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bridiem

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  1. bridiem
    I think that if presented as the cinema live relay was presented, all four would have been fine for a general audience. But I suspect that would just be 'too much ballet'. Unless it's Nutcracker or similar, the focus of TV coverage of ballet seems usually to be one famous/well-known person (e.g. Acosta, or Bussell, or Nureyev) rather than the art itself. There are (very good) exceptions occasionally, but in general they want an obvious peg to hang a programme on, and a triple/quadruple bill is therefore difficult to 'sell'. (Rather as the companies themselves find these bills more difficult to sell.) Which is a big shame. (Presumably 'An Evening with The Royal Ballet' would no longer work - also a big shame.)
  2. bridiem
    Great, thanks for finding that out Jane.
  3. bridiem
    Thank you Floss - really interesting and illuminating, as always. Would be fascinating to see the Ratmansky productions you mention. In relation to the online performance - the first night of this production was 14 Oct 1977 and was also led by Collier/Dowell etc, so it can't be that one, though I do remember the photo you mention. (I remember the publicity about Collier being the 'new' Aurora before the première - that was the month in which I saw my first ballet performances, so it holds iconic status for me! Though I was too late to book for the first night itself.)
  4. bridiem
    Yes, I checked the database too to double-check the date I'd thought it was, but the date of the anniversary performance wasn't there. Frustrating how incomplete the database is, even in respect of 'significant' performances (and even more frustrating that it's not necessarily entirely accurate). I do wonder though if Princess Margaret/Ashton/de Valois would really have been at a schools' matinée? I didn't check all the online casts though (less dedicated than Geoff!); but it could just be one of the performances that isn't yet listed.
  5. bridiem
    Thrilling to watch this! (Well, some of it - haven't had time to watch all of it yet). What has really struck me is how correct and how beautiful the dancing (and the performance as a whole) is; not correct as in dryly accurate, but correct as in perfectly proportioned, musical, fast, graceful, harmonious, joyous. Real dancing, with no apparent physical strain, so different from the extreme physicality of the way dancers 'dance' now. (I don't mean to disparage today's dancers - they are often wonderful, and are obviously required to move differently now, and they give what they are asked to give with enormous skill.) Only by seeing this old film do I fully realise/remember how much things have changed. Which is very sobering and for me quite upsetting. I'm a bit confused by which performance this actually is; it's not (as I initially assumed) the official performance of this production that was given for de Valois' 80th birthday (25 July 1978) in the presence of Princess Margaret - that was led by Collier/Dowell et al (and I was there and have the programme!). So Princess Margaret must have been at more than one performance (which I suppose wouldn't be all that surprising since she was President of the RB at the time). Wonderful to see Ashton and de Valois in the Royal Box with her at the start of the performance (though they seem to have disappeared by the end of it). Thank you very much to Floss for directing us to this, and to Geoff for posting the link.
  6. bridiem
    Strangely enough I love both ballet and Strictly! But I'm not interested in ballroom dancing more generally, I'm afraid, so I do find the new format of DT unhelpful to say the least. And I wonder how many ballroom fans really want all that ballet coverage. I imagine the decision was taken on cost grounds, but it's a great pity in my opinion.
  7. bridiem
    Accusing people who like The Two Pigeons of being 'Middle Englanders' (i.e., presumably, reactionary and narrow-minded) is pretty offensive (in various ways). I'm sure many ballet-goers (of whatever class, age and nationality) love 2Ps and Woolf Works, Ashton and MacMillan, Balanchine and Wheeldon, Fonteyn and Osipova, Tudor and Hofesh Shechter, Dowell and Acosta, Robbins and Akram Khan, De Valois and Mark Morris - and so on. That doesn't preclude criticism of some current trends in ballet, or of some repertoire choices made by the Royal Ballet (or others). And I'm sure that Kevin O'Hare would not have revived 2Ps based only on some letters he had received; he must also have believed it to be worth seeing again. (Similarly with the various works currently being suggested on the ROH website - he won't count up the 'votes' and schedule accordingly; he'll see how far the suggestions chime in with works he also wants to revive.)
  8. bridiem
    Yes, I would love to book for Insights as well as performances, but they cost as much as or more than a performance. And when I do occasionally try to book one, it's usually sold out anyway so I tend to assume I won't be successful and don't pay a huge amount of attention to what's on. But it's a great shame - I hope the empty seats weren't too obvious. I will pay more attention in future...
  9. bridiem
    Yes, I think Ferri's performance was very significant in the impact of Woolf Works. She couldn't be dehumanised if she tried. Maybe for once that inspired McGregor to use his heart rather than his head (or rather, his heart as well as his head).
  10. bridiem
    Sorry - didn't realise you were joking! Whatever Ashton said himself (clearly not very respectful!), I do find the feel of Monotones very different to that of much of McGregor's work. Though I loved Woolf Works - the first time for me that he did allow his dancers to be people, and it was wonderful.
