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The Royal Ballet - Sleeping Beauty, Spring 2014


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Aileen, even with two intervals the performance does end at 1030pm (union rules prevent anything lasting later than that anyway).  Acts 3 and 4 run into each other with a rather long musical interlude in between them for set and costume changes.

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I had the good fortune to visit the Props Department when they were making this SB carriage. It has that large section at the back because inside is a mobility scooter driven by, I think, a stage manager (unless it's changed since the original). They had also finished making the cradle, and it was there complete with baby doll who'd been given a bottle by one of the staff (and it wasn't a milk bottle!). Anyone noticed that the adult bed has similarities to the cradle?

 

And there was me thinking it was all done with magic and fairy dust...

:-)

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I'd cheerfully cut out the boat part, and trim the wandering through the net curtains (sorry, 'protective thorn bushes') and the opening parade in act 3, for example. I'm sure there are other bits I could trim if I really set my mind to it...

 

Hey, Dave ... Think you would LOVE Peter Martins' SB .... Oh, and part of the 'boat part' in that is another glorious solo for Florimund!!

 

Still think that BRB's is the best version - the Wright one so to speak - in the UK at present.  Still that is but MY personal preference ... My 'like' as t'were ... Nothing more.  

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Hey, Dave ... Think you would LOVE Peter Martins' SB .... Oh, and part of the 'boat part' in that is another glorious solo for Florimund!!

 

Still think that BRB's is the best version - the Wright one so to speak - in the UK at present.  Still that is but MY personal preference ... My 'like' as t'were ... Nothing more.  

 

Agree, the BRB seem to have managed to keep the charm of the ballet, but managed to tighten it up so it 'flows' better.

 

There were recent discussion on whether the warhorses should be put to rest or updated, but when it comes down to it, I'd rather have a classic version of Sleeping Beauty than none, or only a 'best of' version. I like the very set structure and divertissements of the classics, though it helps to know that what they are before seeing a classic for the first time.

 

The Bourne version is a valid update in it's own way, but it is more 'dance theatre' than ballet does not provide the elaborate and 'historical' feel of a classic ballet.

 

I think it might be very interesting if someone could attempt to re-cut the ballet from much earlier versions instead of just tinkering with recent versions, mixing up 50 / 60 / 70 sensibilities (especially in costume and set design) with an attempt to make it work for current audiences. This might provide an opportunity to look at the storyline and then make cuts in places that might be too long for 21st century audiences or adding things back in which  actually made the story clearer or would allow it to flow more 'logically' (using that word in its widest sense).

 

Once the structure of the storytelling has been reviewed, successful choreography updates from previous versions could be incorporated (no point re-inventing the wheel), and some of the very long court scenes or slightly disjointed garland dances would probably benefit from a complete refresh.

 

And with redeveloping SB from the most original versions available, I don't mean a restaging of the old version similar to the Kirov version mentioned in this article ( http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/Beauty1.html ), but just using it as a starting point to come up with a new version that is true to the charm and tradition of the piece, but works for a 21st century audience

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I sometimes wonder why some members ever bother to come out to the ballet seeing that they seem to spend quite a lot of time thinking about the journey home; and as for some of the choreography being "dross" I don't think that Frederick Ashton would have agreed with you seeing that he considered SB to be a lesson in choreography. I think that in this age of hour long TV programs, soundbites, and short attention spans it is difficult for some people to focus on a work which was made for a more leisured age and a very different social milieu. I very much deplore the current craze for cutting the 19th century ballets as if cutting would somehow make them better rather than rob them of structure and drama.

 

Actually, from the very beginning even before it got on stage SB was being cut. Petipa found that Tchaikovsky had written too much music and the original working score is full of his notes like "trop longue, il faut couper". Even so the original version lasts well over three hours and the RB version is cut in a number of places. Some of the musical repeats for the lengthy processions that were a feature of some of Petipa's ballets have been cut and the mime scene for the King and knitting women has been considerably shortened. One of the worst of the RB's recent cuts IMO occurs in Act 2 where all the court dances - except one - and the farandole have been cut to make way for the interpolated adagio solo for the Prince to the music of the Act 3 sarabande. In Act 3, as has been remarked, several of the fairy-tale characters numbers have gone missing, so no Cinderella and her Prince and no Tom Thumb and the Ogre. The current RB version has restored the Panorama at the end of Act 2 which used to be played as an entr'acte and which in times gone by was considered one of the more charming features of the ballet.

