In today's Links, dirac has posted an article from the Times of London, previewing the Royal's revival of the 1946 Valois-Sergeykev staging of Sleeping Beauty. Here's the LINK:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-2156676,00.html


Given the history, this seems llikely to be an extraordinary event. The opening night is May 15. Who's going to be there? What do Royal fans think?

Thanks, bart. Don't forget that this production is headed to Washington, DC's Kennedy Center in mid-June, including an opening night with Cojocaru/Kobborg. I'm sure that we'll be hearing two 'salvos' worth of reviews -- from London, then from DC.

Anybody know if there are any photos of this production available online?

So the Royal Ballet doesnt perform the Maria Bjornson-designed production anymore ?? (for those who dont know, this is the rather ultra-modern production that was filmed with Viviana Durante)

I heard that they also had another production that was staged after the Maria Bjornson/Dowell production.

When did Dowell stop being director of the Royal Ballet?


Regarding the article provided by Bart, I always find the "I dont want to dance in a museum" comment made by many dancers/directors, etc. to be interesting....even contradictory if you will....is not a museum filled with old works of art as well as new ones? What is ballet without the old 'classic' works?

2001.

The Bjornson/Dowell production has not been performed for quite some time, yes. Though the choreographic text has been widely praised, the designs were rather jarring for a ballet that has been such a prized part of the RB repertory.

Then, there was Natalia Makarova's production staged only a few years ago, though that production was heavily Russian influenced - both choreographically and stylistically. The sets returned to a more traditional storybook nature, but the spirit of the production was much more Russian than English.

Thus the decision to restage the Messel production for the RB's 75th Anniversary, as mentioned in the article, because Mason felt it that they needed a return to the more traditional RB production of it.

And that ought to be unforgettable.

From the Times article Bart linked: Different values? Is Mason just being diplomatic and trying not to offend Makarova? I hope someone who saw that production will say more about differing values between the Royal and the Kirov. Also, given the Royal's gaudied-up new production of Cinderella, I find the following hard to understand:

This is the production that captured New York (and me) in 1949. It remained my number 1 favorite until the recent Kirov restoration---but number 2 'ain't bad'. I could never understand a company that could give us the Messel production giving us the Maria Bjornson debacle.

In a way, this step is the most revolutionary thing a company can do with its productions of classics. Back to square one! There has been so much tinkering, that the basic structure and content of the great works have been compromised, and audiences aren't "getting" what the basic show is all about.

it's worth recalling that when ABT 'revived' messel's production for its skeaping-staged SLEEPING BEAUTY, the spectacle proved far less 'impressive' than it was said to look in its royal ballet heyday.
i know messel's scheme is being re-furbished and that this is said to be the 'standard' n.sergeyev text, choreographically, with tweaks here and there, including wheeldon's valse villageoise, but it remains to be seen if the result will meet nostalgic expectations and in turn engage today's audiences.

Looking forward to the London reviews. I have tix for opening night at the Kennedy Center, and I have convinced (I think) my teenaged kids to attend. The next generation and all that. I'll try to give some impressions -- totally unqualified to give a review. Can't wait!

This may be a naive question, but what are the chances the DC shows will sell out? I don't usually travel for performances, but I might be in Virginia then anyway, and I feel like I shouldn't miss this...

Does anyone know if there is somewhere I can find full casting for the Royal's Kennedy Center run in June? I saw the Kirov's on the KC website but couldn't find it for the Royal - at least as of Sunday.

I'm going on the 3rd of June. I will tell you what I think. I'm really looking forward to it.

I know that in the past, Standing Room has been available in the Opera House. I never used it, but I have friends who did. You might want to contact the KC if you're willing to keep that last-minute option open.

Meanwhile, you can pretty well track ticket sales on their website by starting the Buy Tickets process.

"it's worth recalling that when ABT 'revived' messel's production for its skeaping-staged SLEEPING BEAUTY, the spectacle proved far less 'impressive' than it was said to look in its royal ballet heyday."

