Mashinka

Actually she did. Misty Frontier at the Linbury featuring Nunez if I remember correctly.

That will teach me to rush in without getting a programme! Ernest Shackleton, who would have thought it?

The problem of putting something like this on the box is that the impact diminishes when viewed next to the horrors shown on the news on a daily basis, but whatever the intentions behind its creation, for most people this work will leave a bad taste.

I am horrified that de Frutos has lost his job at Phoenix, Simon's assessment of that company's chequered past is quite accurate and I seem to remember one AD in particular being a spectacular failure: firing de Frutos sounds like a classic case of shooting ones self in the foot. I am sorry also that reference was made to his sexuality, although certain critics have been guilty of that too. Under those circumstances he is justified in feeling angry, I just hope he falls on his feet and returns to the quality work that I know he is capable of. Simon, did you figure out the significance of the Eskimo who stood at the side of the stage and then fell over at the start of the McGregor work? I presume he was a metaphor of some sort, but have no idea what.

Thanks for the quote Jane, in that context the whole thing starts to make more sense. Although the religiously minded always take offence at the first whiff of 'blasphemy', he may not get that succès de scandale after all due to the short run of this piece as I seem to remember that the protests against The Satanic Verses and Jerry Springer: the Opera, were incredibly slow off the mark, probably due the religious rarely reading contemporary literature or visiting theatres. In his earlier years de Frutos was in the habit of dancing naked. He is now engaged in what I would call mainstream choreography and I would rate him as one of the finest working in the UK. He doesn't have a discernible style as his works are quite varied from a Hollywood musical homage for Rambert Dance to a superb Rite of Spring for the New Zealand Ballet. He has worked with a number of companies including the Royal Ballet (though not in the main house). I count myself very much a fan and silly though it sounds, I feel personally let down by him on this occasion.

How far can a choreographer go in expressing ideas and should there be limits? I ask this after viewing a ballet last night which I felt should never have made it to the stage. The work that leaves me asking the question is Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez by Javier de Frutos and I am in something of a quandary here as I don’t think the moderators would allow me to describe in exact detail what I actually saw. Without going into graphic detail; a Pope with grotesque prosthetic belly and buttocks sexually violates two male acolytes and three pregnant women and encourages them to perform further acts of physical and sexual violence on one another whilst everyone chants prayers in Spanish interspersed with the screaming of obscenities. The whole thing culminates with the beating to death and garrotting of one of the women. It was danced to Ravel's La Valse, a piece I shall have difficulty ever listening to again The dance element is minimal and includes a parody of the ‘sunburst pose’ from Balanchine’s Apollo, justified no doubt by the women being described as Muses. The ballet is supposed to be a satire inspired by Jean Cocteau, though whether that fastidious aesthete would have approved of this realization of his ideas, I don’t know. Some people walked out before the end. Many, myself included, booed (the first time in my life I have ever booed dancers). The people to my left and right and those in front simply sat speechless without clapping, but those behind cheered enthusiastically and those same people had laughed hysterically at the sight of a pregnant woman having her face repeatedly smashed against the Pope’s throne. I appreciate that on a first night the audience is made up of a significant number of artists’ friends and relatives, but to respond to such a scene with laughter made what was acutely uncomfortable viewing even worse. Up until now I’ve always been a great admirer of Javier de Frutos’s work and would concur with Simon G’s description of him on another thread as ‘A class act’. This new work however makes me really worry about his future direction in choreography. The programme on the whole was good, in fact it seemed to get better as the evening progressed but then this vile piece came on and a good night out was ruined. As the programme was of works inspired by Diaghilev I suppose de Frutos may have been aiming for a ‘Rite of Spring’ moment, but whether ED to S&S goes down in history or not remains to be seen. The reviews should be interesting and I will post them as they appear. Usually when I see acts of simulated sex on stage, I assume the choreographer has run out of ideas and had the acts I witnessed yesterday been of consensual sex I wouldn’t have cared over much; but it was the sexual and physical violence that unsettled me particularly that towards the pregnant women. I am against censorship of any kind but believe serious artists should be able to self-censor and am disappointed that Javier de Frutos in this instance did not. I appreciate that most of the readers of this post aren’t based in London and may be reluctant to comment on a work they are unable to see for themselves, but based on my description I would be very grateful for as many responses as possible to my original question: How far can a choreographer go in expressing ideas and should there be limits?

So this award is given for intentions rather than actual deeds. Why then is it so out of step with the other Nobel prizes where the recipients actually have some (usually substantial) achievements under their belts? I intend to write a piece of major literature some day, so may I have a Nobel Prize too please?

