Royal Ballet: A Diamond Celebration

[Beryl H]

Have only just signed in but to agree with you, I didn't like Prima, or more accurately the costumes, the only one that didn't make me need sunglasses was Fumi Kaneko's, all the girls dressed in different shades of that costume would have been lovely. I'll carry on reading the views, think mine will also be very different!

[emmarose]

4 minutes ago, Beryl H said:

Have only just signed in but to agree with you, I didn't like Prima, or more accurately the costumes, the only one that didn't make me need sunglasses was Fumi Kaneko's, all the girls dressed in different shades of that costume would have been lovely. I'll carry on reading the views, think mine will also be very different!

 

We've been talking about it here today and what I keep coming back to about the costumes in Prima was that they were distracting.

All through it I kept wondering why and trying to come up with some cohesion as to why Fumi's was so different (and lovely) and the rest looked as if they came from a circus (or one review suggested, a deflated beach ball).

 

It kept me from being fully absorbed into it because they were distracting in how bad they were.

[Emeralds]

19 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Please somebody tell me that Woolf Works doesn't have the same sort of thumping amplified music that Qualia has, because if it does I'll return my ticket as I couldn't take a whole evening of that. Other than that, Hamilton was very flexible & I have no idea what it was supposed to be about.

 

The only problem with seeing the Manon pdd is I then wanted to cancel the rest of the programme & see Manon in its entirety instead! I hope Richardson's casting means he's in line for debuting Des Grieux in the next revival, which presumably will be next season. Nice to finally see Takada live: on at least 3 previous occasions I should have done then she was injured.

 

Muntagirov looked about a decade younger tonight than he did at the end of Mayerling on Friday!

Woolf Works has thumping music in Act 2 and lighting effects with strobe/laser (can’t remember which-maybe both).  From what you have said before, Dawnstar, I think you might like Acts 1 and 3, but possibly find Act 2 less your cup of tea. All three acts are quite separate-their only link being that all three are inspired by Virginia Woolf books. 

[zxDaveM]

You could probably stream Max Richter's music for Woolf Works, and give it a listen - or go old school like me and buy the CD (Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works )  🙂

[Fonty]

A few thoughts, mainly about the stuff I haven't seen before.

 

Fille – Wonderful, made me long to see the entire ballet again.

 

Manon – Ok, but unlike Fille, I didn't think this little snippet was as good taken out of context.

 

Qualia – I am quite enjoyed this, and I thought Hamilton was wonderful, positively boneless. However, I agree with others that it seemed to be an exercise in pushing flexibility to its limits. Also, the outfits of pristine white vests and rather old fashioned pants for the man put me in mind of Rocky Horror and the quote “What charming underclothes you both have.”

 

For Four – I really enjoyed this, but personally I thought it went on just slightly too long. I overheard an interesting comment in the break from a Chinese lady talking to her friend, when she said Wheeldon seemed to have taken a lot of movements from Chinese martial arts.

 

See Us!! - Oh dear. Well, the music was a surprise, not at all the scratchy noise I was expecting. In fact I quite liked it. The cast were hugely committed, and expended a lot of energy clenching their fists, thumping their palms, indulging in group tremor sessions, and conveying an enormous amount of emotional anger and frustration. Trouble is, I found it repetitive, boring and dull. The motley collection of grunge outfits didn't help either. No idea what this emerging choreographer is going to become, but not sure I want to know.

 

Dispatch Duet – Oh dear again. Unlike the previous piece, I found this slightly more interesting movement wise, but hated the music. And why were the dancers in old fashioned running shorts?

 

Concerto Pour Deux – I rather enjoyed Mr Swan Pouffer's offering. The movement seemed interesting, and the music was enjoyable as well. Darcey mentioned afterwards that he made the dancers use the entire stage, but I didn't get that feeling at all from the cinema relay. However, I would like to see other stuff by him. Unfortunately, yet more dull costumes. What is it with these modern ballets, that they insist on bare legs and shorts or knickers? The women can just about carry them off, but it doesn't flatter the men at all, and I spent my time musing whether the ROH employs a full time beautician to wax all the legs.

