Royal Ballet: Scènes de ballet / A Month in the Country / Rhapsody (Spring 2022)

[Dawnstar]

So Acri has been spared the terrible Kolia wig?!

[MJW]

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

So Acri has been spared the terrible Kolia wig?!

 

He has ! I saw on Liam Boswell's IG that he wasn't wearing it either so with any luck it has been destroyed !

[Rob S]

The RB are becoming wig-woke 🙂

[Tango Dancer]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

It's interesting that Avis seems to be doing Rakitin with all 3 casts. I wonder if someone else (Whitehead? he did the role in 2019) is ill/injured? It feels as if it would be too risky, especially with covid, to deliberately cast only one dancer for all the casts.

 

Would it be Benn Gartside?  I know he's recovering from an injury he got during Swan Lake?  I don't know if it's one of Benn's roles but if so might that be why Gary is doing so many?

[capybara]

24 minutes ago, Tango Dancer said:

 

Would it be Benn Gartside?  I know he's recovering from an injury he got during Swan Lake?  I don't know if it's one of Benn's roles but if so might that be why Gary is doing so many?

Bennet Gartside is The Husband tonight.

[Richard LH]

3 hours ago, emmarose said:

Loving these write ups, can't wait to go on the 29th!

Likewise....

[Richard LH]

What superb photos Rob.....🙂

[Swan]

A joyous afternoon. My first Scenes de Ballet and I’m looking forward to seeing it again next week as, while undoubtedly challenging and interesting, I think I need a second look to fully appreciate it 👀. I thought Month was terrific, heartfelt and sublime. ALL of the cast were amazing. Everyone involved in Rhapsody was fabulous too, such quick feet and Marci’s jumps were awesome!

[FionaM]

Tom Whitehead has been in Italy performing with Alessandra Ferri in L’Heure Exquise 

[Jam Dancer]

Haven’t been on the forum in ages but had the good fortune to be able to see matinée and evening performance of the triple bill today and it’s been fantastic! Waiting for my last dose of Rhapsody as I type this… just found this afternoon’s performance of Rhapsody so beautiful that I sort of cried - don’t get out much these days me thinks.  And this evening’s performance of A Month in the Country was sublime. Laura Morera can sketch out a character in 5 secs and draw you in so quickly … it’s not only her face that tells her thoughts and feelings, her entire body is in on the story telling…exquisite. Scenes de ballet is a gem and I am glad they brought it back as I’ve not seen it in ages but I’ve always wanted to see it again. Lovely contrasts in Sarah Lamb and Yasmine Naghdi (making her debut)!

Here comes Rhapsody….

[SplitSoul]

4 hours ago, Angela Essex said:

Just here to say watching Marcelino today in Rhapsody 😮😮😮😮🔥🔥🔥🔥 had to scoop my jaw up off the floor. Idk what that step is called when he’s doing a handless cartwheel turning in the air in the splits but I literally gasped. He’s amazing.

Yes that move was amazing.

 

Loved the matinée, a complete feast for all the senses. 

 

The house was full and nice to see all ages represented, specially young adults. 

[emmarose]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

Likewise....

 

It sounds as if we are in for the very best of treats!

[emmarose]

Rob, beautiful photos, as always you've captured them all so beautifully!

[ninamargaret]

2 hours ago, MJW said:

 

He has ! I saw on Liam Boswell's IG that he wasn't wearing it either so with any luck it has been destroyed !

Having read that Luca  Acri danced this role at the matinee I tried, and failed dismally, to imagine him in a blond wig. I will be seeing this programme next Saturday and was preparing myself for the wig's  appearance, but can now relax and prepare to enjoy it, as I'm sure I will. Thank you for setting my mind at rest!

[Ianlond]

Great tributes to the Sainsburys to start & then Scenes wonderful this eve. Could watch it again & again, and can’t wait to see other casts in this all too short run. Although largely ‘pure dance, it’s such an emotional ballet for me and I always have tears by half way! Super technical to dance but beautiful. 
Very much enjoyed seeing Laura Morera in month; she can really dance the fleet of fit choreography & draw you in to a character so quickly. But possibly even more pleased to see the lack of wigs!! I feel bad saying so after he’s come back from such a serious injury but Stephen McRae seemed to be having a bit of an off night (particularly regarding pirouettes) and was clearly pacing himself. However, Rhapsody certainly did the job of ending the night on a high. Yet again it did make we wonder though why, since their founder choreography produced works of such genius, there is not more consistent commitment to performing them. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Ianlond

[Mary]

Please bring this triple back next year! Best for a long time. Such a perfect  showcase for the RB's  gloriously talented - and varied - dancers.

