Jane Simpson

Apart from anything else, I'd always insist on the mime on the grounds that Siegfried Must Be Told - he has to know the terms of the deal.

Benno was in the RB production up till 1963, I think, and in the touring RB version later than that - though he may not have assisted in the pas de deux. Also, I'm almost sure I've seen the huntsmen partnering the swans in Act2 in the 50s and 60s, though I may just have been so deeply imprinted by photographs that I'm imagining it. The current RB production has a Chief Friend who is Benno in all but name, and the BRB's production has a Benno - he dances the pas de trois. In my own 'harmless modifications' production, Benno would be Siegfried's younger brother - the extrovert one, who does all the things that Siegfried (introverted, serious, conscious of his future responsibilities) doesn't dare.

Sorry, I don't buy the 'Siegfried is stupid' line at all. In my book, he's a nice, intelligent, sensitive young man - maybe a bit immature for 21, but then he's had a sheltered upbringing. He meets his romantic ideal in the forest, and then at the ball later he sees her again: Odile isn't just some girl made up to look like Odette, Rothbart has magically caused her to appear exactly the same. Sure, she's wearing a different dress and she's rather more forthcoming - but this is a ball, after all, not a stroll in the forest; and how on earth is he supposed to know it isn't her? I think he's the least cardboard of all the princes!

Well, that's a nice surprise - apologies for putting too much trust in rumours!

Not this time, I'm afraid - she has an injury problem and has gone home. And Makhalina never came, and of course neither did Asylmuratova.

Just a couple of points, for the record: Dowell danced Palemon himself, with Maria Almeida, when the ballet was revived in 1988; and the role Sevillano danced in her brief visit to the RB was Chloe, not Ondine - what a lovely thought, though! In the performances in the last 2 seasons, the title role has been danced by Durante, Wildor, Rojo and Yoshida.

No, it's Michael Coleman - long past his best, unfortunately, when the video was made. Galeazzi, by the way, did Lise for the first time a couple of years ago when the RB were appearing at the Royal Festival Hall. I can't remember how many performances she did - maybe only one; I missed seeing her but heard good reports from friends. She wasn't cast in the recent run at the ROH. It's an interesting piece of casting, as she's more usually used in dramatic roles - she's one of several soloists who have obvious talents but who haven't really yet found their place in the repertoire. A challenge for Ross Stretton, perhaps?

That may have been true of Maximova when she was younger, but I saw her do Tatiana in Cranko's Onegin late in her career and she was wonderful, up there with Makarova and other great ones I've seen. The only other thing I saw her in was Paganini, back in 1963, and I don't remember much about her except a general impression of youth. I saw Bessmertnova in the same season as one of 3 swans in Swan Lake (Plisetskaya/Fadeyechev) and that I do remember, very clearly - she looked young, beautiful, serious and intelligent and as if she'd been touched by the finger of God. Seeing her nearly 30 years later as Odette was a terrible disappointment.

I wasn't there, but I believe the pas de deux was Ashton's 'Soupirs'. [ 05-24-2001: Message edited by: Jane Simpson ]

I don't think we should be too hard on Franz - after all, Swanilda also thinks the doll is a girl, and from much closer quarters too. I think of him as more vain than stupid!

Birmingham Royal Ballet's current production (by Peter Wright) calls the 3rd act 'Masque of the Bell' and includes the following: Dawn Prayer Work (all women!) Betrothal Call to Arms (all Men) Peace - danced by Swanilda and Franz It's some time since I last saw it but I do vaguely remember something in the first act that led into this. Unfortunately the ballet ended with Coppelia actually coming to life - a terrible idea, for my taste!

From Peter Noble's book British Ballet (1948): Henry Danton: born Bedford (England)..made his debut with the Allied Ballet in 1942 in Les Sylphides...from 1943-4 he danced with the International Ballet, partnering Mona Inglesby in Les Sylphides, Lac de Cygnes...he joined Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1944...and Metropolitan Ballet in 1947

It's nice to see Anthony Dowell, in an interview in today's Times, quoting Beriosova as one of the two dancers he most admired and was influenced by (the other was Fonteyn). He also wrote a very warm and emotionally open piece about her in the Covent Garden programme after she died. Link to interview: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,62-201197,00.html The two books about her are a biograohy by A. H. Franks and a shorter piece, mainly photographs, by Cyril Swinson. The only other commercially available video featuring her that I know is The Soldier's Tale - and there are a few glimpses of her as the Lilac Fairy in the composite Sleeping Beauty film, and a film of her in Cranko's Lady and the Fool - both probably to be seen at the NYPL.

Kevin, did they do Narcissus, as advertised? If so, have they brought over another man to replace Tsiskaridze, or is it the same 4 guys doing the whole programme?

