The Royal Ballet: Swan Lake, February 2015

[alison]

Mummykool, we *have* to stop meeting posting like this!

 

The one I was thinking of was £15 vs. £13 for full price, but that's outer London for you.  I don't know how much the hmvCurzon was, but the Wimbledon Odeon was £18.  Good to see 2 cinemas a few hundred yards away - if that - competing!  I remember the Surrey Docks Odeon was very cheap for one showing of something or other.  As I said, it's very hit and miss.

[Don Q Fan]

Wirral Light was £17 and £15oap. Its £2 cheaper for the encore mat in Sunday.

[Shade]

I saw this at the cinema in Guildford, which was pretty full. I am not a fan of the designs and as has already been mentioned dark costumes against a dark background made it difficult to see the dancers. I will see if it is ant better on Saturday when I go to ROH.

I thought all the dancers were wonderful, Act 3 was very exciting and Act 4 very moving. I think Natalia is still developing this role, it has evolved since her first performance with Carlos. Matthew Golding was a fine prince. Lovely photo of Natalia at the curtain call with a soft toy swan on her facebook page!

 

It is interesting to me that neither Natalia nor Evgenia had an opportunity to dance this role with their original Russian companies - so glad they have elsewhere. It would have been tragic if they had not the chance to dance this role.

[Quintus]

Here are some of those whirlwind fouettés.....

http://instagram.com/p/0YvDMyJjfh/

[Sim]

I'll be heading for the gala at Sad Wells, so will miss it even if they are.

Me too!

[Mummykool]

Well we are being indulgent and doing both!

 

As we travel from Bristol I originally thought we would miss Sunday's encore Swan lake, but after a bit of internet researching I've got two seats at the Vue in Islington. It starts at 2pm and there were plenty of seats still available last night. It will finish around 5.20, so that gives us enough time afterwards to grab something to eat before heading off down the road to the gala at Sadlers Wells.

 

It's nice when you can come up with a cunning plan...........

[zxDaveM]

I

Is Fairfield doing a repeat?  Alternatively, what about Wimbledon Odeon (or Curzon?)  My local's doing a 2 pm repeat, so you could make it up to Sadler's in time from there if necessary.  Drop me a PM or give me a ring, Dave (if you've got my number?) if you need to know more.  (But see my comments on weekend engineering works elsewhere).

 

 

 

 

We have a short photo call in the afternoon (at Sad Wells), then the gala itself, so no time!

[Jillykins]

Although a new member of the forum I have been an avid reader for a long time. I am cautious to comment as I don't manage to get to as many productions as most members and usually sit in amphitheatre at ROH. Years of dancing have left me both as very old and somewhat disabled. Thanks to most London theatres their Access schemes enable me to have two seats for price of one.

I saw the production with Evgenia on Monday and took my granddaughter (who is in her twenties) to her first ballet in the cinema on Tuesday so was able to compare the performances. At least the cinema audience did not sound like the bronchial unit in a hospital! I agree with many contributors that the coughing at ROH continues to be a real problem. I wish they would ask coughers to muffle coughs or not return for later acts if it is a problem or take advantage of their offer of cough sweets.

I seem to be in a minority but I was disappointed with Evgenias performance. I agree with my neighbour who commented 'those are tired legs'. It appeared that the left leg was not extending always when it should have done. She stumbled on her first entrance and fell off the fouetttes. However such beautiful arms and a lovely pas de deux with McCrae. Really difficult to comment on acting from amphi but I was unmoved, especially the little jump off at the end. As in the film version I find the black floor and black costumes make it difficult to see some of the niceties of the dancing. I didn't see McCrae as a prince before the performance but he proved me so wrong. He owned the stage and such elegance with neat battu at all times. Such a gracious partner.

I enjoyed Natalias performance, she was Odette/Odile for me. Maybe because of the closeness of the film. Such a contrast between the two. She worked so well with the swans, I could feel the bond between them. How malevolent was her Odile! Golding did his best, danced well but looked very supercilious all the time. Good partnering.

I have waffled a lot but I did enjoy both evenings and my granddaughter is keen to see Fille in the cinema. Wish I could take her to it live.looking forward to Carminative Burana tonight and Insight tomorrow. What a week!

[Fiz]

I've just said to my husband that I would really like to go again on Sunday...

[SMballet]

Just wanted to say that I was at the Nunez/Soares performance last evening (Wed March 18th) and it was magical. There is really no other word for it. I realise it is not very helpful or descriptive, but I was transported, and moved, and in tears often. Marianela was just.... she wasn't dancing, she wasn;t acting; her presence was so transporting that it went beyond "performance." Maybe last night was a special night for the two of them? Who knows. But I know I wasn't the only one who was so moved; people sitting next to me were gasping and sighing as well, and it wasn;t because of some spectacular fouette or anything like that. Marianela isn't that kind of dancer; you can't focus on her technical perfection when she dances. because you can't even see it. All you can do is feel. And try not to cry like a fool.