[Sim]

A wonderful night tonight.  Naghdi/Clarke sublime in Scenes, Morera/Vadream deeply emotional in Month, and O’Sullivan/McRae fleet of foot In Rhapsody.  All the supporting dancers were wonderful as well.  
 

I will write more after I see the other casts, but what a start this was !  A truly superb triple bill.  

[RuthE]

59 minutes ago, Mary said:

Please bring this triple back next year! Best for a long time. Such a perfect  showcase for the RB's  gloriously talented - and varied - dancers.

Yes, but… it seems to use mostly the same corps/ensemble dancers in (edited to add: all shows of) both Scenes and Rhapsody, especially the women. Are lots of people out with injuries at the moment, or is this particular set of dancers available because it’s a particularly good fit with other dancers’ schedules preparing for other repertoire, or some other consideration I haven’t thought of? The company’s youngest dancers mostly don’t feature at all.

Edited April 23, 2022 by RuthE

[RuthE]

2 hours ago, Jam Dancer said:

Waiting for my last dose of Rhapsody as I type this… just found this afternoon’s performance of Rhapsody so beautiful that I sort of cried - don’t get out much these days me thinks.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to listen to the Big Tune again without being taken back to the moment when it opened the RB mixed bill they did between lockdowns in November(?) 2020. It was the first time I’d heard an orchestra in 8 months, and it nearly destroyed me. Now, since last night’s rehearsal, I’ve relived that feeling 3 times in not much more than 24 hours 😭

[Balletfanp]

I was at the general yesterday, and had a (for me) rare double performance day today, so have now seen all three casts. What a glorious triple bill, I came out of each performance on an absolute high. What a genius Ashton was - he absolutely nails the steps to the music so that the steps are a perfect reflection of what you are hearing. Superb.

 

I’m not going to write about every cast, but my personal highlights. Vadim in Scenes de Ballet - regal, elegant, clean. I honestly can’t pick between Fumi, Sarah or Yasmine for the female lead - they were all absolutely wonderful, their musicality shone out when performing that fiendish choreography along with the complicated music and timings. I had never seen Scenes before and I am completely sold.

 

Laura and Vadim, more than either of the other casts, nearly broke my heart in Month in the Country. They were fabulous together. Laura absolutely nailed Natalia Petrovna, plus she is such a beautiful Ashton dancer….. Vadim got every nuance of the character, his every expression perfect - and those solos! The pas de Deux between him and Laura was just sublime and incredibly moving. Also, I was struck by the duet with Vera. Usually the Beliaevs seem to be flirting with her and I can never understand why you would play it like that if you’re supposedly in love with Natalia Petrovna. Vadim got it right - very much the young man indulging the child whilst not really realising the harm he’s doing. And I think that Month in the Country might now be my favourite ballet, everything about it I love - the story, the characters and that music, wonderfully played by Kate Shipway. I must also mention all the Kolias - all great, my favourite being David Yudes this evening. Also fantastic debuts as Katia by both Leticia Dias and Mica Bradbury.

 

I adore Rhapsody and Francesca Hayward and Anna Rose O’Sullivan were both glorious in it. I think Marcelino Sambe was the male who really resonated with me the most - fantastic. Steven McRae this evening might not have been on his top form but this was a new, gentler, more mellow McRae, and better for it, I think.

 

Definitely we need more Ashton bills - a tonic for the soul!

[zxDaveM]

Can't add much more to what Balletfanp wrote above. Laura Morera just 'owned' that Ashton choreography in Month, her quick as lighning feet, expansive apaulment, would have made Ashton himself give a sigh of satisfaction. And Vadim Muntagirov definitely adding some acting chops to his superb dancing. Yasmine Naghdi once again gave me reason to make her my favourite dancer - she has that knack of making even dificult choreograhy look as easy and natural as breathing. A joy to watch, especially as Scenes one of my favourites (it looks timeless) - just love the corps costumes design, and they were all utterly splendid in them.

Perhaps we should get some of the modern choreographers to watch this (and Symphonic Variations) a good few times to clue them in as to the standard required...

[jmhopton]

34 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

Perhaps we should get some of the modern choreographers to watch this (and Symphonic Variations) a good few times to clue them in as to the standard required...

Hear  hear Dave, well said.

