Bolshoi's Don Quixote

Honoré Daumier's Don Quixote

Source Wikipedia

Bolshoi Ballet, Don Quixote, streamed live from Moscow, 10 April 2016

It is very easy to enjoy a performance of a ballet one loves. It is very much harder to enjoy a performance of a ballet to which one is indifferent. A good test of a company is whether such indifference can be overcome by the quality of its performance, Yesterday, by its performance of Alexei Fadeyechev's Don Quixote, the Bolshoi Ballet passed that test.

The reasons why Don Quixote has never appealed to me despite such choreographic pyrotechnics as Kitri's fouettés, Basilio's one handed lifts and fish dives are that the story is weak and except for the final pas de deux the score is undistinguished.  The libretto, which owes very little to Cervantes, is not very different from La Fille mal gardée, a much shorter, tighter and generally more entertaining work with its clogs and dancing poultry and Alain swept into the storm by his umbrella. Instead we have some dryads who, despite their prettiness, are something of an irrelevance as they interrupt the flow of the story.

What saved the ballet for me were primarily the performances of Ekaterina Krysanova and Semyon Chudin as Kitri and Basilio which were outstanding. There were also strong performances by Denis Medvedev, Anna Tikhomirova and Kristina Karasyova as Gamache, the street dancer and Mercedes.  There was some great character dancing by Alexei Loparevich as the Don, Roman Simachev as his squire and Andrei Sitnikov as Lorenzo.  If we must have dryads in this ballet, there could be no more delightful dryad queen than Olga Smirnova.  Other aspects of the show that I liked were the sets by Valery Leventhal, particularly the townscape in the first act and the windmills in the second. I also admired Elena Zaitseva's costumes.

The Royal Ballet now has its own version of Don Quixote which was staged by Carlos Acosta. I have not yet seen it on stage but I reviewed the HDTV transmission from Covent Garden in ¡Por favor! Don Quixote streamed to Huddersfield 17 Oct 2013.  I was somewhat underwhelmed by that production too and tried to work out why in More Thoughts on Don Quixote 29 Oct 2013. I can't decide whether I prefer the Fadeyechev version or Acosta's. On the whole I incline towards Fadeyechev who has simplified the work and improved its flow by cutting the tavern scene though he has included elements like the guitar dance and bull fighters without a bull that add nothing to the story.

Fadeyechev was interviewed in the first interval by Katerina Novikova who presents all the Bolshoi's transmissions.  Elegant and fluent in English and French she is a great asset to the company and one of the reasons why I have generally preferred the Bolshoi's transmissions to the Royal Opera House's. Fadeyechev spoke about those inclusions and the music of other composers that has been added to the score which are said to be unique to the Bolshoi.

Novikova also interviewed Makhar Vaziev who is described on the Bolshoi's website as "Ballet Director." He has recently taken over that job title from Sergei Filin who remains with the company as the "Director of Young Artists Ballet Program" though it is not clear from the articles by Ismene Brown Bolshoi abolishes Filin’s job 30 July 2015 Arts Blog and Makhar Vaziev appointed Bolshoi ballet head 26 Oct 2015 Arts Blog what either man's job description will be. Tactfully Novikova avoided that question and asked Vaziev about the differences between the Mariinsky where Vaziev started his career and the Bolshoi which he joined three weeks ago. Vaziev, who seems to be quite a jovial chap, replied that they both had their pluses and both had produced great artists. Galina Ulanova had started in St Petersburg and Maya Plisetskaya in Moscow. For those who are interested in that question, a more detailed answer is given in The Bolshoi Ballet (12 Aug 2010) by The Ballet Bag.

As the Bolshoi are coming to London between 25 July and 13 Aug 2016 (see Bolshoi Ballet Diamond Jubilee) I have found this season's HDTV season particularly useful for selecting what to see (see Live Performances streamed from the Bolshoi and Covent Garden 20 Sept 2015). If I lived in London and had all the time in the world I would have chosen to see all five shows. As I live 200 miles away and have a demanding albeit rewarding full time job I have to confine myself to two. I have chosen to see Swan Lake on 30 July 2016 and The Taming of the Shrew on the 3 Aug 2016. Even though booking has been restricted to Friends of Covent Garden many of the best seats for both shows seem to have been taken. I am not sure how many tickets will be left for the public when the tickets go on general sale later today.

Look what I've found!

