Black Sabbath - The Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet @ Sadlers Wells, London

[zxDaveM]

What a brilliant idea! Take iconic Birmingham local  legends, their music, their almost mythical back story, then weave a ballet from these roots. And legends they are, thanks to millions of albums sold - and the reality TV series ‘The Osbournes’. Does it work? Well, not always, but who’s counting, to be fair. Apart from those ringing tills at the box office, that is

 

Sofia Liñares, for the promo picture

 

Three ‘acts’ loosely based on: the music, the band members and finally the fans, use some of Black Sabbath’s best known tunes as a kick off point (sometimes just a riff, or a few lyrics with Ozzie’s distinctive vocal style), before the cleverly orchestrated music takes over the heavy lifting, whilst maintaining a few ’samples’ from the band, either musically, lyrically, or spoken word anecdotes. Each act has its own choreographic team, and composer(s) - which I assume helped with the speed of creating the whole, though it does feel at times more like a themed triple bill, than a cohesive single work - until the finale. Conductor Christopher Austin oversaw the music as a whole, Pontus Lidberg the choreography

Act 1 Heavy Metal Ballet (ch Raúl Reinoso; composers Marko Nyberg, Christopher Austin)
To the strains of ‘War Pigs’, the 12 dancers come out in formation, in black leotards/tights and unitards for the gents. Dancing on the beat they go through almost classroom steps (Michael Clark?).

 

   

Act 1 dancers

 

Accompanied by live guitarist Marc Hayward, they stylishly move through the choreography, breaking into duets, brief solos - and even carry Marc across the stage held high. Those ballerinas must be strong! 

 

  

Marc Hayward 'aloft';    right, Beatrice Parma

 

Beatrice Parma veritably popped into your eye every time she was on stage. To a restrained, solo guitar for the melody of ‘Iron Man’, Yaoqian Shang and Javier Rojas engage in the longest kiss since Rodin’s days. Except they are dancing at the same time - and really well too. A bit gimmicky perhaps, I’d be interested to see the choreography when they are allowed a breather now and then.

 

Yaoqian Shang and Javier Rojas

 

The act ends with the dancers and guitar player all back on stage wigging out (yes, air guitars included free of charge) to perhaps Sabbath’s best known hit, Paranoid. Which was tremendous - though in a courtesy to non-rock fans the guitar seems turned down to 4, rather than up to 11

 

 

Act 2 The Band (ch Cassi Abranches; comp Sun Keting)
This act more contemporary/jazzy with a hint of 70’s denim ‘gear’ all bursting with what looked a bit like star jumps. Full of energy and zip - which, for me, clashed a bit with the stories being told on voiceover (some sad, tragic tales, some very funny).

 

Céline Gittens and Tyrone Singleton

 

The standout part was the duet with Céline Gittens and Tyrone Singleton, which was elegantly beautiful (despite the clash with voiceover). Also notable in this middle act was the singing of Lachlan Monaghan when he wasn’t throwing in a few dance shapes, that is

 

 

Act 3 Everyone is a Fan (ch Pontus Lidberg; comp Christopher Austin)
The final act starts with a few quotes from loyal fans - how there would be no ‘heavy metal’ without Sabbath; what the band mean to them etc. As I’ve said - local heroes to Birmingham (their accents give it away), which is why this is such a genius tie-in with Birmingham Royal Ballet. I doubt anywhere else could pull this sort of thing off - and seeing as it was so popular, I’m somewhat dreading people trying. Back to the ballet - the final act more balletic than its predecessor. The wings stripped out to the lighting rigs, with the bands infamous ‘demon’ set astride a silver, overturned vehicle. Let the rock begin!

 

demon, with final act dancers

 

A different 12 dancers go through a ‘dance off, out competing each other, and is rather fun to watch. Momoko Hirata and Tzu-Chao Chou perform a duet of real beauty; Riku Ito a rather glorious solo - but it is when the entire cast get on stage, and sing back to Ozzie, then almost sing along with him, that the finale really takes off. Re-enter Paranoid, 30+ dancers rocking out (in a very polite, balletic way of course). And as it was London’s opening night - a guest appearance by Tony Iommi to guitar duel with Marc Hayward. Fans sent home very happy, after standing ovation. Top night!

