English National Ballet: Lest We Forget, April 2014

[capybara]

I saw Lest We Forget many times and am mourning the end of its splendid run. The highlights for me were:

 

- No Man's Land (Scarlett) with its very affecting pas de deux

- Alina Cojocaru in that ballet - heartbreaking

- the excellence of the supporting cast in that ballet

- Ksenia Ovsyanick in Firebird - amazing

- the commitment and energy of the whole company in Second Breath (Maliphant) and Dust (Khan)

 

This meant that The Winter's Tale opened in the face of almost overwhelming emotional, artistic and choreographic competition - but that is a story for another thread after more viewings.

Edited April 13, 2014 by capybara

[Ian Macmillan]

I was delighted when news broke way back that Ms Rojo had commissioned a Triple Bill as part of the national commemoration of the Great War, so I was much taken aback by Clement Crisp’s dismissal of the night as “War for Beginners” and “Unspeakable suffering as souvenir,“ linking those thoughts to introductory remarks about his father’s service from 1917 and whose reaction was that “It was hell!”  He clearly felt that his own sense of remembrance had been cheapened.

 

I caught the final performance on Saturday night and, as I suspect that people may have come to this programme with all manner of remembrances, I hope I may be excused if I set out areas of mine that might be pertinent.  My maternal grandfather was a Regular Soldier for a period just after the turn of the 20^th century and when mobilisation was ordered in early August 1914, he was in the final months of his Reserve commitment.  He duly reported to the Battalion Depot and a week or so later landed in France, just one man amongst the thousands of others forming the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) – that “contemptible little Army” In the Kaiser’s eyes.  He saw action in the first engagement with the German advance at Mons, would have endured the long march in the retreat till, on 26 August, the Second British Corps fought a delaying battle at Le Cateau, permitting the First Corps to retire towards the Marne.  There’s a military maxim that says there’ll always be someone who doesn’t get the word and, as that afternoon progressed and the order to withdraw was given, it did not reach the 1^st Battalion Gordon Highlanders and two companies of other Regiments on either side in the Line.  As night fell they moved out in what may reasonably be described as confused circumstances – a Court case was fought over it all after the war.  They were gradually encircled and, at some point in the early hours of 27 August, Private William Lawrence was killed – there is no known grave - and about half the Battalion became POWs.

 

With some of that in mind, I was in no way put off by the sum of the three commemorative works, not necessarily a coherent whole, but with so many good and effective moments.  And my admiration for Ms Rojo grew throughout the night – as Director, for having conceived something on this scale; and as Leader, for there she was – twice - in the midst of her Corps, beating out Akram Khan’s complex steps with her girls before engaging in that final, challenging pas de deux.  And what of remembrance?  In Liam Scarlett’s evocation of women back at home, working and, like my grandmother, often widowed.  And in the “We’re here because we’re here” loop that ran through the Khan piece.  For, in war, when the strategic decisions on deployments have been made, for individuals it’s simply the fact that they are ‘there’ that so often decides their fate, whether that be William Lawrence in 1914 or any British soldier in Helmand in 2014.  Mr Crisp, I saw nothing cheap last night. 

[Bruce Wall]

Well said, Ian.  I, myself, could not believe Mr. Crisp's overt dismissal - which I assume must be very personal and longstanding.  Not for the first time has he had the courage to stand alone in a surrounding field.  ENB's LEST WE FORGET presentation obviously touched a telling nerve for him.  From my own personal perspective I can only feel that he was somewhat blinded to what I perceived - in seeing this excellent and brave commemorative programme three times - to be a rightful mixture of both artistry and ambition.  From my perspective THAT is HIS personal loss.  Much as I have come to expect, my heart exclaimed at the end of each of those nine acts: 'Well done Ms. Rojo'.  As she has evidenced before with the fine company she continues to brilliantly build she has done us - the majority - more than proud.  As towards myself, I additionally wanted to toss in a word of personal thanks to the stunning Ms. Angela Wood in NO MAN'S LAND:  Last night was, I think, the first time I had seen her in that particular assignment.  To my eyes she was certainly 'ravishing' in both her dramatic and balletic acumen.  (Perhaps her ravishing injections were but a trick of the light in this inspirational programme which was wonderfully lit throughout .... but somehow I don't think so.)   In Ms. Rojo's gifted hands, talent will I think somehow out itself eventually.

