Birmingham Royal Ballet: Carlos Acosta's new production of Don Quixote, 2022

[capybara]

In an interview with Alastair Spalding on Zoom early last week, Carlos Acosta spoke about his wish to have more 'London Seasons'. Last week, BRB garnered many plaudits and many new fans and it was great to hear people speaking of wanting, as well, to get to Birmingham to see more of the company.

[LinMM]

Birmingham is definitely doable in one day from London. 
Of course if wanting to see more than one cast then becomes more difficult …a hotel stay versus a day return rail fare. 
Last time I went it was to see Nutcracker. I had a lovely time at the matinee and then the huge Christmas Market there before going back to London. 

[San Perregrino]

23 minutes ago, capybara said:

In an interview with Alastair Spalding on Zoom early last week, Carlos Acosta spoke about his wish to have more 'London Seasons'. Last week, BRB garnered many plaudits and many new fans and it was great to hear people speaking of wanting, as well, to get to Birmingham to see more of the company.

Much as I support BRB, travelling to both Southampton & Birmingham to watch them, isn’t Carlos wish to be more London-centric slightly going against the reason for having the company based in Birmingham? A better objective would be for Carlos to want to tour the provinces more extensively with BRB. 
Of course, there’s a position available at ENB if he’d like to relocate back to London…..

[maryrosesatonapin]

2 hours ago, PeterS said:

in respect of the gold one piece jumpsuits in the final act of BRB to borrow a catch-phrase these were “an absolute dis-ast-er darling”, being too monotone and thus overbearing on the scene 

I know I'm getting old, but I can't remember these one piece jumpsuits at all!  

[capybara]

34 minutes ago, PeterS said:

Much as I support BRB, travelling to both Southampton & Birmingham to watch them, isn’t Carlos wish to be more London-centric slightly going against the reason for having the company based in Birmingham? A better objective would be for Carlos to want to tour the provinces more extensively with BRB. 
Of course, there’s a position available at ENB if he’d like to relocate back to London…..

 

In the interview, Carlos's position wasn't challenged on those grounds: the conversation turned to the fact that, with an east London branch, SW could probably accommodate more regular residencies by BRB in future.

 

[Dawnstar]

43 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

I know I'm getting old, but I can't remember these one piece jumpsuits at all!  

 

I assume it means the gold matador costumes, see second row of dancers:

 

 

I thought Basilio's final outfit, with all the gold glitter, was somewhat lurid too. In fact I was quite surprised when Mizutani & Monaghan came out to do the final pdd in white & gold outfits. When I saw Mizutani & Dingman dance it at the Dance For Ukraine gala I assumed that the outfits they wore were from the BRB production, but clearly not as those were completely different. (Screenshot from the filmed version.)

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Dawnstar

[alison]

The pas de deux as a gala item does tend to be danced in red and black (as I think it also does in certain productions?), but it seems to me that in quite a few productions (probably not in Japan?) "wedding white" is used.

[San Perregrino]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

 

In the interview, Carlos's position wasn't challenged on those grounds: the conversation turned to the fact that, with an east London branch, SW could probably accommodate more regular residencies by BRB in future.

 

For me, focussing on ways to bring BRB to London more often would seem to be contrary to extending its outreach to more regions where it would have greater impact.  There has been discussion on the forum before about a dearth of ballet outside London with  BRB reducing its reach into the regions even before Carlos arrived. Of course, it would be great if both were possible and perhaps that’s Carlo’s ultimate goal as he has the support of some wealthy donors. 

[Fonty]

I often do a day trip to Birmingham from London, and booked in advance you can get some really cheap fares.  Unfortunately, whenever I have been there, BRB is usually somewhere else.  

[Jan McNulty]

3 hours ago, capybara said:

In an interview with Alastair Spalding on Zoom early last week, Carlos Acosta spoke about his wish to have more 'London Seasons'. Last week, BRB garnered many plaudits and many new fans and it was great to hear people speaking of wanting, as well, to get to Birmingham to see more of the company.

 

I sincerely hope that "more London dates" will not be at the expense of the current tour venues.  The Lowry and Sunderland had already lost the Autumn tour pre-pandemic. 

[Odyssey]

29 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

I sincerely hope that "more London dates" will not be at the expense of the current tour venues.  The Lowry and Sunderland had already lost the Autumn tour pre-pandemic. 

Isn’t part of the remit for the Arts Council grant, that the Company undertakes a number of tours? I don’t think London would count as part of this remit, but who knows. I’d also hate the twice yearly Plymouth visits to be reduced or disappear. 

[Emeralds]

On 13/07/2022 at 12:49, Dawnstar said:

I assume it means the gold matador costumes, see second row of dancers:

 

 

I thought Basilio's final outfit, with all the gold glitter, was somewhat lurid too. In fact I was quite surprised when Mizutani & Monaghan came out to do the final pdd in white & gold outfits. When I saw Mizutani & Dingman dance it at the Dance For Ukraine gala I assumed that the outfits they wore were from the BRB production, but clearly not as those were completely different. (Screenshot from the filmed version.)

 

Great photos, Dawnstar. That’s really interesting that Miki looks quite different in both photos - still beautiful but I think the difference in lighting, costumes and the angle that she is facing seems to give her two different looks. I agree it’s possibly the Fandango outfits PeterS is referring to, but they’re far from jumpsuits- they are at least 2 pieces, probably 3 pieces if anything, and actually quite historically/culturally appropriate. 

 

The Red-tutu-Black-and-red-man’s-costume vs the White costumes scenario for Don Q probably comes from the difference in the Mariinsky and Bolshoi traditions. Petipa originally made his version of Don Quixote for the Bolshoi in Moscow (there have been earlier versions in Paris and London) even though he himself was based at the Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg.

