Royal Ballet Ashton bill, February 2013

[jm365]

I was so disappointed with the Rojo/Polunin performance that yesterday I looked up Guillem/La Riche on Youtube, and even in the tiny little screen I thought their performances were infinitely better - so much more subtle.  I did see Guillem as Marguerite on stage, but do not remember being particularly impressed by her, so this was an unexpected reaction on my part.  Maybe it was just the contrast?  

[bangorballetboy]

(How, too, part of me wished that Rojo's farewell could have been with her debut as Tatyana.

Rojo danced Tatiana in the first RB run of Onegin (in the Stretton era). It was during rehearsals for the second run that Reid Anderson took her out of the role.

[Bruce Wall]

Thanks so Bangoballetboy.  What a shame that I missed that.  I would SO loved to have seen it.  .... Or perhaps I did ... Did she dance with Adam Cooper???  My memory is starting to zero in but is still very fuzzy.

[alison]

Yes, she did.

 

I should point out that the applause started before the ballet had ended on Tuesday night, although I don't think that really had any effect on my perception of it. 

[mijosh]

Tamara Rojo's performance in M & A is exquisite, spellbinding and,as a compliment to it's creator, she has even changed her hairstyle to the way Fonteyn wore hers. It makes one realize that,together with the presence of the superbly passionate Polunin, that this ballet can survive with other carefully chosen artists,which certainly wasn't apparent when Guillem got her hands (and legs) on it.The memory of those performances makes me shudder,almost as much as the travesty she made of Month in the Country. And I have to say that,much as I love her,Marguerite is not a part that I feel Yanowsky should be dancing.Quite apart from her height, she doesn't have the feet for it,or the passion.When Germont departed, instead of being devastated she just looked rather cross. Bonelli.on the other hand was splendid.But then when isn't this undervalued artist first class. I really hope that,in the absence of Kobborg,the management give him the opportunity to fulfill his wish to dance Rudolph.

[aileen]

It's amazing how varied people's opinions are, not just of Tamara Rojo but of Sylvie Guillem in this role.

 

Mijosh, I hope that Bonelli is not going to become overburdened as Polunin was (especially now that Kobborg is injured). He seems to be dancing in almost everything. I notice that neither Tamara nor Polunin has been replaced. Is the RB cutting down on the number of principals, perhaps to save money following the cut to its Arts Council grant?

[alison]

I must admit I was a bit concerned that Bonelli seemed to have taken on so much of Polunin's roles after he left - especially given his history of injury problems - although presumably this situation will have eased somewhat now.

 

I'm not sure the RB is necessarily cutting down on the number of principals: I wouldn't really have expected O'Hare to make any promotions of that degree until he'd been in the post for a while.  And I've never been a fan of promoting people just because there's a vacancy in a rank above - and certainly not where principals are concerned.

[chrischris]

I've read interviews with male principal's where they have lamented the lack of opportunities to dance, on account of the number of dancers, so maybe they are all jumping at the chance to take advantage of the gap left by Polunin.

[Nina G.]

Tamara Rojo's performance in M & A is exquisite, spellbinding and,as a compliment to it's creator, she has even changed her hairstyle to the way Fonteyn wore hers. It makes one realize that,together with the presence of the superbly passionate Polunin, that this ballet can survive with other carefully chosen artists,which certainly wasn't apparent when Guillem got her hands (and legs) on it.The memory of those performances makes me shudder,almost as much as the travesty she made of Month in the Country. And I have to say that,much as I love her,Marguerite is not a part that I feel Yanowsky should be dancing.Quite apart from her height, she doesn't have the feet for it,or the passion.When Germont departed, instead of being devastated she just looked rather cross. Bonelli.on the other hand was splendid.But then when isn't this undervalued artist first class. I really hope that,in the absence of Kobborg,the management give him the opportunity to fulfill his wish to dance Rudolph.

 

I watched on Wednesday evening and I am in agreement with you Mijosh. Marguerite is not a role for Zeneida, however much I like her in suitable roles. Partnered with Bonelli (I adore him)... it just didn't look right at all and he struggled several times to properly partner her. I was deeply disappointed and disliked it. M&A is a treasure box piece and only the perfectly suited (like Tamara and Polunin) should be allowed to dance it. The wrong dancers in M&A destroys its beauty! 

