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Bolshoi Ballet: The Flames of Paris, London 2013


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I agree they have talent, but then every professional dancer has talent. I think it's just personal preference. I just don't really like it, and I think I spent most of the performance rolling my eyes.

 

ChrisChris, I haven't seen O&V but I know exactly where you are coming from.  Even in the showing off stakes less can be more!

 

(I can think of a couple of dancers I have seen over the years who showed off (and yes they had the ability to) to the detriment of the overall performance, IMHO).

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What a lovely picture indeed one to treasure!

 

To come back to Flames I had to laugh at myself today in what weird contortions one can get into sometimes on this Forum!!!

 

First ChrisChris.....I was not actually that enamoured with the ballet Flames in the first place and back a post or two have been somewhat critical of Mr Ratmansky(although he does admit himself he thinks the first Act is a bit long) and then within a few posts find myself being on the defensive not only about his choreography and its purposes but also about two dancers I never even saw dance that night!!

Perhaps they then went even more over the top than on the Don Q night I saw them....but I still love them anyway!!

I hope it won't put you off ChrisChris seeing them in something else.....perhaps separately?

 

What did you actually think of the ballet itself?

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That's a brilliant review Janet thanks

 

It has made me realise that one of the main bits I didn't understand (Jeromes agony at the end rather lost in the general goings on) may have actually been MEANT to be like that if you understand this review correctly. I thought it was being glossed over.....and it was...for a purpose!!

However I didn't have a programme....so it's interesting when you really know nothing at all about a ballet how you might see it than when you have read up about it.

 

Perhaps this is why someone posting earlier suggested one needs to see it more than once to fully appreciate.

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I think people might like to see this film harking from the time of the original production of THE FLAMES OF PARIS.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7736Go1uNw#at=376  You will see how much Ratmansky actually kept of the original (while respecting he took the character dances away from the Company's designated experts in that regard).   I can see why Stalin would want to indulge himself in such joyful exuberance after a long day's tyranny.  I so much look forward to seeing Messerer's production for the Mikhailowsky which I've heard they may bring here next season alongside a production from the opera.

 

Here is a video clip from a documentary about he who starred in that famed production of yesteryear, Vakhtang Chabukiani (the chap who was featured in those film clips in the Mikhailovsky's Laurentia production this season.) .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2mY3yA2Hi4  Blessedly it has English sub-titles so we can better understand it.  If you replaced the name with Ivan Vasiliev (or Valdimir for that matter) I think what is being said would still stand true.  It is this size of performance that has always made the Bolshoi stand out for me; the force of their stars. that has really differentiated them from the Mariinksy.  Whereas ballet in Moscow used to be held with the same passion as Football is in London, I understand that is not entirely true today.  That is, or as it was explained to me, why so many of the students today at the Moscow Choreographic Institute are not Russian but hail from foreign climbs such as Korea.  More and more it seems we all swim in a similar (more generic) pool.  More's the pity think I.  We must grab the Platonic 'Specialness' where and while we can it seems .... even at the ballet    I wonder is this too what Cameron meant by his 'Big Society'???  Somehow I don't think that would have ever come into his frame ... but perhaps I am wrong.

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What a lovely picture indeed one to treasure!

 

To come back to Flames I had to laugh at myself today in what weird contortions one can get into sometimes on this Forum!!!

 

First ChrisChris.....I was not actually that enamoured with the ballet Flames in the first place and back a post or two have been somewhat critical of Mr Ratmansky(although he does admit himself he thinks the first Act is a bit long) and then within a few posts find myself being on the defensive not only about his choreography and its purposes but also about two dancers I never even saw dance that night!!

Perhaps they then went even more over the top than on the Don Q night I saw them....but I still love them anyway!!

I hope it won't put you off ChrisChris seeing them in something else.....perhaps separately?

 

What did you actually think of the ballet itself?

 

I enjoyed the ballet overall. I actually thought beforehand, given its subject matter, that it would be similar to Mayerling, very dark and serious, but it's actually very over the top and quite camp and silly.

 

I haven't got tickets for Osipova's RB performances but I look forward to hearing what people on here think. I know there are people on here who would love Vasiliev to join the RB, and I did wonder after watching this how he would do in something like Manon or Mayerling. Would he fully inhabit the role, or would it be similar to this, a 'performance' based around his leaps. Would be interesting to see.

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I did wonder after watching this how he would do in something like Manon or Mayerling. Would he fully inhabit the role, or would it be similar to this, a 'performance' based around his leaps. Would be interesting to see.

 

I think he might well do as well as, say, another Bolshoi veteran, Mukhamedov.  He did OK I think as Mayerling.  :)  (Not sure about the lyrical line in Manon somehow - but even there I'm sure he'd make it his own if he had to.)  Certainly the RB could at last revive Tharp's 'Mr Worldly Wise' which they couldn't I think at present moment -- and I did think there were a goodly number of fine things therein sown.  (And after ALL the taxpayers' money that went into that beautiful production too.  Would be great to see it again.  I think McRae would be grand in the role Teddy did.)  MORE CRUCIALLY, I would love to see Vasiliev in Ivan the Terrible or The Golden Age with the Bolshoi.  He could, I'm certain, bring those ballets to life much as he did (for me at any rate) with Spartacus, a work I must confess I had previously said that I really didn't care if I ever saw it again.  After seeing Ivan in it, I DO.    

