Royal Ballet Polyphonia/Sweet Violets/Carbon Life bill

[zxDaveM]

It has just occurred to me that two winners of "Young British Dancer of the Year" (James Hay 2006 and Yasmine Naghdi 2009) are dancing a pdd in "Polyphonia" on 12,14 and 23rd April. This must be the first time two YBDY winners dance a pdd on ROH stage!

 

I wouldn't know if they were or not - but they were both marvelous in the rehearsal, so looking forward to their 'opening night' tomorrow :-)

[bangorballetboy]

It has just occurred to me that two winners of "Young British Dancer of the Year" (James Hay 2006 and Yasmine Naghdi 2009) are dancing a pdd in "Polyphonia" on 12,14 and 23rd April. This must be the first time two YBDY winners dance a pdd on ROH stage!

 

I think that Lauren & Sergei have already danced quite a few...

[Nina G.]

Of course. How could I overlook those two winners!

[MrsBBB]

Liam is not, at the tender age of 23, a consummate storyteller yet; but he will be.

 

Not to dilute the praise in any way but I think Liam is actually 25.

[annamk]

I didn't found them at all disappointing .... almost the opposite.

 

Sweet Violets was I thought very accomplished in every respect. I thought the choregraphy was exciting and expressive and told the story, although I really do think you need to know who's who before you watch it to appreciate it properly. The costumes, lighting and sets were very arty looking, atmospheric and exquisitely period. The music fitted the piece and was beautifully played. I saw it twice yesterday and it definitely benefitted from a second viewing, at the rehearsal I thought it was a bit long but not so in the evening. All the first cast were outstanding.

 

Carbon Life. I'm not Mcgregor's No 1 fan but neither am I a complete detractor. I didn't expect to like this given what I'd seen of the costumes and I wasn't sure about the music - I'd only really heard of Boy George ! But last night I thought it was exhilarating with some fabulous ensemble images and thrilling dancing (I enjoyed it far less at the rehearsal). I thought the pdd between Watson/Cowley was bit too much like all the other McGregor I've seen, much more interesting were the pdd for the other 2 couples particularly McRae/Lamb. I enjoyed most of the music although I could have given the rapper a miss. I could see that aspects of the costumes created some arresting images, particularly the skirts but I HATED the boots and the masks !

 

Polyphonia I agree with Ismene Brown the choregraphy is very clever - the danger is that anything less than a perfectly synchronised perfromance and it looks a messy jumble. Fortunately, yesterday evening it was pretty much perfectly danced:it was a relief to see that RB men can dance in time together. I liked seeing younger members of the company having the opportunity to show what they can do and I thought they acquitted themselves very well indeed: Stix-Brunell, Dyer. To be really picky I'm unsure about the combination of one of the tallest men in the company (Kish) with one of the smallest women (Benjamin). From the second cast at the rehearsal I have to say Yasmine Naghdi danced the girls solo exquisitely, she's a must see.

 

A third viewing of this Triple has left me scratching my head at my changed response. Maybe it's reading the critics reactions but it doesn't feel so.

 

Polyphonia was if anything even better.

 

Sweet Violets has left me completely perplexed. I've gone from being everso slightly underwhelmed at the Friends rehearsal to bowled over by it's marvelousness on the first night to bored rigid last night.The characters were not developed in a way that made me care about any of them. I found the pdd all very similar, an overdose of anguish in everything. Maybe there was not enough subtlety: the opening scene was so full of angst and violence there was nowhere left to go except to layer on the angst and violence and that was the problem ? Culminating in Jack who was so OTT he now seems to me to be ridiculous. At the other end of the spectrum Lord Salisbury's walk on, scratch whiskers, look at watch, walk straight off seemed faintly ludicrous. My friend thought the music was very monotonous so even the attempt to change the tone - as in the Music Hall scene - didn't have the desired effect, I think that's right. Maybe I just had an off night, I'd be interested to know whether anyone else felt the same.