Very unexpected as Morgan Tsvangirai was hotly tipped to receive it and I'm rather disappointed that he did not.

A programme of new works by contemporary choreographers opens in London next week and there is an interview with them in today's Telegraph. Each choreographer is asked "Could Diaghilev exist today?" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre...revolution.html Javier De Frutos explains all too accurately why serious artistic endeavour in the UK is doomed to failure Wayne McGregor on the other hand, doesn't seem to rate Diaghilev's achievements at all (now theres a surprise) I wonder how long Mr McGregor's works will last in comparisom with those Diaghilev commissioned?

I agree up to a point and indeed have an acquaintance who is always waxing lyrical over 'beautiful boys', but having met a couple of them I'm aware that they are young adults and certainly not children. If Mitterrand has a taste for rent boys surely such people are available in France; it's the trips to Thailand for that activity that sound worrying.

It seems that the French government minister so avid in his defence of Roman Polanski has a questionable sexual past of his own. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8296578.stm

Back in the halcyon days of quality television, Andre Previn who at that time was chief conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra; had his own TV series about music. In one programme he looked at the role of the conductor in his own highly amusing way. He started conducting a piece of music and turning to the audience he asked them to watch what would happen if he wasn’t there. So saying, he laid down his baton and went to sit in the audience, all the time making comments such as: “any minute now” or “they can’t hold out much longer”. But of course nothing happened and the musicians simply carried on without mishap through to the end. Previn then went on to explain that the main job of the conductor took place behind the scenes during the gruelling hours of rehearsal and that his presence on the podium was as a kind of aide memoire to the players. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is an excellent ensemble, but it is telling that it doesn’t tackle the really vast orchestral works of say Bruckner or Richard Strauss. As a great lover of the baroque my idol is William Christie, but in many works he leads from the harpsichord, as indeed many of the composers at that time did. He does not however employ that other early conducting technique of banging on the floor with a big stick. As one composer of the period once missed the floor and stabbed himself in the foot, later dying from the injury, I consider Christie very wise to ignore that method of keeping an orchestra together.

A very odd article claiming orchestras can do without conductors. Ms Ibbotson is a violinist (I did a Google search) and writes articles usually, but not exclusively, about music for The Guardian, though she isn’t listed as one of their music critics. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...ductors-pay-cut I find this a very odd piece as I never thought any orchestral player would ever argue against the role of the conductor and for some reason she fails to mention the most important aspect of the conductor’s job: the work done in rehearsals. Opera, where the conductor’s role is most vital isn’t referred to at all. The other argument about whether the maestro is overpaid, I have some sympathy with as the discrepancy in pay between conductor and rank & file musicians is far too wide. This set me wondering about just who in the music world deserves a huge salary and who doesn’t. The great conductors of the past are long gone and the really good ones around today are few and far between with more and more specializing in a particular type of repertoire, and the only star conductor I can think of as a tip top old-style all-rounder is probably Bernard Haitinck. Anyone have any views on this?

Polanski has been refused bail in Switzerland http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/a...ure/8292977.stm Very wise under the circumstances.

I’m rather alarmed at some of the comments regarding Age of Consent: because child abuse is universal that doesn’t mean it should be tacitly accepted. A girl of thirteen looks sexually mature so she’s fair game, or so the argument goes. Well I’ve seen girls of eight or nine that have tragically suffered early onset of puberty, does that make them fair game too? Society makes these rules to afford young girls some protection from sexual predators and from the consequences, such as pregnancy, STD’s, cervical cancer and so on. Men in Britain have a particularly nauseating expression for very young attractive girls – ‘jail bait’ and it is incumbent on the law to offer vulnerable girls as much protection as is necessary to protect them during their years of childhood. We can agree that physical maturity occurs at different ages, but what about psychological maturity? At what age does a child attain the mentality of an adult? A twelve year old with an adult body doesn’t necessarily possess an adult understanding of sexual matters. That is why a line is drawn and the age of consent exists to afford basic protection. In the case of Polanski he chose to flout one of society’s rules concerning the protection of children, presumably thinking his fame might put him above the law. Without wishing to cast aspersions on the US legal system, it does seem that he may have some grounds for thinking that way as the later case of O.J. Simpson’s acquittal shocked us greatly here in Britain with a consensus of opinion that in America if you have enough money you can get away with murder. Can I add that like Simon G. I was very sad that Pedro Almodóvar chose to sign that vile petition. Also…….. I find that utterly, utterly appalling. The ultimate betrayal of trust.