 

It is one of the oddities of the ballet world that Petipa is regularly hailed as the greatest 19th C choreographer, yet today's custodians of his work constantly cut and revise it and insert their own choreography. Do we subject great works of literature and music to the same treatment?

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I sometimes wonder why some members ever bother to come out to the ballet seeing that they seem to spend quite a lot of time thinking about the journey home; and as for some of the choreography being "dross" I don't think that Frederick Ashton would have agreed with you seeing that he considered SB to be a lesson in choreography. I think that in this age of hour long TV programs, soundbites, and short attention spans it is difficult for some people to focus on a work which was made for a more leisured age and a very different social milieu. I very much deplore the current craze for cutting the 19th century ballets as if cutting would somehow make them better rather than rob them of structure and drama.

 

 

You're a completely right. I dislike SB because I have a short attention span and I am from a different social milieu.

 

I've always thought one of the reasons I love Manon and Mayerling so much is because they are so short and easy to follow.

Edited by chrischris
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It is one of the oddities of the ballet world that Petipa is regularly hailed as the greatest 19th C choreographer, yet today's custodians of his work constantly cut and revise it and insert their own choreography. Do we subject great works of literature and music to the same treatment?

 

I've often mused on that, too.

 

But Tom Thumb and the Ogre don't have a dance in any version, do they?  I very much like the Cinderella number on the odd occasions we get to see it.

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[

 

I've always thought one of the reasons I love Manon and Mayerling so much is because they are so short and easy to follow.

 

Not short enough for some. I've seen suggestions that a lot of those tiresome dances for the ladies in the second act of Manon should be cut; and in addition at one revival of Manon the group dances for the men at the quayside in the last act were cut only to be restored later. And then there was the jailer's mistress. She disappeared many years ago.

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I don't think that it's fair to describe some of the dancing/action as 'dross', although I agree that the ballet does drag in places. Would any company be brave enough to stage a traditional Beauty with some trimming? Although the fairy tale character dances can be charming they don't IMO serve much purpose and, by then, I have usually had enough and am thinking about my journey home. I'm surprised that the performances at the ROH are starting at 7.30pm. I would have thought that with the intervals the performances would run past 10.30pm.

Saturday's evening performance started at 7pm and finished bang on time at 10pm - thank goodness!

 

I could do without the scene introducing the Prince where we have to watch blind man's buff - but I suppose the jollity is necessary to illustrate the Prince's depressed mood. I like the Puss in Boots dance but could do without Red Riding Hood - don't deprive me of the Bluebird variations though!

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I find that the more I learn about a work the more I enjoy it.

 

There is a structure, there are layers of meaning, there are patterns. The music of SB is wonderful and the way it works with the dance is endlessly interesting, for example the way the battle between good and evil fairies is portrayed. Ballet can have strong narrative that is very pleasurable - but often narrative is not the main point.

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Just stumbled over this rather amusing YT clip (highly illegal in its filming I assume) from Peter Martins' SB at the Koch (formerly NYS) Theatre - or as it is frequently known: 'The House that Balanchine Built'.  This is filmed in the fourth circle (ROH Amphi equiv.) those side ring seats - where they are in my experience/opinion is awful - but the majority in the 4th Circle centre are grand. You will be able to see that from this clip's pan of the interior of the theatre. (Certainly the sight lines for any production's perspective are more readily attained than at the ROH).  Brings back a lot of memories.  Very much like the clip because it has a brief segment of Balanchine's Garland Dance (a very small slice of it is inserted here - and you can see some of the wonderful SAB children entering into it and, as usual, doing the same steps as the adults) 

 Enjoy.  Here are two NYCB ballerinas talking (apparently freely) about their work on Aurora.  
 Amazed they allow private rehearsals with their partners to be filmed.  You can see (not in focus) a very small segment of the Floramund solo to the 'boat part' here Dave - This clip is not fair to it ... Wish I had one in full.  It's really very exciting ... Remember that production's opening with Damian Woetzel - He was supreme.... So sad that he danced practically not at all in London.  One of the great dancers of the last century in my book.  You can see the lead up to that solo in NYCB SB by the wonderful Tyler Angle if you look at the last clip in his NYCB entry here:  http://www.nycballet.com/Dancers/Dancers-Bios/Tyler-Angle.aspx Edited by Meunier
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But Tom Thumb and the Ogre don't have a dance in any version, do they?

