Royal Ballet Ashton mixed bills, June 2024

[art_enthusiast]

6 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I find it hard to believe that Isabel Lubach & Casper Lench was an originally intended pairing!

They were lovely though, Caspar is a delight to watch.

 

I really enjoyed tonight’s performance. Thought Osipova/Bracewell were very captivating in the Dream, and Taisuke Nakao as Puck - wow! I really liked Magri in the Isadora Duncan piece which I have never seen before. I also very much enjoyed the pairing of Lamb/Corrales in Hamlet and Ophelia.

 

I very much liked the Walk to the Paradise Garden - if anyone could enlighten me a bit on what it is about I would appreciate it!

 

Rhapsody was sparkling with Sae Maeda and Acri - I really like him in general so was glad to see him twice. 

[li tai po]

The Walk to the Paradise Garden is a symphonic interlude towards the end of the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius, which is itself based on a novel by the Swiss author, Gottfried Keller.  The opera and the novel describe a Romeo and Juliet situation in the countryside.  The lovers find each other and are blissfully happy together, but realise that they are alienated from the world and only have each other.  They resolve to maintain their current happiness in an unspoken suicide pact.  They float down the river on a hay barge, deliberately sink it and drown.

Ashton recreated the essence of the opera in his short pas de deux for Merle Park and David Wall.  At the end they seek death, who enfolds them in his arms.  The final moments show the lovers drowning within the cloak of the river.  Death was created by Derek Rencher, the first Edward Elgar in Enigma Variations

Edited June 18 by li tai po

[Bluebird]

32 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I wonder if there were other cast changes in Rhapsody today besides Acri subbing for Ikarashi. I find it hard to believe that Isabel Lubach & Casper Lench was an originally intended pairing!

I’m pretty sure they danced together in the general rehearsal as well as in the previous performance of this evening’s cast.

Edited June 18 by Bluebird

[Dawnstar]

I'm surprised to hear that, given she looked slightly taller than him even when not en pointe & inches taller when en pointe.

[LinMM]

I was so drawn to looking at Caspar in Rhapsody that I hardly noticed his partner!! In fact was feeling pleased with myself that I was able to identify all the female dancers except Caspar’s partner! 
He gives off such joy when he’s dancing he really made me smile. 
Im getting to really like Sumina Sasaki too. 

I think I saw you Dawnstar…were you on the end of a row bench seat and wearing either a white or pale grey blouse with white gloves of course?

I was up in the Balcony so looking directly across. 

Edited June 18 by LinMM

[art_enthusiast]

13 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Im getting to really like Sumina Sasaki too. 

Same, she always has a really nice smile on stage 

[Linnzi5]

I really enjoyed tonight! I loved The Dream - it's such a lovely ballet. I knew I'd love Bracewell, for me, he has been the best so far - so I won't say any more on that.  Osipova is someone who I admire very much - in terms of her individuality and acting - but she doesn't always work for me. However, I thought she was delightful - and considering she has an injury, I was especially impressed.  Other performances were very good but perhaps not as strong as some I've seen this run.

 

I really liked Magri in the homage to Duncan. She had a lovely quality and I felt she really inhabited her role. The Walk to the Paradise Garden was very good - the PDD was  just lovely. I still think the end is weird though!

 

I wasn't so keen on Hamlet and Ophelia this time. Corrales didn't work for me in terms of his acting (dancing was good) and though Lamb was delicate and vulnerable, I can't deny I preferred Hayward and Bracewell in this.

 

Rhapsody I really liked. I don't profess to be an expert on the technicalities of the choreography, but I felt Acri did really well. He had more personality than some and seemed to pull off the technical moves quite well. I thought he and Maeda danced well together and she seemed more confident than when I last saw her. I did notice the difference in height between Lench and his partner and I'm blaming him for me noticing so much - when he dances, I'm drawn to him so I ended up watching him most of the time! 😂 Rob Clark and Kate Shipway, as always, played beautifully - I love to listen to them. 

