Jan McNulty Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I'm so glad you enjoyed the performance Munchkin, and thanks for giving us your thoughts on it too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Glad I am not the only one who enjoyed all the " folk dancing"! I agree Munchkin it was tremendous fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Am really looking forward to seeing this next Tuesday now!! That was a great review Munchkin......at any rate much better than the one in the Culture magazine of the Sunday Times last week......which left me confused as at first said it was "nearly" a triumph and then seemed to suggest at the end that it didn't really work!!! I couldn't work out whether the reviewer liked it or not!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Judith Flanders reviews the second cast (but also refers to the first cast) on her website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Am really looking forward to seeing this next Tuesday now!! That was a great review Munchkin......at any rate much better than the one in the Culture magazine of the Sunday Times last week......which left me confused as at first said it was "nearly" a triumph and then seemed to suggest at the end that it didn't really work!!! I couldn't work out whether the reviewer liked it or not!! I think this ballet is a bit like Marmite. You either like it very much or it leaves you well not exactly cold but indifferent. And if you don't like it you really think you should because of the enormous investment of time, labour and talent that has been put into this show. Especially as some bits of the ballet were really good. I am not sure that I gave the ballet a proper chance when I saw it on the 12 for all the reasons I said in my previous post. I hope to be more receptive to it if I get time I see the HDTV transmission on Monday. If there is a problem I think it lies with Shakespeare rather than the choreographer. This play is scrappy - it starts off as a study of jealousy and insanity and then goes into fantasy. Not sure whether it is supposed to be tragedy or comedy but it does not work as either. In the programme notes the difficulty of translating Shakespeare's language into ballet is discussed. Nixon rewrote Midsummer Night's Dream and so did Arthur Pita for Ballet Black's version. Perhaps the same should have been done here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 If there is a problem I think it lies with Shakespeare rather than the choreographer. This play is scrappy - it starts off as a study of jealousy and insanity and then goes into fantasy. Not sure whether it is supposed to be tragedy or comedy but it does not work as either. No, I was far from convinced when I read it for the first time, either. Can't say I found it very amusing, but then I frequently don't find Shakespeare's idea of humour amusing, so it may just be me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) No, I was far from convinced when I read it for the first time, either. Can't say I found it very amusing, but then I frequently don't find Shakespeare's idea of humour amusing, so it may just be me. The best bit for me was the stage direction "Exit pursued by a bear". When we read it at prep school one of the kids opined that it was a pity that there were not a few more bears and that they had not been a bit more voracious and successful. I was looking forward to seeing someone in a bear costume chasing Antigonus around the stage but it was not to be. Bit of a swiz in that regard. I see that some brave choreographer has attempted a ballet out of Twelfth Night and I am half tempted to get onto an easyJet or Ryanair flight to see it.That would be a more promising plot. Edited April 25, 2014 by terpsichore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Judith Flanders reviews the second cast (but also refers to the first cast) on her website. Thanks for letting us know about this, Aileen. Here's the link: http://www.judithflanders.co.uk/wheeldon-winters-tale-enb-lest-they-forget-brb-pagodas/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Bit of a swiz in that regard. I actually thought it rather effective (and it's getting better). Having someone in a bear costume would ellicit giggles and so would be completely inappropriate given Antigones is about to die. The use of the silks also gives rise to the possibility that the appearance of the bear is in Antigones' mind and he actually drowns in the stormy sea (or runs off to start a new life...). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Having someone in a bear costume would elicit giggles and so......... Indeed: http://dancelines.com.au/eskimo-ombres-bears-dance-bayadere/ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Oh yes, thanks for re-posting that one, Ian. It thoroughly amused me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Some (generally relatively expensive) tickets have now appeared online for tomorrow's matinee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I actually thought it rather effective (and it's getting better). Having someone in a bear costume would ellicit giggles and so would be completely inappropriate given Antigones is about to die. The use of the silks also gives rise to the possibility that the appearance of the bear is in Antigones' mind and he actually drowns in the stormy sea (or runs off to start a new life...). Well The Winter's Tale is supposed to be a comedy. If we can have cats in Sleeping Beauty it ought to be possible to have a bear in something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 If we can have cats in Sleeping Beauty it ought to be possible to have a bear in something else. And then there was 'Beatrix Potter' ..... Oh, dear .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Well The Winter's Tale is supposed to be a comedy. It's usually categorised as a "romance". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 And a word of warning for anyone coming in by train from South London tomorrow, bearing in mind that it is already a very early (noon) start: there are no trains London Bridge-Waterloo East-Charing Cross (and as far as I can see, no shuttle service round to Cannon Street either). Not unusual, but unfortunately there are no tubes between Cannon Street (where all Southeastern services are being diverted) and Embankment either, so it's likely to take a long time to get in from London Bridge (and that's assuming that Southern is running any trains there, too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 It's usually categorised as a "romance". Thanks for the elucidation. I don't remember a fourth category in the First Folio but we live and learn. I'll have to look it up. Meunie, I have just remembered that we have "Three Little Pigs" in Leeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 A Shakespeare play is either a history play i.e. about English kings, a tragedy where someone ends up dead or a comedy where it all comes out right in the end. Wasn't aware of any 'romances'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 A Shakespeare play is either a history play i.e. about English kings, a tragedy where someone ends up dead or a comedy where it all comes out right in the end. Wasn't aware of any 'romances'. It's the term often used these days (I'm a young 'un after all) for those plays that are part tragedy and part comedy, such as The Winter's Tale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargaretN7 Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 And a word of warning for anyone coming in by train from South London tomorrow, bearing in mind that it is already a very early (noon) start: there are no trains London Bridge-Waterloo East-Charing Cross (and as far as I can see, no shuttle service round to Cannon Street either). Not unusual, but unfortunately there are no tubes between Cannon Street (where all Southeastern services are being diverted) and Embankment either, so it's likely to take a long time to get in from London Bridge (and that's assuming that Southern is running any trains there, too). Bus RV1 from London Bridge Stn to within 1 minute walk of ROH, or enjoy a river bus to Embankment pier. Bus 15 from Monument, I think, to Royal Courts of Justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Oh yes, thanks for re-posting that one, Ian. It thoroughly amused me You're not the only one, Alison. I'm still giggling at the memory and several non-ballet-loving friends of mine find it funny too. I think it's the way the bears tiptoe between arabesques holding their paws up Balanchine-style that is so incongruous and silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveclassics Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 It's the term often used these days (I'm a young 'un after all) for those plays that are part tragedy and part comedy, such as The Winter's Tale. Isn't a tragedy one where the bad end up unhappily and the good unluckily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Indeed: http://dancelines.com.au/eskimo-ombres-bears-dance-bayadere/ I don't see anything wrong with that film. In fact, it is rather beautiful. But this short clip from the Yorkshire Film Archive is more the sort of thing I had in mind for Antigonus http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/winky-causes-small-pox-panic Incidentally, it was made in Holmfirth, the birthplace of British cinema exactly 100 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 It's the term often used these days (I'm a young 'un after all) for those plays that are part tragedy and part comedy, such as The Winter's Tale. Does Much Ado About Nothing qualify? Or isn't it quite tragic enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Perhaps this might be of help http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/plays/play-types/tragicomedy-plays/ The posts on this forum have really whetted my appetite for Monday night's live feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terpsichore Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Perhaps this might be of help http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/plays/play-types/tragicomedy-plays/ The posts on this forum have really whetted my appetite for Monday night's live feed. Several interesting points in this thread. First, the categorization of plays. I think we have to remember that the three way categorization into histories, tragedies and comedies has subsisted ever since the First Folio which was published not long after his death and may well have reflected Shakespeare's own thinking. The re-categorization of some of Shakespeare's comedies as "romances" is very much 20th century revisionism which I think Shakespeare and his audiences would have found strange. Secondly, whether the label "tragicomedy" label is helpful. Comedies can have their tragic events but those are not to be taken too seriously. As Shakespeare said in Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 5 Scene 1): *A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.' Merry and tragical! tedious and brief! That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow. How shall we find the concord of this discord." And in that context my bear point: I think we take The Winter's Tale far more seriously than the author had intended. Leontes's jealousy and subsequent contrition are so extreme as to be absurd. I am sure he would have had someone dressed in a bearskin chasing Antigonus all over the stage and that it would have raised howls of laughter from all sides of the house. You need a bit of humour sometimes to release the tension. Shakespeare understood that. I do wish his interpreters of his work - in all art forms - would. Now I hope everybody enjoys the HDTV transmission on Monday and, those who have tickets, the remaining performances. The ballet does have some good points. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standingticket Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) Managed to see the second cast this afternoon following a last minute call to the box office. What a treat! I am not sure whether it was due to it being my second viewing, being closer to the stage (stalls circle standing) or the superlative acting skills of this group of dancers, but I was completely and utterly blown away. I was moved to tears through much of the Act III, and at times in both Acts I and II Bennet Gartside, despite dancing choreography that has Ed Watson written all over it, managed to bring such gravitas and sorrow to the role of Leontes. For example, the moment when Perdita and Florizel arrive in Act III, and he blesses their relationship, you knew that he was haunted by the destruction of his own relationship with Hermione as they joyfully danced together. He and Morera's Paulina also danced incredibly well together. Nunez too managed to bring such profound emotion into their final pas de deux, her hesitancy at the beginning making the more sweeping choreography towards the latter stages all the more moving. The reunion with Perdita did not feel so rushed today either. In fact, I would say that today Act III actually felt very well judged in terms of length, and I felt like that allowed it to be poignant but not overblown, which would be the risk of elongating it As for Acts I and II - Stix-Brunell was really lovely as Perdita - there was such joy and lightness in her steps, and a sensuous quality to her and Muntagirov's pas de deux that was perhaps lacking a little bit from McRae and Lamb's interpretation (brilliantly