Nureyev: Legend and Legacy, September 2022 - and stream on Marquee TV

[Shade]

Did anybody stop to admire the pre-raphaelite paintings? Worth the trip to see those.

[mart]

struggle with the high arabesque á la seconde, 

Jamesrhblack please enlighten me what is a high arabesque à la seconde !!!

[Jamesrhblack]

23 minutes ago, mart said:

struggle with the high arabesque á la seconde, 

Jamesrhblack please enlighten me what is a high arabesque à la seconde !!!

I’m probably not using the correct term. Perhaps it’s better described as a devlopée (it’s a long time since I was in class). It’s the moment at the start of Giselle’s solo at the beginning of the pas de deux when she raises the right leg high.

[mart]

Yes indeed it starts with a développé à la seconde , Time to go back to ballet class 😃

[LinMM]

Well not long after the développe to second there is that beautiful bit where Giselle bends forward over her outstretched leg in tendu and then appears to lift the leg with her arms (in 5th) straight to second position ….so a sort of “arabesque”  to second in a way ….before a couple of delicate shifts of the weight to turn into that wonderful arabesque penche’ with arms across heart. 
I think this little section from Act 2 including the original developpe a la seconde must be among the most nerve wracking in all ballet …so controlled and yet so deeply expressive of the mood music and situation at that point. How anybody does this with so much leaning on them without wobbling at all is amazing to me. 
 

[Jane S]

Footnote: It's just occurred to me that it was particularly appropriate that the Flower Festival pas de deux should be included in this programme as it was also item 2 on the bill at the matinee in this same theatre which introduced Nureyev to London in 1961. The dancers were Niels Kehlet and Solveig Oestergaard, and they also closed the programme, with other RDB dancers, with - of course - the pas de six and tarantella from Napoli. (It was the first Bournonville I'd seen live and I loved it.)

[Sophoife]

22 hours ago, MaddieRose said:

My Mum has a category of dancers she calls ‘jumpy men’. This category existed of Tzu Chao-Chou and Marcelino Sambé, and now also consists of César Corrales

 

I love it. Tzu-Chao is a long-time favourite, right back to when he was graduating from ABS in 2004. Jumpy man. One of his first roles with AusBallet was, coincidentally, Flower Festival in Genzano !

[Scheherezade]

Once again late to the party, I was there last night and can honestly say that there wasn't a single piece that I didn't enjoy.

 

Nor did I find the positioning of the orchestra a distraction or, for that matter, any noticeable problem with the size of the stage. Perhaps, by last night, the dancers had adapted to its constraints.

 

It's hard to disagree with, or add anything to, Jamesrhblack's review of last night's performance apart from, as others have done, flagging up Frola, the man who appears able to do anything and adapt to any style. And although almost everyone has mentioned Corrales, how could I not acknowledge the 'knock 'em dead' virtuosity.

 

The evening was, of course, all about the men, and rightly so as it was a commemoration of Nureyev. Please let's have another, and soon; my appetite is whetted!

[Tango Dancer]

1 hour ago, Sophoife said:

 

I love it. Tzu-Chao is a long-time favourite, right back to when he was graduating from ABS in 2004. Jumpy man. One of his first roles with AusBallet was, coincidentally, Flower Festival in Genzano !

 

 

I think jumpy men is a brilliant category and I know just what Maddie Rose's mother means.  I have a fondness for jumpy men myself, they're so impressive to watch.  Tzu-Chao is poetry in motion and hangs in the air when he jumps as though he's managed to suspend gravity.  I always enjoy his performances.  

[Nina99]

I was at the gala yesterday as well and can only echo what’s this been written by others. It was indeed very fitting that the men were given a chance to shine, especially the ‘jumpy men’ such as Muntagirov and of course Corrales who did sterling double duty and showed that he has a great stage presence as well as amazing virtuosity. I would love to see him in Don Quixote.

 

Having seen all these superb male performances, I’m very much looking forward to the Men in Motion gala at the London Coliseum in November.

