Emeralds Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Also, there was that worry that because a traditional Giselle didn't sell well in Manchester before, might history repeat itself..... hopefully a short visit of 4 days will minimise costs and maximise revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Aaron S Watkin's Nutcracker - some German interview in here but a good flavour of different bits of the ballet. Will we get our first UK Mother Ginger and Polichinelles? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 15 minutes ago, Blossom said: Aaron S Watkin's Nutcracker - some German interview in here but a good flavour of different bits of the ballet. Will we get our first UK Mother Ginger and Polichinelles? Looks nice and not too "concept" or outlandish...slightly reminds me of the ROH La Boheme Cafe Momus scene in the first Act. (Aaron S Watkin so young in that interview!) 🙂 Dick Bird designed BRB's Aladdin which looked very nice on the Coliseum stage. Fingers crossed all three will create a good Nutcracker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) Well I must say I am surprised the Skeaping Giselle is returning so soon. I am pleased as I will see it again, but I hope it doesn't become an annual fixture. I adored Le Corsaire, I am very surprised it didn't sell well. Was that the case everywhere, or just outside London? Were the critics a bit snooty about it? I seem to remember some comments about its lack of political correctness as it featured slave girls and pirates. When I saw it in London, the upper tiers were packed out. I might go to the Forsythe if I am in the UK as it looks interesting and I really loved Playlist. If the ENB staff are reading this forum, then perhaps we can put in some requests for future years. A triple featuring Etudes please. Edited February 15 by Fonty 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Dancer Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 1 minute ago, Fonty said: Well I must say I am surprised the Skeaping Giselle is returning so soon. I am pleased as I will see it again, but I hope it doesn't become an annual fixture. If this forum is being read, then may I say I adored Le Corsaire. I am very surprised it didn't sell well. Was that the case everywhere, or just outside London? When I saw it in London, the upper tiers were packed out. I also saw Corsaire in London and it was pretty well sold if I remember correctly. I thought it was a lovely production and danced really well. It was the first time I'd seen Gabriele Frola and I thought he was amazing. I was hoping they'd do it again. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 3 minutes ago, Tango Dancer said: I also saw Corsaire in London and it was pretty well sold if I remember correctly. I thought it was a lovely production and danced really well. It was the first time I'd seen Gabriele Frola and I thought he was amazing. I was hoping they'd do it again. Perhaps they should give it another go? People are often reluctant to book for a new production, which I believe it was. Given the standard of dancing on display for the last Giselle run, there seems to be some wonderful dancers who could bring real technical fireworks to the stage. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) I'm surprised that the Skeaping Giselle is back next year, I would have expected perhaps a season off then back the following season, but given it is coming back so soon I'm disappointed that there are so few London performances. I was hoping that when it returned I'd be able to catch some of the casts I couldn't see this time (& be able to see Frola with only a single Giselle!) but with performances over only 4 days I'll probably only be able to see 2 performances at most. I'm not sure about the new Nutcracker: if it's traditional then I'll probably try to see it but I'll want to wait for reviews, in case it turns out to be some modern reinterpretation, and by that time it might have already sold out. I'll be continuing to avoid Khan's Giselle. I don't know about the Forsythe, I've never seen anything by him so I'll have to do some research & think about it. ETA Missed that the thread has gone onto page 2. Add me to the list of people who would like to see Le Corsaire again as I enjoyed it in 2020. I had also hoped beforehand that maybe ENB would do either Romeo & Juliet or Manon next season but no. Edited February 15 by Dawnstar 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnePigeon Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I’m also not overly familiar with Forsythe, but I did have a look at some videos of Playlist on YouTube and whilst choreographically it was interesting and I liked it, musically it had me wanting to do a Van Gogh and on that basis I’m not sure I could actually sit through it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Well I'm very impressed that ENB are getting another new work out of Forsythe. IMO no choreographer working in ballet today gives such a sense of the joy of dance. I'd rather have Playlist than any new commission the RB have staged of late. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 I didn’t enjoy Le Corsaire BUT I’d be interested in seeing it again to give it another go as it has been a few years. As someone who plans things months in advance whilst it would benefit London people if they were going to do a 75th Anniversary Gala I’d hope they would announce it sooner rather than later! And in the hope that ENB is reading this for next year I agree with Etudes, why not Les Sylphides, maybe some Roland Petit, more Balanchine, Mats Ek, and yes Coppelia would be a welcome surprise as well. I hope Raymonda gets at least one revival rather than being cast off after its truncated opening run…Also I don’t think ENB have done Sleeping Beauty for a while if I’m not mistaken (unless I missed it?). 