danced though that was). They carried the relatively slow plot movement of Act II by really drawing the audience into their relationship (indeed I heard several independent people exclaiming at the interval 'you could just tell how in love they were'). It was also my first time watching Muntagirov - what a delight! Act I - Nunez and Gartside were fantastic - they really went all out, bringing out the drama of the situation in their steps. Nunez dancing Hermione's trial solo was utterly heart-breaking. So after my second viewing, other than maybe shaving a bit off Act II, I'm really not sure I would really want anything changed. I came out of the opera house feeling elated, moved, and all the best feelings you can have after a visit to the ballet! Edited April 26, 2014 by standingticket 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 And a word of warning for anyone coming in by train from South London tomorrow, bearing in mind that it is already a very early (noon) start: there are no trains London Bridge-Waterloo East-Charing Cross (and as far as I can see, no shuttle service round to Cannon Street either). Not unusual, but unfortunately there are no tubes between Cannon Street (where all Southeastern services are being diverted) and Embankment either, so it's likely to take a long time to get in from London Bridge (and that's assuming that Southern is running any trains there, too). My apologies: it appears that either I misread the engineering works poster or the works have been changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) I am not sure whether it was due to it being my second viewing, being closer to the stage (stalls circle standing) or the superlative acting skills of this group of dancers, but I was completely and utterly blown away. I was moved to tears through much of the Act III, and at times in both Acts I and II I don't think it can be the all down to the location, standingticket. I was standing to see it for a third time today myself (courtesy of a most kind BcoF member). I enjoyed it even more than the last two times - if that is humanely possible. Like that oh, so magical tree ... It keeps growing on you; keeps bearing new sprouts and shedding ever more fruitful perspectives that are ever perfectly ripe.. I have a feeling this may well become - like Fille or R&J - a deserved RB standard. Simply glorious. It revels - as does the wondrous challenges of the Shakespeare - in a colourful celebration of community. That wholeheartedly remains as its - and by association - our heartbeat. Bless Mr. Wheldon. His father's memory has been proudly honoured. Well done all. It is our nation which now must celebrate. Again enormous thanks to Mr. O'Hare and Ms. Kain for the insight of their prevailing vision's courage. Edited April 26, 2014 by Meunier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I enjoyed this afternoon's performance the most of the three I have seen, all with the same cast. I don't know whether sitting lower down and closer today made a difference. I thought that Bennet was outstanding dramatically. He didn't overact and you really believed in him as a character. However, I don't think that his partnering is as good as some others' which might be something to do with Marienela being a little tall for him. I enjoyed the folk dancing much more today. Everyone danced with real brio. Beatrix is incredibly winsome as Perdita and she and Vadim were fabulous together today. They are well matched height-wise and they certainly give the impression that they enjoy dancing together. Marienela gave a very emotional performance, particularly in the reconciliation with Leontes. The standout parts for me are: Hermione and Leontes dancing while their innocent son slips down the stairs watching them; Perdita's solo to incredibly atmospheric music at the beginning of Act 2 and the reconciliation pdd and the ending. Some people have commented that the statue of Hermione coming to life falls flat but it doesn't for me and it neatly provides the statue of the dead Maximilius which is the focal point of the final moments of the ballet. Did anyone else think that some of the lighting was lower today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesrhblack Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Came away from this afternoon's performance moved almost beyond words. It's such an astonishing play, at least in its earlier scenes. To this day, I remember seeing it at the Oxford Playhouse over thirty years ago on a school pre University trip, knowing nothing of it and being totally gripped. It is to the credit of Christopher. Wheeldon and his team that this marvellous ballet has the same edge of seat intensity. Perhaps a second viewing would affirm or contradict this initial impression but for now I can only marvel at the achievement. It would be interesting to see the first cast on whom the work was built but no complaints about what was on stage today. As standingticket points out there are many Watsonisms in the choreography for Leontes and agreeing with aileen it seemed that Bennet Gartside dropped Marianela Nunez during the trail scene. In the last pas de deux, there is also an echo of Lauren Cuthbertsin's magical slowing of a turning arabesque for Hermione. However, the sense of an entire creative team from choreographer and composer (loved the score) to design and staging working together produced an overwhelming effect. Valeri Hristov danced with such athletic power and precision in Act One and some of the corps choreography in Act 2, as well as that for Perdita and Florizel had me gasping with delight. Perhaps some of the last Act seems a little rushed in its pacing, but the final Duet, which achieves no easy end, is absolutely exquisite and Laura Morera's desolation at the end truly moving too. There is no reconciliation here for her shattered life. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Perdita's solo to incredibly atmospheric music at the beginning of Act 2 Did anyone else think that some of the lighting was lower today? I have discovered the name of the flute (or bansuri) player responsible for the atmospheric music starting Act 2 (the lady sitting in the tree on the right as we look) - her name is Eliza Marshall, and full credit to her for making the start of Act 2 so evocative as the translucent curtain rises. Can't say I noticed the lighting being lower today - not saying it wasn't, just didn't notice it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I've just looked up the bansuri on Wikipedia. It is an Indian bamboo flute and, interestingly, is associated with the pastoral life and the love affair between Krishna and Rhadu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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