, didn’t carry even to row L in the stalls.  Seems a huge palaver backstage and cost (aren’t ROH supposed to be cost-cutting) for no discernible effect on stage except for a few occasional puffs of chalk.
 

The smoke effects for drowning worked really well … as did the pale gloves for the thieves.

 

I didn’t like the sack-like Dante costume on Ed, although the young Dante version on Marco looked better.  It may well be the same. 
 

The lighting was on the dim side in Inferno even from the stalls.  I think that’s ok to depict Hell, despite my preference to be able to identify dancers.  It was not as dim as it is in R&J where you can’t see anyone on the staircases/balconies. 

 

CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY

Inevitably with Inferno being a sequence of circles of Hell, the multitude of scenes can feel like disjointed vignettes.  I felt they overcame this quite well with the continuity of the backdrop and costumes.  
 

Dante & Virgil are on stage most of the time and are not always part of the action except to walk around and across the front.  I found this distracting from the dancing of whatever sinners.  
 

Sometimes there was too much going on at the same time.  Perhaps this will read better on subsequent viewings. 
 

I thought the Satan section was rather short and weak considering the awesome power of Dante’s Lucifer.  
 

I liked Purgatorio.  In particular the depiction of young Dante admiring Beatrice from afar was well done and you felt his pain as well as that of the older Dante and Virgil.
 

I did not like the Paradiso section … where was the spirituality? And the realisation of divine love, peace, purity?  However … there was plenty of beautiful choreo for the celestial bodies and I’m always happy to see that.  
 

MUSIC

I enjoyed the music … even if it is derivative of others.  
 

I cannot imagine the original plan to have none for Purgatorio.  I think I would have walked out.  
 

OVERALL
it was a super evening of dancing.  However I did not feel the journey of Dante was resolved by the end … he’s still in purgatory for me. 

 

[maryrosesatonapin]

@FionaE I was nearer the front than you and could see the chalk.  It never occurred to me it would be invisible to others.  Surely they would have/should have noticed this in practice?

I agree with most of the rest of what you say.

[FionaM]

13 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

@FionaE I was nearer the front than you and could see the chalk.  It never occurred to me it would be invisible to others.  Surely they would have/should have noticed this in practice?

I agree with most of the rest of what you say.

I could see the lust chalk clearly … the rest appeared mottled.   

Edited October 31, 2021 by FionaE

[capybara]

52 minutes ago, FionaE said:

 

And what about the lighting contraptions at footlight level and above at the end, both of which (as is typical for McGregor’s works) must have cost an arm and a leg but were deployed fleetingly - (although I might not have been best-placed to see what the ‘footlight’ was actually there for). The lighting gear etc. at the sides, clearly visible at times, also looked mega-expensive although that was more obviously in action throughout.

 

 

(Whoops - the quote which has disappeared related to the expense of powder coating the costumes.)

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by capybara

[maryrosesatonapin]

@FionaE: the 'lust chalk' ha ha!  What a phrase.

@capybara - my partner always notices things like lighting design whereas I only notice if I can't see! Generally I prefer to enter the world of the ballet and forget the stagecraft etc although that wasn't possible with 'Dante'.

[FionaM]

Despite my criticisms, I am looking forward to the stream … whenever we get it.   Dante’s Divine Comedy is an immense work to interpret.  And there is so much wonderful dancing in this version! 

 

I’d be interested in the views of Italians on this interpretation.   They are much more familiar with the poem ... it’s integral to their schooling, history and culture … as Shakespeare is for us.  
 

Personally I know more about Dante after seeing Sergei Polunin’s Dante Metànoia performed in Ravenna in September.  That of course was quite different being essentially a one hour solo, the only other performer on stage being a singer.  But there were plenty of similarities too.  Neither were perfect interpretations in my eyes but each had parts that were better than the other. 

We can appreciate different versions of Giselle (Akram Khan and classic), Swan Lake (Matthew Bourne and classic) so no reason not to see both!   
 

Does anyone also have any knowledge of the version being performed by Dortmund Ballet … choreography by Xin Peng Wang.   Premiere of their Paradiso was on Friday 29 October.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfsaAog-cv/?utm_medium=copy_link

[alison]

12 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

It looked like a very traditional flower throw to me from the top side boxes as the flowers rained down on Ed.  Whoever did it - did a very good job!