 

As towards personal WWI associations, I, myself, had a great uncle who - whilst in reality but 16 - managed to slip in under the military's wire early in WWI.   (His own father as it happened had been a general in Britain's then 'Empirical Army' during the Punjab campaign not hugely long before and adamantly refused permission for his son to 'sign up').  Still this young lad wanting to travail aside his peers succeeded in getting himself a job as a runner in France via his own devices.  He proverbially ran away to join the circus.  He was, as it happened, wounded early on but there too managed to escape from rehab only to meet his ultimate maker during his second determined sojurn.  Somehow last night I felt as if I saw him climb and roll in Maliphant's gloriously emphatic SECOND BREATH.  It, like he - and indeed - this entire programme - was suitably Brave.  Over the course of those three telling performances I somehow managed to feel him stare back both when Akram Khan and the truly glorious James Streeter piercingly peered over that emphatic trench, each time both into and out of the historical DUST; remnants of which we continue to breathe e'en now.  Indeed I shivered last night as I felt my great uncle glare back in his rightful pride.  I saw his eyes glisten as he nodded with respect and his grin of content find an even greater girth.  

 

Of course it had - as it must have been ' "Hell".  Still, for me, "this entire evening" did not "smack of compromise" as Mr. Crisp suggested.  It was more - at least for me - than "unspeakable suffering as a souvenir".  Churchill's words during that next World War: "Some chicken; some neck" - rang in my ear as I read Mr. Crisp's jottings.  But then I was simply one of those emitting - as Mr. Crisp himself had pointed out with what I felt at the time could only but be some little disdain: "the delighted cries from the public."   I, for one, was proud to be amongst their number.  Obviously he did not.  For that privilege a hearty 'thank you, Ms. Rojo'  Indeed a heartfelt 'thank you' to the entire ENB family.  You continue to severe the majority - if not Mr. Crisp - with pride.  May our blessings strengthen your rightfully determined arm.  Please know:  Your country NEEDS you!

Edited April 13, 2014 by Meunier

[capybara]

I additionally wanted to toss in a word of personal thanks to the stunning Ms. Wood in NO MAN'S LAND:  Last night was, I think, the first time I had seen her in that particular assignment.  To my eyes she was certainly 'ravishing' in both her dramatic and balletic acumen.

I agree about Angela Wood in one of beautiful Scarlett pdds. She did, of course, acquit herself very well as the lead in the RBS's Lilac Garden some 4 years ago. Good to see her back after injury and taking a leading role for the first time in her 4 years with ENB.

[aileen]

Yes, I should have mentioned Angela Wood. To my knowledge, I'd never seen her in a named role before and I thought that she had a lovely quality to her dancing. How exciting for her to dance one of the main roles in a new ballet. Btw, is it entirely the choreographer's decision who is cast in the various roles in a new work?

[Amelia]

... I, myself, could not believe Mr. Crisp's overt dismissal...

 

My posting is outside this topic but refers to the discussion of Mr.Crisp’s review. What happened to Mr. Crisp? 

While trying to pan “a luscious duet for Rojo and Esteban Berlanga” more effectively he compared it to “the overblown Soviet manner used by Kasyan Goleizovsky in 1960s Moscow”. That is a strange comparison.

With Mr. Crisp’s knowledge of ballet history and long-standing experience I would expected him to remember WHY the genius of Kasyan Goleizovsky was not allowed to blossom in Soviet times as much as he deserved.

The officials in charge of the Soviet culture persistently pushed him to the sidelines for that very reason that his ‘non-standard’ choreography, the poetic and philosophical generalisation in his ballets didn’t fit into their restrictive guidelines. They viewed him as ‘formalistic’ and ‘decadent’. i.e. just not Soviet enough.

