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bridiem

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  1. bridiem
    You also can't buy ice-creams on both sides of the Amphi, so you have to follow the masses edging towards the bar when all you want is an ice-cream. (Not that I have one on every visit, of course...). I once asked an usher why ice-creams aren't sold at the other end too (knowing full well that it's because they want everyone to go in that direction and patronise the bar) and the answer was 'because they're only sold at this end'. Which rather flummoxed me.
  2. bridiem
    I never use the bar or restaurant so in that sense this won't affect me; but clearly a lot of people do and I think this will cause a degree of chaos. Is it really necessary to create a new 'modern' bar and restaurant when the existing ones were shiny and new (and very expensive-looking) only at the re-opening of the new House at the turn of the century? It's not as if the current facilities are a hang-over from the 1950s or whenever.
  3. bridiem
    I loved The Illustrated 'Farewell'! Absolutely beautiful. So many dance styles in evidence: ballet, contemporary, bits of ballroom, bits of jazz, almost court dancing a few times; and some silence. it could have been a mess, but it was a delight. It made me think of Balanchine, in the sense that he is often said to make the music visible in dance; that's exactly what Tharp does here. The dancers were magnificent, especially Sarah Lamb (wonderful to see her back, and the other dancers all applauded her at the curtain calls, which was very touching), Steven McRae (leaping and bounding), Mayara Magri and Joseph Sissens (both so expressive). A work that will repay multiple viewings. The Wind: contrary to all my expectations I loved this too. Magnificent designs, strange and powerful story-telling, brilliant performances from Osipova, Watson, Soares et al. Way over the top, bonkers but brilliant, it will live long in the memory. Untouchable: I am a massive fan of Hofesh Shechter, but I found this, unbelievably, totally boring. Even more so than at its première when it at least had the virtue of novelty. Really, really disappointing. Nothing happens except a lot of shuffling around in muddy brown groupings to dull music (and not even loud!). I don't know what came over him when he created this because it displays nothing of his usual energy or imagination. The dancers do very well, but I don't think they suit his choreography (or vice versa) - they're too light and they carry their weight too high. I think this is a work that should now be put to bed, and sadly perhaps a collaboration that should not be tried again.
  4. bridiem
    I meant the ad for the screening at the New Wimbledon Studio. It doesn't say anywhere that it's a film! I know that we know that; but why should non-ballet goers?
  5. bridiem
    Nowhere does this ad say that it's a film/broadcast of a performance, rather than an actual performance! If you didn't know otherwise you would turn up expecting to see the Bolshoi performing live... (As with all the other Bolshoi broadcasts listed.) Just saying.
  6. bridiem
    I think it absolutely should be done for Ashton. There must be various possible anniversaries that could be used as the rationale.
  7. bridiem
    Well yes, I can see that's the association; but I couldn't see any indication of his internal development that might have led to regret about what happened. Or indeed about why he acted as he did throughout the piece.
  8. bridiem
    Absolutely thrilling performance of Gloria by Northern Ballet this evening. I'd forgotten quite how beautiful this work is, and NB gave it full value. Antoinette Brooks-Daw constantly unfurled like a sad, reflective rose held firm by Javier Torres and Riku Ito as they blazed through the choreography. Such force, clarity, commitment from the whole company; and such profundity from MacMillan in this depiction not just of war but of the human condition. Fear, pain, loss, anger, anguish; and love, trust, grace, faith, beauty. Stunning. Stunning in a different sense was Judas Tree. I still have no understanding of what this work is supposed to be conveying. The characters' motivations and relationships are unclear from the start, so what happens has no power to move. Who is being betrayed, anyway? Is the woman just collateral damage in the relationship between two of the men? Why does the foreman hang himself? (The apparent Judas/Jesus/Mary parallels really don't work for me since they're very confused and distorted.) If you're going to depict such depravity, you need to show why you're doing so or it simply becomes a gratuitous exercise in violence and darkness. Melissa Hamilton and Bennet Gartside were excellent but I felt sorry for all the dancers. I enjoyed Elite Syncopations last week, but to move from Judas Tree to jolly Joplin in a space of minutes bordered on the bizarre. So for me this was a seriously unbalanced bill.
  9. bridiem
    Thank you for this wonderful post Irmgard!