(c) 2016 Gita Mistry, all rights reserved

Whereas most of my contemporaries St Andrews spent their pennies on Sergeant Pepper or Revolver I spent mine on ballet music. My pride and joy was this recording of the complete score of Giselle conducted by Richard Bonynge but I have other treasures too. I went to graduate school in Los Angeles in 1972 and thought this music collection was lost for ever - until I found it today. I have Ansermet's recording of The Firebird, Clifford Curzon's Symphonic Variations, von Karajan's Sacre du Printemps, Lanchberry's Fille mal gardee, Pistoulari's Graduation Ball and many, many more. 

My tutors had expected me to get a first but I came away with a second - albeit a respectable one or so I am told as St Andrews did not divide the second class honours class in those days. At least part of the reason may be that I listened to those records when I should have been revising.   I was ballet mad. Together with my frequent trips to London for Covent Garden, the Wells, the Festival Hall, the Coliseum or events with the London Ballet Circle and, after 1969, Glasgow to see Western Theatre Ballet not to mention my first classes with Sally Marshall in the sports centre it is a wonder that I graduated at all.

I have not touched these records since graduation.  I do not have a vinyl turntable but Gita does so I have entrusted these records to her, Tonight, after Don Quixote we shall try one to see whether it still produces sound. If it does, I shall be over the moon.

We had a stab at that! KNT's Romeo and Juliet Intensive Workshop for Beginners

Not literally, perhaps, because we didn't have the manpower for a street brawl or time for the Mercutio v Tybalt or Tybalt v Romeo showdowns but we did have a go at modified versions of the Dance of the Knights and Juliet's solo yesterday. Following the success of KNT's Swan Lake intensive last summer (see KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 1 18 Aug 2915, Day 2 19 Aug 2015 and Day 3 20 Aug 2015) Karen Sant arranged for Jane Tucker of Northern Ballet to return for two intensive workshops on Romeo and Juliet. Gita and I attended the beginners' intensive yesterday. A more advanced one takes place today.

Yesterday was something of a reunion for there were a lot of familiar faces from the Swan Lake intensive including a contingent from Liverpool who are among the jolliest and pleasantest people I know.  I had occasionally seen some of those dancers at KNT's Saturday class but this was the first time since August that we had seen them all and it was good to renew acquaintances. This time we had a small party from Yorkshire which would have been bigger had I mentioned this workshop sooner to my classmates on Jane's Wednesday evening improvers' class in Leeds. Several had expressed interest when I told them about Swan Lake and a few asked for details of this course which was why I published Dance Like A Knight - Romeo and Juliet Intensives on 24 March 2016, but by that time the course was fully subscribed.

The day began with a warm up session on our pilates mats starting gently with angels' wings and building up to more challenging floor exercises including full sit ups as well as some useful foot exercises. We then had a full 90 minute class which started with the Ichino style cardio exercise which all the teachers in Leeds employ in one form or another. Jane's starts with a walk, develops into a run with an about turn when the class least expects it, skipping facing out, skipping facing in, jumping Jacks, calf stretches and balancing on one foot which I can never accomplish on my right leg and seldom on the left. Class followed the sequence in Leeds with one or two modifications. We even had a go at the Descent into the Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère which I would love to master. It looks easy enough from the stalls but I assure you it isn't. Especially not the arabesque penché or the 360 degree pivot in arabesque which I can't do for toffee. Having said that, I don't think I was quite as bad yesterday as I had been in Jane's last class in Leeds but she may well beg to differ.

Between the end of the class and lunch we learned a modified version of the Dance of the Knights. Jane divided us into two groups. As we were stage right I guess we must have been Capulets which is great because it put me on the same side as my heroine, Sarah Kundi, in English National's excellent staging of Nureyev's version of the ballet in November (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company 29 Nov 2015). The piece started with the chaps, Simon and Tyson, who are both a pleasure to watch, and then we women proudly strode across the stage in our heavy brocades carrying our masques snarling silently at the Montagues who were approaching us. On reaching our destination we did some glissades, chassés, pivot turns and lunges including changing places with the row in front.

Bart Engelen, Full Moon

Photo Michel Schnater
(c) 2015 Dutch National Ballet, all rights reserved
Reproduced with kind permission of the company

I have seen lots of versions of Romeo and Juliet - Lavrosky's, MacMillan's, Deane's, Pastor's, Nureyev's, Maillot's. James's and Job's since I started this blog - but there is one other ballet which is set to Prokofiev's music that I just couldn't get out of my mind. That was Milena Siderova's Full Moon which had been danced by Norwegian National Ballet artist Bart Engelen when he was with the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet. Here's a photo of Bart and here's what I wrote about his performance:

"Milena Siderova's Full Moon was such fun. The music to Romeo and Juliet boomed across the auditorium but there was no sword fight, crowd scene or bedroom pas de deux. Just Bart Engelen clutching a cushion. Engelen is a beautiful young man. Tall and muscular, blond and slender. He contorted himself into all kinds of shapes as Ed Watson did in the first act of Winter's Tale."This pillow has such a force" explained Siderova in the film. "You can't let it go". I wondered why the company had placed this work immediately after Swan Lake and then it dawned on me. Siegfied saw Odette by moonlight and she was also under a force, namely Siegfried's spell that she could not let go. And why Romeo and Juliet? Well it is a good tune but perhaps the lovers were sent to their fate by a force that they could not let go."