And at the time of ‘Thaw’ in those 1960s, which Mr. Crisp mentioned, the public, luckily, was given a chance to see the choreographer’s new brilliant works. For the Bolshoi’s young dancers (Maximova, V.Vasiliev and others) he staged a series of concert pieces of abundant charm and atmosphere. In 1962, he returned to the Bolshoi with his ‘Scriabiniana’ and in 1964 delighted the ballet audience with his masterpiece “Leili & Medjnun” with Struchkova & V.Vasiliev in the leading roles. Later it was, sadly, taken off the repertoire by the new chief choreographer. 

The association with Goleizovsky in Mr. Crisp's review looks very strange to me. I dare to suspect that the critic could have some other choreographer in mind.

[MAB]

Of course these new ballets aren't the first to be inspired by WW1, I wonder how Mr Crisp reacted to MacMillan's Gloria?

[Jan McNulty]

Or indeed other ballets relating to war such as Dante Sonata or Echoing of Trumpets (do I recollect correctly that ENB performed this work in the 1980s?) or Michael Pink's Strange Meeting?

[Stirrups36]

I went with my 15 year old son. We do not know of any immediate links between us and the Great War.

 

But Lest We Forget was mesmerising, an incredibly evocative evening that did leave us breathless.

 

The pause at the end of Dust said it all.

 

seeing the ENB on such form and with such a theme translated so well was a privilage.

[alison]

Or indeed other ballets relating to war such as Dante Sonata or Echoing of Trumpets (do I recollect correctly that ENB performed this work in the 1980s?)

 

I think it was probably 1990 or 1991, Janet: I saw it at the Coliseum.

 

I was delighted when news broke way back that Ms Rojo had commissioned a Triple Bill as part of the national commemoration of the Great War, so I was much taken aback by Clement Crisp’s dismissal of the night as “War for Beginners” and “Unspeakable suffering as souvenir,“ linking those thoughts to introductory remarks about his father’s service from 1917 and whose reaction was that “It was hell!”  He clearly felt that his own sense of remembrance had been cheapened.

 

Let it be noted that Judith Cruickshank said pretty much the same thing in her review, too, so that's two people (presumably) of a similar generation and what sound like similar circumstances feeling much the same way.  (I've no personal link to WWI, myself: my paternal grandfather, who presumably fought in it, died before I was born, and although I would have assumed that my maternal grandfather would have fought too, I've just remembered that he was deaf from childhood, and would presumably have been excused on health grounds).  Having seen the programme, I think I can see what they mean: I would have thought that anyone who didn't have a direct and personal link to that time might struggle to fully capture the experience in a way that people who had seen its effects first-hand might deem fitting.

 

Let's not forget, with regard to MacMillan's Gloria, that his father himself was one of those who were traumatised by WWI.

[Nina G.]

Yes, I should have mentioned Angela Wood. To my knowledge, I'd never seen her in a named role before and I thought that she had a lovely quality to her dancing. How exciting for her to dance one of the main roles in a new ballet. Btw, is it entirely the choreographer's decision who is cast in the various roles in a new work?

I have always heard that the choreographer IS king when casting: he picks his dancers and not the AD.  

 

(Look at Wheeldon's cast selection: he uses the same 1st cast dancers in "The Winter's Tale" as he did in "Alice" and McGregor always selects the same dancers too). 

[aileen]

Well, I don't understand the objections. I thought that quite a lot of different aspects of war were shown in a respectful and varied way. I saw the trenches. the factories, women working and having to keep things going while the men were away, men going off to war, men dying, men as comrades, men as sweethearts, women losing their loved ones, the empowerment and strength of women, exhaustion, physical pain and suffering. The Scarlett was obviously much more narrative whereas the other two were more abstract but still provided clear images of the themes which I have listed.

[MAB]

I have always heard that the choreographer IS king when casting: he picks his dancers and not the AD.  

 

 

In that case what a blinkered trio Messers Scarlett, Malliphant and Khan must be to have totally missed the outstanding qualities of Elena Glurdjidze.