 

So, a delightful evening. I'm looking forward to tomorrow very much! 

[LinMM]

I thought Cesar was very good in this as he has such a powerful

stage presence even when he’s just standing I feel connected to what’s going on for him. 
However what a strange Piece this is!  and I didn’t feel it was that well received by the audience. 

Before the show started I was with a friend and we happened to be joined on our table by non other than Wayne Eagling!!

She had been to an insight in which he had spoken about this Hamlet Piece that he had danced in many years ago so were remembering this. 

Tonight he was saying that it was originally supposed to be choreographed on Nureyev but he didn’t particularly want to do it ( for some reason) so Wayne ended up learning it first to perform and then had to teach it to Nureyev!….. and I think the latter only danced it once in the end. 

I couldn’t resist telling Wayne that I still had his photo wishing me happy birthday from 1974!!! What a nice Guy though so easy to talk to.

 

Anyway it’s not a Piece I can get very excited about to be honest but felt a bit bereft I won’t be seeing Cesar dance again until the end of October!! 
 

I really loved Mayara in the Duncan Piece it really suited her. I think it takes quite a lot of courage for a classically trained dancer to move so freely to the music as Duncan did with such abandon. She got my loudest applause of the night! 
 

 

[Dawnstar]

2 hours ago, LinMM said:

I was so drawn to looking at Caspar in Rhapsody that I hardly noticed his partner!! In fact was feeling pleased with myself that I was able to identify all the female dancers except Caspar’s partner! 
He gives off such joy when he’s dancing he really made me smile. 
Im getting to really like Sumina Sasaki too. 

I think I saw you Dawnstar…were you on the end of a row bench seat and wearing either a white or pale grey blouse with white gloves of course?

I was up in the Balcony so looking directly across. 

 

I failed to identify Bomin Kim again but managed the rest.

 

I was on the end of a bench, on the left of the stalls circle. My blouse has a pattern of small red flowers on a white ground so perhaps at a distance in lowish light it could have looked white.

[Dawnstar]

Some curtain call photos from tonight, as (rather to my surprise) no one else has posted any yet. I hope this isn't too many but with 5 pieces each with their own cast, including some debuts, I'm finding it difficult to cut down any further - though I have cut down most of the photos to reduce the repeated masses of red velvet curtains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MaddieRose]

I loved last night's performance. Other than Rhapsody this was my first time seeing all these works live. 

 

I was very impressed with the synchronicity of the fairy corps in The Dream. I thought Natalia Osipova and William Bracewell worked really well together. Taisuke Nakao made a brilliant debut as Puck. There's one movement where Oberon and Puck are executing similar turns across the stage, and I really enjoyed the contrast of Oberon being more noble and Puck being a lot more wild. Valentino Zucchetti was hilarious as Bottom, he got what seemed to be a quite initially hesitant (at least from where I was sitting) audience laughing. 

 

Magri was superb in the Isadora Duncan piece, as was Kate Shipway on the piano. The Walk to the Paradise Garden was probably the piece I was most glad I had background on, but Ricky Rhodes and Jenn Hackbarth were brilliant. Hamlet and Ophelia was probably my least favourite piece of the night - Sarah and Cesar were very good, there was just something about it that didn't really click for me. 

 

Rhapsody was good, though I felt it was at its best when the men were dancing together and when the women were dancing together. Sae Maeda was lovely, and Acri did a good job - although his jumps weren't quite as dynamic as other dancers his turns were strong. 

 

I'm excited to go back tonight and see different casts in Dream and Rhapsody. 

[annamk]

For me William Bracewell was outstanding in The Dream yesterday evening. His Oberon was imbued with a brilliant edgy spookiness and tinged with otherworldly wildness. It was more somehow more real and convincing than any other interpretation I’ve seen - for the record I never saw Antony Dowell. The reconciliation pdd with Natalia Osipova was magical. 

