Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

[Benjamin]

9 hours ago, alison said:

Various other comments on the

- Still don't like the "highlighter pen" colours of some of the season Fairies' outfits

 

- I seem to be suffering from Prokofiev Cinderella earworms of various sorts, 24/7.  Help!!!  Totally impossible to get out of my head, it seems.

Agree with the fairies, way to bright, the colour needs to be toned down. Also the small decorative flowers only on the seams looks so weird to me.

 

And on hearing Prokofiev’s Cinderella 24/7, isn’t that a good thing? I have it too in my head (from the cinema stream) and I’m loving it. Prokofiev was a genius.

[Balletbloke]

15 hours ago, OnePigeon said:

Hi Ondine!  Yes, I’ve always assumed this was Ashton’s homage to the Fred and Adele oompah trot too.  For anyone unfamiliar with it, it can be seen in the Astaire film A Damsel in Distress during the Stiff Upper Lip number with the comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen.

If you go back to page 22 of this thread, I posted a link to the YouTube clip of this sequence.

[EVWS]

11 hours ago, alison said:

Incidentally, looking at the Cojocaru/Kobborg recording, I notice that Hayward does that manege - and the chainé turns round the Prince later on - in the opposite direction to Cojocaru, and I think most, if not all, of the other Cinderellas I've seen thus far in this run.  Certainly in the opposite direction to what I saw Nuñez doing in the cinema broadcast a few nights previously.

 

The direction you do your manege in depends on whether you are left or right turner - Marianela is a right turner and Francesca is a left turner. It's the same with the men when their variations end with a manage or series of turning jumps around the stage.

 

I think right turners are more common, so if you're seeing different dancers in the same role, a left turner stands out more as it looks slightly different to what you've seen before. 

[bangorballetboy]

16 hours ago, emmarose said:

 

I didn't see your question, but yes, they were doing the Fred step, repeated over and over when they dance as a foursome.

 

And Cinderella also does it on her own at the side.

[Emeralds]

15 hours ago, RHowarth said:

With regards to the seasons' pages, weren't they always JAs? I'm sure Yasmine Naghdi was a JA when she was one, according to the book her mum wrote?

 

Edited to add: or was that MAs? I think Naghdi joined the RBS in year 8 and did Cinderella before that.

The earlier ones were older RBS students, certainly those before 2000. I think after that, certainly after 2003, they included JAs, and they were both female and male child attendants whereas previously they were dressed as male pages. There’s a photo online of Melissa Hamilton dancing the Summer Fairy  from that production,  with a little girl behind her holding a flower basket and wearing a pretty dress that looks like a mini version  of the costume  worn by the ladies in  the Waltz in the current production of Sleeping Beauty, very adorable yet elegant at the same time. 

[Ondine]

Possibly the spring & summer fairies should be dressed in grey, with attendants holding umbrellas, to better reflect the British weather? In fairyland, however, it seems spring is gloriously golden and summer vibrant. No clouds, or drizzle. If only real life was like a fairytale.

 

Re the sisters. No matter how hard current casts try, 'Fred' & 'Bobby' Ashton & Helpmann were men of the theatre in a wider sense than anyone in the RB is these days and it's difficult for any company member to be able to replicate what they did.  As I said in an earlier post a great deal of the humour originally was surely the fact THEY were playing the sisters? Their offline 'relationship' and rivalries seem to have been carried on on stage too, with the outrageous antics changing regularly and neither letting the other know what was about to happen until the onstage performance? Ad lib is a skill which not all have.

 

As with the 'oompah trot'; while we can laugh at the fact it's an amusing step, the history behind it and reference to the Astaires would have been part of the joke at the time and no doubt appreciated by audiences. (Humour doesn't always travel to the future does it? Why this step became such a huge audience favourite when performed by the Astaires is another theatrical mystery really. But I digress.) It's difficult to convey to modern audiences that Fred n Bobby playing the sisters, in that ridiculous makeup & those frocks, WAS a big part of what was amusing. Others can follow and try to inhabit the roles, the audience may laugh, but it isn't the same.  Helpmann acted in movies and Shakespeare. He choreographed dramatic ballets. He was a huge, magnetic stage presence in serious ballets.

