Royal Ballet Ashton mixed bills, June 2024

[lady emily]

9 minutes ago, Jane S said:

 

Footnote - mildly relevant - something I wrote (for ballet.co.uk I'd guess) in 2011:

 

"Frederick Ashton, the ballet and Suffolk" could well be a sub-category of the delights awaiting us in heaven; for the moment, though, it's the title of a series of exhibitions and events running through the summer in Ipswich, Suffolk's county town.

 

The main attraction is a collection of Ashton memorabilia, photographs and costumes in Ipswich Town Hall, shown off at a private view last week. Some of the material is quite familiar, and some is borrowed from the recent Royal Ballet exhibition at the Lowry - but there are also some new things which I don't think have been shown publicly before. Family possessions (mostly relating to Ashton's mother) are touching to see; the most fascinating for me, though, is the series of German prints of dancers showing patterns made with ribbons - the very ones he took into the studio when making the picnic pas de deux in La Fille  mal Gardee. There they all are: the Xs, the Vs, the bit where Lise and Colas each hold four of the ribbons... it would be wonderful if they could have shown a video of the pas de deux next to these black and white, rather severely geometrical drawings, to show how genius can transform the commonplace into gold. There are also some of Sophie Fedorovitch's early drafts of the backcloth for Symphonic Variations, which were of course inspired by the Suffolk landscape.

 

To make the viewing into more of an occasion, Monica Mason and Anthony Russell-Roberts gave short speeches, and Mason had brought some of her dancers to give us just a little glimpse of the real thing. Christina Arestis and Gary Avis danced the Tango from Facade, nicely modulated to allow for the very close proximity of the audience, and Philip Mosley did the Clog Dance from Fille with only half the usual number of supporters (Francesca Filpi and Laura McCulloch); Paul Stobart was the piano accompanist. It was a nice evening - the sort of event where you casually ask the people next to you what their connection with Ashton is, and it turns out they are the current owners of his cottage in Yaxley and have to field lots of queries from pilgrims to his nearby grave.

This is wonderful, thanks for sharing, I had no idea this was on! I will absolutely try to go and see this! 

 

EDIT: Stupid me, missed the 2011 aspect! 

Edited June 23 by lady emily

[Shade]

Thanks to all posters on this topic- really interesting to read.

 

My husband was wondering if the piano used for the Duncan piece is the same one used for Rhapsody, so has to be moved down to the pit? Hence the need to tune it in the  interval. 

[OnePigeon]

I’m just glad the piano wasn’t randomly pushed across the stage by the dancers a la Gustave Le Gray (never forget).

 

I feel slightly bereft knowing these triples have finished and I won’t be returning again until Onegin - although who am I kidding?  I know I won’t be able to last that long and will be booking a rubbish, but just within budget, seat for Cinderella.

 

By the twist of ballet fate, Naghdi was my only Titania, so I can’t make any comparisons.  I would have loved to have seen Hayward and Osipova, but I pray they don’t leave it too long until it’s staged again and I get to see them next time.  I enjoyed Richardson’s characterisation and thought he did really well.  I felt the gaping loss of Leo Dixon’s omnipresence after last weeks impressive run of performances, it didn’t feel right without him 😁.  I have to give special praise to him and Lukas BB as Demetrius and Lysander as their performances were sharper and really brought the humour out more than Dubreuil and Serrano last night.  I loved Boswell’s mischievous little Puck and am a huge admirer of Zuchetti’s Bottom.  Again, these were the same as the cast I saw last week, so no comparisons for me.

 

I have long adored the music of Delius and have dreamed of seeing WTTPG for many years.  I thought Macarena Giminez was a beautiful, lyrical dancer and I adored this piece - it was the highlight of the short works by a mile for me.  The soaring melody and the stunning choreography brought a lump to my throat.  Viewed as Romeo and Juliet’s final PDD, I found it sensual, moving and so very beautiful.  I would love to see it again, but fear that might be my one and only viewing - how I wish these works had been filmed!  
 

