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variated

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    dance watcher and musician
  • City**
    London
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    UK

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  1. Nunez is lovely but I would say that the real classicist of the current RB is Akane Takada
  2. She was in London at Sadler's Wells watching San Francisco ballet the other night
  3. I'm definitely not a Macmillan fan. I ceased booking for Manon and Mayerling years ago and thought the Anastasia revival a shockingly pointless waste of time and money, but I do think his Romeo and Juliet is the most dramatically effective around. Osipova, a couple of weeks ago, really brought it to life (after some perfectly competent but too "nicely polite and English" performances by various other casts). Remember that the Royal doesn't have nearly as many dancers as the Bolshoi and only one full-size venue so, given ever tightening budgets, I don't see investment in another R&J as a priority. Also I am unconvinced that there is anything better out there. I don't think much of the over-fussy Nureyev version and, even allowing for the "understaging" of Schaufuss's revival with Osipova and Vasiliev, what remained of the choreography did not seem to me hugely inspiring. I'm a bit torn on which Ashton I think the Royal should preserve. I think he is very tricky for modern audiences, because although the choreography at times is breathtaking - I wouldn't be without Rhapsody, Symphonic Variations or Monotones - the sensibilities of many of his ballets are extremely dated. For me, Two Pigeons, Sylvia and Patineurs are like watching 1950s Shakespeare, with everyone doing terribly terribly BBC accents and Olivier blacking up for Othello. Wouldn't fly at the RSC or National Theatre and I don't see why the RB should be any different (other than ballet's innate conservatism and ageing audiences). Sylvia can just about rise above it by being camp as Christmas and Les Patineurs is now performed with tongue firmly in cheek, but I find that Two Pigeons just swings between unbearably twee sexism and cack-handed racial stereotypes.
  4. Thanks so much pherank - lots to think about there!
  5. Thanks again pherank - yes I suspect I may fall into the more tickets “trap” if tomorrow is good. Can you tell me a bit more about any of the ballets in Program D please? I must admit I was not very inspired by the programming other than Ratmansky - I have only seen one David Dawson work (the Human seasons done by the Royal Ballet and poorly reviewed after which his stager had a hissy fit) which I didn’t think much of, might be tempted by a Wheeldon if it’s abstract and has good music but know nothing about McIntyre. As for the other programmes Welch/Scarlett/Peck is a no for me (my personal rule on triple bills is I need to have some interest in at least 2 and the Peck is the only one that would arouse any curiosity here). I did wonder about the Marston or Pita in Programme B though.
  6. Thanks Josette! Will invest in a Wednesday ticket. Pherank, I think it was the 2001 tour I saw as it was definitely at the ROH. Must have missed the 2013 visit. Excited to see them tomorrow!
  7. Am suddenly free on Wednesday and Thursday and able to get to one or both of the Shostakovich shows. As I haven't seen SFB since they were last in London (seems like it was a couple of decades ago at the Royal Opera House where they were doing some random jogging on the spot to Christmas music in green leotards - either that or I was enjoying the end of the rave period too much) do any seasoned company watchers have advice on whether the Wednesday or Thursday cast is "the one to see"? Many thanks in advance!
  8. The Makarova production reverses the order of the second and third variations from the Russian productions
  9. She could well have standing to sue the institution if its policy, practice and working environment left students vulnerable to mistreatment by their professors. It is for precisely that reason that colleges have policies governing relationships between staff and students (either banning them outright or requiring that any such relationship be declared and the staff member involved be reclused from having any say in the student's results etc.)
  10. An exacerbating factor at NYCB when it comes to cultural change, is that the vast majority of dancers (and many staff), coming from SAB, have never worked anywhere else and have no basis for comparison to determine whether the working culture within the company is "healthy". People can accept the strangest practices as "normal" when they have never known anything different.
  11. This is not always the case. Many of the music abuse cases of the past few years, whether by 'top' teachers at conservatories or by powerful/permanently employed figures in orchestras exploiting deps/casual players, were found to be linked to the aura of mysticism attributed to teachers/performers in the arts space, the dangerous idea of "genius" that exempts people from the usual rules of decent behaviour and the very subjective measurement of artistic merit. Couple that with a massive oversupply of candidates for every job and you have a dangerous imbalance of power. Arguably this is even worse in the US and Russia than it is in Western Europe, because the lack of state funding adds reliance upon wealthy donors into the mix, which carries very dangerous historical resonances, particularly in ballet.
  12. What is vile is arguing/strongly implying that art is more important than humans. It doesn't matter how much "cultural good" an institution does if it facilitates or allows abuse. I'm not saying that is what the company has done here, but that is the argument. It has been very much rehearsed in the context of the various abuse scandals, for example in music schools and conservatories in Europe. Even those of us who love and work in music, ballet or other art forms can believe that artistic or creative excellence doesn't give any person or institution a licence to abuse others.
  13. I agree Sappho. No one is covering themselves in very much glory in response to all this.
  14. They would likely be made subject to protective (i.e. limited to counsel, judge, court clerk etc.) discovery. I don't think any decent person who doesn't need to see them should have any interest in doing so. It may be that, if the respondent does not dispute their existence, there will be no need to disclose them at all.
  15. I think we should accept that it is a matter of fact that these messages were sent. If that were not the case, the company and the named individuals would be shouting from the rooftops that she is a liar. That being the case, any dancer, other employee, donor or other individual who did not ask to be taken out of the discussion when they received the pictures has violated this young lady. And those who responded by asking for more pictures or sending pictures of their own behaved in a thoroughly egregious manner.
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