In short, if they revive it in the future - go see! (or fight for a ticket in this run)

 

[all photos Johan Persson c/o Birmingham Royal Ballet]

[San Perregrino]

I really enjoyed this in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Seeing it again at today’s matinee and curious to see how it holds up at a second viewing. 
 

7 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

why this is such a genius tie-in with Birmingham Royal Ballet. I doubt anywhere else could pull this sort of thing off - and seeing as it was so popular, I’m somewhat dreading people trying

 

I’m envisaging:

Royal Swedish Ballet & ABBA

NYCB or ABT & Madonna

Australian Ballet or Queensland Ballet & Kylie

 

Not forgetting Christopher Wheeldon’s Tony winning ‘MJ’ is rocking the USA and lands in London in 2024

 

And, remembering that Rambert have already gone down the TV series tie-in with Peaky Blinders taking it into Matthew Bourne/Flick Colby territory

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by PeterS

[Bruce Wall]

17 minutes ago, PeterS said:

I really enjoyed this in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Seeing it again at today’s matinee and curious to see how it holds up at a second viewing. 
 

 

I’m envisaging:

Royal Swedish Ballet & ABBA

NYCB or ABT & Madonna

Australian Ballet or Queensland Ballet & Kylie

 

remembering that Rambert have already gone down the TV series tie-in with Peaky Blinders taking it into Matthew Bourne/Flick Colby territory

 

 

 

My word I do feel old hat reading this.  DECADES ago I remember going to a programme called Billboards done by the Joffrey Ballet.  It featured the music of Prince.  I well remember going to a performance at City Center in NYC with the man himself actually performing with the dance company on the stage.  He and they I seem to recall were illuminating and appeared to feed off each other.  This was at the same time as the Joffrey were the holders of the Ashton canon in the US.  It was a different world.  Certainly what Acosta is doing is not new.  That said I'm glad it is has proved so popular - surely that was part of its purpose - and I look forward to seeing it today.  

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[Mary]

That's true Bruce - I can remember several such productions, (not with huge enthusiasm, personally)  - but I think what is particularly apt about this is the special connection with place,  with Black Sabbath being a local band. BRB has always been part of the  wider and very strong and thriving Birmingham arts scene- which we must all hope may be continued despite so many cuts etc.

 

 

 

[CCL]

I thought last night’s performance was absolutely thrilling! There was so much to take in that I am sorry not to be seeing it a second time. The dancing and music combined were, at various times, menacing, joyful and lyrical - I had no idea that Sabbath had made a piece of music as beautiful as Laguna Sunrise- it made for a gorgeous pas de deux between Tyrone Singleton and Celine Gittens. As for the ending - pure euphoria!  My husband couldn’t believe his eyes when Tony Iommi appeared! I loved seeing the dancers have a ball - what a fantastic evening! 

[Scheherezade]

First off, I was very glad to have been at Sadler’s Wells on Wednesday night. There was a real buzz about the whole evening and up at the top of the house, at the very back, the ripple of excitement when Tony Iommi came on at the end - a potent mix of anticipation and appreciation- was one of those moments that make you glad to be alive.

 

The music worked too. There was no sense of watering down in the orchestration and when Marc Hayward ran on with his guitar - Gibson SG anyone? - there was a palpable sense of energy that met and matched the skill and enthusiasm of the dancers in a way that made it all feel so real. 
 

I wasn’t quite so sure about the lighting. There was an awful lot of black on black, and a fair bit of it shrouded in a shadowy mist almost as dark as the transient demons that looked to have gone awol from the vision segments of the Don Q run at the ROH. I get that it all went towards creating a mood but possibly a little more light to pinpoint the dancers, whose artistry and manifest sense of enjoyment really deserved to be highlighted.