Hamlet and Ophelia washed over me in a rather overly angst ridden haze - I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really feel anything.  I’ve never been a fan of the Duncan piece and this didn’t really change my mind, though I thought Osipova was a good fit for the role - I didn’t hate it by any means, but a little wafting goes a long way with me.  I do love Brahms though, so there was always that.

 

Rhapsody was a dance transformed after my lukewarm feelings about last weeks performance.  Hayward was all that is Ashton: lyrical and delicate on top yet strong and fleet footed, truly grace personified.  Jun was fantastic, bringing all the technical fireworks with magnificent elevation and I felt he brought the charisma to the role too - he looked confident and in control and showed no signs of nerves which I had felt throughout Acri’s performance. 
 

What a wonderful end to the season this year, these works will stay with me for some time.  Bravo to all the dancers and to the incomparable Sir Fred!  May we be blessed with lots more Ashton later next year 🙏🏻.

Edited June 23 by OnePigeon

[Scheherezade]

50 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

May we be blessed with lots more Ashton later next year 🙏🏻.

 

 By all the ballet gods:  🙏 🙏 🙏

[Dawnstar]

14 hours ago, lady emily said:

One niggle for me sitting off to the side tonight was that there was zero attempt to hide the transformation into the donkey. In fact it was easier to see that then the dancing. 
 

There are two small things from the play that bother me about the ballet (and yes, I know that they are different works of art!): 1) a major plot point of the play is that Helena is much taller than Hermia. Yet they are always two tall dancers in the ballet! But the one that bothers me more is that the choir sings as Titania enters her bed that “One aloof stands sentinel”. And then immediately all fairies leave! Could have easily taken the sung words out here!

 

Yes, having only seen The Dream from the side, twice on the right & 3 times on the left, one gets an all to good view of how unmagical the transformation is as the capering Rustics do not block it in the slightest. Like all to many ROH productions, both ballet & opera, this one was presumably rehearsed by a creative team who sat in the centre of the stalls!

 

I definitely agree with your first point. Considering the range of heights available among RB dancers nowadays it's a pity that the choreography has no reference to the characters being different heights. Having the likes of Buvoli or Mullova-Barley as Helena with Allnatt or Pantuso as Hermia could have been amusing if the choreography had allowed for it. Maybe Ashton didn't have suitable dancers of different heights available when he created the piece? Or I suppose he just might not have wanted to give the time to it, as it feels the Fairies very much come out best in terms of stage time in The Dream at the cost of the Lovers and even more so of all of the Mechanicals apart from Bottom.

 

As for "One aloof stands sentinel" it's a bit of a stretch but as Oberon comes forward to dismiss the Fairies could it be that they think he's going to stay to guard Titania? Though I admit that is rather clutching at straws.

 

1 hour ago, OnePigeon said:

I felt the gaping loss of Leo Dixon’s omnipresence after last weeks impressive run of performances, it didn’t feel right without him 😁.  I have to give special praise to him and Lukas BB as Demetrius and Lysander as their performances were sharper and really brought the humour out more than Dubreuil and Serrano last night.

 

Dixon as Demetrius and Braendsrod and Edmonds jointly as Lysander were my favourites in those roles. By the way, does anyone know why there were 4 Hermias & 4 Lysanders but only 3 Demetriuses & 2 Helens? Has it been the case in previous runs that some of the 4 roles have had more dancers cast than others or is it likely that the original plan would have been for 4 dancers in each roles but due to injuries or illnesses some of them never performed, like Masciari as Puck?

[Suffolkgal]

9 hours ago, Mary said:

That reminds me of a charming little video Gary Avis - who lives in Suffolk too I believe -  posted during/just after lockdown of himself doing the Fred step in homage outside Ashton's house.

