Crystal Pite Royal Ballet premiere: Light of Passage, 18 Oct 2022

[Ian Macmillan]

Let's just recall the late Clement Crisp's advice to an aspiring critic: "Always kiss or kill." 

[Vanartus]

19 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

I was making my way down the stairs from the stalls circle behind McCauley on the way out after the opening night, and just thought to myself, well there walks a negative review...

🤣👏🤗🥂

[Fonty]

42 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Let's just recall the late Clement Crisp's advice to an aspiring critic: "Always kiss or kill." 

 

I was thinking about the great man as I read Mr McCauley's review.  I wonder what he would have said about it?

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, Fonty said:

 

I was thinking about the great man as I read Mr McCauley's review.  I wonder what he would have said about it?

I found this of the One Actor. He liked it. A Five Star Review;

 

https://www.ft.com/content/f7a6be0a-0aff-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43

[annamk]

14 hours ago, Emeralds said:

He likes pretty, idealised versions of ballet ie Bournonville, Petipa, Ivanov, cute Ashton, cute Balanchine (not their more gritty works). Not ballets that remind him that not everyone lives a privileged, comfortable and lucky life. That’s why he hated Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda and savaged most things that Edward Watson danced. I like Bournonville, Petipa et al, but I don’t have a blinkered view of life and we need Pite as much as Petipa. Besides, slippedisc is a website that’s usually negative and their approach is to report all news as “how shocking/how dare they” (especially with regards to cast changes or cancellations). I think they do it as click bait so that readers will jump in and say “it’s actually very good”, “he/she did better than that”, “don’t be so mean, nobody gets ill/injured on purpose”.

 

I don't know where you got the idea from that Macaulay confines himself solely to liking pretty, idealised versions of ballet ? And to suggest that he hated Rojo's Raymonda (a pretty, sanitised depiction of war if you ask me) because it reminded him "that not everyone lives a privileged, comfortable and lucky life" just doesn't make sense. 

 

This is an interesting look back on his years in New York as the New York Times chief dance critic. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/arts/dance/alastair-macaulay-dance-farewell.html

 

Just in case you're wondering, I'm not a friend of his, I've never met him and I dislike the sometimes barbed tone in his reviews but he's been a dance critic for 40 years and is hugely knowledgeable and I think it's unnecessarily derogative to make such unsubstantiated comments. 

 

 

[Fonty]

I didn't see Flight Pattern when it was performed last time.  I didn't choose not to see it, I wasn't in the country when it was being performed.  Reading the reviews, the one I found the most useful was the one written by Matthew Paluch, who is Royal ballet trained himself.  He says, "Pite is brilliant at structure, mood and atmosphere, but at times one craves more actual dancing."  In a nutshell, this is how I feel about most of the contemporary dance creations that the Royal Ballet have performed over the past few years. 

[Laura_ballet]

My daughter has had the honour of dancing in the 2nd act. I’ve loved watching it come together. Every time I watch, I see something new and feel something new. When I looked around at the end of the third piece, I saw many people wiping their eyes! Ive had to take 5 mins at the end each time to just breathe and reflect. It really is a special ballet. I can’t wait to watch again! 

[Lizbie1]

I saw Flight Pattern once and was underwhelmed. RB dancers can make pretty much anything look great so it's not quite a waste to use them in this kind of thing, I'd just rather see them in something where their very specific skills are used. Some may call it generous of the RB to allow other dancers to take the lead in Act 3; without having seen it and only going on reports, I wonder if it just highlights that you don't need a ballet company to deliver a lot of what Pite comes up with.

 

(This is probably damning with faint praise, but it would interest me to see what Pite could do with an opera chorus.)

[Pas de Quatre]

I saw the stream of Flight Pattern last time, and really enjoyed it, although it suffered from the usual fashionable lighting which means it is sometimes hard to see anything!  So Hopefully they will stream the whole of Light of Passage.  Mr McCauley's review seemed rather small minded, he knows what he likes and he likes what he knows. 