 

There are a couple of fascinating interviews online with Dame Monica Mason where she discusses Cinderella and the role of the sisters and how the company would crowd into the wings to try to see what new antics they would bring on stage each performance, totally upstaging Fonteyn as Cinderella.  Constant improv. Well worth watching!

 

'Fred was Fred, Bobby was Bobby, and Madam was (pause) Madam' .

 

(I only met her once, briefly, but yes, Madam was certainly Madam.)

 

Dame Monica Mason discussing Robert Helpmann with Anna Meadmore https://youtu.be/za9H1PsuT4Y

 

Dame Monica Mason remembers Robert Helpmann https://youtu.be/VcTqYmRJ58U  (with Rupert Christiansen)

 

And though I have no magic answers as to how to play the sisters successfully in 2023, good luck to those who have been cast, as part of this by Alastair Macauley he mentions that though Ashton choreographed a number of roles for himself where he was a woman, he 'disliked drag'. 

 

I wonder what he'd have made of this new production.

 

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/frederick-ashton-gender-sexuality-community

 

" Of course, Ashton was not unique in his personal involvement with women’s roles. Maria Tallchief, who was Balanchine’s third wife, said that she could never dance the Swan Queen as beautifully as her husband (Taper, 1963, p. 23). Other Balanchine ballerinas have said the same; and some of them say the same about Jerome Robbins too.  But Balanchine and Robbins did not make female roles for themselves or spend time imitating female dancers of the past or dressing up as women of the Victorian or Edwardian eras. For a man to have a penetrating understanding of femininity is one thing, for a man to need to keep representing himself in female guise is another. Ashton’s performances as the Ugly Sister and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle are famous; as many people know, he was a fine Carabosse; if you have David Vaughan’s book on Ashton, you will have looked a hundred times at the photographs of him as Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra; and some of you may know the photographs of him as an Edwardian dowager in Cecil Beaton’s My Royal Past (Vaughan, 1977. p. 195 et seq.; von Bülop, 1939). Ashton made male roles for himself too - in Façade, Foyer de danse, Nocturne, Les Sirènes, Salut d’amour and others - and it would be wrong if we thought of him as some kind of drag artist. Interestingly, like Mark Morris (who also made female roles for himself), he disliked what he called drag – by which he meant, I think, all the Priscilla: Queen of the Desert kind of maquillage and coiffures and glamorous frocks. Nor was he without heterosexual experience. But it is very interesting to watch what the ballets tell us about sexuality."

 

 

[JohnS]

I see we now have the casting for the three final Cinderellas:

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/cinderella-by-frederick-ashton-dates

 

Natalia Osipova, Reece Clarke, Luca Acri, Gary Avis, Mayara Magri

 

Akane Takada, Nicol Edmonds, Luca Acri, Thomas Whitehead, Itziar Mendizabal

 

Laura Morera, Matthew Ball, James Hay, Calvin Richardson, Gina Storm-Jensen

 

[capybara]

Putting this here as it will be a bit ‘lost’ on the info. thread.

Calvin Richardson is indeed cast as a Step Sister ( 22nd Eve and 27th April ) and Gina Storm Jensen has Fairy Godmother appearances on the same dates (Morera/Ball cast).

Otherwise, the casting seems to feature dancers who have been ‘on’ already.

 

(Simultaneous posting with JohnS!!!)

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by capybara

[JNC]

Selfishly I am disappointed Magri isn’t paired with Morera/Ball as that’s the final cast I’ve booked and I wanted to see her in the godmother role. I also think Menzibal would have been good as I liked her Firebird.

 

Might get shot down for saying this but not sure Storm-Jensen is right for the role, or at least not my preference but will try and keep an open mind! 

[Fonty]

8 minutes ago, JNC said:

Selfishly I am disappointed Magri isn’t paired with Morera/Ball as that’s the final cast I’ve booked and I wanted to see her in the godmother role. I also think Menzibal would have been good as I liked her Firebird.

 

Might get shot down for saying this but not sure Storm-Jensen is right for the role, or at least not my preference but will try and keep an open mind! 