[capybara]

I sense that there is a difference between a choreographer who 'knows' the Company and the dancers well and one who comes in afresh. In the latter case, surely the Artistic Director/Ballet Staff would seek, at the very least, to 'draw the choreographer's attention' to certain dancers?

 

However, there have been instances where a choreographer, or someone coming in to mount a production, makes an 'interesting' choice of a dancer who is rarely featured when the AD makes the pick.

[Sim]

So is a choreographer never supposed to make a piece about anything if he/she wasn't there?  Or a composer write an opera about anything other than events he/she has experienced?  Or should Shakespeare never have written the Plantagenet plays, Macbeth or Anthony and Cleopatra, just because he wasn't there and didn't personally experience the suffering of those historical figures?  Of course none of us can feel the suffering of those who have fought wars, or lost loved ones in tragic circumstances unless similar things have befallen us, but does this mean artists have no right to bring such suffering to the attention of subsequent generations in the only ways they know how?  Should all those war movies have never been made in the 50s and 60s unless the director and everyone in them had been there themselves?  I must say I was really dismayed reading Mr Crisp's review of Lest We Forget.  Although I often disagree with him, I have the utmost respect for his knowledge and experience of ballet/dance and its history.  However, for such a professional critic to allow his judgement to be clouded by personal experience is most unfortunate.    His review should have been based on the evening for its artistic merit alone, and not judged by what had happened 100 years ago, sad and tragic though that was.

 

Having said this, I finally got to see Lest We Forget on Saturday night, the final performance.  I thought it was a marvellous evening, albeit with some flaws, but what doesn't have flaws?!   Liam Scarlett's No Man's Land was my favourite piece, closely followed by Akram Khan's Dust.  Both of these ballets closed with the most heart-wrenching of pas de deux, the former reducing both my daughter and me to tears by the end of it.  It was a sort of reverse Giselle, where Rojo's character got one chance to say a proper goodbye to the ghost of her loved one (the wonderful Esteban Berlanga....please come back!), and as he slowly disappeared into the haze at the end I had the feeling he wouldn't  come back again, leaving Rojo standing wretched and alone on the stage.  I too would like to add my praise to Angela Wood's dancing;  she more than held her own between Rojo and Oliveira and had a lovely, fluid quality to her dancing.  I really admired the originality of the Khan piece;  such complicated timing and footwork, and ENB's dancers looked very comfortable performing it.  As Ian has mentioned above, I also loved the way Rojo was happy to dance in the corps in both of the ballets she was in, stepping outside of it to great effect in both pieces.  Again, her pdd with Khan, which closed the ballet and the evening, was heart-rending but in a completely different way from Scarlett's pdd.  This is the magic of dance;  in the hands of a good choreographer and wonderful dancers to impart the emotions, two completely different styles can have the same effect in the space of a couple of hours.  Rojo understands this, which must be one of the reasons  she chose three such different choreographers to put this programme together.  I liked the Maliphant piece, but I must say I started to get bored with people falling off of peoples' shoulders after a while;  I know that the repetition was supposed to represent the high death toll of the war, but I did get it after a while!!   However,  there were bits that I enjoyed in it too, and wouldn't mind seeing it again.  This was my first viewing of ENB's 'new' Firebird....I am not sure about the piece as a ballet in itself;  but I just loved watching it because of Ksenia Ovsyanick's amazing dancing.  For that reason, I would also be happy to see it again.

 

I would like to add my congratulations to Tamara Rojo and ENB on this ambitious and very largely successful programme.  I think it is to be commended, not excoriated, that this young generation is respectful enough of the relatively recent past to want to commemorate it and make us all think about it and be aware of it.  We should be encouraging them, not denigrating their efforts to help keep this very sad, wasteful and tragic episode alive and not just consigned to the history books.

[capybara]

In that case what a blinkered trio Messers Scarlett, Malliphant and Khan must be to have totally missed the outstanding qualities of Elena Glurdjidze.

If I had had anything to do with the casting Elena would have had a prominent place in No Man's Land!