 

 

 

 

[Emeralds]

On 12/09/2022 at 18:24, MaddieRose said:

Quick thoughts on the matinee while I’m waiting for my train.

 

My Mum has a category of dancers she calls ‘jumpy men’. This category existed of Tzu Chao-Chou and Marcelino Sambé, and now also consists of César Corrales. I see what people meant about the orchestra; he needs the whole stage. His turns were out of this world, I was spellbound.

 

Natascha Mair had a bad stumble towards the end of her Sleeping Beauty solo, and had to use a hand on the floor to keep herself from properly tumbling, but she recovered. Her and Vadim Muntagirov did some splendid fish dives. 
 

Frola and Hawes were brilliant. As Frola’s been highly complimented I feel  other’s words have been enough. Hawes has an excellent musicality, and both of them were acting and playing their parts well.

 

These are my ‘quick thoughts’, though they are longer than I intended them to be. But all in all I’ve had a very good day. 

I’d love to see the next Nureyev Gala (Nehemiah Kish has my vote!) including Tzu-Chao Chou in the lineup! And also Momoko Hirata or Beatrice Parma! 

[capybara]

19 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I’d love to see the next Nureyev Gala (Nehemiah Kish has my vote!) including Tzu-Chao Chou in the lineup! And also Momoko Hirata or Beatrice Parma! 

Nehemiah Kish invited many if not most of his performers on the basis of their links to Nureyev - e.g. two had been financed by the Foundation, several had danced in his ballets.

[Linnzi5]

I have just seen this on Marquee TV. 

 

Standouts for me so far - need to watch again!

 

William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward, Giselle  I know there has been some mention of a bit of a shaky start for Francesca Hayward. I don't have any technical knowledge, but I loved her performance. I loved her Giselle and thought she was beautiful - enchanting, graceful, ethereal and totally gorgeous - so light of foot and elegant. William Bracewell was, in my opinion, just -  how do I explain my thoughts?  Just so satisfying as as a performer. Elegant, graceful and so emotive - I know I am biased, but I just adored his interpretation of Albrecht. I can't wait to see him in the full ballet! It must be so hard to take an excerpt and perform it at a gala. It worked for me. I was spellbound and loved every second! I love this partnership. Loved it in Swan Lake, Dances at a Gathering (their pas de deux remains one of my favourite ever!) and Romeo and Juliet Beyond Words and feel they are both such brilliant actors. I look forward to seeing more!

 

I loved Yasmine Naghdi and Cesar Corrales. Their performances were thrilling. I agree that there was a certain amount of travelling in the fouettés, but that smile from Ms Naghdi and the joy of performing really touched me. Corrales was stunning. I am foremost a fan of elegance, musically and emotive performance, hence my adoration of Bracewell. However, I loved Corrales and his exhuberance and showmanship - it was thrilling and breathtaking! 

 

Vadim Muntagirov always delivers.  He is classy, consistent and polished - you see him and you are assured you will see someone at the top of their game.

 

Not so enamoured with Natalia Osipova and some of the other performers but I need to watch again and assess how I feel.

 

Overall, this was immensely enjoyable. Camera work not always top-notch on the video but lovely, nonetheless. I was rather surprised by the size of the stage though. I did wonder if some of the  performers would collide with scenery ( I'm presuming that's what is was?) Orchestra's position wasn't too distracting for me, but I suspect if I were to watch the live performance that it may have been.  

 

Overall, this was lovely!

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Linnzi5

[alison]

It was the scenery from Frozen, which couldn't be moved, so had to be worked round.

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, alison said:

It was the scenery from Frozen, which couldn't be moved, so had to be worked round.

Oh, I see. That explains a lot. I did feel that some of the performers looked restricted? However, I still enjoyed watching it all. 

[Emeralds]

On 14/09/2022 at 19:40, capybara said:

Nehemiah Kish invited many if not most of his performers on the basis of their links to Nureyev - e.g. two had been financed by the Foundation, several had danced in his ballets.

That doesn’t apply to Hayward, Naghdi, Osipova, Salenko, Parish, (possibly Sambe) or Trusch, though. Chou danced in Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote when he was a member of Australian Ballet. 