 

Carbon Life I like and hate in pretty much equal measure. The music is mostly enjoyable and some of the pdd are very watchable (as before McRae/Lamb and Cuthbertson/Underwood) but the vast majority of the ensemble choregraphy it now looks like McGregor just told the dancers to make it up themselves. It really doesn't look like the way forward to me.

[SHarding]

I am a regular ballet.co voyeur but have never posted before, however last nights triple bill at the Opera House persuaded me to take the plunge and appear from behind the bushes.

 

Polyphonia was a good start to the bill, well danced and nice to see Nehemiah Kish starting to prove himself on the Opera House Stage,( the women I have seen him dance with seem to relish dancing in his very safe hands.) Leanne Benjamin was absolutely incredible, the articulation of her movements and the understanding she has of her body is remarkable. There is never an unnecessary step or extra flourish, her intellect is evident in every move that she makes.

 

Sweet Violets was disappointing to say the least. Scarlett has some wonderful ways of creating movement which is natural and flowing, but it seemed like the dancers had a wonderful story to tell however it was going to be just there little secret. Reminded me in tone and choreographic mood of Flindt's The Lesson. There is a great talent in Scarlett but I am left feeling as though this particular project was beyond him right now in his choreographic experience and career.

 

Carbon Life wowed me in the first five minutes, the sequence after the gauze has been lifted with the company dancing a sort of modern tribute to Etudes was absolutely incredible, and it was so nice to see the dancers attacking the choreography with a fresh energy (something I haven't seen at the Opera House for a long time.) The other 30 mins plus i have to say was an absolute waste of time. It is great that McGregor has this opportunity to develop his interesting choreographic concepts, but the piece went nowhere. Even in modern cutting edge ballet there has to be an element of theatre and this was not in evidence after the thrilling section with all the dancers performing a robotic Cunningham like sequence that developed marvellously. The average age of the audience was very young last night but one felt the applause was very underwhelming for something that on paper had the ingredients to thrill.

 

What happened to the orchestra for Carbon Life? I kept looking for the orchestra pit to suddenly light up full of musicians.

[Beryl H]

My first short reaction to this triple bill is that Polyphonia is the best Wheeldon ballet I've seen so far , Sweet Violets is very dramatic and atmospheric with a strong start and ending (similar pdd and settings) and marvellous designs that looked like art installations in themselves, the stage/audience one was brilliant, and the last bedroom scene (there must have been an optical illusion or how else did Alina Cojocaru run up the walls?) very scary, I felt truly shocked afterwards, and Carbon Life is a disappointment, too much going on without any effect, I kept watching the singers and musicians instead of the dancers.

 

Looking forward to seeing the second cast and the first cast again next week, I'll probably have changed my mind too!

[bangorballetboy]

One thing that pleased me about last night was there was no applause during either Sweet Violets or Carbon Life; both pieces the better for that.

[zxDaveM]

One thing that pleased me about last night was there was no applause during either Sweet Violets or Carbon Life; both pieces the better for that.

 

Agree about no applause in Violets, but each song episodic enough for a bit of applause in between. Is it me, or are there now NO actual gaps in Carbon Life, that allows applause to take hold? I seem to remember (or is that misremeber) the opening night and rehearsal the music actually stopping in between songs, whereas last night, at least a sustained note was maintained, before the next song started, so discouraging applause, as those unfamilair were not certain of endings/beginnings.

 

As for the orchestra 'missing' I'm guessing they simply couldn't get the sound levels matched between pit and the onstage band, or timings/tempo sorted, or somesuch. Also a guess, the 'orchestral' effects were loosely filled in with electonic keyboards instead.

 

Thoughts after a third viewing - Polyphonia is sublime; I'm now getting more into the choreography in Violets, now that I know who is who and doing what to whom; still love the first 2 songs in Carbon, all of the duets, though feel the mass dancing just a bit too busy at times (when everyone doing their 'own thing', as there are lots of my fave dancers on stage at the same time and I can't watch them all, hard as I try!

