capybara Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 The cast sheet is up for the General Rehearsal today (14th Feb.) New-Works-General-Rehearsal-Cast-Sheet-14-02-24.pdf 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I'd be very grateful for any general feedback ( of course focusing on content rather than performances as it's a rehearsal) on this as soon as available - as debating whether to go tomorrow evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I'm also interested in hearing about it - I've got a ticket for tomorrow evening as well. The Mthuthuzeli November work looks interesting going by the photos I've seen on Instagram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 4 hours ago, Mary said: I'd be very grateful for any general feedback ( of course focusing on content rather than performances as it's a rehearsal) on this as soon as available - as debating whether to go tomorrow evening. 54 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said: I'm also interested in hearing about it - I've got a ticket for tomorrow evening as well. The Mthuthuzeli November work looks interesting going by the photos I've seen on Instagram With 4 contrasting and varied pieces, there’s something for everyone. My friend and I disagreed about just about everything but we both came away happy because we both found plenty to like. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josette Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I very much enjoyed three out of the four very different works and agree with PeterS above. I am attending Thursday and Friday and looking forward to seeing the program again. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Looking forward to seeing it on the 21st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheilaC Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 There is currently a discussion on R3 with Junker and Lang about their new ballets (In Tune, if you want to catch it on Sounds) 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I sent my daughter today, age 16, with a friend who has never seen ballet before. The friend loved it- so hopefully will get similar love from those people attending for the first time thanks to the low entry cost for the ROH. My daughter also really enjoyed it but not had the full download yet. Key question is whether she thinks I would think it unmissable… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffolkgal Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Just getting huge pleasure from the thought of a piece with WB and FK called Twinkle … 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 4 minutes ago, Suffolkgal said: Just getting huge pleasure from the thought of a piece with WB and FK called Twinkle … you little star, you! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Looking forward to Thursday evening's performance - just have to remember to leave work early for the 7pm start! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 This evening’s cast sheet https://static.roh.org.uk/digital/cast-sheets/New-Works/New-Works-Cast-Sheet-15-02-24.pdf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 On the train musing... I enjoyed the second half: especially seeing some fun. M.November's piece was very joyful and colourful and J. Lang's was pretty and witty - and used the beautiful Fumi Kaneko so well..the poetry of her arms... First half none of the above. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) Twinkle was an absolute delight. Perfect. How wonderful to give Kate Shipway such a prominent position. Four very different works, three of which I would be very happy to see again and even the fourth I wouldn’t try and avoid. Boundless was impressive in parts though perhaps a few cuts here and there are needed. For what it’s worth certainly brought a smile. Not overly keen on Never Known - nothing that I haven’t seen before but the dancers are impressive as always. Edited February 15 by MJW 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tufty Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Always fun to see new pieces. I loved 2,3 and 4. Maybe I wasn’t quite warmed up enough for Boundless. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I really enjoyed Boundless - had that Wheeldon/NYC vibe about it. And having Yasmine Naghdi n a tour de force didn't do any harm to it for sure. I thought she was magnificent. The middle pdd with Ryoichi Hirano I thought was superb. Liked the first half of the Junker piece (despite the music, sorry, 'soundscape'), which definitely had Crystal Pite written all over it. I'm afraid 2 blokes dancing never does it for me, so that scuppered the latter section in my eyes. Didn't get November's piece at all - just looked like jumping about in colourful costumes; I was waiting for it to go deep down dark and rhyhmic, and it didn't... Lurrrrved Twinkle (Jessica Lang) - the charm meter simply ran out of oodles! Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell revelled in it (as did all the cast) So for me, both of the best pieces were female choreographers, which to me says how much we've been missing out on in recent years 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 How funny Dave ...the only bit I liked in the Junker was the male duet! The noisescape was painful...I hated it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Talk about leaving the best til last... I thought that Twinkle (in spite of the name!) was incredibly beautiful. An absolute joy. Lyrical, fun, gorgeous music, beautiful expressive choreography, wonderful performances from the cast led by Bracewell and Kaneko; I didn't want it to end. Lovely having Kate Shipway doing her pianistic tour de force in full view and as part of a cleverly designed set. I thought it was interesting that in the short introductory film (which preceded each of the works), Jessica Lang said that she always works with the type of dancer/s in front of her - their style is her starting point. And she used the classical technique and sheer beauty of the dancers in front of her to superb effect. Whereas two of the other choreographers imposed their style on the dancers in front of them - and extremely well they danced the works, but they could have been dancers from any other company with any type of training. Whereas Twinkle shone and glittered and displayed the multi-faceted beauty of classical ballet and of classical ballet dancers to joyful effect. For me, Boundless (Gemma Bond) started well but I found myself losing interest after a while. I found a lot of the choreography overly busy (whereas Jessica Lang had the courage in Twinkle to have many moments of great and striking simplicity), but I thought it was at least a serious attempt to make a serious classical work, and as such should be applauded. The influence of Crystal Pite on at least the first part of Never Known (Joshua Junker) was clear, and not necessarily a bad thing. I thought this was a competent example of this kind of contemporary choreography, but not something that I would particularly want to see again. For What It's Worth (Mthuthuzeli November) started well with a beautiful, lyrical solo for Mayara Magri, but the choreography did become rather repetitive and this was my problem with the rest of the work too. It was bright, colourful and pleasant to watch, but I couldn't see much more than that. Judging by the whoops from the audience, the Junker and November pieces went down best (but who knows the composition of the audience); for me, the other two were more impressive. I would happily see Twinkle brought into the main repertoire. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 13 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Great photos, @Rob S! Thank you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Fab photos, @Rob S- thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnzi5 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Thank you for all the reviews! I'm looking forward to seeing this tonight! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 7 hours ago, bridiem said: Jessica Lang said that she always works with the type of dancer/s in front of her - their style is her starting point. And she used the classical technique and sheer beauty of the dancers in front of her to superb effect. Whereas two of the other choreographers imposed their style on the dancers in front of them - and extremely well they danced the works, but they could have been dancers from any other company with any type of training. Whereas Twinkle shone and glittered and displayed the multi-faceted beauty of classical ballet and of classical ballet dancers to joyful effect. That sums it up, for me. When I woke up this morning Twinkle was the one I thought about, - it needs to be seen again. I loved the way Lang wasn't afraid to verge on the twee, but pulled back and made the whole piece superbly witty and the apparently simple idea and music actually very sophisticated. It was classical ballet- but original as well, and it showed off what these dancers can do and do best. I did enjoy the November piece, but it is true a lot of dancers could do justice to it, it did not really engage with the classically trained dancer. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Many thanks for the reviews and @Rob S for the photos. Very much looking forward to tonight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 On 14/02/2024 at 18:14, Blossom said: sent my daughter today, age 16, with a friend who has never seen ballet before. The friend loved it- so hopefully will get similar love from those people attending for the first time thanks to the low entry cost for the ROH. My daughter also really enjoyed it but not had the full download yet. Key question is whether she thinks I would think it unmissable… I took my 16 year old nephew who has seen quite a few ballets with me. He liked it all, but, when asked which ones he would pay to see again with his own money, - some hesitation. But it was good to see a full house with lots of young people there, very well behaved and enjoying it. Preceding each piece with a short film in which the choreographers introduced each piece was quite a good idea, especially for this audience, but- very few choreographers are good at telling the audience about their work in words: I guess that's why they are choreographers. The little films could have been made with more editing I thought, to cut out a lot of 'I have worked with X for years and so I thought I would love X to do the lighting/costumes and I rang them up and they said yes' which adds nothing at all to our appreciation or understanding.. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Mary said: I took my 16 year old nephew who has seen quite a few ballets with me. He liked it all, but, when asked which ones he would pay to see again with his own money, - some hesitation. But it was good to see a full house with lots of young people there, very well behaved and enjoying it. Preceding each piece with a short film in which the choreographers introduced each piece was quite a good idea, especially for this audience, but- very few choreographers are good at telling the audience about their work in words: I guess that's why they are choreographers. The little films could have been made with more editing I thought, to cut out a lot of 'I have worked with X for years and so I thought I would love X to do the lighting/costumes and I rang them up and they said yes' which adds nothing at all to our appreciation or understanding.. I think that is the fault of the interviewer. I think they all got asked the same questions: Tell me about yourself Tell me about your process/piece Tell me about the costumes Tell me about the music Edited February 16 by PeterS 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 3 hours ago, Mary said: I did enjoy the November piece, but it is true a lot of dancers could do justice to it, it did not really engage with the classically trained dancer. Whilst I didn’t totally love that piece, I think its strength came from Mayara Magri’s force of personality and stage presence. I agree with you to the extent that the classical technique required was not so difficult as Twinkle, but I think it required a magnetic presence, even (or especially perhaps) in the slow opening moments, which is something Magri has had in bucketloads ever since her Prix de Lausanne performance. Other than her, I think the piece might in fact be better performed by non-classically trained dancers to whom the rhythmic, relaxed movements were more familiar - there was a certain rigidity from some dancers that jarred a little for me. I think Jessica Lang’s decision to play to the strengths of the dancers before her was a wise one and I loved the witty touches in her piece - which I imagine could be an attractive addition to the repertoire for many companies 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 13 hours ago, MJW said: Twinkle was an absolute delight. Perfect. How wonderful to give Kate Shipway such a prominent position. Four very different works, three of which I would be very happy to see again and even the fourth I wouldn’t try and avoid. Boundless was impressive in parts though perhaps a few cuts here and there are needed. For what it’s worth certainly brought a smile. Not overly keen on Never Known - nothing that I haven’t seen before but the dancers are impressive as always. Last nights Twinkle: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3Z40KlovUr/?igsh=MWduaDR0ODQ5ZG53Mw== 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, Lindsay said: Whilst I didn’t totally love that piece, I think its strength came from Mayara