JMcN

I've seen: (my first) - Peter Darrell's for Scottish Ballet where the white act is Siegfried's opium induced dream (I was totally bored by it but, if it was ever staged again would go to see it in case my opinion has changed). Natalia Makarova's for London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) - loved it. Raisa Strukhova's for ENB - loathed it. Derek Dean's proscenium version for ENB - liked it. Robert de Warren's for Northern Ballet - liked it. Christopher Gable/?/Michael Pink's for Northern Ballet - loved it. David Nixon's for Northern Ballet - love, love, love it - very different. (Currently touring the UK again) Matthew Bourne's production - love it. Bolshoi Swan Lake in late 1980s - bored rigid - just a technical exercise and no emotion. Anthony Dowell's for Royal Ballet - loathed it. I saw it in 1989 and have never had any desire to see it again. And the granddaddy of them all - Sir Peter Wright's for Birmingham Royal Ballet - absolutely love it - from the first time I saw it to date. And for something completely different ... Australian Dance Theatre's Bird Brain was terrific! Looking forward to seeing ... David Dawson's new production for Scottish Ballet

Northern Ballet (UK) toured Maillot's R&J last Spring and will be doing some upcoming dates in the Autumn. The set looks deceptively simple but I suspect it is devilish difficult to assemble and disassemble, particularly when the stages that NB tour to are all different sizes!

I agree with Katherine that this thread is not in the most appropriate of places! Dance Europe magazine has just posted on FB: "Johan Kobborg and Opera National Bucharest Great news coming from Bucharest - it transpires that a new position of artistic director of the ballet company is to be created and that Johan Kobborg will be given the power to direct the ballet company of Opera National Bucharest." https://www.facebook.com/DanceEurope/?fref=ts

The outdoor scenes were shot in Liverpool, pretending to be New York! http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/florence-foster-jenkins-filming-transforms-11021794

1. Onegin: The performance I saw at the London Coliseum on 26 May 1984 - London Festival Ballet (now ENB) with Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun guesting - is what converted me to watching ballet. 2. Romeo and Juliet: Sir Frederick Ashton, as performed by London Festival Ballet 3. The Dream: Sir Frederick Ashton and still perfection in my eyes 4. Carmen: Roland Petit - a Saturday afternoon at the London Coliseum with London Festival Ballet and guest starring Dominique Khalfouni and Denis Ganio. That is the only time I have seen this ballet and it is still seared on my mind. 5. La Sylphide: Peter Schaufuss production for London Festival Ballet. The first performance I saw, in August 1985, was danced by Eva Evdokimova and Peter Schaufuss and is another performance that is seared into my mind. With this performance and his TV series Dancer, Peter Schaufuss gave me my love of the Bournonville style that abides to this day. Just looking at my list, I started my ballet watching with LFB, now known as English National Ballet but then, for me, some time in the early 1990s they went into a doldrums which they have started to come out of under the directorship of Tamara Rojo. I now follow Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet and do see the other British-based ballet companies (RB, ENB and SB) when I can, as well as other visiting companies. I still class Onegin as my favourite ballet and I have seen a number of other companies performing it over the years.

Well the 2015/16 season is nearing its end. We are now well into the run of Romeo and Juliet. The Lang work has been titled Wink and is due to be premiered on midscale North in May. On Saturday afternoon at The Lowry (in Salford) Yaoqian Shang made her debut as Juliet with William Bracewell making his second appearance as Romeo (he had debuted with Delia Matthews on Thursday afternoon, which sadly I could not get to). I have to say that it was one of the most remarkable performances I have EVER seen of this production. It really was a very, very special afternoon. I had a lump in my throat from the moment they met in the ballroom, was in tears at the end of the balcony scene and sobbing out loud by the end! These two young dancers were thought to be destined as stars - they have well and truly arrived!!

Re Men Y Men and the Giselle motif. Wayne Eagling created this work for ENB as a starter for performances of Mary Skeaping's beautiful production of Giselle to give the men something to do! I enjoyed reading your reports from Tokyo.

The Akram Khan production of Giselle premieres in Manchester in September. It is already selling well there. I think this is partly because of Khan's reputation and partly because it is a co-commission with the Manchester International Festival, which attracts an audience in its own right. As a matter of interest, last time I saw the Skeaping Giselle in Liverpool and Manchester the audiences were poor to say the least. This was a tragedy because it is a beautiful production and we saw some terrific performances.

Congratulations to Gudrun Bojesen on the birth of her son. I too hope she will be teaching at the RDBS.

Yes, lucky you Syrene! I have loved T&V since the first time I saw it nearly 30 Years ago although I have only ever seen SWRB/BRB do it. I always sit in the front stalls (parquet) and that has never detracted from my enjoyment of Ashton, Balanchine, Petipa etc. I do hope you grow to enjoy it more. I love La Sylphide too.

The Royal Ballet and Nowness have issued a short film featuring Steven McRae. It is part of a series: https://www.nowness.com/series/portrait-of-a-dancer/steven-mcrae-beyond-the-royal-ballet-london

Here are the details about the cinema broadcast. There is a facility to search for cinemas near you. I do hope you can get to see it.