 

The Mariinsky's traditional "Sleeping Beauty" (not by Vikharev but by Konstantin Sergeyev, after Petipa) has Tom Thumb and the Ogre. Tom Thumb  and his brothers (Vaganova Academy’ pupils) do their dance and, when they are filing off from the stage with Tom Thumb being the last in this line, the Ogre snatches him and carries away. Scary!  :o  :) 

They scrap this episode on tours here.

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I sometimes wonder why some members ever bother to come out to the ballet seeing that they seem to spend quite a lot of time thinking about the journey home; and as for some of the choreography being "dross" I don't think that Frederick Ashton would have agreed with you seeing that he considered SB to be a lesson in choreography. I think that in this age of hour long TV programs, soundbites, and short attention spans it is difficult for some people to focus on a work which was made for a more leisured age and a very different social milieu. I very much deplore the current craze for cutting the 19th century ballets as if cutting would somehow make them better rather than rob them of structure and drama.Actually, from the very beginning even before it got on stage SB was being cut.

A ballet needs to be more than a lesson in choreography though. It needs to hold the attention of the audience, either by short bursts of outstanding choreography which seems to be the route taken by most modern ballets, or by telling a coherent story interspersed with outstanding solos and / or involving group pieces.

 

The RB version lacks some of the required structure in my opinion - this isn't about having a shorter ballet, but a better on. The prologue feels short and sketchy, there's a royal family, somewhere there's an infant, a few short fairy solos - the only really involving part is Carabosse. Other companies have managed to make this more involving, or perhaps make the audience forget about the weakness of the prologue by not following with a break but going straight into Act I to dazzle with the Rose Adagio.

 

When it comes to ActII & III, some of the cuts going back 100+ years might be the source of their inherent problem with the story telling. Take someone who knows the story of sleeping beauty (no, not the Disney version, the actual fairy tale) and watch their confusion when seeing the ballet for the first time. One minute the prince is having an outing, then he dances with Aurora and all of a sudden he is kissing her awake. Some pretty decent dancing on the way, but the story is only clear to people who know the ballet version inside out. Sure the fuschia-rimmed Lilac fairy of the RB version was on stage, but it's not clear that she is giving the prince a very long vision of the princess. The net curtains instead of briar aren't helping either.

 

Act III might indicate that there is a wedding, but without a more elaborate wedding set up ( and possibly some court dances) that part gets lost very easily, and all of a sudden there is a dancing cat. I'm not advocating removing the fairy tale character at all (I want Cinderella and Red Riding Hood) but they need a better setting within the story telling.

 

The RB version has some dazzling solos and nice passages, but too many sequences that feel like filler. The same corps that absolutely dazzled me in Giselle leaves me fairly cold in the Garland dance and other group scenes.

 

The current Bolshoi version is 2h 15 min of dancing and I'd happily watch that over the RB's 2h 14 min of dancing. If this were merely a question of attention spans, I should prefer the RB version, no? ;)

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I sometimes wonder why some members ever bother to come out to the ballet seeing that they seem to spend quite a lot of time thinking about the journey home; and as for some of the choreography being "dross" I don't think that Frederick Ashton would have agreed with you seeing that he considered SB to be a lesson in choreography. I think that in this age of hour long TV programs, soundbites, and short attention spans it is difficult for some people to focus on a work which was made for a more leisured age and a very different social milieu. I very much deplore the current craze for cutting the 19th century ballets as if cutting would somehow make them better rather than rob them of structure and drama.

 

 

 

 

 

Its the non-dancing bits I find dross - I find nothing in watching a glorified, over decorated milk float wandering around the stage for what seems an eternity....

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Its the non-dancing bits I find dross - I find nothing in watching a glorified, over decorated milk float wandering around the stage for what seems an eternity....

 

I agree, Dave.  For this reason my engagement oft feels very fidgety during substantial stretches of, say, Mayerling or, heaven forefend, Anastasia.  Just so much over-amplified theatrical filler ... and, boy, does it take a truly EXTRAordinary talent to fill that with any kind of meaningful substance.  If I were wearing a hat on those very rare occasions (and I wouldn't inside the theatre lest it block the person's view behind me -- as does so many of those people with piled on/back hair) I would doff it.    