Magri’s force of personality and stage presence. Totally agree, she was superb. I really liked the piece overall. I have huge appreciation for November as an artist and choreographer, and I thought that although Magri seemed the most comfortable with the choreography, Joonhyuk Jun and Leo Dixon - and I think Blake Smith, one of the Aud Jebsen dancers - also did a great job. I was definitely one of those in the audience applauding them loudly. It had a real joie de vivre to it that I really liked, very much needed in these times. I felt energised after watching. I also thought the costumes were beautiful. As he stated, it involves South African street dance with some classical moves and I really liked the fusion. (Perhaps something that also appeals to Magri culturally, as she grew up in Brazil and I think has mentioned the impact of it on her performance style.) The idea of having the video clips before each work was a very good idea - especially for someone like me who prefers not to spend money on programmes. I agree that some were a bit too long - we don't need to know that much about costume design/every step of communication involved - but it was a great way to add context for the audience. Twinkle was clearly the strongest choreographically. I thought it was very good, well paced, although I'm not a massive fan of the nursery rhyme - preferred the lullaby music at the beginning. I hope to see more work from Jessica Lang. Beautiful set and costumes as well. Having the pianist on stage was an excellent idea. It felt a bit odd to me when the audience laughed at some parts, but I understand it was intentional. Perfect choice of dancers as well. Boundless - some good parts, loved the PDD between Naghdi and Hirano, but probably not something I would want to see again. Ditto Never Known, though I really liked Junker's choice of music - now listening to it on repeat on Spotify! I really liked the way it started, but it didn't really grip me as it went on. I think this way of presenting 4 new works - a "quadruple bill" as someone next to me described it - is a great way of giving a new choreographic taster without drowning the audience in something that doesn't engage them with no chance of escape (e.g., Wayne McGregor's Untitled). Much better to give 4 different pieces of reasonable length that don''t overwhelm the audience. 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJW Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 19 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said: Totally agree, she was superb. I really liked the piece overall. I have huge appreciation for November as an artist and choreographer, and I thought that although Magri seemed the most comfortable with the choreography, Joonhyuk Jun and Leo Dixon - and I think Blake Smith, one of the Aud Jebsen dancers - also did a great job. I was definitely one of those in the audience applauding them loudly. It had a real joie de vivre to it that I really liked, very much needed in these times. I felt energised after watching. I also thought the costumes were beautiful. As he stated, it involves South African street dance with some classical moves and I really liked the fusion. (Perhaps something that also appeals to Magri culturally, as she grew up in Brazil and I think has mentioned the impact of it on her performance style.) The idea of having the video clips before each work was a very good idea - especially for someone like me who prefers not to spend money on programmes. I agree that some were a bit too long - we don't need to know that much about costume design/every step of communication involved - but it was a great way to add context for the audience. Twinkle was clearly the strongest choreographically. I thought it was very good, well paced, although I'm not a massive fan of the nursery rhyme - preferred the lullaby music at the beginning. I hope to see more work from Jessica Lang. Beautiful set and costumes as well. Having the pianist on stage was an excellent idea. It felt a bit odd to me when the audience laughed at some parts, but I understand it was intentional. Perfect choice of dancers as well. Boundless - some good parts, loved the PDD between Naghdi and Hirano, but probably not something I would want to see again. Ditto Never Known, though I really liked Junker's choice of music - now listening to it on repeat on Spotify! I really liked the way it started, but it didn't really grip me as it went on. I think this way of presenting 4 new works - a "quadruple bill" as someone next to me described it - is a great way of giving a new choreographic taster without drowning the audience in something that doesn't engage them with no chance of escape (e.g., Wayne McGregor's Untitled). Much better to give 4 different pieces of reasonable length that don''t overwhelm the audience. I suspect that the relatively cheaper seat prices have helped ! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 What would, I think, also have helped would have been for these performances to show up under "What's on", rather than being siphoned off into a "sub-folder" of new works. I barely had any idea there was anything happening on the main stage until people started discussing it on here. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyTaylor Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 For me, this was much better than I expected and FAR better than any WMG new works in triple bills. I'd only booked once but now have booked another ticket for next week as I can't resist seeing Twinkle again. I loved it and how marvellous that the choreographer played to the dancers' strengths - there's a novel idea! Also had the added delight of spotting Roberto Bolle completely on his own in the Foyer, during the interval. Yes, he must have a painting in the attic and I received a lovely smile. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 34 minutes ago, alison said: What would, I think, also have helped would have been for these performances to show up under "What's on", rather than being siphoned off into a "sub-folder" of new works. I barely had any idea there was anything happening on the main stage until people started discussing it on here. I agree. I was under the impression that the Festival of New Choreography works were all being performed in the Linbury so I didn't even consider looking at ticket availability because the Linbury almost always sells out so quickly. If I had known in advance that it was on in the main auditorium I have decided not to go anyway, since the part of the Junker piece shown on World Ballet Day did not appeal to me at all, but I would have at least considered it. It's good to see from @Rob S photos that the dancers are in pointe shoes for 3 of the 4 pieces. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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