Ondine

Yes, it was put on Twitter and I can't stop watching it, and humming along and 'doing the arms'. Gorgeous. I love that ballet. Though nothing to do with SB May & June run as you say, & I was told off earlier in this thread for posting vintage SB tutus (Margot Fonteyn's frilly gussett takes some beating though) so here's Carabosse's goth carriage to get us back on track (sorry). I can't decide if I like this or Cinderella's buttoned padded pumpkin the best.

Naturally Alastair Macaulay has an 'essay'! https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/dry6w74i5lw1ze3n9gjgd1vm8z2y2e And a photo worth seeing The concluding tableau of George Balanchine’s “Ballet Imperial”, as staged by Balanchine for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet at Covent Garden in 1950, with new designs by Eugene Berman. There were eighteen curtain calls. Margot Fonteyn is the ballerina, Beryl Grey (kneeling) the soloist.

I can't help, it's the first I've heard of this, but it all sounds like a worthwhile experience and I see there are some bursaries available to cover the costs. £30 for the audition, dates in June and July, Birmingham Royal Ballet Studios Weekend and weekday rehearsal sessions (schedule to be announced), commencing late August 2023 Performance: 25 February 2024 Cost: £720* (payable in instalments) I'm assuming weekdays will be after school so I suspect you'd have to be reasonably local. Give them a ring? Also looking at the photos, it seems all ages are welcome to apply, from eight to eighty and possibly up! After three hugely successful previous Dreams productions, Birmingham Royal Ballet is delighted to announce the return of Sleeping Beauty Dreams during the 2023/24 season. If you’re a dance student aged eight and above we’d love you to get involved. This is a fantastic opportunity for dancers young and old, and with varied levels of experience, to perform on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage alongside some of our world-class dancers. Sign up now for an audition workshop below. Secure a place to join us from this summer for regular rehearsals and workshops, all culminating in the performance on 25 February 2024.

I believe she had a chronic knee injury, towards the end of her dancing career. She did the fouettes for many years. Personally, I think they have become overrated and a circus act at times, with the audience whooping and clapping and cheering, rather like the balances in SB. The 'will she won't she' aspects of this don't always make for happy viewing. I dislike that a small mishap and that's all anyone can talk about, no matter how wonderful the rest of the performance and how beautifully danced all the other steps are. In Nutcracker Sugar Plum Fairy, not many dancers actually perform the gargouillades 'properly' but I don't see mass outrage.

Rather like those 32 fouettes in Swan Lake, where dancers such as Anna Pavlova, Alexandra Danilova, Alicia Markova, Maya Plisetskaya apparently did alternative steps?

It's fine for those able to book in person, but not everyone is able to do that. It's all these add ons which make theatre (and cinema) going more and more expensive and many are having now to cut back. However, I do feel 50p per person added on for the building is really pushing it TBH. I would have hoped that was factored in to ticket prices for all. It won't end at 50 will it?

While on the subject of the Wells, this is sneaky. A 50p per seat extra levy.

I've been going through the Sarasota Ballet's official 'channels', there is so much very good stuff there and a great deal of it has had relatively few views. The Balanchine ones are the exception, though I suspect that's because anyone doing a google search for the name brings those up. https://www.youtube.com/@thesarasotaballet/videos What an amazing achievement this company is. Also, its small theatre is beautiful. Lucky Sarasota! https://vimeo.com/704233033?ref=tw-share I'll highlight this one. At the time of posting it's only had 110 views in six months, which is a shame. Link is an embedded one and you can go straight to the official YouTube channel from it. Costumes with Jerry Wolf - Sir Kenneth MacMillan Danses Concertantes. One word, weird. The costumes, not Jerry! Jerry Wolf is Head of Wardrobe. I'm envious. Here he is on designing for a new ballet, from the official Vimeo channel https://vimeo.com/629432047?ref=tw-share In preparation for the World Premiere of Ricardo Graziano's Sonatina, we spoke with Jerry Wolf, Head of Wardrobe for The Sarasota Ballet, on the design process behind the creation of Sonatina's costumes.

