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Bavarian State Ballet, Wheeldon's Cinderella - livestream, November 2022

Sabine0308
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Jorgeb

Jorgeb

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I`ve just watched the livestream.

Madison Young – a beautiful and captivating Cinderella.

Shale – fantastic and wonderful as always.

The stepmother and the two stepsisters – played perfectly by Maria Chiara Bono, Elvina Ibraimova and Bianca Teixeira.

Mackay – a very good-looking prince, but I couldn`t help feeling a little disappointed. There were moments in the partnering where the lifts didn`t look effortless and I didn't feel there was great chemistry between him and Madison Young. It might be a snap judgment and I admit I could be wrong but I don't see him on the same level as Shale. I doubt that, from a technical and artistic point of view, Mackay is better than some dancers in the company, Shale and Casalinho included.

 

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Sabine0308

Sabine0308

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I almost completely agree with you, @Jorgeb. So I would like to just add some remarks: I've seen the live performance on Friday and now the livestream. I was expecting a mutual inspiration between Shale Wagman and Julian McKay, but there wasn't enough chemistry to convince me of a long friendship since childhood. I know I am spoiled by Shale in terms of artistry, but I was surprised that he was indeed SO much better than McKay, flexibility, high jumps, acting...all much better. 

Madison Young was a BEAUTIFUL Cinderella and I do think their partnership with the Prince was quite good. I was just wondering whether the choreo required low lifts, or if McKay really had a problem with stamina/strength/shape.  

I've seen Youtube Videos where he was much better. I think time will tell if there was too much fuss about him or if he gets better when being more present with the company and doing regular class and rehearsals with his colleagues. 

Stepmother and Sisters were brilliant!

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Sabine0308

Sabine0308

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I want to add that the Promo Video, published today for the livestream on the BSB Instagram account was a weird surprise for me. It was done by McKay productions, using footage from the Friday performance, and it heavily focused on the Prince, rather than on Cinderella, the title role!! Ther was no solo part of her to be seen, but several of the prince. Aaand "Benjamin" (Shale Wagman), a key role, was barely visible - I (don't) wonder why. From my point of view, it wasn't a wise decision to hire McKay productions for this Video. It's gives a certain...ummm...Geschmäckle, as we say in Germany.

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Jorgeb

Jorgeb

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42 minutes ago, Sabine0308 said:

I almost completely agree with you, @Jorgeb. So I would like to just add some remarks: I've seen the live performance on Friday and now the livestream. I was expecting a mutual inspiration between Shale Wagman and Julian McKay, but there wasn't enough chemistry to convince me of a long friendship since childhood. I know I am spoiled by Shale in terms of artistry, but I was surprised that he was indeed SO much better than McKay, flexibility, high jumps, acting...all much better. 

Madison Young was a BEAUTIFUL Cinderella and I do think their partnership with the Prince was quite good. I was just wondering whether the choreo required low lifts, or if McKay really had a problem with stamina/strength/shape.  

I've seen Youtube Videos where he was much better. I think time will tell if there was too much fuss about him or if he gets better when being more present with the company and doing regular class and rehearsals with his colleagues. 

Stepmother and Sisters were brilliant!

I think it's wonderful to exchange ideas through balletcoforum with other ballet lovers. From Lisbon my thanks to the ballecoforum. I totally agree that Shale was much better than Mackay. It seems to me that Mackay showed a lack of strength especially in the low lifts. It may be a matter of time to adapt to the new company and improve physical condition.

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myrtle

myrtle

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25 minutes ago, alison said:

Drat.  I totally forgot about this.  And I think I'd better move it to a thread of its own so it doesn't get lost among the 67 pages ...

 

It will be available on demand for 24 hours starting November 19  4pm, I think?   Worth checking out.

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Dara

Dara

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What a disappointing performance from Julian MacKay both technically and artistically. Even making allowances for the difficulty of some of the lifts, it all looked so laboured. Madison was lovely to watch as Cinderella. The standout performance for me was Maria Chiara Bono, her stepmother was wickedly funny, just perfect! 

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FionaM

FionaM

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Firstly .. thank you Bayerisches Staatsballett for this FREE livestream.  One of the few still providing them.    
 

I’d not seen much of Madison Young before … what a beautiful dancer!  Technique and ease of control ..  it all looked so easy for her, that she could *be* Cinderella in the most natural way.   I’ll be looking out for her.  
 

All the characterisations were well done.  It’s easy to overact in this ballet and especially when balancing close-ups of filming and also projecting for a live theatre audience.  Bravo to Maria Chiara Bono as stepmother and Elvira Ibraimova and Bianca Teixiera as the stepsisters for being humourous and delightful as well as technically secure 👏 

 

Thrilled to see Shale Wagman as Benjamin.  His charisma and high quality technique are always a joy to behold.  Lovely interaction with the sisters. 