It was very hard to suppress a fit of the giggles as Jane gave us our directions and I had to apply all the powers of concentration to think Capulets and Montagues and keep a straight face. Bart and Madame Siderova you have a lot to answer for.


After lunch we polished that dance before exchanging our brocades for Juliet's chiffon ball gown. Jane set the scene.

"You are 12 years old. This is your first ball. You are so excited you can hardly contain yourself. All eyes are on you. You want everybody to be you."

Now, although I have no personal recollection of what it was like to be a teenage girl I am old enough to remember Hooray Henries and debs. As I went to school in London I even knew some. I remember Henley, Wimbledon and the season, all of which was recorded in Jennifer's Diary. I imagined myself as one of those giddy, giggly girls who used to rain cut flowers on stage from the balcony at Covent Garden.

Juliet's piece is fast and furious and no way could I keep up as I am old enough to have been Juliet's great grandmother. I saw Fonteyn dance Juliet towards the end of her career when she was close to my age but she had been dancing all her life and was an exceptional talent. We started on demi pointe literally shaking with excitement and shot into a temps levé followed by a balancé turn then another temps levé. There were soutenus and chaines. It was a glorious and exhilarating experience for me.

Jane coached Simon and Tyson on Romeo's variation and then gave us all a final run through before our show.

We performed in front of our dear colleague, Yoshie Kimura, and our teacher, Mark Hindle, who were a very discerning if somewhat over generous audience. I think all of us gave it our best shot and we were very, very happy with the day.

Jane gave us a final cool down on our mats plus some tips about hot baths and cold plunges and sent us on our way. Altogether it was a great day. I am very grateful to Jane for giving the course, Karen for organizing it, Mark for assisting Jane, Yoshie for watching and encouraging us and all my companions for their excellent company.

Principato's Project

Cristiano Principato

Photo Robin DePuy

(c) Dutch National Ballet 2014

Reproduced with kind permission of the Dutch 

National Ballet

Cristiano Principato is an Élève (which translates roughly as "pupil", "apprentice" or "trainee") of the Dutch National Ballet. I wrote a feature on him in December 2014 shortly after he had joined the Junior Company That man can dance. He was trained at La Scala Ballet School, spent a year with the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company and joined the main company last year. He has already performed at Covent Garden (see
Junior Company in London - even more polished but as fresh and exuberant as ever 7 June 2015) and at the Coliseum (see Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2013) and I am sure we shall be hearing a lot more about him as time goes on.

Cristiano's latest project is a gala at the Silvio Pelico Theatre in Trecate on 28 June 2016 in aid of Casa Alessia's initiative in Bujumbura to give former child soldiers an opportunity to recover their childhood, to gain an education and learn a useful trade. Casa Alessia is an Italian charity which tackles need in Italy and overseas. According to the charity's website:

"Since 2008 a village of some 48 dwellings has been built at Masango in Burundi under the guidance of a Father Bepi.
The project was intended to enable former child solders regain their childhood. Father Bepi has taught them a trade while the charity has provided a roof over their heads to ensure a promising future.
Co-operative enterprises have been established around the village which brings relief to the poorest people."

Readers will know that this is just the sort of initiative that is close to my heart. My late spouse came from Sierra Leone which also suffered a vicious civil war in which children were kidnapped, drugged and forced to fight and commit the vilest atrocities. Michaela DePrince, who is also in the Dutch National Ballet, has described some of those appalling events graphically in Hope in a Ballet Shoe. My other connection with Africa is my late spouse's goddaughter who escaped the civil war to live with us. She is now the nearest I have to a daughter and her little boy the nearest I have to a grandson. I visited that country in 2007 and saw some of the devastation for myself (see Sierra Leone 18 April 2007 NIPC Law).

Because of my connection with Africa I have supported initiatives like Anno Africa's work in one of the toughest neighbourhoods of Nairobi (see What can be achieved by a good teacher 3 March 2013) and the Gala for Ghana 4 Feb 2014 which brought together some of the biggest names in dance including Elena Glurdjidze, Ed Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson who has just dazzled London with her Giselle (see Cuthbertson's Giselle 3 April 2016).

