aileen Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've just been watching a clip of this on YouTube. It's on the GCSE Dance syllabus and my daughter had been shown it at a meeting at school for students considering Dance as an option. I found what I assume to be the opening section incredibly powerful and wondered when the ballet had last been performed and by whom. I'd love to see it performed live. I don't know whether ENB has enough of the right dancers for it currently, although I could see James Streeter and Fabian Reimar as the prison guards. Has anyone seen it with the original cast: Skoog, Richmond and Onzia? They were so convincing in the roles; you forgot that they were dancers rather than actors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) It is one of my favourite ballets too. I would have to trawl through my old programmes to be sure who I have seen in it. At one point Bruce experimented with having a female cast. I saw it too and thought the dancers were excellent, but it didn't work as well for me, I much preferred a male cast. And if you think the beginning is powerful - you should see the end! It is incredibly moving. Edited to add sentence Edited February 19, 2015 by Pas de Quatre 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akh Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've just been watching a clip of this on YouTube. It's on the GCSE Dance syllabus and my daughter had been shown it at a meeting at school for students considering Dance as an option. I found what I assume to be the opening section incredibly powerful and wondered when the ballet had last been performed and by whom. I'd love to see it performed live. I don't know whether ENB has enough of the right dancers for it currently, although I could see James Streeter and Fabian Reimar as the prison guards. Has anyone seen it with the original cast: Skoog, Richmond and Onzia? They were so convincing in the roles; you forgot that they were dancers rather than actors. Yes I have seen both the original cast and several casts when Rambert did it a few years back. it is indeed a wonderful and intense piece of choreography. It can be very chilling to watch and is a powerful illustration of mans inhumanity to man. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Perhaps it could be included in a future Men in Motion programme. It looks a very demanding piece, and as it would require a lot of rehearsals it probably wouldn't be a practical choice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 We saw the original cast and were blown away by this powerful piece. So when the ENB put it on as part of one of their small-scale provincial tours we drove to Swindon to see it. The audience had a large contingent of small girls in taffeta frocks and tiaras, all agog for an evening of ballet. Swansong proved too much for one such - she burst into floods of noisy tears and had to be taken out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 It's one of my very favourites too, although I'm not sure the original cast can be surpassed. I've seen them all, although I have a feeling not all at the same time - perhaps one of them was injured. I remember watching Onzia in it from front stalls at the Coliseum - now, that was an experience! I've also seen various Rambert casts in it, including female ones - and maybe a mixed-gender one? A fantastic ballet to perform in, and I wish someone would revive it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Anne, I suppose that those girls thought that the ballet was something to do with Swan Lake. Alison, I suspect that the prisoner character is difficult to cast. You need quite a virtuoso dancer who can look vulnerable at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarriott Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Anne, I suppose that those girls thought that the ballet was something to do with Swan Lake. I'm sure you're right! Ballet-starved areas of the country often book for an evening of ballet expecting wall-to-wall tutus and pointe shoes and are nonplussed to be presented with a programme of challenging small-scale contemporary works. The Royal Ballet Dance Bites tours are a case in point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 The trouble with the RB's Dance Bites was that they simply weren't very good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Williams Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I always thought that, to avoid any confusion with Swan Lake, a poster showing Koen Onzia's desperate face, his hands clutching the 'bars' of a chair, accompanied by somesuch wording as 'No swans, no songs...' would might get the 'not-Swan-Lake' message across fairly clearly.. Yes, I'd love to see this powerful work again. Just a thought - wouldn't Polunin be absolutely perfect for the prisoner role? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swanprincess Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I too studied Swansong for GCSE dance- I loved it, and would like to see it performed live! Is it currently being performed anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Not that I know of, swanprincess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm sure you're right! Ballet-starved areas of the country often book for an evening of ballet expecting wall-to-wall tutus and pointe shoes and are nonplussed to be presented with a programme of challenging small-scale contemporary works. The Royal Ballet Dance Bites tours are a case in point. Yes, those were distinctly "challenging". Really not the sort of thing to be subjecting ballet-starved audiences in smaller regional theatres to - certainly not in the early years. I too studied Swansong for GCSE dance- I loved it, and would like to see it performed live! Is it currently being performed anywhere? I'm not sure who else has rights to it apart from Rambert at the moment. As you say, it really is a shame, because it's part of the syllabus and yet it seems impossible to see it performed live anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think that ENB or Rambert may be missing a trick. Still Life at the Penguin cafe is also on the syllabus and when it was performed by BRB at Sadler's Wells as part of a triple bill a couple of years ago the theatre was pretty much full, with several groups of teenagers in the audience (and not just girls), which is unusual for a mixed bill of ballet at the Wells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've just been watching a clip of this on YouTube. It's on the GCSE Dance syllabus and my daughter had been shown it at a meeting at school for students considering Dance as an option. I found what I assume to be the opening section incredibly powerful and wondered when the ballet had last been performed and by whom. I'd love to see it performed live. I don't know whether ENB has enough of the right dancers for it currently, although I could see James Streeter and Fabian Reimar as the prison guards. Has anyone seen it with the original cast: Skoog, Richmond and Onzia? They were so convincing in the roles; you forgot that they were dancers rather than actors. I saw it many times with the original cast who were truly breath-taking. ENB did IIRC a 2 week season at Sadler's Wells comprising a week of Christopher Bruce's