 

Which leads on to the choreography and here again I was in two minds. I did find some parts dull but there were also standout - and stand-alone - parts, one of those being the extended “kiss” sequence which I really liked. Something similar may well have been done before but it was new to me, it fitted the music perfectly and I found it original and rather exquisite. 

I also loved the exhilarating, seemingly-improvised-but-obviously-not pieces where individual dancers got the chance, Playlist-style, to indulge in a bit of flash and show off their skills. These pieces were sparky, thrilling, but way too brief for my liking. More of these, please, and if BRB, or any other company, for that matter, is looking to broadcast the appeal of ballet to a non-dance aware audience, I’d suggest this kind of dynamism every time in place of the plodding, repetitive, drone-like offerings that characterise much of what passes for dance these days.

 

Yes, there may be nothing new about ballets set to rock or pop scores, but the background to this one is unique and the surrounding publicity far more widespread and more likely to appeal to a wider audience than pretty much everything that has gone before so plaudits to Carlos Acosta, to the BRB dancers, creatives and marketers and to everyone else involved in this impressive collaboration.
 

The Madonna Celebration Tour? Forget it! Hackney Diamonds? Why tune in to a bunch of grizzled old rockers who haven’t seen Hackney in the last 60 years when you can see a real grizzled old rocker, a legend - minus the tips of his fingers no less! - up close and personal on a series of stages throughout the UK right here and now. Rock on Tony Iommi and raise a glass to Black Sabbath - The Ballet! 
 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Scheherezade

[Bruce Wall]

I am entirely overjoyed that so many people hereabouts - and in 'official' reviews here no less - [WELL DONE!] - are celebrating this programme, highlighting the values of what clearly is meant as the future of British dance.  Albeit abstract by virtue of its dark light - (but that oxymoron too has become somewhat of a domestic vernacular tradition I know in a number of national choreographic institutes) -  of a cherished musical past.  Lachlan Monoghan seemed to clearly combine both entities in his confident vocals rightly generating much delight. 

I fear this programme was not in its choreographic substance to my taste BUT I'm SO glad I went in order to see the bill SO fill the Wells and on a Thursday matinee too.  For me that sight ALONE was more than worth the price of my ticket.  Never have I seen that theatre SO FULL over the number of decades I have been happy to have made its acquaintance.  The small number of its standing places on the Second Circle were here clearly doubled in their layered throng.  May this tradition LONG continue. 

While I, myself, feel no compulsion to see this particular programme again, I SO hope that it repeats this success throughout the country and often  - much, say, in this country's contemporary dance traditions of Adventures in Motion Pictures and certainly the celebratory cheers which greeted the likes of Riverdance in the past. 

 

BRB has clearly struck its national dance theatre common denominator.  Well done, Carlos!  The dedicatory braying here attendant is clearly calling for more.  You, Carlos, are vividly fulfilling your own aim towards popular goals.  The fashion of this clearly favoured choreographic currency is to the British dance scene TODAY what the recent (and I must say to me at least a happy surprise) commercial success of the NYCB's 'All Balanchine' Fall Season was to its own national choreographic coinage.  While they are unquestionably VERY different, both are based on past national achievements and each are equally explicit and proudly native to their own national choreographic cradles as interpreted in current choreographic lights.  

 

May the cheers here heard for such prosper long into what vividly is seen as a happy future for this fabric of British dance.  Certainly I will be reading your reports about such - 'official' and otherwise - with interest. Enjoy.  

 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[San Perregrino]

Note to self: Never book a matinee following an opening night. 
This performance was so dissimilar to what I witnessed in Birmingham a few weeks ago that I came away wondering if it had been a case of The Emperors New Clothes? The energy, flair and innovation that I applauded in Birmingham had evaporated yesterday. Flat as a pancake in places, without the “je ne sais quoi” that i had experienced in Birmingham, the afternoon dragged.
One dancer I spoke to afterwards volunteered that it hadn’t been an afternoon to be proud of, that exhaustion and jet lag from the recent transatlantic hop made by the Company to the USA have caught up with them. 
I hope for the sake of their audiences that they found their second wind for the evening show and the remainder of the run. 
 