Cristiano's gala in Trecate promises to be just as riveting. He has enlisted some of his colleagues from the Dutch National Ballet such as Emilie Tassinari, Giovanni Princic, Yuanyuan Zhang, Thomas van Damme and Priscylla Gallo as well as dancers from elsewhere. Those dancers are some of the best of their generation and I have no doubt that at least some of them will be at least as great as Watson, Cuthbertson and Glurdjidze in 10 to 15 years time. There is a great video about the gala with some footage of Casa Alessia's work in Burundi circulating on Facebook.

Now if anybody wants to see these fine young dancers Trecate is about 6 miles from Novara which happens to be Cristiano's home town. For those who are interested in history a famous battle took place against the French 1513. There is a magnificent basilica with a dome that is almost 400 feet high, a neo-classical cathedral and the Broletto or forum. The town is not too far from the Alps. The nearest international airport is probably Turin which is about 60 miles away and served by BA and several budget airlines with direct flights to the UK

I should like to wish Cristiano and everybody involved in this show chukkas for the performance and everyone in Casa Alessiia every success with their valuable work.

The Royal Ballet's New Season

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House announced its 2016-2017 season yesterday and released a video of a discussion between Kasper Holten and Kevin O'Hare about their respective companies' offerings. So far as ballet is concerned the season starts well with La Fille mal gardée and ends well with three glorious works by Ashton. There are also one or two treasures in between like Jewels but it also includes one not very welcime surprise.

I am talking, of course, about the revival of Anastasia which I saw in 1971 and which I have never been tempted to see again. According to the performance database there have been two productions. The first by Sir Kenneth MacMillan ran between 22 July 1971 and 1 Dec 1993 and the second, produced by his widow, between 2 May 1996 and 12 May 2004. The work is about Anna Anderson who claimed to be the Archduchess Anastasia a member of the Romanov family who had ruled Russia until the revolution.  We now know from DNA tests that Anderson was an imposter and that the grand duchess almost certainly died with the rest of her family at Ekaterinberg but that was not known for certain in 1967 when Sir Kenneth created the first version of the ballet.

It is a very long time since I saw the work but I distinctly remember some film and some very dissonant music. Nowadays that would be commonplace. We would probably call it multimedia. In the pre-digital 1970s it was unusual. I saw it when I was in my early twenties when I would have been my most receptive to new ideas. If I didn't take to it then I am quite unlikely to take to it now. I gave Nixon's Swan Lake a second chance last month and found that the judgment that I had formed in 2004 had not changed (see Up the Swannee 17 March 2016). One of the threads of an internet forum to which I subscribe and occasionally contribute was "What is your LEAST favourite ballet?" to which I wrote that it was a dead heat between Northern Ballet's Swan Lake and Beauty and the Beast and Anastasia. Beauty and the Beast is also about to be revived.  If I say that Jonathan Watkins's 1984 which I have seen twice is not too far behind you will understand that 2016 will not have been a very good year in that regard.

However, that is all a matter of taste and my taste may not be your taste. Each of the ballets on my "least favourite" list has its aficionados some of whom are surprised and even a little hurt to find someone with a contrary view. Anastasia has not exactly been big box office over the last 50 years but that may change as it is to be streamed to cinemas on 2 Nov 2016.  I shall not be traipsing down to London to see it and I will have to be at a very loose end even to take the bus to the Huddersfield Odeon.

One ballet that is definitely worth a trek to London is The Sleeping Beauty. This is one of my favourite ballets but one that I was surprised to find on quite a lot of subscribers' least favourite list. I have already seen a very creditable performance by the Chelmsford Ballet (see A Real Beauty: Chelmsford Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty 25 March 2016) and I am about to watch Sir Peter Wright's production for the Hungarian Ballet in Budapest (see The Hungarian National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty 24 Feb 2016). Funny isn't it that ballets like buses seem to come along in threes. I can see why some folk don't like it. It is a bit long and the story of the disappearance of a whole kingdom is even more unbelievable than girls morphing into swans or wilis but, hey ho, the music is lovely and divertissements like the bluebird pas de deux are among the most enchanting in dance.

Even more worthy of an awayday to the Smoke will be Balanchine's Jewels which will be running this time next year. Balanchine is one of my favourite choreographers and Jewels along with Serenade are among my favourite works. I missed Jewels when the Dutch National Ballet did it last season and also in the cinema when it was streamed from Moscow as I was travelling up from High Wycombe after seeing the Royal New Zealand Ballet's Giselle. Wild horses won't keep me from Covent Garden this time.

