RBS Annual Show at the ROH 16/7/23

[postie]

8 hours ago, Rob S said:

I loved the gasp and applause when the curtains opened to reveal the Konservatoriet set. 

 

Fwiw, I found that set, and the palette in particular, strikingly evocative of Edgar Degas' ballerina paintings.

[Rob S]

1 hour ago, postie said:

 

Fwiw, I found that set, and the palette in particular, strikingly evocative of Edgar Degas' ballerina paintings.

Yes, that’s what I thought too when I first saw the photo on the booking page for the performance. 
 

I didn’t take too many pics yesterday but I was pleased with this one 

 

 

[Ondine]

 

Visitors familiar with the choreographer August Bournonville will immediately spot the links between Degas’s ballerinas and Bournonville’s “classroom ballet” Konservatoriet.

 

http://www.theballetbag.com/2011/09/26/degas-and-the-ballet-picturing-movement/

 

[Silke H]

a gorgeous, colourful gaggle of dancers

 

[LinMM]

I’m always amazed at just how many there are when they are altogether on the stage like this. 
Did anyone buy the programme? 
Is the picture on page 18 of Tom Hazlebury? It looks like Caspar to me!! 
 

 

[granta]

If anyone has a copy of the programme, would you mind posting who the composer for each piece was please? 

The mystery of Bold has been solved above, but I'd love to know (most) of the others! Thank you.

[Benjamin]

On 13/07/2023 at 02:56, MJW said:

I am going on Sunday and looking forward to it especially after the day I have had at work with intermittent power supply since yesterday evening! However what a strange start time of 3pm?  I am sure it was  Saturday lunchtime last year. 

Throughly enjoyed the show. I think the students were excellent and the program was very well picked. I believe they chose it to start at 3:00pm, because then the students will have more time to get ready, and then the graduates can have their graduation at around 6 or 7pm which seems like the prefers time.

[Silke H]

Composers:

Don Quixote - Ludwig Minkus

Fast Blue - Elena Kats-Chernin (Fast Blue Village 2)

Hora La Aninoasa - traditional Romanian Folk

The Four Seasons - Guiseppe Verdi (Jérusalem, French adaption of Lombardi, Don Carlos)

Sechs Tänze - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sechs Deutsche Tänze, KV 571)

Konservatoriet - Holger Simon Paulli

Bold - Owen Belton

Within the Golden Hour - Ezio Bosso, Antonio Vivaldi

The Two Pigeons - André Messager

Takademe - Sheila Chandra (speaking in Tongues II)

Grand Défilé - Carl Czerny (Etudes no. 13 and no. 14)

[Silke H]

Some may recognise the Verdi Don Carlo piece from Balanchine's Ballo della Regina

[granta]

Thank you so much Silke. That solves a few mysteries and good to know my hunches were right for a few but not all!

[Silke H]

59 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Is the picture on page 18 of Tom Hazlebury? It looks like Caspar to me!! 
 

 

 

Tom had posted that same photo on Instagram on 1st January this year so I should think it really is him on page 18

[LinMM]

Yes it must be him then…. I guess it’s the lighting as didn’t think he had such dark hair. 

[LinMM]

A very nice Review by Nicola Claire from Seeing Dance in the links today. 
 

[art_enthusiast]

12 hours ago, Silke H said:

Composers:

Don Quixote - Ludwig Minkus

Fast Blue - Elena Kats-Chernin (Fast Blue Village 2)

Hora La Aninoasa - traditional Romanian Folk

The Four Seasons - Guiseppe Verdi (Jérusalem, French adaption of Lombardi, Don Carlos)

Sechs Tänze - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sechs Deutsche Tänze, KV 571)

Konservatoriet - Holger Simon Paulli

Bold - Owen Belton

Within the Golden Hour - Ezio Bosso, Antonio Vivaldi

The Two Pigeons - André Messager

Takademe - Sheila Chandra (speaking in Tongues II)

Grand Défilé - Carl Czerny (Etudes no. 13 and no. 14)

 

Thanks very much for this. I absolutely love the Fast Blue music. Definitely my favourite piece, the dancers looked so happy and vibrant throughout 

[Ondine]

31 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said:

I absolutely love the Fast Blue music. Definitely my favourite piece, the dancers looked so happy and vibrant throughout 

 

A glimpse and a few insights.