 

I think there should be footage of the flower throw here:

https://www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/videos/637447027268368/

 

Haven't been able to locate the actual film shown after it as yet, though

[FionaM]

Back to Dante and his Divine Comedy … I have found out a little about the Ballett Dortmund version. 

 

Choreographer Xin Peng Wang (also artistic director of the company  since 2003) devotes a full length ballet to each of Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso.  Inferno premiered in November 2018, Purgatorio in November 2019, and Paradiso premiered a few days ago (I’m guessing this was Covid delayed).  

 

Here are trailers to each: 

 

 

 

 

[maryrosesatonapin]

Thank you very much for your research, @FionaE! It would be interesting to know if this production has a clearer 'storyline'.  Parts of it looked very intriguing.

[alison]

Something I meant to ask on Saturday: I know the lighting isn't brilliant, and I was quite a way from the stage, but I didn't register Matthew Ball's presence, despite his name being on the cast sheet.  *Was* he in it?  I noticed some other members of the first-night cast were missing from the cast sheet, and thought that because of the unusual hour and scheduling they might have been away in rehearsals, as has been known to happen before, but I didn't spot anyone who looked like Ball to me.

[JohnS]

Matthew Ball certainly was dancing in Saturday’s matinee: in all 3 Acts - partnering Francesca Hayward as Francesca and Paolo and one of the astonishing thieves; a penitent; and a celestial body.

[alison]

50 minutes ago, JohnS said:

partnering Francesca Hayward as Francesca and Paolo 

 

Duh!  Of course.  I just didn't remember spotting him among the thieves - as I said, I've been having trouble distinguishing faces.  I wonder if he did something different to his hair from when I saw him the previous time.

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Duh!  Of course.  I just didn't remember spotting him among the thieves - as I said, I've been having trouble distinguishing faces.  I wonder if he did something different to his hair from when I saw him the previous time.

 

Such was the gloom that I recognised him mostly by his hair!

[San Perregrino]

2 hours ago, alison said:

Something I meant to ask on Saturday: I know the lighting isn't brilliant, and I was quite a way from the stage, but I didn't register Matthew Ball's presence, despite his name being on the cast sheet.  *Was* he in it?  I noticed some other members of the first-night cast were missing from the cast sheet, and thought that because of the unusual hour and scheduling they might have been away in rehearsals, as has been known to happen before, but I didn't spot anyone who looked like Ball to me.

MB was definitely there, sporting a new haircut, perhaps that’s why he went under your radar. 

[Sim]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

 and a celestial body.

Yep, definitely a celestial body... 

 

[alison]

58 minutes ago, prs59 said:

MB was definitely there, sporting a new haircut, perhaps that’s why he went under your radar. 

 

Oh, good grief, yes, it must have been.  Thanks for confirming that I wasn't going totally mad.

[JNC]

Great to see Watson get such a well deserved send-off thank you all to those who reviewed a special performance. Very lucky and whilst I certainly don't want more dancers retiring I would like to one day be at the final performance for some dancers that have given me great joy as a small token of thanks. 

 

On 31/10/2021 at 12:45, FLOSS said:

I still cling to the outdated idea that what happens on stage during the course of a ballet performance tends to be important and should be visible to every member of the audience who is not sitting in a seat sold as having a"restricted view". I am left wondering whether the first act of this new piece is only meant to be visible from the more expensive seats in the lower parts of the theatre. 

 

I wonder if this is why I prefer classical ballet on stage on the whole, or certainly find that sitting in the amphitheatre doesn't negatively affect performances like Swan Lake for me (and sometimes prefer to have the distance to see the patterns in the choreography).

 

Whereas I have struggled to connect with MacMillan ballets (for example) from the amphi as I feel they require closer intimacy and seeing individual dancers' faces more so than big ensemble pieces. (Although seeing faces for emotion is always beneficial in any case!) 

 

I hope the Dante live stream includes a well deserved flower throw (and presumably that will be the DVD version as well, if one is due to be produced?). 

 

[Lizbie1]

9 minutes ago, JNC said:

Whereas I have struggled to connect with MacMillan ballets (for example) from the amphi as I feel they require closer intimacy and seeing individual dancers' faces more so than big ensemble pieces. (Although seeing faces for emotion is always beneficial in any case!) 

 

I find this sometimes too, and particularly with Mayerling - partly because I struggle to remember which heavily wigged character is which.

