Live Streaming of Beaujean's Raymonda

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Dutch National Ballet Raymonda Livestream 8 May 2022

Had I not broken my femur in warmup exercises for our Waltz of the Flowers workshop on 19 March 2022 I would have been in the auditorium of the Dutch National Balet and Opera on 6 April 2022 to watch Anna Tsygankova, Costa Allen and Artur Shesterikov dance Raymonda, Abd al-Rahman and Jean de Brienne respectively.  Watching today's live streaming on a Chromebook was a very poor second best.  But it was enough for me to see that Rachel Beaujean's production of Raymonda is a very significant work indeed. I can understand why it is described as the jewel of the Dutch National Ballet's 60th-anniversary celebrations.

In "Raymonda" from Moscow on 29 Oct 2019, I summarized the story as follows:

"Raymonda is betrothed to Jean de Brienne who visits her in Castle Doris just before he is due to go on crusade. After he has left she falls asleep and dreams of an eastern prince called Abderakhman who declares his love for her. She wakes up in a cold sweat and finds that it was all a nightmare. In the second Act, however, the real Abderakhman appears and offers to carry her away. She politely turns him down but Abderakhman will not take "no" for an answer. He and his followers try to adduct her but are interrupted by de Brienne. They fight each other with swords and de Brienne kills his rival. In the last Act, Raymonda weds de Brienne and they all enjoy a long Hungarian divertissement."

Beaujean has changed that story but not as much as Tamara Rojo who has set her ballet in the Crimean war of the mid-19th century (see Raymonda An epic journey of love and courage on the English National Ballet website). In Beaujean's version, Abd al-Rahman is a friend of Raymonda's grandfather and she falls in love with him.  There is a sword fight between Jean and al-Rahman when Jean finds out that the latter has won Raymonda's affections but Raymonda stops the fight before anyone is killed.  Jean slopes off and Raymonda marries al-Rahman in Hungary. 

In my review of the Bolshoi's performance, I mentioned that Raymonda had been created for Pierina Legnani who pioneered the 32 fouettés in the seduction scene in Swan Lake. It is not surprising that there is some very demanding choreography for the leading lady.  In today's streaming, Raymonda was danced by Maia Makhateli with grace but also breathtaking virtuosity.  I was particularly impressed by a sequence in the second act where, after several fouettés, she was gathered up by Young Gyu Choi, performed what looked like a grand battement and was immediately flung into a fish dive.

Sadly the company did not publish a downloadable cast list and I was not quick enough to write down the names of artists and roles as they flashed across the screen at the beginning and end. I have already commended Makhateli. She was ably supported by Young Gyu Choi who danced Abd al-Rahman and Semyon Velichko. I recognized several of the other principals and soloists but I can not remember their roles except Sandor who was danced by Jozef Varga.  Everyone danced well.  All are to be congratulated.

Although much of Petipa's choreography seems to have been preserved there were some obvious additions.  My guess is that the dance by al-Rahman's retainers in the second act had more in common with Jerome Robbins than Petipa was created for this production.  If so, I make no complaints about it because it worked.

Even on a small screen Kaplan's sets and costumes shone through.  I had been impressed by his work on The Great Gatsby but the designs for Raymonda were on an altogether different order of lavishness.

One of the compensations for watching this live streaming was that a camera was placed at the back of the orchestra pit.   It enabled viewers to watch the conductor from the musician's angle and the audience beyond for a few moments during the overture to the third act.  That is a view that an audience would never see in a theatre or indeed in most screenings.  It felt briefly like being inside the performance.

Watching live streaming has left me with conflicting emotions.   On the one hand, I now know what I missed which saddens me.  On the other hand, it is better than not seeing any of the show at all which cheers me.  I don't think this emotional conflict can be resolved until I see the show on stage.  With any luck, I will get another chance in the next few years.

My Thousandth Post

A thousandth post is something of a milestone I think you will agree.  It deserves a special article to celebrate the occasion.  I have been thinking about the best way to do it and I think a retrospective of the most memorable performances of each of the last four and a bit years would be appropriate. So here goes.

