RB: Serenade, Sweet Violets, DGV mixed bill, May 2014

[standingticket]

For me the standout performer of last night was Lauren Cuthbertson - she was just radiant in Serenade - so sharp and so musical. And boy did she and Thiago Soares go for it in that final pas de deux in Sweet Violets. I was a bit terrified - I have to confess I found myself thinking 'please don't break Lauren - I'm so enjoying having her dancing again!'. Before 'A Winter's Tale' this year, I don't think I had fully appreciated just how marvellous she is

 

Sweet Violets is hard going, but very much worth it. I read a comment on twitter that said it was an hour of 'unnecessary eroticised violence towards women' (I think the person had brought their young daughter, so was perhaps understandably angry). But it made me think - while I can obviously see where that comment comes from, I think that it is sadly in the nature of the subject matter. I think Scarlett has done a very good job of not romanticising it - I almost feel quite sick watching the more violent pas de deux in places, the same reaction I had both when I went on the Jack the Ripper walking tour in East London, and when I saw The Judas Tree. He has pretty well taken the bull by the horns as far as subject matter goes. And choreographically, there are some truly wonderful (and heart-stopping) moments. The scene where Morera essentially dances a pas de deux with her bed is heart-breaking (she is just a sensational actress - I cannot wait to see her Manon again), and all of the other pas de deux were very strong, dramatic and bravely danced. There are too many disruptive scene changes though, which I remember thinking last time..

 

In DGV, Yanowsky was just amazing, as others have commented. However, on the whole, I thought it was a slightly below-par performance of this work, which I absolutely love usually. For me the momentum just dropped a bit when Watson and Osipova performed their section. I agree with the previous comment about Osipova's facial expressions in this- they were too showy. She had big shoes to fill in this role, which was danced so sublimely by Leanne Benjamin (and others of course, but she is the standout) for many years. While she did a more than passable job with some lovely moments, it lack sharpness at key points. There is a hallmark step in that pas de deux where she is pulled from a demi-plie (ish) forwards onto pointe over Watson's thigh (while he is also in a demi-plie) and this was just not spiky enough...so some of the musicality and momentum was lost...Maybe she would do better in one of the other couples - perhaps the fourth?

 

Anyway, that was a rather rambly post (I had envisaged it being brief!) - a pretty great triple bill from my perspective!

[Tony Newcombe]

Time to recognise what a great dancer Lauren Cuthbertson is. Not only sharp and musical in Serenade but also very quiet on her feet. Then after a 30 minute break an exceptional debut in Sweet Violets.

[aileen]

Well, I'm going to have a long first interval when I see this bill because I really don't want to see Sweet Violets again. I found the subject matter unsavory and depressing and, for me, the choreography and staging did not compensate. I wish that it was last on the bill.

[BristolBillyBob]

I've posted this also over on the Special Ticket Offers page, but if anyone's interested the Evening Standard have a cheap ticket deal for the Monday 26th May matinee performance. Monday, don't forget, is a bank holiday, so no having to take time off work! Only £35 for stalls seats and £20 for amphi. Which I thought was a bit of a bargain, and have duly snapped up two tickets. Lots of great seats still going in the stalls. 

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/esrewards/serenade-sweet-violets-and-dgv-danse--grande-vitesse-tickets-from-just-20-9374129.html

[Wulff]

Matthew Golding is certainly not the first, nor will he be the last dancer to have developed the unfortunate habit of dancing with his mouth open. I can think of quite a few other dancers who have had this habit of "goldfishing", or, what Madam is said to have described it as "catching flies". Eventually most seem to have been able to correct this fault, but if it is due to asthma or some other breathing problem, then they deserve our forbearance.

[chrischris]

Well I certainly didn't mean to be offensive, and reading it back I cannot understand how anyone could find that comment offensive, but each to their own. I thought Golding was good in Serenade, but my enjoyment of him (in fact my observation of his dancing) was distracted by his facial expression, which I don't really know how to define. I think that is a perfectly valid observation to make. Conversely, I didn't notice Osipova's facial expressions at all, though if they impede other people in the audience from enjoying a performance then they should be perfectly entitled to say so. I sometimes feel fans of dancers probably have thinner skins than the dancers themselves.

 

I'm glad it wasn't just me who struggled with Sweet Violets. I love the overall tone of it, and maybe it will be clearer on repeat viewing.

 

Would loved to have seen Benjamin in DGV,and Bussell too.

[Melody]

Could you provide a link please Melody?