[Scheherezade]

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

I am entirely overjoyed that so many people hereabouts - and in 'official' reviews here no less - [WELL DONE!] - are celebrating this programme, highlighting the values of what clearly is meant as the future of British dance. 

 

I sincerely hope that it isn’t the future of British dance, Bruce, but it had energy and honesty, it’s always uplifting to see the barriers between different art forms kicked aside and as a vehicle for breaking down the overwhelming prejudice against traditional art forms that exists in this country, I sincerely wish it ongoing and repeated success. 

[Emeralds]

On 19/10/2023 at 09:38, Bruce Wall said:

 

My word I do feel old hat reading this.  DECADES ago I remember going to a programme called Billboards done by the Joffrey Ballet.  It featured the music of Prince.  I well remember going to a performance at City Center in NYC with the man himself actually performing with the dance company on the stage.  He and they I seem to recall were illuminating and appeared to feed off each other.  This was at the same time as the Joffrey were the holders of the Ashton canon in the US.  It was a different world.  Certainly what Acosta is doing is not new.  That said I'm glad it is has proved so popular - surely that was part of its purpose - and I look forward to seeing it today.  

 

 

 

Billboards was wonderful! So thrilled to have seen it in London. The audience at Festival Hall loved it even if the critics hated it - the critics must have been hoping for Ballets Russes, Cranko and Ashton works!  (For the benefit of younger forum members and members who don't usually travel to see ballet across the Atlantic-at that time the Joffrey company was different to today's Joffrey....back then they only danced ballets made in the 20th century. So rather quaintly, they had Ashton's La Fille mal gardée and Les Illuminations, but not Giselle or Swan Lake. But they performed their own Nutcracker created in the 20th century!)

 

Ballet doesn't always have to use classical music - I say that even though I'm a fan, even a geek, of classical music.  Just needs good music and good choreography, something that brings out the spark in the  dancers. Looking forward to Black Sabbath the Ballet.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Emeralds

[Bruce Wall]

6 hours ago, PeterS said:

Note to self: Never book a matinee following an opening night. 
This performance was so dissimilar to what I witnessed in Birmingham a few weeks ago that I came away wondering if it had been a case of The Emperors New Clothes? The energy, flair and innovation that I applauded in Birmingham had evaporated yesterday. Flat as a pancake in places, without the “je ne sais quoi” that i had experienced in Birmingham, the afternoon dragged.
One dancer I spoke to afterwards volunteered that it hadn’t been an afternoon to be proud of, that exhaustion and jet lag from the recent transatlantic hop made by the Company to the USA have caught up with them. 
I hope for the sake of their audiences that they found their second wind for the evening show and the remainder of the run. 
 

 

How strange, Peter.  The matinee audience I saw this piece with clearly revelled in what they took to be its mastery.  Indeed, I overheard people during the first interval calling it 'a British masterpiece'.  I respect that.  As noted, it is not to my taste.  I will not be returning.  That said, I have a distinct feeling that many from yesterday afternoon's celebration not only WOULD do so but actually WILL.  PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MÊME CHOSE.  

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[San Perregrino]

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

How strange, Peter.  The matinee audience I saw this piece with clearly revelled in what they took to be its mastery.

@Bruce Wall imagine then what the reaction might have been if yesterday's matinee audience had seen what i had seen in Birmingham which was memorable for all the right reasons.  in my review at the time i went so far as to suggest that BRB had perhaps found an alternative Christmas show to it's Nutcracker.