Without a doubt, the most memorable performance of 2013 was the launch of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's tour of the Netherlands at the  Stadsshouwburg in Amsterdam on the 24 Nov 2013 (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013). I had come to Amsterdam to see Michaela DePrince who had joined the company a few months earlier. I had already heard of her because of her success at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2010 and the critical acclaims she had received in South Africa and New York but I was particularly fascinated by her Sierra Leonean origin as I had been married to a Sierra Leonean national for nearly 28 years.

When I saw DePrince dance I described her as "quite simply the most exciting dancer I have seen for quite a while." I have watched her progress in the Dutch National Ballet from élève to soloist with enormous satisfaction for I get the impression that she is a very likeable young woman as well as a fine artist.  I once had the pleasure of meeting her at the opening night gala of the 2015/2016 ballet season and "I left the Stopera thinking how that exceptionally talented young dancer was as gracious off stage as she is magnificent upon it" (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2013).

DePrince led me to the Junior Company and its remarkable artistic coordinator Ernst Meisner whom I featured a year later (see Meet Ernst Meisner and his talented young dancers 6 Dec 2014) and he, in turn, led me to the Dutch National Ballet which is one of the best companies I have ever seen. That company performed the most memorable performance of the 4 1/2 years that I have been keeping this blog, namely Natalia Makarova's La Bayadère with the excellent Sasha Mukhamedov in the title role on the 13 Nov 2016 (see Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere 14 Nov 2016). Once in a while, a ballerina shines in a role with such brilliance that she makes it her own. Fonteyn did that for me many years ago in Marguerite and Armand as did Sibley as Titania in Frederick Ashton's Dream.  For me, Nikiya will always be Mukhamedov.

Of course, Fonteyn might not have shone so brightly in that role had it not been for Nureyev. Sibley was always partnered magnificently by Sir Anthony Dowell. Similarly, Mukhamedov had the most gallant Solor in Jozef Varga. There were many other fine dancers in that matinee including Daniel Robert Silva who danced the bronze idol. He is a man to watch. He first came to my notice in Meisner's No Time Before Time on 14 Feb 2016 which is the best birthday treat I have ever had and he impressed me again on 26 June 2017 in Cristiano Principato's Purcell Variations (see New Moves 2017 27 June 2017).

The shows that impressed me most in 2014, 2015 and 2017 were all by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. They were Gillian Lynne's atmospheric reconstruction of Sir Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals which I saw at Sadler's Wells on 18 Oct 2014 (see A Second Miracle 23 Oct 2014, David Bintley's The King Dances at the Birmingham Hippodrome on 20 June 2015 (see A Special Ballet for a Special Day 23 June 2015) and Ruth Brill's Arcadia also at the Hippodrome on 21 June 2017 (see Birmingham Royal Ballet's Three Short Ballets: Le Baiser de la fée, Pineapple Poll and Arcadia 22 June 2017).

The first two of those works were reconstructions though I suspect Miracle in the Gorbals would have been quite an accurate one as Dame Gillian had been in the original production even though she and Henry Danton have said that they cannot recall a single step. However, the score has survived as has the libretto and images of the sets and costumes. The ballet would have evolved had it remained continuously in the repertoire so I think we are as close to the original as we are to the original of any other ballet. We have Dame Gillian to thank for another great work, namely A Simple Man which marked the centenary of L S Lowry's birth.  It was the first work by Northern Ballet that I saw after I returned to the North in 1987 and it remains my favourite offering from that company. One of the reasons why I love it so is that it was the last time I saw Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer on stage. I hold both of them in the highest possible esteem. Shortly after I saw that ballet, Gable became artistic director of the company and his term of office was unquestionably its golden age.

Bintley's The King Dances was quite different. Less of a reconstruction because the original pageant lasted all night. More an homage. But an impressive one all the same. Several 17th-century conventions were observed in that nearly all the female roles were danced by men and the stage appeared to be lit at times by torches. But the score was new and, of course, so was the lighting at the end of the ballet that radiated Louis's majesty more effectively than anything available to the royal household at the time. The premiere of the show coincided with the 25th anniversary of the company's move to Birmingham and the 20th of David Bintley's appointment as artistic director. It was danced with Carmina Burana, one of Bintley's most popular ballets.