[Tony Newcombe]

Absolutely right. The finest Odette/Odile I have ever seen. She did not dance the role.She was Odette/Odile

[Fonty]

It is rare that any dancer fulfills both roles satisfactorily, which is why it is deemed to be one of the toughest parts, I suppose.  Not only have you got the technical challenges, but you have to play 2 different characters. 

 

I do feel that some dancers become a completely different person when they perform the Black Swan.  I have marvelled at the brilliant technique, but if they overdo it, then I find myself wondering why Siegfried doesn't find it peculiar that the woman he met and fell in love with has turned into such a flamboyant show off. 

[MAB]

In the past I've seen productions where different dancers performed Odette and Odile, but only really worked if the two were a similar height and build,

 

For me the best O/O to have danced in the RB production was Ekaterina Osmolkina, but I think there's just a tiny number of dancers that can perform the role anyway now.  One was Glurdjidze another is Kolesnikova who will dance it in London in the summer.  When I saw Osipova I felt she was giving a preliminary sketch of the work and in a year or two she will be very special as O/O.  Not watching her this time around as I don't care for Golding at all.  Has Acosta dropped Siegfried from his rep?  I loved the partnership he had with Osipova they were stunning together particularly in Giselle.

[neil]

Acosta's performances were last month.

[ENBlover]

Osipova was terrific this time, but will undoubtedly continue improving. 

 

As far as O/Os go, for me it begins and ends with Lopatkina.

[alison]

I do feel that some dancers become a completely different person when they perform the Black Swan.  I have marvelled at the brilliant technique, but if they overdo it, then I find myself wondering why Siegfried doesn't find it peculiar that the woman he met and fell in love with has turned into such a flamboyant show off. 

 

Me too.  Actually, based on Monday night's performance (Obratsova/McRae), I had the impression more than usual that Rothbart is exerting some sort of magical influence over Siegfried.  Is it just because I don't watch this production much that I haven't spotted it before, or is it something which is coming more to the fore?  (If so, again it doesn't work in the Prussian setting)

[ferrylights]

I saw that Iana Salenko had posted a link to a video of her and Steven rehearsing. A sneak preview of tomorrow's matinee which I am actually very excited for. The link for anyone who is interested; 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF-4v46ZRTY

[SPD444]

Just seen on Twitter that the Osipova/Golding Swan Lake will be released on DVD. See ROH website. No dates as yet.  Great News.

[Sunrise]

Great news!

 

I'm very grateful for the chance to see Osipova in Giselle, SL, and Fille in a few weeks time as I'm not able to get the ROH as much as I'd like any more and I've seen most of the other dancers cast in these roles already. But I am curious why she gets the lion's share of the live cinema broadcasts/DVD releases. Is the RB making the most of her while they have her, or was it part of the negotiations that brought her to the company? Or is it purely a financial/attendance decision based on her international profile?

[MAB]

Almost certainly the latter.

[Fonty]

I think it is a pity that a foreign guest star, however distinguished, is the one being recorded, especially as she hasn't been there very long.

 

I would have thought that the people to record are those who have established themselves as giving the definitive performance of a production, and surely that takes a few years of dancing it with the same company? 

[billboyd]

Who is the 'foreign guest star'? 

[alison]

Of course, Osipova is a full company member, but yes, to some extent I agree.   It has bothered me to see how much she's been featured in the cinema broadcasts since her arrival.  Obviously, Swan Lake has now been broadcast a few times, and they must be getting short on new principals to show, anyway, but has she danced La Fille Mal Gardee elsewhere already, or is she a totally unknown quantity?  Also, I wonder how she will feel in years to come, in particular if she stays with the Royal (and she sounded quite happy at the Ballet Association the other night), if her early interpretations have been committed to disc already.  Will she (and/or we) be saying "I wish they'd waited another few years" (as I am currently doing with Ed Watson's Mayerling, which was recorded in his second run of performances, given that I now know how outstanding the third run was)?

 

Obviously if you have a "big name" it makes selling the DVDs easier.  We saw that with Carlos Acosta in various Royal Ballet productions, and, way before that, with Festival Ballet's Makarova production of Swan Lake, which featured Hart and Schaufuss rather than the first cast who had created the roles, but I do think in principal it's not an ideal policy, because it doesn't necessarily mean the best performances are committed to DVD.  And of course I suppose the Royal want to get her name "out there" to attract audiences to their live performances too. 

[Fonty]

Sorry, my mistake.  I had forgotten that Osipova wasn't a guest star.  Oops.

 

But she still hasn't been with the company that long.

[Mummykool]

I think you are all doing  the ROH a disservice here. If you read the comments on their website, they originally stated in response to a question that they were not planning to release the live broadcast as a DVD. I think so many people were asking for them to rethink this, that they have bowed to public pressure.

Yes Osipova may well be even better in a couple of years' time but she might also have moved on. Who knows what the new production will be like anyway...we may all well hate it. I'm all for capturing what we have now and will certainly buy the DVD whenever it get released.

[Sunrise]

I think you are all doing  the ROH a disservice here. If you read the comments on their website, they originally stated in response to a question that they were not planning to release the live broadcast as a DVD. I think so many people were asking for them to rethink this, that they have bowed to public pressure.