 

At her 2012 Ballet Association interview there was this:

 

David said the last time Zen had talked to us, she mentioned type-casting and her height being an issue in some roles. In Las Hermanas it’s clearly not an issue as Alina is in her role in the other cast. Zen said one of the greatest things she admires in Kevin is that height and shape are not an issue, it is more about how you are as an artist, what you can do and what you can bring to the audience. When she was researching the role she wondered about being too tall and mentioned it to Ray who said it didn’t matter at all – he just wanted to see the character coming through. Being given the role by Kevin gave her confidence, and she thinks he has cast the whole year in such a way as to bring on people whom he values for what they can bring to the Opera House stage. Asked when she felt she broke through the height barrier, Zen said it was hard to say. With Anthony Dowell she felt it wasn’t such an enormous issue as she felt it later became when she was even taken out of ballets she’d previously danced. Certain roles remained in her rep which was great, but some tall ballerina roles became small ballerina roles. Now she doesn’t get that feeling which is good as it unconsciously stops you being at your best.

 

What next? Lots of lovely dancing as Zen feels she’s enjoying an Indian summer and it’s great to be back and she’s very happy to be part of the company and being valued. In their profession they are constantly judged by themselves and others and there are mirrors to remind them, physically and emotionally, of constant judgement. It’s a tough job so recognition is wonderful.

 

http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/Reports/2012/Yanowsky12.html

 

At the 2004 Ballet Association interview mentioned above, there was this:

 

Although many choreographers choose to work with Zenaida and this means that she has had the opportunity to create several new roles, she clearly feels that she is typecast within the company. She is the type of dancer that is often asked to create contemporary roles in works such as Afsked (Kim Brandstrup) and Proverb (William Tuckett) but there are many roles that she would like to have the opportunity to dance but has not yet been cast in.

 

At the top of her wish-list of title roles that she would like is Manon, followed closely by Cinderella and Roland Petit’s Carmen. She has wanted to dance Manon for many years but feels now that it is not achievable because of the perception that she is too tall for such roles. (Please note, that since this report was written, Zenaida has been cast as Manon.) She had asked to dance Cinderella, but the idea was dismissed. ‘Where in the book does it say that Cinderella is under five foot!’ Zenaida felt that these perceptions are related to the Royal Ballet’s history and the ballerinas who have been celebrated in these roles in the past, which in a sense has laid down the specification for future policy. However, this was sometimes confusing. Only later did she discover that Svetlana Beriosova had been a notable Cinderella in the 1950s when she was the tallest ballerina in the company. Some surprise was expressed at her belief that Manon is not now achievable. Asked about what redress there was in the Company for such issues, she said that Monica was always available and always listened, but she had to balance the wishes of all in the Company. In the end you did what you were told, or left. Building a freelance career was very difficult, although Roberto Bolle has managed it.

 

http://www.balletassociation.co.uk/Reports/2004/Yanowsky04.html

 

And this Ballerina Guru interview has several references that indicate she thinks she's been handed the short end of the stick a few times too often:

 

"At times, however, I have wished that I were more assertive. I think its true to say that unless you do fight/struggle for what you want, then there's every chance that you will not get even the opportunity to achieve what you are trying for." 

 

"Yes, I do wish that someone had helped me to negotiate for certain roles, even for parts of a choreography."

 

And in response to a question about inspirational words for new dancers and students, she gave an answer that, while realistic, struck me as very sad:

 

"Do a business and management course. It will come in handy when meeting with the sharks."

 

http://ballerinaguru.blogspot.com/2014/01/i-was-fortunate-enough-meet-zenaida.html

Edited May 15, 2014 by Melody

[AnneMarriott]

Sadly we were only able to see Serenade last night and then had to go (don't ask).

 

Traitor!

[Mary]

Saw the triple bill last night-re Sweet Violets-So why make a ballet about young women being very brutally murdered?

 

Maybe there is a good reason.  I do not think it is impossible to deal with such a serious issue in dance. Many people mention Judas Tree and I have seen that-but that it seems to me, did in fact represent the actions as horrible and frightening. Similarly Manon and Mayerling do present some very disturbing scenes but in a very fully realised way such that we the audience  feel the  emotional pain and the moral struggles in the characters. What worries me  is the representation of rape and murder in a softened and prettified way for no particular reason. Because SV didn't seem to have much point, I can't see the reason.