I too was at both performances yesterday. What a sublime day! What a fabulous triple bill and what amazing dancing and emotional acting. I will write in more detail when I get home but it was totally fabulous and very emotional,  not least when I thought we're not going to get anything comparable for at least 18 months.  I might even give up my ticket for the Ukraine swan lake and instead attend next Saturday's triple. I don't want to miss a single minute of it more than I have to. Roll on the streamed performance. Can't come quickly enough!

[Scheherezade]

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Perhaps we should get some of the modern choreographers to watch this (and Symphonic Variations) a good few times to clue them in as to the standard required...

If only!

[Fonty]

I am so sad I am missing all this.  Why oh why was it scheduled for the exact weeks I am away on holiday?  Can we petition Mr O'Hare to bring it back again soon?  

 

[zxDaveM]

44 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

I might even give up my ticket for the Ukraine swan lake and instead attend next Saturday's triple.

 

I HAVE to do both! 🙂

[zxDaveM]

20 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I am so sad I am missing all this.  Why oh why was it scheduled for the exact weeks I am away on holiday?

 

 

you will have to take one for the rest of us - and take more holidays in the 23/24 season 😉

[jmhopton]

2 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

I HAVE to do both! 🙂

Yes but it's a question of cost, with having to stay overnight in a hotel when I've already stayed last night and also a week on Monday, not to mention transport costs. I get my state pension and bus pass this summer so will be better placed to afford things next season, ironically when there isn't anything like as interesting to attend.

[Scheherezade]

36 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I am so sad I am missing all this.  Why oh why was it scheduled for the exact weeks I am away on holiday?  Can we petition Mr O'Hare to bring it back again soon?  

 

Yes please!

[LinMM]

Yes agree I think there are just so few performances of this triple. 
I would have loved this to at least be split so perhaps Month ( long one of my fave ballets) with current Scenes and Rhapsody and then some months later Month with two other Ashtons like Symphonic Variations. It might also have given a chance to some new Natalia try outs from the newer Principals though perhaps next time around. The 23/24 season has to have Fille Pigeons The Dream and similar triple plus new Ashton revival? 
 

Edited April 24, 2022 by LinMM

[zxDaveM]

29 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

Yes but it's a question of cost, with having to stay overnight in a hotel when I've already stayed last night and also a week on Monday, not to mention transport costs. I get my state pension and bus pass this summer so will be better placed to afford things next season, ironically when there isn't anything like as interesting to attend.

 

ah right - I'm lucky enough not to have those additional costs, so apologies for the thoughtless comment

[Jane S]

11 hours ago, RuthE said:

Yes, but… it seems to use mostly the same corps/ensemble dancers in (edited to add: all shows of) both Scenes and Rhapsody, especially the women. Are lots of people out with injuries at the moment, or is this particular set of dancers available because it’s a particularly good fit with other dancers’ schedules preparing for other repertoire, or some other consideration I haven’t thought of? The company’s youngest dancers mostly don’t feature at all.

 

Christopher Carr said at the insight evening that there was only one cast for the women's corps de ballet and he implied that it was partly because it is so difficult.If you look at the online data base you will see that it's always been like this - one or two dancers may be swapped in or out but mostly it's the same team for a whole run. and what really surprised me when I checked this was the quality of the dancers used - very often there are at least 3 future principals and several future soloists - you could almost say that if you wanted to know the next generation of stars you should look at the team in Scenes de Ballet! 

 

Also at the Insight  Vanessa Palmer, who danced in it herself (and was a nice Ashton dancer), said that it's almost soloist work rather than the usual corps de ballet thing.

[RuthE]

24 minutes ago, Jane S said:

Also at the Insight  Vanessa Palmer, who danced in it herself (and was a nice Ashton dancer), said that it's almost soloist work rather than the usual corps de ballet thing.

Yes - I was there, and I can see that both Scenes and Rhapsody require very high-quality ensemble dancers. My point really was in response to people saying what a marvellous mixed bill this is and that it should be brought back - I wasn’t sure how versatile (in terms of how it fits into a season) such a mixed bill can be, given that it doesn’t use half the company.

[capybara]

2 hours ago, jmhopton said:

I might even give up my ticket for the Ukraine swan lake and instead attend next Saturday's triple. I don't want to miss a single minute of it more than I have to. Roll on the streamed performance. Can't come quickly enough!

I get where you’re coming from, Joan, but I think the tickets for the unusual Swan Lake are non- refundable and non-exchangeable.