[annamicro]

52 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

That doesn’t apply to Hayward, Naghdi, Osipova, Salenko, Parish, (possibly Sambe) or Trusch, though. Chou danced in Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote when he was a member of Australian Ballet. 

On what are you basing you assumption?Osipova and Trusch danced Nureyev's DQ, as a minimum.

 

Edited to add that Osipova danced also Nureyev's Swan Lake. And of course Raymonda with the Royal Ballet.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by annamicro

[Emeralds]

6 hours ago, annamicro said:

On what are you basing you assumption?Osipova and Trusch danced Nureyev's DQ, as a minimum.

 

Edited to add that Osipova danced also Nureyev's Swan Lake. And of course Raymonda with the Royal Ballet.

 

Hi annamicro- thanks for reminding me about the Raymonda Act 3. Can you remind me which company Osipova and Trusch danced with that had Nureyev’s Don Quixote and Nureyev’s Swan Lake? Was it as a guest? Just curious as it’s a limited number of companies now that have Nureyev’s version of the classics- even the Royal Ballet stopped performing his Don Quixote years ago, such that Alina Cojocaru has danced in it, but not Yasmine Naghdi and Vadim Muntagirov, who have only danced, at the Royal Ballet, in Acosta’s production.

 

So the list should read: Hayward, Naghdi, Parish, Salenko, Sambe. I don’t want them not to be invited of course, my point being that Chou deserves to be considered too. 

[Linnzi5]

Just a few more thoughts from the recorded performance I watched yesterday evening, now I have had a chance to watch again.  Firstly, I enjoyed it all. I wish I could have been present for a live performance of this.

 

I loved Frola's dancing in Flower Festival and can't believe I didn't mention this in my last post - he really brought a smile to my face. He is an elegant and charismatic dancer, full of personality. I enjoyed Alina Cojucaru's performance too.

 

Being picky:  I was not blown away by the Pas de six from Laurencia. I felt it looked under-rehearsed in places, though I always enjoy watching Yuhui Choe's delightful dancing. I'm sad to say that I was underwhelmed by Côté's performance. Not sure why I felt it was lacking - just didn't draw me in and it lacked, in my opinion - finesse? I felt the same way about Xander Parish's performance. It was pleasant but looked unpolished and lacking the emotive elements I seek in a performance. 

 

My standouts from the gala were Hayward/Bracewell, - I watched this again and felt really moved by both of the dancers. I would love to see them dance the whole ballet as a partnership. Naghdi/Corrales - real fireworks and such fun and this is an interesting partnership, too!  Muntagirov - does he ever put a foot wrong? Finally, Frola - just delightful.

 

It could be that those performances were the highlights for me because I particularly liked the excerpts they danced but I also felt these performers were polished and just delightful to watch. So lovely to watch something new. I am so looking forward to the new season!

[Shade]

11 hours ago, annamicro said:

On what are you basing you assumption?Osipova and Trusch danced Nureyev's DQ, as a minimum.

 

Edited to add that Osipova danced also Nureyev's Swan Lake. And of course Raymonda with the Royal Ballet.

 

I think La Scala has the Nureyev Don Q which Osipova danced with Sarafanov if I recall correctly. 

[FionaM]

And Osipova is connected to Nureyev for also having danced Laurencia in Russia as he did.  Therefore she was asked to stage and perform it in this gala.  

[Shade]

Yes Fiona and she danced it here with Vasiliev in the Mikhailovsky production, which I saw at the Coli.

[Sophoife]

On 17/09/2022 at 10:12, Emeralds said:

That doesn’t apply to Hayward, Naghdi, Osipova, Salenko, Parish, (possibly Sambe) or Trusch, though. Chou danced in Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote when he was a member of Australian Ballet. 

Tzu-Chao Chou also (as I posted up-thread) danced the Flower Festival in Genzano pdd as his first solo role with AusBallet, in his first season out of ABS. 