He is indeed a proud Suffolk “buh” and posts lovely pics from our county on his instagram. He has done so much for dance in Suffolk. When Sir Fred went to his long reward I was working on a local paper and was called on to work on the local stories and obits. I’d forgotten that till this thread came up. I remember trying to explain what the VicWells ballet was! And about their adventures in Holland as it was invaded. And trying to get across how important he was and why it mattered! 

[Fonty]

Just a few more thoughts about The Dream, while it is still so wonderfully fresh in my memory.

 

First of all, it is always interesting to read how other people have responded to various casts for Titania and Oberon, and one of the reasons why  I love this forum. The Dream is one of those unusual ballets where the main characters are partners on equal terms. In many other classical ballets, the man seems to be there primarily to support the woman. He usually gets a couple of spectacular solos, but his main purpose is to support and show off the lady in the various pas de deux.  Opportunities for in depth characterisation are a bit slim.. Of course he interacts with his ballerina, but the story usually entails the meeting of two strangers who meet and fall in love almost instantly, leading to a happy/sad ending depending on the ballet. Romeo and Juliet is one ballet where the male gets equal opportunity to build a character, but these are two young, reckless teenagers, not mature adults.  

 

I managed to see two casts - Hayward/Sambe, and Naghdi/Richardson. I preferred the latter, not because Hayward was anything less than gorgeous, but as I said in my first review, I didn't feel convinced by Sambe's interpretation of the role. I felt his Oberon was not quite forceful enough, it seemed a little muted. Richardson was far more assertive, which suited Naghdi's interpretation. You were left in no doubt that Oberon and Titania were equals in every way, and it is only by trickery that he manages to succeed in his aim. Oberon and Titania are both powerful and independent individuals, and this equality surely has to be a key part of the whole thing. During the reconciliation pas de deux, there should always be the sense that it is exactly that – a reconciliation, not a triumph by the man over the woman. This actually makes it tricky for any of the male dancer to establish exactly the right kind of powerful arrogance without coming across as too dominant or unpleasant.  It is a question of balance.

We know the roles were created for Sibley and Dowell, who were an established partnership, in the days when the pairings were fixed. They could build up a rapport that comes with familiarity, see what works and what doesn't, and alter accordingly next time round. With the current trend for different partnerships, it does make it difficult for two people who haven't danced the roles together before to get the balance right in a ballet like this. Even if they have danced it together before, they have usually been performing with other partners in between. I know they have plenty of practise in rehearsals, but these things take time and experience. Which is possibly why some partnerships work on the night in these types of ballets, and others fall very slightly just short of the mark.

 

 

Edited June 23 by Fonty

[lady emily]

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

You were left in no doubt that Oberon and Titania were equals in every way, and it is only by trickery that he manages to succeed in his aim. Oberon and Titania are both powerful and independent individuals, and this equality surely has to be a key part of the whole thing. During the reconciliation pas de deux, there should always be the sense that it is exactly that – a reconciliation, not a triumph by the man over the woman. This actually makes it tricky for any of the male dancer to establish exactly the right kind of powerful arrogance without coming across as too dominant or unpleasant.  It is a question of balance.

 

It's so interesting how differing interpretations can be, because I think totally the opposite about the relationship! To me, the aim of the PDD seems to be that there is a 'domination' over Titania by Oberon. I read this in the choreography; the reconciliation PDD is all Oberon 'instructing' Titania as to what to do; he 'manipulates' her body into certain positions rather than just supporting her in them; when they walk across in the diagonal, he stands in front, not touching her, while she holds onto his shoulders; and it ends with her in a rather more submissive position across his knee. After the PDD, he doesn't take her hand in a display of equality, but arrogantly sticks out his hand for her to take. It isn't a question to take it but a command. It is subtle, but to me, at least, very much, a message of 'we play by my rules'. 
 

How privileged we are to have a PDD that allows such analysis!

Edited June 23 by lady emily

[Pulcinella]

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

We know the roles were created for Sibley and Dowell, who were an established partnership, in the days when the pairings were fixed.