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Yup, the RB has the intervals after the prologue and act I. The BRB has the prologue, interval, act I & II with a short pause inbetween, interval and then act III. Cuts out the need for a milk cart. Can't remember what ENB does, and the Bolshoi manages with only one interval.

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To speak of the devil (source: NYT)

 

American Ballet Theater will mark the 75th anniversary of its founding next year with a new production of “The Sleeping Beauty” choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky and based on the production Léon Bakst created for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1921, the company announced.

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So, are the intervals after the Prologue and after Act 1 in the RB's production? Am I right in thinking that they are at the end of Act 1 and Act 2 in ENB's and BRB's productions?

 

The RB's are in the places which make chronological sense :)

 

ENB runs the last 2 acts together, if I recall rightly.  Can't remember BRB's at the moment.

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I was once told that the curtain has to come down at 10:30 because going on later would trigger very expensive payments to the members of the orchestra  (I think it's an urban myth that the musicians must be allowed to get to the pub before last orders) but when an opera runs for longer than 3 hours, the curtain goes up sooner.  Some Wagner performances even start as early as 5.  So why not give us a chance to see a complete Beauty occasionally?  Uncut versions of Hamlet are frequently staged and I would like to see a complete ballet if only as a point of comparison with the 'edited' versions.

 

Re the longuers in certain Macmillan ballets I suspect it's the content, not the time they take, that makes some scenes a bit tedious.  For instance, I don't see how the Keystone Cops routine does anything for Mayerling.  I'm a bit curious about the jailor's mistress in Manon, though.  What part did she play in the story and did she have any interesting solos?

 

Linda

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There are some superb 'set pieces' in it (the Fairy variations - except Lilac's, Rose Adage etc + aurora's friends (and Lilac attendants have a nice bit too), the grande pas de deux, Bluebird, Florestan + kin, the 'vision scene') but an awful lot of dross too. In any run, after 2-3 shows I struggle with the 70mins stand for the combo last 2 acts, for sure.

 

May I just clarify - the 'dross' I refer to, is NOT the choreography (I love 99% of the choreography), its the connecting bits I find a tad dull. I wouldn't go see it as many times as I do if it weren't for the choreography. (And I always feel a bit sorry for the poor sap who gets lumbered wearing Catalabutte's costume!)

Just saying.

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Re the longuers in certain Macmillan ballets I suspect it's the content, not the time they take, that makes some scenes a bit tedious.  For instance, I don't see how the Keystone Cops routine does anything for Mayerling. 

 

It just adds to the feeling of 24-hour surveillance, of not being able to trust anyone (Mitzi Caspar, anyone?) and helps us understand why Rudolf is so desperate - or should do.

 

The Gaoler's mistress disappeared from Manon before I ever saw it (and she's not in the original DVD, as I recall), but I thought I understood that she danced with the Gaoler?

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The reviews of the Cuthbertson/Golding performance are very mixed, and I was surprised to see criticism of Golding's technical ability and partnering as I had thought that they were always strong. Having said that, allowances should be made for a very early debut with an unexpected partner and for his relative unfamiliarity with the RB 'style' and Ashton 'style' in particular. It will be interesting to see how well Vadim Muntagirov - also a dancer with a more reserved stage presence - is received by the critics. Let's hope that he has more rehearsal time than Golding (I'm not sure when he actually started with the RB as he was supposed to be partnering Tamara Rojo in Le Corsaire a couple of weeks ago). 

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I haven't seen SB for ages.  Can you tell me which choreography they use for the garland dance?  I remember going to a talk about this years ago, and people in the audience being asked if they remembered or had performed the Ashton version, as it had been replaced by a different one. 

 

I find it strange than when a new production of a classic is produced, they always seem to remove the bits I liked the best, and replace them with something inferior (to me, anyway). 

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The reviews of the Cuthbertson/Golding performance are very mixed, and I was surprised to see criticism of Golding's technical ability and partnering as I had thought that they were always strong. Having said that, allowances should be made for a very early debut with an unexpected partner and for his relative unfamiliarity with the RB 'style' and Ashton 'style' in particular. It will be interesting to see how well Vadim Muntagirov - also a dancer with a more reserved stage presence - is received by the critics. Let's hope that he has more rehearsal time than Golding (I'm not sure when he actually started with the RB as he was supposed to be partnering Tamara Rojo in Le Corsaire a couple of weeks ago). 