[Silke H]

Instagram 18 June 2024

 

i absolutely second @annamk and am so glad I have another Oberon Bracewell show to watch coming up. 
 

[Emeralds]

Beautiful photos, @Dawnstar and @Silke H- thank you. Lovely to see them with their bouquets and that little laugh Sae and Luca shared in front of the curtain. Great to see Jennifer Hackbarth (with a bouquet) and Ricardo Rhodes on the Main Stage in your photos - they were excellent in the Linbury performances with Sarasota Ballet but their fellow principals Gimenez and Graziano (both also excellent in TWTTPG) were dancing when I attended on 7 June. 

Lubach and Lench danced together on 7 June also and the heights worked fine - in a photo I have where they are standing side by side, he looks slightly but definitely taller, and I think the partnering for the ensemble is straightforward enough such that it's not crucial for the men to have significantly shorter female partners. 

Edited June 19 by Emeralds

[Sim]

1 hour ago, annamk said:

For me William Bracewell was outstanding in The Dream yesterday evening. His Oberon was imbued with a brilliant edgy spookiness and tinged with otherworldly wildness. It was more somehow more real and convincing than any other interpretation I’ve seen - for the record I never saw Antony Dowell. The reconciliation pdd with Natalia Osipova was magical. 

So annoyed that I am missing them. 

 

[Dawnstar]

5 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Great to see Jennifer Hackbarth (with a bouquet) and Ricardo Rhodes on the Main Stage in your photos

 

She looked so pleased & surprised when the bouquet was brought out to her. It made me wonder if Sarasota don't usually have bouquets at their curtain calls so she wasn't expecting to get it. (Unfortunately my photo of the moment is out of focus so I can't post it.)

[Scheherezade]

5 hours ago, annamk said:

For me William Bracewell was outstanding in The Dream yesterday evening. His Oberon was imbued with a brilliant edgy spookiness and tinged with otherworldly wildness. It was more somehow more real and convincing than any other interpretation I’ve seen - for the record I never saw Antony Dowell. The reconciliation pdd with Natalia Osipova was magical. 

I so agree, Anna. I loved, loved, loved Bracewell’s Oberon, pretty much pitch perfect in every respect: unearthly, imperious, spectral, unnerving. It mirrored my idea of Oberon in every way, and I did see Dowell. And a great partnership with Osipova but, that said, who doesn’t he partner brilliantly? He just gets better and better but last night, for me, was his best yet. 
 

It was also my first viewing of the less than enthusiastically received short works but I have to say that I rather enjoyed them and wonder whether the general reaction had something to do with the somewhat bleak subject matter?

 

I have never been particularly enamoured with anything remotely ‘Isadora Duncan’ but Mayara Magri’s rather lovely lyricism went at least some way to changing my mind and this was one of those rare occasions when the Brahms waltzes didn’t bore me. I wouldn’t make a point of seeing them again but I would definitely watch them - and enjoy them if danced by Magri, which I hope will happen on Friday at my second viewing of this bill. 
 

Ashton’s Walk to the Paradise Garden was completely new to me and I thought that it was beautifully danced by Hackbarth and Rhodes, who seemed to revel in being freed from the confines of the small Linbury stage. A lush, unforced, totally convincing performance. It should be part of the regular RB rep. 
 

I did see an extract from Hamlet and Ophelia danced on the Linbury stage by Bracewell and Hayward some time back now and I loved it then. Corrales gave us a rather different Hamlet: more physical, more overtly dramatic. He certainly seems to have a lien on emotionally disturbed royals at the moment. It will be interesting to see Hayward and Bracewell again on Friday but I thought, meanwhile, that Corrales gave a very valid reading, particularly when pitched against Sarah Lamb’s unequivocal purity, and despite the unrelieved darkness of the piece, I think it has a power and resonance that deserves to be seen again. 
 

