Royal Ballet "perilously under-starred"?

[Bruce Wall]

Was Jonathan Cope considered a danseur noble? I

 

Certainly he was by Guillem ...   He was a good partner.  That's always a strong appeal ...  He was certainly the embodiment of a 'gentle man' ... 

[Beryl H]

Well, I think that will depend on how Osipova turns out in RB rep.  And do you mean "strong" in terms of physically, or powerful enough not to be ... eclipsed by her, so to speak?  In some of the dramatic rep, she might work well with Watson - or they might turn out to be a poor fit, or anything in between.

 

Both I think, obviously no-one eclipses Acosta in personality, bit I was also thinking of the difference between Krysanova and Osipova who both danced with Vasiliev in Flames of Paris, Krysanova looked more delicate, O and V are the perfect match. 

 

Going back to the subject of real danseurs nobles, I think the RB has dancers who do those roles perfectly well enough, but nobody that I'd regard as a true danseur noble.  But then, I thought the last one of those we had in the UK was ENB's Thomas Edur.

 

I think David Hallberg and Vadim Muntagirov are wonderful danseur nobles today, and I think Jonathan Cope was, he followed the line down from Somes and Dowell, in which Rupert Pennefather now excels .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Amelia]

Quote:

"…  O and V are the perfect match…

I think David Hallberg and Vadim Muntagirov are wonderful danseur nobles today..."

 

I agree that O & V make a perfect match as both have explosive temperament and powerful technique and dare each other to excel. At the same time Natalia’s excitability, in my view, is capable of setting in a blaze to any partner. It has been proved already that she and Hallberg are very well matched partners in ‘Giselle’ and ‘R & J’. The audience was overwhelmed and they both commented in their interviews that their performances were very special for them. Especially Hallberg confessed, as never before, that he and Natalia felt like one in R & J duets.

[Bruce Wall]

Chrischris, if you wanted to see two excellent examples of danseur nobles (and I agree with Alison that they are VERY rare - and with Beryl H that Muntagirov gives every indication he may well yet go on to grow into the heady ranks of such) I would suggest that you might like to look at MANUEL LEGRIS or PETER BOAL.  

 

Here you can see Legris with a young Guillem in Grand Pas Classique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNA4iIN-dbQ with his home company, the Paris Opera Ballet. (Legris is now the director of the Vienna State (Opera) Ballet.  While he did guest with the Royal Ballet, I fear the large brunt of his glorious career was sadly missed by those who did not travel beyond the UK's borders.  You might be interested to see him do that stunning solo from Balanchine's Square Dance when guesting with NYCB:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAFYjUOFVhs&feature=player_embedded#t=11  Balanchine inserted this long after the ballet was first premiered to 'celebrate the art of the danseur'.  This remains a thing of great beauty and I feel so privileged to have been there when this was filmed in a live performance.  Here (more familiar to straight RB watchers) he dances the second act pas from Giselle with Alina who surely had never been MORE lovingly partnered in it than in this Tokyo outing:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsEGld44LIE&feature=player_embedded#t=11 

 

Here you can see Peter Boal in the opening segments from Balanchine's vivacious Agon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud8zVcHPnuM as performed with his native stamping ground, the New York City Ballet.  (He was hired and coached by Balanchine while at SAB but joined the company on the day the great master died!  How's that for luck.)  He also danced for a year in France. He, like Legris - who danced the same assignment in Agon at the Paris Opera with that stunning solo - brought his extraordinary line and informed grandeur to ALL that he ever did.  I was lucky enough to see him in oh, so, so many roles.  Dancers knew both as 'the danseur's dancer'.  There is one performance of Boal's extraordinary talent in Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer that will stand ever fixed in my memory.  Sadly this grand work has yet to be seen in the UK.  Boal, whose mother was British and who in fact got married in this country, never guested with the Royal Ballet (sadly) although he did with the Birmingham Royal Ballet (as his grandfather - of the Cadbury family - hailed from there).  He is now the Director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company.