Brill's Arcadia is a masterpiece. I knew she was talented from Matryoshka but Arcadia reveals brilliance. It is a complex work full of historical, mythical and literary allusions. Any choreographer would be proud of such a work but when one takes into account Brill's youth it is nothing short of prodigious. I am impatient for Brill's next new ballet....... and the next ... and next.

These were the five best shows I have seen since I started the blog but they are not the only precious moments. I have met some lovely people through ballet - great teachers in Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield, London and even Budapest, delightful classmates at all those venues and particularly those in Manchester, knowledgeable ballet lovers in person through the London Ballet Circle and the various friends groups to which I belong as well as many more online through Facebook, twitter and BalletcoForum. I have listened to some impressive presentations and interviews by dancers, choreographers, composers, designers and administrators many of whom I have interviewed for this blog. I have had the opportunity to dance before a living, breathing and paying audience in Leeds and Manchester (see The Time of my Life 28 June 2014 and Show 14 May 2017) and thanks to the ever patient Jane Tucker I have had a go at dancing cygnets, Juliet, knights, shades, Siegfried, sugar plum, swans, guests at the Stahlbaums' party and even a golden idol.

All that within months of the expiration of my three score years and ten expiring. Could anyone wish for anything more?

Dutch National Ballet's Onegin

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Remco van Grevenstein

Dutch National Ballet, Onegin, Music Theatre (Stopera), Amsterdam Wednesday 29 March 2017, 20:15

Today I went to see Onegin performed by the Dutch National Ballet at the National Music Theatre in Amsterdam. Not knowing the story of Onegin or the Music I was going in unprepared. Normally when I go see a ballet I go to the Dutch introduction so I have an idea what to expect. That day I was a little too late for that part so I had to do without it.

What I had learned from the trailer is that it was a love story: and that is what I saw.  It was a true love story.

I already knew some of the dancers who were to perform the lead roles. For Onegin, DNB cast Jozef Varga whom I had seen a couple of times in other shows. For Tatiana, DNB cast Anna Tsygankova whom I loved in Mata Hari. She was also the lead in my second ever live ballet performance - The Nutcracker and The Mouse King. For Olga (Tatiana’s sister), DNB cast Qian Liu whom I don’t know. And for the part of Lensky (Olga’s boyfriend and best friend of Onegin), DNB cast Remi Wörtmeyer whom I could only remember from one other show. That was Balanchine's Tarantella Pas de Deux and I did not like him very much in that role. 

All four of them played an excellent part in their own way. 

The love from Qian and Remi felt so real that I wished them all the happiness in the world. Qian as the playful sister who sees the joy in life in every corner. Remi as the somewhat jealous boyfriend who tries to make her happy. In the first act, first scene they danced a duet together as two lovers who had not seen each other in a long time. 

The love that Anna had for Jozef was a childlike passion for the new guy on the block. Jozef just saw Anna as a little child who had read too many romantic novels. In the second scene of the first act, Anna and Jozef dance a duet together. I’m not sure if it is just me (I did not hear anyone else speaking about it) but I saw a red ‘’aura’’ around Anna while she danced in a dream with Jozef. It could have been the lightning and the dress or it could also have been my imagination. If it was the dress and the lighting design it was an excellent result. The red ‘’aura’’ looked like there was a lot of passion coming from Anna. If it was just my brain and my eyes. then I would have been the only one who had this great experience. :) 

In the second act, there is a big dance scene with lots of other dancers where Onegin is dancing with Olga. I’m not sure if he just liked Olga or if he tried to make Tatiana believe that he does not like her or to make his friend Lensky jealous. If it is about his friend, it worked. Lensky got so jealous of his friend dancing with his girlfriend that he slaps Onegin with a glove, telling him he wanted a duel to the death. While both Olga and Tatiana try to change Lensky’s mind with an interesting dance between the 3 of them Lensky does not want to look like a coward and keeps insisting that he wants the duel. Even Onegin tries to change the mind of his friend explaining to him it was all for a laugh. At the end of the second act, the duel happens and both men draw their guns and fire. 