[San Perregrino]

I've seen Light of Pattern from above, head on and from the side over the past two days.  For me, it is a sublime fusion of movement and music which synergise to move me on a par with, say,  'Enigma Variations' and 'Dances At A Gathering'.  

 

However, I would like the lighting to be tweaked so that more is visible.

Edited October 20, 2022 by PeterS

[miliosr]

16 hours ago, Emeralds said:

He likes pretty, idealised versions of ballet ie Bournonville, Petipa, Ivanov, cute Ashton, cute Balanchine (not their more gritty works).

I wouldn't agree entirely with this. For instance, Alastair Macaulay has always been a major proponent of Merce Cunningham's work. "Pretty" and "idealized" are not words I would use to describe Cunningham's repertory.

 

I think of Macaulay as a "Croce-ite" - named after Arlene Croce, the longtime dance critic at The New Yorker. Perhaps her most famous written statement was: "I never saw a great ballet that made me think." At root, what she was getting at was, admittedly, the very New York attitude that dance has no subject but dance. Ultimately, though, there is no resolution to that debate - everyone has to decide that for themselves what they think dance is. In Macaulay's case, I think he leans in hard toward the Croce position even though he can still appreciate story-driven, Expressionistic dance when it's done well.

 

[As a side note, I would add that the UK/US division regarding what dance can and should be goes a long way toward explaining why a lot of Kenneth MacMillan's work (i.e. Mayerling) gets a heavy press in the United States.] 

Edited October 20, 2022 by miliosr

[Emeralds]

12 hours ago, annamk said:

 

I don't know where you got the idea from that Macaulay confines himself solely to liking pretty, idealised versions of ballet ? And to suggest that he hated Rojo's Raymonda (a pretty, sanitised depiction of war if you ask me) because it reminded him "that not everyone lives a privileged, comfortable and lucky life" just doesn't make sense. 

 

This is an interesting look back on his years in New York as the New York Times chief dance critic. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/arts/dance/alastair-macaulay-dance-farewell.html

 

Just in case you're wondering, I'm not a friend of his, I've never met him and I dislike the sometimes barbed tone in his reviews but he's been a dance critic for 40 years and is hugely knowledgeable and I think it's unnecessarily derogative to make such unsubstantiated comments. 

 

 

Since you asked, annamk, I’ve read his work for the last 25 years in publications (such as the New York Times and dance periodicals) and I don’t have any biases or preferences for any particular person’s gender, nationality, much less whether they agree with me or not. There are critics that like some things I don’t like, or vice versa, but concur with me on others- that’s fine, it’s pretty normal. I do know some critics who have/had strong opinions and preferences for certain styles of performances- eg Mary Clarke and Clement Crisp favoured artistic maturity and depth of interpretation over perfect physiques and ability to do tricks like 185 degree extensions, triple fouettes (although they did praise those who had artistry on top of the physique/virtuosity). That’s reasonable too, as interpretation is an important part of being an artist.

 

Macaulay was the strangest one who tore into people for the strangest reasons: 1) not emaciated enough, 2) thin but didn’t fit his notion of the perfect ballerina, 3) a very flawed performance of Bournonville which may have been due to jet lag, nerves or both was rated as impeccable, textbook perfect, wonderful, etc, which is simply bizarre. (It’s fine to accept a performance that had flaws on an off day and give credit to the artistry and interpretation,  but to call it textbook perfect and impeccable is poor journalism and frankly, a bit condescending to the dancers), 4) taking swipes at a dancer for the roles he is given (it’s not his fault that he is the first choice for many choreographers to interpret extreme characters or avant garden choreography), 5) taking swipes at Rojo for not making her Raymonda more sanitised and sticking to the standard modern day Russian “Petipa” (a lot of it is more Vaganova and Sergeyev than Petipa) versions with tutus (which themselves had chopped and changed versions of the libretto and score that he had objected to).

 

Read his review again- his whole objection seems to be the choice of subject matter. Complaining that it’s too choreographed- well, this is a ballet. What was he expecting- a sit in? A protest march? 