 

Prima – Dear oh dear oh dear. I thought I had seen some dire costumes in my time, but these really were some of the worst I have ever seen. Here are 4 lovely ladies, all in wildly different costumes of assorted lengths, 3 of which were just plain dreadful. Magri looked positively matronly in that maroon get up with what appeared to be a huge cabbage rose stuck on the front, and Naghdi was doing her best in horrible scraps of clashing colours with what looked like a frisby bobbing about either side of her skirt. Haywood at least didn't have the vile colours, but she had to contend not only with the frisby effect, but she also seemed to have a collapsible bag bouncing about on her left hip. Kaneko's floor length gown initially looked very elegant, but the underskirt kept shaping itself into pink forms that at first I thought looked like giant earlobes. Then I decided it looked like pigs' snouts peeping out from underneath. I'm afraid at that point I got a fit of the giggles.

You can tell from this lengthy description that I was so distracted, I couldn't tell you a thing about the choreography. Not one thing. Surely Zuccetti should have realised early on in the proceedings that these were not going to work. What was everybody thinking? Frankly I would have preferred to have seen the dancers in vests and pants, and that is saying something!

Diamonds. Aahh! Thank goodness they ended on a high note.  Lovely. 

 

 

 

 

[Mary]

Perhaps they could re-use the Prima costumes for Cinderella's step-sisters....

[emmarose]

22 minutes ago, Fonty said:

You can tell from this lengthy description that I was so distracted, I couldn't tell you a thing about the choreography. Not one thing. Surely Zuccetti should have realised early on in the proceedings that these were not going to work. What was everybody thinking? Frankly I would have preferred to have seen the dancers in vests and pants, and that is saying something!
 

 

This is what I can't get my head around, how many people it would've passed through to get approved and everyone thought these costumes were a good idea? Not one person decided to step in and say not only were they hideous, which is one thing, but they completely distract from the dance, which surely is a hindrance to the choreography.

 

I just can't understand any of the thought process that led to those gorgeous dancers looking like that up on the ROH stage.

[zxDaveM]

14 minutes ago, Mary said:

Perhaps they could re-use the Prima costumes for Cinderella's step-sisters....

 

i don't think even they would go that far...

 

[LinMM]

Ha ha Mary! Not an entirely inappropriate suggestion lol! 

[JennyTaylor]

8 hours ago, emmarose said:

 

I found myself start to clap when the curtain opened and asked myself why I was clapping.

But yes, it very much felt like, at last, something spectacular was happening.

They did the same thing at the rehearsal, and yes, it felt very much like "thank goodness, here's something beautiful that we know we will like".   You could almost hear the sigh of relief

[Suffolkgal]

Reading all this - and everyone very open minded-  I do think that given the economic squeeze the contemporary material in programmes might not go so well! They have such a broad and fine repertoire at the RB that we would all flock to!

[MJW]

Some terrific pictures just posted on ROH's Flickr (95 in total) - 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/royaloperahouse/albums/72177720303760904

[JennyTaylor]

I've seen the programme twice, once at rehearsal and once in the cinema.  I enjoyed the cinema performance far more, because it was better lit and the dancers were close up.  Obviously the dancing was up a notch too, but that's the difference between a rehearsal and a performance, though not always it has to be said!  I also enjoy the interviews and chat that they add to the cinema performance especially in this instance with all the new works, as they gave further insights. 

 

I've loved reading all the comments. Isn't it great when so many people can see it so early on.  Some random thoughts from me. 

 

I loved the chosen opening of the overture from La Fille. In the theatre, I felt quite moved as it is such a beautiful price of music and lovely to see if followed in the evening by Alex and Anna-Rose. Who else held their breath at the end in anticipation of that fiendish lift which closes the whole piece? They made it!  Made me wish to see the whole ballet again please - and soon. 

 

Manon - the same. Think of all those luscious partnerships there could be. 

