alison Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Oops, Irmgard and I were actually posting at the same time. I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Yes Laurretta Summerscales was the 'poster girl' for Coppelia in London last July but did not get a show. Elena Glurdjidze was ENB's 'face' of Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall in July 2013 but did not dance in it at all. Didn't ENB get into some trouble a few years ago when they pictured a ballerina (Desiree Ballantyne, I think it was) on their flyers for Sleeping Beauty (I think) when she wasn't cast in the lead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 When I stupidly did an excessively keen clean-up and accidentally deleted the FT cookies or whatever it is, I discovered it would only let me have 3 articles per month when I logged back in. That is totally ludicrous. I would perhaps mind less if the site wasn't telling porkies. I've only read one review this month, yet it won't let me get at any more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I would perhaps mind less if the site wasn't telling porkies. I've only read one review this month, yet it won't let me get at any more I wonder might this be the way of many futures? The print trade has seen diminishing returns for quite some time as the progressively well-written/authoritative blogs have been on a determined rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks for clarifying the pdt/pdq question, Irmgard. I assume that Deane will stick with the pdt now. As Alison says, it requires one less man, which can be helpful with casting if there is a lot of injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbob69 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Wonderful run. Always enjoy watching this company 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I wonder might this be the way of many futures? The print trade has seen diminishing returns for quite some time as the progressively well-written/authoritative blogs have been on a determined rise. Well, yes, but have you seen what the FT is charging? Minimum of £5-something *per week*! Much as I enjoy reading its dance coverage, I can't afford to pay that sort of money just to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Well, yes, but have you seen what the FT is charging? Minimum of £5-something *per week*! Much as I enjoy reading its dance coverage, I can't afford to pay that sort of money just to do so. I agree, Alison. For this reason I hold only two subscriptions, one to ArtsDesk (which at £25 per year comes out at £2.95 a month - or the cost of one ENB masterclass today) which supports many very fine British writers (at least in terms of published opportunity) who themselves previously had major frames on key UK broadsheets and the New York Times whose dance coverage remains today - as it has throughout my life - not only the most diverse and comprehensive of any newspaper ... but blessedly still one of the most affordable. There are just so many wonderful blogs as well; prime above all in my constant purvey are our very own, ever-wonderful DanceTabs (BLESS YOU, BRUCE) and Deborah Jowitt's fine work from which I've learned so much over (at least) the last thirty five years. Edited January 21, 2015 by Bruce Wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@ballet_sweat_n_tears Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 See Elena Glurdjidze backstage during her last performance in Swan Lake at the London Coliseum 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 That's a lovely tribute, Sian. Thank you posting this. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Thank you so very much Sian. I had seen the photos on Facebook, but putting them together like this, with the music, brought a lump to my throat and just served to reinforce the beauty of this wonderful artist and how very much she will be missed. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Having written the above post, I thought that this would be an opportune time to post up an interview I did with Elena just over three years ago, for those of you who haven't read it (or who may want to read it again). In it, she speaks honestly and beautifully about her feelings, her career, her ideas for the future and much else. Re-reading it after so long, it made me feel sad all over again....but on the other hand, very happy to have seen Elena dance many times. I wish her happiness and success in all of her future endeavours. http://www.ballet.co.uk/2011/12/interview-with-elena-glurdjidze-english-national-ballet-senior-principal/ 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I've seen so many wonderful things written about Glurdjidze, it was a pity I couldn't get to see her final performance. Apologies if this has been stated elsewhere, but why is she leaving? Is she retiring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Sunday's performance gave London the opportunity to say farewell to a dancer who has always used her technique in the service of the choreographer's vision of the role that she was dancing rather than treating a role as an opportunity to display her technique.As someone once said a ballerina is a dancer who can do everything but has the taste not to do so.Elena was a true ballerina and a true artist. It is to be hoped that the younger members of the company will recognise her approach to dancing the classics as one that they should follow. I enjoyed her performances and hope that she gets as much enjoyment from her future career, whatever it may be,as she has given to us. . 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I've seen so many wonderful things written about Glurdjidze, it was a pity I couldn't get to see her final performance. Apologies if this has been stated elsewhere, but why is she leaving? Is she retiring? "Retiring" is the official description of what's happening, but from what I'm gathering from comments around the forum, "bowing to the inevitable" after a longish stretch of basically being ignored by management is possibly closer to the truth. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Elena has been cast in very little since TR's arrival at ENB and does not seem to have been injured or indisposed or heavily involved in other projects in this time, although I believe that she has been doing (and has possibly completed) a teachers course. Perhaps that is all we should say here. We can draw our own conclusions. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Elena Glurdjidze has asked me to convey the following message via this forum: "I would like to thank all people, friends, fans and colleagues who turned my last performance into such a fantastic celebration! Thank you for the rain of flowers; thank you for the ovations and tears. On my way out I can state that 30 years of hard work was worth every drop of my energy. This was all worth it because of you all and your love and positive energy will remain and drive me forever!" Elena 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Elena Glurdjidze has asked me to convey the following message via this forum: "I would like to thank all people, friends, fans and colleagues who turned my last performance into such a fantastic celebration! Thank you for the rain of flowers; thank you for the ovations and tears. On my way out I can state that 30 years of hard work was worth every drop of my energy. This was all worth it because of you all and your love and positive energy will remain and drive me forever!" Elena What a beautiful message from a beautiful artist and ballerina. Dd and I felt honoured to be there on Sunday; it was an emotional afternoon and a privilege to see Elena's last performance with ENB. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Wish I could have been there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 "Retiring" is the official description of what's happening, but from what I'm gathering from comments around the forum, "bowing to the inevitable" after a longish stretch of basically being ignored by management is possibly closer to the truth. there was no mention of retirement on the cast sheet Sunday, only that it was her last appearance with ENB. Hoping we will be able to see her dance in up and coming galas or whatever, as a absolute minimum... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I don't get the impression she's retiring ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I, too, wish that I could have seen Elena's farewell performance. I hope that she will not say farewell to London and that her future performances will not be restricted to the Dying Swan, which is billed for the Albert Hall, and which she danced at a Sadler's Wells gala in the Karl Lagerfeld tutu a few years ago. Perhaps she will dance Raymonda. Or I would love to see what she could bring to Manon. I did see the Rojo/Lendorf Swan Lake on the evening prior to Elena's farewell. I brought along a visiting relative in her late twenties. It was her first visit to the ballet and she told me that it was the most thrilling thing she had seen in her entire life. On returning home, she rushed to Facebook to post how lucky and privileged she felt to have seen such a breathtaking performance. My daughter, who is in her early twenties and frequently comes to the ballet, agreed. We both felt that Tamara gave the most beautifully nuanced performance, quite heartbreaking. I can't remember when I last felt such an emotional charge from a performance of Swan Lake. It was almost like seeing the ballet for the first time and good to know that it is possible to recapture that 'first time' high. I find it interesting and heartening that so many of my daughter's friends in their twenties, both male and female and none of them from a dancing background, clamour to come to the ballet. And, without exception, it is ballet rather than contemporary dance that they love so much. It is, perhaps, something that the middle-aged executives who feel that they need to present a grim, uber-realism to draw young people in to the ballet or opera might like to consider. Ms Rojo seems to enjoy dancing with Mr Lendorf. Or perhaps he enjoys dancing with her, and with ENB. Either way, I hope that he will continue as a frequent guest. I recall his superb Mercutio to Vasiliev's Romeo in the Ashton Romeo and Juliet brought to the Coliseum a few years back by the Schaufuss Ballet. I would love to see his Romeo. Or, perhaps, to have him guest in the forthcoming Sadler's Wells programme. And as other members (Bruce Wall, I think) have pointed out, wouldn't it be wonderful to have Vasiliev guesting regularly in the more rip-roaring parts of the ENB repertoire. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 May I ask what other ballets your daughter's friends have enjoyed? Have they generally been the full length narrative ones and have they enjoyed the shorter more 'abstract' ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane S Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Just as a footnote to all that's been said about Glurdjidze, I looked back to the old ballet.co's annual poll and found these results for 'best female dancer': 2006: 1. Nunez 2. Cojocaru 3. Glurdjidze 2007: 1. Glurdjidze 2. Cojocaru 3. Nunez/Yanowsky 2008: 1. Glurdjidze 2 .Nunez 3. Rojo 2009: 1. Rojo 2. Glurdjidze 3. Nunez/Benjamin So over those 4 years at least she was the most highly-regarded ballerina in the country, in the eyes of some of the most enthusiastic ballet-goers. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 May I ask what other ballets your daughter's friends have enjoyed? Have they generally been the full length narrative ones and have they enjoyed the shorter more 'abstract' ones? Aileen, my daughter's friends have seen a fairly representative range of programmes and have enjoyed most of them, including ballets such as the recent Ashton triple bill and Etudes. My daughter herself has always been drawn to the classical repertoire, which she far prefers to Wayne McGregor or even Kenneth Macmillan although this is not necessarily true for all of her friends. Giselle seems to be a favourite with the boys, who generally seem to enjoy narrative ballets and many, but not all, of them would choose McGregor over Balanchine. The Concert was a general favourite I'm not sure what, if anything, can be drawn from this, I guess it's a case of horses for courses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Just as a footnote to all that's been said about Glurdjidze, I looked back to the old ballet.co's annual poll and found these results for 'best female dancer': This is really interesting especially as many people who have recently been enthusiastic on here about Elena's performances (including me) are more recent subscribers to the forum as well as more recent supporters of ENB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmgard Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I don't get the impression she's retiring ... You are quite right, Elena Glurdjidze is most certainly NOT retiring. She has left ENB due to the dramatic reduction in the number of performances and roles she has been offered since the departure of Wayne Eagling but she has plans to keep dancing here and abroad. The esteem in which she is held by her colleagues past and present at ENB was evidenced not only onstage at the end of her performance but also in many posts on Facebook, often accompanied by repostings of Sian Trenberth's evocative photos. First Artist Madison Keesler paid tribute to Glurdjidze's coaching of her for the Emerging Dancer Award last year and Ksenia Ovsyanik told me personally how much her own Odette/Odile had been inspired by Elena so it is to be hoped that she will find time in her busy schedule to continue passing on her invaluable and extensive knowledge to the next generation. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenBee Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Elena's last performance with ENB was truly superb, amazing, emotional and more, the orchestra was fantastic, it's a performance I will never forget, she is dancing the lead role in Bristol Russian Ballet School's performance of Nutcracker this coming Saturday at the Playhouse Weston-super-Mare alongside Yat Sen Chang. It's a sell out but hopefully she'll be joining us in future productions - I'll keep you posted. I am soooooo excited and can't wait to see her dance again, I know some of you have a ticket so looking forward to seeing you there, we're in for a treat .............. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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