Having enjoyed Wayne McGregor's Chroma when performed by the Dutch National Ballet as part of its Cool Britannia triple bill last year (see Going Dutch 29 June 2015) I am looking forward to the Wayne McGregor triple bill (Chroma / New Wayne McGregor / Carbon Life) in November. I am also looking forward to new works by McGrego's protégés, Charlotte Edmonds and Robert Binet in the Clore Studio. I have already been introduced to their works by the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 Feb 2015 and Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016). If these young choreographers are good enough for Ernst Meisner and his outstanding young dancers then they are good enough for me.

The Christmas show this year will be The Nutcracker again. This is in honour of Sir Peter Wright's 80th birthday. It will be just as I like it with a real Clara Stahlbaum (not Edwards) somewhere in Mittleeuropa and not on the banks of the Thames, no balloons, no rodents hanging on into Act II, a Columbine and Harlequin, a Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier and all the usual divertissements. As reassuring as turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas pud and mince pies.

Woolf Works, another McGregor ballet, is to be revived. I missed it first time round largely because I find Virginia Woolf's Orlando a bit too close to the bone. Those who have read the book and know me will understand why. But the ballet has been received enthusiastically and the video of McGregor's rehearsal with Edward Watson indicates why. So maybe I shall give it a try this time round.

Another triple bill by David Dawson, Christopher Wheeldon and Crystal Pite (The Human Seasons / Aftethe Rain / New Crystal Pite) comes next, followed by MacMillan's Mayerling, a new work by Liam Scarlett as well as Forsythe, Balanchine and Wheeldon (The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude / Tarantella / Strapless / New Liam Scarlet) and finally the piece de resistance,  The Dream / Symphonic Variations / Marguerite and Armand).

A lot of new work this season together with some old favourites. Something for everyone and quite enough to keep me happy. Happily the Dutch National Ballet will be dancing La Bayadere in November which is just about the same time as Anastasia so I have a lot to relish and little to dread.

Theatre Street

The Vaganova Academy

Author: OperaJoeGreen
Source Wikipedia

Creative Commons Licence

What makes Russian ballet so special? In her memoirs Theatre Street, the great Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina supplies at least part of the answer. The training that is given at the Vaganova Ballet Academy (formerly the Imperial Ballet School) in St, Petersburg and the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.

Theatre Street gave a remarkable picture of Russian training in the past. For a modern insight I can thoroughly recommend Tala Lee-Turton's beautifully written blog.

Those of us who lack Ms Lee-Turton's talent can still get an idea of the Russian tradition without travelling to Russia by taking Kristian Ratevossian's classes at Danceworks. These take place on Sundays between 16:00 and 17:30.   According to Danceworks's website:

"Kristian graduated from the world famous Vaganova Academy of St.Petersburg. He attended the full program from 1980 – 1990 under the direction of Oleg Sokolov and Benjamin Zimin directed by Constantin Sergeyev. Upon his graduation, having received outstanding accolades, Kristian was invited to join The Bolshoi Griogorovich Company."

I have another opportunity to take a lesson from a Vaganova graduate when I visit Hungary in two weeks time.  Mel Wong, who now lives in Budapest, has offered to take me to her adult ballet class which takes place the same day as the première of the Hungarian National Ballet's new production of Sir Peter Wright's The Sleeping Beauty (see The Hungarian National Ballet's Sleeping Beauty 24 Feb 2016). I can't pretend that I am not a little apprehensive but I am looking forward to the class with a Vaganova trained instructor at least as much as I am looking forward to the show.

Goodness Me! Another Stabbing

When I wrote in Cuthbertson's Giselle that

"love - or least infatuated - and infatuation makes fools of us all. I have seen what it has done to my friends and it is actually one of the stories on my favourite radio soaps right now as Helen ignores the danger signs that are so obvious to her friend, Kirsty - just as Giselle ignores the tampering with the petals and the other indicators that were so clear to her mum and, of course, Hilarion"

I never imagined another stabbing just a few hours later. This time it was not the woman who did herself in. In the radio soap it was she who nearly killed her tormentor.

For those readers who live outside the UK who don't have a clue that I am talking about not to mention  the hordes in this country who know exactly what I am talking about and really wish I wouldn't, here's the story line.

I am not sure which ending I prefer.  Both very tragic but on the whole I think I prefer the ballet. Would the vicious, minor public school educated toff have been capable of remorse and redemption had Helen taken the knife that he gave her and killed herself? Somehow I doubt it.

And we don't believe in wilis do we unless Kirsty is one in which case Tom had better not wander late over Lakey Hill.

PS.  The BBC are running this story on its news page The Archers: What effect has Rob and Helen story had?