Actually when Sibley and Dowell created these roles it was the first time they were paired with each other. It was by dancing together in The Dream that established their partnership when they realised how well they connected to each other.

[bridiem]

The differing views of Oberon/Titania are interesting. I'd never really thought of them in this way before, I think because for me the ballet is so effective that I see them as part of a fairy world, not related to this world and one where our social conventions/norms don't apply. They're both fairies and both imbued with fairy power. Their relationship and their love are recognisable but not human. So they reconcile on their own terms which is beyond human understanding.

[San Perregrino]

for anyone experiencing Ashton withdrawal the ROH Streaming service has about a dozen Ashton ballets at the moment including The Dream 2017 with the following cast:

 

TITANIA

Akane Takada

OBERON

Steven McRae

CHANGELING INDIAN BOY

Ambrose Bartlett

CHOIR

London Oratory Junior Choir

PUCK

Valentino Zucchetti

BOTTOM

Bennet Gartside

RUSTICS

Benjamin Ella, Kevin Emerton, Solomon Golding, Erico Montes, Calvin Richardson

HELENA

Itziar Mendizabal

DEMETRIUS

Tomas Mock

HERMIA

Claire Calvert

LYSANDER

Matthew Ball

PEASEBLOSSOM

Gemma Pitchley-Gale

COBWEB

Emma Maguire

MOTH

Elizabeth Harrod

MUSTARDSEED

Romany Pajdak

 

 

[Linnzi5]

44 minutes ago, bridiem said:

The differing views of Oberon/Titania are interesting. I'd never really thought of them in this way before, I think because for me the ballet is so effective that I see them as part of a fairy world, not related to this world and one where our social conventions/norms don't apply. They're both fairies and both imbued with fairy power. Their relationship and their love are recognisable but not human. So they reconcile on their own terms which is beyond human understanding.

This is exactly how I feel. They are not of this world and are mystical beings - 'our' rules do not apply to them. I could see a battle of wills but that fits with being fairy king and queen with magical powers, I think. What I found so moving about the reconciliation (particularly in the Osipova/Bracewell performances), is that they clearly love each other and have a romantic, physical attraction that is other-worldly - the way they moved and interacted in their dancing was not anything humans would do - but the joy was obvious. 

 

The Dream has thrilled me this summer. I'd watch it over and over again - and did! I am left wanting more.  I've seen the ROH stream version several times but it doesn't touch me in the same way, as good as it is. 

[Emeralds]

8 hours ago, Shade said:

Thanks to all posters on this topic- really interesting to read.

 

My husband was wondering if the piano used for the Duncan piece is the same one used for Rhapsody, so has to be moved down to the pit? Hence the need to tune it in the  interval. 

Even if the piano stays in the pit, it is tuned again  before the start of every ballet that has a solo piano part. In 2022, the piano used in Scenes de ballet, A Month in the Country and Rhapsody was tuned again at every interval to ensure it was pitch perfect.

 

As for whether it is the same piano, you'll have to ask Rob Clark or the stage crew- I don’t think it is (they should have room for 2 pianos backstage and at different levels waiting to be moved out, but with the lifts I'm sure they could also re-use the same piano.)

[Dawnstar]

4 hours ago, Fonty said:

We know the roles were created for Sibley and Dowell, who were an established partnership, in the days when the pairings were fixed. They could build up a rapport that comes with familiarity, see what works and what doesn't, and alter accordingly next time round. With the current trend for different partnerships, it does make it difficult for two people who haven't danced the roles together before to get the balance right in a ballet like this. Even if they have danced it together before, they have usually been performing with other partners in between. I know they have plenty of practise in rehearsals, but these things take time and experience. Which is possibly why some partnerships work on the night in these types of ballets, and others fall very slightly just short of the mark.

 

While I appreciate the point about established partnerships in general, in the case of this run of The Dream I thought Hayward & Sambe were the only pairing who had actually danced it together before? Am I wrong about this previous casting?

