Ashton's Ondine

[volcanohunter]

Opus Arte will be releasing a performance of the Royal Ballet in Ashton's Ondine filmed in June 2009. The UK release date is April 1. The North American release usually follows two months later.

Ondine: Miyako Yoshida

Palemon: Edward Watson

Berta: Genesia Rosato

Tirrenio: Ricardo Cervera

A Hermit: Gary Avis

Act III Divertissement:

Mara Galeazzi, José Martín, Helen Crawford, Samantha Raine, Brian Maloney, Sergei Polunin and Artists of The Royal Ballet

DVD: http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=341

Blu-Ray: http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=342

[Anna P]

Just wondering if anyone has seen this and know whether it's worth buying. I've never seen Miyako dance (though have heard a lot of good things about her) and unfortunately I'm not a big fan of Watson. There doesn't seem to be a clip/trailer or anything on Youtube so it would be great if someone could give me a review or something. Thanks.

[bart]

I did find a brief review, by Quentin Crisp, of the live performance by Yoshida and Watson. Most of the other available reviews seem to be of other casts.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cb32ed28-4c65-11...144feabdc0.html

I hope you'll share your thoughts with us, if you decided to get the dvd.

[leonid17]

I did find a brief review, by Quentin Crisp, of the live performance by Yoshida and Watson. Most of the other available reviews seem to be of other casts.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cb32ed28-4c65-11...144feabdc0.html

I hope you'll share your thoughts with us, if you decided to get the dvd.

Bart did Quentin Crisp dictate it through automatic writing to Clement Crisp?

Ps

(Hope you can cope with a leg pull?)

[Mel Johnson]

Quentin Crisp's input on this ballet would be interesting, though!

But I think that while Ashton's choreography is first-rate, the ballet is still lumbered with a score that was initially labeled as "too advanced" for the audience in its premiere years, it became obvious after awhile that the score really was too weak to match the rest of the production and the artistic klang effect prevented the success of the whole show.

[innopac]

There are a couple clips on youtube. Search: Ondine Yoshida.

[bart]

Bart did Quentin Crisp dictate it through automatic writing to Clement Crisp?

Ps

(Hope you can cope with a leg pull?)

Aaargh! This is one pair (Quentin/Clement) I confuse on a regular bases, for reasons I cannot fathom. It's the same with my frequent mixing up of Edwin and David Denby. Obviously, I need serious editing help -- and I am grateful to you, leonid, for the correction. :blush:

[volcanohunter]

The U.S. release date is May 25. The DVD and Blu-Ray can be ordered on Amazon.

[Birdsall]

Did you end up buying Ondine? I recently purchased it from Amazon and enjoyed it very much. I tend to prefer 19th century ballet, but this was charming and beautiful too. There were modern touches to the choreography but still based on traditional movement, I think (as opposed to expressionistic style). I liked it a lot, although it is a fairly calm piece (no 32 fouettes or anything that makes your jaw drop), yet the dancing is beautiful. I am fairly new to ballet (seen many over the years but never really became obsessed until recently), so I don't know if my comments are helpful, but I think this is a ballet worth seeing. I plan to watch it many times over the years even if I reach for Raymonda or Sleeping Beauty more often! LOL