 

Well, I will keep an open mind too, but I think I agree with you.  I didn't think Storm-Jensen was quite right in the part of the Winter Fairy, I thought she seemed uncomfortable with the choreography, but I believe it was her first performance so maybe I shouldn't judge too harshly.  .  

[Ondine]

It could be argued she's not right as Lilac Fairy either. I'm not sure her qualities are as any sort of fairy.  She's not 'fey' enough, not 'other wordly', looks too robustly healthy and outdoorsy and modern to me!  I think there are roles in which she'd be far better cast  and would shine. The problem is with a long run of a ballet like Cinderella is that everyone needs 'a a 'go' and there are not too many roles in which to appear.

 

I recall a cinema relay of SB where she didn't quite pull off the solo either. I'm sure she did it impeccably in rehearsal, and every other performance.

 

So why she is cast as fairies I have no idea, perhaps I have an old fashioned view, I'm not in tune with the twenty first century fairy realm, and this is the modern fairy.  I should visit the bottom of my garden more.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Ondine

[JohnS]

Given Laura Morera’s Insight Rehearsal, it would have been rather good to see Annette Buvoli as her Fairy Godmother but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I thought Gina Storm-Jenson an accomplished Winter Fairy on Saturday evening and the quartet of Fairies well balanced so I’ll be very pleased to see her Fairy Godmother.

[Sim]

Well call me shallow, but aside from the lead roles what I am looking forward to most is Hay/Richardson as the sisters.  Should be interesting!!

[JNC]

I don’t think qualities such as physique etc should come into it as that seems unfair but technically I agree I was unimpressed by her lilac fairy.
 

To be fair she did improve the second time I saw her (so once in the 2019/2020 run and once more recently) so maybe it is a thing of time and experience. Having said that even with improvement I didn’t think her lilac fairy solo was smooth and flowing, it felt overly technical like a class rehearsal that she was thinking a lot about rather than a performance on stage with “character”.

 

I think it’s also a case of individual likes/dislikes as well, I just haven’t ever been wowed by her on stage the way I have with others (but equally there are many other dancers I also haven’t been wowed by so it’s not Storm Jensen it’s just my own preference!) sorry don’t wish to be mean and single her out, it’s just like when you go to a good restaurant you know everything on the menu will be good but you will still have things you want to order and things you’re not fussed by! 

[Dawnstar]

55 minutes ago, Sim said:

Well call me shallow, but aside from the lead roles what I am looking forward to most is Hay/Richardson as the sisters.  Should be interesting!!

 

I'm very pleased to find Richardson will be dancing with the last cast I'll be seeing. I'm fascinated to see the same dancer doing the Nutcracker Prince & a Stepsister only a few months apart!

 

15 minutes ago, JNC said:

I think it’s also a case of individual likes/dislikes as well, I just haven’t ever been wowed by her on stage the way I have with others (but equally there are many other dancers I also haven’t been wowed by so it’s not Storm Jensen it’s just my own preference!)

 

Gina Storm-Jensen is a dancer I like in general but even I am not too keen on her Lilac Fairy solo. I think she's fine in the mostly-mime rest of the role but the solo always (and when I say always I ended up seeing her twice plus cinecast in the 2019/20 run & in all 3 performances I've seen so far this year) looks very slightly uncomfortable to my admittedly inexpert eyes.

[LinMM]

Ondine…I get your point about Ashton and Helpmann ( I was lucky enough to see them) but I was very young at the time and so it being “them” doing it was lost on me!! 
However because I’m reasonably familiar with the current RB dancers I think part of the humour with the sisters dancing right now IS the fact that it’s Hay doing it or Acri or Avis or Gartside etc …but especially the younger ones doing it ( like Hay and Acri and now Richardson) who haven’t really played character roles before….seeing them …normally so composed as classical dancers….hamming it up on stage as the sisters has been very entertaining for me anyway. 

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

Well call me shallow, but aside from the lead roles what I am looking forward to most is Hay/Richardson as the sisters.  Should be interesting!!

 

For me it will be slightly surreal, as the only Beauty I'll be seeing is cast as Takada/Hay at this stage - so I'll see Mr Hay as a Stepsister then as Prince Whateverhisnameis 😄

[Emeralds]

20 hours ago, Lesley said:

So envious to read this as the encore viewing at Finchley Road Vue broke down just before Cinderellas arrival and everyone had to have a refund!