 

As for what I meant by my “not everyone lives a privileged (etc)” comment, he is often most nasty to choreographers and artists who want to make dances or perform works about tragedy, pain, suffering, poverty, in a way that is honest, unsympathetic and expressionistic. His biases for praise or brickbats seem to be that his reviews point to his preferences for rating dances are plotless, beautiful and cheerful the highest (whether in a modern style or 19th century style), and his underlying bias that to portray suffering, one must only show it in a pretty and elegant manner eg Giselle, or Nikiya.  No tortured, angry or raw emotions allowed, even though such works that fit that description made to a high standard have struck a chord with many, and provided solace and healing to many that pretty and sanitised depictions of grief or pain didn’t. 

 

Derogative? I can only go by what someone has written. They might be a lovely person to their own friends but if they’re unfair and nasty in print, I respond to what they’ve written in their articles- their actions in private aren’t my business. Also, I don’t tend to pay too much heed to one or two random unusual reviews from any critic but if someone is regularly  unfair or mean, then it becomes a pattern of behaviour that is unpleasant and unwelcome. I should also add that bullying already thin dancers about their weight or their looks - both of which have nothing to do with their ability to portray a role - particularly rankles when it comes from a non dancer who’s never had to grapple with the physical and physiological challenges of a dancer’s job....and he’s done that quite a lot. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

10 hours ago, miliosr said:

I wouldn't agree entirely with this. For instance, Alastair Macaulay has always been a major proponent of Merce Cunningham's work. "Pretty" and "idealized" are not words I would use to describe Cunningham's repertory.

 

I think of Macaulay as a "Croce-ite" - named after Arlene Croce, the longtime dance critic at The New Yorker. Perhaps her most famous written statement was: "I never saw a great ballet that made me think." At root, what she was getting at was, admittedly, the very New York attitude that dance has no subject but dance. Ultimately, though, there is no resolution to that debate - everyone has to decide that for themselves what they think dance is. In Macaulay's case, I think he leans in hard toward the Croce position even though he can still appreciate story-driven, Expressionistic dance when it's done well.

 

[As a side note, I would add that the UK/US division regarding what dance can and should be goes a long way toward explaining why a lot of Kenneth MacMillan's work (i.e. Mayerling) gets a heavy press in the United States.] 

Much of Merce’s work is indeed beautiful and idealised in its purity of movement! (Maybe not pretty as in a smiley ballerina in a tutu but still beautiful'',,l'.) Funnily enough, all the great ballets made me think - but of course thinking might mean different things to Croce and to me.

 

I’ve read a lot of Arlene Croce and to me at least, she couldn’t be more different to AM. She is very knowledgeable about ballet and dance, but doesn’t blow her own trumpet, and most of all, she focuses on the art and what the dancer is able to do- she doesn’t take personal swipes at individuals. Like Clarke and Crisp, she is a writer of integrity- whether or not their likes and dislikes concur with mine, they all write from a fair and valid standpoint. (I actually have more in common with Croce than Clarke and Crisp.)

 

I do agree with you that among critics (not necessarily audiences) there does seem to be a cultural divide among US/U.K. lines with regard to what ballet should be about, especially with regard to MacMillan’s works.

[bridiem]

4 hours ago, Emeralds said:

As for what I meant by my “not everyone lives a privileged (etc)” comment, he is often most nasty to choreographers and artists who want to make dances or perform works about tragedy, pain, suffering, poverty, in a way that is honest, unsympathetic and expressionistic. His biases for praise or brickbats seem to be that his reviews point to his preferences for rating dances are plotless, beautiful and cheerful the highest (whether in a modern style or 19th century style), and his underlying bias that to portray suffering, one must only show it in a pretty and elegant manner eg Giselle, or Nikiya.  No tortured, angry or raw emotions allowed, even though such works that fit that description made to a high standard have struck a chord with many, and provided solace and healing to many that pretty and sanitised depictions of grief or pain didn’t. 

