29 replies to this topic

[sandik]

JMcN, on 24 December 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

IMHO, it's definitely worth a view!

And I hope everyone that wants to see it gets an opportunity -- touring?!

[JMcN]

Here are the current tour dates:

http://www.new-adven...auty/venue_tour

[bart]

Thanks, JMcN, for the tour dates and for your comments.  It seems like a very extensive tour..  I can understand why they are not using an orchestra (something complained about in one of the reviews).

Belated thanks to Cygnet for those links to the British reviews.  The piece is prominently described in the advertising as "A Gothic Romance," which confirms that they are going for a market that isn't traditionalist or purist about the art form.

Mark Monahan, in The Telegraph, was quite forthright in expressing his ambivalence about the "real" Sleeping Beauty":

Quote

The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet staple that, I suspect, people often enjoy less than they feel they ought to.  For all the beauty of Tchaikovsky's score and Petipa's steps, it has no sexual intrigue (narrative ballet's most effective fuel), little drama, and at 3 hours o so, it can feel like a schlep.

I would still love to see it, but -- now that I've read the reviews -- perhaps more out of curiosity than anything else.  Maybe it's "the ballet to see with your friends who don't like ballet." We all need one of those every once in a while.  

[Helene]

That's like inviting your friends over to listen to opera and playing one of the Ella Fitzgerald Song Books instead.

I think if they were told the Bourne was ballet and then saw actual ballet, whether it be "Sleeping Beauty," "Agon," or "Artifact Suite," they'd see it as a bait-and-switch, even if they like and appreciate both.

[JMcN]

Matthew Bourne has never described his productions as ballet and people going and expecting to see ballet will have a shock!

Go for the production values and committed performances and you will enjoy.

I'm not a slave to his productions - I'm not at all keen on Cinderella or Car Man but I adore Highland Fling (being performed by Scottish Ballet this coming Spring!), Swan Lake and Edward Scissorhands.  Early Adventures earlier this year was an absolute hoot too!

[abatt]

I thought Play Without Words was the best of the Bourne productions.

[sandik]

I loved Play Without Words, and thought his work on Edward Scissorhands was brilliant.

[JMcN]

Matthew Bourne's Facebook page published a link to Youtube for the Christmas Special programme:



https://www.facebook...?ref=ts&fref=ts

[cubanmiamiboy]

Agghh...  I can imagine Tchaikovsky and Petipa rolling in their graves to that Snow Scene.  The DQ PDD thing with those underwear guys was just plainly ridiculous.  But...to each his/her own, so here's a clip of the thing.   Now, let me go back to Collier and Dowell's Grand Pas.

[bart]

[EDITED TO CORRECT AN ERROR -- I originally typed Macaulay instead of the name of the actual writer, Roslyn Sulcas.  Thanks to abatt for catching this.]

A mixed but mostly favorable review by Roslyn Sulcas, in today's New York Times:

Fangs, Zombies and Other Stuff Tchaikovsky Never Dreamed Of

Quote

Critics occasionally quibble over Mr. Bourne’s bona fides as a choreographer and whether his identity is creating dance or theater. It is true that the movement in Mr. Bourne’s works can sometimes feel nondescript, as if it is filling music rather than conveying something essential. It’s rare to remember a particular dance passage; the phrases seem to rush by with unobtrusive seamlessness.

But watching “Sleeping Beauty” last month I was struck that this unobtrusiveness is part of Mr. Bourne’s gift; nothing jars, nothing seems forced. His dances have a naturalness, a musicality and a cleverness of pattern and construction that make them seem simply right for the moment.

When describing Bourne's revisions of plot and music,Sulcas struggles a bit, especially with a game efforts to explain the plot twists.  In her wrap-up she  focuses on the issue of whether this version of SL works as a piece of dance theater, concluding that it does.:

Quote

It doesn’t quite have the mythic sweep and emotional heft of his “Swan Lake,” or the pitch-perfect dramatic tension and economy of “Play Without Words,” but Mr. Bourne’s new work is theatrically effective, sometimes even brilliant. You could wish for a live orchestra rather than the overly loud taped score; you could nitpick about some decisions (a puppyish pas de deux in place of the rose adagio, for one), or the slightly affectless hero.

But Mr. Bourne is an inveterate reworker, and his pieces tend to get sharper over time. This “Sleeping Beauty” looks set for a lengthy reign.

[abatt]

The review is by Sulcas, not Macaulay.

[bart]

Woops!  I was hoping for a Macaulay review and so deluded myself that this was indeed the case.  I have edited the post to make it right.  Thanks for the correction, abatt.  

[sandik]

Thanks so much for the Christmas Special -- I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the homage to Frederick Ashton in the Nutcracker snow scene!

[JMcN]

Mathew Bourne's New Adventures has announced tour dates for the USA:

USA TOUR 2013

FRIDAY 27 & SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2013
DES MOINES, DES MOINES PERFORMING ARTS, CIVIC CENTER
PUBLIC ON SALE SOON
Box Office: (515) 246-2322 | www.DesMoinesPerformingArts.org

TUESDAY 1 - SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER
CLEVELAND, PLAYHOUSESQUARE
PUBLIC ON SALE SOON
Box Office: 216-640-8800 |www.PlayhouseSquare.org/broadway

TUESDAY 15 - SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER 2013
SCHENECTADY, PROCTORS
PUBLIC ON SALE SOON
Box Office: 518-346-6204 |www.proctors.org

WEDNESDAY 23 OCTOBER - SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER
NEW YORK, CITY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
ON SALE NOW
Box Office: CityTix® at 212-581-1212|www.NYCityCenter.org

TUESDAY 5 - SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER
CHARLOTTE, NC, BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS, Belk Theater
PUBLIC ON SALE SOON
Box Office: 704-335-1010 |www. BlumenthalArts.org/Broadway

TUESDAY 12 - SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER
WASHINGTON DC, KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
ON SALE 7 AUGUST 2013
Box Office: 800-444-1324 |www.kennedy-center.org

THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER - SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER
LOS ANGELES, AHMANSON THEATRE
PUBLIC ON SALE SOON
Box Office: 213-972-4444, Groups: 213-972-7231www.centertheatregroup.org


http://www.new-adven...and_schenectady

[sandik]

Thanks so much for this update -- I'm still trying to think how I can get down to LA to see this, but you'd think that if they're coming all the way to the west coast, they could swing up to Seattle or Portland or Vancouver.  There must be a presenter up here somewhere that would want to participate...