 

My sympathies, Lesley! That’s very unlucky that they couldn’t get it up and running again. Are you able to get to an encore screening this week somewhere to see the rest of it? 

[Emeralds]

3 hours ago, JNC said:

Selfishly I am disappointed Magri isn’t paired with Morera/Ball as that’s the final cast I’ve booked and I wanted to see her in the godmother role. I also think Menzibal would have been good as I liked her Firebird.

 

Might get shot down for saying this but not sure Storm-Jensen is right for the role, or at least not my preference but will try and keep an open mind! 

Can you book and make it for an additional show to catch Magri, JNC? I see 18th and 28th, which she is cast in, have a good range of tickets still and some are not so expensive. Casting subject to changes as always, of course.

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Well call me shallow, but aside from the lead roles what I am looking forward to most is Hay/Richardson as the sisters.  Should be interesting!!

Not shallow at all....appreciating the complete artist! After all, comedy is just as difficult to get right as those double tours, jetes and pirouettes. 😊 I think Calvin and James as the Stepsisters will be a hoot and such a change from their usual signature roles. It would feel like having McRae and Muntagirov as the Stepsisters.....now there’s a potentially fun idea. 😂

 

3 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

Well, I will keep an open mind too, but I think I agree with you.  I didn't think Storm-Jensen was quite right in the part of the Winter Fairy, I thought she seemed uncomfortable with the choreography, but I believe it was her first performance so maybe I shouldn't judge too harshly.  .  

She was great at the third show! And I’ve seen many Winter Fairies over the years, including Bussell and Yanowsky. She was up there with the best. I think the Godmother’s solo is not as tricky as some Ashton solos can be, but (apart from not falling over or stumbling accidentally) the challenge is not to be dull or allow it to look like “now it’s  my turn to do my number”. I’m optimistic that Storm-Jensen will be as good as the best Godmothers we’ve seen so far. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Emeralds

[capybara]

8 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

 It would feel like having McRae and Muntagirov as the Stepsisters.....now there’s a potentially fun idea. 😂

 

 Actually, that could work a treat on a number of levels!!!!

[Emeralds]

19 hours ago, alison said:

(Read most of the last pages on my phone earlier, and wasn't able to respond properly til now, but haven't necessarily been able to find the posts I wanted to quote from)

 

 

Perhaps you're right, Sim (although I'll admit that I didn't actually pick up on this until I saw Bracewell in the role).  Maybe it was my curtailed viewing angle for that performance, but I got the impression more of "how much longer is she going to be" rather than something a little more fairytale princely/magical.

 

 

Yes, agree.  Not up there in the "magical" stakes alongside the Cojocaru/Kobborg one which for some reason wasn't committed to (commercial) DVD exactly, but probably the best I've seen overall thus far.

 

Various other comments on the production:

 

- Still don't like the "highlighter pen" colours of some of the season Fairies' outfits

 

- Am I confusing it with another production?  I thought at one point when she danced with the broom Cinderella got upset/frustrated at how unsatisfactory an inanimate object was and tossed it to the floor in disgust, but I haven't seen that this time around.

 

- I know we're in the middle of a cost of living crisis with high inflation, but surely the Father shouldn't be giving the "crone" banknotes?!

 

- I think the timing of the pumpkin transformation could be improved slightly - surely it should be:

- pumpkin rises into the air, explodes in a shower of glitter which starts to fall and then and only then is Cinderella in the carriage revealed, so it's as if the glitter turns into the carriage, so to speak?

 

- one point which I think should be emphasised for JaneS is that yes, "Napoleon" and "Wellington" are still there, but their costumes are echoed in similar ones for some of the male guests, so the historical allusions are not so obvious.

 

- I seem to be suffering from Prokofiev Cinderella earworms of various sorts, 24/7.  Help!!!  Totally impossible to get out of my head, it seems.

Highlighter pens is a good way to put it! The sole use of one bright colour per Fairy has the unfortunate result that many of the costumes only look right on dancers with “matching” hair and skin colour- eg blonde and fair skinned for Winter, dark hair and Asian/Mediterranean/south American skin tone for Summer and Autumn. Ballet company costumes should always have a subtle mix of shades in the fabrics used on the dress or tutu so that nobody looks wrong in it when cast changes occur. 