[bridiem]

8 hours ago, JNC said:

Great to see Watson get such a well deserved send-off thank you all to those who reviewed a special performance. Very lucky and whilst I certainly don't want more dancers retiring I would like to one day be at the final performance for some dancers that have given me great joy as a small token of thanks. 

 

I wonder if this is why I prefer classical ballet on stage on the whole, or certainly find that sitting in the amphitheatre doesn't negatively affect performances like Swan Lake for me (and sometimes prefer to have the distance to see the patterns in the choreography).

 

Whereas I have struggled to connect with MacMillan ballets (for example) from the amphi as I feel they require closer intimacy and seeing individual dancers' faces more so than big ensemble pieces. (Although seeing faces for emotion is always beneficial in any case!) 

 

I hope the on-stage farewell is now/becomes a tradition for all departing principals (or long-standing dancers).

 

I generally prefer to be at a distance too; but I do end up glued to my opera glasses for long periods in order to see faces properly. I sometimes have eye-ache by the end of a performance!

[capybara]

35 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I hope the on-stage farewell is now/becomes a tradition for all departing principals (or long-standing dancers).

 

It has been (for Principals) for as long as I can remember, but to varying degrees. The farewell to Edward Watson was, appropriately, a 'bumper version'.

 

[bridiem]

1 minute ago, capybara said:

 

It has been (for Principals) for as long as I can remember, but to varying degrees. The farewell to Edward Watson was, appropriately, a 'bumper version'.

 

 

I've seen a small number in recent years, but I wasn't sure if it always happens now. And I suppose I'm thinking further back to much loved dancers e.g. Lesley Collier, Fiona Chadwick etc where it would have been lovely to have had a proper on-stage appreciation of them.

[capybara]

53 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I've seen a small number in recent years, but I wasn't sure if it always happens now. And I suppose I'm thinking further back to much loved dancers e.g. Lesley Collier, Fiona Chadwick etc where it would have been lovely to have had a proper on-stage appreciation of them.

I think it used to be left for the fans to organise a flower shower (or not) but the initiative is very firmly with the RB/ROH these days - and rightly so.

[Tony Newcombe]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I've seen a small number in recent years, but I wasn't sure if it always happens now. And I suppose I'm thinking further back to much loved dancers e.g. Lesley Collier, Fiona Chadwick etc where it would have been lovely to have had a proper on-stage appreciation of them.

Lesley Collier received a 30 minute standing ovation after her farewell performance of Giselle. She received bouquet after bouquet until the stage was entirely covered with flowers. A truly fitting tribute to a great dancer. 

[Nogoat]

Ed Watson's farewell performance on Saturday was my second Dante.

 

I really enjoyed the chance to catch up with other RB regulars, of celebrating the unique dancer that is Ed Watson, and of seeing a 'concentration' of talent on stage normally reserved for galas.

 

But strip those aspects away, and The Dante Project itself remained underwhelming when compared to what might be expected of a project with the full creative weight of the ROH/RB behind it.

 

Nevertheless, I quite like Act 1, as long as I view it as a 'themed gala' ('256 Shades of Grey' ?) or, given the large circle in which the action happens, a circus, complete with a couple of colourful if rather melancholy ringmasters (tag-line, 'The Greyest Show Under Earth' ?).

In fact the penultimate action - 'Thieves' - is a shoo-in for a show-stopper to end a gala or circus (though isn't it just typical of Satan to turn up and spoil even that!), though as part of The Inferno it seemed incongruous.

But if I try to hang a narrative on Act 1, I just get frustrated; how do all these disparate vignettes contribute to Dante's journey? While on stage, Dante seemed more of an observer than a mirror reflecting his journey back to us - as useful as a silent Michael Palin travelogue. If anything, it seems much of his journey occurred in the intervals as he moved from one set to another while we munched on our lunches in the corridors. 

 

At least in Act 2 another dimension (time, in the form of younger versions of himself) was added to the rather flat, static picture we had of Dante up to that point. 

 

I surprised myself during Act 3 when my attention wandered - there was a lot of spinning and movement on stage that should have engaged me, but didn't. Perhaps it was because I knew how it was all to end - literally in a light-bulb moment as Dante suddenly achieved some sort of inner peace/happiness, all reinforced by some rather boilerplate, uplifting music.

 

I'm not that familiar with Ades (though I've been given a few pointers as to what to listen to to acquaint myself) but as someone else has noted, it did seem a bit derivative in places.