I was quite familiar with the "Messel" production which lived on with the touring section of the Royal for some years after the Covent Garden company abandoned it. I didn't see the ABT version live, but I have seen photographs and what struck me immediately was that the fabrics were wrong. Messel designed for tarlatan while ABT seemed to be using nylon net, or some other kind of softer fabric, so the tutus lacked structure. Some of the colours looked a bit strident too, but that may well have been colour reproduction.
However, Peter Farmer has redesigned most of the costumes it seems, as well as the decors for the vision scene. The one tutu I've seen photographed looked a bit dowdy to my eyes, but we shall see.
The de Valois/Sergeyev text was admirable I thought, a view which was reinforced when I saw the Kirov reconstruction. It was amazing how close the two were. The only things I would really wish to see changed in the new "Messel" version are Nijinska's "improved" version of the fifth fairy variation plus, I think Aurora and her Prince should have the coda to the Grand Pas - I find innocent Ivan and his brothers are a poor substitute.
But anyway, we don't have long to wait in order to find out.

A few weeks ago, curious about how "authentic" the Royal ballet's text was, I compared the Royal's BEAUTY (w/ Durante) and the Mariinsky reconstruction. I was stunned at how much, after a century, the Royal Ballet retained Petipa's text. Though there were changes, or some would say "improvements", there was a very admirable consistancy between the two, which really says alot about the level of respect and tradition at the Royal Ballet. BRAVO! I dont know if it still being retained, but the Ashton? Act I Valse was nothing compared to Petipa.

By the way, why did Dowell stop being the RB director?

Alymer - what is this about the coda of the Grand Pas?

Well, I'll answer, since I dislike this so much. Instead of the Act 3 pdd having a coda, the coda music is taken away and used as a divertissement, I used to hear it called the Three Ivans, but maybe it's more correct as Ivan and his brothers. It looks almost like a variety show act.

So what happens after Aurora's variation, the finale starts

I saw this a number of times with the Royal Ballet in the 70s

I'm not sure where this comes from but I really dislike it.

I'm almost positive that if you look at the An Evening With the Royal Ballet DVD, where they do Aurora's Wedding you can see this.

Richard

Richard, the original Sleeping Beauty -- the one that truly premiered in 1890; not the Vikharev new-old reconstruction -- went from Aurora's variation straight to the languid Sarabande. The music for the PDD's Coda was used earlier in the act, danced by (I believe) two of the Jewel fairies...it was a female pdd.

Folks tend to forget that the Vikharev reconstructions are not 100percent authentic, e.g., Soviet variation for the Prince, Soviet GrandPDD coda, lack of Sarabande, etc. Whenever the Vikharev new-old Bayadere is performed back home, the Golden Idol solo of the Soviet Era is shown.

p.s. Vikharev tried his best to be authentic but had to bend to the powers-that-be who insisted on the retention of a few famous post-1890 additions.

Oh, thanks for the info, Natalia . So, no coda originally.

I can see how their might have been a bit of a committee that Vikharev had to take account of. Still what an accomplishment on these two reconstructions.

So then what the RB is doing isn't really so contrary, just having some character dancing instead of a couple fairies and possibly at a different point in Act 3 .

This makes more sense now!

Richard

My recollection of the "Messel" production is that Aurora finishes her variation, takes her call and then Innocent Ivan and his brothers burst onto the stage and we don't see the leading couple again until the Mazurka. De Valois copied this sequence from the Diaghilev Sleeping Princess which she knew well. I find it most unsatisfactory and I hope it won't be reproduced.
According to Professor Wiley what happened after the adagio in the original production is in some doubt. It seems that it was followed by a variation which may have been for the Gold and Sapphire Fairies. Then came Desiree's variation, but again according to Wiley, that which appears in the notation was performed by Nikolai Legat who succeeded Pavel Gerdt in the role. Aurora's variation came next, followed in the Legat notation by the coda. Then the sarabande, followed by the Mazurka and the apotheosis.
I've taken this from Professsor Wiley's book, but I guess we need Doug to put us finally right!

I personally like Ashton's Act I Garland dance and I'll be sorry not to see it again, but the reason the then Sadler's Wells Ballet had to have a new waltz was that there were simply not enough men in the company to attempt the original Petipa. It does occur to me that someone ought to put together all those dances that Ashton made for the Tchaikovsky classics into a divertissment. They're too good to be lost.