****Spoilers****

After the duel, Onegin looks like the winner of the duel and at the same time. Tatiana starts to cry while seeing her sister crash to the ground.

At the start of the 3rd act, lots of dancers are on the stage like it is a mannequin challenge prompting a great round of applause from the audience.

When Onegin comes on stage he is wearing a moustache and he has some grey hairs giving the impression that some time has passed between this ball and the dual. While Onegin is trying to find his way into life again, Tatiana is dancing a duet with prince Germin whom she married. Onegin finds out that the princess is the little girl he once turned down. Seeing her reminds him of his past and the emptiness of his life. In the second scene of the 3rd act, Onegin comes into Tatiana’s bedroom bearing a letter declaring his love for her. While she might still love him, she tells him that he is to0 late. She tells him to leave her alone forever. Tearing up his letter and giving it back to him, you can see the despair in his eyes. 

For me, this is the best role I have seen Jozef perform. I so believed his emotions after he shot his best friend when he saw Olga crashing down and leaving Tatiana running and screaming as he left the stage in silence. I got so emotional from his acting that I had to dry my eyes. 

The emotion coming off the stage into the audience was so good and so real for me that I can only say this was a job well done by all members of the cast and the live music directed by Ermanno Florio and the Dutch National Ballet orchestra.  

After what I have seen today I would love to see more of Quin Liu and Remi Wortmeyer. I know from Mata Hari that Anna Tsygankova is a great performer and now Jozef Varga is my new ballet hero.

If I could give this production 5 stars I would give it a 4.9. I’m still wondering what happened to Olga in the 3rd act. I would have loved to see the love between the sisters at the end. 

Since this is my first blog a little bit of information about me. 

I’m a 45-year-old (or young) autistic man from the Netherlands. I came into contact with ballet a little over 2 years ago while visiting an Open House at the Dutch National Ballet (on 8 April 8th there is another Open House with the DNB in Amsterdam). Since I saw my first live ballet I fell in love with the art and try to watch all shows in Amsterdam. But as you can read I don’t know enough about ballet to tell you what kind of dance they are dancing. I can only tell you what I see and how I see it as an autistic man.

Terpschore Titles: Outstanding Male Dancers

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I have decided to make two awards in this category:  one for principals and soloists of major companies who dance leading roles in full-length ballets and another for the rest. I do that to acknowledge brilliant performances in one act ballets and to avoid comparing the incomparable such as Alvin Ailey's Revelations with the Bolshoi's Swan Lake. In both categories I am looking for a male dancer who has spoken to me in a special way in 2016.

In the latter category, the choice is easy.  It is Damien Johnson of Ballet Black. I have described him as "one of the most exciting dancers on the British stage right now" and I repeat those words now.  I have seen him in no less than five shows this year - three of Ballet Black's triple bill and two of Dogs Don't Do Ballet and in rehearsal at the Barbican. In each performance he has delighted me whether as the Obama-like dad accompanying his excited daughter with her dog in tow to the theatre to see Madame Kanikova in Christopher Marney's Dogs or as the sailor in Christopher Hampson's Storyville which I reviewed for the first time in Ballet Black made my Manchester Day on 20 June 2016. Johnson is one of the reasons why I go to Ballet Black, why I support it not only with my pen (OK keyboard) but also with my widow's mite as a Friend and also why I love that company so.