[SheilaC]

I totally agree that Elena would have been wonderful- in any of the three pieces. I just cannot understand how a dancer capable of such emotional depth as Elena was not one of those inspiring the creation of one of the ballets- and not even second cast.

I saw the final three performances, desperately hoping to catch Alina in at least one, but that was not to be. From the reviews of Alina's performance in Second Breath I get the impression that she imbued an extra aura to the piece that the dancers I saw could not match, even though they danced very well. Although I have always loved Maliphant's choreography, I found it a bit repetitive and it suffered, in my view, by its position as the third part of the overlong second section of the programme. Had Firebird, which was quite irrelevant to the theme (the justification given in the programme was risible!) been ditched and Second Breath come immediately after the interval, it would have registered more powerfully.

The difference that exceptional dancers can make was clear in the final performance of Dust, the only one I saw with Akram Khan and Tamara. In the two previous performances Erina and Fernanda had danced really well with James/Fernando and Fabian. But with Akram and Tamara it was on a different level, Akram's movement was quite incredible and Tamara's emotional intensity was heartbreaking.

The programme theme, introduction of more contemporary choreography and switch to the Barbican have all worked really well to bring in a new audience and revitalise the company.

[Ian Macmillan]

I agree with Sheila's remark concerning ENB's use of the Barbican - as ENB doesn't seem to use Sadler's Wells to any degree, when compared to the Coliseum, the Barbican Theatre seems much better suited to contemporary programmes of this sort.  I'd happily go there for dance programmes again.

[John Mallinson]

Does anyone really like the Barbican, I mean really like the Barbican? I go there quite often and have always found it inhuman and an uncomfortable place to be.

 

Considering how large the theatre seems it's capacity is small, that is 1,156 compared to the Coliseum's 2,359, ROH's 2,256 and Sadlers Wells' 1,568. The Coliseum is very difficult for anyone to fill so it certainly made sense for this programme of mostly new choreography to be staged in a smaller theatre. The major drawback with the Barbican Theatre is that the pit is very deep so all the orchestral sound is relayed through loudspeakers, very much to the detriment of sound quality.

 

For that reason alone I would much rather have seen this programme at Sadler's Wells, unless there's another 1,000 seat theatre in London that could have been used.

[alison]

I must admit that, when virtually all the cheap(ish) tickets mean you are shoved off right to the side with a restricted view of the stage, I'd prefer Sadler's for the same money: the view is better from there.

[A frog]

I really don't like the Barbican, not helped by recent issues with their customer service department.

 

A couple of comments about the programme.

 

First of all, I must say I really liked The Firebird. Yes, it didn't really belong within the conceptual frame of the programme, but I didn't care, I thought it was really good, and I'm a bit sad to see it summarily dismissed in so many comments and reviews, and had it been removed from the programme as more than a few people seem to have wished, I wonder if we wouldn't then have had complaints that the programme was too short (as often happens with the RB triple bills).

 

I also loved the Akram Khan piece, the Khan/Rojo cast was the one I saw last (three performances overall), and it confirmed something I was thinking watching the previous performances: as much as I loved it every time, the male part was very clearly created for Khan, and the other dancers attempting it had little chance of matching him (as great as they were). On the one hand, he was amazing and I loved watching him, on the other, I wonder if contemporary choreographers working with ballet company shouldn't make sure the pieces they create can be danced as well as they should be by any dancer (especially some who are unfamiliar with their style).

I hope I get to see all those works again, but I'm a bit worried that any subsequent performance of Dust, if they cannot get Khan to perform again (which I assume would be likely), would leave me somewhat disappointed.

Sorry if it seems like nitpicking or unfair criticism (or criticism at all of Khan or the dancers) as I did love the piece.

Edited April 14, 2014 by A frog

[Bruce]

Does anyone really like the Barbican, I mean really like the Barbican? I go there quite often and have always found it inhuman and an uncomfortable place to be.

 

Considering how large the theatre seems it's capacity is small, that is 1,156 compared to the Coliseum's 2,359, ROH's 2,256 and Sadlers Wells' 1,568. The Coliseum is very difficult for anyone to fill so it certainly made sense for this programme of mostly new choreography to be staged in a smaller theatre. The major drawback with the Barbican Theatre is that the pit is very deep so all the orchestral sound is relayed through loudspeakers, very much to the detriment of sound quality.

