A strange place to be...George's page: Entertainment

La Scala The Royal Opera House and the impossible steps of Rudy

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:57:12 GMT

I was waiting for months to see the La Scala Ballet dance The Sleeping Beauty in Nureyev's 1966 choreography.

The afternoon got to a promising start with corps du ballet being in great form and being my first matinee at Covent Garden it felt very different. The audience was rather mixed. With the usual overdressed madams of the Home Counties(looking more like they belonged on the stage than the stalls), some of the usual dancey crowd (waiting to castigate the Italian's technique) and a large smattering of families (trying to expand the horizons of their children while not falling asleep in the process). The most obvious difference in the behaviour of the crowd was their clapping which reminded me of a west end musical. They would clap every time Aurora and the Prince will come on stage...which was unneeded and anyway 19th century ballets allow plenty of space for applause anyway!

This work being one of Nureyev's earliest choreographic efforts it was suffering too much with his stamp on Petipa's beautiful classical line, most gestures and attempts to characterisation were smothered with lavish amounts of over-ornamentation. A simple ensemble rondo would turn into the most complicated affair known to man! Thankfully Aurora's part was not touched by Rudolph's heavy handed approach, may be owing to the great (meaning assertive) divas of his time like Fonteyn. Who they would not tolerate changes to the traditional Petipa choreography which is always the golden standard and the measure to judge Aurora's performance.

The most distinct aspect of the work as staged by La Scala was the over-emphasized role of the Prince (created for Nureyev himself) and especially in the third act the steps were so personal to him and his incredible ability to create high jumps out of nowhere. Massimo Caron who performed for us was very virile but he looked out of his depth when he had to deal with the demanding high jumps of the third act. To the point of almost narrowly escaping a fall. His part is custom made for Nureyev and his very personal and very powerful dancing style that very few dancers could match. Unfortunately when his choreography is being executed by anyone else it becomes a hollow vehicle that fights again the frothy 19th century heart of this ballet. In a way it reminds me of the 1964 Zeffirelli Tosca at Covent Garden which was made for Callas and her famously charismatic acting. Most Sopranos that filled Tosca's shoes did not really possess the same strengths as Callas and you could always feel the loss of the pre-requisite acting ability. After so many years on the stage those Sopranos tended to approach the role as Callas impersonators, trying to be her by assimilating her stage behaviour. Luckily the administrators of the Royal Opera saw sense and got the production out of its misery in 2005. Maybe La Scala Ballet should follow their lead and retire this Sleeping Beauty and allow a new choreographer to put his/her stamp on this piece.

I will not bore any more readers by commenting on the overblown sets and the rather glitzy costumes.

All in all a missed opportunity for La Scala

Update on Paris---post prison

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:32:02 GMT

Paris's post prison interview to Larry King on CNN has made it on his podcast

Worth checking out:

http://rss.cnn.com/services/podcasting/lkl/rss.xml

It will be interesting to see how long this more restraint Paris will last!

Oh dear I just hope she will not drive to her next red carpet engagement!

MTV Movie Awards 2007...and Paris

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 23:38:03 GMT

Oh dear I did watch the repeat of the MTV Movie Awards last night...and had a great laugh at the abuse thrown at Paris Hilton from the presenter!

One day before she was up to be locked up she chose to go to another red carpet bash. Poor Paris she doesn't have a life away from the photographers flashes and her own camcorder ;-)

Here is a link to the video on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwkjeefUEes

I just love Jack Nicholson's reaction! As for Paris' sulky expression...oh well maybe she should have been more gracious and just smile back. But then she maybe was thinking of ingenious ways to suck on those bars without hurting her teeth!

You've got to love pointless celebs like her! They offer us hours of unadulterated escapism and fun

Royal Ballet April 4th

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:02:58 GMT

Went to another performance of the RB on the 4th and it was a rather patchy affair.

The new commision was a rather pointless affair, it's title 'Castle Nowhere' encapsulated my feeling pretty much!

Despite the wonderful set and costumes the choreography felt laboured and repetitive.

At least the finale of the evening (Kenneth MacMillan's Requiem, based on Faure's music) was glorious!

The stark sets by Yolanda Sonnabend allowed the dancers to creat the appropriate mood and showcase the extraordinary choreography by MacMillan. Once more the company reminded us all what a great asset it's heritage and the British Ballet tradition are. The lightness of touch and precision has rightly become the hallmark of the Royal Ballet.

Worth going just for the extraordinarily uplifting end to the night

A night at the ROH

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 20:41:03 GMT

Last Thurdsday went to see the Royal Ballet and once more I was amazed by the delicacy and feeling of the performance.

Was lucky enough to be there for the premiere of La Sylphide...Alina Cojocaru and Ivan Putrov made an incredible couple! It's amazing that this important work of Romantic dance has never before been performed at Covent Garden! Let's hope it will remain in repertoire.

Can't wait for next month's Manon!!!!

http://info.royaloperahouse.org/PerformingSpaces/Index.cfm?ccs=117&cs=2205