[postie]

8 hours ago, PeterS said:

Note to self: Never book a matinee following an opening night. 
This performance was so dissimilar to what I witnessed in Birmingham a few weeks ago that I came away wondering if it had been a case of The Emperors New Clothes? The energy, flair and innovation that I applauded in Birmingham had evaporated yesterday. Flat as a pancake in places, without the “je ne sais quoi” that i had experienced in Birmingham, the afternoon dragged.
One dancer I spoke to afterwards volunteered that it hadn’t been an afternoon to be proud of, that exhaustion and jet lag from the recent transatlantic hop made by the Company to the USA have caught up with them. 
I hope for the sake of their audiences that they found their second wind for the evening show and the remainder of the run. 
 

 

'flat' was exactly my experience. I know we're hugely blessed in London with the Royal and ENB and other organisations but, even so, this was so disappointing in pretty much every respect. The art in the piece seemed to be in making so little go around: never mind the quality, feel the width.

 

But I'm sure it will have gone down well at funding partner Birmingham City Council.

Edited October 20, 2023 by postie

[Emeralds]

When this ballet was first announced-in the national press and on the BBC, no less- my first thought was that I wouldn't have to rush to get tickets for it as it was clearly for heavy metal fans, not someone like me who knows no Black Sabbath songs and doesn't listen to heavy metal bands. After the casting and reviews from fellow members came out, I too was joining the ranks of those eager to snap up any returns, and hurrah, managed to get one for the last Sadler's Wells performance.

 

I hadn't seen any of Pontus Lidberg, Raul Reinoso or Cassi Abranches' works before apart from a fleeting glimpse of Abranches' work on the Rio Paralympics opening ceremony. The ballet is split into 3 acts: Heavy Metal Ballet, The Band, Everybody Is A Fan. Reinoso choreographed Act 1, Abranches the more contemporary and jazz dance influenced Act 2, while Lidberg choreographed Act 3 and is the lead choreographer who ties it all together. 

 

I  have seen ballets set to popular music before, such as Christopher Bruce's acclaimed and audience favourite Rooster, the Joffrey Ballet's popular Billboards, Arthur Pita's Bjork Ballet for San Francisco Ballet, Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs, and even BRB's own experiment with the genre using Jimi Hendrix songs many years ago (wonder if any members saw it- Miyako Yoshida danced in the premiere!). Would this one work- would they avoid the pitfall of looking like "Pop Concert Backing Dancers En Pointe"? 

 

It certainly worked, and yes, they did. Act 1 and Act 3 use classical ballet vocabulary, and Reinoso's Act 1 certainly started strong with lots of demanding classical technique, keen to show that this was no "ballet lite" capitalising on the  fame of a popular band, but a serious look at the influence of the band, their songs and  their genre around the world. The corps de ballet have to perform synchronised pirouette a la seconds and double pirouettes- and they meet that challenge impressively.

 

The "Kissing pas de deux", where Yaoqian Shang and Javier Rojas dance a pas de deux to an entire song with lips together throughout the whole song, complete with lifts, lying down etc is very impressive. It reminds me of the main pas de deux of Angelin Preljocaj's Le Parc, but is much harder pas de deux to dance than Preljocaj's. Kudos to Shang and Rojas for not only accomplishing it without wobbles,  falls or stumbles, but producing a convincing portrayal rather than letting it become a gimmick.

 

There is also a unique solo on pointe for Tzu-Chao Chou while guitarist Marc Hayward is playing- not a spoof of men dancing en pointe like in The Bright Stream or for comic effect like in The Dream, but a proper classical solo! There are also two further pas de deux danced simultaneously by Shang and Rojas as well as Beatrice Parma and Enrique Bejarano Vidal, with Parma and Vidal performing theirs in what look like black whole body unitards covering even faces, so that they look like faceless black mannequins dancing! (Not sure how well they could see- kudos to both for pulling It off.)

 

Act 1 ends with the dancers in an impressive dance off, starting with everyone in pirouette, then taking turns to show off some seemingly improvised (maybe it is) jumps or turns of their choosing, including a series of extraordinary and impossible spins  (other than for the  most flexible who have trained at them for years) ring pivots, as they're called in gymnastics, en pointe by either Hannah Martin or Lucy Waine- she was spinning and running off too quickly for me to be sure- as far as I know, a first on the  ballet stage! 