 

 

[capybara]

10 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

A glimpse and a few insights.

 

 

 
How interesting to hear one of the students say that being partnered by other men in this piece had helped him understand how his (female) partners felt.

 

 

[Ondine]

17 minutes ago, capybara said:

How interesting to hear one of the students say that being partnered by other men in this piece had helped him understand how his (female) partners felt.

 

Yes. And also working as a group, as one, as a female corps member has to learn how to do.

 

We are used to seeing female dancers in a corps de ballet setting. It is nice to have a large group of male dancers working as a unit, as a collaborative corps de ballet, so to speak.

 

I'd like to see this danced by the RB! One for the younger newer members?

 

 

https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2023/05/22/in-conversation-with-mikaela-polley-on-fast-blue-a-new-dynamic-classical-work/

 

[postie]

14 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

Visitors familiar with the choreographer August Bournonville will immediately spot the links between Degas’s ballerinas and Bournonville’s “classroom ballet” Konservatoriet.

 

http://www.theballetbag.com/2011/09/26/degas-and-the-ballet-picturing-movement/

 

 

And we did spot the 'homage'! I liked that the dancers were already in pose around the stage as the curtain lifted. Almost as if a Degas then came alive.

[Ondine]

3 minutes ago, postie said:

Almost as if a Degas then came alive.

 

It's part of what was once a longer ballet.  Gorgeous.

 

This is a lovely insight.

 

To the reader:
The essay below, on the ballet school scene from August Bournonville’s Konservatoriet (The Conservatory), was commissioned by the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. It first appeared, translated into Danish by Lise Kaiser, in the Royal Danish Ballet’s illustrated program in Spring 2011. The original English version appears here for the first time with the gracious permission of the Royal Theatre

 

https://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/2011/09/bournonville_remembers.html

[art_enthusiast]

3 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

A glimpse and a few insights.

 

 

 

Thanks for this, very informative.

 

Austen McDonald in particular caught my eye, I think he's a beautiful dancer. Good luck to him at Boston Ballet II.

 

[LinMM]

I think he did the opening bit to silence showing beautiful control and strength. 
I suppose the Royal can’t have all the amazing dancers lol but one dancer I regret is not going to be joining the Royal is Liya Fan as she’s off to Canada. Will be interesting to see how all their careers progress though. 

I haven’t posted much on Sundays performance as I said quite a lot about the students when at the Linbury as part of the Young Generation programme. 
The new one for me was Konservatoiret. I can understand why the audience gasped and then clapped as the curtain went back as just looked stunning literally like a Degas painting and they held it perfectly still for quite a while!
I enjoyed this ….the students performing this seemed quite young so not at full strength yet but nevertheless brought a lot of charm to the piece. 
Im never quite sure what the English style is but this must be pretty close to it so imagine anyone heading off to Denmark will fit right in! 
It was lovely to see some year 7 students in this as well…what aplomb to perform with the older students in front of such a massive audience!! 

All the other Pieces were danced so well and we gained a little more of the Romanian dances on Sunday …great stuff.
I thought Four Seasons and Don Q both looked better on the larger stage than at the Linbury though still don’t rate the former a masterpiece by Macmillan …for me. 
I had been concerned that the subtle nuances of Takademe danced by Caspar Lench might be lost a little on the larger stage as he has such an expressive face but he pulled it off brilliantly again what a gem of a Piece to dance!  
He also stood out for me in Within the Golden Hour… just born to dance I feel and hope we will soon be seeing more of him in the Company and he doesn’t just disappear into oblivion for years …..something luckily I find hard to imagine!! 
But ALL were stars on Sunday and the many parents in the audience can be rightly proud of their children….especially the students graduating this year as all have gone to such good Companies….wishing them all the very best for their future careers. 
 

[LinMM]

I was just reading Jan Parry’s review of the Show for Gramilano ( in todays links) and was astounded to learn that the violinist on stage for Konservatoiret was a year 11 pupil at the school!! He played SO well. 
I just assumed it was a member of the orchestra and done for setting effect. 
Wow! his name is Denis Teixiera apparently so what a talented young man ….possibly a choice of two great careers!! 