 

The banknotes have the unfortunate effect of looking like that Marguerite and Armand moment when Armand throws the banknotes, or recalling Manon Act 2....especially when the FG in disguise looks young and not especially starving or vulnerable. Not the look that Ashton intended for sure! At least when she was a hunched beggar in a cloak, it looked like Cinderella and her father felt concerned for her and wanted to give her plenty of money to find warm accommodation and food. This FGID looks like she already has a home, sufficient food, and  a wardrobe. With the change of character, coins (out of a coin pouch) would have looked more logical- the Stepsister could still snatch them if the coins are big enough, like the coins used in Manon Act 1 & 2.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

13 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

No, That happened in the two performances I saw. In fact, if I remember correctly, when Marianela threw hers, the scarf came undone and then she expertly carried it back over to the fireplace - what a pro! I had presumed it wasn't meant to detach itself and after seeing Friday's performance, I could see that was the case.

I thought it should be coins.

That's a really good idea - I think that would have worked very well.

Ditto. One bit of the music just has been in a constant loop in my head for days now! Often happens to me.

Linnzi5, if the music loop continues for a few more weeks after the run, you’ll be right in time for ENB’s production of Cinderella by Christopher Wheeldon! Very different version to Ashton  (more brothers Grimm with a bit of Rossini’s Cinderella as inspiration) but really spectacular and magnificent designs, to the same score (includes the Prince travelling around the world to find Cinderella bit).

 

And Wheeldon’s coach transformation- totally ingenious and the most amazing! Best Cinderella coach transformation from a dancer’s and audience member’s point of view. A wonderful coup de theatre. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Emeralds

[JNC]

36 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Can you book and make it for an additional show to catch Magri, JNC? I see 18th and 28th, which she is cast in, have a good range of tickets still and some are not so expensive. Casting subject to changes as always, of course.

As much as I’d love to it’s an issue of money and me not living in London! It’s the way it goes with casting, I’ve enjoyed Cinderella much more than I thought I would so I’m hoping that at some point in the future (24/25 season perhaps, although without going too much off topic would much rather see Fille and Sylvia and Ashton one acts I’ve not seen first!) it’ll get a revival and I can try and see more casts then. 
 

I also have to stop at some point, you can’t see them all (well maybe you can but I need to draw the line somewhere!). 

[Emeralds]

13 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

 Actually, that could work a treat on a number of levels!!!!

😂😂 

 

[Lizbie1]

12 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Ballet company costumes should always have a mix of shades so that nobody looks wrong in it when cast changes occur. 

 

I disagree strongly! Such a "rule" would do away with my favourite tutu of all (the yellow Scènes de Ballet one).

[Emeralds]

Just now, Lizbie1 said:

 

I disagree strongly! Such a "rule" would do away with my favourite tutu of all (the yellow Scènes de Ballet one).

Lizbie1, the Scenes de Ballet ballerina tutu actually has 3 colours: yellow, black and white. (Have a look at RobS’s photos on the Ashton triple bill thread). So while our brains might think it’s a yellow tutu, the eyes are actually catching the black and white as well. That’s why it looks fine on any ballerina - from Lamb, Naghdi and Kaneko (all completely different hair/ skin colouring) to Cuthbertson, Yoshida etc in earlier runs. If you look closely at the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty costumes in close up (especially the ones you like), you’ll notice that they are not one colour. There are always threads and interwoven fabrics of different colours to help our eyes catch the ones that complement the dancer. Even the Rose Fairy’s is not completely pink, and Florine’s has other colours besides light blue. Black is the sole exception-because it absorbs all colours in the spectrum, black flatters every dancer. 

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Lizbie1, the Scenes de Ballet ballerina tutu actually has 3 colours: yellow, black and white. (Have a look at RobS’s photos on the Ashton triple bill thread). So while our brains might think it’s a yellow tutu, the eyes are actually catching the black and white as well. That’s why it looks fine on any ballerina - from Lamb, Naghdi and Kaneko (all completely different hair/ skin colouring) to Cuthbertson, Yoshida etc in earlier runs. If you look closely at the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty costumes in close up (especially the ones you like), you’ll notice that they are not one colour. There are always threads and interwoven fabrics of different colours to help our eyes catch the ones that complement the dancer. Even the Rose Fairy’s is not completely pink, and Florine’s has other colours besides light blue. Black is the sole exception-because it absorbs all colours in the spectrum, black flatters every dancer. 