 

I don't like Wayne McGregor's pieces but did appreciate Melissa Hamilton. Stunning performance from her.  

 

Prima and For Four - really enjoyed seeing the wonderful dancers, but could find no pattern, story or emotion to latch onto, so left a bit cold. Zuccetti definitely my favourite of all the new choreographers. 

 

See Us!!  I interpreted this as being about black power because it started off with Joe Sissons doing what looked like a black power salute, but I may be completely wrong here. Certainly, the dance and dancer sequences line didn't then follow that path later on.  There seemed a lot of anger, posturing, youth moment - I don't know!!  Is that what it was about?  Certainly, the choreographer didn't explain in his interview.  For me, this was dance not ballet.   

 

Dispatch Duet - longed to like it as Will Bracewell was in it - but sadly, apart from looking at him, I could find no meaning to it and hated the music.  Weird costumes too.  

 

If we look at the choreographers chosen for the new works, then diversity and inclusion is well served. 

 

Diamonds - Hurrah!  The real performance was fantastic.  Marianella and Reece sublime. Oh, what a joy. That's what I pay my money to see.   Left on a huge high. 

 

 

[emmarose]

40 minutes ago, JennyTaylor said:

They did the same thing at the rehearsal, and yes, it felt very much like "thank goodness, here's something beautiful that we know we will like".   You could almost hear the sigh of relief

 

That's what I felt, relief. I felt as if I knew where I was, I was back in the land of ballet. 

And I'd spent so long thinking while watching the new pieces, I could just sit back and enjoy and bask in the gorgeous dancing and costumes. And I really did, it was divine.

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Ha ha Mary! Not an entirely inappropriate suggestion lol! 

I must admit to specially googling Prima earlier on to see if I could find photos of the costumes after reading members’ horrified reactions. I saw just one earlier in The Stage (which didn’t look too bad apart from the eye makeup for Yasmine Naghdi- if you can make a beautiful and photogenic ballerina like Naghdi look awful, that’s really bad makeup!) but now that the Flickr collection have been posted, I know what members mean: they’re costumes by a fashion designer (a popular and successful British based designer who has made dresses for Catherine, Princess of Wales) and rather like costumes for Corybantic Games, what often looks impressive on the page doesn’t look great when the dancers start moving. In this case, they’re not as bad as the Corybantic Games ones and look quite pretty and trendy when the dancers are standing still...but unsuitable when they dance.

 

It reminds me of the New York City Ballet Fall Fashion Gala, where fashion companies and other sponsors pay huge sums to the company to be involved and supply costumes, but as the designers almost always have no experience or training in designing for dance, the costumes often look ungainly when the dancers have to dance in them.  It just illustrates very clearly that costume design for dance is a specialised art and skill- not everyone can design outfits that flatter a dancer’s lines, move well when they dance, and be suitable for lifts and supported pirouettes (at least there’s no partnering here) and not have bits flying or falling off when they jump or turn fast. I must admit that I love fashion but any time a fashion designer gets involved in dance, it fills me with dread.

 

The only exceptions are Jasper Conran, who designed beautiful tutus and leotards for Tombeaux, and whose shimmery dresses for Within the Golden Hour were an improvement on the originals (the men’s shorts and tops seem to be a choreographer decision as the original had them too, but in a different colour scheme), and Hanae Mori, whose designs for Nureyev’s Cinderella were glamorous (that dream outfit - dress and hairpiece - for Cinderella at the ball is one of the most beautiful Cinderella looks of all time).  

Edited November 17, 2022 by Emeralds

[MJW]

9 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

One added comment - How glorious to see James Hay back in such breath-taking shape.  There can't have been too many other dancers whose stunning lyrical line - always wafting THROUGH the music - is consistently pinpointed by such a miraculous port de bras.  Such a gift for us all.  

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more with your comments regarding James Hay - where possible I always try to book his performances. I am seeing him on the 6th December in The Nutcracker and will try to see him Sleeping Beauty next year (as well as (hopefully) this coming Saturday).