Ignoring the obvious Mayerling connection (yes, I am now aware of the original Dante connection, but Mayerling still elbowed that straight out of the way) and in talking to others, here's a list of connections/styles; Wagner; Frankenstein; Bright Stream; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk; Prince of the Pagodas; and even Pink Floyd (On The Turning Away).

 

I think the major part of my problem with Dante is it's neither narrative fish nor abstract fowl, but some sort of non-viable chimera of the two.
 
In a successful 'pure' narrative ballet such as Mayerling, the staging, music and choreography are all seamlessly employed to convey an extremely complex story (the main thrust of which can still be 'got' at first viewing). 
In contrast, a 'pure' abstract ballet like Symphony in C has one aim - to faithfully match and thereby represent movement as music (I think of it as a form of induced synaesthesia); in this context, staging and story are minor or non-existent.

It is possible, of course, to deliver a narrative in an abstract setting. An excellent recent example is Apollo - in which a fairly complex story is communicated to the audience by the clear choreography and strong connection to the music, with only a handful of props (and a huge staircase!) as staging.
 
In Dante, however, the choreography is obscure and not always connected to the music. The staging provides little in terms of reinforcing any developing narrative - even Act 1 almost wilfully tries to hide some of the action. Overall, there is a distinct lack of coherence and synergy (which as others have noted may well reflect the way the creatives created).

Dante's journey was mainly reduced to traversing landscapes; we were not really privy to his personal development - it remained internalised much of time. For a narrative ballet that's a cardinal sin, as communicating the changing internal landscape of thoughts and emotions should be front and centre. And when the staging, choreography and music are in skilled hands, miracles can happen.

For example, in the full-length ballet Anastasia the vast majority of the action takes place in someone's mind, yet it manages paint a vivid picture of everything from world-changing events to adolescent concerns. It uses three pre-existing symphonies, hardly altered, for the score. The staging is distorted, as if to question the nature of memory. The final act delivers a narrative 'twist' as jolting as that in The Matrix, and as those implications play out they deliver a devastating emotional punch. 

 

If I find it difficult to put Dante in the same league as the narrative greats of the Royal Ballet, how does it compare to his other narrative work for the RB?

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Raven Girl. I thought the quirky story was communicated well (the exception being the rather unclear ending) with all three aspects - choreography, staging and music - minimising the abstract and emphasising the narrative. I still wonder why it didn't receive the critical acclaim I thought it deserved.

 

I enjoyed Woolf Works just as much, if not more. Here was a three-act ballet that made no pretence to tell a comprehensive, linear story; rather, it presented three discrete aspects of the life and work of Virginia Woolf. Act 1 was the most purely narrative of the three, and the combination of staging, choreography and music delivered the storyline to great emotional effect.  Act 2 was based on her novel Orlando, but rather than attempt the impossible task of relaying its detail, it abstractly and successfully portrayed how the various incarnations/phases of his/her life still represented one person (mainly through the convergence of the costumes as the act progressed).  Act 3 was a moving mix of abstract and narrative as it played out (essentially in slow motion) her suicide by drowning.

 

But as far as Dante is concerned, I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about.

 

[bridiem]

12 minutes ago, Tony Newcombe said:

Lesley Collier received a 30 minute standing ovation after her farewell performance of Giselle. She received bouquet after bouquet until the stage was entirely covered with flowers. A truly fitting tribute to a great dancer. 

 

Yes, I was there! It was wonderful. But there was no 'official' marking of the occasion on stage.

[alison]

I think that was because it wasn't confirmed at the time that it would be her final performance?  I must say, I don't remember quite that many flowers, but perhaps I left early?  It was only my second-ever Giselle, I think.  (Mind you, to do so I'd have had to annoy a lot of people by pushing past them to get out, which is not something I tend to do).

[FionaM]

@Nogoat I agree with much that you say.  Particularly that Dante’s journey is unseen.  The difficulty of the journey, his growing understanding of life and overcoming sins, to the realisation of the purity of love should be the main point.  
 

Purgatorio worked as a historical narrative of Dante’s actual life.
 

 

[alison]

As I said somewhere up-thread, I'm not sure McGregor was ever intending a literal narrative, any more than he did in the "Orlando" section of Woolf Works, the name of which I can never remember   Perhaps that's why the work is called The Dante Project, rather than The Divine Comedy?