[Suffolkgal]

Slightly off this topic - but I’ve just been going through my ballet archives and found my Nureyev Festival programmes. Forgot I had them but remember the shows very clearly - especially R and J. Lovely production with more nods to the text than some other versions 

[ninamargaret]

Anyone else having difficulty in getting this  via Marquee? Can't find any way of changing my out of date credit card number and Marquee are totally unhelpful.

[Guest oncnp]

4 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

Anyone else having difficulty in getting this  via Marquee? Can't find any way of changing my out of date credit card number and Marquee are totally unhelpful.

 

I did it by going to "Account settings" (drop down box from your name in upper right corner)

 

Under Billing & Payments click on "Payment Processor" . Will open a pop-up that let me change credit card. 

[FLOSS]

What a missed opportunity that introductory film proved to be. Instead of getting Monica or say Dowell or Eagling whose career trajectory was  transformed by Nureyev's presence in London to talk about his impact on dancers, audiences and ballet itself as an art form we got an exercise in self indulgence by Mr Fiennes who confessed to knowing nothing about ballet, at least until he made his film about the young Nureyev. As far as the choice of  repertory for this event is concerned I think that the whole thing would have benefited from the subtitle "Nureyev in London" or possibly "Nureyev at the Royal Ballet" because that is what we in fact were shown, with one exception, during the evening.

 

That exception was the Prince's solo from The Sleeping Beauty and it is not an example of Nureyev at his best as a choreographer. He made it to the music which Ashton used for the "awakening pas de deux" and which the Mariinsky perform in their version of the ballet with the curtains closed. Nureyev;s solo shows him at his most fidgety, fussy and unmusical. It is a classic example of Nureyev stuffing as many steps into the music as he can and more than the music can sustain. It is not a pretty sight and you have to be a superb artist at the top of your technical and artistic form to make it work aesthetically. Muntagirov would probably have got away with it. I think I understand why it was chosen but I think it was a bad choice.

 

The rest if the first half included two relatively safe choices, excerpts from works little known to contemporary audiences and so unlikely to be severely criticised in performance as the audience has little to compare them with. Gayane and the pas de six from Laurencia fall into this category, the pas de deux fron Flower Festival is more familiar and the Shades scene, even more so.

 

Nureyev staged a stunningly beautiful Kingdom of the Shades for the Royal Ballet fielding a corps of thirty two dancers which held the stage between 1963 and 1985 before it was replaced by Markarova's staging of the full work. The problem with the pas de deux from the Kingdom of the Shades is that it does not really work torn from its context. The slightly hypnotic effect of the descent of the corps de ballet down the ramp is intended to establish that what we are seeing is Solor's opium based vision of his beloved Nikiya and heightens the impact of the pas de deux which follows. Without that theatrical framing device it does not amount to much. Parish got the epaulement right but his Nikiya was efficient  rather than affecting.

 

Gayane was originally  a serous ballet concerned with the conflict between love and patriotism set in Armenia. Bits of  the ballet can be found on a BBC studio recording, The excerpt which we saw with its continuous references to pseudo -ethnically based folk dance suggests it is a jolly romp involving jolly happy peasants. The Laurencia pas de six should work reasonably well removed from ts original theatrical context as it is a diverisement. Sadly it does not work that well out of context as a free standing piece. Perhaps the problem is not so much under rehearsal as the fact that the choreography is not that distinguished and cod Spanishness smoldering which  seem to appeal so much to Russian audiences does not travel that well. Nureyev's staging for the Royal Ballet's was only seen in 1965 after which it disappeared.. The presence of Corrales and Osipova did not manage to generate the heat that Chabukiani's choreography requires.Once you remove the smoldering and the Plessitskaya style leaps it is all rather uninspired and dull. The irony is that the best danced piece in the first half was The Flower Festival pas de deux. A charming piece staged by Erik Bruhn in a style which Nureyrv tried to master and never succeeded in dancing idiomatically.