 

For that reason alone I would much rather have seen this programme at Sadler's Wells, unless there's another 1,000 seat theatre in London that could have been used.

 

 

I really like the Barbican as a space. It has the most comfortable of seats, it's really easy to get to those seats and there is a lot of good social space. All that and great toilets!  Agree its not so good for orchestra's but this was the first time ENB have used it and there is a learning curve I think.

 

I wish there were more dance at the Barbican and also at the Southbank. My perception is that they are doing less on dance then they were, say, 10 years ago and I'd really like to see the 3 medium size houses in competition to attract and put on great dance. Sadler's Wells does us well, but it can't really do enough anyway - 3 programmers going for it would be better than the one...

[Jamesrhblack]

I thought Dust was one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen. Days afterwards (I went on Friday) the music and images continue to haunt me.

[aileen]

Apart from getting to the right bit of the Barbican I found it a good venue, although there aren't enough ladies toilets or, if there are, everyone seems to use the same ones. Signage around the centre and to the tube and especially to the local bus stops needs to be improved. The biggest drawback in the context of dance to a live orchestra is the deep pit and apparent need for amplification. Although Gavin Sutherland came on stage at the end and acknowledged the orchestra I felt sorry that the players' very considerable efforts were not visible and that many people seemed unaware that there *was* a live orchestra until the end. The ENB orchestra is, IMO, one of the great strengths of ENB and Gavin S is a very good ballet conductor. I hope that other programmes of new works might be staged at Sadler's Wells where there is a better orchestra pit. However, I believe that the Barbican did reach people who had not seen ENB before. I think that A frog makes an interesting point about Khan's involvement in Dust as a dancer. Personally, I liked James equally in the role although his movement was slightly different. I expect that people had similar feelings when work was created on iconic dancers such as Fonteyn, Nureyev and Baryshnikov.

[capybara]

I preferred James Streeter in the Dust pas de deux. People have spoken of Khan's intensity, and I get that, but James offered me a much more emotional intepretation with more variety and feeling in his movement

[aileen]

I hope that I've got this right. It appears that there's going to be a performance of Second Breath at Imperial War Museum North on 17 May. I don't suppose that it will be the whole piece, with an orchestra. I assume that it will be the pdd to a recorded score. However, it should still be worth seeing as the pdd is, IMO, very absorbing.

Edited April 15, 2014 by aileen

[SheilaC]

Although I referred to the advantage of switching to the Barbican from the Coli, in terms of attracting a new audience, I don't like the Barbican any more than some others; it's difficult to get to, ugly dark and depressing, although I do like the legroom and comfortable seats. So Sadler's Wells would get my vote. (The audience responded like a Wells audience).

But.... please could a moderator explain why my post had a reference to warning points? (Even though it says 0 warnings). Most posts don't get it so my paranoia is going into overdrive!

[Jan McNulty]

Hi Sheila,

 

Sorry I didn't know you were there on Saturday.  Would have said hello!

 

As far as I am aware, when logged on, every individual can see "0 warning points" under your user id on the left hand side of the post but can't see this under any other member's user details.  Moderators can see this for all individuals.

[John Mallinson]

Sheila, I suspect you just hadn't noticed it before. It has been the case that members could see their own warning points (everyone on 0!), but not others'. Given that we have never used the warning system I have turned it off - for the moment at least.

[Lynette H]

The Royal Ballet were at the Barbican for a week with a triple bill during the period the ROH was closed for rebuilding. It's quite a long time ago now - 1998. I think there were some issues with the orchestra then, but different ones. As far as I remember, the pit was set up to be by no means as deep as it was for ENB and the players were quite visible from the stalls. I think the layout was rather awkward though from the conductor's point of view. They seemed to be in two large groups almost on either side of her.  I wonder if the orchestra pit has been modified since then. But there wasn't  any need for amplification, as there was for ENB.