However, on the positive side I made a cuppa, followed the link through and rewatched the recent Sleeping Beauty Insight, I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it! (For anyone who has, it's even better on another viewing.)😊

Hamlet & Ophelia is part of this. Approx 38 mins in.

William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward? This is confusing as surely it has already happened? I recall seeing it! October 27th is not a Wednesday in 2023. It was 2021. http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/news.html The first performance of a new production of Hamlet and Ophelia, formerly Hamlet Prelude, will also be given at the Insight on 27 October. Created by Ashton in 1977 for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, the piece has not been seen for well over 40 years, and only once in this country. The revival is staged by Wayne Eagling, on whom Ashton created much of the role of Hamlet (Nureyev not being available) and who subsequently danced several performances with Fonteyn on an overseas tour. The work is presented in new designs by painter Sarah Armstrong-Jones, her first designs for ballet. The roles of Hamlet and Ophelia will be danced by William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward. The Insight evening, featuring Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers, also includes extracts on film and in live performance of the Foundation's popular Ashton Rediscovered masterclasses of rarely-performed Ashton works. The Insight, sponsored by the Ballet Association, forms part of ROH Insights supported by Rolex and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and will be streamed on ROH digital platforms in due course. 22 October 2021 Ashton "in 2023" & which is going to cause more confusion I think? https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/frederick-ashto-royal-academy-o-21976 They all appear in the film as talking heads with Hayward—and William Bracewell—being coached by Wayne Eagling in rehearsal for Hamlet and Ophelia (formerly Hamlet Prelude created in 1977 for Fonteyn and Nureyev), which can be seen at an Insight evening at the Linbury theatre on 27 October 2023. Next year, The Royal Opera House also promises two Ashton triple bills and Sarasota Ballet at ROH promises Valses nobles et sentimentales, Dante Sonata, Sinfonietta and Façade.

Not 'Links in the Chain' but I feel another connected link in the Ashton chain! One which also deserves wider viewing. The Sarasota Ballet 'Through The lens - Sir Frederick Ashton's Impact and Legacy' is an interesting, intelligent and insightful discussion re Ashton, his ballets, the challenges of dancing them and more. The two films viewed together are a great introduction to the man and his 'style'. Danielle Brown, Daniel Pratt, & notator Grant Coyle Possibly also bear in mind the other threads about Ashton and the influences of his Cecchetti training on his work. Embedded link, you can go through to the Sarasota Ballet's excellent YouTube channel from here too.

I think it is the way it is written by 'Luke' which is confusing. Unsure if it was two separate performances. I'm sure out there is an explanation.

Yes it is confusing! Archive: https://digitalarchiveontario.ca/objects/241761/framed-dancer-in-metro-ballet-superstar-mikhail-baryshnikov https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objects/241752/a-long-time-coming-it-took-almost-10-years-but-mikhail-bar 1984 gala?

I rewatched this this afternoon via the wonders of YouTube and underneath is a wonderful comment posted a month ago from 'lucky luke' about working with Ashton This embedded link leads directly to YT the Ashton Foundation channel. I'm posting the comment here in full, on the grounds of scholarship and my firm belief small histories such as this are readily lost and yet are so very important when it comes to 'restaging' Ashton's ballets. It's so easy NOT to read the YT comments and yet scattered there are many small gems posted by interesting people. I'm sure some delving will bring up who 'lucky luke' is and when it was he danced Oberon! "Wow! That brings back a lot of memories when Mr.Asthon came to Toronto at the National Ballet of Canada to look at the finish product of his Mid Summer Night's Dream in the studio a few days before opening night. I was doing Oberon at the time and half way through my solo, Mr Asthon stops the music and looks at me and says: My goodness, young man! You are not a left turner, are you? And naturally, I replied! Is it that obvious? The ballet mistress whom staged this production insisted that it be identical to the original cast and since Mr Dowell was a left turner, I had to abide by her rules. (I won't name her here) Mr Ashton looks at this ballet mistress who was sitting next to him with a look on his face that said : What is this?......Some kind of torture? Mr Ashton, who was freaking out because opening night for the presentation of The Dream, which was also a gala performance involving Baryshnikov's first appearance after his defection, looks at me and says: Young man, please! Adjust every thing to the right! Without a word I proceeded to please him (and myself). Being unusually tall for a dancer, moving fast is quite a challenge however I do enjoy speed. And since nobody else wanted to take up the challenge of that role, I said to myself. Let's make the best of it! When you are 19 years old, what have you got to loose? Just imagine an elephant moving like a bee! That's essentially what it felted like! After the rehearsal, Mr Ashton came over to me and said: Damn!.........That was better than Anthony! Somehow........I doubt that! But it sure got me boosted for opening night! Thank you Mr Ashton!"