 

 These are two GREAT examples of danseur nobles ... at least in my estimation ... They mix artistic distinction with elegant charisma both when supporting themselves and others, inclusive of their audience.  These lads (as did Dowell before them) reached out and touched many.  Both, in a sense Nureyev would have understood and brought how to the West, knew how to walk on stage.  Their work was viscerally exciting, crossed world borders and remains cherished by history long after their names have ceased to actively grace contemporary marquees.   

Edited August 25, 2013 by Meunier

[alymer]

Just a minor point:  Opus19/The Dreamer has been seen at Covent Garden,  New York City ballet brought it shortly after it was premiered in 1979 with the original cast - Patricia McBride and a somewhat disengaged Baryshnikov who announced his departure from NYCB not long afterwards to direct American Ballet Theatre,  It entered the Royal Ballet repertoire in the 1986-87 season.  Cynthia Harvey danced the McBride role and I guess it was Dowell in the principal male role, though I have no memory of him.  I do however recall Harvey being quite lovely in the ballet.  I think that it lasted only one season - but I can't be sure of that.

[Bluebird]

Just a minor point:  Opus19/The Dreamer has been seen at Covent Garden,  New York City ballet brought it shortly after it was premiered in 1979 with the original cast - Patricia McBride and a somewhat disengaged Baryshnikov who announced his departure from NYCB not long afterwards to direct American Ballet Theatre,  It entered the Royal Ballet repertoire in the 1986-87 season.  Cynthia Harvey danced the McBride role and I guess it was Dowell in the principal male role, though I have no memory of him.  I do however recall Harvey being quite lovely in the ballet.  I think that it lasted only one season - but I can't be sure of that.

 

There's just one performance in the Royal Opera House Performance Data Base. However, this doesn't mean that only one performance took place. i.e. I don't think the data base contains every single performance.

 

Opus 19/The Dreamer - 8 October 1986 Evening  Ballet: Performance details Company: The Royal Ballet Venue: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London Performance status: Original season Conductor Isaiah Jackson Leader Richard Friedman

Cast Dancer   Cynthia Harvey Dancer   Jonathan Cope Dancer   Tracy Brown Dancer   Kathryn Dunn Dancer   Deborah Jones Dancer   Elizabeth Otter Dancer   Fionuala Power Dancer   Nicola Tranah Dancer   Mark Freeman Dancer   Sergiu Pobereznic Dancer   Bruce Sansom Dancer   Christopher Saunders Dancer   Jeremy Sheffield Dancer   Neil Skidmore Solo Violin   Elisabeth Perry     The Orchestra of Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet

Notes: Part of the London Dance Festival 1986, supported by Westminster City Council. Event: Number 3 in The Royal Ballet mixed programme 8 October 1986 Information source: Royal Opera House programme for 8 October 1986 (in Royal Opera House Collections)

 

 

http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=12661&row=0

[Jane S]

I believe Philip Broomhead and Bruce Sansom also danced the leading role but I don't think Dowell did it - this was the opening programme of his directorship so I guess he had other things on his mind at the time.

[Bruce Wall]

Thanks so much Bluebird, Jane S and Alymer (any relation to Sir Felix?) for your correction vis a vis Opus 19/The Dreamer.  I do love the ballet so I'm so pleased that it has been done by the Royal Ballet and seen here as performed by NYCB.  I would have been in NYC myself during the Royal stint (and in 1986 just starting my time as a director on staff at the Met.)  Though I did frequently hop back throughout that period, there were long stretches when I was away ... and my memory has, I fear, dimmed with age.  Bless you.  

Edited August 25, 2013 by Meunier

[alison]

I agree with Alison that they are VERY rare - and with Beryl H that Muntagirov gives every indication he may well yet go on to grow into the heady ranks of such

 

Oh, I'd agree with the indications, too, certainly - I just don't think he's quite there yet.  I also have a feeling that he's not quite at the same level that Edur was at the same age, although that may just be my memory colouring things a bit too rosily.  Anyway, everyone develops at different rates.