 

Trouble is, beautiful young dancers being artistically murdered is nowhere near any kind of representation of what that sort of crime is really "like" -and because, as many have said the plot of SV was a muddle and the point of the whole piece hardly clear, it became a series of tableaux and in fact risked  turning into a titillating presentation  of attractive young women being forced into various pornographic postures- -for our entertainment. At one point the choreographer makes one strip,  while the men all stay fully clothed, and one reviewer commented on how this would have "set pulses racing"-maybe Scarlett did not mean it like that, but what did he mean?

 

Do I find it disturbing that the RB were enticing men in the audience all around me, to be aroused by this sight, in a story which was actually supposedly about tormenting, torturing, murdering and dismembering women, in the most horrible way- er yes, just a bit.

 

If that makes me in any way odd, I can only say, the times are out of joint, in my view, and not me.

 

 I agree entirely that Scarlett shows tremendous talent .

But there should be wiser heads at RB who could have steered a young choreographer away from the pitfalls of this project.

 

Ok, enough of that..

 

On a happier note,DGV was great on a fourth viewing and I don't think I could ever tire of seeing it-  it would have been good back-to-back with Serenade, also well danced, I thought.  I have discovered Cuthbertson and think she is marvellous. I must echo all the huge praise for Zanowsky who I have been appreciating for years and years. She stood out in DGV. Brilliant.  Another dancer I'd like to see more of is Eric Underwood.

[MargaretN7]

........... Serenade............ Every time i watch it, at the end I just sigh in a blissful state, and yearn to see it again.

Just as well, then, that you have your camera on a tripod, or some photos might be a bit blurry!  (I looked to see if there was a 'sighing' smiley)

[alison]

...and don't forget, before this season, Zenaida and Simon had started a family, so that removed her from circulation for a good while. As one of my fave dancers, I watched her as often as I could, and whilst she may not have been cast enough for my books, she was not cast down, as it it were, in 'soloist' type roles, as some principals have been.

 

Yes, two babies in short succession, and barely enough time for her to come back inbetween, as I recall?

 

It was Stretton who cast her *down" as one of Kitri's friends, I seem to remember?  I'm trying to remember what else she did in that year.

[Ian Macmillan]

Mary:  For what it may be worth, when I saw Sweet Violets in the first run, I was not in the slightest aroused by anything in it - indeed, as I recall, and despite having read the synopsis, I was doing my damnedest to keep up with a not-dreadfully-well told story.  If, as you say, the RB was enticing men, I can only report that they failed with me.

[bangorballetboy]

I see that nowhere in Melody's long post of interview extracts is there mention of Yanowsky believing Mason was treating her as a soloist.

[bangorballetboy]

Mary:  For what it may be worth, when I saw Sweet Violets in the first run, I was not in the slightest aroused by anything in it - indeed, as I recall, and despite having read the synopsis, I was doing my damnedest to keep up with a not-dreadfully-well told story.  If, as you say, the RB was enticing men, I can only report that they failed with me.

Doesn't arouse me either (but then I think one of the sexiest moments in ballet is the blue girls in Les Patineurs looking up and smiling as they "walk" across the stage).

 

I found that looking at the Sickert pictures after my first viewing of the ballet brought a number of narrative (and choreographic) threads together.

[lyn]

Serenade: I've seen it a million times and been bored a million times, but last night really appreciated the delightful, reckless abandon which Lauren brought. For the first time, I found myself actually paying attention, and by the end, beaming like crazy.

 

SV: As others have said, it really needs a synopsis. I did my due reading on Wood/Sickert and still was none the wiser. I was amazed by how Liam Scarlett wove the story line into the music though. It could be so, so much better with some editing. Prune the characters, the deaths, the misogyny, and maybe some of the arm flailing... I'm not a huge fan of Scarlett yet but I definitely see the potential.

 

DGV: I LOved DGV. I've always listened to the music, but had never seen it. I'm so relieved that Wheeldon didn't just turn it into an endlessly chugging/mechanical fare, and instead filled the spaces in the music so fascinatingly. I especially love the slow way it starts with Eric and Zen, and the gentle spinning of the ladies at the end. Zen has always hands down been my favourite dancer. But even I was really surprised by how enrapturing her DGV was. Something about her crazy purposeful expression.. the sharpness of her movement.. I don't get it. She astounds me anew every time. Immediately after the show I went to sign up as a Friend to make sure I get the best darn seats for her Manon.