The next live cinema broadcast from the Royal Ballet is this coming Tuesday in the UK. It is of the Ashton double bill Rhapsody/Two Pigeons. The leads in Rhapsody are Osipova and McRae and in Two Pigeons Cuthbertson and Muntagirov. I saw Rhapsody for the first time on Saturday afternoon and it is just breathtakingly beautiful; even in such an abstract work Ashton brings emotion to the fore in the duet. I saw rising stars Francesca Hayward and James Hay and I had a big lump in my throat at the end of the duet, so beautiful was their portrayal. Two Pigeons is a totally silly story but Sir Frederick Ashton creates characters that you care about. It does have a happy ending (this is not a spoiler) but the final reconciliation duet is so full of emotion that you cannot help but be moved to tears. On Saturday afternoon I was privileged to watch Yuhui Choe and Alexander Campbell. I sobbed throughout the final section, and judging by the sniffles around me so did a lot of the audience!

Whoops, I've just posted the link in a thread I found called "Ballet in Iran".

I came across this article via Facebook: https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/the-illegal-underground-ballerinas-of-iran?utm_source=broadlytwitterus

I watched the documentary last night on catch-up and enjoyed it very much. If something is being made for TV, it will always be aimed towards a mass audience and will possibly seem "dumbed down" for keen ballet-watchers.

Just be thankful you don't come to theatres in the UK that belong to a particular group (although they are expanding into the US) - before the start and during the intervals they have ushers going up and down the aisles with trays of all sorts of drinks to buy. Many theatres now also offer plastic cups in the bar so you can take your drink inside. I personally think it is disgraceful and dangerous (an elderly friend once slipped on a spilt drink in Sadler's Wells and only stayed upright because another friend caught her).

I've been reading the reviews for Tree of Codes, currently being performed in New York. The performance space sounds very different to the very conventional Opera House in Manchester and probably gave the piece a different feel. I'd love to hear what any board members thought.

Such devastating news. As a fan of Northern Ballet I was lucky to see many of his performances with them. He was always so charming with his fans. When we saw him most recently as Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake he noticed a group of us sat on the front row at the Lowry. He acknowledged us with a wink at the curtain calls. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

I hope it will be as danced by LFB/ENB as opposed to the cut down version! It was the first version of R&J I ever saw (in 1985) and I have wonderful memories of outstanding performances.

It lasts around 75 minutes without an interval. It started late at both performances I saw (15-20 minutes) but hopefully that was just teething problems.

The review in the New Statesman (scroll down) describes Tree of Codes as a "sensual immersion". Stuart Maconie has summed up my feelings in those 2 words!

I sat on the front row of the stalls for both performances at the Manchester Opera House and did not have an issue. On the first night I was over at the side and it was not a problem. I was in the centre of the row last night. I expect the lighting effects were more spectacular from further back and higher up but the effects were spectacular from the front row too. I suppose it depends on the theatre - for example, if I am able to go again when the show gets to Sadler's Wells I expect all the rows will be in place as there is no orchestra so no requirement for a pit. I have sat on the very front row there and it is too low. Sorry not to be more helpful.

I saw the first night of Tree of Codes and immediately booked for last night when I got home! Critical opinion seems divided - non-dance critics loved it but the dance critics, while not condemnatory, were saying same old same old. I've seen Wayne McGregor's own company several times and also Infra and Chroma at RB. I have enjoyed what I have seen but am no expert on his work. Having seen and loved Tree of Codes twice (despite some apparent issues with the set last night (the mirror effects did not work properly for part of the time)) I have come to the conclusion that it is best not to see it as a dance piece but as an overall experience! That said, the dancers, without exception, are utterly magnificent. I loved the whole experience. The performance started about 20 minutes late last night and people were standing around and chattering. A lot of people did not realise at first that the performance had started because the score starts with what seems to be people clapping. The house lights dim but the audience is still lit so it can be a bit confusing. The stage is completely blacked out at the start and the dancers cannot be seen (or at least I could not see them at all) only the lights on their costumes moving around perhaps like a constellation. The next, very short, section starts with what seems to be lampshades on their sides and the only visibly bit of the dancers is their hands. Then the dancing begins... For me there were a couple of outstanding duets and a trio that I particularly liked as well as the ensemble work. The back of the set is a large, faceted mirror and it is fascinating to see the dancers reflected in it (as well as, at times, the audience - on a number of occasions spotlights come out into the audience). When a glass screen is lowered some of the dancers are behind it and they are reflected mutliple times while the dancers in front of it are only reflected once! Finally another glass screen is lowered, which all the dancers are behind. Two cut out circles start revolving and the lighting effects come out into the audience like the effect of a giant glitterball. For me, it was the overall effect that worked. If any of the three elements of the collaboration were not there, it would not work! Here's links for some of the early reviews: Neil Sowerby, Manchester Confidential Charlotte Gush, i-D Luke Jennings, Guardian Mark Monahan, Telegraph

Well I'm thrilled that a certain Mr Campbell is cast in Two Pigeons and have got my ticket for 5th December. He was a terrific Colas and I am sure he will be the same as the young man in Two Pigeons! (It's a shame he hasn't got a chance to dance Romeo; having seen him dance the role with BRB I know that he is a very fine Romeo indeed).