[AnneMarriott]

Was Jonathan Cope considered a danseur noble? I've only ever seen a couple of youtube clips of him dancing with Bussell.

Have a look at this:

[AnneMarriott]

Have a look at this:

And this (the one I meant to give! - hope it works this time)

 

[Sim]

Thanks Anne.  Just goes to show how much nobility there was in everything Jonny Cope did....especially in the second half of his career.  He was a wonderful dancer, partner and actor, as well as being tall and handsome.  He is still much missed (by me, anyway!!).

[Fonty]

As usual I seem to be coming in late to a discussiont that has probably finished now.  However, regarding Johnny Cope, he was the partner of choice for both Guillem and Bussell.  He was tall, so that made him ideal for both those ladies.  However, while his partnering skills were first class, I never found him to be that exciting as a stage presence. I always found him to be an incredibly good looking, but slightly wooden. 

 

Until, that is, he danced Mayerling with Rojo.  It was absolutely electrifying, and suddenly you could see what a fine actor he could be with the right partner. 

[Bruce Wall]

I have to in part agree with Fonteyn22 here.  I very much admired Mr. Cope's fine work - especially as a partner to Guillem in so many works - as much as early on with his wife, Maria Almeida - as well as in the aforementioned Mayerling to which I agree he give surprising scope to that particular piece's quite obvious and oft times rattling bones (whilst recognising some superior pas de deux, of course, at intermittent intervals.)  I don't know however that I would immediately ascribe Cope to the international heights of, say, my two previous suggestions of Manuel Legris or Peter Boal.  Somehow (again for me ONLY) his work - while very fine in so many regards - lacked that ultimate and very personal radiance that might have carried it aloft to those most rarefied of heights.   

[Fonty]

  I don't know however that I would immediately ascribe Cope to the international heights of, say, my two previous suggestions of Manuel Legris or Peter Boal.  Somehow (again for me ONLY) his work - while very fine in so many regards - lacked that ultimate and very personal radiance that might have carried it aloft to those most rarefied of heights.   

 

I've not seen Legris or Boal, but I would agree with you about Cope and the subject of personal radiance.  Some people display it no matter what.  In Cope's case, he clearly needed the right partner to bring it out. 

 

Guillem was a wonderful, charismatic performer, but she shone so brightly, that he appeared to be eclipsed.  Bussell was a much more gentle stage presence, to me anyway, and it seemed to be matched by an equally gentle, slightly muted performance from Cope.

 

Rojo is also a very powerful actress, who doesn't always gel with some of the partners she has been given.  However, the performances with Cope  just seemed to click, as far as I was concerned. 

[alison]

Until, that is, he danced Mayerling with Rojo.  It was absolutely electrifying, and suddenly you could see what a fine actor he could be with the right partner. 

 

Well, actually, I have to admit (and have done before) to being surprisingly impressed at how good he was at Rudolf at his debut in the role in 1994, with Gillian Revie, I think it was, and with, I believe, less than a week's notice.

 

Rojo is also a very powerful actress, who doesn't always gel with some of the partners she has been given.  However, the performances with Cope  just seemed to click, as far as I was concerned. 

 

I wouldn't say that they didn't gel, so much as that many of the partners she's had over the years just can't / couldn't match her intensity.  I feel I've spent most of her career wishing for a Romeo who could match her Juliet.

[chrischris]

I'm sure most people have seen this article in the links section, but I thought i'd post it here as the author mirrors some of the points others have made in this thread. Agree with some of the points he makes about certain dancers, but disagree with others.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/arts/dance/royal-ballet-has-slipped-a-little-from-its-peak-form.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1387656606-Hn48AcFwYm9zRAWrw+WOiw

[aileen]

I think that this article doesn't go anywhere. He starts by saying that the RB isn't as good as it used to be and then goes on to be complimentary about many of the principal dancers and some of the up-and-coming ones. I didn't understand what he was complaining about.

[chrischris]

Yeah I thought that, what with ending it by saying he hopes they come to America more frequently.

[bangorballetboy]

The article is also littered with factual errors, such as Yanowsky being French and Soares, Argentine!