 

Act 2 (The Band) was danced in street clothes and shoes depicting both young people of today as well as the band members, with voiceovers from Iommi, Ozzy, Sharon Osbourne as well as quotes from the public and fans, covering their rise from poor and humble origjns to worldwide chart and financial success, and the challenges of handling both. Lachlan Monaghan sings in this act, a heartfelt and  emotion performance. There is a beautiful classical pas de deux for Celine Gittens and Tyrone Singleton as well as a tour de force solo incorporating  street and jazz dance  styles for Regan Hutsell. 

 

Act 3 (Everybody Is A Fan) brings the remaining principals- Momoko Hirata, Miki Mizutani, Mathias Dingman, to join Gittens,  Singleton,  Monaghan and Chou, dancing  elegant pas de deux and solos with Riku Ito, Eilis Small, and Lucy Waine. Monaghan  sings again in this act. while dancing as well (surely a potential star of musicals should he ever decide to venture to  pastures new) and is joined in the singing by the entire cast, forming an impressive Black Sabbath choir! 

 

I liked the first and third acts best for the classical ballet style, was very impressed by the dancing in the second act, and for me, it gelled really well and didn't leave me feeling bored or dissatisfied (unlike some recent ballet attempts at street dance or dancing to recorded music). Perhaps a reflection of the quality and talents  of the dancers who collaborated with the choreographers, the pas de deux and solos are really creations of beauty and elegance, or thought provoking innovation.

 

Has the heavy metal been "watered down" (apart from  perhaps volume) to make it "accessible" to ballet fans who don't know heavy metal? (That's ironic considering how ballet is often being told to make itself more "accessible" to popular music  fans!) Only Black Sabbath fans who have seen it will be able to tell me. It's not something I would programme year after year- it is Black Sabbath music after all, and if you are looking for princesses in tutus or a pretty classic to bring small children to, this won't be it. (But you wouldn't bring small children to Mayerling or Woolf Works either.)

 

However I certainly found the various innovations in the  first act exciting and for me the production - admittedly using the  expertise of more experienced specialists than one might realise - was a more successful and balletic finished product than  the  experiments with Hendrix and Bjork songs that I have seen. The final test of a ballet's quality: would I see it again? Yes!

Edited October 22, 2023 by Emeralds

[Jan McNulty]

15 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

even BRB's own experiment with the genre using Jimi Hendrix songs many years ago (wonder if any members saw it- Miyako Yoshida danced in the premiere!).

 

License my Roving Hands and unfortunately I did have the misfortune to see it!  I will never forget the divine Miyako in that awful blond wig and my best description of it would have been a poor man's Pans People on pointe!  Although I was too young to have seen Jimi Hendrix live I did like his music (more so than Black Sabbath) but I would have chosen different tracks.

[Emeralds]

Thank you, @Jan McNulty- that's it! I think I tried to forget the name because it really wasn't one of their best productions. I think BRB can be proud of what they've done with Black Sabbath the Ballet now. Am also very pleased that they will be able to bring their production of Peter Wright's Sleeping Beauty to Sadler's Wells in April. 

[Emeralds]

I'm thinking about whether you might have enjoyed BSTB based on your feedback about previous things you've seen, @Dawnstar. I think you would have enjoyed a compilation of the classical solos and pas de deux, including the Act 2 pas de deux for Gittens and Singleton. There isn't actually a story in the ballet, although there are abstract representations of some stories and themes in each of the featured roles. My guess is that you wouldn't have wanted to travel to London for the full length BSTB, but if the classical sections were part of a mixed bill with something else eg The Two Pigeons (it's in BRB's repertoire but I haven't seen them dance it in ages) I  think you would enjoy them. Ooh, BRB has so many dancers who would be perfect in The Two Pigeons. 