I wasn't sure quite where to put this, I'm sure if it's in the wrong place 'the mods' will move it. Or disappear it 😐 😉😏 Newly published on its YT channel (this is an embedded link) I found this short film from Sarasota Ballet engaging, inspiring and actually, quite moving. SB has a full, rich and something for almost everyone community engagement program(me). Well worth a little of your time. What a wonderful company! I hope its visit to London brings it the wider audience it clearly deserves.

There's a fair bit of stuff floating around YouTube purporting to show Cecchetti port de bras (and other work) which bothers me too, especially the head which seems to have gone from 'incline to incline' to 'incline to turn' on the first one which it never was? (It's important, for a variety of reasons.) Alas the Manual says one thing and illustrates another. And yes flourishes of hands etc. Lead down with the little finger and keep it SIMPLE! And keep it low! Otherwise if the audience is watching from the stalls you're shading your face and all that. (Classical Theatrical Dancing as the Manual has it.) But it was the best I could find at the time. I thought perhaps my memory was failing!! The KS students also seem to have a variety of 'heads' ... and the 'hooking' of the arm on the second, etc. Others things I could say. A couple have raised heads, so an audience would not see faces at all, only underneath of chins! I'm unsure if these are all KS students, as they are sporting numbers. These are far more difficult than they first appear, and the urge to be 'fancy dancey' needs to be resisted. Less is more! Second set is even more challenging to get 'right', but such good training. There is also someone posting on YouTube what she claims is 'Cecchetti port de bras based' and 'creative' which is in my opinion appalling arm wafting & hand waving and any link with Cecchetti is tenuous to say the least. Sadly, there is no means of preventing anyone using the name it seems. I gather many people have been shouting at her (she also has a blog where she tries to justify this) but she carries on regardless. As for recorded music, I believe it is now an option. I've not looked at this in depth, I don't know if this is for Majors as well as lower levels of exam Look at ISTD site and Examination Review 2023

Fun fact: Chisato Katsura was the cat in the 2010 film of Peter & The Wolf, made while she was at the Royal Ballet School. Typecast! 🙂 It was broadcast I recall during lockdown, and very welcome it was too. One of the ROH #OurHouseToYourHouse series. Cast Sergei Polunin (The Wolf) Will Kemp (Grandfather) Kilian Smith (Peter) Charlotte Edmonds (Duck) Laurine Muccioli (Bird) Chisato Katsura (Cat) Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Paul Murphy Choreographer: Matthew Hart Here she is, in this short 'promo' clip!

And here she is as White Cat, last night's SB, scroll through photos. Hopefully now all fully recovered, it must have been a dreadfully worrying time.

Still done I think, though that's RAD exam, not Cecchetti of course.

