JMcN

I agree with Mashinka re the Dowell production.

I saw it on 15th April 1989 and have never wanted to see it again!  (So I haven't).

17 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I am just adhering to the very first paragraph of the article:

"On January 1st, Chase Johnsey resigned from Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. In a YouTube video, he outlined allegations of harassment and humiliation over his celebrated 14-year tenure with the company, ranging from discrimination for appearing too feminine to being told that he could no longer perform with the company should he choose to undergo a gender transition."

1- He resigned-( he wasn't fired)- over feeling harrassed

2- He would potentially face firing would he undergo " gender transition" -( declaring himself at some point that he wasn't a man anymore, but a woman. Details are not given if a possible sex reassignment surgery could base this transition.)

So basically he resigned over alleged reciprocal ill feelings to and from the company executives. Being fired from his position if he's not a man anymore is left as a potential risk. Hence my inference that they might not want an alleged female included.

Resigning under such circumstances would, in the UK, probably be deemed "constructive dismissal".

13 hours ago, canbelto said:

Chase Johnsey really is very talented and I hope he finds a new artistic home. I mean look at this. It's delightful:

 

This is, FAB-U-LOUS!  I too hope that Chase Johnsey can find a new artistic home.

The link is a shoddy rehash of the original article in The Times - they can't even spell principal properly!

On 19/01/2018 at 4:16 AM, mnacenani said:

Sorry - should have said "anyone know him ?". Thank you so much for taking the time to write, I did not know about Ball at all.

And of course the most important thing about Mr Ball is that he is from Liverpool!

He has already partnered Osipova at the opening of the New Theatre gala in Hull (I think in the R&J balcony duet).

2 hours ago, Amy Reusch said:

 

 But, is there a word for the kind of choreoographer in residence that Ashton was?  It would be hard to say he fid not influence the look of the Royal Ballet dancers, even though he was not director until after DeValois' death...

 

I should point out that Sir Frederick Ashton became Director when Madam retired.  She died at the grand old age of 102 in 2001.  Sir Frederick Ashton died in 1988.

Yes, I agree with you about a choreographing director knowing his own dancers and being able to meld the company to his vision.

I am not based in the US and I am not saying that any of the events talked about above are acceptable but...

I know someone who at 17 started dating a man of 33.  I actually told her that she was a "bloody fool" when she told me.  But 40-odd years later they are still totally bound up in each other and very happily married.  

13 hours ago, Amy Reusch said:

I far prefer a choreographer run company... the director-choreographer has insights that bring out qualities in dancers in a very different way than an artistic director cultivating a museum/choreographer-of-the-day repertory...   a director-choreographer has a long term influence.  

Interestingly enough 2 of the 4 "big" ballet companies in England are choreographer led and that has been criticised because it is perceived in some quarters that there is too much reliance on their own work.

Just to point out that the company is called Scottish Ballet

I love both of these productions.  The Don Q is huge fun!

I feel very sorry for the dancers who perhaps did not renew existing contracts to take up this opportunity and who may have already relocated and now been left high and dry.

The Ashton R&J was the first one I saw as performed by LFB (now ENB) in the mid-1980s when I first started watching ballet.  Thinking back I realise I loved its clean lines and simplicity as well as the heart-felt performances of the dancers.

I saw the Lavrovsky at the London Coliseum in the late 1980s and was totally bored by it.  I have never wanted to see it again!

I still compare every other version I see to the Ashton, probably because it was my first.  The only other production I hold as dear is the one by Massimo Morricone/Christopher Gable for Northern Ballet.

That is not to say that there are not other productions I enjoy and admire. 

Solitaire was performed by BRB during midscale last year in the North and this year in the South.  It has been performed by them in the recent past too.

Just to mention that it is Scottish Ballet who are performing Baiser.

Northern Ballet (I think for the first time in their history) is performing a triple bill of MacMillan works in Bradford and Leeds - Concerto, Las Hermanas and Gloria.

8 hours ago, mnacenani said:

 

Balshoy has scheduled Romeo&Juliet for 22-26 November which my friend in Moscow says will be the

new staging by Ratmansky ....... awaiting that one with trepidation !  Current Grigarovich version of

R&J is imho a non-starter, has made a hash of the beautiful Lavrovsky original. I definitely belong in

the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school !

Will it be the version he created for National Ballet of Canada?

I'm so sorry to read that Sam Shepard has passed away.  RIP

9 hours ago, sandik said:

 

And here I thought if you were a UK resident, the roundabout system was no trouble!  We're getting more of them here, mostly in residential neighborhoods as a way of slowing traffic down, and you'd think that we'd all grown another head.

It is not the roundabouts per se it is the lack of directions on them!  A number of "new towns" built up here in the 1950s/60s, designed to be efficient and pedestrian friendly.  They all seem to be surrounded by roundabouts with very little in the way of telling you which exit you need.  And please don't get me started on the masterpiece outside High Wycombe!!

I think special celebrations for retiring dancers is comparatively recent outside of the London-based companies.  The first I was aware of was Jeremy Kerridge at Northern Ballet when he came back a couple of months after he had actually retired for a valedictory performance as Scrooge in Christmas Carol.  Apart from announcing this in advance it was marked by David Nixon coming on stage for the curtain calls and making a speech.  A couple of years later when leading lady Chiaki Nagao retired there was a speech followed by all the dancers presenting her with flowers.

