Happymoocow Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Little bit of ballet on BBC 4 tonight at 8 pm. Might be worth a watch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anondancer_15 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I've seen that before it's being shown quite a lot recently, great watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Enjoyed the programme about Freddie Mercury that came on afterwards, it was the first time I had seen footage of the Coliseum gala where he danced with the RB, really brought back memories. At the risk of sounding like the world's worst name dropper, I once had the opportunity to speak to Freddie a couple of years later and he told me that although he never suffered nerves before going on stage, he didn't sleep for two weeks before that gala. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hope I can catch this on iplayer then MAB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 If it's The Great Pretender it's on iPlayer for the next 29 days. Darcey's is there for the next six days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I've merged the new thread on Darcey's heroines with the existing one from a year ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 The BBC has announced more programmes on dance (great news) but (alas as far as I'm concerned) more 'fronting' by Darcey Bussell. I prefer Deborah Bull she's a far better presenter same for ROH cinema screenings, although the Bolshoi's Ms Novikova is simply the best for cinema relays! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Darcey is a very attractive screen presence but I would hardly view her programmes as highly incisive. Nothing I have seen her present has matched the programmes of Deborah Bull or Tamara Rojo for their sheer intelligence. However, I must agree that for people new to ballet Darcey's more straight forward approach is probably easier to take on board. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Enjoyed the programme about Freddie Mercury that came on afterwards, it was the first time I had seen footage of the Coliseum gala where he danced with the RB, really brought back memories. At the risk of sounding like the world's worst name dropper, I once had the opportunity to speak to Freddie a couple of years later and he told me that although he never suffered nerves before going on stage, he didn't sleep for two weeks before that gala. Was that the one where he ended up singing upside down at the end, being held by the dancers? I thought it was brilliant. I am so envious that you got to speak to him. Lucky you, he was one of the best live stage performers I have ever seen. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Was that the one where he ended up singing upside down at the end, being held by the dancers? I thought it was brilliant. Yes it was. He was a fan of both opera and ballet and also worked with the RB on the video of I Want to Break Free, he had gone backstage to talk to one of the dancers when I met him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Hands up from another Queen fan and particularly Freddie. It is very hard to think of another rock star who was a ballet fan. I saw Queen a couple of times in the period '75-'78 and they were fantastic, in particular his performances. Wouldn't a short ballet on Queen songs be fun...I can see McRae in Don't Stop me Now for example... Back to serious stuff now... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTL Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 A quick search of "Mick Jagger ballet" brings up a lot of results, this one being one of the innocuous: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a496595/one-directions-harry-styles-taking-up-ballet-to-emulate-mick-jagger.html Apparently Harry Styles of One Direction is impressed by "Jagger's intense routine of kick-boxing, running, weights and, most importantly, ballet.". I've seen photos from the 1960s of Sir Mick in the audience at ballet performances, so it's a long-standing interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Bejart did a ballet to Queen music - at the first night some of the Queen musicians actually played on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I guess "Carbon Life" wasn't quite as groundbreaking as was suggested at the time, then! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 My husband is devoted to Elvis. Once when I said that I would rather have seen Freddie Mercury live I was nearly served with divorce papers. As I remember Freddie was both a friend and a fan of Wayne Eagling. A friend of mine, fellow balletomane and also a fan of Wayne's met Freddie in Wayne's dressing room. She said he was very quiet and unassuming. Put him on stage in front of an audience and he was an utter god! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I remember seeing Freddie Mercury at the ROH, it was only recently that I learnt he was a friend of Wayne Eagling and I used to be a fan too so I suppose we went to a lot of the same shows. He was always very well dressed and behaved and used to sit with friends in a Balcony Box on the left side, nothing like Freddie Mercury the outrageous pop star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgQuLZH_F28 If it is Freddie Mercury/Queen & ballet you want, then you will love this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I thought Freddie was friends with Wayne Sleep? (Could have been both Waynes, of course). I'm sure he's mentioned in Sleep's autobiography, but then there are so many names dropped it's difficult to keep count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 There are a couple of extracts from Bejart's Queen ballet - it has a long title which I can't remember - on Youtube if you search under Bejart Presbytere. It is rather badly filmed, but you do actually get genuine Queen tracks. It seems to have been filmed in its entirety, judging by the end credits on one of the extracts, but I've never seen the full version, except on stage many years ago in Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Isn't it Bejart's 'Ballet for Life' (with music by Queen and Mozart) ? I saw it a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. You can find segments of it on youtube with (imo) the beautiful Elizabeth Ros dancing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm365 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Yes, that's the one! The English title is Ballet For Life, as you say. It was the French title that was incredibly obscure and very long! I was inspired by this thread to hunt online to see if there was a dvd of the whole ballet. Apparently there is, and I'm trying to make sure it's playable in this country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 When I watched Darcey Bussell's porridge advert on YouTube (see thread on Not Dance) the "red button" programme "Darcey Bussell: A Ballerina's Life" started playing immediately after. I had never watched it before and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. It was particularly interesting to hear Ms Bussell talking about Sir Frederick Ashton and working with Sir Kenneth MacMillan. That little bit starts around 14 minutes in but I found the whole 30 minutes very watchable: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Haven`t seen this for ages,so thanks very much . But I thought her final,final show was at Sadler`s Wells, as she wanted to end her dancing career where it had begun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Darcey always speaks very warmly of her days with SWRB and she has kind of returned to the company as she is (or at least was) the figurehead of BRB's fundraising campaign. Regarding her retirement, from what I remember she asked that her last performance should be in Song of the Earth which the RB was presenting. I cannot recall ever hearing that she wanted to finish at Sadler's Wells. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Did she do some sort of a song and ballet show with Katherine Jenkins after she had finished at RB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Yes, she did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Many thanks for bringing this to our attention Janet. I really enjoyed the programme and her comments about Ashton and always showing the dancer's back made a lot of sense. I did feel for her a bit when she talked about only Jonathan Cope talking to her during Pagodas. What a lot for a young dancer to take on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Yes, I saw the show Darcey did with Katherine Jenkins and it wasn't her finest moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Pigeons Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I remember one reviewer saying it was like seeing Ms Jenkins dance and hearing Ms Bussell sing. Someone gave me the DVD. I didn't keep it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euan Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I saw Darcey on the you tube link posted by here. She said one dancer had costume on full orchestra and she was told not good enough. That must have sent her home in tears for weeks? I guess is way it is but seems to me even if you get to top such is ballet you are not allowed to get over the top. She said McMillan was quiet and I think that premier dancers can wow audiences then still get critcsm.it is a disciplined art? If Nureyev had not defected would Russia have considered him as great and did they give him his greatness in the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette H Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Darcey Bussell did indeed have a farewell show (four of them) at Sadler's in 2007 as well as the ROH performance. It was put together by Nunn and Trevitt. There's a review here http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2007/may/20/dance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Did she do some sort of a song and ballet show with Katherine Jenkins after she had finished at RB? Yes it was called Viva La Diva and the only good thing about it was Darcey's bits and her pdd with the wonderful Jonathan Cope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBBB Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yes it was called Viva La Diva and the only good thing about it was Darcey's bits and her pdd with the wonderful Jonathan Cope I think it was Gary Avis in that show rather than J Cope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now