 

I do often find Macaulay's writing both self-important and unpleasant, but it's also often interesting, well-informed and stimulating. So I feel sometimes outraged by him and sometimes rather reluctantly admiring. But I don't think the above comments are really fair. In his recent review of Mayerling he says 'Its darkness – part of what makes it great – courageously extended everyone’s idea of ballet.' He wouldn't be alone in tiring of emoting, expressionistic work concentrating exclusively on suffering and often not making use of classical technique which is after all the basis of ballet. (I'm not referring to Light of Passage, which I haven't seen.)

[BeauxArts]

Why do I feel that the controversial critic himself is probably basking in the reflected glory of being the subject of these knowledgeable exchanges?!! He has provoked an interesting debate though.

[Lizbie1]

When I read some of Macaulay's reviews and other writing I think of Beecham's words about musicologists: that they can read music but can't hear it. There's a lot of straining after knowledge, but sometimes that leads him to miss the point IMO.

[Fonty]

As I said before, I didn't see Flight Pattern and I haven't seen the full length work.  However, has a critic really missed the point if he says he doesn't like something?  I try to approach everything with an open mind, but generally I know that if a certain choreographer is involved, the chances are I am not going to be very keen on it.  Occasionally I am pleasantly surprised, and think maybe I have been a bit too harsh in my first judgement on that individual's work.  Then I go back and see other stuff by them, and think "No, this is not my sort of thing at all."

[Lizbie1]

5 minutes ago, Fonty said:

As I said before, I didn't see Flight Pattern and I haven't seen the full length work.  However, has a critic really missed the point if he says he doesn't like something? 

 

That's why I said sometimes! On this occasion I suspect I'd find a lot to agree with him about.

[Beryl H]

There's a short film of the elderly couple on the ROH website/Twitter, rehearsing their pdd, it looks very moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Laura_ballet]

2 hours ago, Beryl H said:

There's a short film of the elderly couple on the ROH website/Twitter, rehearsing their pdd, it looks very moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s very moving. Get the tissues out !

[li tai po]

I chose not to book for Light of Passage and I have not seen it.  

 

I am intrigued that the bulk of this thread is given over to a discussion of Alistair Macaulay and ballet critics in general.  Everyone seems to find Alistair much more interesting than the ballet itself.

[JohnS]

Apologies - there’s another thread on News/Information but I think my comment sits better here.

Looking forward to today’s double performance. I bought a programme yesterday - excellent photos and some interesting material although a little surprised that the words to Symphony of Sorrowful Songs are not included. They’re readily available on the web:

https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/goreckilyrics.html

[ChrisG]

10 hours ago, li tai po said:

I am intrigued that the bulk of this thread is given over to a discussion of Alistair Macaulay and ballet critics in general.  Everyone seems to find Alistair much more interesting than the ballet itself.

Not quite everyone - certainly not me! For me the mark of a good work is when you’re still thinking through it days after seeing it. It’s a work that will live with me for a long time, especially the beautiful 2nd movement. I think it’ll outlast any adverse criticism, no matter how distinguished its source.

[Angela Essex]

13 hours ago, li tai po said:

I chose not to book for Light of Passage and I have not seen it.  

 

I am intrigued that the bulk of this thread is given over to a discussion of Alistair Macaulay and ballet critics in general.  Everyone seems to find Alistair much more interesting than the ballet itself.

Not me! I saw the matinee today and it just wasn’t my type of thing at all. I’ve not been watching ballet for long so I’m far from a connoisseur but there was a lot of running around the stage, swaying in various formations and not much dancing. 
 

The dancers clearly gave it their all and it was delightful to see the children on stage, beautiful performances by Joseph Sissens, Luca Active and Isabella Gasparini but I just didn’t ‘get’ a lot of it.

 

I know from the program and discussions on here the first act was supposed to depict the refugee crisis including death of a baby, but the ‘baby’ was a coat bundled up and the way it was being held and moved only vaguely evoked someone holding a baby and looked a lot like someone holding a bundled up coat. Also when the coat/baby died there was no convincing outpouring of devastation and grief from the mother. It just made the whole thing less engaging. 
 

