International Draft Works at the ROH

[Jane S]

Did anyone see this, please?

[art_enthusiast]

Polish National Ballet blew everyone out of the water, in my opinion.

Absolutely incredible performance and choreography from them.

[Thecatsmother]

A real mix of pieces but it would definitely benefit from some sort of piece synopsis or introduction like they used to do for First Drafts. The mix of pieces led to a somewhat somber evening and perhaps they could have done with a bit more light relief. The piece by Norwegian National Ballet 2 was interesting and beautifully danced. The mood changed for the piece by Polish National Ballet which was a humorous take on the thieving magpie. A piece which seemed to be welcomed by the audience after several more somber pieces. There was a short piece by Ashley Dean and also ‘another’ new Tonga creation. I am not sure how many times hip hop and ballet need to be combined before it is concluded that it is an uneasy partnership. I am uncertain  how invoked the dancers are with these ‘creations’ but perhaps if a choreographer had more insight into both ballet and hip hop then it might look less like a poor combination of ballet steps with some hip hop like arms and body movements thrown in ( just my opinion). I would say the running time was a little on the short side at 90 minutes including an interval. I am sure the earlier incarcerations of First Drafts were far more substantial in terms of amount of content although the International part worked well and it was nice to see dancers from a range of companies. 

[art_enthusiast]

6 hours ago, Thecatsmother said:

I am not sure how many times hip hop and ballet need to be combined before it is concluded that it is an uneasy partnership. I am uncertain  how invoked the dancers are with these ‘creations’ but perhaps if a choreographer had more insight into both ballet and hip hop then it might look less like a poor combination of ballet steps with some hip hop like arms and body movements thrown in ( just my opinion).

 

I understand this is your opinion, however I do disagree slightly. I find the relatively widespread criticism of Joseph Toonga on this forum to be a bit wearing, as I think he does have talent. I was quite impressed with this work and thought Leticia Dias executed it beautifully, with great emotion throughout. The music was also a good choice.

I agree with your observation about the sombre tone of the evening, and would have also appreciated more variation in mood. I found Norwegian National Ballet 2's piece very interesting given that actual musicians were almost participating in the dancing, it was something I haven't really seen before. However, I also found it a bit laborious and dragging in terms of execution.

I found the Joburg ballet and Scottish ballet performances to be very impressive. Also the Royal Danish Ballet's "The Silence of Birds", very well executed portrayal of what I assumed to be a violent relationship or a depiction of assault during war... again, not completely sure of the backstory.

As I mentioned before, Polish National Ballet was the highlight of the evening for me. Not just because of the mood change, being much more cheery/comedic, but their energy and technical brilliance I found dazzling. Yume Okano is superb.

I'm guessing there were more detailed summaries in the programme which I didn't purchase! If anyone is able to share any of them here, that would be appreciated.

Edited April 8, 2023 by art_enthusiast

[alison]

I didn't know it was on 😞

[Bluebird]

2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

I'm guessing there were more detailed summaries in the programme which I didn't purchase! If anyone is able to share any of them here, that would be appreciated.

 

I've uploaded a photo of the summaries in the programme.  The Forum software would only allow me to upload a very small file so I hope it's legible.  Apologies for the folds.  I couldn't get it to lie any flatter!

Edited to add that I've just realised there might be problems with copyright.  If so, could a Moderator please delete this post.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Bluebird

[Jane S]

The Silence of Birds has already been seen in Copenhagen, and the RDB site describes it:

 

The Silence of Birds is about going through a tragedy, about loss and oppression and the nuances of man, who carries both good and evil within him. The work originated from the Royal Ballet's new development project "Koreorama", which focuses on choreographic talent development. The ambition is to train a diverse group of young choreographers. As the first result, the work The Silence of Birds is presented by Eukene Sagues, who is also a corps dancer at the Royal Ballet. The choreography differs by not being the traditional language of steps that we otherwise know from the world of ballet.

 

(Google translated, and possibly the same as on the programme Bluebird reproduces above)

[zxDaveM]

I think the 'international' element has taken away the 'draft' element of what the evening used to be about. I mean, you're not going to come all the way from S Africa or Norway to present a germ of an idea. Back in the day, the evening was about showing the beginnings of choreographic ideas that the dancers in the company (of the RB) have, and getting friends/colleagues to help them give form to their ideas. Whether that be an almost completed 10-20mins piece, or a 4-5 mins snippet to a fave tune or two.

Saying that, there were a couple of the pieces I liked: the Nowegian National Ballet (2)'s dancing along with their musicians a lively idea, even if the music a bit downbeat; the Polish National Ballet's effort was tremendous fun, and danced with penache and humour. The Joborg piece started off beautifully, but to my eyes somewhat lost the plot, going from elegance to not so elegant for reasons that defeated me. I quite liked Ashley Dean's short piece, though perhaps this was among the more 'drafty' of those on display. Hope she does more with it.

[Benjamin]

Yeah it isn’t very international. I wish they did a single show on the main stage and brought some big companies.

[zxDaveM]

9 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Yeah it isn’t very international. I wish they did a single show on the main stage and brought some big companies.

 

eh?

With ballet companies representing Scottish, English, Norwegian, South African, Polish and Danish origins, how much more 'international' can you get?

[Jan McNulty]

1 minute ago, zxDaveM said:

 

eh?

With ballet companies representing Scottish, English, Norwegian, South African, Polish and Danish origins, how much more 'international' can you get?

I was just about to say the same and all the companies are well known.

[Benjamin]

28 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

eh?

With ballet companies representing Scottish, English, Norwegian, South African, Polish and Danish origins, how much more 'international' can you get?

Like it’s a good Start but a small Range of companies in Europe and No Asia, Oceania, Americas?

[Benjamin]

28 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I was just about to say the same and all the companies are well known.

I agree but it could always be better, no that that’s likely that they will get a better selection. I know it’s drafts but it can still be a larger scale event.

[Jan McNulty]

17 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Like it’s a good Start but a small Range of companies in Europe and No Asia, Oceania, Americas?

 

14 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

I agree but it could always be better, no that that’s likely that they will get a better selection. I know it’s drafts but it can still be a larger scale event.

It was only one evening!

 

I hadn’t realised South Africa was in Europe!

 

We don’t know if other companies were asked to participate but were unable so to do.

[Benjamin]

1 minute ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

It was only one evening!

 

I hadn’t realised South Africa was in Europe!

 

We don’t know if other companies were asked to participate but were unable so to do.

I know it was only one evening. Sorry I forgot to mention South Africa, that’s not part of Europe. Yeah most companies would have been busy because March is mid, peak season.

[Benjamin]

Just now, Benjamin said:

I know it was only one evening. Sorry I forgot to mention South Africa, that’s not part of Europe. Yeah most companies would have been busy because March is mid, peak season.

Sorry I really need to re read these before posting them. It’s sounds quite harsh saying, I know it was only one evening. 

[zxDaveM]

I doubt many companies could spare the time or dancers to travel to London to present a 10-15mins piece, especially from Japan or Australia, or the west coast of the USofA.

It may be the start of more choreographic collaboration and encouragement (they were having meetings and class etc, at the RB), but I'm still somewhat baffled at your harsh criticism