So on to Rhapsody and my third time with Luca Acri. I swear I will scream if he steps in as a replacement again on Friday. That said, I do think that he has noticeably grown into the role over the course of these performances. Last night was sharper, neater, more confident. And the nonchalance, the insouciance, was much more in evidence. I thought that Sae Maeda was a little tense to begin with but she relaxed into things by the pdd - and, by the way, I loved her finger flicks - and brought a real sense of enjoyment as the piece grew, and moved to its quirky conclusion. 

[Dawnstar]

My mother, who is seeing The Dream for the first time this evening, just asked me if it still has the original sets & costumes. So I checked the ROH database & found that while the same costume designer is still credited currently as was credited for the original, David Walker, the original set designer was someone different, Henry Bardon. Can anyone recall what the original set was like? Was it very different from the current one?

[Scheherezade]

17 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

She looked so pleased & surprised when the bouquet was brought out to her. It made me wonder if Sarasota don't usually have bouquets at their curtain calls so she wasn't expecting to get it. (Unfortunately my photo of the moment is out of focus so I can't post it.)

Those are lovely photos, Dawnstar. And, yes, Jennifer Hackbarth did look surprised (and delighted), didn’t she?

[Emeralds]

16 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

My mother, who is seeing The Dream for the first time this evening, just asked me if it still has the original sets & costumes. So I checked the ROH database & found that while the same costume designer is still credited currently as was credited for the original, David Walker, the original set designer was someone different, Henry Bardon. Can anyone recall what the original set was like? Was it very different from the current one?

I wasn't born yet when it premiered  but I guess you can say the sets are definitely different- Henry Bardon, as you say, not David Walker, was the original designer. I think (70% sure)  the costumes might be slightly different for the humans and Puck from what I recalled of old photos in a book I saw ages ago. Titania and Oberon's look very similar. I can't find any old pictures of the other characters online to share a link, unfortunately. 

Edited June 19 by Emeralds

[Linnzi5]

7 hours ago, annamk said:

For me William Bracewell was outstanding in The Dream yesterday evening. His Oberon was imbued with a brilliant edgy spookiness and tinged with otherworldly wildness. It was more somehow more real and convincing than any other interpretation I’ve seen - for the record I never saw Antony Dowell. The reconciliation pdd with Natalia Osipova was magical. 

You said this more eloquently than I could have. I totally agree with all you say.  Alas, I have never seen Dowell in this role either.

52 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

I so agree, Anna. I loved, loved, loved Bracewell’s Oberon, pretty much pitch perfect in every respect: unearthly, imperious, spectral, unnerving. It mirrored my idea of Oberon in every way, and I did see Dowell. And a great partnership with Osipova but, that said, who doesn’t he partner brilliantly? He just gets better and better but last night, for me, was his best yet. 

I agree. Bracewell's Oberon is exactly as I imagine him to be - just perfect for me.  I would be so interested to hear your thoughts on Dowell - or anyone else who was fortunate enough to see him in this role.

52 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

It was also my first viewing of the less than enthusiastically received short works but I have to say that I rather enjoyed them and wonder whether the general reaction had something to do with the somewhat bleak subject matter?

I have enjoyed all of the short works - some have worked better for me than others but I wouldn't hesitate to see any of them again - hence me seeing so many. I just hope we get more of the same in the future!

52 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

I have never been particularly enamoured with anything remotely ‘Isadora Duncan’ but Mayara Magri’s rather lovely lyricism went at least some way to changing my mind and this was one of those rare occasions when the Brahms waltzes didn’t bore me. I wouldn’t make a point of seeing them again but I would definitely watch them - and enjoy them if danced by Magri, which I hope will happen on Friday at my second viewing of this bill. 

I'm not a fan of Duncan either and yet I enjoyed both Osipova and Magri very much. Magri had a lovely quality to her dancing last night and I think lyricism is the correct word for what I particularly enjoyed in her dancing.