The second Act was supposed to explore the convention on human rights as applied to children eg you have the right to a name, the right to play, the right to life, the right to an opinion - but I didn’t feel that these were really depicted in a way I understood. Again more running around the stage and swaying on various formations but not much actual dancing.

 

The third act featured the pdd by the elderly couple and was supposed to explore death and passing but when the man died the elderly woman didn’t seem that devastated - quite upset but not distraught - I felt the acting and emotion needed to be dialled up a gear. It was all a bit to restrained and subtle for me to get emotional about. 

I think I just don’t enjoy more modern, non-narrative ballets as much as I do the classics and narrative ballets. I like a really palpable story with lots of dancing, beautiful costumes, stunning sets and as much raw emotion as possible. So this didn’t cut it for me at all.

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, Angela Essex said:

Luca Active

😂

[JohnS]

I was expecting I’d find Flight of Passage very moving given the subject matter and my expectations were massively exceeded. I was very impressed with the entire performance from curtain up to the well presented curtain calls. I thought Covenant and Passage worked very effectively and the last few moments of Passage had me in tears. I find ballet can explore grief more effectively than many art forms and provide much solace. I loved the organic movement of the dancers throughout the ballet. Many thanks to Crystal Pite and the entire cast. And a special shout for Zoi Tsokanou, conductor, and Francesca Cheijina, soprano. I’ll say more after tonight’s performance.

[Angela Essex]

3 hours ago, Richard LH said:

😂

Luca Active -ooops 😂

[LinMM]

He usually is pretty much lol!! 

[art_enthusiast]

I loved it, saw the matinée and evening performances today. Joseph Sissens consistently astonishes me with his incredible talent, as does Marcelino Sambé of course, and the rest of the cast - particularly impressed by the male pas de deux between Joseph Sissens/Calvin Richardson and Luca Acri/Benjamin Ella. Marcelino and Kristen's performances were incredibly heartrending. I thought the grief/loss of the baby was portrayed extremely well, though I was close to the stage so could see the dancer's expressions very clearly.

I invited a friend and her young niece to the matinée - the first live ballet/contemporary dance performance for both of them. They enjoyed it immensely, and the niece is now even more inspired to continue with her ballet lessons.

[AnnabelCharles]

I loved it too.

 

Intense, beautiful, moving - it will stay in my mind for some time.

 

I was in the gods - and couldn't see faces, but the emotions were conveyed clearly through the dancers' movements - and the patterns were extraordinary and mesmerising.

[Fonty]

From everything I have read this is a very moving piece, and and a terrific live theatre experience.  But is it dancing?  Is it the sort of the thing that should take up an entire evening with the royal ballet?

 

Those of you who loved it will probably say yes.  However, the more this type of choreography is added to the rep, the less time there is for the more traditional stuff that I personally love and want to see.  Are those of us who want classical ballet going to be confined in future to the Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake in rotation (with the Nutcracker at Christmas) plus one of the 3 full length McMillan ballets?  With the occasional 5 performances of a triple bill with the odd Ashton or whatever sandwiched in just to show that the RB is still a classical company?  Have to say it is beginning to feel like that.  

 

 

[Pas de Quatre]

No I disagree, to stay alive rather than becoming a museum RB needs to keep commissioning new work. Not everything will last, but the best will. Think back to the initial reactions to Ballet Russe's new works, Petruschka, Rite, Firebird and more. 

[FionaM]

I saw both performances yesterday and loved it from start to finish both times.   Immensely powerful combination of movement and music and visuals.
 

The way Crystal engages the group body to convey emotion through movements is like no one else.  She’s using four dimensions to convey movement and emotion … the group is the 4th … it’s so much MORE and subtle and complex too.  The patterns and shapes in relation to each other are ever changing … and this effect is better appreciated from amphitheater (matinee) than the stalls (evening).