Edited April 11, 2012 by zxDaveM

[alison]

Hello, SHarding, nice to see someone else who's delurked here, and thanks for your feedback. Mine from the first night was that I appreciate Polyphonia more and more every time I see it, especially now I've got more to grips with the Ligeti, which I've struggled with before; from the amphitheatre I struggled a bit with Sweet Violets, because it was difficult to follow what was going on (not that I think there's actually a linear narrative there) and the lighting for the two in succession gave me quite a headache, so it was quite a relief when it changed for Carbon Life (which I actually enjoyed very much, although I don't think it's one of McGregor's best). But who knows - I too may completely change my mind after seeing the programme again.

[Sim]

Mrs BBB (post 37) - thanks for the correction. However, at my age, 23 and 25 are the same thing!

[JaneL]

I saw this on Tuesday but have only just had time to write up my thoughts properly.

 

I really like Polyphonia and enjoyed it very much, especially Itziar Mendizabal and Dawid Trzensimiech.

 

My thoughts on Sweet Violets are a bit more complicated. On the whole, I loved it, though I think it could have been so much better. It felt like it was so close to being there, but didn't quite reach the refinement I felt Scarlett was capable of with this piece. I thought there were too many long scene changes (as we were told repeatedly in Performing Arts A Level classes - whatever you do, don't have too many blackouts!) and, as so many others have said, way too many characters and too much plot for the length of the piece. I thought it could have been much better if it was stretched out into a three-act ballet and all of the details filled in and given more time to develop. It felt sort of rushed. But I absolutely loved the opening pas de deux, and thought Laura Morera's 'mad' scene was outstanding. The end I thought was also very effective. I would definitely watch this again and I'm glad to see it in the plans for next season.

 

Carbon Life was totally underwhelming. I liked the first two songs, which I thought were fun, and McRae and Lamb were excellent. But the rest...not for me. I don't like McGregor's choreography much anyway, except Infra, but I hoped this might be different. Nope. Towards the end, especially, there was way too much going on and it sort of looked (as I think someone else has said) as if they were making it up as they went along. The costumes didn't make it any better.

 

I've been trying to work out how I feel about this being 'aimed at' young people. As one of the young people in question (though it's definitely true that I don't need either converting to ballet or being introduced to the Opera House...) I think I find it a bit patronising. As if we need to have rock/pop music and fashion thrown at us to make us do some culture. Young people are the same as other people! We want to be moved by art, just like other people do. Ballet/dance doesn't have to be gimicky for us to want to watch it - it just has to be good! I know that's subjective, but for me, when I watch dance I want it to make me feel something, and Carbon Life didn't at all. I realise that not all young people do already watch ballet and of course the Royal Ballet wants to find a way to bring those people in. But, honestly, I don't think this is the right way to go about it. Unfortunately, I don't know what is - except the low prices for this triple bill, which they definitely got right!

 

I think their tactic of getting great ballets out to a wider audience through cinemas and big screens is going to be far more effective in encouraging a new audience. If I wanted to show my friends why I love ballet so much and why they should watch it too, I would want them to see something like R&J, Manon, or La Fille Mal Gardee which would show them that ballet is about so much more than just steps, or something like the recent ENB Suite en Blanc, which was a stage full of dancers doing ballet for ballet's sake, and clearly full of joy because of it.

 

Those are just my thoughts, anyway, and I'm sure there'll be people who disagree.

[bangorballetboy]

One of the things that I disliked about Carbon Life was the covering of faces. I was pleased to see last night that the "black condom hoods" (as someone else so eloquently called them) worn by the two men dancing the pd3 with Nela Nunez had gone. Whether this was because Brian Maloney was dancing in Eric Underwood's stead (due to illness) I don't know, but I hope it's a permanent change.

 

And great kudos to Brian Maloney who learned his bits in 2.25 hours of rehearsal yesterday. Bravo.

[zxDaveM]

One of the things that I disliked about Carbon Life was the covering of faces. I was pleased to see last night that the "black condom hoods" (as someone else so eloquently called them) worn by the two men dancing the pd3 with Nela Nunez had gone. Whether this was because Brian Maloney was dancing in Eric Underwood's stead (due to illness) I don't know, but I hope it's a permanent change.