 

The second half opened with the grand pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty which I found a dull exercise in technique rather than a celebratory experience.The Giselle pas de deux with Hayward and Bracewell managed to create  a sense of atmosphere, purpose and a sense of emotional attachment between the characters. Neuemeier has always seemed to me to be a Marmite choreographer whom you either get and admire or leaves you cold. I am afraid that my rare encounters with his choreography have not impressed me over much. The dancers in the excerpt from Don Juan are both extraordinary artists but I remain unconvinced as to the choreographer's genius. The Corsaire pas de deux in its unreformed gala format worked well enough. Corrales astounded with his technical skill and Naghdi did not disappoint on the technical front. What was missing throughout the evening was the presence of a strong stage personality and theatrical presence combined with a sense of intense artistic endeavour and stylistic awareness which Nureyev at his best brought to his performances. Like everyone Nureyev was a bundle of contradictions embodying an unending contest between  the showman and the artist but he was always a compelling stage presence even at a time when the stage had abandoned him and he should have retired from dancing.

[alison]

1 hour ago, FLOSS said:

The Laurencia pas de six should work reasonably well removed from ts original theatrical context as it is a diverisement. Sadly it does not work that well out of context as a free standing piece. Perhaps the problem is not so much under rehearsal as the fact that the choreography is not that distinguished and cod Spanishness smoldering which  seem to appeal so much to Russian audiences does not travel that well. Nureyev's staging for the Royal Ballet's was only seen in 1965 after which it disappeared.

 

Not quite: I saw it accompanying my first experience of La Fille Mal Gardee in early 1990.  I was going to say 1989, but I think it was 1990.

[FLOSS]

Out of curiosity which company danced the combination of ballets you refer to Alison? My recollection  is that the main company used to pride itself on not staging an opener when they programmed  Fille and Giselle giving the impression that they thought that the demand for a curtain raiser was something of a provincial eccentricity. When the touring company came to Bow Street they maintained their normal programming practices staging an opener along with the main course ballet. The Royal Opera House performance database records a single performance of the pas de six at a gala in 1965. A friend told me recently that the pas de six was listed for performance for such a short period of time that she was unable to catch a performance of it. Having seen a performance of the pas in its theatrical context when the MIchaelovsky brought its reconstruction of the Soviet era Laurencia to the Coliseum the pas itself does seem to be a rather tired reworking of the usual Spanish style choreographic motifs.

 

One thing I forgot to say about Nureyev was that his interest in dance did not stop with classical ballet. He had an insatiable appetite for  and  curiosity about dance in all its forms and he had the good fortune to live and work at a time when some of the greatest choreographers of the twentieth century were still actively engaged in making new works. Perhaps one of his greatest gifts was the ability to recognise when he had made a mistake. It may not have happened that often but it did happen certainly as far as Fille is concerned. I believe that Ashton approached him him about dancing Colas soon after he began working with the company only to be asked what the character did in the second act. When he heard he did a little partnering but spent most of the act in hiding Nureyev refused the role. Some years later Nureyev approached Ashton expressing an interest in dancing Colas to which Asgton's response was along the lines of "You do know you have little t do in the second acr?" And yes, Nureyev did dance in Fille.

[alison]

10 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

Out of curiosity which company danced the combination of ballets you refer to Alison? My recollection  is that the main company used to pride itself on not staging an opener when they programmed  Fille and Giselle giving the impression that they thought that the demand for a curtain raiser was something of a provincial eccentricity.

 

The Royal Ballet, FLOSS.  Nicola Roberts and Wayne Eagling in Fille, while the Laurencia cast included Maria Almeida (the only time I saw her dance) and Errol Pickford, IIRC.

[bangorballetboy]

ROH performance database shows the Laurencia pd6 (Chadwick, Broomhead, Almeida, Durante, Sansom, Pickford) on a double bill with La fille mal gardée on 16 January 1990.

[Beryl H]

I must have a rummage through cast lists now I know a date, perhaps the reason the RB could fit in a short opener was because the intervals were shorter in the past.

[Sim]

I remember seeing the Kirov at the Coliseum back in the 80s and they preceded Giselle with Symphony in C.  My cup ranneth over!!