One thing that's always puzzled me in the RB's versions is the bit where Hilarion nails Albrecht's identity by comparing the coat-of-arms on Albrecht's sword with the one on the Duke of Courland's hunting horn - which wouldn't, I've always thought, be the same. But reading the original libretto it's finally dawned on me (OK, so it's taken me 40 years, so I'm a bit slow!) that the huntsmen are Albrecht's people, not the Duke's: Bathilde and her father are staying with Albrecht to celebrate the engagement, and he's sent them out hunting for the day without him. (When I look at the synopsis for the RB version, it actually explains this - so maybe I should read the programme notes more ioften!) So, what we need is a bit of new mime: instead of just 'What on earth are you doing here dressed like this?', the Duke needs also to be able to say '..when you told us you were spending the day sorting out legal stuff/in bed with a sick headache'.

Someone has just reminded me that David Bintley's production for the Birmingham RB actually starts with Wilfred coming on and negotiating to hire the cottage - so you'd be able to relax, Alexandra, and enjoy the rest of the evening! (Though I don't know if you'd approve of the real horse...)

In the RB's version, she certainly gets blood on her hands - but it's imaginary blood, this being a romantic ballet! There was a production a few years ago when 'real' blood appeared but I can't remember whose it was (the production, not the blood!) According to Markova, who's danced more Giselles than most, she does stab herself but not badly enough to kill her, as her mother snatches the sword away before she can really hurt herself. Then she dies of 'shock and anguish'. (Was it Pavlova, by the way, who had a scar from where she'd stabbed herself too realistically?) [ 04-22-2001: Message edited by: Jane Simpson ]

More flowers: in the original version, Giselle didn't return to her grave when dawn broke: instead, Albrecht carried her to a grassy bank and the flowers grew around her till she disappeared from sight. In a fairly recent RB production, maybe the current one when it was new, that is what happened (well, he put her on grassy bank: I don't actually remember the flowers) - but I'm sure I remember that when people asked about it they were told something about if she didn't return to her original grave the spell would be broken and she could rest in peace - or something? Maybe someone else can remember this properly? I have to say it looked rather odd, whatever the explanation. Mr Beaumont, incidentally, is very disapproving of Albrecht bringing a huge sheaf of lilies to the grave - he says it looks as if he's come via a florist's, and even if it was original he doesn't like it!

In the Royal Ballet's current production, they use only one flower in Act 1, with Albrecht doing the trick of pulling off an extra petal - i.e. cheating - to make it come out right. I can't believe this was the original way of doing it - any ideas about when it first came in? Mel, according to C.W.Beaumont, Myrtha's wand is rosemary, which also has a symbolism going back to the classical era. Do you have any idea how far back the asphodel tradition (in the ballet) dates?

I was at Cojocaru's Giselle last night - an extraordinary performance for a 19 year-old, even if descriptions like 'sublime' and 'great' seem to me rather premature. She is so young and looks so fragile that she'd be a fairly touching Giselle even is she didn't do anything! - but much of her dancing is really very beautiful. There were lots of things that she'll obviously improve on over the years, but also things that already hold the seed of real greatness - for instance I was very impressed by how little she did in the mad scene, unlike many new Giselles who put far too much into it. She was fortunate in very strong partnering from Johan Kobborg, though he's maybe a touch too old for her as Albrecht. I just wish Anthony Dowell had announced her promotion from the stage - it would have made an unforgettable evening even more exciting, and also we might all have learned how to pronounce her name properly! I'm going to see Rojo on Monday, and Wildor in another couple of weeks, and will try to post something then. [ 04-18-2001: Message edited by: Jane Simpson ]

I like the Erik Bruhn Solution at first sight, but when I think about it, it doesn't hold water - it's inconceivable that a doting old nurse wouldn't have told anyone at all that the handsome young stranger was her darling Master Albrecht, and in a village telling one person is as good as telling everyone!

Alexandra, I wonder if the alternative interpretation of Berthe's mime scene - well known in the Royal Ballet, though maybe not everywhere - might throw some light on this question? It deals with Berthe's complaints about the tumbledown state of her cottage, and how the repairs were assessed and carried out: maybe Albrecht's is an empty hut which is waiting for the same firm of builders to get round to fixing it? Though of course that wouldn't explain how he came to have a key...

Mary, I'm just guessing, but I wonder if the character was ever officially identified as Caroline's Sister? I seem to have read various things on the lines of 'the one we always thought was her sister', but I've never seen it in a cast list. Someone who knew the Rambert version in the mid-1940s says it definitely wasn't an official role by then, so maybe it was just tradition, or one of these names the dancers used amongst themselves? (Where did you see the Maude Lloyd interview, by the way? She's a dancer I really wish I'd seen.)

I'm with the critics, I'm afraid - some fine dancers doing all that they could with some very mediocre choreography. The second programme - a triple bill with the addition of Acosta and Anderson in the Diana and Acteon pas de deux - went down much better, with Trey McIntyre's Second Before the Ground being the most liked. I'd like to see something else by Natalie Weir as some of the movement in In a Whisper looked interesting but - to my ear - she was completely overwhelmed by the music, the adagio from Schubert's String Quintet.

Estelle, Francoise, do you think there's any chance they will invite Guerin back for Le Parc?