 

Yes, I know what it looks like - I did say it's my favourite! But there are other examples of wonderful costumes that defy this rule, such as the red dresses in Marguerite and Armand, and Onegin, or do you consider these to be "not one colour"? Because if so it feels like the goalposts are shifting - and by this definition those Act 1 costumes are also not one colour, but two chief colours and a range in between.

[zxDaveM]

38 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

 

The banknotes have the unfortunate effect of looking like that Marguerite and Armand moment when Armand throws the banknotes, or recalling Manon Act 2....especially when the FG in disguise looks young and not especially starving or vulnerable. Not the look that Ashton intended for sure! At least when she was a hunched beggar in a cloak, it looked like Cinderella and her father felt concerned for her and wanted to give her plenty of money to find warm accommodation and food.

 

I always thought the money he had, was the cash he had gotten (in the wings) for the sale of one of the dwindling number of books, that he was selling bit by bit to keep the family going

[Emeralds]

 

16 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Yes, I know what it looks like - I did say it's my favourite! But there are other examples of wonderful costumes that defy this rule, such as the red dresses in Marguerite and Armand, and Onegin, or do you consider these to be "not one colour"? Because if so it feels like the goalposts are shifting - and by this definition those Act 1 costumes are also not one colour, but two chief colours and a range in between.

Yes, one predominant bright colour was probably the better way to explain what I meant.  Although Summer and Winter have 2 colours, the hot pink of the summer Act 1 dress clashes with the yellow half and a blonde dancer like Hamilton, but blends in with Sasaki’s colouring. The predominantly white Winter costume clashes with Magri’s warm skin tones but blends in effectively with Storm Jensen’s fair hair and light skin tone. And there are other examples. Basically the colours haven’t been thought through properly under the lighting and with different dancers wearing it.

 

Bright red in a long full skirted gown is generally a flattering colour on all dancers. Marguerite and Tatiana’s red gowns of course have other colours (the flowers) but they’re not needed. To offer my own example, Serenade is completely one colour (soft blue leotards and long tulle skirts) but because the lighting is soft and dim, the dancers’ hair and skin tones actually form part of the costume and they always look right. But if they were a highlighter pen-bright shade of blue, it would look disastrous. 

 

It’s basically the effect of using bright colours (including bright white) on the wrong designs and fabrics for the Season Fairies  that the designer hasn’t considered. I personally don’t mind the Act 2 tutus so much but they could be improved. The Act 1 ones are simply not up to scratch, especially the “cyclist unitard with skirt” effect of the Winter fairy’s costume. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Emeralds

[Blossom]

A slight aside - why aren’t performances from 2003 or 2010/11 productions available on DVD/BR? Any idea what the barriers may have been?

[Balletfanp]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

It would feel like having McRae and Muntagirov as the Stepsisters.....now there’s a potentially fun idea. 😂

 

Not McRae and Muntagirov - Campbell and Muntagirov! Now, that would be a hoot 😂 Given the way they bounce off each other offstage, I’m sure they (and us!) would have an absolute ball! 😂

[Emeralds]

6 minutes ago, Balletfanp said:

Not McRae and Muntagirov - Campbell and Muntagirov! Now, that would be a hoot 😂 Given the way they bounce off each other offstage, I’m sure they (and us!) would have an absolute ball! 😂

Another good one! And -am sure Ashton won’t mind- they should bring their basketball! 🏀😂 

 

PS I saw what you did there, Balletfanp 👏.

 

(In-joke footnote.....sorry, pun unintended- for those who are confused by the basketball, this is from the BBC documentary where Vadim and Alex were playing basketball in their shared dressing room to warm up or just for fun, I can’t remember which. Vadim said he was offered his own private dressing room but he enjoyed the company of sharing it with a friend, and Alex agreed.) 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Emeralds