 

He then went back to his work base in St Petersburg and later redid the ballet in a more lavish version, changing his libretto a bit. Back in Moscow, there were subsequent revivals by Alexander Gorsky and Pyotr Gusev at the Bolshoi that departed in many ways from what Petipa himself presented in St Petersburg as well as his original Bolshoi one. (In those days it took several days to travel between St Petersburg and Moscow so there wouldn’t be many viewers comparing  the two.)

 

Eventually the Mariinsky/Kirov/Imperial version ended up with Kitri and Basilio being dressed in white wedding outfits for their wedding in Act 3 (rather like in Sleeping Beauty and Coppélia) while the Bolshoi version had the wedding at a Duke and Duchess’s court, with Kitri and Basilio being dressed in red and black outfits that look like flamenco-inspired costumes.

 

When Nureyev and Baryshnikov mounted the first of various full length productions for companies outside the Iron Curtain (Vienna State Opera Ballet and American Ballet Theatre respectively), they kept the Kirov/Imperial/Mariinsky tradition they knew, using white wedding outfits (although more historically detailed and ornate than the Kirov’s), which is what Acosta has chosen. The versions mounted by Possokhov and Ratmansky retain the red & black wedding outfits both knew from their time at the Bolshoi.

 

When Natalia Makarova and Baryshnikov danced the Act 3 pas de deux as a stand alone pas de deux at a gala programme and popularised it, they used the red and black outfits as they look more distinctive than the plainer white outfits used at the Kirov- today the red and black tutu and red/black (or red/white/black) man’s costume instantly suggests  “Don Quixote” to a gala audience. There is no one rule as to which costume it should be (Nuñez & Muntagirov used the white RB ones for the Back On Stage Royal Ballet live-streamed gala programme - although that might have also been a way of highlighting the full length work in the company repertoire) but most principal dancers own their own gala costumes and tend to go for the red/black by default.

[FionaM]

(EDIT: The following are reactions to the cinema broadcast)

 

 

(I took photos/video of the cast list at the end)

 

The show was fabulous!  The new production is so much better, vibrant energetic and full of colour, than the drab RB version.  And thank goodness none of those moving houses that crowd the ROH stage.  
 

New sets, new lighting, new choreo and new costumes.  In the second interval there was a short piece about the new production including an explanation of digital printing of the costumes.  This made a huge difference to the matador costumes for instance, which are sleek and still appear ‘rich’.   Sadly the RB matadors are not flattered by the heavy red velvet and thick embroidered panels on their costumes.

 

On to the dancing … which was truly fabulous from everyone.  It was exciting and full, even the new graduates were 100% into it (Jack Easton particularly noticeable) 👏👏👏
 

Momoko Hirata as Kitri shone from the first moment.  Impeccable technique and wonderful characterisation.  Ably supported by Matthias Dingman who was especially amusing in the stabbing himself scene.  Their final pdd was sparkling!  Especially impressed by the height and ballon in Momoko’s split jetes in Act 2 dream scene.   Just glorious! 

 

Yu Kurihara was really good as Mercedes especially in the many tough pirouette sequences in the first act solo. As ever, Espada draws the eye and Brandon Lawrence was oozing charm, winks and sly looks, along with his gorgeous technique.  

Bravo for the best costumes I’ve seen for Kitri’s friends … same style but different colours.  Thank goodness … no one in any era goes out wearing the same dress as a close friend.  They are both super dancers though Yaoqian Shang drew my eye more often than Miki Mizutani. 
 

Loved the male Cupid by Tzu-Chao Chou.   The speed of all those moves … just wow.  I’m converted by this gender change.   

 

Ryan Felix and Emma Price were rather delicious as the lead gypsy couple.  Though I did think this scene rather dragged on with 3 or 4 windmill interactions for Don Q.  Two is enough. 
 

Ryan and Emma also led the Fandango in the final scene which I always find is an unsatisfactory filler.  The dancing was fine, but the choreo wasn’t and there doesn’t seem any point to it.  

As for the filming … Ross MacGibbon has been directing these cinema relays for umpteen years now and I really do not think they have improved.   There are cuts to one side of the stage that miss key action elsewhere, filming of dancing from wrong angles, and this was not a live relay.  He’s an ex-dancer, how can he get this so wrong?   I think he should be retired as a film-maker of dance.  
 

However …  I am very grateful for the close-ups in the cinema recordings … they reveal the details of the dancers’ interpretation and that is unmatchable in the theatre itself.  
 

Bravo BRB … a great show 👏👏👏

Edited October 27, 2022 by alison
To add information

[jmhopton]

Yes I saw this also at the Odeon Preston where the service has improved to the extent that the lights switched themselves on when they should instead of me having to do it. 

 

I thought it a terrific performance,  excellently danced and would echo everything FionaE said previously.  I always love Brandon Lawrence in anything and was thrilled to see him as the matador.  I don't think I've  seen Matthias Dingman or Momoko  Hirata and was really impressed by both of them  especially Matthias.  I thought he was up there with Ivan Vasiliev who's always been my gold star Basil. 

 

Just a couple of minor quibbles with the tavern scene.  I thought the lady who fainted when the matador looked at her (always a good laugh) didn't make it obvious enough what she was fainting for so didn't get much of a laugh.  Also I'm not a big fan of Kitri doing her leap into Basil's arms just after getting down off the tables. It's a great moment but the tables make it too rushed and Momoko seemed too close to Matthias to make it really spectacular. 

 

But very minor quibbles when you have the chance to see such a wonderful production without planning a long journey or overnight stay.