But where do I start with the first category? There have been so many great performances this year starting with James Hay in Rhapsody and Alexander Campbell in The Two Pigeons in January (see The Royal Ballet's Double Bill 18 Jan 2016); continuing with Artur Shesterikov in Mata Hari, Joseph Caley as Oberon and Jamie Bond as Beliaev in Ashton's Double Bill in February; Tyrone Singleton's magnificent performance as Romeo where he stepped in for Bond at the last moment in March (see A Good Outcome from an Unhappy Event - Singleton's Fine Performance 6 March 2016); Federico Bonelli for his memorable performance as Albrecht (see Cuthbertson's Giselle 3 April 2016) and Vadim Muntagirov in The Winter's Tale a month later; Javier Torres as Cathy Marston's Rochester, Victor Zarallo as Siegfried and Nicholas Shoesmith as Benno in David Dawson's Swan Lake for Scottish Ballet (see Empire Blanche: Dawson's Swan Lake 4 June 2016), Yonah Acosta's Siegfried in English National Ballet's (see Swan Lake in the Round 13 June 2016) and Iain Mackay in The Taming of the Shrew (see Birmingham Royal Ballet performs my favourite ballet at last 21 June 2016) all of which took place in June; Rudy Hawkes as Siegfried in The Australian Ballet's Swan Lake (see The Australian Ballet's Swan Lake - Murphy won me over 17 May 2016). Ruslan Skvortsov as Siegfried in the Bolshoi's (see Grigorovich's Swan Lake in Covent Garden 31 July 2016) or Ty King Wall in Zatmansky's Cinderella, a great ballet that I forgot to discuss in my review of 2016 (see Ratmansky's Razzmatazz 24 July 2016) in July; Vladislav Lantratov as Petrucchio in  Jean-Christophe Maillot's The Taming of the Shrew in August (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew 4 Aug 2016); Mackay and Singleton again in David Bintley's new ballet The Tempest in October; Jozef Varga as Solor in the Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere in November and Shesterikov again in Coppelia.

There were a handful of performances that really stood out for me this year, namely Singleton's Romeo in March, Bonelli's Albrecht in April, Zarallo and Shoesmith in Dawson's Swan Lake, Varga's Solor and Shesterikov in Mata Hari and Coppelia. I have been twisting and turning all night trying to decide this issue - particularly between Bonelli and Shesterikov. A choice has to be made. I have chosen Shesterikov because of his mastery of two very different roles in two very different ballets. In making that choice I am comforted by the knowledge that I am in very good company for Shesterikov is also the most recent winner of the Alexandra Radius prize (see Principal Dancer Artur Shesterikov wins Radius Prize on the Dutch National Ballet website).

Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere

Sasha Mukhamedov and Jozef Varga

(c) 2016 Team Terpsichore: all rights reserved

Dutch National Ballet, La Bayadere, Stopera, 13 Nov 2016, 14:00

There were gasps, sighs and murmurs from members of the audience as the image of Nikiya appeared momentarily before a disconsolate Solor. Nobody tried to shush them. They could not help themselves. The scene was just so beautiful. I've seen a lot of ballet in my time but I can't (for the moment at any rate) think of a more beautiful production than the Dutch National Ballet's La Bayadere. 

The version of the ballet that the company performed was by Natalia Makarova.  She had created it for American Ballet Theatre in 1980. It is the version that the Royal Ballet danced in 2013 (see La Bayadere on the Royal Opera House's website). The story in Makarova's production differed in several important respects from that of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre which is the only other performance that I have ever seen (see the synopsis on the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's website and my review Blown Away - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere 24 Aug 2015). In Makarova's version, Solor is killed (presumably by falling masonry) when the temple collapses just as he is about to marry Gamzatti. In the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's, he actually marries her but kills himself in a fit of remorse. St Petersburg Ballet Theatre transposes Solor's dream of the kingdom of the shades to the last act whereas in Makarova's that scene occurs in the second.