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

5 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I'm thinking about whether you might have enjoyed BSTB based on your feedback about previous things you've seen, @Dawnstar. I think you would have enjoyed a compilation of the classical solos and pas de deux, including the Act 2 pas de deux for Gittens and Singleton. There isn't actually a story in the ballet, although there are abstract representations of some stories and themes in each of the featured roles. My guess is that you wouldn't have wanted to travel to London for the full length BSTB, but if the classical sections were part of a mixed bill with something else eg The Two Pigeons (it's in BRB's repertoire but I haven't seen them dance it in ages) I  think you would enjoy them. Ooh, BRB has so many dancers who would be perfect in The Two Pigeons.

 

They would have to set the more classical parts of the choreography to different music to get me to want to see them. Heavy metal is not to my taste. I suppose if it were part of a mixed bill with two other pieces I really wanted to see then I might sit through it for the sake of the rest of the bill. Given well-sold it has been I feel absolutely no guilt in not occupying a seat that someone else who doubtless enjoyed it far more than I would have could occupy!

Edited October 22, 2023 by Dawnstar

[Emeralds]

The pas de deux I'm thinking of are actually set to quite gentle and calm ballads- I don't know what the originals sound like of course, but the songs have been reworked by serious composers eg Sun Keting (if you'd told me a year ago that she would be working on a Black Sabbath project I would have said "it's not the 1st of April today!") In some parts it reminded me of Christopher Wheeldon's choreography to Max Richter or William Forsythe's Blake Works 1.  I found myself thinking, "I had no idea heavy metal bands could do such calm tunes". To be honest, my family still think it's unbelievable that I turned up to it, knowing me....haha. 

Edited October 22, 2023 by Emeralds

[CCL]

Emeralds, I absolutely agree re being surprised about the breadth of the music- as I said upthread, I had no idea that BS had made music as purely lovely as Laguna Sunrise. It made for such a gorgeous pdd, and with my two favourite BRB dancers, too. I felt very fortunate to be there.

[Emeralds]

32 minutes ago, CCL said:

Emeralds, I absolutely agree re being surprised about the breadth of the music- as I said upthread, I had no idea that BS had made music as purely lovely as Laguna Sunrise. It made for such a gorgeous pdd, and with my two favourite BRB dancers, too. I felt very fortunate to be there.

Your review made me look out specially for that pas de deux for Gittens and Singleton, CCL- thank you! Like you, I also love watching Celine and Tyrone....they have such depth and artistry in their dancing. 

 

I must admit that, certainly at the last show, I found the voiceover a little too loud at some points in the pas de deux, and would have preferred the speaking to be paused while they danced so that we could hear the music, and be fully focused on their dancing.

 

There was one part of the commentary (I can't remember if it was the quip about drugs or a different quip) which elicited laughter from the audience which slightly detracted from the mood of the dance.  I accept it was probably an artistic decision to have the voiceover continue during the pas de deux, but I think it would have looked and felt much better to have it off and to hear just the music on its own.

 

The pas de deux would make a lovely stand alone item with just the Laguna Sunrise music (and no voiceover) at a gala or as an addition to a mixed bill. 

 

PS for readers who are wondering about the odd progression of the discussion last night, part of my conversation with Dawnstar has been moved to the News forum under the BRB Sleeping Beaity 2024 tour thread instead, because a discussion about Sleeping Beauty sprung up following my comment about being glad that BRB was returning to London in April for Sleeping Beauty. However my reply to Dawnstar's thoughts on that thread about not booking the Black Sabbath programme are left on this thread, so basically the middle part of the discussion is over there. 🙂

Edited October 23, 2023 by Emeralds

[Odyssey]

https://youtu.be/1Gp12dvXwM8?si=1WlkQhAkvrxq6Tpo

I was surprised to come across this clip. It would seem Black Sabbath have inspired more than one company to have a ballet choreographed to their music. Information accompanying the clip is very limited, has anyone here come across this before?