  11. bridiem
    To me, the difference is that Ashton 'uses' his dancers beautifully and respectfully even when the movement is quite extreme. McGregor (most of the time) uses his dancers as bodies, not as people. Presumably that's his intention since he apparently takes pride in disregarding gender and the humanity of the human body. I have no interest in what the human body can do; I want to know what it can say.
  12. bridiem
    Clearly no knicker-shame nowadays! Quite the opposite, in fact...
  13. bridiem
    I fully agree that historical, social, political and personal contexts can all provoke interesting ways of discussing works of art, including ballets - I do think that ballet merits the same level of analysis as other art forms, though perhaps by its nature it's more elusive and at least in some cases somewhat less open to such contextual interpretations. What I don't agree with is defining a work by one or other of its possible contexts, or considering that it's 'escapist' to view the work on it own terms, as finally presented to the audience by the creator. Respect is due to the creator in that sense too.
  14. bridiem
    I would say that the gay sub-text is NOT clear, or evident at all, unless you happen to know something about Ashton's life (which most of the audience will not). A sub-text is just that - something below the surface which influences an artist to create what he or she creates. In my view, Ashton was the ultimate romantic (whatever context that involved in his own life); and (as is described above) The Two Pigeons is about love. Any sub-text may (or may not) be of interest; but the 'point' of the work is the overriding theme which is evident to all regardless of any sub-text.
  15. bridiem
    I was thinking along these lines. But I suppose you could argue that even where they weren't obviously transformative, these dancers (and others, obviously) meant that ballet could no longer be thought of as only the preserve of ballerinas simply by being so brilliant, by setting the bar for male dancers so high in their various different ways. Anyway I will look forward to seeing the programme.
  16. bridiem
    Thanks Janet - I'll look out for it.
  17. bridiem
    I have a feeling that Checkmate is quite a difficult ballet for very young dancers to perform; I think it needs maturity, stage presence, a theatrical awareness etc that is more likely to be found in older dancers. I have also seen some wonderful performances of it.
  18. bridiem
    What a stunning bill! A real eye-opener. The joy of being able to relax, knowing that you're in the hands of a master. Beauty, craftsmanship and wisdom. I'd forgotten how perfect The Two Pigeons is. The moment when the second pigeon flies in (if it works! Which it did tonight) is surely one of the great moments in theatre, not just ballet. Heart-stopping. Superb dancing all round (Cuthbertson, Muntagirov, Morera et al) - I do understand Luke Jennings's comments about Cuthbertson but she is still very touching and dances beautifully, and M&M were magnificent. Monotones 1 and 2 - gripping! A few wobbles, mainly in 1 (Pajdak, Magri and Hay), but I found the clear commitment of all the dancers this evening very moving. It looks to me as if Ashton is more difficult for current dancers to dance than most of the other rep at the moment, which is one of the good reasons to do more of it. But there was also a sense of the dancers coming home - really trying to serve the company's founder choreographer well and taking joy in so doing. Wonderful. P.S. How come the pigeons don't get to take a bow?!
  19. bridiem
    General: more Ashton, more Balanchine, more classical. Specific: Capriol Suite, Les Rendezvous, Les Patineurs, Tombeaux, Galanteries, Sons of Horus, Consort Lessons, Concerto, Danses concertantes, Solitaire, Dances at a Gathering, Liebeslieder Walzer, Concerto Barocco, Ballet Imperial, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Four Schumann Pieces (esp for Muntagirov), Dances of Albion, Pierrot Lunaire.
  20. bridiem
    I have to say that Collier totally convinced me in Swan Lake! The purity of her dancing made her a perfect and achingly vulnerable Odette but she still brought glitter and menace to Odile. But I do agree that Barbieri was an exceptional dancer.
  21. bridiem
    Well I don't suppose she would have been required to be a chicken... now that would have been worth seeing. But strange that she apparently couldn't suspend disbelief, as we all have to do so often in the theatre.
  22. bridiem
    Thanks for letting us know this, zxDAveM - I had thought that might happen (and in fact I'm quite surprised it was stopped previously).
  23. bridiem
    My head is spinning now! Cast changes with every turn of a pirouette.
  24. bridiem
    I suppose we must assume that Sarah Lamb has no such concerns about Coviello... let's hope she gives of her impressive best (and no injuries!), in which case the Milan audience should be very happy.
  25. bridiem
    I think that's rather horrible. No matter how much I may want to see a particular dancer, they can't do it on their own and many other things go towards making a great (or poor) performance. For a singer giving a recital, or some such, I can understand that the venue or promoter will want to charge whatever they think they can charge depending on the name of the performer; but for a company performance, the ballet's the thing.
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