Solor asked why Dowell stopped being RB director. I guess the official answer is that his contract came to an end and either he, or the board, or both decided that it would not be renewed. Unofficially, I would say he had been there too long, standards were declining, the repertory was in a rut and, importantly for the board, ticket sales were declining. The fact that his final seasons were more interesting is thanks in great measure to Michael Kaiser who took a strong and informed interest in the running of the ballet company.

It's hard to tell from the notation, plus the fact that the notation was made closer to 1900 than 1890. The coda is notated for Aurora and Desire. There is also a dance for the two fairies. I have always assumed - perhaps wrongly - that this was danced to the now-discarded Entree music, rather than the coda. I *think* the notation bears a "6/8" time signature (the Entree is in 6/8), but I don't have it in front of me and would have to check. In addition, the adagio (with pantomime sentences) and both variations are notated. I love the Legat variation for Desire - very difficult. I would like to see it danced sometime.

When I first saw this production (in fact, it was my first Sleeping Beauty), I was still a student, and had no knowledge of the Little Hump-Backed Horse, Ivanushka or his brothers, and always wondered who they were! The old Evening with the Royal Ballet film did substitute the "Trepak" from Nutcracker with no essential harm done, if we wanted a cameo from another ballet. And besides, the Royal had no active version of the other ballet in the repertoire. Plus, we got a coda for Aurora and Desiré, which capped the grand pas de deux off nicely. Didn't Blair's variation in that film follow Legat's version, after a fashion?

Mel,

You are right about the RB film. I was going on memory, always risky. This Act 3 doesn't match up with the version I saw in my first RB Sleeping Beauties. Desire and Aurora do get their coda here.


Richard

I have a sneaking suspicion the "Evening at the Royal Ballet" Aurora's Wedding wasn't the 'typical' one the RB was staging, because it also has a Nutcracker divertissement, which just seems bizarre. I might be wrong but I suspect the film was designed to showcase as many Royal Ballet stars as possible in one film. Strangely, Margot Fonteyn is not nearly as good in this film as she was in the 1955 telecast. Not technically, but personality-wise. She isn't as radiant, and oddly, does not smile throughout the entire pas de deux. But the film is valuable if only for Antoinette Sibley's radiant Florine.
As for the Vikharev reconstruction, I'm surprised he took out the Lilac Fairy's variation. I know it wasn't originally in the 1890 production but it's become such a beloved part of Sleeping Beauty that I'm surprised he didn't give a nod to tradition there.

Canbelto is SO right -- Fonteyn is oddly kinda hectic, and Sibley is fabulous in the" Evening with the Royal Ballet" The other truly wonderful performance was by the Queen (was it Gerd Larson?). ACtually, seems like there was a lot of sparkle in the jewel fairies, fast astonishing footwork -- was that Merle Park?

Yes it was! And Georgina Parkinson was another jewel fairy. I forgot the third jewel fairy. I liked Aurora's Wedding overall, I just was surprised that Fonteyn wasn't nearly as great as she was in the 1955 telecast. She is exquisite though in Les Sylphides (as is Nureyev as the Poet). And I loved La Valse.

AN EVENING WITH THE ROYAL BALLET - credits:
Aurora's wedding (Act III of The sleeping beauty) / film directed by Anthony Asquith ; choreography, Nikolai Sergeev after Marius Petipa ; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky ; sets and costumes, Oliver Messel ; cast: Fonteyn (Princess Aurora) and David Blair (Florimund); Graham Usher, Merle Park, Georgina Parkinson (Prince Florestan & his sisters); Antoinette Sibley, Brian Shaw (Bluebirds); Douglas Steuart (Puss-in-Boots) & Virginia Wakelyn (White cat); Ann Howard (Red Riding Hood) & Ronald Plaisted (Wolf); Alexander Grant, Keith Milland, Lawrence Ruffell (Three Ivans); Leslie Edwards (Cattalabutte); Ray Powell (Carabosse); Deanne Bergsma (Lilac fairy); Derek Rencher & Gerd Larsen (King Florestan & his queen)

I've got "Tchaikovsky's Ballets" in front of me.....

