22 replies to this topic

[Alexandra]

Wow.  Gotta hop a plane......  (thank you, Marc!)

[Alexandra]

ELLA just posted this on another thread; I'm pasting it here for discussion:

i took a friend to roh to see bolshoi in don quixote cost £80 a ticket she really enjoyed it , but i felt let down as the famous dance duel between basil and matador was missing. I understand it was a different production but for that price i except something a little special.Also the Bolshoi is constantly playing to the gallery, just like a cheap cabaret and debasing itself when it doesent need to .What do you think?

[carolm]

The Russian ballet comnpanies always do that.  After each turn they go centre stage and bow and bow and bow.  Then at the end of the first act, each dancer comes on stage or in front of the curtain and bows and bows and bows.  By the time the performance ends we feel we have done enough applauding.<g>
Carol

[Marc Haegeman]

When watching ballet, especially outside of our own villages, we should realize that there is such a thing as different traditions of performing. That said, carol, we should keep from over-generalizing. How many bows did you see during the Bolshoi performances of "Romeo and Juliet" or "Spartacus" for instance? And did you ever see any “playing to the gallery” during a performance of "Agon" by the Bolshoi?

I'm sorry, but Russian ballet  companies do not always do that. It entirely depends of the ballets. In ballets like "Don Q" or the "Pharaoh’s Daughter" variations and solos will be applauded and the dancers will take a bow, but then again in the recent London season I never felt that as being exaggerated or for that matter undeserved.

[Alexandra]

Welcome, Carol, and thank you for posting!  I've also attended performances by  Russian companies, especially highlight programs, where the curtain calls were much longer than I'm used to.  When they've used taped music, there will be long silences after a variation if the applause doesn't fill it. I've also seen dancers be very miffed that they didn't get the applause they were expecting.  I was always interested in the difference because I'd so often read that American audiences were so much more exuberant than European audiences -- but apparently we're not always up to snuff!

[carolm]

Marc,
We saw Don Q and Swan Lake.   We have seen better performances of these two ballets.  After each dance the audience was expected to applaud.   It makes the performance very long.

Of course each country has their own way of conducting themselves.  It does not mean that I have to like it.<s>  

We try to see as many companies as we can and this is one thing that we have noticed when one compares one of the Russian companies to other companies.  It does not stop me from going to see them.<g>  One has to take the good with some small amount of bad, no?
Carol

[carolm]

[SIZE=14]
Yes, "miffed" is the right word.  We have seen that too.

We have noticed a tendency recently (we often go to the theatre/ballet when we go to NYC) for the American audience to stand up when they are applauding.  This rarely happens in London.  Standing up signifies something extra special.  A once in a lifetime theatre experience.  


<< but apparently we're not always up to snuff!>>
I will not hear a word against NYC Ballet.  When we are arranging a trip to NY we first go to the web site to see if they are performing.<s>
Carol

[Alexandra]

I think the idea of curtain calls and dancers playing to the gallery deserved a thread of its own, so I made one

here

That way, we can continue the discussion [click the link above to get to the thread], but leave this thread for discussion of the Bolshoi's recent performances in London.