 

And great kudos to Brian Maloney who learned his bits in 2.25 hours of rehearsal yesterday. Bravo.

 

hear hear, re Brian Maloney.

And YESSSSS re the demasking!

 

Question - were there fewer dancers on stage during the last song (finale bit) than previously? Or am I just mis-remembering?

[zxDaveM]

@JaneL

While I actually like Carbon Life (especially the Alison Mosshart parts; and even the kindest of souls wouldn't say I was a youngster!!), I do agree with you on this 'aiming at young people' mantra they seem to have at the moment, and making gimicky things to attract a 'new audience' (usuaully meaning a young(er) audience) into the ROH. To my mind they should be thinking of ways to make the 'classic' rep appear on the cool radar, and so attract newcomers of any age. How you do that, I'll leave to bigger brains than mine. Perhaps they think they don't need to make the effort with the big blockbusters - after all R&J and Swan Lake etc, sell out regardless.

Edited April 13, 2012 by zxDaveM

[JaneL]

"To my mind they should be thinking of ways to make the 'classic' rep appear on the cool radar, and so attract newcomers of any age"

 

Dave, that's exactly what I think - but expressed much better than I did!

 

I hope my comments didn't come across as meaning Carbon Life specifically was the wrong way to go - I have no problem with the RB doing more contemporary works and experimenting with different types of music and costume (I thought the music was alright, though in a lot of places seemed to have no relation at all to the dancing). That's important for companies and choreographers to do, to keep things fresh and creative, even if I don't always like the pieces personally. And I'm always hoping to have my mind changed by new pieces by McGregor!

 

I just worry about the general attitude that the gimicky part was what the new audience would be coming for, rather than the dancing - as if dancing on its own isn't going to be enough. I think they should have more confidence in what they're already doing - and get that out to new people! Because there is a lot of brilliant stuff going on at the ROH and I wish more people would see it.

 

Jane

[annamk]

@JaneL

While I actually like Carbon Life (especially the Alison Mosshart parts; and even the kindest of souls wouldn't say I was a youngster!!), I do agree with you on this 'aiming at young people' mantra they seem to have at the moment, and making gimicky things to attract a 'new audience' (usuaully meaning a young(er) audience) into the ROH. To my mind they should be thinking of ways to make the 'classic' rep appear on the cool radar, and so attract newcomers of any age.

 

I couldn't agree more. I didn't start going to ballet seriously until I was way past being a "youngster". In my youth wild horses might have dragged me to a McGregor equivalent but not in a million years would that have extended to the classical rep. I think the RoH could devote more attention to finding new mature (OK OK middle aged) audiences, people who might not stumble across ballet like I was lucky to do via a friend but who would come to love it as I have.

[Lindsay]

Having a bit of time on my hands at work this week, I thought I would have a first stab at a review of last night’s performance of the triple bill. These are early thoughts and probably raise more questions than they answer but for what it’s worth, here it is:

 

I am a lover of Ligeti and was extremely disappointed with the piano playing for Polyphonia. No disrespect to Robert Clark (who did a decent job with the Rachmaninoff for Sweet Violets) but it’s simply not good enough to have your inhouse pianist tackle fiendishly difficult and very specialist contemporary piano repertoire such as this. Désordre in particular (the opening variation) has never sounded to me more orderly and careful – completely missing the point of what this music is all about. That said, Polyphonia is a very accomplished ballet and there was some beautifully clean technique on display – particularly from Sarah Lamb who really does come into her own in this type of work. It would be stunning if the music could match up to the dancing; I saw this in NY some years ago when the pianist was a on a different level which probably goes some way to explaining my disappointment on this occasion.