Edited November 17, 2022 by MJW

[Richard LH]

Looking forward to Dance Links tomorrow...interestingly, there is a lot of disparity in the  various published critics' reviews I have already seen - just like on this forum! Perhaps surprisingly there is even quite a degree of enthusiasm from some quarters for the Toonga piece😬!

The common denominator seems to be pretty broad based  plaudits for "Diamonds".

[Emeralds]

2 minutes ago, MJW said:

 

I couldn't agree more with your comments regarding James Hay - where possible I always try to book his performances. I am seeing him on the 6th December in The Nutcracker and will try to see him Sleeping Beauty next year (as well as (hopefully) this coming Saturday.

This year, for the first time, we picked a Nutcracker date specifically to see James as Hans-Peter, whereas I’d usually pick according to the casting for Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince! Looking forward to seeing him in For Four this Saturday-  hopefully no cast changes! 

 

 

[MJW]

Just now, Emeralds said:

This year, for the first time, we picked a Nutcracker date specifically to see James as Hans-Peter, whereas I’d usually pick according to the casting for Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince! Looking forward to seeing him in For Four this Saturday-  hopefully no cast changes! 

 

 

 

Fingers crossed!  I did the same for the Nutcracker last year and unfortunately James was indisposed; hopefully better luck this year.

[Dawnstar]

4 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Woolf Works has thumping music in Act 2 and lighting effects with strobe/laser (can’t remember which-maybe both).  From what you have said before, Dawnstar, I think you might like Acts 1 and 3, but possibly find Act 2 less your cup of tea. All three acts are quite separate-their only link being that all three are inspired by Virginia Woolf books. 

 

4 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

You could probably stream Max Richter's music for Woolf Works, and give it a listen - or go old school like me and buy the CD (Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works )  🙂

 

Oh dear. It sounds like I'd better look up the music & decide if I do really want to see Alessandra Ferri live that much.... Does her character appear in all 3 acts?

 

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

Unfortunately, yet more dull costumes. What is it with these modern ballets, that they insist on bare legs and shorts or knickers? The women can just about carry them off, but it doesn't flatter the men at all, and I spent my time musing whether the ROH employs a full time beautician to wax all the legs.

 

Prima – Dear oh dear oh dear. I thought I had seen some dire costumes in my time, but these really were some of the worst I have ever seen. Here are 4 lovely ladies, all in wildly different costumes of assorted lengths, 3 of which were just plain dreadful.

 

I was thinking that last night too. Why do modern costume designers seem to not want dancers to wear tights? All the modern pieces last night had either bare legs or trousers.

 

It was the total difference in style of the 4 costumes that was the most baffling bit. If they'd been either different colours but the same design (like For For's) or the same colour in different designs then it would have been more logical but for both the colours and the designs to be totally different didn't really make any sense.

 

5 minutes ago, MJW said:

Fingers crossed!  I did the same for the Nutcracker last year and unfortunately James was indisposed; hopefully better luck this year.

 

Add me to the list of people trying to see Hay in the Nutcracker this year. In my case I was booked to see him in January 2019 & he got injured then with no Nutcrackers the following season & covid messing up the 2 seasons after that I still haven't seen him.

[Emeralds]

8 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

 

Oh dear. It sounds like I'd better look up the music & decide if I do really want to see Alessandra Ferri live that much.... Does her character appear in all 3 acts?

 

 

I was thinking that last night too. Why do modern costume designers seem to not want dancers to wear tights? All the modern pieces last night had either bare legs or trousers.

 

It was the total difference in style of the 4 costumes that was the most baffling bit. If they'd been either different colours but the same design (like For For's) or the same colour in different designs then it would have been more logical but for both the colours and the designs to be totally different didn't really make any sense.

 

 

Add me to the list of people trying to see Hay in the Nutcracker this year. In my case I was booked to see him in January 2019 & he got injured then with no Nutcrackers the following season & covid messing up the 2 seasons after that I still haven't seen him.