Yesterday Sasha Mukhamedov danced Nikiya, Jozef Varga Solor, Vera Tsyganova Gamzatti and Nicolas Rapaic the Brahmin. Mukhamedov had danced Nikiya with Daniel Camargo in an extract from La Bayadere at the opening night gala on 7 Sept 2016 (see Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence 8 Sept 2016) and she had impressed me with her grace and sensitivity. She showed those qualities again yesterday and I became an even bigger fan. Varga partnered Mukhamedov brilliantly. He also dances with great sensitivity but shows strength and Speed in the solo roles. Consequently, he is thrilling to watch. I had not followed Vera Tsyganova until yesterday but I shall do so from now on. Another exciting dancer but also an accomplished actor expressing eloquently the wide range of emotions that her role demanded. The young Brazilian dancer, Daniel Silva, who had impressed me in the Junior Company's Ballet Bubbles on 14 Feb 2016 (see Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016) and who has recently joined the main company as an "eleve" danced the bronze idol. It was good to see him in that role and, indeed, good to see so many of the other young dancers whom I have tried to promote in this blog on stage. We saw several of the company's rising stars such as Michaela DePrince and Floor Eimers as well as many recent and current members of the Junior Company. I congratulate each and every one of those beautiful young dancers on their contribution to a magnificent performance.

The performance was magnificent not just for its choreography and dancing but also for its scenery, costumes, lighting and special effects. As in the Royal Ballet's production, the sets were designed by Pier Luigi Samaritani, costumes by Yolanda Sonnabend and lighting by John B. Read. Some of Read's lighting effects were very clever. By way of example, immediately after Nikiya had been bitten by a snake she appeared in a bluish light giving her an ashen appearance. I do not know who designed the special effects but he or she deserves special commendation. The images of falling debris in the destruction of the temple and Nikiya's fleeting appearance in Solor's dream were spectacular.

The Dutch seem to cherish their National Ballet in a way that few other countries do and the company responds by making its dancers accessible to the public.  Immediately after a gruelling performance Mukhamedov and Varga, still in full costume, sat at a desk at the bottom of the stairs to sign autographs and shake hands with their fans. In other cities members of the audience have to queue up outside the stage door in the rain to glimpse the stars but in Amsterdam the stars welcome the fans.  "So sweet and so typically Dutch", I thought.

Having recently attended a three-day workshop in Manchester to learn bits of the choreography from Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet Academy I had a personal interest in this ballet (see La Bayadere Intensive Day 3: No Snakes 17 Aug 2016). As the experts performed the steps that Jane had taught us my fingers traced the steps.  It was like the icing on the cake, the fulfilment of last August's intensive. I felt even more chuffed with myself for attending the intensive than I did in August,

Mata Hari as an Exotic Dancer

Anna Tsygankova as Mata Hari

Photo Marc Haegeman
Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved
Reproduction licensed by kind permission of the company

After her marriage ended, Margaretha MacLeod moved to Paris where she performed in various music halls including the Moulin Rouge shown below

Moulin Rouge

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed with the kind consent of the company

I can't recognize all the dancers but I think one is the talented Floor Eimers who is one of my favourites. I also seem to remember that Michaela DaPrince danced in that episode too but I don't think she is in this picture.  

In Paris MacLeod found her niche as an exotic dancer under the stage name Mata Hari (Dawn or Sunrise). The photo at the top of this column shows Anna Tsygankova dancing that role. Although she enjoyed some success she was eventually overshadowed by other dancers including Isadora Duncan who was two years her junior.

MacLeod's career as a dancer ended abruptly with the first world war.  As a citizen of a neutral country she was able to travel between the belligerents which made her useful to the intelligence services of both sides.  The photo below shows her with her German controller, Major Roepell, danced by Jozef Varga.

Anna Tsygankova and Jozef Varga

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed with the kind consent of the company

A particularly handsome officer as this photo shows.

Jozef Varga

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed with the kind consent of the company

And of course she was also courted by the other side.

Anna Tsygankova and Artur Shestrikov

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed with the kind consent of the company

Which, of course, led to her arrest and execution at Vincennes on 15 Oct 1917. 

Anna Tsygankova

Photo Marc Haegeman

Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved

Reproduction licensed with the kind consent of the company

This last photo shows her between the ranks of the Zouave firing party which shot her.

My review of the show appears here. See also Anna Tsygankova as Mata Hari 23 Feb 2016 and More Photos of Mata Hari 29 Feb 2016.