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New to Royal Ballet


Eileen

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Spending most of my life in New York City, NYC Ballet was my introduction to ballet. I discovered different music, different ways of moving - my former impression of ballet was the ABT style, costumes, sets, story ballets. But Balanchine taught me his way.

Circumstances led me to move to a mid-sized US city without a quality ballet company. I turned to YouTube and discovered - the Royal Ballet! How different it was from the Balanchine company. How much softer, the beauty of movement, not just the emphasis on technique as in NYCBallet. At NYCB, mime was hardly a factor in Balanchine, except in Midsummer Night's Dream. At the Royal, mime was an essential part of the dance. And acting! The dancers are actually actor-dancers. I have purchased DVDs of Alice, Nutcracker, and La Fille - what a delight they all are!

I have become an afficionado of Steven McRae and even Audrey Bluebell, his inimitable baby. I notice that in his list of accomplishments, right after listing Principal of Royal Ballet, he writes "Father". I love his dancing. He works extraordinarily hard to achieve extensions that male dancers usually can't hope for. And he has such conviction and emotional awareness in every move. I've also noticed that in the Prince's solo in Sleeping Beauty, he keeps his face and body in profile, whereas Polunin in the same solo has his back to the audience. McRae is truly a creature of the stage.

Balanchine was a genius, but he sacrificed delicacy and beauty for strength, speed, and choreographic innovation. Ashton was also a genius, but a traditionalist. And a grand tradition it is, too. How I loved seeing Monica Mason teaching Kristen McNally the role of Carabosse. Every movement had import, was exact. Every rehearsal recording teaches me something new about the Ashton and Macmillan style.

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Spending most of my life in New York City, NYC Ballet was my introduction to ballet. I discovered different music, different ways of moving - my former impression of ballet was the ABT style, costumes, sets, story ballets. But Balanchine taught me his way.

Circumstances led me to move to a mid-sized US city without a quality ballet company. I turned to YouTube and discovered - the Royal Ballet! How different it was from the Balanchine company. How much softer, the beauty of movement, not just the emphasis on technique as in NYCBallet. At NYCB, mime was hardly a factor in Balanchine, except in Midsummer Night's Dream. At the Royal, mime was an essential part of the dance. And acting! The dancers are actually actor-dancers. I have purchased DVDs of Alice, Nutcracker, and La Fille - what a delight they all are!

I have become an afficionado of Steven McRae and even Audrey Bluebell, his inimitable baby. I notice that in his list of accomplishments, right after listing Principal of Royal Ballet, he writes "Father". I love his dancing. He works extraordinarily hard to achieve extensions that male dancers usually can't hope for. And he has such conviction and emotional awareness in every move. I've also noticed that in the Prince's solo in Sleeping Beauty, he keeps his face and body in profile, whereas Polunin in the same solo has his back to the audience. McRae is truly a creature of the stage.

Balanchine was a genius, but he sacrificed delicacy and beauty for strength, speed, and choreographic innovation. Ashton was also a genius, but a traditionalist. And a grand tradition it is, too. How I loved seeing Monica Mason teaching Kristen McNally the role of Carabosse. Every movement had import, was exact. Every rehearsal recording teaches me something new about the Ashton and Macmillan style.

I loved reading this! Thank you for your appreciation of our Great British Royal Ballet Company and style!

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I also am greatly impressed by principals Edward Watson, who contorts his entire body in Winter's Tale, with the beautiful Sarah Lamb, the delightful Lauren Cuthbertson as Alice, and the adorable Yuhui Choe, whose crisp movements as Columbine in the clip I viewed were - priceless. So many extraordinary dancers to discover! Even if I never see the Royal Ballet in London, I follow it as best I can via YouTube and DVDs. Perhaps one of the Royal's performances will play at a cinema in my area, or I can catch it on one of my New York trips.

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I have become an afficionado of Steven McRae and even Audrey Bluebell, his inimitable baby. ... I've also noticed that in the Prince's solo in Sleeping Beauty, he keeps his face and body in profile, whereas Polunin in the same solo has his back to the audience. McRae is truly a creature of the stage.

This theatrical technique is particularly important in speaking and singing, where you want to give the impression that you've got access to the whole stage, but you cannot really turn your back on the audience or your voice will be lost.

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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!

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I'm hoping to make it to New York City on Tuesday, Jan. 26, but I can't find any information as to whether Rhapsody/Two Pigeons will be playing there. I've used the link above, fandango - checked out the usual suspects like Walter Reade Theater. Anyone with information I'd appreciate hearing from.

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