Ferri’s character only appears in Act 1 and Act 3. If you can borrow/buy the DVD, or google YouTube/Facebook excerpts with Ferri in them, you’ll see what I mean. There was a lovely Insights Evening on the ROH website and YouTube with her doing a run through of the main pas de deux in Act 3 partnered by Federico Bonelli, which was beautiful.

[Jorgeb]

Like other members, yesterday I've returned from the cinema with mixed feelings.

Some quick views:

Anne Rose O` Sullivan and Alex Campbell make a good partnership and were charming, but I still remember Anne Rose and Sambé in the same pas de deux in Royal Ballet Back on Stage and the comparison is inevitable.

I enjoyed Manon. Akane and Richardson were lovely.

Qualia - Melissa Hamilton and Lukas Brændsrød  looked great together and Hamilton technique is amazing, but the piece itself seems to me essentially an exercise in flexibility and contortionism with no other meaning.

For Four – I really enjoyed this. Great joy to see Ball, Sambé, Hay and Vadim.

See Us – In line with Joseph Toonga's trilogy on race, identity and heritage - Born to Manifest, Born to Protest and Born To Exist - there are strong protest vibes in the piece, enunciated right at the beginning by Joseph Sissens' clenched fist, looking defiantly at the audience. I identify in the piece a kind of political statement. I didn't dislike the piece and the cast were really committed, especially Sissens and Ashley Dean. The choreography is somewhat repetitive, reminiscent of Crystal Pite`s work and, in my opinion, without the same quality of movement. Whether it is an appropriate piece for A Diamond Celebration marking 60 years of the friends of The ROH is a question others will be able to answer.

Dispatch Duet – Some interesting moments, but awful music and awful costumes for two excellent ballet dancers.

Concerto pour deux – The music - Concerto pour une Voix, by the French composer Saint-Preux, his biggest hit (1969/1970) - a kind of sugary / sentimental music very popular in the seventies of the last century that I don't like at all. The choreography dated and predictable. Awful costumes. Why Steven Macrae had to appear in what looks like underwear – boxer-briefs? I think Steven and Osiposa deserved better. I don't understand the choice of this piece for the Gala, but Osipova's boyfriend was the assistant to the choreographer.

Prima – Zucchetti is very talented and Prima was the new piece I was looking forward most. Unfortunately it didn't work for me. Four lovely dancers, but I don´t understand the costumes. Like others, I was so distracted that I couldn`t pay attention to the choreography. None of the costumes worked well, not even Fumi's (the best of the four). A work ruined by its costumes. Really frustrating.

Diamonds - Wonderful!! Bravi!!!

 

(please be benevolent with my English which is very much forgotten).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mary]

I find it striking and moving that everyone loved Diamonds so much.

 

Maybe we love it because such very pure classical ballet answers a deep-seated human need for order, beauty and harmony, in the unique experience of watching beautifully poised people dancing together in blissful, joyful cohesion to sublime music - creating for a short time a heaven on earth.  Possibly we need it more than ever these days.

 

 

 

[LinMM]

So agree with your last post Mary and beautifully expressed. 
 

It was James Hay in the Hans Peter role  in Nutcracker when I had the one and probably only time in a front row stalls seat and got transfixed by his eyes!! 

[Dawnstar]

42 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Ferri’s character only appears in Act 1 and Act 3. If you can borrow/buy the DVD, or google YouTube/Facebook excerpts with Ferri in them, you’ll see what I mean. There was a lovely Insights Evening on the ROH website and YouTube with her doing a run through of the main pas de deux in Act 3 partnered by Federico Bonelli, which was beautiful.

 

Thanks. I could potentially skip Act II then, if I think the music is going to be too much.

 

I'm trying to work out who all the corps de ballet dancers were in last night's Diamonds cast but I can't manage to name everyone. Can those who are much better than I am at IDing the dancers help? (It doesn't help that the dancers shown in the production pictures on the RB's Flickr account aren't all the same as in the actual performance, so I'm having to go off my own curtain call photos.)