 

Sarah Lamb absolutely lovely in "Thais". Yuhui and Alexander Campbell danced "Voices of Spring" beautifully in this easy-to-please ballet. I very much loved Monotones I & II: Yasmine Naghdi is so perfectly well-suited to dance Monotones I, and I was happy to see Christina Arestis dance Monotones II, partnered by Hirano and Kish. This is a highly demanding technical piece and needs absolute perfection in every step and move; the slightest wobble distracts.

 

M&A I rather forget

[Margaret]

I watched on Friday evening which ended with a glorious performance from Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin in M&A, which reminded me so much of the first performance I saw in 1965. Monotones I and II were also very enjoyable, particularly II - with Nunez, Watson and Bonelli stunning and absolutely together.

La Valse is fun, but not one of my favourites - the stage looks a bit crowded at times and made it difficult for the dancers to keep together.

Both of the two short items were well danced, Mara and Rupert in Thais got a great cheer at the end - Emma Maguire and Valentino Zucchetti danced Voices of Spring.

So a sad goodbye to Tamara and Sergei (though perhaps he will be back) and good wishes to her for her future career - also sad to see Mara leaving. I have enjoyed so many of their performances and will miss them.

Margaret

Edited February 16, 2013 by Ian Macmillan
Tidying with Poster's permission

[bangorballetboy]

Thanks so Bangoballetboy.  What a shame that I missed that.  I would SO loved to have seen it.  .... Or perhaps I did ... Did she dance with Adam Cooper???  My memory is starting to zero in but is still very fuzzy.

Indeed, Adam Copper was her Onegin, with Cojocaru as Olga, Stiefel/Putrov as Lensky and Saunders as Gremin.

[Bruce Wall]

Thanks so to Alison and Bangorballetboy.  I DID SEE IT.  Certainly I remember Steifel as he was guesting.  I probably saw it more than once!!  How's that for gettin' old.  All best wishes.

[annamk]

It certainly was glorious, even better than Tuesday

 

I watched on Friday evening which ended with a glorious performance from Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin in M&A, ......

[mijosh]

While appreciating these two riveting and electifying  performances of "Marguerite & Armand" (and impatiently anticipating the third) I find myself regretting the performance that might have been but was never allowed to happen. It is well known that Ashton created the ballet specifically for two unique and remarkable talents and was adamant that they and they alone should dance it. However,common sense dictated that,in case of some last minute calamity, there had to be a cover. Heaven knows who covered Nureyev (a thankless job if ever there was one).but the cover for Fonteyn was Lynn Seymour. Now,for those of us old enough to have seen this great artist in her prime,the very notion of what glory such a performance might have produced is enough to make one seriously salivate, as well as to weep that it was never necessary nor,as I said,ever permitted to take place in it's own right. I think that must rank up there with performances I most regret having missed. Sad too that Marcia Haydee never had a chance to dance in it,a loss in no way compensated for by her appearance in the full length overblown excesses of the inferior "La Dame aux Camelias".

[Caspermil]

I wonder what Tamara had in mind when she said that she hoped that she and Polunin would dance together again. It's great to hear that Polunin's mother was in the audience last night. I assume that this was the first time that she had seen her son dance on the ROH stage. It must have been thrilling (and emotional) for her. Is Tamara going to get a full send-off at her final performance of M&A?

Galina was also in the audience on 15th.

[Caspermil]

I watched on Friday evening which ended with a glorious performance from Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin in M&A, which reminded me so much of the first performance I saw in 1965. Monotones I and II were also very enjoyable, particularly II - with Nunez, Watson and Bonelli stunning and absolutely together.

 

La Valse is fun, but not one of my favourites - the stage looks a bit crowded at times and made it difficult for the dancers to keep together.

 

Both of the two short items were well danced, Mara and Rupert in Thais got a great cheer at the end - Emma Maguire and Valentino Zucchetti danced Voices of Spring.

 

So a sad goodbye to Tamara and Sergei (though perhaps he will be back) and good wishes to her for her future career - also sad to see Mara leaving. I have enjoyed so many of their performances and will miss them.

 

Margaret

M&A was simply electric, so emotional and passionate.   La Valse not a favourite of mine either, but Gartside was outstanding.   Zucchetti lit up the stage, marvellous.  

[alison]

This is getting really very off-track from the Ashton bill.  I think I'll move some of the Onegin comments into the recent Onegin thread, since there is one: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/2746-royal-ballet-onegin-winter-2013/

[MAB]

I was told that Wayne Eagling once danced Armand with Fonteyn in the US, can anyone confirm this?