Cruel Garden with Koen Onzia as The Poet, Matz Skoog as the Moon and Martin James as the Bull (wow oh wow - what a cast that was!) and a mixed programme which included the premiere of Swan Song. I was at the Saturday matinee, not on the front row, and I will never forget that performance. The production was televised with the original cast by, I think, Channel 4 and, most unusually for me, I found it just as powerful on the tv. It was filmed in a studio, rather than a filmed performance. I did see at least one other cast with ENB that included Simon Cooper, who really grew into this role during his Rambert years. I saw many permutations of Rambert casts over the years it was performed. There is one that, for me, matched the original cast - Thomasin Gulgec (prisoner) with Alex Whitley and Eryck Brahmania. As Two Pigeons says on the "new Swan Lake for RB thread" we were so lucky with the very exciting rep that Peter Schaufuss brought to the Company as AD. His arrival as AD came just after I had discovered "ballet watching" and it is only as I look back over the past 30 years that I realise just how lucky I was to be watching the company then with its wonderful roster of dancers and such an amazing rep. Just to remind readers, I had started watching contemporary dance in the mid-1970s and I did not start enjoying watching ballet until 1984. Because of this I thought I had died and gone to heaven when Peter Schaufuss brought Christopher Bruce in as an Associate choreographer. I well remember Land (which Rambert have also performed), The World Again and a glorious version of Symphony in 3 Movements as well as Swan Song and the revived Cruel Garden (which had been made for Rambert). My specs have steamed up with the emotion of glorious memories so I will stop now! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akh Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) I saw it many times with the original cast who were truly breath-taking. ENB did IIRC a 2 week season at Sadler's Wells comprising a week of Christopher Bruce's Cruel Garden with Koen Onzia as The Poet, Matz Skoog as the Moon and Martin James as the Bull (wow oh wow - what a cast that was!) and a mixed programme which included the premiere of Swan Song. I was at the Saturday matinee, not on the front row, and I will never forget that performance. The production was televised with the original cast by, I think, Channel 4 and, most unusually for me, I found it just as powerful on the tv. It was filmed in a studio, rather than a filmed performance. I did see at least one other cast with ENB that included Simon Cooper, who really grew into this role during his Rambert years. I saw many permutations of Rambert casts over the years it was performed. There is one that, for me, matched the original cast - Thomasin Gulgec (prisoner) with Alex Whitley and Eryck Brahmania. As Two Pigeons says on the "new Swan Lake for RB thread" we were so lucky with the very exciting rep that Peter Schaufuss brought to the Company as AD. His arrival as AD came just after I had discovered "ballet watching" and it is only as I look back over the past 30 years that I realise just how lucky I was to be watching the company then with its wonderful roster of dancers and such an amazing rep. Just to remind readers, I had started watching contemporary dance in the mid-1970s and I did not start enjoying watching ballet until 1984. Because of this I thought I had died and gone to heaven when Peter Schaufuss brought Christopher Bruce in as an Associate choreographer. I well remember Land (which Rambert have also performed), The World Again and a glorious version of Symphony in 3 Movements as well as Swan Song and the revived Cruel Garden (which had been made for Rambert). My specs have steamed up with the emotion of glorious memories so I will stop now! Also glorious was I think it was called" The Long and Winding Road "to songs by John Lennon in Peter Schaufuss time. Edited February 20, 2015 by akh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think the Lennon ballet (which I can't believe I forgot about) is called The Dream is Over. And of course let's not forget such masterpieces as Sgt Early's Dream, Ghost Dances, Hush ... the list goes on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The production was televised with the original cast by, I think, Channel 4 and, most unusually for me, I found it just as powerful on the tv. It was filmed in a studio, rather than a filmed performance. I think being on the small screen maybe even improved it - and there are very few dance pieces you can say that about. I think because it was so claustrophobic it suited the screen well. And yes, I'm pretty sure it was Channel 4 it was on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akh Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I think the Lennon ballet (which I can't believe I forgot about) is called The Dream is Over. And of course let's not forget such masterpieces as Sgt Early's Dream, Ghost Dances, Hush ... the list goes on! Yes of course it was thanks Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbfisher Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm sure you all know this - but Swansong is on the "Christopher Bruce's Triple Bill" Arthaus DVD with the original ENB cast of Onzia, Skoog and Richmond, recorded in 1989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Triple bill? I have it on video, I think with "Silence is the End of Our Song". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbfisher Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yes, Alison - Silence is ... from the Royal Danes, plus the other one is Rooster (Geneva Ballet). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnross Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Please excuse the low quality picture taken at the Royal Albert Hall 40th Anniversary Gala in March 1990. It shows Matz Skoog, Kevin Richmond and Koen Onzia in Swansong but I thought it may interest you. I tried to paste it but it would not do. So please go to www.johnrossballetgallery.co.uk to see it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaris Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I remember taking my nearly 13 year old daughter to see Swansong performed by Rambert company - it was the Thomasin Gulgec, Alexander Whitley and Eryck Brahmania cast. The power and beauty of the piece - and the quality of those special dancers - remains etched inside me. My daughter was speechless afterwards - she hadn't seen anything like it before and the performance was a real turning point for her, both in terms of her own dance aspirations and her dance education/appreciation. The Triple Bill DVD was immediately added to her birthday list and Rambert became her no 1 school of choice for dance training. She wrote about how profoundly this piece had affected her when she applied for a place there. For anyone interested, Christopher Bruce is working with the 3rd year Rambert students this term to create brand new work for the school - this will be part of their spring performances, which take place on Monday 23rd-Friday 27th March. Anyone wanting tickets or more details can ring or email the school. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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