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Apropos the 75th Anniversary, I'm just reading ENB's Twitter thread on their new season and one of them says "We’re inviting our fans from all around the world to a 10-day summer celebration online to mark our 75th Season. More details to be announced soon!" which rather makes it sound as if they may not be going to do an in-person celebration. https://twitter.com/ENBallet/status/1758130327380525374 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 7 hours ago, Jan McNulty said: The production will take audiences on a fantastical adventure as they join Clara on her journey of discovery, from Edwardian London to the Land of Sweets & Delights. This is a quote from the press release so it seems that the new production will be rooted in Edwardian London. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candleque Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said: I'd rather have Playlist than any new commission the RB have staged of late. This ⬆️. ps: Thrilled to see Arielle Smith have a whack at a new Nutcracker. Can't wait 🎄 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 9 hours ago, JNC said: I didn’t enjoy Le Corsaire BUT I’d be interested in seeing it again to give it another go as it has been a few years. As someone who plans things months in advance whilst it would benefit London people if they were going to do a 75th Anniversary Gala I’d hope they would announce it sooner rather than later! And in the hope that ENB is reading this for next year I agree with Etudes, why not Les Sylphides, maybe some Roland Petit, more Balanchine, Mats Ek, and yes Coppelia would be a welcome surprise as well. I hope Raymonda gets at least one revival rather than being cast off after its truncated opening run…Also I don’t think ENB have done Sleeping Beauty for a while if I’m not mistaken (unless I missed it?). Sleeping Beauty June 2018 at London Coliseum, with Alina Cojocaru, Joseph Caley, Shiori Kase (Lilac Fairy), James Streeter (Carabosse), Rine Kanahara (Florine) and Daniel McCormick (Bluebird) dancing the first night. (Francesca Hayward and Thomas Whitehead attended one of the performances.) A successful run with Jurgita Dronina as another excellent Aurora. I'd like to see Raymonda return as well, although we may be outliers- I think financially it was the right time to plan to bring the Skeaping Giselle outside London because of Arts Council England. Next season might be possible. Would like to see Theme and Variations return on a bill with more classical works (eg Sylphides) rather than contemporary, to reduce injuries. perhaps in spring or summer. Edited February 16 by Emeralds 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 12 hours ago, Fonty said: Well I must say I am surprised the Skeaping Giselle is returning so soon. I am pleased as I will see it again, but I hope it doesn't become an annual fixture. I adored Le Corsaire, I am very surprised it didn't sell well. Was that the case everywhere, or just outside London? Were the critics a bit snooty about it? I seem to remember some comments about its lack of political correctness as it featured slave girls and pirates. When I saw it in London, the upper tiers were packed out. I might go to the Forsythe if I am in the UK as it looks interesting and I really loved Playlist. If the ENB staff are reading this forum, then perhaps we can put in some requests for future years. A triple featuring Etudes please. Le Corsaire was always an uphill battle to fill the Coliseum due to it being not well known among the general public (Coli is a big theatre to fill) even in its early days. It sold best when the biggest names (Cojocaru, Klimentova, Rojo) were billed to dance- even though Cojocaru often had to cancel due to injury/illness when the show came round. The Balcony and Upper Circle sold well but Stalls and Dress Circle less so. Critics were tougher on it than on Giselle and Sleeping Beauty. I don't think patrons were bothered about political correctness (although a few critics mentioned it)- the ones who didn't buy tickets didn't know the ballet enough to care. It's in the opposite situation to Nutcracker (very famous ballet, audiences don't care who dances) - Corsaire is a not so famous ballet with brilliant dancing from the company but patrons still know nothing about it so it's mostly regulars who attend (not enough regulars to fill all the seats in 8 or more performances- that would require more than 18,870 regulars to go unless they bring friends or go more than once). I did also spot some newcomers at performances who had used the company's multibuy offer with Nutcracker but the theatre was more sparsely filled than at Nutcracker. Edited February 16 by Emeralds 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 15 hours ago, TSR101 said: I would actually expect the RB to do their Giselle next season. It was last on in 2018 and 2021. Very likely for 24/25 I would have thought. I wouldn’t get your hopes up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollylamb1 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Really wanted to see Forsythe's Blake Works II, will that be part of the programme? Really enjoyed ENB in Blake Works I + know the second installation was premiered last year in Milan + Berlin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNC Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 12 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said: I wouldn’t get your hopes up Oh dear this is a shame if true. The Royal has so many great Giselles and Albrechts right now. But at least I’ll save money I suppose, as the saying now goes! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 20 minutes ago, lollylamb1 said: Really wanted to see Forsythe's Blake Works II, will that be part of the programme? Really enjoyed ENB in Blake Works I + know the second installation was premiered last year in Milan + Berlin? Blake Works II has already been performed in Britain. It was made for Tiler Peck, with Brooklyn Mack, Lex Ishimoto and Roman Mejia, supported by funding from CLI Studios. Ms Peck brought it to Sadler's Wells in March last year with the original cast. You're thinking of Blake Works V which he made for the ballet company of La Scala in Milan in May 2023. (He made Blake Works III for Boston Ballet in 2022 and Blake Works IV for Dance Theater of Harlem shortly before working with La Scala.) Unfortunately none of the Blake Works ballets are scheduled for the Forsythe programme but it will be even better to have two ballets of his that are new to recent audiences- a new creation and New Suite. Edited February 16 by Emeralds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollylamb1 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Emeralds said: Blake Works II has already been performed in Britain. It was made for Tiler Peck, with Brooklyn Mack, Lex Ishimoto and Roman Mejia, supported by funding from CLI Studios. Ms Peck brought it to Sadler's Wells in March last year with the original cast. You're thinking of Blake Works V which he made for the ballet company of La Scala in Milan in May 2023. (He made Blake Works III for Boston Ballet in 2022 and Blake Works IV for Dance Theater of Harlem shortly before working with La Scala.) Unfortunately none of the Blake Works ballets are scheduled for the Forsythe programme but it will be even better to have two ballets of his that are new to recent audiences- a new creation and New Suite. Thank you, yes you're right I'm thinking of V! Edited February 16 by lollylamb1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, Emeralds said: Critics were tougher on it than on Giselle and Sleeping Beauty. I don't think patrons were bothered about political correctness (although a few critics mentioned it)- the ones who didn't buy tickets didn't know the ballet enough to care. It's in the opposite situation to Nutcracker (very famous ballet, audiences don't care who dances) - Corsaire is a not so famous ballet with brilliant dancing from the company but patrons still know nothing about it so it's mostly regulars who attend (not enough regulars to fill all the seats in 8 or more performances- that would require more than 18,870 regulars to go unless they bring friends or go more than once). I did also spot some newcomers at performances who had used the company's multibuy offer with Nutcracker but the theatre was more sparsely filled than at Nutcracker. I think some of the critics gave it rather neutral reviews on the basis of the subject matter, which might have put off people coming to see it. Not because of the political correctness, but because of the resulting lower star rating. I don't know about the rest of the country, but in London there is so much on offer, people may opt to see a show rated 4 or 5 stars rather than one given a 3 star one.. I know when I went to see the Skeaping Giselle I heard people saying they had come from way outside London (Birmingham & Plymouth were two places mentioned) because it had received such glowing reviews. Edited February 16 by Fonty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 47 minutes ago, Emeralds said: You're thinking of Blake Works V He's made five Blake Works?! He must be a real fan of Blake 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 18 minutes ago, alison said: He's made five Blake Works?! He must be a real fan of Blake I was thinking that too, @alison! For a moment I thought that the "V" was chosen because it looked nice on a poster....but there really is a III and a IV! I thought the fast music he chose for Tiler Peck sounded different (nicer!) to that of Blake Works I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 14 hours ago, Dawnstar said: I'm surprised that the Skeaping Giselle is back next year, I would have expected perhaps a season off then back the following season, but given it is coming back so soon I'm disappointed that there are so few London performances. I was hoping that when it returned I'd be able to catch some of the casts I couldn't see this time (& be able to see Frola with only a single Giselle!) but with performances over only 4 days I'll probably only be able to see 2 performances at most As it’s coming back so soon, I’d hope that all the lead roles would be cast with those who didn’t get a chance to dance them earlier this year. If I have a criticism of the Skeaping Giselle it is that it under-uses so many talented dancers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Well will be interested in the new Nutcracker ( especially if it’s true no RB Nutcracker in December) and as I missed the Skeaping Giselle this time a great chance to see next January though I know others may be disappointed about this if did see it recently. I’m surprised no Corsair..I’m always up for a Corsaire… so hope that’s the following year. Otherwise probably just one trip to Forsyth and to Khans Giselle… as haven’t seen that since 2018 in Southampton. What I call an okay season rather than a wow one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Booking open for Friends for Nutcracker - opening night is quite booked out in the stalls and first 3 rows of the dress circle. Got my tickets booked, can’t wait! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 The programme looks fine for an average season but massively disappointing for a 75th anniversary season. Like others here my first thought was where's Etudes? For me ENB suffers from the same problem as the RB, they both have a dazzling back catalogue of master works but choose not to perform them. I would have hoped for a triple bill of some of those gems e.g. Suite en Blanc, Swan Song, perhaps Pat Dolin's Pas de Quatre, he was after all one of the company's co founders. Nutcracker? I've seen better and seen much worse, it does do good business though so I don't see the point in replacing it. As the production seems to have its admirers, I suggest a trip to Budapest where the Eagling version is also performed. You'll Like Budapest, it has no fewer than three ballet venues AND they dance Etudes. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 What to add? Much as I love the Skeaping Giselle, I had, at first, thought too soon for a revival but since it won't be back in London until next January, I will welcome its return, particularly if there is to be no RB Giselle next season and, additionally, as I will hopefully get the chance to catch Frola's Albrecht this time round. I am very happy with the Forsythe triple. I love the way he allows the music, classical or contemporary, to wrap itself around his always exhilarating choreography and totally agree with Lizbie's upthread comments about pervading sense of joy that informs his works. See Forsythe and go home feeling that all is well with the world. I will reserve judgement on the new Nutcracker until I have seen it. I really enjoy Arielle Smith's work - she is another choreographer whose output is thankfully rooted in joy rather than misery - but can't quite visualise what she will do with Nutcracker. The Edwardian setting sounds promising, provided that the classicism isn't lost in translation and that the end result steers well clear of previous ENB sweet shop settings. Like others, I am mortified that there is no Etudes. Another triple bill with this piece, please. 🙏 Or, more fittingly perhaps, include this wonderful showcase for the company in a live gala to mark their 75th anniversary. Whilst, unlike Creature, I enjoyed Akram Khan's Giselle first time round, I feel no need to see it again and, yes, would much prefer another run of Corsaire. All in all, fine as far as it goes but definitely not enough 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I’m feeling very underwhelmed by the 75th Anniversary offering overall. Come on ENB; you can do better than this. Excite me, please! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 8 minutes ago, capybara said: I’m feeling very underwhelmed by the 75th Anniversary offering overall. Come on ENB; you can do better than this. Excite me, please! I couldn't have said it better myself. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 And as has been said of the RB, what about their wonderful back catalogue of 20th century works? But I had no expectation of seeing any of those since sadly they seem to have been written off across the board. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, LinMM said: Well will be interested in the new Nutcracker ( especially if it’s true no RB Nutcracker in December) and as I missed the Skeaping Giselle this time a great chance to see next January though I know others may be disappointed about this if did see it recently. I’m surprised no Corsair..I’m always up for a Corsaire… so hope that’s the following year. Otherwise probably just one trip to Forsyth and to Khans Giselle… as haven’t seen that since 2018 in Southampton. What I call an okay season rather than a wow one. The Skeaping Giselle is specially for you, @LinMM- please take very good care of yourself in November, December and January, and don't get injured or ill! (Not just because you mustn't miss Giselle twice of course.) 😊 Ok, you and several others. I hope I can actually see Fernanda Oliveira this time... maybe I should also send her the same message about keeping well and avoiding injury/illness! And also Lee, Haw, Kase etc (10 days isn't enough time in the real world to catch 6 casts!) Am hoping they have some exciting stuff for May and June, which aren't included in the announcement. Hope there's a gala, R&J in the round, as well as Etudes (either in a Gala or a triple bill at SWT) and Emerging Dancer in there. Edited February 16 by Emeralds 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 50 minutes ago, MAB said: The programme looks fine for an average season but massively disappointing for a 75th anniversary season. Like others here my first thought was where's Etudes? For me ENB suffers from the same problem as the RB, they both have a dazzling back catalogue of master works but choose not to perform them. I would have hoped for a triple bill of some of those gems e.g. Suite en Blanc, Swan Song, perhaps Pat Dolin's Pas de Quatre, he was after all one of the company's co founders. Nutcracker? I've seen better and seen much worse, it does do good business though so I don't see the point in replacing it. As the production seems to have its admirers, I suggest a trip to Budapest where the Eagling version is also performed. You'll Like Budapest, it has no fewer than three ballet venues AND they dance Etudes. Great ideas, @MAB- I love Dolin's Pas de Quatre and ENB's performances of Lifar's Suite en Blanc. Can't travel to Budapest (or Amsterdam), sadly, but maybe HNB might put their recording on DVD or stream it again. Edited February 16 by Emeralds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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