At BRB they have made a couple of announcements in recent years for Robert Parker and for Ambra Vallo and Vicky Marr.  

I agree with every word Sandik.

When Kenny Tindall retired from Northern Ballet his final performance was announced to be Heathcliff in Milton Keynes on a Saturday night.  A lot of us went, despite issues with roundabouts!

It was a very wonderful night!

I will never forget the final Birmingham performance of Ambra Vallo and Vicky Marr of BRB (dancing Giselle and Myrthe respectively).  Members of the company who weren't dancing in the performance showered the stage with 200 red roses. Many tears were shed!

Here in the UK they tend to be "end of season" announcements issued just after the season has ended.

If a long standing dancer is leaving it may be that that is announced earlier in the season so that people can mark the occasion.  However sometimes dancers seem to prefer to slip away quietly and without fanfare.

ENB has bucked the trend a little recently by announcing some joiners and a promotion before the end of their season.

Laura Cappelle reviewed BNC in the FT

I popped over to Paris for the final 2 performances of BNC's run of Giselle at the Salle Pleyel.  Coincidentally the last time I had seen their Giselle was also in Paris but in a "pop up" theatre in the Grand Palais.

Salle Pleyel has an art deco foyer and a plain, dark interior.  It had been a concert hall home to an orchestra which lost its funding and now presents all different types of show.  It struck me that the nightlines would be good wherever you sat.  I was on the front row of the stalls, which offered a perfect view, except that the wings were obviously so shallow that one could see more than would be usual even from the central block of seats.  Nevertheless it was a great place from which to watch the performance!

Sadly the company were performing to recorded music and I have to say that even to my uncultured ears it was not a good recording.  Occasionally, for example, there seemed to be some overly long gaps in the music.

I very much like Alicia Alonso's production of Giselle - it is so very clearly told with excellent mime too.  In this production it is very clear that Giselle dies of a broken heart rather than committing suicide with the sword (it is grabbed off her before she can do any harm),  The Wilis are very scary.  I did, however, find the lighting too bright and harsh, especially in Act 2.  I like the way the backcloth of trees is used to hide and reveal the Wilis at the start of Act 2 - it does make them much more mysterious and ghost like.

On Tuesday evening Sadaise Arencibia and Raul Abreu led the performance.  Sadaise is a lovely Giselle, playful in act 1 and forgiving and loving in Act 2.  Raul played Albrecht as someone who genuinely adores Giselle right from the start and is very romantic and ardent.  Reading the programme I was shocked to realise that he can't be more than 19 or 20 - he gave such a mature performance.  I think he has a great future ahead of him.  I thought Ernesto Diaz was excellent as Hilarion - lovelorn and jealous and then horrified by Giselle's death.

If I thought I enjoyed Tuesday evening (and I did) I was transported to another plain on Wednesday evening when Anette Delgado and Dani Hernandez led the performance.  Dani plays Albrecht as a man who knows his position but is attracted to Giselle and then is broken when he realises what devastation he has caused.  What can I say about Anette - she was completely, utterly and totally magnificent.  Her technique is so strong and yet she is still so fragile and vulnerable.  In reality I was not watching Anette Delgado I was watching Giselle.  I was in floods by the end.

At the curtain calls Alicia Alonso came on stage and was greeted with rapturous acclaim.  What an amazing and gracious lady she is.

Of course, 2 people do not a performance make and I must say that I thought the whole company looked excellent.  Everyone was engaged in the action in Act 1, making it very believable.  The Wilis were exemplary in Act 2.

I was very glad I had made the trip to Paris (even though with the current parlous state of sterling it was ruinously expensive!).

Just home from Paris.

Will post performance details on the BNC thread.

I absolutely agree with Mashinka about the Khan Giselle.  I saw a preview performance, the official world premiere and one other performance - all in Manchester.  I was completely blown away by the performances I saw (and I was fortunate to see 3 casts).  All three performances I saw earned a standing ovation.

However, one friend walked out of a performance at the interval and another refuses to discuss the performance we saw together in case she upsets me!

The very brave Tamara Rojo is bringing this Giselle to Liverpool in the Autumn and I can't wait!!!  I say brave because the Liverpool audience is notoriously conservative and because Liverpool and Manchester are close together and most people do not go and see a production more than once in a short period of time.

I was unable to get to the recent ROH triple bills so can't comment on them but I think the company is looking on wonderful form at the moment.  Yanowsky is a very great artist who will be much missed but there is a heck of a lot of young talent coming through.

I've seen advice that says to keep checking the website for returns.

This worked a couple of years ago for me, last time the company performed Jewels, and I managed to get a return on the front row of the stalls!

I suppose we are back to the age old issue of what a dancer may want to dance and what the dancer wants to dance.  I was under the (probably mistaken) impression that she joined the RB to expand her repertoire beyond the classics she is known for.  Certainly her own shows give the impression that she is interested in different dance styles.  I think the role of Mary Vetsara is much coveted amongst dancers.  

I know many people who are not very keen on Mayerling for the same reasons that you have stated.  I wouldn't say it was a favourite of mine either but I was totally bound up in the performance I saw with Edward Watson last time around.  I haven't felt there was anything "evil" about Rudolf's character more that he suffers from the weight of expectation and being brought up in such a rigid society.  For me that goes a long way to explaining his actions.

For what it's worth I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Mayerling.