 

I heistate to ask this given the confusion my previous question about the name of a step in Les Rendezvous generated but: can anyone tell me the name of a jump Oberon does esveral times in the reconciliation pdd where he jumps with both his legs and arms thrust forward?

[Shade]

Thank you Emeralds for your reply re the piano. I didn’t know that it is tuned before each performance but that makes sense.

 

[LinMM]

I know the jump you mean Dawnstar but actually don’t know it’s name. 
It might be one of those jumps which is not taught in an academic sense when you are a student but has sort of evolved from the choreography. But happy for somebody to correct this view! 
In diving it would be called a pike! 

Edited June 23 by LinMM

[Dawnstar]

13 minutes ago, LinMM said:

In diving it would be called a pike! 

 

Yes, that's the jump I mean. Though I don't think Oberon manages to get his arms & legs quite a close together as divers usually so. It must be much harder jumping on stage than off a diving board!

[Linnzi5]

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

While I appreciate the point about established partnerships in general, in the case of this run of The Dream I thought Hayward & Sambe were the only pairing who had actually danced it together before? Am I wrong about this previous casting?

As far as I know, only Hayward/Sambé have danced the whole of The Dream together. I know Hayward/Bracewell danced the PDD together at a gala. 

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I heistate to ask this given the confusion my previous question about the name of a step in Les Rendezvous generated but: can anyone tell me the name of a jump Oberon does esveral times in the reconciliation pdd where he jumps with both his legs and arms thrust forward?

I know the jump you mean - I love it. No idea what it's called though!

Edited June 23 by Linnzi5

[Richard LH]

11 hours ago, San Perregrino said:

for anyone experiencing Ashton withdrawal the ROH Streaming service has about a dozen Ashton ballets at the moment including The Dream 2017 with the following cast:

 

TITANIA

Akane Takada

OBERON

Steven McRae

CHANGELING INDIAN BOY

Ambrose Bartlett

CHOIR

London Oratory Junior Choir

PUCK

Valentino Zucchetti

BOTTOM

Bennet Gartside

RUSTICS

Benjamin Ella, Kevin Emerton, Solomon Golding, Erico Montes, Calvin Richardson

HELENA

Itziar Mendizabal

DEMETRIUS

Tomas Mock

HERMIA

Claire Calvert

LYSANDER

Matthew Ball

PEASEBLOSSOM

Gemma Pitchley-Gale

COBWEB

Emma Maguire

MOTH

Elizabeth Harrod

MUSTARDSEED

Romany Pajdak

 

 

Literally my Dream cast....!

[FionaM]

Vadim doing the jump  @Dawnstar  is looking for the name of.  
 

Variation of an assemble devant is my guess.  

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8WauzSs-Kz/?igsh=aGs0NXM5MHBpdmRt

[Jamesrhblack]

10 hours ago, LinMM said:

I know the jump you mean Dawnstar but actually don’t know it’s name. 
It might be one of those jumps which is not taught in an academic sense when you are a student but has sort of evolved from the choreography. But happy for somebody to correct this view! 
In diving it would be called a pike! 

 

As usual, willing to be corrected and haven’t had a moment to rewatch, but I recall Dowell when coaching Philip Broomhead in the documentary centred around Ashton working with Dowell and Sibley on the pas de deux referring to them as “jack knives.” 

[poppysaeed]

I (unusually) bought a programme for the triple and I am sure that referred to Oberon's  series of 'pike jumps'. I'm away from home so can't double check. 

[Rina]

A few thoughts about the short works programme, which I saw on Saturday evening. I personally relished the opportunity to see the three short works. Each showed different aspects of Ashton's genius.

I would agree that the programme overall was awkward. How do you best present these works? Not I would say by having them follow the great Nocturne pdd in The Dream. That comes as the climax to a long and brilliantly constructed ballet, whereas Paradise Garden and Hamlet have to stand on their own without any context - or stage design.