Yes Osipova may well be even better in a couple of years' time but she might also have moved on. Who knows what the new production will be like anyway...we may all well hate it. I'm all for capturing what we have now and will certainly buy the DVD whenever it get released.

 

That makes sense, I didn't know this.

 

Nunez and Acosta's Swan Lake and Fille, Cojocaru-Kobborg-Nunez's Giselle DVDs all still feel quite recent, so I don't feel like the best casts are losing out by any means. So I guess it must be down to demand, which is fair enough :-)

Edited March 20, 2015 by Sunrise

[Booklover89]

There was some discussion on here a while back of how the ROH had failed to film the 'dream cast' for Symphonic Variations when they had the chance, tried to rechedule the same cast to be recorded for DVD a few years later, but were foiled by injury.  Things can change so quickly in the dance world, it seeks rather risky to wait several years to see if you can capture an even better performance.

 

That said, it would be nice to see some new faces for next season's cinema broadcasts.  I wonder who they'll use for Romeo and Juliet in the autumn.

[ENBlover]

Let's all slate Osipova now because she's new and different. The world is such a ridiculous place.

[Booklover89]

I think the criticism above was really directed at the relative share of this season's cinema broadcasts featuring one principal dancer, rather than 'slating' Osipova herself (who I like very much).  But I have some sympathy with the management, as a number of other current principal dancers have already been featured in broadcasts of Swan Lake and Fille.  I suppose they could have filmed another dancer for Giselle, but imho the decision to film the stunning Osipova/Acosta performance was more than justified. 

 

Anyway, each to their own...

[Don Q Fan]

I loved the cinema Swan Lake on Tuesday and now I am delighted that it will be put out on DVD.  I think that Osipova is (imho) a great dancer so to have her performances committed to DVD is good for posterity.  The Bolshoi made the mistake of not doing many recordings of Osipova with Vasiliev.  I think it is probably not too expensive in the scheme of things to make the DVDs so ROH may as well while demand is there.  I am even considering seeing the encore I liked it so much despite the fact I am seeing it live tomorrow and I'm not that fussed on the production itself!

The cinema broadcast was really good, Darcey is a lot better and apart from 2 chatterboxes slightly ruining Act 3 I loved every minute and generally the 75% full audience was quiet as it was totally mesmerised!

[FrankH]

I think you are all doing  the ROH a disservice here. If you read the comments on their website, they originally stated in response to a question that they were not planning to release the live broadcast as a DVD. I think so many people were asking for them to rethink this, that they have bowed to public pressure.

Yes Osipova may well be even better in a couple of years' time but she might also have moved on. Who knows what the new production will be like anyway...we may all well hate it. I'm all for capturing what we have now and will certainly buy the DVD whenever it get released.

Thank you, Mummykool, for pointing this out.

 

As I was so impressed by the performance of both principals and Corps in the filmed transmission, I began looking with interest at the comments on this on the ROH website. It is quite clear that there was no plan originally to release the performance on DVD. Only the overwhelmingly positive response to the performance, and the numerous requests for a DVD, seem to have changed their mind.

 

I am so glad that they have done so. I was intending to try and see a repeat at a local cinema, but I have caught a nasty cold/cough. And a DVD will be even better as a permanent record of one of the most impressive artistic performances I have ever seen.

 

Incidentally the ROH website seems quite honest to me, in also including critical comments. There aren't that many on the Osipova/Golding Swan Lake, but there are two rather strange ones. One thinks Osipova didn't smile enough - doesn't he understand the story of the ballet!? Another person thinks that the Royal Ballet is involved in the "current obsession/taste for the very thin", and thinks that all the dancers, and particularly the female soloists, are "distressingly thin", and is aghast that "they seemed to be skin and bone with a layer of muscle."

 

Does anyone understand what she is going on about? I fear that, in opposition to a supposed "obsession" with thinness - which possibly does exist in certain circles - society has become obsessed with the supposed obsession. I suspect that to some people, any woman who is not at least "Rubenesque" in physique must be unhealthy/anorexic/bulimic etc.etc. In my opinion, the dancers in the RB are precisely of the physique I woild expect healthy dancers to be.

Edited March 20, 2015 by FrankH

[Quintus]

All credit to ROH for being light on their feet and listening to their customers. At the cinema screening there was actually an advert for the existing Nunez/Acosta recording, and they started responding to questions on the site about releasing the Osipova/Golding performance on DVd by referring to that - but then clearly picked up that there was such demand that it made sense. I think that's hugely positive; I've got several versions of Swan Lake including the existing ROH one but will gladly buy this. The more ballet recordings on release the better. And the cult around Osipova? Well that's because she's both talented and hugely charismatic. She also has a ferocious work ethic; pretty much a role model for the younger generation I'd have thought, so I have no problem seeing her put on a pedestal.

[MAB]

 I suspect that to some people, any woman who is not at least "Rubenesque" in physique must be unhealthy/anorexic/bulimic etc.etc. In my opinion, the dancers in the RB are precisely of the physique I woild expect healthy dancers to be.

 

For people unused to the current ballet physique, the extreme thinness must come as a shock.  When I started ballet going they had far more flesh on their bones.