 

At a second viewing of Lest We Forget, the sound was somewhat improved but that could have been because I had a very central seat, compared to a position more at the side on the first night.

[alison]

I preferred James Streeter in the Dust pas de deux. People have spoken of Khan's intensity, and I get that, but James offered me a much more emotional intepretation with more variety and feeling in his movement

 

Thank you, capybara, for the clarification as to which James it was (which I was just going to ask about).  All these first names are all very well, but when there is more than one person with the same name it can get very confusing.

[Bruce]

So is a choreographer never supposed to make a piece about anything if he/she wasn't there?  Or a composer write an opera about anything other than events he/she has experienced?  Or should Shakespeare never have written the Plantagenet plays, Macbeth or Anthony and Cleopatra, just because he wasn't there and didn't personally experience the suffering of those historical figures?  Of course none of us can feel the suffering of those who have fought wars, or lost loved ones in tragic circumstances unless similar things have befallen us, but does this mean artists have no right to bring such suffering to the attention of subsequent generations in the only ways they know how?  Should all those war movies have never been made in the 50s and 60s unless the director and everyone in them had been there themselves?

 

Forgive me but this seems to presuppose that Clement Crisp is of the opinion that you can't do a piece about a subject you haven't experienced - I don't believe he is, or at least I don't think that can be inferred from his review.

 

Crisp didn't like the show and he gave the context for why it didn't work for him. He didn't say that a younger choreographer could not do something on war or the first World War, merely that the 3 examples here failed for him in various ways. Ian MacMillan, reaches back, like Crisp, and gracefully points out why it did work for him. When was it ever different!?

 

I think for most of us the night was good or even very good. It did make one recall the sacrifice of war but I, for one, also looked at it as new work pure and simple - as choreographers came to terms with a new company and put new movement on them. Crisp, I think, mainly concentrated on the former. Although I liked the night, a piece that made me think much more about the army and war was Rosie Kay's 5 Soldiers and that work was the result of a lot of research - more I suggest then was possible by Scarlett, Maliphant and Khan.

 

 

Somebody else asked how Clement Crisp reacted to MacMillan's Gloria. The answer, at least in part...

 

Dec 2005: "The revival of MacMillan's Gloria was no less engrossing: Carlos Acosta, Thiago Soares and Alina Cojocaru speak the grief-laden poetry of the dance with conviction. A magnificent account from the entire cast."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c111fa5a-6857-11da-bfce-0000779e2340.html

 

Nov 2011: "This triple bill is tremendous. It touches the spirit in MacMillan’s Gloria, revenants from the Somme and their womenfolk evoked through Poulenc’s score (and how fine was Anna Devin as the soprano soloist), and with the uniquely gifted Edward Watson tearing the dance from his soul."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5fcf603e-1783-11e1-b157-00144feabdc0.html

 

Feb 2014: "The concluding Gloria, Kenneth MacMillan’s contemplation of soldier-revenants of the first world war and their womenfolk, has an awful added relevance this year. Under-cast, with only Sarah Lamb fully to reveal its anguish, the dance nevertheless speaks with haunted eloquence. MacMillan’s father served and suffered through the conflict. Filial understanding here becomes penetrating art."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c50d9264-923c-11e3-9e43-00144feab7de.html

 

 

Gloria has been in the rep over 34 years and regularly comes back - it's a monumental work and Crisp rates it. Will any of the pieces we have enjoyed at the Barbican still be around in 30 years time? I'm not so sure. But I am glad they have been created and am *hugely* appreciative of what Rojo is about at ENB.

[alison]

Gloria has been in the rep over 34 years and regularly comes back - it's a monumental work and Crisp rates it. Will any of the pieces we have enjoyed at the Barbican still be around in 30 years time? I'm not so sure. But I am glad they have been created and am *hugely* appreciative of what Rojo is about at ENB.

I totally agree. But what's the Rosie Kay work - I obviously missed it?

 

And if we're referring to Crisp's reception of Gloria, I have a feeling there was a major review of the premiere reprinted on the MacMillan website somewhere.