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Rosa

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Posts posted by Rosa

    New Royal Ballet 'Swan Lake' DVD available Tuesday Sept 1

    in Ballet Videos, Films, Broadcast Performances, Photos, and Interviews

    Posted

    The Royal Ballet's Swan Lake is a pretty traditional production, set in Imperial Russia with the story taking place on Halloween Eve and Halloween Night -- the only explanation for the bizarre mix of mostly lovely costumes and ghastly sets. Watching this DVD, I was reminded of the ABT production which almost undermined the ballet and was only saved by Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes's inspiring performances last year. Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares weren’t quite able to overcome the shortcomings of Dowell's production IMO.

    The chorography was one of the best things about this performance. I really enjoyed the corps de ballet in Act I (David Bintley's waltz was quite impressive) and Act IV. The pas de trois was wonderful; Yuhui Choe enchanting.

    Soares's technique left a little to be desired, yet he made up for it with great acting and partnering. There were moments during the PDT (danced before Siegfried's mother interrupts the celebration in this version) when Siegfried seemed miles away. Perhaps he was already being summoned to the lake...his fate? After being told he must marry, he turned away from his friends wanting to congratulate him, unable to explain his displeasure about this unexpected turn of events. At the end of Act II while watching Odette fly away, just before the curtains closed, a huge smile spread across Soares's face. It was of joy, he had found the ONE, and belief he would free her. It was a touching and heartbreaking moment. Back at the lake after the ball, he and Odette switched places, with him afraid to look at her. (She raised his chin to look into his eyes -- an echo of what he had done in Act II.) His touch was uncertain, embrace tentative, growing sure and ardent as the trust and love still was there between them.

    Nunez was beautiful, her dancing solid and confident. I found her Odette unmoving in Act II, yet touching and vulnerable in Act IV. Her Odile I liked best; she was sensual and soft, not nasty. It was a believable interpretation.

    Soares and Nunez had a nice chemistry and trust between them. White Swan PDD was romantic as Sigefried -- gentle, sensitive -- wooed Odette and she dared to trust, love him. Black Swan sizzled and crackled as Odile drew him in; he never had a chance. 4th act PDD is used in the Mariinsky version and while beautiful, I'd never found it moving. Yet in this performance there were two bits of mime where Nunez reminded Soares he had broken his vow to her, and that she would have to die. Suddenly, those few moments made this pas de deux very tragic; their plight hopeless. The finale was magificant with the stage empty except for Rothbart, Siegfried, and Odette during their struggle. At one point Rothbart used his magic to draw Odette away from Siegfried; it was similar to when she had transformed back into a swan and her prince watched. Only now they both fought to reach each other and did, to perish together.

    The interview with the four Swan Queens was very fascinating. Mason's story about Nureyev in Swan Lake was quite amusing.

    Promotions

    in Bolshoi Ballet

    Posted

    From the homepage of the Bolshoi Ballet website: Artem Ovcharenko is promoted to First Soloist; Olga Kishnyova and Vladislav Lantratov are promoted from Artists to Soloists.

    Congratulations to all. :flowers:

    What are you reading?

    in General Reading and Literature

    Posted

    Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

    Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer

    The Fairy-Tale Literature of Charles Dickens, Christina Rossetti and George MacDonald: Antidotes to the Victorian Spiritual Crisis by Cynthia Manson

    The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

    The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

    Black as Night by Regina Doman

    Wish You Were Dead by Tood Strasser

    Currently reading Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot

    Nutcracker Season at BAM

    in American Ballet Theatre

    Posted

    I would assume the lack of a Sugar Plum goes back to Ratmansky...don't most Russian companies forgo a Sugar Plum Queen and instead the lead ballerina of the whole thing (including who dances the Sugar Plum pas) is Maria (Clara)?

    Yes, I believe that is the case. The Bolshoi, Mariinsky, and St. Petersburg Ballet are the first companies that come to mind which features Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy danced by the same ballerina.

    What are you reading?

    in General Reading and Literature

    Posted

    Finished:

    Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame"

    Georgette Heyer's "Death in the Stocks" (This is only the second mystery of hers I've read, and was struck by how similar both stories were.)

    Presently I'm reading Charlotte Bronte's "The Professor."

    Which translation of 'Anna Karenina' have you got, Rosa? I bought the recent one promoted by Oprah but haven't got round to it yet. It's been highly praised, though.

    Daphne du Maurier is nobody's Tolstoy but it's hard to dislike 'Rebecca.' :)

    My "Anna Karenina" is translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. It took me a very long time to get through it; there were parts of it I didn't get, particularly the final part.

    "Rebecca" was a quick read, and a vast improvement over "My Cousin Rachel." Hard to resist. ;)

    Bolshoi in London 2010

    in Bolshoi Ballet

    Posted

    There are a lot of cast changes on the Royal Opera House website regarding the Bolshoi's tour starting next week. Zakharova is out of the tour due to an injury. Gone, too, is Ekaterina Shipulina. Marianna Ryzhkina has been added to the tour. Osipova now dances the opening nights of both Coppelia and Giselle; she and Vasiliev get two performances of Don Quixote yet not their original one.

    "Spartacus" Premiere

    in Kirov-Mariinsky Ballet

    Posted

    No actual casting yet, but there is now a listing of who is rehearsing roles for the ballet:

    Yulia Makhalina, Viktoria Tereshkina,

    Sofia Gumerova, Yekaterina Kondaurova

    Danila Korsuntsev, Igor Zelensky,

    Alexander Sergeyev, Yuri Smekalov,

    Konstantin Zverev, and Vladimir Ponomarev.

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