Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet

[tutu14]

I am going to see RWB dance "The Magic Flute" tonight in Toronto. DD saw it twice last week in Winnipeg so it will be fun to compare notes afterward.

I'll let everyone know how it was later.

Are any other BAers going?

Tutu14

[mom2]

I'm going in Oakville on Friday. Really looking forward to it. Did you see the piece the CBC did the other day? I missed a lot of it I'm afraid (my week for missing things on CBC)...but they did briefly interview dance critic Michael Crabb, who had postitive things to say.

[tutu14]

It was not at all what I expected, even with a heads up from DD who had seen both preview night and opening night last week in Winnipeg.

The ballet is set to Mozart's "Magic Flute" opera(not just the incidental music)with some interesting original pieces set in. The costumes were a little off- the- wall but colourful and intriguing. The ballet is more contemporary than I expected but with classical undertones.

I really enjoyed the whole experience.......the dancing was wonderful and the choreography was full of surprises. The company is very expressive throughout whether in a humourous or serious moment.

I highly recommend it to anyone who has a chance to see it just make sure you read the synopsis before it begins as the story is rather complicated.

Mom2...let me know what you think of it.

[dancemomCA]

I did see the piece on the CBC news, with Godden running around changing choreography right up until the last minute. I think he really stretched some of the dancers' thought process/technical ability - they commented on the fact that he/they didn't really have a name of any of his moves. One female said that it is more comfortable for them to be working in classical ballet terms where they are familiar with the terms of dance reference. Then Godden strained his calf muscle and wasn't able to demonstrate physically what he wanted the dancers to do, so that also contributed to delays. Hence your comment tutu14 on the fact that it is more of a contemporary piece than classical ballet.

However, at the end of opening night, that same female dancer was very happy with herself and the fact that it all finally "came together" on stage.

I know my son loved it when they all attended the two shows. He also commented on the crazy costumes, but then again, costuming is his second love and Johnny Wright is his hero!!

I'll be seeing it in Ottawa in January and plan to see the RWB Nutcracker in December.

N

[tutu14]

The comment was made to me that each dancer was perfect for the part they danced......DD laughed and said "of course they were....it was set on them".

I'm glad your son enjoyed it as well.

[mom2]

Just came home from the performance in Oakville. A wonderful venue for the audience member...quite small and not a bad seat in the house! Serious underwriting dollars from the local Benz dealership made it possible. Some local dance school students had the opportunity to watch rehearsal, and have a master class given by one of the company members (quite an honour...this doesn't happen in a small town too often!!)

I did enjoy the performance. It was the first time I had really seen Sarah Murphy-Dyson dance, and she is magnificent. Curiously, Tara Birtwhistle got more kudos at curtain time ....perhaps because she's more well known.

It perhaps helps that I'm not really an opera buff and I wasn't really familiar with the libretto. I just enjoyed the dance for itself. I had anticipated things being a bit over the top because of what I'd heard and read, but it was tamer than I anticipated (only two bum slaps that I recall). The choreography was quite different, certainly not the classical vocabulary that one sees in other productions or in other companies....but as a non-dancer's appreciating a performance, I would give it a definite thumbs-up. The people seated behind me weren't sure they like Godden's arm movements,

The one piece of constructive criticism I could offer would be about the costumes. I liked them, they were quite interesting and funky, but in some cases entirely hid the dancer's feet. When I ask dancers what they watch in a performance the answer is usually "feet".... so this might be a problem. I know that Sarah Murphy-Dyson had a much more pleasing line in the second act, when the costume was a sort of dress, and one could actually see most of her legs and all of her feet. There was at least one other dancer who seemed to have the most amazing feet, but they were hidden for the entire performance underneath long pants.

I'll read the libretto tomorrow and perhaps post again once I've had an opportunity to ponder.

Definitely a performance worth seeing. Extremely talented dancers with choreography that makes you think.

[Guest Dick]

Hi,

My wife and I attended the Montréal representation last week end in Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts (more or less 4000 seatings 70% of which were occupied which is not bad for a saturday afternoon performance). We were delighted!

First, we both love Mozart's music and this opera in particular; having sung into it myself, I knew the libretto quite well and foud Godden's adaptation of the symbolic very imaginative. Right at the begining for example, he replaces the traditionnal dragon and snakes by a TV set connected to sort off a vacum cleaner hose (is that the proper word in english?) And then the face mask connected to the same hose which started to look like a snake the more they pulled on it...

Also it's sensuality. In that respect, Papageno's personality pleased me ; and the way Godden locked him silent with three padlocks instead of only one like in the opera was another sign of his imagination and creativity. And what about the final in the snow?

We found the dancing great. And as you can guess, we had a wonderfull afternoon.

Richard