Actually the coda was danced in 1890, Wiley states that the repetiteur says over bars 25-26 'Brianza'. He also states that the male section of the coda was notated in Nikolai Legat's version.

After the adagio Wiley explains that the notation preseves two variants (what does he mean - variants?) of a pas titled 'Dance after the Pas de Deux/Adagio', which he says is identified in one of the variants as being danced by two woman - the fairies Gold and Sapphire to music in 6/8 that lasts for 38 bars. As far as I know the Entree is longer that 38 bars (?) , maybe it was edited to be more in lines of a classical variation, which are usually about 40 bars or so.....

I was wondering what mucial manuscript Wiley is talking about in the book when he refers to the holograph score and the nouvelle version? Also he refers to a repetiteur (or rep.). Is there a section in the book that explains this? I couldnt find it.

I have another question, which is a little off topic. I was wondering the source of the extended harp arpeggios of the Rose Adagio and the Vision scene Pas de Deux, which seem to only appear in Soviet productions of Sleeping Beauty. Likewise the Love Duet of Swan Lake has an elaborately extended harp section at the beginning, which again is only part of the Russia versions of the pas.

Tchaikovsky's original harp arpeggios for the Rose Adagio are not nearly as elaborate as the ones used today by the Mariinksy in both the Sergeyev staging and the new/old reconstruction. However Tchaikovsky's original passage for harp at the start of the Vision scene Adagio is very brief, whereas the Mariinksy version, used in both the Sergeyev staging and the new/old reconstruction is again very elaborate - both are sort of done a la the harp arpeggios at the start of the Shades scene of La Bayadere.

I always thought that these extended interludes for harp were from Drigo, but nowhere in Tchaikovsky's Ballets does Wiley mention them.....

It wasn't Ashton in this particular production.

I was there at the RB performance that was filmed in 1994 with Durante as Aurora. The opening credits state "Choreography: Marius Petipa Production Anthony Dowell assisted by Christopher Carr".

The detailed credits in the small print on the cast list are:

"The Choreography for the fee des Lilas Variation in the prologue is by Feodor Lopokov; the Garland dance in Act I, Kenneth MacMillan; Aurora's Variation and the Prince's Variation in Act II and the Sapphire Variation in Act III, Frederick Ashton; entree and coda in the Act III pas de quatre Anthony Dowell after Frederick Ashton"

I hope the credits given are as detailed in the new production.

You can see the first photos of the new production in ballet.co gallery

I remember the Messel version quite well (I think) and it looks as if the costumes have been changed quite a lot. But note the caveat that this was a rehearsal and not everyone is in full costume.


There's another rehearsal this morning so I'd guess there'll be another set, of a different cast, later.

First night tonight...

It looks lovely, nonetheless.......I hope the colors and vibrancy of the Messel come through.....another dusty unmagical production such as the last one will be lamentable. Looking forward to seeing this when it comes to Washington next month!!

Thanks for the links to the pictures!

Your quite right that the costumes have been changed a lot and that's not all. Talk about making a Mess of Messel. A missed opportunity for the Royal I think. I have just got home from the first night which was notable for the performances of Marianela Nunez as Lilac Fairy, Sarah Lamb as Pricess Florine and an outstanding Aurora with Alina Cojocaru inhabiting the role in a way that very few have, in my 40 odd years of ballet going. To say that the company performed in a manner that was dull is to ignore the garishness of the new costumes. Oliver Messel who I was fortunate to meet on a number of occasions must be pirouetting in his grave. Messel was a man of infinite taste and style which this resurrection for me and many other members of the audience who grew up with the original Messel production so to speak, (ncluding a number of well-known writers) were more than dissappointed. In the audience were former Aurora's with the Royal
including Bery Grey, Doreen Wells and Antoinette Sibley. One of my all time favourite Lilac Fairies Deanne Bergsma was also present. Rather touchingly the late HRH Princess Margaret's children were present and in a sense part of the continuum of their mothers presence at the first night of the original production 60 years ago and of course Princess Margarets long patronage of the Royal Ballet. More later when I have seen other casts.