I can recall when you could have a choice and have pointe shoes made to order with, say a higher vamp or back, or different shank, and I'm not talking only of those made for dancers in a company, who had their own lasts and whose shoes were stamped with their name. So there was more individuality than a factory process. Though yes, some were decidedly iffy, though often also you could specify which 'maker' you wanted as each had their own coded stamp. A great deal of trial and error required, and they were never cheap. Also you could have happy chats with Mr Porselli in his amazing shop about his recollections of Pavlova from when he was a boy, who used to give him apples. 🤩 Update Thanks to the joys of Google, I have found this: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/five-hidden-treasures-forgotten-london Mr Porselli's ballet shoe lasts are in the Museum of London collection. "These wooden shoe lasts were used by Colombano Porselli to create beautiful hand-made ballet shoes. Many of the lasts were individually crafted to the exact shape of the feet of the world’s greatest ballet dancers, to ensure the shoes were a perfect fit. Within our wonderful costume collections we also have some finished ballet shoes made by Porselli, who came to to London from Milan in the 1920s. The ballet shoes are beautiful, of course, but for me it is the processes and skill involved in making the shoes that is of greater interest. It was such a pleasure to handle Porselli’s hand tools, lasts and workshop materials during our collections review- particularly because I remember visiting the Porselli shop near Cambridge Circus as a child, to get my ballet shoes! These objects have such a personal connection to their owner- it's easy to imagine him using them in his cramped tiny workshop. I'm so glad the museum had the opportunity to collect these items when Porselli's closed in the 1980s and preserve one small fragment of London's working heritage." I can smell that shop still, and I hope someone somewhere has photos of that window display, which had never been changed for many, many years, with its faded photos and shoes, with the cellophane bags falling to pieces. Inside the tiny shop were more signed photos from grateful dancers and shelves stacked floor to ceiling with boxes. Mr Porselli had to be summoned from his workshop by ringing the bell, the shop door was usually locked. I have an old last from Anello and Davide, bought at an antique fair, possibly I should donate that to the Museum.

I know what Markova meant, I'm not sure it was totally serious, but it was often Cecchetti above the waist too! Especially in many of his early works. I'd link to the footage of him and Markova in Foyer de Danse but last time I did it 'vanished' from the forum, as did footage of Duncan! Patineurs, Rendezvous? Ashton was Cecchetti below the waist and Duncan above the waist. I also feel he used the skills gained from the daily execution of the Cecchetti eight port de bras to be 'free' in his choreography, and expect those he worked with to be able to do the same? Sir Frederick Ashton wrote in a letter to Richard Glasstone; "If I had my way, I would always insist that all dancers should daily do the wonderful Cecchetti port de bras, especially beginners. It inculcates a wonderful feeling for line and correct positioning of the use of the head movement and epaulement which, if properly absorbed, will be of incalculable use through a dancer's career" (Kennedy, Notes for a Dancer, 2nd Edition 2006). Incidentally, I wonder if I'm one of the very few people left who actually saw Markova 'perform' the first set of Cecchetti port de bras? Many many years after she retired as a dancer, she could demonstrate all four perfectly. A very special 'hold your breath' moment, especially when she was joined by former Cecchetti students, I recall Laura Wilson (who danced with Diaghilev) and Margaret Marsh (went to Italy to study with Cecchetti) and others? There's another 'Cecchetti' thread on here where I've put further quotes from Ashton re Cecchetti.

This is sad. As a 'heritage craft' it appears pointe shoe making in the UK is considered critically endangered. Critically endangered Crafts classified as ‘critically endangered’ are those at serious risk of no longer being practised in the UK. They may include crafts with a shrinking base of craftspeople, crafts with limited training opportunities, crafts with low financial viability, or crafts where there is no mechanism to pass on the skills and knowledge. https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/categories-of-risk/ I can remember when Freed, Anello and Davide, Gamba, Mr Porselli in his amazing time warp West Street shop (who remembers?) all were the 'go to' manufacturers in the UK for pointe shoes. Some are hanging on in there, but for how long?

So it was hit and miss as to who got the orchestra? Nottingham didn't? Peteborough also drew the short straw it seems.

I agree, though I don't see what's wrong with it really. Nottingham had the orchestra at least? Nothing wrong with saying, 'Good in parts but it needs to be better'. "Patronising to the people of Peterborough: BRB2’s Carlos Acosta Classical Selections reviewed There was no scenery, rudimentary lighting, recorded music and junior company dancers – this wasn’t the real thing"