The Sleeping Beauty, Royal Ballet 2023

[Guest oncnp]

7 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

Ah, Marianela this evening. Was that as close to perfection Rose Adagio as you could ever wish to see?

 

and even got a flower from her Prince. I thought that was a nice touch from Muntagirov

[San Perregrino]

8 hours ago, alison said:

Just wondering: am I the only one missing Romany Pajdak in this?  Repeatedly?

I don’t think she is dancing at the moment. 

[Sophie_B]

Last night’s performance was so very beautiful. Marianela and Vadim really seemed on top form. Fumi Kaneko, Joseph Sissens, Yuhui Choi were predictably great. Enjoyed Gasparini’s Florine too. Aurora’s friends were very much on fire - luxury casting all around.

 

Sleeping Beauty is not usually my favourite - I know I know, there are so many iconic moments, but sometimes all the divertissements and mime and slowly making their way to the palace drag on a bit for my taste. But I found myself even enjoying those yesterday - Kristen McNally’s Carabosse was fantastic, and I found the prince’s bemused reactions to the rats particularly charming. “You said there was a princess here… why are there rats?”

[San Perregrino]

It was a wonderful evening. Fumi dazzles in everything she’s dances at the moment. And, I agree Marianela was, with my untrained eye, as close to technical perfection as one might get. For me though, this was perhaps achieved  to the detriment of her portrayal of the character of Aurora which at times I found too knowing and assured for a young princess who has led a sheltered life. (I’m not a connoisseur of ballet technique so characterisation is important for me too as part of an all-round performance)
 

Kristen’s Carabosse is utterly sublime and I had my ‘bins glued to her when she was onstage. 

Edited February 4, 2023 by PeterS

[bridiem]

3 hours ago, Sophie_B said:

I found the prince’s bemused reactions to the rats particularly charming. “You said there was a princess here… why are there rats?”

 

Yes! And it was brilliant that when Kristen McNally emerged she slunk on at floor level like another overgrown rat.

[Balletfanp]

Kristen McNally is a tiny person but her personality fills the whole auditorium. She is deliciously spiteful as Carabosse!

[Guest oncnp]

4 hours ago, Sophie_B said:

and I found the prince’s bemused reactions to the rats particularly charming. “You said there was a princess here… why are there rats?”

Followed by "I thought there was a princess here?" in the bedroom (turn around) and finally "She's asleep" at which point were I the Lilac Fairy I would be thinking "We waited a hundred years for this?"

Edited February 4, 2023 by oncnp

[Fonty]

Princes in ballet do seem to be a bit dim a lot of the time.   

 

 

[Sim]

19 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Princes in ballet do seem to be a bit dim a lot of the time.   

 

 

An aspect of ballet pounced on hilariously by The Trocks!! 

 

[Tango Dancer]

26 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Princes in ballet do seem to be a bit dim a lot of the time.   

 

 

 

I think it's part of the job of being a prince, you know, have good legs, great dancing ability and no brains.  I think that's why they had courtiers to do the thinking for them.  I am firmly of the view Rothbart (in the ROH version) would have done a way better job ruling the country than dim Siegfried.  

[Sim]

I also really enjoyed last night's performance.  A great cast and so lovely to have Fumi as Lilac.  I wasn't originally going to see Marianela but changed my mind.  I am glad I did.  She is such a wonderful, solid classical dancer.  However (prepares for missiles), I don't find her as fluid and graceful as Fumi Kaneko or Yasmine Naghdi.  Her arms just aren't as luscious, and sometimes I find that she is almost too powerful.  I did love little touches from her like when she gets her first rose from the prince in the Rose Adage she says 'for me?' in a surprised and delighted way.  Then before she drops them to the floor she takes a really deep smell of them.  Vadream wonderful as ever.  I too loved Kristin McNally's Carabosse.  It's very clear what's going on with her all the time, and she knows how to impart it to the whole theatre.  Great stuff, and a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience added to the all-round fab atmosphere.   

 

Kevin O'Hare appeared before curtain up to tell us the it was the 40th anniversary of Christopher Saunders joining the company.  I was very pleased that he got a round of applause as he appeared onstage as the King, but rather disappointed that he wasn't given a medal or something at the end (as dancers are given after 25 years).  Someone did send him a bunch of flowers though so that was good!  Many congratulations, Chris Saunders!