Thanks for the update......I'll have to reserve judgement on the designs until I see them myself.......but the performances were good, I am happy to hear! I am surprised that someone overseeing the construction of the new costumes did not do a better job integrating new and original...certainly they are documented, are they not?

Please continue to keep us informed.....

I was fortunate to watch both the rehearsal this morning (Marquez, Pennerfather) as well as attend the first night and it's late so I have to be quick. I haven't seen the original Messel production but I personally feel the RB's got it right with this one. I can't see what's wrong with the colours at all because they are gorgeous, particularly the vibrancy of the costumes of the fairies and cavaliers against the intense blues and greens of the backdrop. I think it has what the previous Makarova production lacked, and that is magic - the growth of the forest at the end of the prologue and the Panorama with the moving backdrops leading to the kiss are simply wonderous. The choreography (with additional choreography by Ashton, Dowell and Wheeldon) really works for me. And I have to say how proud I am of the dancers - I enjoyed the dancing across the company immensely. I don't think anyone yearns quite as well as Kobborg does in act 2. And to add more names, Martin Harvey, Belinda Hatley and Deirdre Chapman were unforgettable in the Florestan pd3.

Thank you so much, Sylvia! Many of us consider this version (in prior incarnations) the gold standard of Beauties. Good to know this rescension holds up.

To bad the photos dont really give views of the decor, but from the very little shown the looks very nice. To bad the fairies dont have the little wings included in thier costumes, which I think is very effective in making them seem more "magical".

I have never seen Ms. Alina Cojocaru dance (any films available?) but from the looks of not only the photos provided in the link by Cabro but also others Ive seen she must be SOMETHING ELSE! WOW! That 'Act III Grand Adage' back bend is terrific!

Although I really liked the other ultra-modern "Sleeping Beauty" production that was dropped (I forgot the designer's name - the one that was filmed w/ Durante and Solymosi) the more traditional approach is always the best way to go!!!!!!

For those interested in the production details, they are given in the programme as follows:

Choreography: Marius Petipa
Additional choreography: Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell, Christopher Wheeldon
Production: Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, after Ninette de Valois and Nicholas Sergeyev
Original Designs: Oliver Messel
Realization and Additional Designs: Peter Farmer
Lighting: Mark Jonathan
Staging: Christopher Carr
Principal Coaching: Alexander Agadzhanov, Lesley Collier, Jonathan Cope, Anthony Dowell, Donald Macleary, Monica Mason, Christopher Saunders


Additional choreography:

Prologue: Carabosse and Rats: Anthony Dowell
Act 1: Garland Dance: Christopher Wheeldon
Act 11: Aurora's Variation, The Prince's Variation: Frederick Ashton
Act 111: Florestan and his sisters: Frederick Ashton after Marius Petipa
Act 111: Polonaise and Mazurka: Anthony Dowell assisted by Christopher Carr


And to answer a couple of questions from earlier in the thread - there is no 'Ivan and his brothers' - Aurora and the Prince get the coda to the last act pas de deux; and if you looked at the photographs, the Prince doesn't actually do that pas de deux in his shirt.

Solor- You can catch Alina in "The Nutcracker" released in either 2001 or 2002 with the Royal Ballet, choreo by Peter Wright... She is Clara (or Marie/a??)
There may be some other dvds out there too!

In this new version of SB, does Carbosse try to stop the prince in Act II from kissing Aurora?

Yes, I missed that in the rehearsal but in the performance Carabosse watches the prince and Lilac Fairy go throught the gates of the castle, then she lingers onstage contemplating while the gauzes lift to reveal Aurora's bedroom. She then moves up and behind her bed and tries to cast spells while the prince enters and kisses her awake. Incidentally, Florimund remembers how to break the spell on his own. He asks the Lilac Fairy what to do, and she mimes "Remember?!" and he does! I definitely prefer it to the more slow-witted Florimund!