A fascinating article about Hollywood in the 1970's appeared in today's Independent; though I think the author seems to come close to excusing a lot of questionable behaviour because the films made at the time were exceptionally good. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...es-1796029.html And yesterday I heard on the news that the French government is now furiously backpedalling regarding their earlier announcements (Quelle surprise), probably realizing that supporting a rapist is a sure vote loser. I wonder if those Hollywood characters busily lobbying for Polanski's release may also wake up to the fact that they aren't doing their popularity with the general public an awful lot of good. On the subject of idiot politicians, I heard the UK Minister of Culture state on TV last night that he wasn't familiar with Polanski, his films or his crime: a woeful lack of efficiency on the part of his handlers who clearly failed to brief him adequately before letting him loose on a current affairs programme. Although the Minister clearly isn't up to speed regarding the world of film, I like to think he can tell an attitude from an arabesque, can list the names of all Mozart's operas and can distinguish a Monet from a Cezanne, otherwise what is he doing in the job?

This interview with the French/Italian tenor is not without interest, but why wasn't an opera specialist sent to interview him? The piece is all on a personal level with far less about his current career than one would expect. His personal life is remarkable though, and I hadn't realized he came from such an unpromising background, also I can understand only too well the trauma of losing his first wife at such a young age as my sister's stepson also became a widower and single parent in his 20's - it is a devestating experience. In the right repertoire this singer is superb and his on stage partnership with Georghiu justly famous (I can close my eyes and visualize every moment of them in Rondine) but his career has hit rocky patches and they seem glossed over here, for example there is nothing about his future relationship with La Scala or whether he will alter his repertoire choices accordingly. It sounds as is the split from Georghiu is permanant, I wonder if they will continue to sing together and whether that old magic will be lost if they do. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ve-1796003.html

I’ve been following the comments here with great interest, as the offence was committed in the US it is interesting to note the different response to the issue of rape. In the UK the crime of rape is under-reported and the rate of convictions alarmingly low, with cases of serial rapists being serially acquitted. However offences against minors are mainly (though this can depend on the judge) regarded as extremely grave and we have some very ‘high profile’ paedophile sex offenders in British jails such as the British pop singers Garry Glitter and Jonathan King, also that outstanding conductor of Baroque music, Robert King (I have a stack of his recordings) though the latter two committed offences against under aged boys. Making a special case for Polanski because of his artistic achievements simply doesn’t stand up I’m afraid as it seems to say that a man that makes films is exempt from justice whereas a man who lets say, digs holes in a road, presumably is not. I’m afraid I don’t see a grey area here.

Thanks, Nanarina. Have others seen the production? I've seen it from the front row at the Opera Garnier and loved every second. I saw Osta and Le Riche, the original cast, and they were superb; in fact I enjoyed the ballet so much I believe I nominated 'the kiss' pas de deux as one of my favourites in a recent thread about favourite pas de deux. It is fairly sexually explicit but not in the sense that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth in the way some of MacMillan's works do. I seem to remember that Clement Crisp, not especially renowned for his broad-mindedness, adored this ballet and originally gave it an absolute rave review. Personally I don't consider sexual themes in ballet to be implicitly "vulgar" at all; it all depends on the context and the treatment.

Alina Somova now has an entry in the French language section of Wikipedia, but no entry in English. As far as my faulty French allows it briefly includes the views of her dissenters. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alina_Somova Any views on this from France?

The Guardian has been quite scrupulous in offering both sides of the extradition argument The argument for: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...est-switzerland And the argument against: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ci...est-switzerland The comments underneath give a good idea of British sentiments as to how Polanski should be treated and although Ms Poirier claims to speak for France, I very much doubt that many French people would endorse her views.

Perhaps if the Royal Ballet went back to having Ashton's choreography as the bedrock of the company, those very diverse dancers would begin to develop some English style but it won't happen all the time there is a reliance on the MacMillan/McGregor choreographic axis.

Apologies for the source, but as this piece is written by Meredith Daneman, Fonteyn's biographer, I consider it worth reading. Personally I'm not very taken by the tone of this article. Anyone want to comment? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/articl...man-legend.html

Not sure about that, in general the more fuss and noise you make the better the dancers like it.

It's rare for me to agree with every word of a post, but Simon G's sums up my own views exactly. David Bintley has managed to retain the English style of dancing in Birmingham whereas successive RB directors have not. For many years I've preferred both the BRB and, making allowances for their more modest repertoire, ENB, to watching the stylistic mishmash that currently characterizes RB Performances. If I were a young British dancer I'd avoid the RB like the plague.