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Ratmansky Romeo & Juliet: Premiere Wed 22 Nov


mnacenani

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Just one week to go and still no casting posted. Stash, Katya and Genya have posted their

rehearsal photos. Am due to see the premiere next Wed 22nd, cannot visualise anyone

other than Genya as Juliet. Don't know this Ratmansky staging at all - hope it will be better

than the current Grigarovich staging which imho has made hash of a beautiful ballet.

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There was a "making of" documentary on CBC when it was created for National Ballet of Canada, but, unfortunately, it's not on YouTube, just a short excerpt:

 

The video on the show page on the CBC site keeps hanging, and I can't tell if it's geoblocked or whether the entire show is available, even in Canada (or through a VPN):

http://www.cbc.ca/romeosandjuliets/video.html

 

Beyond that I can only find some trailers:

 

 

 

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43 minutes ago, mnacenani said:

Just one week to go and still no casting posted. Stash, Katya and Genya have posted their

rehearsal photos. Am due to see the premiere next Wed 22nd, cannot visualise anyone

other than Genya as Juliet. Don't know this Ratmansky staging at all - hope it will be better

than the current Grigarovich staging which imho has made hash of a beautiful ballet.

Who are Stash, Katya, and Genya, please? Not all of us are on a first-name basis with the Bolshoi Ballet, let alone on a familiarfirst-name basis.

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Actually it's not so great a mystery, thanks to Aleksandar Antonijevic. He basically revealed the Juliet/Romeo pairings and casting order on Facebook: Krysanova/Lantratov; Stashkevich/Lopatin; Obraztsova/Chudin; Nikulina/Ovcharenko; Shipulina/Belyakov; Vinogradova/Tissi; Kretova/?

However, Shipulina's Instagram indicates that she is presently in New York, so it's likely that some of the latter pairs will not dance the premiere run this month, but will dance the parts later on.

Another of Antonijevic's posts lists other male dancers, the ones rehearsing Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris: Ruslan Skvortsov, Denis Savin, Igor Tsvirko, Ivan Alexeyev, Dmitry Dorokhov, Vladislav Kozlov, Artur Mkrtchyan.

Notably absent: Smirnova, Stepanova, Zakharova, Lobukhin, Rodkin, Volchkov and also Alexandrova, Allash and Kaptsova.

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For those in Canada, or with a good VPN, Romeos and Juliets is readily accessible on the CBC Player.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2243139519

Also available is a good chunk of the ballroom scene and five renditions of the balcony scene (shot excruciatingly poorly).

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2236272903

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2236248365
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2236253631
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2236256844
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2236264741
http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2242597881 

Edited by volcanohunter
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16 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Also available is a good chunk of the ballroom scene and five renditions of the balcony scene

Thank you so much ! Think I can live with this - really didn't know what to expect. Hope we will get dancers with great characterisation on the night.

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2 hours ago, Helene said:

Laura Cappelle tweeted a link to a short video of Ratmansky teaching/coaching the corps

Seems once again I will have distinguished company at the premiere. Last time at the Kovalyova

Swan Lake debut our takes were almost identical, must beat her to the clock  :D

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The cast lists are up although the exact performances (at this very moment) still haven’t been listed

Judging by the dancers, Tybalt doesn’t seem to be a major role  In the Grigorovich version, he seemed to be the meatier role and was given to his favorites  

 

 

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2 hours ago, Deflope said:

The cast lists are up although the exact performances (at this very moment) still haven’t been listed

Thank you for the heads up, here is the overall casting : https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/4008/roles/#all

MadameP poured cold water on my hope that I might see Genya Obr. at the premiere by posting above she will

be dancing on the 24th. Between Katya Kry. and Nastya Stash. I would rather see Katya, will know soon enough.

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https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/4008/roles/#20171122190000

Firm casting has finally been posted by Bolshoy, less than 24 hours before the premiere tomorrow. Am happy that I will see Katya and Vlad, was hoping to see Genya Obr. as Juliet but she gets to dance only the final performance on 26th Nov, surely due to her partner dropping out at the last moment. Hope to write a few words soon after the show.

