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A1EV3

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Everything posted by A1EV3

  1. It was my antivirus blocking me from signing up! Sorry for the bother. I can't believe I overlooked such an obvious cause.
  2. Thank you very much! Unfortunately it seems to have been taken down but I got to see a bit of it, which was very nice. Hopefully I'll eventually have some luck with the Bolshoi site. Even if not, I'm sure clips will turn up elsewhere.
  3. It sounds wonderful! I am glad you both enjoyed it. I wanted to see it in the cinema but didn't have the chance. It seems like you need an account to view it online. Please excuse my asking, but is there something you need to do or a time you need to wait before you are able to sign up? Or is it limited to certain countries? I've been trying to sign up but to no avail.
  4. I hadn't known any of this before and this is an immensely fascinating topic! Thank you to everyone for sharing their knowledge. It opened up a whole new world of things to think about when watching ballet and to research, at least for me it did. Often a ballet (especially live!) will leave an impression on me that I cannot express in words, so I'll try to find a painting that reminds me of it. It's still not enough to replicate the feelings, but it's closer than any words I can string together! Since I'm not the person who posted the article I hope I'm not intruding, but sometimes I find something almost like synesthesia. I find that Galina Ulanova uses her arms in a manner that looks "rich" but also very soft and delicate and it reminds me of white rose petals or the texture of velvet. I wonder if that would be an example of "texture" in dance?
  5. Sometimes people get behind the steering wheel and seem to learn an entirely new vocabulary! Even in general, there are people who are usually kind and slow to anger, but once they do anger they blank out and become mean. I suppose Nikiya is an extreme case. I guess the roads are safer since she's in a ballet where there are no cars! Agreed! Both Drew's and Birdsall's comments got me thinking about how La Bayadere advertisements emphasize the passion in the ballet. So it makes sense that Nikiya is an extremely passionate and expressive person and goes from solemn duty to intense love to homicidal rage to the pits of sadness to ecstatic rejoicing and so on. She acts out whatever she is feeling. Gamzatti has her moments but on the whole I find that she is more much calculated and not as transparent as Nikiya. That is a very interesting article. I didn't really know any of that beforehand, so I learnt quite a bit. Thank you for posting it.
  6. I'm going to be seeing La Bayadere soon, and I've watched some videos and read about it. I think it's been addressed before but upon searching I can't find a topic created just for the question of why Nikiya tries to stab Gamzatti with the dagger. It is something that I keep wondering about because Nikiya is often seen as innocent and the "good girl" of the story. Attempted murder isn't very nice, so I'm wondering how this action is most commonly reconciled with the character of the heroine of this ballet, what you believe is the best way of doing so and how this scene may affect her characterisation in other parts. I've seen some where it is in self-defense and I've also heard that she goes into a trance and has no idea what she is doing until she hand is grabbed. With the latter version, I wonder if it has to do with Gamzatti's disregard for the sacred flame and if Nikiya, as a servant of the gods, is made to enact divine judgement as happens later in the temple destruction scene. Thank you. If you want to share, I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
  7. If the clip I am thinking of is one of the ones being discussed, I also agree that it was lovely. Her Odette was very regal but tragic, bearing her sorrow with poise and an air of utmost nobility. Near the end, as she bid her Prince farewell, I noticed that her yearning expression seemed to shift into an expressionless mask once she became a swan again. I found that it really highlighted loss of her humanity as a swan and the tragedy of her situation.
  8. I love when companies go behind the scenes like this! It's so fascinating to see the hard work by so many talents that goes into making a wonderful performance. I especially love hearing dancer's insights on their roles! In regards to a younger audience, I think that stuff like this and those bargain tickets really help. I've always loved ballet but after I started going more often and finding behind the scenes interviews ect. my interest and knowledge have really increased and I enjoy it even more! I know that a lot of people also like to learn and keep up to date with the things they like and many people do most of this on the internet, so I think it is important for any company to have a good web presence.
  9. It seems to me that if everyone is wearing the cat face paint to match their "fur" colour, there is no reason that Francesca Hayward would not. It seems rather unfair to me that anyone a shade darker than apricot should have to go under extra scrutiny, but I understand that the people taking concern may be in a place where white-washing is a frequent concern. It seems like it's mainly a few social media complaints that will be forgotten soon enough. The news must have been having a slow day. While I'm glad that she seems to have enjoyed working on the film and that her role in the film has brought some extra publicity to ballet, the Royal Ballet and to the dancer herself, I don't think that I will go see it. Even if a ballerina is involved, fur -covered "animals" with human faces and bodies give me the willies and I'm sure I'd get nightmares from watching "Cats"!😂 But I'd love to see the Romeo and Juliet movie she is starring in. This thread mentions it: This short film is also interesting. It appears that she is dancing underwater! The theme is depression and it is inspired by the painting on the linked page. which discusses the piece. https://www.thespace.org/artwork/sink-or-swim I've watched a few videos of her and I think she's great. She's very expressive and really appears to be immersed in her roles. Upon watching her Clara, I could also feel the joy and wonder that Clara experiences in the Kingdom of Sweets!
  10. It looks very interesting and the costumes are lovely. I'm curious as to how it will look, since it is being filmed like a movie. I just hope that the dancing is not obscured, as happens all too often. I also hope that there will be a chance to see it outside of the UK as well. I would love to see it in Canada, especially since I've heard lovely things about Francesca Hayward's Juliet.
  11. A1EV3