  10. bridiem
    Thanks all - sounds good! I tried to record it but for some reason it didn't work... So will watch it on iplayer.
  11. bridiem
    I agree with all the comments above, and I thought that it was a really excellent and satisfying triple bill. And I was delighted that Concerto was given in its original designs. I just wish it was programmed more often - it's SO beautiful and the music is thrilling. I really enjoyed Baiser, and I hadn't seen Elite for about 18 years having rather overdosed on it in my early years of ballet-going. Coming back to it afresh I loved it and found it really amusing and uplifting. All the dancers were terrific, especially Jenna Roberts, Tyrone Singleton, all 3 principals in Baiser, Precious Adams and Yasmine Naghdi. A great evening and yes, I do wish the companies could come together more often. I found it quite emotional. And the moment of the Baiser in Baiser was just tremendous!!
  12. bridiem
    I found FLOSS's polite reminder about these roles very helpful in fact , as I always find her posts.
  13. bridiem
    Well they don't need to be explained or italicised when used and so have clearly been absorbed into the English language. Like ballerina. (And come to think of it, we don't say ballerine either... Not that I'm comparing them to pizze, you understand.)
  14. bridiem
    Bravo!
  15. bridiem
    I have no objection at all to whistling! I'm just envious of people who are able to do those really loud whistles. I can whistle a mean Swan Lake, but anything more piercing is beyond me.
  16. bridiem
    Very true, capybara. But if age is a consideration he should perhaps remember some wonderful partnerships of dancers with a bigger age gap than Campbell and Hayward - obvious recent examples being Cojocaru/Kobborg and Rojo/Cope (and Muntagirov/Klimentova from outside the RB). Oh and I have a vague memory of Fonteyn having a reasonably successful partnership with a (much) younger dancer.
  17. bridiem
    I hear much more in the way of generalised cheering now than any sort of bravo-ing (I can only speak for ballet, not opera). But I personally find it easier to use a word! And I use bravo unless it's a sole woman in which case I usually use brava. (Not logical, but there you go.) I think that 'bravo' (where used) has become a general expression of congratulation, regardless of the gender or number involved.
  18. bridiem
    In spite of that detailed info booking doesn't appear to be open/the Barbican website still denies all knowledge of it.
  19. bridiem
    When she talked to the Ballet Association before her retirement she said that she really wanted to do it again, and to take it to new venues which had apparently been the idea from the outset for the piece. So I think she must be doing it. Whether Acosta will be able to do it again I don't know.
  20. bridiem
    It was 'Junior Associates' in my day. And you got a certain number of vouchers towards the cost of tickets. It was largely because of that scheme that I was able to go to the number of performances I went to in my late teens/early 20s (though I still don't quite understand how I managed it!).
  21. bridiem
    Yes. In fact in retrospect it was he who first woke me up to ballet since he really was dancing on ice. Sheer beauty and genius.
  22. bridiem
    I'm dismayed to hear that Concerto has been re-designed; the designs are (were) for me part of what makes (made) it so beautiful and striking, and I've always remembered them. (WIth some works that isn't necessarily the case - the dance or the music are paramount and are what stick in the memory. With Concerto, the designs were central to the effect.
  23. bridiem
    That's so funny, Quintus! I'm giving this a miss because my hit rate with McGregor is a lot lower than yours and the concept sounded horribly narcissistic so I probably would have started off with the wrong mind set. But I'm glad you enjoyed the dancing (which is after all all that matters).
  24. bridiem
    That's true, Angela. But the real sadness, the real loss in all this is for Polunin himself. I think his talent is, or was, unique. But he clearly hasn't found it a route to happiness or fulfilment, and we have to respect that. Part of me wants to howl in frustration about him and at him; but he, like everyone else, has to find his route through life. Everyone makes mistakes; many people reject the course that seems to have been laid before them and forge their own path, for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps being born with a great talent can sometimes be a great burden. (I wouldn't know!!). If Polunin can't find fulfilment through ballet then I hope he can find it elsewhere (but I haven't completely given up hope, since he is still dancing at times).
  25. bridiem
    Well I suppose that outside the ballet world even he is not all that well known; and as an actor, not known at all. So given the starry cast and his pretty small role I don't think that's really surprising.
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