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6 hours ago, Quinten said:

Obraztsova IS Juliet, as shown time and time again.

Have not seen her as Juliet, but imho she is the only one among the Bolshoy primas who "looks the part". Have no chance to see Genya on this run, am hoping Krysanova will surprise me somehow :o

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The exact casting is up for the initial cluster of performances in November but not yet for the second cluster of shows in January, including the all-important live cinemacast on 21 January, for those of us without the resources and time to simply hop on a plane to Moscow. Is it too much to hope for Genya Obraztsova for that one, with a possible DVD to follow? :thumbsup:

https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/4008/roles/#20180119190000

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When I got tix for this 3+ months ago I thought I would be seeing something Ratmansky created new specially for the Bolshoy. Being a newcomer to classical ballet I did not know this production had premiered in Canada in 2011 - if I had known I most likely would have given it the thumbs down. I am dead against the great classics being "updated" or "reinterpreted" to start with, and something created for another company which surely doesn't have the human and financial resources of the Bolshoy being transferred to the Bolshoy ????

That said, ex post facto I am so glad that I got tix and made the day trip - not because this "reinterpretation" is imho something unmissable, but because due to this I discovered what a GREAT artist Katya Krysanova is. She surprised me beyond anything I expected, though I have great respect for her art. Juliet is imv a very special role, requires great characterisation : I fell in love with Russian classical ballet after seeing Vishnyova and Shklyarov live just once, and dropped my decades long quest for opera. Before last night I had seen Katya live five times at the Bolshoy, twice as Kitri, once as Mehmene Banu and twice at galas. Her performance last night means I will be actively tracking her scheduling, imho she was great, great, GREAT.

Now, Ratmansky's R&J tracks the Prokofiev-Lavrovsky original we all know, another me-too product. I am not well qualified to review choreo or execution but will write what I think regardless, our learned members can fill in any gaps. I found the ensemble scenes in Acts 1 and 2 rather meaningless, uncoupled from the story and not very imaginative. Am not sure but I thought the music of Act 1 was cut in some places (performance lasted 3 hours sharp wit two intervals). The moment Katya appeared I immediately sensed that I was in for a big surprise - last week we were talking about how a great artist can capture you in 10 seconds and imho Katya is in this class, excellent execution, characterisation, oozing self-confidence which makes one think she would never put a foot wrong, and she doesn't !! Lantratov was good as Romeo but not great for me : Shklyarov is my default Romeo, Ovcharenko coming second. Tsvirko as Mercutio was excellent, got big applause at the curtain calls.

Some plus and minus points :  the balcony scene starts with Romeo dancing solo with Juliet looking down from her window above, in a replication of "Juliet's Balcony" (!) in Verona and I found this imaginative : Juliet is supposed to be a 15-year-old teenager and it would take some enticement to make her come down, then on the pdd is good but so is the original and Macmillan's. On the other hand, the priest joining the dance in the second act PdT I found quite in poor taste and a real spoiler - the originator/s had better taste surely. But the real letdown and spoiler is the finale : it's as if in 2011 someone told Aleksey : "end it quickly otherwise we will go into overtime !" . This ending will not make anyone cry, but Lavrovsky's can and does ..... how do I know - takes one to know one. Lavrovsky's ending for me is the definitive version, requiring great characterisation and technique. Here it ends in crash-bang fashion, no famous overhead lift, no choreo, no nothing.

Judging  by the number of camera crews in the hall before the performance started the glitterati and politicos of Maskva must have been well represented. The New Stage where this R&J was staged is so nice : much smaller than the Historic Stage but excellent comfortable seating and excellent sightline wherever one is seated. Excellent interval finger food and drinks : can't imagine going to opera or ballet without this :D. Will post this now and add anything else which comes to my mind later as PS.

