Laurencia
July 30, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Is this ballet for you? Go If: You love bold and spicy ballets à la Don Quixote. You’re all for feisty leading ladies and bravura dancing. Skip If: You can’t stand an endless parade of divertissements and folk dancing. You think serious historical plays should not be turned into light entertainment. Dream Cast Laurencia: Natalia Osipova / Maria Alexandrova; Frondoso: Denis Matvienko Irina Perren as Laurencia and Marat Shemiunov as Frondoso in Mikhailovsky Ballet's Laurencia. Photo: Mikhailovsky Ballet ©Background Prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya famously said that the concept of Soviet ballet started with Vakhtang Chabukiani and Laurencia proves her case. It is a typical ...Fell in Love with a Girl
July 23, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Reconstruction is the new black in London’s ballet summer season. The Mikhailovsky brought us earlier this week Mikhail Messerer‘s charming restoration of thirties success Laurencia (more on that later) and now the Bolshoi follows their opener Spartacus with something, in my opinion, far more interesting and entertaining: Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction of the Petipa/Cecchetti original St. Petersburg staging of Coppélia. To understand what goes into reconstructing vintage ballets we recommend you read this excellent feature at The Arts Desk which includes an interview given by Vikharev to Ismene Brown. Amongst other topics Vikharev talks about how he came across Nikolas Sergeyev’s original ...Roberta Marquez & Steven McRae: Dancing Cheek to Cheek
May 21, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
As the 2009/2010 Royal Ballet season nears its final stretch we send it off in style. To celebrate Balanchine’s glittery Symphony in C which closes the season together with McGregor’s Chroma and Wheeldon’s Tryst, we invited principal dancers Roberta Marquez and Steven McRae to talk to us and pose for a Fred-and-Ginger photo shoot. We were in luck as they adore vintage movies and fashion. They meet us at the ROH’s Traviata room dressed to rival Betty and Don Draper; Roberta in a stunning Betsey Johnson fuchsia cocktail dress and stiletto heels, Steven in an elegant dinner jacket and polka ...La Fille Mal Gardée Roundup
May 3, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Yesterday The Independent published an interesting feature on the Royal Ballet’s Liam Scarlett, a young choreographer who wants to challenge the perception of ballet as an art that is “all about tutus and glitter”. We posted this feature on Twitter and Facebook and got interesting reactions. On both channels people hastened to add that ballet has not been about tutus & princesses for years. We agree. It puzzles us that ballet should so often be tagged in this manner when even back in early days there were works that attempted to shift focus from fairy stories to everyday life. Not ...After Midnight
April 26, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
The past few weeks have felt like Ashton fest at The Royal Ballet. With two of his most loved full-length ballets in repertoire, Cinderella and La Fille Mal Gardée (which just ended its run), we could immerse ourselves in his lovely choreography. Ashton’s tricky combo of fast footwork and supple upper body may be testing but looks so flattering when mastered by the dancer. It is not surprising that Miyako Yoshida chose Cinderella for her last performance at Covent Garden. Ashton’s choreography can really show off a ballerina at her technical and artistic best. Cinderella was Ashton’s first full-length ballet. Choreographed ...Cinderella
April 13, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Is this ballet for you? Go if: You love the thought of a mashup between The Sleeping Beauty (a classical, grand ballet) and a funny work like La Fille Mal Gardée. Skip if: Certain people find Prokofiev’s haunting score a tad too moody. And you may want to skip the Ashton version if Panto interspersed with dancing puts you off. Dream cast: For Cinderella, a ballerina who can “bend it like Ashton”. For the Prince, a Danseur Noble. Ivan Putrov as The Prince and Roberta Marquez as Cinderella in The Royal Ballet's production of Ashton's Cinderella. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©Background Early versions There are ...La Fille Mal Gardée
March 9, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Is this ballet for you? Go If: Girly and funny stories with plenty of romance, ribbons and happy endings are your thing and you simply can’t get enough of Ashton. You are bringing your kids or friends to see a ballet for the first time and need something light and fluffy to start with. Skip If: People dressed as animals freak you out. Fille is not quite as bad as Tales of Beatrix Potter in that regard but it does feature dancing chickens, a rooster and even a real pony. Dream Cast: Lise: Marianela Nuñez is the quintessential ray-of-sunshine Fille. Colas: Carlos Acosta is ...Symphony in C
February 5, 2010 · Posted by The Ballet Bag ·
Is this ballet for you? Go if: You are captivated by the idea of a downsized version of the 3 act classical ballet “take all the mime, settings and narrative away and just leave the difficult steps and the glorious dancing”. Skip if: “Yes but what are they dancing about?” You are put off by dance without at least some semblance of a story. Dream Cast For the dancing: The Balanchine heritage companies NYCB, PNB and Miami City Ballet as they master Mr. B’s off-their-feet style like no one else. For the costumes: As much as we love Karinska tutus, we are very partial to ... 