 

One thing though -- quite disappointed with the orchestra on DGV. The trumpets seemed to be skipping every few notes and one half of the orchestra was playing faster than the other in the last movement (excluding the parts with intentional syncopation)

[John Mallinson]

Mary, the picture you paint of the Royal Opera House’s male audience drooling at the sight of the scenes depicted in Sweet Violets seems to me to conflate the real audience with the men in the box at the theatre depicted in the ballet. I found the action horrifying rather than titillating but agree that there is a problem with showing any form of violence in dance without, as you say, ‘softening and prettifying’ it. I would argue that, seen from 2014, MacMillan does just that in Manon and Mayerling in his depiction of prostitutes and that Scarlett paints a truer picture of the degradation suffered by women at the hands of men.

 

The action is seen through the mind of Sickert, here portrayed as a man with an obsession with the demi-monde, depravity and death, and it is necessarily unclear at times whether what we see is real or imagined and that’s part of the reason the plot seems obscure. It ends with his horrified recognition of the potentially evil effects of his imagination. 

 

Incidentally Marie, who strips, is an artists’ model so it’s not inappropriate. It would be odd in those circumstances if the men stripped too.

[Amelia]

... how is any innocent ticket payer supposed to know that Eddy is, in fact, the Prince of Wales ... 

 

In fact, Eddy’s title was Duke of Clarence and Avondale. He never had the title of Prince of Wales because in his lifetime his father (later King Edward VII) was holding that title..

Eddy died in 1892. Later, when Edward VII ascended the throne in 1901, his second son (later King George V) was created Prince of Wales.

Edited for typo as usual.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Amelia

[Mary]

Ian, John, thank you- I understand entirely. I am not suggesting that most men would in fact enjoy such scenes, but that the ballet seemed to me to to represent them as potentially titillating- and, one reviewer did in fact mention this as if it was unproblematic

 

I would imagine most men- and all the  men I know- would find it disturbing-and  if it is not meant to be disturbing, it should be.

I take what you say about Sickert being mentally unbalanced ( though I think the piece rather badly misrepresents Sickert-another complaint!)  but I think the piece was too confusing for this to be clear. If actions are  happening on stage, how is the audience suposed to know "this is the depraved imaginings of x"?

[alison]

By lighting changes à la Winter's Tale, I should think?  It seemed to work well enough there in the scene where Leontes imagines Hermione and Polixenes having an affair.

[Bruce Wall]

 

In fact, Eddy’s title was Duke of Clarence and Avondale. He never had the title of Prince of Wales because in his lifetime his father (later King Edward VII) was holding that title..

Eddy died in 1892. Later, when Edward VII ascended the throne in 1901, his second son (later King George V) was created Prince of Wales.

Edited for typo as usual.

 

 

Bless you, Amelia, for the historical clarification ..... Still in all, this, I think, proves the wider point in my earlier posting ... I don't believe I am/can be alone in terms of the SV narrative confusion(s).  

[bangorballetboy]

 

He never had the title of Prince of Wales because in his lifetime his father (later King Edward VII) was holding that title..

 

 

 

but also because the title is reserved for the heir apparent, which Eddy never was.

 

We digress...

[Anna C]

Apologies for the possibly daft question, but would Sweet Violets be suitable for a sensitive 15 year-old girl with a very vivid imagination?

 

I'd love to take dd to see Serenade and DGV but I'm not sure I want to induce nightmares and/or insomnia.... ;-)

[MAB]

I agree with Mary, dreadful misrepresentation of Walter Sickert, an artist who captured for all time the magic of late victorian theatre and a personal favourite of mine.  How an idiot came up with the theory he was Jack the ripper is beyond me, something to do with one of his paintings being of a man sitting beside the inert body of woman (more likely asleep than dead).  French artists were exploring the same brutal realism but no one accuses Degas or Toulouse Lautrec, for example, of being the ripper.

[aileen]

If she's very sensitive, probably not. It also depends on how worldly she is. Is she aware of prostitution and the violence which prostitutes experience at the hands of their 'clients' and pimps?

[zxDaveM]

I agree with Mary, dreadful misrepresentation of Walter Sickert, an artist who captured for all time the magic of late victorian theatre and a personal favourite of mine.  How an idiot came up with the theory he was Jack the ripper is beyond me, something to do with one of his paintings being of a man sitting beside the inert body of woman (more likely asleep than dead).  French artists were exploring the same brutal realism but no one accuses Degas or Toulouse Lautrec, for example, of being the ripper.

 

I don't think he was represented as JtR - just that he was drawn to that macabre spectre - and that his friend Woods may have been (hence the murder in the first scene, which then replicates one of Sickert's paintings). In the ballet, the ending sort of implies that through his actions, he may have driven his employee into the arms of the ripper, as one of Jack's victims, in a combination of his mistreatment of her, and his 'investigations' into the dark side, in the name of his art (like having Woods mistrating his model, and then posing them in the same way as the first murder we saw). Not sure why I'm 'defending' it though - can't say i enjoyed the piece much.