    Evelyn Hart

    I hope it's alright to revive an old topic. Evelyn Hart is my favourite dancer. Even on video I am always moved immensely by her dancing. Unfortunately, I was born too late to have seen her dance in Giselle or other ballets live but I did get to see her in a new role created for her in "Vespers". It wasn't ballet exactly, as she pointed out herself in interviews but it was her dancing all the same. It was truly transcendent. Somehow, throughout the duration of the ballet I felt as though the theatre had been infused with a sense of timeless spirituality like that of an old church. In a weak attempt to put the feeling into words, it was as though words of saints and medieval mystics had been embodied in the form of dance. To use an image, it was sort of like this: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hildegard_von_Bingen-_'Werk_Gottes',_12._Jh..jpg I don't know if it makes sense, but that was the sort of feeling that was there. This is a video about that piece. It was a couple years or so ago. She's performing again this year in a piece called "Four Old Legs". It's not ballet, James Kudelka referred to it as "heartfelt walking", and I am sure it will be heartfelt to the maximum. I tried to buy tickets but it was sold out almost immediately! I think that there's a video of it somewhere online. An official video of the whole piece too but I think they removed it. Here is an excerpt at least:
  12. Thank you for pointing that out, since I hadn't thought to look him up and he seems quite interesting. According to Wikipedia, "The Cataract of Ganges" featured horses and a waterfall. I'm not sure how they managed to get an on-stage waterfall but that would have been a dramatic spectacle indeed!
  13. I was searching for Giselle in Google Books and I found two items that I found very interesting and rather amusing. Two nineteenth century dramas inspired by Giselle. They contain the general plot but diverge quite a bit. One is the script for a "dramatic spectacle" (Seems to be mainly a play but with danced and sung parts, Not sure what that is called) and the other an opera (not Le Villi, this one uses Giselle and Albrecht themselves.... sort of) https://books.google.ca/books?id=XQLAEIEcP9QC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false The dramatic spectacle is titled "Giselle, Or, The Phantom Night Dancers" by William Thomas Moncrieff and begins with the author's introduction and research on wilis. I have read reviews and discussions in various places where people feel that Hilarion was dealt an unjust hand. It seems that that is not a new opinion, for in 1842 this author felt the same and ensured that Hilarion would be treated well in his version. There is also a part after where the ballet would end where Giselle is held prisoner by Myrtha. There are many differences from the ballet, the most notable ones being: Hilarion is now the hero and Giselle's "One True Love": They were engaged, but Giselle ditched him for Albrecht (Alois/Albert) and pretty bracelets. In this play, the Giselle/Albert relationship is portrayed as the result of fickleness by both parties and it is Giselle that must be forgiven by Hilarion. Albert rather calmly reconciles with Bathilde and Hilarion is saved by Giselle and chanting the name of St Walburg, who apparently really gives the Willis the willies! The Willis are quite different. The Willis are explicitly in league with the devil in this play and the reason they kill men is to sacrifice their souls to pay a teind to the fiend, rather than just revenge. They actually seem to be rather happy. Remember the lovely couple of the Peasant pdd? In this play they die (and it is suggested that their souls are condemned). How very grim. The woman, called Lotta, became a Wili and in a scene like ballet Hilarion's death scene, kills the man, called Caspar. By doing this she seals her infernal deal and sacrifices the soul of the man she once loved. Who knew the Peasant pdd could become so dark? The addition of a priest, Father Christoph who plays a major role in the story by: Giving Giselle a holy relic rosary that prevents her from falling under the full power of the Willis. Leading the rescue mission to save Giselle Killing Myrtha Presiding over Giselle and Hilarion's wedding, thus restoring order and saving Giselle's soul (I'm not sure if she was restored to life or if she returned to the grave but went to Heaven) Interestingly enough there are additional Willis and regional dances in this play (Page 41) https://books.google.ca/books?id=OrMtFoO2-7cC&dq=giselle&source=gbs_navlinks_s The opera is "The Night Dancers" by George Sloane. it begins with Giselle preparing for her wedding to Albert and falling asleep. Hilarion is instead Fridolin and is not in love with Giselle but loves her cousin, Mary, instead. He still reveals Albert's deception and is drowned by Willis, though. The rest of the plot is much like the ballet, until the ending in which it is revealed to have all have been a dream. Giselle awakes, Fridolin is alive and Albert is neither a two-timer nor a duke. Giselle and Albert marry and all is well. https://books.google.ca/books?id=fQtuUs0nBRYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Just now I found what seems to be a parody of "The Night Dancers" opera. It is called "Giselle, or, the Sirens of Lotus Lake" and is by Henry J. Byron. It is a more comic version of the opera and ends the same, with it having been just a dream. I would like to know what others think of these productions or if they have found anything similar. Thank you.
  14. A1EV3

    Hello

    To introduce myself, I enjoy watching ballet and studying ballet history. I have read many interesting topics on this forum and wanted to join to talk about ballet as well.
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