52 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

 

Ashton’s Walk to the Paradise Garden was completely new to me and I thought that it was beautifully danced by Hackbarth and Rhodes, who seemed to revel in being freed from the confines of the small Linbury stage. A lush, unforced, totally convincing performance. It should be part of the regular RB rep. 

Yes. I thought they were wonderful and I would watch this again. I watched it and thought of a number of RB pairings who would do this work justice. I would hope that the costume of  - I'm not even sure what he's/it's called - but I will say, death (?) - could be changed. The costume reminded me of something from Ancient Egypt, vs science fiction,  which may well have been the intention.

52 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

So on to Rhapsody and my third time with Luca Acri. I swear I will scream if he steps in as a replacement again on Friday. That said, I do think that he has noticeably grown into the role over the course of these performances. Last night was sharper, neater, more confident. And the nonchalance, the insouciance, was much more in evidence. I thought that Sae Maeda was a little tense to begin with but she relaxed into things by the pdd - and, by the way, I loved her finger flicks - and brought a real sense of enjoyment as the piece grew, and moved to its quirky conclusion. 

Oh dear, three times is a bit unfortunate!

 

I hadn't seen Acri dancing this and after reading some thoughts from forum members, I was prepared to feel underwhelmed and I actually didn't. I do think Ikarashi is technically very, very sharp - more so than Acri,  but Acri had  some of that, yes, insouciance, required and I have found that lacking in others this run. I thought he did himself proud last night and I'd watch him again - and that's a good job because I am!  

 

Maeda did seem a little tense to begin with, I agree, but I thought she was lovely, There is a quality to her dancing that I admire. Which is good, because I've seen her a few times in this role! 

 

Thanks to @Dawnstar and @Silke H for the wonderful photos. I didn't post mine because they were as terrible as usual! 

[LinMM]

I was impressed with Osipova as Titania yesterday as she was much softer than I thought she might be but in fact very believable in the role. 
Bracewell who seems to be able to embrace almost any role was very good as Oberon and he and Osipova reacted well together.

Taisuke Nakoa was a very good Puck and did project the character to the audience really well but not quite as endearing as Caspar Lench was in the role for me! I would still have to put the Hayward/Sambe/Lench cast as my favourite for that sheer other worldliness and also enjoyed the latter cast in their roles of the  human love “triangles” Though yesterday Valentino Zucchetti nearly stole the show as Bottom. Brilliant performance from him!! 
It’s really difficult to describe Dowells quality in the Oberon role. It was just something about his general bearing and beautiful lines which gave him an other worldly quality anyway but Oberon seemed to suit him perfectly. 
That’s definitely not putting Bracewell or Sambe ( and I loved McRae in the role) down they are all good in slightly different ways but somehow that combination of Dowell and Sibley as Titania takes a lot of beating….just my view! 
It’s years since I saw the premiere of The walk to the Paradise Garden and it is a lovely piece very expressive to the already wonderful music but glad it wasn’t me having to control all that cloak coming and going at the end!!!! 
It’s still very striking theatrically speaking though I too didnt  like the costume of “Death” …he looked more like a Buddhist monk or similar so couldn’t square that with the figure of Death somehow ….set in the middle of some European ( well really German) idyll! 
More tonight am looking forward to the third Dream cast and Les Rendezvous again. 

Edited June 19 by LinMM

[alison]

22 minutes ago, LinMM said:

It’s still very striking theatrically speaking though I too didnt  like the costume of “Death” …he looked more like a Buddhist monk or similar so couldn’t square that with the figure of Death somehow ….set in the middle of some European ( well really German) idyll! 

Swiss, according to Wikipedia  

[LinMM]

Whoops yes Gottfried Keller was Swiss not German!! 
I read Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe but found it a bit depressing a bit like that other work we read in French at A level La Porte Etroite by Andre Gide 

It’s obviously thought all this suicidal literature is what adolescents must want 😳!!! 