 

Julian MacKay’s height, youthful and princely looks obviously suit this role and his portrayal was good.  I thought there was decent chemistry between the two leads.  As an aside, Julian and Madison were the first and second prize winners at Prix de Lausanne 2016 respectively.  

 

I was somewhat disappointed by Julian’s technique having not seen him in a full-length ballet before.  He no longer has a boyish figure (he’s 25 now I think) and is not at the technical level when I last saw him pre-covid.   I do hope that he can return to peak level with the benefit of a full-time company routine.  

I’ve been reflecting that life has not been easy for him since leaving the Mikhailovsky company to go freelance shortly before Covid hit the world in early 2020 and all his carefully self-created projects and collaborations would have been cancelled overnight.  Then, due to the travel shutdown, he and his younger brother (the very talented ballet photo/videographer) Nicholas, struggled to find a plane to get them back to Montana as their father was dying.  This must have been an incredibly hard time for such young lads.  


Since then Julian became a principal at San Francisco Ballet and of course danced very little due to the prolonged pandemic shutdowns for American ballet companies.  And as we know his contract was not renewed by the incoming director.  
 

So I’m thinking he’s had a hugely interrupted time for most of these last 2-3 years with regards to dancing and will need time to regain shape, form and technique.  I hope he can devote himself to his ballet without flitting off to too many of his own projects and galas.  
Cinderella could have done with more rehearsals to have more seamless partnering.  

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Buddy

Buddy

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I’ve just skipped through some parts. Madison Young as Cinderella is lovely and delightful.  Julian McKay is a fine partner.

 

https://operlive.de

 

The signature duet is at 1:20:30 — Charming

 

Two others are at  1:05:00 and 1:47:50

 

Some other nice Cinderella dancing at   1:35:00. (also 13:20)

 

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Dawnstar

Dawnstar

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It's interesting to see the production in a proscenium theatre, which I assume is how it was originally devised, as I've only seen it live when ENB did it in the almost round at the RAH. I guess it's useful for me that I have little knowledge of technique as I liked Julian McKay as the Prince.

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Buddy

Buddy

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I also thought that Julian McKay made a fine Prince for our Cinderella, Dawnstar.

 

And who’d ever think that I’d fall in love with a girl named Madison.  😊

 

Lucky Bayerisches Staatsballett.

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Jake

Jake

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Thank you for the reminders and what a treat! Glorious costumes, elegant sets and wonderful lighting. 
Loved Madison Young’s lines, characterisation and sheer naturalness. Shale Wagman stole all his scenes beautifully. A hilarious stepmother, and another of Mr Wheeldon’s trees. What’s not to like?

If you have a spare couple of hours this afternoon, definitely recommended. 

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Buddy

Buddy

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17 hours ago, Jake said:

Thank you for the reminders and what a treat! Glorious costumes, elegant sets and wonderful lighting. 
Loved Madison Young’s lines, characterisation and sheer naturalness. Shale Wagman stole all his scenes beautifully. A hilarious stepmother, and another of Mr Wheeldon’s trees. What’s not to like?

If you have a spare couple of hours this afternoon, definitely recommended. 

 

I did some ‘creative’ viewing. I started at the duets, for which Christopher Wheeldon is famous, and branched out in all directions. This is one of the advantages of videos. It worked very well for me. There was a lot here that I really enjoyed.

 

Jake, I think that Madison Young’s ballroom costume is a work of art as is she. And yes, there was fine background performing everywhere. At one time Christopher Wheeldon had a remarkable set designer (An American in Paris, for example). I wonder if these backgrounds are his work as well ?  They’re very beautiful.

 

It’s still online. I hope that they keep it there for as long as possible. It was great company for much of yesterday.

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Buddy

Buddy

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I haven’t had a chance to watch this, but since it’s ending in about five hours, I’d thought that I would rush it through. It’s Christoher Wheeldon coaching the San Francisco Ballet for his Cinderella.

 

It starts at 15:20:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g22G7od_HWY

 

(thanks to Pherank and AG at Ballet Alert!)

 

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Buddy

Buddy

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There’s a nice, airy quality to this staging imparted throughout by Christopher Wheeldon, starting with the performances of Sasha De Sola (Cinderella) about halfway through the 40 minutes devoted to the rehearsal (especially starting at 30:35). Wona Park and Dores Andre (Cinderellas) also have nice, similar qualities and Max Cauthorn (The Prince), towards the end, has a noteworthy grace that’s impressive for a male dancer.

 

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