A photo : https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DPQzuapXcAo-Of3.jpg:large

PS :  what an injury or other mishap-prone staging ! Daily casting has again changed for the remaining performances, with Katya and Vlad dropping out. Tomorrow Genya will dance as originally cast but with Belyakov. Lantratov is said to be injured. Current casting : https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/4008/roles/#20171123190000

Edited by mnacenani
Added photo
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Thanks for your repoerts on this production. I think Taming of the Shrew showed that in the right role Krysanova can make a great dramatic impact. (At least it showed me...others may already have known.) I hope Lantratov’s injury does not interfere with the upcoming Nureyev premier...perhaps he is being extra cautious.

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The eminent Russian critic Tatyana Kuznetsova has posted a review for Kommersant today. "One has to have the courage of his conviction !" - I first heard this phrase when one of our lecturers was adressing my class during my postgrad year in London many years ago. So I am going to select some of Ms. Kuznetsova's comments and say what I think about their validity. The original of Kuznetsova's review : https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3475510

"
Ratmansky arranges the balcony scene in several sections, following Prokofiev’s climaxes, and manages an entirely Shakespearean dialogue with all his psychological corners and emotional overtones". I had already written in my opening post that I had found the staging of the balcony scene realistic and the pdd choreo good but not superior to Lavrovsky or Macmillan.

"The dance is detailed, sophisticated and devoid of any pathetic element: almost all the main episodes emerge with new meanings and motivations - so naturally that one can only make a true evaluation of his innovations by comparing them with other stagings. An equally discreet uniqueness can be seen in the ballet language itself -  classical, lucid, ideally coordinated ..... Ratmansky deploys canonical jumps, recognisable lifts, and commonly used step phrases; he does not need to be 'original’ or self-assertive. This is choreography with a tender eye, already imbued with its own intonation. You could not confuse with anyone else his detail in ensemble, the speed of foot, the almost everyday movement of the torso, the surprising angles, the flutter of small beats, all winding in dance so organically made that it seems quite simple and straightforward"  I am not sure whether we were at the same performance but there was only one :  I saw nothing special or worthy of extended discussion in the ensembles ..... and people criticise Macmillan for repetitive and uncoupled ensembles !  On the other hand : what about the destruction of the drama - taking a great tragic story and making the priest dance a PdT with the young lovers about to die ??  Absolute zenith of bad taste, disgusting ..... it seems for Kuznetsova ballet is motion set to music - not for me !!

"Krysanova… amazing - light, childlike, explosive, impatient, despairing…  the complexity of her role is invisible in her performance, the lines of dance are lovely, while her portrayal is so clear that the ballerina’s marvellous technique is barely noticed, the great actress eclipses the ballet dancer"  At last something about which we have the same take :  I already wrote that Krysanova surprised me with her incredible acting in addition to her dancing, yes - the great actress did really eclipse the great ballet dancer, so good to have seen.
 
"Lantratov… clean, decisive, impulsive and unexpectedly mature: for almost the first time one finds the ballet story not being dictated by Juliet. Obviously Lantratov has no problems with tours and pirouettes, he is a knowledgeable and experienced partner, and, for example, he plays and dances the scene in the crypt with enormously expressive self-effacement, it is a real actor’s triumph"   Sorry, not how I saw it :  Lantratov faced the camera and recited his lines correctly without hesitation but for me great acting is something else. The scene in the crypt ..... which scene, was there one ?? What about the drama ??  Cannot imagine anyone who has been affected by the original buying this me-too remake. I love the American saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it !"

Welcome comments and corrections from our Russian speaking members who can decipher the review so much better than I can. I hope "admin" is in a good mood today and will not summarily decapitate my post - did put some effort into it.
Edited by mnacenani
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7 minutes ago, sonatina1234 said:

what happened to Obratzova?

Was rescheduled to dance tonight (24th) since Krysanova-Lantratov dropped out - didn't she dance ??

PS :  Bolshoy casting for 24th still shows Genya Obr. so she must have danced with Belyakov. Casting for 26th has again changed - now it's Krysanova-Belyakov !

Edited by mnacenani
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