 

Sweet Violets had some interesting choreography and good performances (especially from Laura Morera who really is an outstanding actress) but overall if felt like a bit of an immature effort. Melodramatic in the same way that if you ask hormonal teenage drama students to improvise a scene you inevitably end up with four rapes and a murder. I’m afraid that the portentous wanderings around the stage of the spectral Jack character just made me giggle. Like JaneL I thought it amateurish to have so many prolonged blackouts and in fact I felt that Scarlett’s compulsion to create confined spaces by walling off small sections of the stage suggested this work might have been more appropriate for the Linbury than the main house. He was clearly onto something with the idea of an artist looking at a society fascinated by violence and murder but a ballet focussed on individual psychodrama is difficult to project into a large space (I know Mayerling does it but that has the benefit of lush, high society crowd scenes too so the audience is not being continually asked to “connect” to the feelings of one character on a big stage). So this one didn’t quite work for me but (having enjoyed Asphodel) I would like to see more of Scarlett’s work nevertheless.

 

As for Carbon Life, I’m not quite sure what I felt about that but given that McGregor’s stated intention is to raise questions and make the audience consider their reactions it was certainly effective on that level. The gig-style lighting and sound created an alienation from the red plush/gold proscenium environment of the opera house which was in itself thought-provoking. I read some of the reviews afterwards (I never read them before seeing a performance) and was struck by the gaping chasm of expectations when classical ballet critics try to review something like this. I wonder what those members of the audience more familiar with music than dance would make of Alistair Macaulay talking about Ed Watson’s alignment problems? It seemed to me that this approach was wholly misplaced as this work should really be seen as an overall experience (almost like a music video?) rather than a forensic analysis of individual performances. There is something troubling as well as interesting in the music video dynamic, as it does seem to turn the dancers into pawns rather than agents (with the exception of Stephen McRae who must have missed McGregor’s briefing on performance style and as usual seemed never more than 10 seconds away from a quick tap-dance and some jazz hands). While dancers as faceless bodies can be used to make interesting points and the very high standards of technique at the Royal can serve this end well, I’m not sure McGregor got his point across in this instance. As you can probably tell I need to marinade my thoughts on this one for a bit longer…

 

Ps. Where was Boy George????

[bangorballetboy]

Question - were there fewer dancers on stage during the last song (finale bit) than previously? Or am I just mis-remembering?

 

Yes, Brian Maloney was absent - he didn't perform the bits that would have required him to wear those awful pointe boots.

[John Mallinson]

And great kudos to Brian Maloney who learned his bits in 2.25 hours of rehearsal yesterday. Bravo.

…and, correct me if I'm wrong, has never danced in a McGregor piece before so the idiom must have been especially difficult to acquire.

[zxDaveM]

Yes, Brian Maloney was absent - he didn't perform the bits that would have required him to wear those awful pointe boots.

 

Yes, that would have been too much to expect of Brian, so not surprised at all by him not doing pointy bits - but i meant more generally, I thought the stage 'busier' with almost everyone coming on at the end. No?

[Jan McNulty]

Lindsay, I've very much enjoyed reading your impressions. Many years ago, BRB did a work that used the music of Jimi Hendrix. It was, of course, a recorded score and what seriously disappointed me about it (apart from Miyako Yoshida as a Pan's People person on pointe) was the fact that the sound system used did not bring out the force of the music. I never saw Hendrix live (toooooo young) but mis-spent my youth going to rock gigs and was used to having the breath knocked out of me! Instead we got very loud, distorted and no bass! As a rock chick I was seriously disappointed.

 

I would be very interested to hear opinions of fans of the music who had gone there for that rather than the dance.

[zxDaveM]

Ps. Where was Boy George????

 

He would have been on the far left of the row of musicians, and singing in the last 2 songs - but I don't think he was due to appear every night. Can't say I'm a fan, but fair play, his voice was missed last night

[Nina G.]

Brian Maloney was simply amazing last night, and knowing he took over at such short notice (and never danced McGregor) is even more impressive!

