Ballet wish list 2024

[jorge]

On 20/01/2024 at 19:47, balletyas said:

Bayadere - the white act if nothing else… 

The 4th act of la bayadere ,I think with the technology it can do something closer to the original libretto also that teatro municipal de Santiago adds to its repertoire because e last year was on repertoire was 2012.

 

My wishes

 

Le Papillon , I read once the libretto and I seen a video of YouTube and is nice .

 

Midsummer night's dream . 

 

 

 

 

[Jan McNulty]

7 hours ago, jorge said:

 

 

Midsummer night's dream . 

 

 

 

 

 

César was a wonderful Oberon in Sir Frederick Ashton's The Dream so perhaps he would like to have it in the rep in Santiago and also Fille...

[MAB]

8 hours ago, jorge said:

Le Papillon , I read once the libretto and I seen a video of YouTube and is nice .

 

Ashton created a solo from the music of Papillon for Wayne Eagling at a gala, I've never seen it danced since.  I wonder what became of it?  The choreography looked fiendish though.

[TSR101]

23 hours ago, capybara said:

- that the RB in particular demonstrates to the outside world (and I mean world) that it has BIG STARS whose artistry is at least on a level with international artists whom people seem to be more ready to laud; (this might mean diminishing the publicity currently afforded (eg) Nunez and Osipova but it’s high time that the reservoir of top talent the RB has in the 30 - 35 age range is celebrated and promoted)

I think this is a bit unfair on the RB - Nunez and Osipova essentially create their own publicity. Osipova due to her vibrant style was already a star before she came and Nunez was the precocious star who rose to principal early, formed some great partnerships but then perhaps key for her, she stayed at her level (if not improved) for a long time, now at 25 years with RB. 

They are giving leads of new productions to other dancers - and this was traditionally where a big impact was made on pushing star names. In terms of new full length ballets - Alice (Cuthbertson), Winter's Tale (Cutherbertson), Frankenstein (Bonelli/Morera), Like Water for Chocolate (Hayward/Sambe) - even McGregor's choices do not favour them The Dante Project (Watson) & Woolf Works (Ferri). They have also given plenty of opening nights to other dancers. Of recent documentaries on the RB - such as Dancing Nutcracker or Men at the Barre - these two have not been the leads. I would say the clips they post don't focus on Osipova/Nunez. The only really concerted use of Nunez I can think of in recent years has been Cinderella - and then they were probably using her star quality to boost returns on investment into the new production. 

Star quality is a bit hard really to define or create - and its rarely just technical excellence. Bussell was perhaps a manufactured star. MacMillan picked her out, created on her and then promoted her very early - then followed a push to have her on TV all the time to the point she became Britain's Ballerina to the general public here and abroad, but its very difficult to recreate this. Not least because the current crop of RB principals are mostly promoted late, they aren't picked by a great of the choreography world to create on as a muse, and the nature of media has changed with it being far more diffuse. It's not helped that of the international awards available in the ballet world RB (and particularly British dancers) are not that well represented. 

If there has been anyone pushed as the 'next Royal Ballet star' it was Hayward and whilst she remains a lovely dancer that hasn't really led anywhere - either in the general public or in the ballet world. 

[Mary]

2 hours ago, TSR101 said:

they aren't picked by a great of the choreography world to create on as a muse,

 

Very true -

Recently we were bemoaning the fact on this forum that noone has choreographed much on Muntagirov, for example.

 

(But then, looking at some of the choreographers featured in recent new works..it is perhaps hardly surprising!)

 

[TSR101]

It's also worth noting that 'stars' often have a point of difference (as well as being brilliant) - often promotion very young is part (or all) of that point of difference, yet some are also based on decisions they made - Guillem left POB, many Russians defected, Olga Smirnova arguably a bigger star now due to her leaving Russia, Polunin a star for his youthful promotion and then almost an infamous star for what he did after, Carlos unusual given his race when there were very few non-white leads - definitely those who could dance anywhere near the level he could etc 

 

Non-Russians also struggle due to the pre-disposition within the public that connects Russian names with great dancers and therefore being the next great Russian star following [insert list of Russian stars], plus the fact that Russians have a home market that uniquely appreciates ballet dancers as celebrities - this gives them a domestic star status before even venturing abroad. 

RB - particularly homegrown dancers - are somewhat 'conventionally excellent'. 

 

(P.S. The Cellist - also Cuthbertson!)

Edited January 23 by TSR101

[Dawnstar]

14 hours ago, capybara said:

And, of course Yasmine Naghdi 😊

 

Damn. That's what comes of trying to dash through threads as quickly as possible late at night. I was thinking of Kaneko in comparison to Magri & O'Sullivan, because they all got promoted at the same time, so my brain didn't alight on the longer standing Principal Naghdi even though I saw her debut on Saturday.

[art_enthusiast]

3 hours ago, TSR101 said:

I think this is a bit unfair on the RB - Nunez and Osipova essentially create their own publicity.

Exactly. The RB obviously benefits from the recognition of Osipova and Nunez, which Osipova definitely achieved before joining - guaranteed selling out on their performances for example.

 

I agree that the RB is making an effort to hand cinema relays over to other dancers, for example Magri getting the Don Quixote one and didn’t Naghdi get the Sleeping Beauty one last year? And she’s doing the Swan Lake one this year.

 

I agree that star power is very hard to recreate. Especially as the RB has so many top principals, it’s hard to think about who would be the next star after Nunez. I think that Muntagirov/Kaneko look like the next big pairing though, given their frequent international guesting and Muntagirov’s existing star status. But I see all the principals as reaching that level, particularly the ones that guest often, increasing their reputation.

[Mary]

I'm now not sure what exactly we are talking about..what does it mean to be 'a star' in ballet terms in the UK these days? If it is about public recognition that is not something the RB or indeed any of the companies can create on their own, it is a wider issue.

 

If we are talking about, 'Who are the best dancers of their generation, or shortly to be recognised as such' - I can't agree that all the  current RB Principals fall into that category.