[alison]

I did Fruhlings Erwachen for A-Level ...

[Scheherezade]

18 minutes ago, LinMM said:

… found it a bit depressing a bit like that other work we read in French at A level La Porte Etroite by Andre Gide 

I loved La Porte Etroite. 

[Scheherezade]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Taisuke Nakoa was a very good Puck and did project the character to the audience really well but not quite as endearing as Caspar Lench was in the role for me!

Me neither. 
 

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Valentino Zucchetti nearly stole the show as Bottom. Brilliant performance from him!! 

Tons of personality as always with him. 

[alison]

He's on again tonight.  Are they a bit short on Bottoms?

[Dawnstar]

I was wondering where Whitehead is. He was on a cast sheet at the start of the run, I think it was one of the Friends rehearsals, but doesn't seem to have been on as Bottom since.

[Emeralds]

15 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I was wondering where Whitehead is. He was on a cast sheet at the start of the run, I think it was one of the Friends rehearsals, but doesn't seem to have been on as Bottom since.

Thomas Whitehead was fantastic as Bottom on 7 June!  👏  Quite different to Joshua Junker's interpretation on 15 June. Both were brilliant - each brought a different personality and were so compelling to watch. 

 

1 hour ago, alison said:

I did Fruhlings Erwachen for A-Level ...

I came here and was wondering what the chat about A level texts was about.....but I've caught up now: Delius's AVRAJ.  🙂 For TWTTPG. Got it 👍 (This mixed bill has too many titles with lots of words!) 

Edited June 19 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

5 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

She looked so pleased & surprised when the bouquet was brought out to her. It made me wonder if Sarasota don't usually have bouquets at their curtain calls so she wasn't expecting to get it. (Unfortunately my photo of the moment is out of focus so I can't post it.)

Her colleague Macarena Gimenez (in the other cast for TWTTPG) got her bouquet before the red run, so maybe Jennifer thought she wasn't going to get one when the curtain came down without anything being presented to her. A sort of "Gotcha!" moment but I'm sure she was delighted when it appeared!

 

Hmm, I don't know if Sarasota Ballet dancers get bouquet presentations after performances routinely/often (I've never been to Sarasota.) They were very quick and efficient after all the programmes in Linbury Theatre- no first night, last show or gala speeches, no bouquet presentations (Linbury doesn't seem to have space for anyone else to get on the stage after Façade or Sinfonietta!) although Iain Webb seems to have covered all the thanks, milestones and thoughts in his introduction in the complimentary souvenir programme, so people could rush for trains, cloakrooms, refreshments etc I guess (not that the SB mixed bills were long anyway). But the dancers did get time to take their group bows, solo bows and hear the loud cheers, which is a nice balance. 

 

I would guess that Sarasota being Sarasota, the dancers probably do receive flowers/bouquets from family, friends or fans. but maybe they don't do stage presentations routinely like RB do for every performance? Someone will have to ask Jennifer/Macarena/Ricardo G/Ricardo R/Daniel if they are still around at the stage door after the show. 😊  I do think the routine bouquet presentations at ROH are good fun though, including Sarah Lamb's customary rose for her partner and for her conductor,  flower throws for farewells, etc. Part of the fun spectacle of it all. 😀 

Edited June 19 by Emeralds

[oncnp]

If you are on IG, Dancersdiary has some  great backstage pictures currently  in his stories

[LinMM]

Well Scheherazade you are obviously a much more empathetic soul than me if you loved La Porte Etroite!!! 
I was very much an ingenue at the time  I read it but still  I got very irritated with both main characters ….particularly Alissa!! 
It was obviously much loved by the teacher though as sometimes when she was reading from it she seemed on the verge of tears which affected me far more than the “tragic’ storyline lol!! 
Anyway must stop diverting this thread.
Just got in and need a cup of tea before more on tonight but thought Calvin Richardson excelled himself tonight as Oberon …Naghdi gorgeous!