I haven;t got my programme to hand but it does say that there are gaps in the records of Messel's designs. And also he liked to update the costumes, but the designs are not dated so there is some uncertainty as to what goes when. I think at the Insight Evening it was also said that there is only one exact replica of a costume and that is the Queen's (in Act III? Elizabeth MaGorian wears a fabulously pink and bowed ballgown - I thought she looked like Marie Antoinette ) And the RB's reused shoes and wigs from the Makarova production to save money.

Yes I think Nutcracker's the only officially released DVD that's out there, though she's appeared in a number of televised productions: Don Q (Armour), Cinderella, I think Daphnis and Chloe, a South Bank documentary about her partnership with Kobborg, and supposedly Giselle to be televised at the end of the year.

The late Maria Bjornson, designer of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera." I agree about the traditional approach.
Although everything followed the standard text, her scenery and costumes weren't successful for me. It gave the illusion of looking up through a man-hole (?) and distorted everyone's line. Also, I had never seen Catalabutte in high heels until that production.
I'm so happy the Royal has returned to the Messel designs!

"I'm so happy the Royal has returned to the Messel designs"

Alas they haven't. This is a Peter Farmer designed production with a nod to Messel in the sets for the Prologue, Acts I and II and Aurora's tutus. Happily the choreographic text is pretty much the one from that production, although they have dispensed with the Ivans so Aurora and Florimond have a coda to the Grand Pas and we have Christopher Wheeldon's Garland dance - not as good as the Ashton, I thought.

Peter Farmer has given a number of interviews recently in which he has stated that the Messel costumes were too old-fashioned, not to say camp. Messel was not a designer but a decorater, he believes. Taste is very personal, but I did like the Messel designs and I find Farmer's substitutions bland to the point of invisibility. I'm reminded of middle class weddings in my youth when bridesmaids were often described as wearing "wild silk dresses in sweet pea colours". I'd also dispute the statement in the programme about the difficulty of identifying the Messel costumes. There are plenty of people around still who appeared in that production - at least one was at last night's performance and remarked that she didn't recognise a single costume.

As to the performance - I found it pretty underwhelming with the excveption of Marianella Nunez as the Lilac Fairy. Johan Kobborg looked tired and certainly had some difficulty with his variations and Alina Cojocaru didn't project as far as my seat in the centre of the stalls circle. There was some pretty odd casting in some of the solist roles too - at least one dancer who couldn't get his/her feet round the variation. Hopefully later casts will escape from that first night atmosphere and make more of the opportunities the choreography provides.

The striking photos for me were those of Carabosse (Genesia Rosato). She appears to be a stylish, even glamourous society woman, actually outshining the queen in one of the photos.

This is quite different from the grotesque cross-dressing harridan we are often offered (Dowell in the Bjornson-designed version, for instance).

What did you think of the way Carabosse is depicted here, as opposed to previous productions at the Royal?

With the new production of particular interest here right now, this goes back to earlier parts of the thread, regarding 'Evening with Royal Ballet,' which, because of using 'La Valse, I have been watching all parts of several times a day for a few weeks. Not being a dancer, I won't say too much about the part I fail to understand, but that I didn't notice mentioned here--i.e., I wouldn't be able to know whether Ms. Fonteyn was lesser in terms of personality, etc., than another production, but cannot watch David Blair. I would be interested to know if this is considered exemplary or at least adequate for Prince Florimund. I'd seen Nureyev and Sibley in 1973, but don't otherwise know numerous performances of 'Sleeping Beauty,' a deficiency I'll be remedying shortly, even if not with live performances this season probably. At any rate, I always want to watch Park and Ushery and then Shaw and Sibley over and over (also the adorable White Cat and Puss n' Boots), but stop every time at the pas de deux, until today when I wanted to ask a guest what he thought of this too. He called Blair's dancing 'workmanlike,' but then he's not a dancer either. I just always thought when Blair was not moving, he was just standing there and not listening too much to the music and, rather, waiting till there was something else he had to do next. I thought that interpolation of the 'Nutcracker' piece odd, too, but didn't know if this sort of thing was practised often.

Those quotes can be found in Ismene Brown's article in the Telegraph from last weekend. Presumably Messel was too busy socializing and getting pally with royals to learn his trade.