[bangorballetboy]

I agree with Mary, dreadful misrepresentation of Walter Sickert, an artist who captured for all time the magic of late victorian theatre and a personal favourite of mine.  How an idiot came up with the theory he was Jack the ripper is beyond me, something to do with one of his paintings being of a man sitting beside the inert body of woman (more likely asleep than dead).  French artists were exploring the same brutal realism but no one accuses Degas or Toulouse Lautrec, for example, of being the ripper.

 

Possibly because Degas and Toulouse Lautrec were in Paris not London (but then again, so was Sickert for quite a while too, which is why the theories are generally discredited).  If you do any reading on the subject, you'll see how the theories develop (and it's not just because of one of the paintings).

[Anna C]

If she's very sensitive, probably not. It also depends on how worldly she is. Is she aware of prostitution and the violence which prostitutes experience at the hands of their 'clients' and pimps?

Very sensitive, but quite worldly at the same time! :-) The prostitution discussion happened just before we took her to Les Mis for the first time - but obviously I haven't gone into all the ins-and-out of graphic violence.

 

I've seen the rehearsal footage on the ROH website but obviously because of all the stopping and starting the atmosphere is a lot lighter and you don't get so drawn into the darkness.

 

How does it compare to Mayerling?

[aileen]

Probably slightly darker as the story is condensed into 30-40 minutes and it's all about prostitutes, violence and murder and there's not much else. But, as I said above, I don't like the piece and perhaps I'm remembering it as being darker than it actually is. Perhaps others would care to give a view.

[penelopesimpson]

Astonished to see a poster complaining about comments about somebody's personal expressions or physical appearance.  Ballet is a physical art form and the audience are entitled to express their opinion in an acceptable way.  To add my twopennyworth, I find Sarah Lamb's physical appearance somewhat lollipop like which detracts from her dancing.  For me.  I mean no personal insult, just an observation.

[zxDaveM]

Astonished to see a poster complaining about comments about somebody's personal expressions or physical appearance.  Ballet is a physical art form and the audience are entitled to express their opinion in an acceptable way.  To add my twopennyworth, I find Sarah Lamb's physical appearance somewhat lollipop like which detracts from her dancing.  For me.  I mean no personal insult, just an observation.

I observe that as a lollipop of a comment

[Anna C]

Astonished to see a poster complaining about comments about somebody's personal expressions or physical appearance.  Ballet is a physical art form and the audience are entitled to express their opinion in an acceptable way.  To add my twopennyworth, I find Sarah Lamb's physical appearance somewhat lollipop like which detracts from her dancing.  For me.  I mean no personal insult, just an observation.

Yes, the audience - or forum members - are of course entitled to express their opinion, as you say, in an acceptable way, providing they do not breach our Acceptable Use Policy (here: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/417-the-balletcoforum-acceptable-use-policy/).

 

However, dancers can and do read this forum. I certainly wouldn't like to be described as "lollipop like". I'm not sure what you mean but I'm assuming it's not a compliment. To critique a dancer's technique or performance is one thing; to comment disparagingly upon aspects of their physique which they cannot change is quite another.

 

Just as posters have the right to their opinion, other posters have the right to click the "Report" button should they find a post offensive or in breach of the AUP.

[BristolBillyBob]

I observe that as a lollipop of a comment

 

I know it's only the middle of May, but I'm calling it. This gets my award for The Most Surreal Forum Post Of The Year.

Edited May 16, 2014 by BristolBillyBob

[chrischris]

Yes, the audience - or forum members - are of course entitled to express their opinion, as you say, in an acceptable way, providing they do not breach our Acceptable Use Policy (here: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/417-the-balletcoforum-acceptable-use-policy/).

 

However, dancers can and do read this forum. I certainly wouldn't like to be described as "lollipop like". I'm not sure what you mean but I'm assuming it's not a compliment. To critique a dancer's technique or performance is one thing; to comment disparagingly upon aspects of their physique which they cannot change is quite another.

 

Just as posters have the right to their opinion, other posters have the right to click the "Report" button should they find a post offensive or in breach of the AUP.

 

If you are referring to my original comment, facial expressions are not (usually) aspects of someone's physique which they cannot change. You can change them and they impact on characterisation, and criticism of this is valid. Physical characteristics are trickier, as others have mentioned, because it can get hurtful. but ballet is a visual art and sometimes someone's particular physicality doesn't suit a role.