[chrischris]

And Helen Crawford being an up and comer who has shown recent promise, and Cuthbertson doing Swan lake last year. Still, I do agree that Lamb and Nunez are its best ballerinas, though I feel that does a disservice to Yanowsky, and some of the comments about the male principals made me think. I have never heard anyone imply Soares was in decline before.

[alison]

Well, according to her biog (which I was reading in the interval of "Mr Yanowsky's" recital the other evening), she was born in Lyon, so I suppose that does make her French, even though she seems to have lived in Spain for most of her pre-professional life.

 

What I was somewhat disconcerted about was his references to Nunez in Coppelia and Lamb in Fille.  When was Coppelia last performed?  About a decade ago?  And Lamb hasn't danced Lise since she broke her foot, and indeed was said to have pulled out of her last scheduled run of performances because of the risk to the foot, so that was hardly an up-to-the-minute assessmet.

[toursenlair]

As he pointed out, Macaulay has been living in NY since 2007 so he would be recalling performances he saw before he left.

Really good on pointing out everyone's hair colour though, didn't you find?

[Jan McNulty]

He does say he saw 8 performances in November and December but I must admit I thought the article very nebulous and, if I am honest, pointless (and I'm not an RB regular).

[Naomi M]

And he hasn't mentioned a word about the many up and coming Japanese dancers Yuhui Choe, Fumi Kaneko, Akane Takada and Ryoichi Hirano who were all dancing leading roles recently...

[Shmendrick]

  Some of the poetical description in that was quite lovely, although the subtly bitchy comment about Nehemiah Kish was a bit too far. 

 

  The entire article seemed a bit rambling, to be honest. Also I'm not really sure what conclusion he was trying to draw, if making a point about the Royal not being as good anymore it seems a bit strange to then say it should go to New York more. 

 

   I found the comment about Thiago Soares a bit odd, he's had really good reviews recently, especially when partnered with Marianela Nunez. I've read negative comments about his technique before, but generally not in reviews and not recently. Helen Crawford seemed an odd addition to the list of up-and-comers and there were others who were glaring omissions. 

[Mary]

Starts by complaining that things ain't what they used to be............(didn't Mr Acosta say that too) and by the end he has acidentally ended up reminding us all how interesting and varied the company is and why we keep going to see them!

[toursenlair]

bitchy but not so subtle, I would say. I hope Nehemiah doesn't see it.

[chrischris]

Yeah thought the Kish comment was a bit bitchy, and why do people always point out that Watson is ginger and pale?

[Tony Newcombe]

See my posting on Don Q. Another example of the quality of ballet journalism that we get today

Edited December 22, 2013 by Tony Newcombe

[SMballet]

Seriously confused and pointless article. What's with his obsession with everyone's hair colour? I disagree with his comments on Soares and Kish, and I really find this sort of "best" "worst" listing of dancers to be tasteless and awful. I really wish critics would stop doing that. These opinions are entirely subjective and different dancers excel at different roles, and some, like Marianela, at all of them. But still, to say some are the "best" just sounds off to me.

In other news, thank you to all of you who suggested I get Jewels tickets. I did, at great price, and am so grateful to all of you!

[alison]

Yeah thought the Kish comment was a bit bitchy, and why do people always point out that Watson is ginger and pale?

 

Because he's ginger and therefore still, seemingly, fair game in a society where just about any other personal comments seem to have been virtually outlawed?  I've seen references in reviews to his colouring which, if a corresponding comment had been made about Acosta, would have been described as racist.

[Fonty]

I've never noticed Watson looking particularly pale on stage, given that he would be wearing make-up anyway.  And is there a significant difference between being "ginger" and "flame haired"?  Watson and McRae are both redheads, so what?

 

A strange article.  3 of the names mentioned from the 2004 season have only just departed, so has the performance of the current ladies nose dived during the past 3 months?  Or is the point supposed to be that only one of the current crop of female Principals are British born and that most of them are not Royal Ballet trained?   

 

In which case,  he doesn't make it very well, does he!