Mary

Perhaps her whole attitude is more important than winning though. She has been so brave, and she is not whingeing- she actually laughs in the BBC interview- a very tough woman, much admired- that's what matters.

Yet another cold, but still another deadline...it's been raining for days....winter has been going on for at least a year...unable to go to any ballet - yes, a bottle of 'McRae' to spritz round the house is JUST what's needed!!

Really sorry, Moderators. That is quite intolerable. We all appreciate what you do.

The veneer of civilisation is always thin: it takes work to keep it in place.  Evidence of what happens when people give up trying, is all around.

I really appreciate this space for civilised discussion ( and also for fun and shared enthusiasm) and long may it continue.

Me too- all such fun isn't it.

I am so happy for the British pair, they have done amazingly well so far after all their travails.

Super.  All too short. So sweet to see the film of both of them as boys.

It would be fun to have a piece choreographed for these two to dance together.

1 hour ago, Barnes2 said:

The audiences, a little non-plussed at firs,t warmed to this company and this standard of performance and production, genuinely cheering at the end of each performance.

I'm curious as to why the audiences were non-plussed- isn't this BRBs home theatre? and they perform there all year round..so...

Thanks for the review.

I remember coming out of a BRB show with a friend a couple of years ago, and we both turned to one another and said simultaneously just  'Brandon Lawrence!!!'

I had never heard of him at the time.

He makes the impact. It's really hard to describe...but I think it's the great precision of his dancing, with a quality the best dancers have of almost imprinting the air- it must be precision of movement, and being exactly with the music and the tempo and completely engaged.

Wish I could see this. Great to read the reports anyway.

Thank you Janet, you have a positively encyclopediac knowledge....

There is quite a lot film of her on ice on youtube- she is delightful. You can see she is a dancer, rather than a sportswoman. One piece choreographed by our favourite, John Curry!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCP5sHjpGCQ

The RB film of Hayward being coached for Nutcracker (and used in the BBC documentary)  made the point very vividly that these big roles need an enormous amount of strength and stamina. You could see the strain, and the exhaustion, and the work of learning to pace and build the strength, - things we don't of course see in performance.... These rehearsal films are invaluable I find for deepening my appreciation of ballet. One can see that most young dancers would take time to build up that kind of stamina..and also, perhaps RB does wisely try to guard against making them overdo things and get injured. I suppose on the other hand, this can mean they don't always seem-and I use the word deliberately- to be getting enough such roles quickly enough... .

On the other hand it really makes me appreciate the steely toughness of a dancer like Nunez, as well as her grace and elegance.

Very interesting cross-over..I wonder how many of the dancers can skate? (except in Patineurs of course )

Yes I noticed that..that Mr Cousins...hmm,-but I think he was caught up in the drama of the moment. A singe slip..

Enjoyed very much the men's short pieces...(though could do with a bit less focus on boring old quads) and the commentaries by Robin Cousins and Christopher Dean. What a wealth of experience they have. Not sure how much expertise they have in ballet but they are very good communicators and really understand performance...perhaps one of them should present the live screenings :-)

Medvedeva is an old lady of -oh at least 18, Alison!

I've been watching it too this evening- a gripping and lovely contest, Thank you BBC i player!

Interesting that the- really beautiful- German piece was choreographed by Christopher Dean. Shame there was no GB pair for him to assist!

I love Act 2 as well BBB: seen it 5 times, loved it each time- I know others think it goes on too long, but not for me!

So glad you enjoyed the evening.

Just catching up on the pairs free programmes...it is making me muse about the difference between ballet and skating partnerships, (obviously there are great differences in the technique, forms and styles! ) especially in the light of recent discussions on the forum.

Some skating partnerships are amazingly long- 13 years ...even 20 years...the pairs come to move as one....(of course that is more important in skating) and they work on a few short pieces with great intensity.

One recent poster expressed admiration for the way ballet dancers manage so many different roles, and they also work with many partners and as part of  a more complex whole; - it is so much more challenging in that sense. True, there are some long ballet partnerships but they are much more intermittent and am I imagining it, or has it become less common for partnerships to last?

I was wondering to myself what might be the effect if a ballet pair were able/allowed to just work together very intensely for many years: of course, presupposing they went well together..and how long does it take to decide it isn't working? With so few performances, it might take all too long.  But then again, so many factors tend to split up partners we all admire.

Just musing.......

I don't think a company would be very happy if their dancers engaged in debate on forums.

My contract certainly prevented me from talking to the media and I imagine most jobs now have some such restriction.  It isn't hard to see why if you think about it.

So they can't defend themselves- on the other hand they do get an enormous amount of public praise and affection most people will certainly never receive for their work.......

18 hours ago, SheilaC said:

It will be great to see Hobsons again and Fille will be a delight. But no Balanchine once more even though BRB used to dance a wide range of his masterpieces, and dance them well. .

 

But the biggest disappointment for me is that the North East is virtually ignored. Just one programme in Sunderland, instead of the usual two, and no doubt only four performances at that (they used to do eight a week, plus perform at Newcastle) and no midscale performances at all,  although York and Durham were successful venues. Most of the venues they are going to are in areas which enjoy far more ballet and dance performances than the North East or North Yorkshire.

I so agree, I am suffering Balanchine withdrawal symptoms...just hoping we might  get some from RB.

Interesting review of the new Iolanthe, thanks Geoff. I love G&S but it has to be really good....

(The last line is a little patronising though isn't ?! 'Take a young child or an aged relative' - )

30 minutes ago, standingticket said:

I wondered if the 'reconciliation' pas de deux in act 3 might have been expanded, but that's probably my poor memory! 

 

While I loved this wonderful action packed ballet as much as I always do, I felt that it seemed like some of the partnerings were still getting used to each other in these roles, as there were lots of substitutions for this cast.  

 

Some other scattered thoughts (one of the great things about this forum is not having to assemble these into prose!) 

- Isabella Gasparini really stood out the corps

- I felt like Hirano portrayed Leontes as being taken over by an external force, rather than the envy coming from within, which was interesting.  It was certainly a more gutteral, vengeful, desperate portrayal than others I have seen. 

- Loud (loudest?) cheers for Laura Morera's Paulina

- Sambe and Stix Brunell are an excellent pairing. They were radiant! 

 

 

 

Interesting if so about the reconciliation scene, because that was one of the main criticisms I seem to recall- that this moment passed far too quickly.

Were there any changes in the production this time round that anyone could see?

I second RuthE- English Touring Opera are really good, and affordable.

What about some live screenings though as well? I have used those to broaden my experience because I can't  afford to go to live opera much these days.

I thought Adam Rippon was very nice...I do tend to judge all the routines just on aesthetic grounds, not knowing much about it.

But yes the Russian women are amazing and all the Canadians!

I've just been watching the BBC introduction to the winter games ,  with,- hurray- a feature on the British figure skating pair Coomes and Buckland. I was very impressed by the amazing bravery of Penny Coomes- what a terrible injury she had, her knee shattered, and some film of her struggle to recover really made me wince in pained sympathy.

I shall hope to see them on the ice next week and wish them all the best, they deserve it....It all seems to be in the middle of the nnight but perhaps we will get some in the summary programmes and on i player, hope so..

I suppose the problem is, who is going to subsidise it...