As it turned out, the former was given against a rather dark scumbled background and the latter a grim scribbled black and white screen. The Delius music for Paradise Garden suggests lush vegetation and summer colour. For me Hamlet and Ophelia needed a warmer background to hold its intense emotions, even dark umber with passages of ultramarine perhaps, and a suggestion of the windows and battlements of Elsinore. Think what Sophie Fedorovitch might have done.  I hope it will be given more performances. It shows another dimension of love - its wounds and rejections - I keep thinking of Ophelia in hold shortly before Hamlet's final rejection, as she thrashes her legs in the air - it felt like lacerations in the heart. As the curtains close Hamlet prowls the stage,  and we don't know if he is going to kill himself. I don't know how such a piece can be "held" within a set of divertissements. My instinct would be to have other extracts or short works either side of it, and follow it with something light or in a major key.

I'm curious that no-one is mentioning Capriol Suite. It's only just over 10 minutes long. I think it could be performed by the RB, if they reduced the stage space by using some hedges or Elizabethan rose arbours say to facilitate entries and exits. I noticed echoes of Capriol in the rustics' dance in The Dream and in the relation between the lady and her two suitors in Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (the gorgeous Pavane in Capriol). Or it might be great for London City Ballet. It's in the repertory of New York Theatre Ballet who are participating in Ashton Worldwide - maybe they will reprise it. I believe Margaret Barbieri danced in it too.

Might these combinations have been better: Paradise Garden, Hamlet, Capriol? Or instead of Capriol, Ashton's pas de quatre from Swan Lake? Or even his  garland dance from Sleeping Beauty. Or take a leaf out of Iain Webb's book and have four or five shorter pieces - with no more than two pas de deux - as a substantial divertissement able to hold it own against the other ballets in the programme.

 

 

[bridiem]

2 minutes ago, poppysaeed said:

I (unusually) bought a programme for the triple and I am sure that referred to Oberon's  series of 'pike jumps'. I'm away from home so can't double check. 

 

It refers to them as 'looping, pike-like leaps'. This is Julie Kavanagh writing. However they're described, they're a brilliant creation.

[bridiem]

3 minutes ago, Rina said:

I'm curious that no-one is mentioning Capriol Suite. It's only just over 10 minutes long. I think it could be performed by the RB, if they reduced the stage space by using some hedges or Elizabethan rose arbours say to facilitate entries and exits. I noticed echoes of Capriol in the rustics' dance in The Dream and in the relation between the lady and her two suitors in Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (the gorgeous Pavane in Capriol). Or it might be great for London City Ballet. It's in the repertory of New York Theatre Ballet who are participating in Ashton Worldwide - maybe they will reprise it. I believe Margaret Barbieri danced in it too.

 

I saw Capriol Suite danced by SWRB a couple of times in 1987, and I remember loving it (including the beautiful music). But I don't really remember much else so it would be wonderful to see it again.

[MAB]

When exactly were the Chappell Rhapsody costumes ditched?  I always feel the new ones lack the glamour of the oringinals.  I particular miss the jewelled choker and garter that the male dancer used to wear.  

[Rina]

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I saw Capriol Suite danced by SWRB a couple of times in 1987, and I remember loving it (including the beautiful music). But I don't really remember much else so it would be wonderful to see it again.

.

I saw it around the same time - it was in the same programme as Five Brahms Waltzes in the manner of Isadora Duncan interestingly enough. At Sadlers Wells, I think it was by Ballet Rambert but sadly I don't have the programme. It's very appealing - I sometimes think of it as Ashton's equivalent of Elgar's early Serenade for Strings - all the later stylistic hallmarks are there - but there are literally dozens of recordings of the Serenade on Youtube, but where is Capriol?? One of the tragedies of ballet as an art form. I love especially the Fille-like spirit of it, especially the last scene very reminiscent of the harvesters, they leave the stage dancing one by one, the last one waves at us. Till the next time ...