 

Gina Storm-Jensen

Julia Roscoe

Leticia Stock

Mariko Sasaki

Charlotte Tonkinson

Isabel Lubach

Amelia Townsend

Marianna Tsembenhoi

Sae Maeda?

Yu Hang?

 

Teo Dubreuil

Tomas Mock

David Yudes

Benjamin Ella

Kevin Emerton

Giacomo Rovero

Joonhyuk Jun

Harry Churches

Joshua Junker

Leo Dixon

Brayden Gallucci?

[emmarose]

35 minutes ago, Mary said:

I find it striking and moving that everyone loved Diamonds so much.

 

Maybe we love it because such very pure classical ballet answers a deep-seated human need for order, beauty and harmony, in the unique experience of watching beautifully poised people dancing together in blissful, joyful cohesion to sublime music - creating for a short time a heaven on earth.  Possibly we need it more than ever these days.

 

 

 

 

How wonderfully put Mary.

It did feel lovely to just sit back and enjoy the dream of this ballet, you could lose yourself in the beauty and poise and after the last few years we probably needed it.

 

Yes, so beautifully expressed Mary, couldn't agree more. 

[MJW]

55 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Thanks. I could potentially skip Act II then, if I think the music is going to be too much.

 

I'm trying to work out who all the corps de ballet dancers were in last night's Diamonds cast but I can't manage to name everyone. Can those who are much better than I am at IDing the dancers help? (It doesn't help that the dancers shown in the production pictures on the RB's Flickr account aren't all the same as in the actual performance, so I'm having to go off my own curtain call photos.)

 

Gina Storm-Jensen

Julia Roscoe

Leticia Stock

Mariko Sasaki

Charlotte Tonkinson

Isabel Lubach

Amelia Townsend

Marianna Tsembenhoi

Sae Maeda?

Yu Hang?

 

Teo Dubreuil

Tomas Mock

David Yudes

Benjamin Ella

Kevin Emerton

Giacomo Rovero

Joonhyuk Jun

Harry Churches

Joshua Junker

Leo Dixon

Brayden Gallucci?

 

James (Owen) Large was there as well.

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by MJW

[Richard LH]

46 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Thanks. I could potentially skip Act II then, if I think the music is going to be too much.

I think Act 2 is an exciting and dynamic part of the whole work (only going by the DVD as yet).

[MoVR]

@Dawnstar there's a list of the dancers of the diamond corps de ballet commented under the world ballet day stream on youtube. obviously there have been some changes since the rehearsal (two solo ladies have been replaced) but i think that should be about right. i suppose there's only one cast of this?

Edit: Mica Bradbury, Bomin Kim and David Donnelly danced it as well according to their instagram, but not Joshua Junker nor Yu Hang i believe

Edited November 17, 2022 by MoVR

[TomS]

Hi Dawnstar, 

I have spotted Sumina Sasaki and Bomin Kim, but not Yu Hang in addition to Mica Bradbury MoVR mentioned earlier. That makes it twelve of them. 

 

As for the male dancers, you're spot on and there was David Donnelly. 

Edited November 17, 2022 by TomS
Added male dancers

[MoVR]

oops, apparently I made an edit at the same time you commented :))

[Fonty]

Just musing thoughtfully here on the topic of costumes. Reading up about Roksanda Ilinčić who designed the ones for Prima, I can see nothing in her biography that suggests she has designed anything for dancers before.  Of course, she may have had a life long interest in ballet which just hasn't been mentioned in the on line information, but I wondered how she came to be chosen in the first place?  I am assuming she doesn't come at a bargain basement price, so a sizeable chunk of money will have been spent on these things.  

 

Incidentally, in the photos on Flickr, I didn't think they don't look as bad as they did when the dancers were moving around.  The sad thing is that the cinema relay showed the dancers working with Zucchetti in the studio, wearing their own clothes, and I thought how much better it would have looked in simple leotards and tights.  

 

 

[Ian Macmillan]

Looked at Today's Links?  All explained there by Mr Zucchetti.