[Guest oncnp]

5 minutes ago, Sim said:

Kevin O'Hare appeared before curtain up to tell us the it was the 40th anniversary of Christopher Saunders joining the company.  I was very pleased that he got a round of applause as he appeared onstage as the King, but rather disappointed that he wasn't given a medal or something at the end (as dancers are given after 25 years).  Someone did send him a bunch of flowers though so that was good!  Many congratulations, Chris Saunders!

 

And it appeared he got a bottle sized box but for 40 years they could have done more (unless he didn't want it)

[Fonty]

To be scrupulously fair to the poor old prince, the staging frequently doesn't do him any favours.  If he is supposed to be searching for his princess, it doesn't help if she is prominently displayed with a spotlight on her when he comes on stage, and then he has to pretend he hasn't seen her because the orchestra are busily playing a minute or more of Searching Music.  I mean, what is the poor chap supposed to do?  I suppose he could come on late....

[Sim]

5 minutes ago, Fonty said:

To be scrupulously fair to the poor old prince, the staging frequently doesn't do him any favours.  If he is supposed to be searching for his princess, it doesn't help if she is prominently displayed with a spotlight on her when he comes on stage, and then he has to pretend he hasn't seen her because the orchestra are busily playing a minute or more of Searching Music.  I mean, what is the poor chap supposed to do?  I suppose he could come on late....

I think in the case of SB it is supposed to be adding to the excitement of The Kiss!!  

[Sharon]

On 03/02/2023 at 17:59, alison said:

25 minutes for a bus allegedly 7 minutes away. And too crowded for me to get on 😞

😫😫😫

[Sebastian]

On 02/02/2023 at 17:32, art_enthusiast said:

Slightly off topic here but are ROH programmes worth buying? 

 

The current programme for Sleeping Beauty includes colour photographs of current company in the show, the original 1946 Sadler's Wells production and a lovely painting by Watteau. The articles are a typically marvellous piece of writing by the late Clement Crisp; Roy Strong on the designer Oliver Messel; Gavin Plumley on the music; Amanda Holloway on how the designs were refreshed; and a piece on Petipa by Nadine Messel, the author of the recent biography. There is also a historical article by yours truly, but you don't need to read that. 

 

So if you have not seen these writings before, that's under £2 per piece, with nice pictures thrown in. This is either a bargain or, alternatively, £8-is-a-lot-of-money. 

[Geoff]

19 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

Ah, Marianela this evening. Was that as close to perfection Rose Adagio as you could ever wish to see?

 

Maybe that depends on what one considers perfection. Might I illustrate with the story of something that happened after that performance? I had taken a friend who likes the arts - books, theatre, architecture, opera and so on - and who is always pleased to be at the ballet, not that she goes all that often. 

 

Like some people on here my friend says Sleeping Beauty feels too long (a comment I by the way never heard when the ENB last brought their production to the West End, which might be a clue as to what is going on, see many previous discussions). But she likes Nunez so was happy to join me. And she loved the show, cheering along with the crowd at the end. 

 

Afterwards I tried an experiment. Over a drink I got out my Ipad and showed my friend two short clips of Auroras from the past. The first was just a minute of film of a Ukranian dancer from 1940, posted on Facebook by Ratmansky. The other was Margot Fonteyn on YouTube, also in black and white, her entrance and adagio. No more than five minutes of footage in total. 

 

My friend's reaction was immediate, unprompted by me and (I felt) interesting. "Oh" she said "that's completely different. It's so fast, so exuberant, so like a 16-year old girl at a party, bursting with life and enjoying discovering her impact on people. So that's what the scene is really all about, not a star coming on and doing something difficult."

[Fonty]

@GeoffI think your comment illustrates perfectly what the modern dancers have lost.  I have watched many clips of the RB on YouTube from Fonteyn's time , and the sheer joy the whole company shows is simply missing today IMO.

[alison]

And I think that may be the je ne sais quoi  I've been complaining about missing in today's dancers.

[alison]

On 03/02/2023 at 17:59, alison said:

25 minutes for a bus allegedly 7 minutes away. And too crowded for me to get on 😞

 

(I did eventually arrive with 5 minutes to spare, the bus having been terminated short of its destination)

 

13 hours ago, PeterS said:

I don’t think she is dancing at the moment. 

 

Hence why I'm missing her

[FionaM]

@alison perhaps Romany is on leave of absence.  Her life partner Dane Hurst (previously AD of Phoenix Dance Theatre) returned to South Africa for family reasons over a year ago.  
 

[Amelia]

5 hours ago, Geoff said:

... The first was just a minute of film of a Ukranian dancer from 1940, posted on Facebook by Ratmansky.

I tried unsuccessfully to find this clip online. Geoff, can you please provide here the link. Thanking you in advance.