I have to say, i sure did LIKE the photo of a scene from Messel's 1946 Beauty that ran with Ms Brown's article -- the costumes in particular had a lovely airiness to them that made the figures stand out against the ground without being at all out of harmony with the ground or each other.

By contrast, the photos I've seen so far of the new costumes all look hard-edged, with tutus that have no loft to them, and the colors look like aniline dyes.

Thanks, dirac, for that article. This quote alone would be worth the price of the newspaper:



This certainly applies to the Balanchine design revolution of simple colored cyclorama and dancers in practice clothes or minimally-fussy costumes. The audience was prepared for the enormous aesthetic changes Balanchine was creating even before the dance began. (And often before the music started, as the curtain often rises to silence.)

(I suppose some might quibble at the reviewer's choice of the phrase "bastard art", however.)

The minimalist Balanchine style is still my favorite "look" for ballet, though I realize it's not appropriate to fairy tale ballets. However, the Messel designs -- at least in photographs -- seem busy, excessively colored (SO many varieties of pastel), and frou-frou beyond the call of duty. There is so much going on in the background distracts the eye from the movement.

It sometimes seems that companies with smaller budgets for sets, costumes and decor do this ballet better.

I liked the photo too.

I'd love to hear more on this, including reports on different casts. I'm hoping to catch the production in D.C.
next month when the Royal Ballet travels to the US.


Richard

I was wrong abour Carabosse - on 3rd viewing, as the Prince enters the bedroom, she stands above Aurora's bed, frantic and glowering. But she doesn't prevent the Prince from breaking the spell. It's only the Lilac Fairy at the castle gates she fights against.

In light of the criticisms of the costumes, particularly the fairies, I tried to be objective. It is true, when the full company are onstage in the prologue they do appear to blend into one another, but harmoniously I thought! My first impression in the rehearsal, and then again in both performances was how airy and beautiful it all is. It does take binoculars to see the finer detail of the costumes. But in their solos, the fairies don't blend into the backdrop - the costumes certainly stand out against the intense blues and greens. My main objection is to the lighting in the vision scene when the dancers appeared to be in darkness at times, but I was focusing so much on Aurora and the Prince tonight I'm afraid I forgot to check whether there had been any improvement. I also have a bit of a question mark over the Wheeldon's new Garland Dance - I'm just not sure I like it! But I'll wait to see it from above again before I saw anything more.

On the dancers themeselves, I think it's a mistake to cast Marianela Nunez as the Lilac Fairy...because she's in real danger of outshining everyone before her, including the principal casts. I thought she was simply glorious, radiant. Her prologue solo is so strong, so secure with long, long balances in arabesque and pulling off double, triple, quadruple pirouettes without distorting the music. And there is something so open about her dancing, so completely generous. She has a gorgeous natural smile and such expressive eyes that she uses so well, she makes all her mime scenes the highlight of the whole evening, seriously! The look of joy and wonder she has in the panorama, makes you really believe in this incredible journey that Floriumund is taking. Marianela really make you feel she's completely in control throughout the whole story, that everything's going to be ok. After the prologue I decided right there was no way I am going to miss her Aurora.

I enjoyed the principal cast. I don't think Roberta Marquez and Rupert Pennefather are especially suited to each other, but the fact that she's so tiny and he's over 6' makes the first overhead lifts in the vision scene quite breathtaking. She's such a charmer in act 1 that she comes across as almost a child. I think her Rose Adage tonight was not what it could be - she can, as she did in the old Makarova production and the rehearsal on Monday, pull off such fantastic balances as to disdain to take the hand of the fourth suitor and continue to stay in attitude for what seems like an eternity - but she had to be rushed through the 4th turn tonight. Still she seemed assured in act 2, her vision almost a completely different dancer, and in act 3 she again matured into royalty. Pennefather made a fine prince. I'd like to know who coaches him as there are tiny mannerisms he has that really remind me of Jonathan Cope! Bluebird and Florine tonight were Yohei Sasaki and Belinda Hatley.

Does anyone know if Eva Natanya or Alexandra Ansanelli will be dancing in this production in London or on tour?