 

I was thinking, after watching last night's Triple Bill, how The Royal Ballet really must be a dream company for dancers. Take "Polyphonia" for example where you can watch an Artist (Yasmine Naghdi) dancing alongside a Soloist (Samantha Raine), a 1st Soloist (Yuhui Choe) and a Principal (Sarah Lamb). All four ballerinas are at different levels of experience and status in the Company. It really amazed me how beautiful as a young Artist she danced her solo and pdd, with her partner James Hay, alongside the very experienced Principal Lamb, and also Choe and Raine. Naghdi really lived up to the high level of dancing required to perform "Polyphonia".

 

I loved Leanne Cope's performance in "Sweet Violets" (I would love to see her as "Juliet"!) and Marianella was stunning, Bennett Gartside is a new favourite of mine, and I particularly adored Steven and Edward in Carbon Life.

 

"Sweet Violets" has a lot of potential for developing into a remarkable full-length Ballet, and given time it will. "Carbon Life" to me was superbly danced by all the dancers but for me it represents mere entertainment, not Ballet. All in all a very enjoyable evening!

[annamk]

 

…and, correct me if I'm wrong, has never danced in a McGregor piece before so the idiom must have been especially difficult to acquire.

 

I'm sure I've seen Brian in McGregor before - can't remember which one - after a while they all become a bit of a blur !

Edited April 13, 2012 by annamk

[Ian Macmillan]

I thought the stage 'busier' with almost everyone coming on at the end. No?

 

Dave: In the general atmosphere of joie de vivre (some might say free-for-all) at the end, who could tell who's there or missing? And I doubt that it matters much, any way. And do I detect some further unravelling of the original 'concept'? No orchestra as promised on RB Live, nobody wore the complete carbon kit displayed in the papers beforehand, and now even some of that is dropped, together with variations occurring in the advertised Rock lineup.

[Lindsay]

I'm pretty sure that Brian was in Infra

[Bluebird]

I'm pretty sure that Brian was in Infra

 

Just did a search of the performance database. No sign of Brian in Infra - unless he was a last minute replacement and the online castlist wasn't updated.

 

He is, however, listed as appearing in Limen.

 

http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=18453&row=0

[John Mallinson]

Oh yes, so he did. I only checked the casting for the 2011 revival of Limen when he must have been off injured. Still, he's not exactly been a McGregor regular so the vernacular must be a bit foreign to him. One can imagine the hard McGregor core dancing (and maybe inventing) McGregor in their sleep.

[alison]

I'm sure Maloney was named in the second cast of Chroma last time round (I think I worked out that it was the Watson role, but could be wrong) - and I thought he danced it, too, although he might have been injured.

 

Like JaneL I thought it amateurish to have so many prolonged blackouts and in fact I felt that Scarlett’s compulsion to create confined spaces by walling off small sections of the stage suggested this work might have been more appropriate for the Linbury than the main house.

 

Thanks for posting at such length, Lindsay. I must say, I agree with you there - or possibly at least a smaller theatre such as Sadler's Wells, anyway. I saw Sweet Violets from the amphitheatre, and suspected I was missing something, but it wasn't until I caught up with the rehearsal on YouTube that I realised just how much detail I hadn't spotted. It'll be interesting to see how much more I pick up from stalls circle when I see it again.

[bangorballetboy]

No orchestra as promised on RB Live...

 

I have a feeling (and this was suggested to me by someone else) that between Alice & Carbon Life the sustained noise level for the orchestra may have been too much (health & safety...) and the easiest way to fix that is to drop the orchestra from Carbon Life.

[alison]

By the way, does anyone know what the actual running time of the programme is, please? It was supposed to finish at 10.25 on the first night, but ran 10 minutes late (good job there *was* no orchestra?). Has it actually finished on schedule yet?

[Bluebird]

I'm sure Maloney was named in the second cast of Chroma last time round (I think I worked out that it was the Watson role, but could be wrong) - and I thought he danced it, too, although he might have been injured.

 

 

When I checked the database earlier this afternoon, I only checked Infra and Limen. I just checked Chroma and you're right, Alison. Brian is named in the cast.

http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=19870&row=17