 

It will take time to settle in, and when you are new, the critics will pounce on even the slightest mistake. I didn't notice him make any technical mistakes, though i'm not an expert in that area. He maybe does have to work on stopping grinning and keeping his mouth wide open, which sometimes looked a bit strange.

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I've had Saturday's matinee performance on the brain all week so far - such a glorious performance from Cuthbertson (never mind a princess, she was a radiant queen!) and I personally really liked Golding. I thought his partnering was really good - they seemed really smooth together, especially impressive after what was undoubtedly a shorter than usual rehearsal period due to it being an unplanned partnership (have the pair ever danced together before at all?). Bravos also to Takada/Hay's superb Bluebird PdD (his brise voles were beautiful and Takada gave a preview that she should be a fantastic Aurora when she debuts with Muntagirov later in the run). All the fairies were lovely showing a depth of talent through all ranks, and many doubling as Aurora's friends and in Act III. Fantastic character acting from all the supporting roles made it a really enjoyable performance and it felt nice and 'fresh' to me.

 

The show really was all about Cuthbertson though and she was just superb. Her Rose Adagio was confident and secure, with some notably fantastic balances in the mini-fouetted arabesques at the end of the attitude sequences. But my highlight was her Act II variation which was just sublime - she inhabited the music through and through and showed the transition from a young girl to a woman. Gorgeous!

 

I can't stop thinking about the string of en dedan pirouettes into fish dives from the grand pas de deux, It's always one of my favourite parts of the whole ballet and Cuthbertson/Golding injected them with lots of sparkle and excitement. Does anyone know if this was part of the original Petipa choreography? It seems a relatively 'new' step, but fits so well with the piece that I wouldn't be surprised if it's always been there.

 

Also, is there a particular reason for the piano in the final PdD? I don't think a piano is featured elsewhere in the ballet - did Tchaikovsky compose this bit separately perhaps? Or did he compose it at a time he was writing a lot of piano music? I'm not complaining - it just always surprises me when we get to that bit!

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The problem I have with the Sleeping Beauty is that, as a narrative ballet, it lacks one of the essential ingredients of drama: suspense. Carabosse's spell is nullified before we've even got to the end of the Prologue, and everything that happens thereafter is pre-destined. Nor does the Princess or her Prince have to do anything to merit their inevitable happy ending. That is, of course, because the ballet was originally conceived to flatter the then Tsar, so is sufficient that the couple are both of royal blood. At least in Makarova's much maligned production the Prince actually had to fight some monsters on his way to Sleeping Beauty's bower.

 

But I'll still be going to see it!

 

James

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For the avoidance of doubt, my comment about the reviews was not solely directed to Golding; other dancers came in for criticism as well although, obviously, most column inches were devoted to Cuthbertson and Golding. I will await the critics' reviews on Muntagirov's debut nervously and, barring an iGCSE controlled assessment crisis (my son, not me!) plan to be there on 25 March.

 

Did Wheeldon's garland dance replace the Ashton one?

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For the avoidance of doubt, my comment about the reviews was not solely directed to Golding; other dancers came in for criticism as well although, obviously, most column inches were devoted to Cuthbertson and Golding. I will await the critics' reviews on Muntagirov's debut nervously and, barring an iGCSE controlled assessment crisis (my son, not me!) plan to be there on 25 March.

 

Did Wheeldon's garland dance replace the Ashton one?

 

The reviews I've read have almost all had nothing but praise for Lauren Cuthbertson's Aurora.  Indeed a number of them have used superlatives to describe her performance last Saturday.  

 

As for the Garland Dance, it seems that the Ashton Garland Dance was initially replaced by a MacMillan Garland Dance (in Anthony Dowell's 1994 production)  The 2003 Makarova production presumably had a Makarova choreographed version.  The 2006 production was the first to use the Wheeldon version and, interestingly, according to the Gerald Dowler review in today's Links, it has been modified since the production was first staged.

 

Edited to add that I've just discovered that  MacMillan also choreographed the Garland Dance for the 1973 production.  It was replaced by the Ashton for the 1977 production then, as mentioned above, it returned in 1994.  Does anyone remember if there was any difference between these two MacMillan versions?

Edited by Bluebird
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