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I was very similar then expecting a more serious ballet....given the subject matter...but then found it seemingly more trivial but then I obviously missed some of the intentions Mr Ratmansky had in the ballet!!

 

I do have a ticket to see Osipova in R and J in December because I wanted to see her in something less obviously showy and am looking forward to this.

I thought I might catch Vasiliev in Kings of Dance event in March to see him in a more interpretive role.....but haven't got a ticket yet!!

 

I'm sure neither will disappoint. I believe Vasiliev in real life is very serious and dedicated to his dancing and works very hard and so I'm sure if given the chance he would give any role serious dedication inspite of his obvious enjoyment of the more bravura aspects of performing!!

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I found a DVD I had yesterday of about 20 minutes from the film shown in the Youtube clip, I presume the whole ballet was recorded in 1953, it's not a stage production as it includes armies marching through fields, but is so interesting, another girl runs into the Royal Palace with the flag (to the music used for Jeanne) but is shot by a Royalist, so there is a female death in the original, not the same one as in Ratmansky's.  I too would love to see the Mikahilovsky version, but would like to see another dancer as well as Vasiliev in the role.

 

Personally I think Vasiliev should be signed up quickly by the RB before he gets snapped up by another Director, perhaps as guest artist, I've found he only shows off in Don Quixote and Flames of Paris, which is appropriate. He was serious when I saw him in Petruschka, Spartacus, Corsaire and Ashton's Romeo and Juliet.

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From the clips I've seen of Vakhtang Chabukiani in "Flames", Ivan Vasiliev's performance is very much in his spirit - and how similar they seem to be in physique, no wonder the role suits.

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I enjoyed the ballet overall. I actually thought beforehand, given its subject matter, that it would be similar to Mayerling, very dark and serious, but it's actually very over the top and quite camp and silly.

 

Isn't it the point though?  The more you laught during the first act, the more tragic the second act is?  The more the characters seem hopeful and innocent, the more tragic their demise (whether physical or moral)? 

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Personally I think Vasiliev should be signed up quickly by the RB before he gets snapped up by another Director, perhaps as guest artist, I've found he only shows off in Don Quixote and Flames of Paris, which is appropriate. He was serious when I saw him in Petruschka, Spartacus, Corsaire and Ashton's Romeo and Juliet.

 

Wasn't that the reason Ivan left the Bolshoi in the first place - to dance something less heroic and more lyrical?

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Awww, that is the little girl I mentioned in my review at the beginning of this thread! She was sooo adorable!

 

Vasiliev was also a very good Albrecht to Osipova's Giselle when they did it with the Mikhailovsky earlier this year. If I remember correctly, he was even quite restrained in the 'dance to the death' scene in front of Myrthe and the Wilis. I too would like to see him get going with a few MacMillan ballets to see what he can make of them. After all, Mukhamedov was a revelation as Rudolf and as The Foreman in The Judas Tree...and since comparisons are being made....give this young man a chance!!

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The trouble is I didn't laugh at all in fact nowhere near laughing in the first Act!! Except perhaps for the main actors wig!!(Denis Rodkin pm) and well yes an amusement at Louis's antics I suppose.

I didn't laugh either (guess "laugh" wasn't the right word in the context of what I was trying to say), but from the dramatic standpoint seeing the naive/abused/pure characters in act 1 being swallowed by the revolution to the point of losing their purity (Osipova's eyes during the last moments), lives or loves makes their tragedy ever more poignant.  Didn't see it as a happy ballet, but rather felt deeply moved and shaken at the end.

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I was at sat mat performance.

 

Yes the end was shocking in a way but because the beheading of Adeline seemed so sudden and almost perfunctory(as said in a previous text) I thought it did lose some of its dramatic impact because you couldnt quite take it in as no build up to it and you did feel Jeromes suffering was almost superfluous which I mis read at the time of watching and now realise Ratmansky was aiming for it to be this way.....rather than he had just sort of rushed the ending of the ballet so to speak!!

 

But I really did miss the intended humour of the first Act!!

 

I wouldn't necessarily see the French nobility as "pure" and "innocent" though.....they were oppressors too!!

 

There's a very good book called" Dantons Tod" in German (forgotten author!) but this gets across the idea very well that revolutionaries start off with good intent to "change the system" but often end up just like their original oppressors and sometimes worse!! This is what Ratmansky may have been trying to say.

I would say the situation which developed in Russia post revolution reflects this pretty well and right up to today....BUT getting into the dangerous ground of politics so will say no more!!

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I was at sat mat performance.