[Lynette H]

The RBS matinee has been an important rite of passage for many people. Leanne Benjamin writes movingly in her autobiography how important her schools performance as Giselle was to her -partnered by Jonathan Cope. I think that Laura Morera also attached a lot of importance to her schools performance as the Gypsy Girl in The Two Pigeons. (I hope I've got that right - please correct me if this is a mix up). Often schools performances used to be referenced in a dancer's cv - I think I recall that Sarah Wildor's referenced her performance as The Betrayed Girl in de Valois Rake's Progress ( mmmm....I do hope that is right) I'm sure that there are people out there with better memories). I think Muntagirov was supposed to do Oberon in Ashton's The Dream but was unable to do for some reason.

 

Other performances I recall were Reece Clarke as the lead male in Raymonda Act III. (Was Katsura his partner then ?) Also Haoiiang Feng (currently at BRB)  as the poet in the production of Les Syphides staged by Monica Mason a few years ago. The RBS performance has often been a time to catch upon choreography sometimes rather neglected by the company. There was a lively performance of de Valois' Checkmate a few years ago - something we haven't seen for some time on the Covent Garden stage. Also a performance of Ashton's Les Patineurs

 

It is good to see students taking on substantial pieces of choreography. Ashton's La Valse and MacMillian's Concerto have featured in the past. Handy for getting lots of students on stage, but still a real challenge for them. I did think that this year's performance, while containing some wonderful performances, lacked a really substantial extended classical work that tested out partnering skills.  The students looked more comfortable in more modern vocabulary

[capybara]

12 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

The RBS matinee has been an important rite of passage for many people. Leanne Benjamin writes movingly in her autobiography how important her schools performance as Giselle was to her -partnered by Jonathan Cope. I think that Laura Morera also attached a lot of importance to her schools performance as the Gypsy Girl in The Two Pigeons. (I hope I've got that right - please correct me if this is a mix up). Often schools performances used to be referenced in a dancer's cv - I think I recall that Sarah Wildor's referenced her performance as The Betrayed Girl in de Valois Rake's Progress ( mmmm....I do hope that is right) I'm sure that there are people out there with better memories). I think Muntagirov was supposed to do Oberon in Ashton's The Dream but was unable to do for some reason.

 

Other performances I recall were Reece Clarke as the lead male in Raymonda Act III. (Was Katsura his partner then ?) Also Haoiiang Feng (currently at BRB)  as the poet in the production of Les Syphides staged by Monica Mason a few years ago. The RBS performance has often been a time to catch upon choreography sometimes rather neglected by the company. There was a lively performance of de Valois' Checkmate a few years ago - something we haven't seen for some time on the Covent Garden stage. Also a performance of Ashton's Les Patineurs

 

It is good to see students taking on substantial pieces of choreography. Ashton's La Valse and MacMillian's Concerto have featured in the past. Handy for getting lots of students on stage, but still a real challenge for them. I did think that this year's performance, while containing some wonderful performances, lacked a really substantial extended classical work that tested out partnering skills.  The students looked more comfortable in more modern vocabulary

 

Vadim Muntagirov was indeed due to dance Oberon at the Matinee in 2009, with Benjamin Ella understudying him but both were injured ** so Joseph Caley came from BRB to replace them. [** Source Vadim's recently published autobiography From Small Steps to Big Leaps.]

 

I would add William Bracewell in The Lilac Garden (2010) alongside Angela Wood (now, at last, getting name roles with ENB) to the list of School performances which not only 'registered' at the time but are significant in relation to where former RBS students are now.

 

[Ondine]

On 18/07/2023 at 15:51, art_enthusiast said:

Austen McDonald in particular caught my eye, I think he's a beautiful dancer.

 

There's a 2020 interview with Austen McDonald here,  he didn't start dancing until he was 12, when he gave up rugby and decided to do ballet instead!

 

https://issuu.com/eysmagazine/docs/winter_2020_eys_magazine_/s/10656371

 

Does ballet affect your education at school?

Ballet does not affect my education, although it is not the traditional school experience. Most ballet dancers in training are either homeschooled or do distance education. This is because to advance your physical ability and technique requires rigorous training of at least seven hours per day, six days a week. In my case, I started dancing at the age of 12, so I had a traditional education until the age of 13 when I started full time at the ballet academy. This age was considered extremely late to start, but I was willing to work extremely hard to catch up to those who had been dancing almost all their lives which required many late nights of dance training, technique development and even later nights and weekends of academic study

 

Here he is at 16, Prix de Lausanne!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Ondine

[LinMM]

Well he’s certainly turning into a fine dancer!  
This takes enormous dedication and can only come from love of doing it great to see such passion. 