 

For those less than enthusiastic about La Valse, get yourselves over to Sadlers Wells and see what the Pina Bausch company does with it, the dog alone is worth the price of admission.

[bangorballetboy]

Is Tamara going to get a full send-off at her final performance of M&A?

I hear there will be a very pretty flower throw.

[bangorballetboy]

Heaven knows who covered Nureyev (a thankless job if ever there was one).

According to Ismene Brown it was Chris Gable.

[mijosh]

That would make sense,remembering their golden partnership in roles created on and for them as a couple; Romeo & Juliet, The Invitation, Two Pigeons, Images of Love,etc. This makes it doubly sad that we were never given the oppotunity to see it.

[Paul Arrowsmith]

I see today that theartsdesk.com is referring to Marguerite and Armand as a tragedy.

 

Is it? Do you feel any connection with Marguerite - as Verdi intended we should for Violetta in La traviata.

 

I ask the question only having seen the ballet in the Fonteyn films - where artifice of effect was dominant - and onstage in 2000 when Guillem deconstructed the character so that any trace of emotion - and audience empathy - was expunged.

[lartiste]

I went to see the mixed programme 15th February and was blown away by Sergei Polunin's performance. He has the whole package, from the elevation of his jump to the quality of his line, his acting ability he becomes the character and projects every emotion so well, the quality of his technique few dancers can tick all of the boxes but if this his ability now - and it is astronomical for one so young - I can't wait to see in a few years how he progresses!

 

I also managed to get hs autograph and Tamara Rojo's autograph post performance at the stage door so it was a win all round Friday evening!

[Sim]

A post has been removed for contravening our Acceptable Use Policy, details of which can be found here:

 

http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/417-the-balletcoforum-acceptable-use-policy/

[Don Q Fan]

Are there any photos anywhere of "THE" final performance of M&A by Tamara and Sergei - would love to see if there was a flower throw?  I very much enjoyed the perfs on 15th - Tamara and Sergei were great but I also loved Voices of Spring with Emma Maguire and Valentino Zucchetti.  La Valse is nice but it suffered from a very untidy start - it improved as the dance went on but the stage was overcrowded and I think they should take maybe 4 dancers out.  M1 and M2 were interesting and unusual, and Thais was beautiful.  Loved all the music too!

[Sim]

Tonight was an amazing evening;  the whole company upped its game, and Tamara and Sergei were absolutely wonderful.  I so hope she will get him to come and dance with her at ENB...what a fabulous partnership this could have been.  And yes DQ fan....there was an absolutely gorgeous flower throw;  don't think I've ever seen so many; they just kept on coming.  A truly special night.  Hopefully Dave Morgan got some photos, but if not I'm sure other people did.

[Marine]

Check twitter, quite a few people posted curtain calls photos. I agree with Sim, M&A was truly magical. It was my second time seeing the bill (also saw it on the 12th) and everything seemed cleaner and sharper. I liked La Valse much better on the second viewing but that might be due to be higher up (balcony instead of stalls circle on the 12th). 

[Sim]

Here is a lovely photo from Twitter Inter_Mezzo:

 

https://twitter.com/inter_mezzo/status/304738574526459904/photo/1

 

And another from Andre Uspenski:

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=147779382052667&set=a.147779272052678.35286.110186705811935&type=1&ref=nf

[alison]

Ah, the advantages of being *behind* the curtain!  I was just wondering whether anyone had caught the moment when Sergei whisked her off.

[JaneL]

It was a very special experience to be there and to witness (and be part of!) such an outpouring of love for such an incredible dancer. I feel very lucky to have seen her last performance with RB and, very lucky to have been living in London the last few years and to have seen Tamara Rojo dance so many times. I will miss her on the ROH stage, but will look forward to seeing where she takes ENB in the next few years.

[Bruce]

I've just put up a gallery of Tamara Rojo curtain call pictures - official ones by Alistair Muir:

http://dancetabs.com/2013/02/tamara-rojo-final-royal-ballet-curtain-call-pictures/

 

Good stuff!

[Sim]

Thanks so much Bruce....puts a lump in my throat all over again!  It was so lovely when Carlos came out and gave her flowers....and that photo of her holding one of his hands and one of Sergei's says so much....it's so appropriate that both of her best partners were there on each side of her saying farewell!

[Arky]

Yes, a wonderful evening, with excellent dancing throughout. I've never seen so many flowers thrown; I hope that they were gathered up and distributed to all the dancers.