 

Yes the end was shocking in a way but because the beheading of Adeline seemed so sudden and almost perfunctory(as said in a previous text) I thought it did lose some of its dramatic impact because you couldnt quite take it in as no build up to it and you did feel Jeromes suffering was almost superfluous which I mis read at the time of watching and now realise Ratmansky was aiming for it to be this way.....rather than he had just sort of rushed the ending of the ballet so to speak!!

 

But I really did miss the intended humour of the first Act!!

 

I wouldn't necessarily see the French nobility as "pure" and "innocent" though.....they were oppressors too!!

 

There's a very good book called" Dantons Tod" in German (forgotten author!) but this gets across the idea very well that revolutionaries start off with good intent to "change the system" but often end up just like their original oppressors and sometimes worse!! This is what Ratmansky may have been trying to say.

I would say the situation which developed in Russia post revolution reflects this pretty well and right up to today....BUT getting into the dangerous ground of politics so will say no more!!

Another book that illustrates that very well is George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'.

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Whenever Ivan Vasiliev dancers in London there always seems to be a suggestion that he could dance with the RB.  As he is stylistically poles apart from the Royal I don't understand some people's enthusiasm for this.

 

If I could single out a dancer for Kevin O'Hare to wave a contract at, it would be Vladislav Lantratov.  Remember him?  He danced the matinee performance of Flames and he was damn good, he danced all the steps that I.Vasiliev danced but without the show off add-ons.  He is so stylish and technically assured he would be an asset to any company and has the temperament to dance most of the standard rep.  My only reservation about this dancer in Flames of Paris is that he has somewhat patrician features making him not wholly believable as an uncouth peasant, it is to his credit that he worked so hard to overcome this "disadvantage" and to deliver such a compelling performance.

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Whenever Ivan Vasiliev dancers in London there always seems to be a suggestion that he could dance with the RB.  As he is stylistically poles apart from the Royal I don't understand some people's enthusiasm for this.

 

If I could single out a dancer for Kevin O'Hare to wave a contract at, it would be Vladislav Lantratov.  Remember him?  He danced the matinee performance of Flames and he was damn good, he danced all the steps that I.Vasiliev danced but without the show off add-ons.  He is so stylish and technically assured he would be an asset to any company and has the temperament to dance most of the standard rep.  My only reservation about this dancer in Flames of Paris is that he has somewhat patrician features making him not wholly believable as an uncouth peasant, it is to his credit that he worked so hard to overcome this "disadvantage" and to deliver such a compelling performance.

 

 

Oh MAB, I would second that!  I was very taken with Mr Lantratov on Saturday afternoon!

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Whenever Ivan Vasiliev dancers in London there always seems to be a suggestion that he could dance with the RB.  As he is stylistically poles apart from the Royal I don't understand some people's enthusiasm for this.

 

If I could single out a dancer for Kevin O'Hare to wave a contract at, it would be Vladislav Lantratov.  Remember him?  He danced the matinee performance of Flames and he was damn good, he danced all the steps that I.Vasiliev danced but without the show off add-ons.  He is so stylish and technically assured he would be an asset to any company and has the temperament to dance most of the standard rep.  My only reservation about this dancer in Flames of Paris is that he has somewhat patrician features making him not wholly believable as an uncouth peasant, it is to his credit that he worked so hard to overcome this "disadvantage" and to deliver such a compelling performance.

MAB, what does that mean, that he is 'stylistically different'? Do any of the 'foreign' dancers in the RB have the 'RB style', if indeed there is one anymore? Mukhamedov was completely different from the RB dancing style, and this was way back in the 90s when there were many more RB-trained dancers in the Company. He managed to fit in and give lots of joy to many, many people. OK, so Vasiliev isn't a danseur noble, but there would be many other things he could do (for example, his guest performances with ENB in Le Jeune Homme et Le Mort were revelatory). Already in the Company there are quite a few dancers who are only given certain types of roles, and not given others (e.g. Ed Watson, Laura Morera), but they all contribute to the continuing ability of the RB to be able to present such a diverse repertoire to the audience...and present it convincingly.

 

Having said which, I too would be delighted to see Lantratov dance here in London.

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Yes, the Royal Ballet has changed a great deal, but perhaps that has a lot more to do with Wayne McGregor, Kim Brandstrup et al, than the overseas dancers currently in the company.  The English style has gone by the way but the basic repertoire remains and any dancer joining the company should be able to hit the ground running so to speak and be able to dance the staple works without a stylistic clash.  Would you honestly want to see Ivan Vasiliev dance Symphonic Variations for example?  When he attempted Ashton choreography in R&J, in the pas de trois next to Alban Lendorf he was clearly struggling with completely unfamiliar steps that Lendorf performed effortlessly.

 

As someone who deeply regretted Mukhamedov's joining the RB, I can't agree that he fitted in.  At around the same time Alexei Fadeyechev danced in Prince of the Pagodas with Nina Ananiashvili, a performance never bettered in that ballet before or since in my view.  Had the versatile Fadeyechev joined the company I would have been delighted, but that was not to be.  The Bolshoi is a huge company and there is not the need for the versatility I referred to there as they have specialist dancers for different types of rep, a luxury that in the main the RB doesn't have. 

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