[Bluebird]

12 hours ago, capybara said:

I would add William Bracewell in The Lilac Garden (2010) alongside Angela Wood (now, at last, getting name roles with ENB) to the list of School performances which not only 'registered' at the time but are significant in relation to where former RBS students are now.

 

This post reminded me of another Lilac Garden performance from that particular graduate year, 2010.  This one took place in the Linbury and also featured William Bracewell, this time with Imogen Chapman as his partner.  I remember finding her performance extremely moving and have, since, followed her career with interest.  On graduation she joined the Australian Ballet, where she is now a Senior Artist (the equivalent of a First Soloist). I'm delighted to note that, in the forthcoming ROH performances of Jewels,  she is cast in Emeralds (second couple) on August 3, 4 and 5 (matinée) performances.

 

Edited to add that Grace Carroll is first couple in the above performances.  She is a corps de ballet member who is also a recent RBS graduate (2021).

Edited July 21, 2023 by Bluebird

[capybara]

59 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

This post reminded me of another Lilac Garden performance from that particular graduate year, 2010.  This one took place in the Linbury and also featured William Bracewell, this time with Imogen Chapman as his partner.  I remember finding her performance extremely moving and have, since, followed her career with interest.  On graduation she joined the Australian Ballet, where she is now a Senior Artist (the equivalent of a First Soloist). I'm delighted to note that, in the forthcoming ROH performances of Jewels,  she is cast in Emeralds (second couple) on August 3, 4 and 5 (matinée) performances.

 

Edited to add that Grace Carroll is first couple in the above performances.  She is a corps de ballet member who is also a recent RBS graduate (2021).

How interesting.

Of course, some of those 2010 performances also featured Barry Drummond who went to ENB and is now freelancing successfully in musical/dance theatre.

[alison]

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

 

This post reminded me of another Lilac Garden performance from that particular graduate year, 2010.  This one took place in the Linbury and also featured William Bracewell, this time with Imogen Chapman as his partner.

 

I think I saw him dancing with Wood - does that make sense?  It was that performance which made me comment about how I thought we'd found the "new"/"next" Ed Watson (I was talking from the dramatic perspective, but interestingly he's gone on to take on a number of roles Ed used to perform) - but if it was 2010 it must have been on the old Balletco site.

[Bluebird]

7 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I think I saw him dancing with Wood - does that make sense?  It was that performance which made me comment about how I thought we'd found the "new"/"next" Ed Watson (I was talking from the dramatic perspective, but interestingly he's gone on to take on a number of roles Ed used to perform) - but if it was 2010 it must have been on the old Balletco site.

 

..........but it can still be found via the Wayback Machine....

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20100726114950/http://www.ballet.co.uk/dcforum/happening/7757.html

 

Edited to add that this thread also provides a link to Ismene Brown's review for the Arts Desk:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110312005746/http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1810:royal-ballet-school-matinee-roh&Itemid=27

Edited July 21, 2023 by Bluebird

[Ondine]

On 19/07/2023 at 16:51, LinMM said:

I was just reading Jan Parry’s review of the Show for Gramilano ( in todays links) and was astounded to learn that the violinist on stage for Konservatoiret was a year 11 pupil at the school!! He played SO well. 
I just assumed it was a member of the orchestra and done for setting effect. 
Wow! his name is Denis Teixiera apparently so what a talented young man ….possibly a choice of two great careers!! 

 

 

Jan Parry's review (yes in the links earlier this week ) has wonderful photos at the end including the young violinist on stage. Wow.

 

Also the information the evocative set for August Bournonville's 1849 Konservatoriet was borrowed from the Royal Danish Ballet, the 1965 production, and was mounted by Diana Cuni Mancini. A Bournonville expert!

 

https://www.gramilano.com/2023/07/review-royal-ballet-school-summer-performance-2023/

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Ondine

[Sim]

I wish we could see more Bournonville in the UK.  

[bangorballetboy]

9 minutes ago, Sim said:

I wish we could see more Bournonville in the UK.  

 

Have you tried the chocolate aisle in your local supermarket?  [SORRY - VERY BAD JOKE ALERT]