 

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

When exactly were the Chappell Rhapsody costumes ditched?  I always feel the new ones lack the glamour of the oringinals.  I particular miss the jewelled choker and garter that the male dancer used to wear.  

According to the ROH Collections Database, and from what I recall of Viviana Durante and Tetsuya Kumakawa's performance....1995 - they had new set and costume designs by Patrick Caulfield (very bright, a bit loud, and completely different from Chappell's), then in  2005 they had new set and costume designs again from Jessica Curtis (softer, closer to the Chappell originals) and finally in 2016 they reconstructed the William Chappell designs. But they never re-instated the headbands, garter and chokers

Edited June 24 by Emeralds

[Dawnstar]

6 hours ago, FionaM said:

Vadim doing the jump  @Dawnstar  is looking for the name of.  
 

Variation of an assemble devant is my guess.  

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8WauzSs-Kz/?igsh=aGs0NXM5MHBpdmRt

 

Great photos of the jump. If only Muntagirov had said what they are called in the accompanying caption!

[Balletfanp]

I don’t think there is really a technical term for them!

[Paco]

I attended the performances of June 18h et 19th. I really loved les Rendez-vous and The Dream, less so the Short works (but was happy to see them, it is part of the Royal Ballet mission to revive the ballets that built the company DNA.

 

Les Rendez-vous was completely new for me, and I have been absolutely seduced! This piece of entertainment, technically difficult for the dancers (even the corps de ballet), is full of imagination and creativity. There are lots of details here and there that I would have liked to see again. On Wednesday evening, Vadim Muntagirov and Fumi Kaneko were shining.

 

The Dream is really a masterpiece, a pure marvel from every point of view: costumes, lighting, sets, dramaturgy, choreography… I attended two distributions. Natalia Osipova was absolutely unique in the explosion of lyrism and sweetness. She wonderfully paired with the outstanding Oberon by William Bracewell, who was just exceptional in musicality, elegance and partnership. In the other cast I found Yasmine Naghdi close to perfection, but was less convinced by her partnership with Calvin Richardson which according to me lacked the magic, fairy touch that Bracewell and Osipova provided. Both Puck were excellent (Taisuke Nakao and Liam Boswell). In both performances Valentino Zuchetti was exceptional as Bottom, very subtle and full of charisma.

 

In the Brahms Five Waltzes, Mayara Magri performance was full of melancholy and emotion, I did love it. I will always remember when she twirls around on herself while scattering rose petals, in a movement so airy that one has the impression that her feet no longer touch the floor. What a unique artist she is ! I didn’t really like the two other pieces (I did not understand the choreography of Hamlet and found the Walk to the Paradise Garden a very efficient piece for a gala Pas de Deux - and loved Delius music-, but not more).

 

In Rhapsody. Tuesday cast did not convince me, despite a shining Sae Maeda: The tandem lacked the brilliance which is essential to make this play an electrifying moment (I agree with other forum members that Luca Acri was somehow nervous, which surprised me because he is usually very good in virtuosity). Wednesday cast was very goo (Joonhyuk Jun and Francesca Hayward), full of panache, virtuosity, power, humor and charisma.

 

Globally I enjoyed both performances, and would love to see again les Rendez-vous and The Dream as soon as possible !

Edited June 24 by Paco

[jmhopton]

42 minutes ago, Paco said:

Globally I enjoyed both performances, and would love to see again les Rendez-vous and The Dream as soon as possible !

You and me both, Paco!

In fact, everytime I've seen it I wish it could be performed a second time after the Dream as well as before. Not going to happen I know but I'm so in love with it I'd have loved to leave the theatre with it as my final memory. I've just been making do with endlessly rewatching the pas de trois Insight rehearsal and the lead female principal rehearsal from the Ashton Foundation. Criminal it was never filmed.

[Shade]

I think the Dream should have been the final production of the triple bill. My husband felt the short pieces should have been the first but I suspect that may have resulted in audience members skipping it.