[Geoff]

1 hour ago, Amelia said:

I tried unsuccessfully to find this clip online. Geoff, can you please provide here the link. Thanking you in advance.

Try this (I apologise for getting the date wrong, which probably misled you):-

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FR9zP6bFinW6VNQuB87MTWe2LXG2EQNDSxEV9ci9EoSxRexpMsvt6oiiPrdNPr1hl&id=1377723438

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Geoff

[Fonty]

6 hours ago, Geoff said:

Try this (I apologise for getting the date wrong, which probably misled you):-

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FR9zP6bFinW6VNQuB87MTWe2LXG2EQNDSxEV9ci9EoSxRexpMsvt6oiiPrdNPr1hl&id=1377723438

 

 

The sad thing about that clip and  those of Fonteyn and others of that era is that many young students today look at them and comment on the technical "faults".  The "poor" turnout, the lack of height in the leg extensions, the "stiff" back,  etc.   Time and again I have read comments about the dreadful technique, and how Fonteyn wouldn't even get into ballet school today with her lack of flexibility and awful feet. 

 

They don't notice the speed, the precision, the artistry.  Nor do they  realise that just because these dancers from another era didn't stick their leg behind their ear didn't mean they couldn't. Been a long time since I have done ballet, but my perception is that it is almost impossible to get very high extensions in developpes, especially to the side, if the music is played correctly  at the faster tempo.  There is a danger it will become a leg kick, rather than a lyrical unfolding in time to the music.  

Edited February 5, 2023 by Fonty

[LinMM]

I would say that perhaps since Sylvie Guillems time the emphasis in training has definitely been more on the technique side and more dancers are coming into ballet from the gymnastic world. 
In some syllabus type teaching there is a lot of emphasis on counting things correctly which has some importance of course but not enough on listening to the dynamics in the music ….that relationship comes more from the heart. 
It’s sometimes one of the joys of watching some young dancers just on the verge of their careers as they are still responding to the music more naturally. 
Difficult to express exactly what I’m trying to say but even at the barre I think it’s important to respond to the music not just treat it all as mere technical exercises. 

[bridiem]

I do strongly agree with the above comments, but I also don't think that today's dancers should be 'downvalued' (if there's such a word), because they're doing precisely what's been asked of them since they were very young and also often bringing great artistry to what they do, often with very impressive results.

[capybara]

I think that a lot of old clips (and not just of dance) are reproduced faster than the reality.

In my view, there is no way that musicians could play at the pace of the first clip on @Geoff’s link (above) .

I do agree, however, that speed adds a youthful freshness to Aurora’s first scene.

[LinMM]

I don’t think I am “down valuing” todays dancers though Bridiem. 
I should have added that times change and you can’t avoid that. 
I don’t think the difference in training will prevent any real artists from coming through some earlier some later. 
Many dancers find their own individual teachers in the end even if have come through a major school. 
Just expressing that the emphasis is slightly different today. 
Im not saying who just yet but rather hoping the Royal gets a young dancer from the Prix this year her sheer joy in dancing is lovely to watch. 

[Pas de Quatre]

There is also the question of costumes. In Fonteyn's day bodices were boned like corsets with firm satin or cotton, so dancers couldn't move their torsos in the same way as they do today with stretchy materials. Leg height was thus able to go up with the invention of lycra!

[Dawnstar]

 

So sweet that Magri & Ball are going to get to dance together on Valentine's Day. I think I may well be trying Friday Rush this week!

[capybara]

37 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

So sweet that Magri & Ball are going to get to dance together on Valentine's Day. I think I may well be trying Friday Rush this week!

So Cesar only danced the one show. What a shame for him.

(I have put a note about the Saturday Matinee cast change on the info. thread.)

[San Perregrino]

41 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

So sweet that Magri & Ball are going to get to dance together on Valentine's Day. I think I may well be trying Friday Rush this week!

of course, Cesar was initially replaced for his first date and then reinstated to dance on the night…. 

[LinMM]

I had a feeling Cesar just might have an injury …so sad for him… as he was an obvious choice to send to the 50th anniversary Prix gala on Sunday. Would have been great to see him and Magri dancing together in that! 
I had been considering booking this date a while back (but went for the Fumi/Bracewell matinee instead) and then booked Cesar in Cinderella ( with Naghdi) so hope he’s okay by then. 
Im sure Ball will be a great substitute with Magri …..and yesterday I finally booked my second Beauty in May with  Naghdi and Ball in the end as it seems ages since I’ve seen either of them in big main roles.