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Living in London I have the opportunity to visit some great theatres and see some fantastic performances. This blog allows me to share where I go and what I see with you.

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Nederlands Dans Theater2 and The Royal Ballet

9/8/2012

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Although I have been absent from writing this first half of 2012 due to my yoga certification and teaching assignments, I have not been away from my favourite stage houses Saddler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House.  I have had the opportunity to watch a mixed bill from my favourite contemporary dance company NDT2 back in March and the Royal Ballet’s revival of The Prince of the Pagodas in June and the last programme under Dame Monica Mason’s directorship: Metamorphosis Titian 2012 in July just in time for the Olympics and her retirement from The Royal Ballet.

First of all, NDT2 mixed bill included Passe-Partout by Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot, Gods and Dogs by Jiri Kylian and Cacti by Alexander Ekman.  In general, they could not have chosen a better programme than this as it was exciting from beginning to end, but I have to admit the last piece by Alexander Ekman was my favourite.  It was as funny as brilliantly choreographed.

Then, in June I saw The Prince of the Pagodas by Kenneth MacMillan out of curiosity given that it was one of his ballets that I had never seen before on stage.  It was a delight to see Tamara Rojo and Marianela Nunez in the leading roles as half-sisters.  It was fun to see Tamara as the evil one and I am becoming a real fan of Marianela and her perfect balanced arabesques.

Finally and most exciting was attending the Metamorphosis Titian 2012 performance at the Royal Opera House by The Royal Ballet.  I was considering watching it on the Big Screen at Trafalgar Square but was able to get tickets to see it live and I am so glad I did.  It was amazing! This unique collaboration between The Royal Ballet, The National Gallery, seven talented choreographers, three composers and three visual artists is only the beginning of many promising collaborations to come I hope.  There were three ballets inspired by Titian: Machina (Brandstrup and McGregor), Trespass (Marriott and Wheeldon) and Diana and Actaeon (Scarlett, Tuckett and Watkins).  Edward Watson was brilliant in Machina; he just gets McGregor so well! It was bittersweet to see Tamara Rojo in her last performances as Principal with the company.  She will be greatly missed as well as Dame Monica Mason who has been a great visionary as director of The Royal Ballet.  Trespass reminded me of why I love Christopher Wheeldon’s work so much.  It was the most coherent and beautiful piece of the night. Marriott and Wheeldon’s styles blended so well in this ballet, and I don’t know if it was just me, but I saw plenty of yoga in this piece!

Now, I cannot wait to see the closing ceremony for London 2012, as there will be a surprise for ballet fans!  Don’t miss it!
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Jewels, Ballet In Three Parts, Royal Ballet @ Royal Opera House, London, October 5th, 2011

5/10/2011

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I must say that this was an unexpected lovely evening because not only was I invited to attend with wonderful seats at the last minute; but also I had the opportunity to see this ballet once again, but this time performed by the Royal Ballet. 

It was a delight to see a complete work by Balanchine (one of my earliest influences in choreography) at the Royal Opera House in which three of my favourite Royal Ballet ballerinas: Tamara Rojo, Sarah Lamb and Alina Cojocaru were performing in.  It was refreshing to see pure neoclassicism on stage performed so elegantly and with great lyricism that characterizes Balanchine’s work. Alina was just flawless in Diamonds! And that’s why she gets paid the big bucks as she also performs as a guest artist with companies worldwide.
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La La La Human Steps, New Work by Édouard Lock @ Sadler's Wells, London, September 28th, 2011

29/9/2011

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I was very much looking forward to this performance and maybe it was not such a good idea to go see it just days after attending the Sylvie Guillem show, but I am afraid I was not as amazed as I expected to be.  I had been highly impressed by Amelia in the past but this New Work was just a bit too hectic to watch.  It had its moments of pas de deux delights and wonderful male dancing sections, but most of the time was just not being able to appreciate the intricate fast movement and the lighting did not help at all.  Maybe with different lighting and somewhat shorter in length would have been more pleasant to the eye.  Also, we were hoping to see Diana Vishneva perform in this work as it had been previously advertised, since it would have been very interesting to see her move in this vocabulary. However, the live music was brilliant and my hat goes out to the dancers who kept going and going and going.

Join me next time as I attend the Royal Opera House to see the Royal Ballet ‘s first mixed programme of the Season: Limen/Marguerite and Armand/Requiem.

See you soon!
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Sylvie Guillem: 6000 miles away @ Sadler's Wells, London, 25th September, 2011

26/9/2011

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I must say that this was such a delightful evening for me given that not only it was the second time I had the opportunity of seeing ballerina legend Sylvie Guillem live on stage; but this time performing contemporary work by the great William Forsythe and Mats Ek.  In addition, the unexpected highlight of my evening: 27’52” by Jirí Kylián performed by Aurélie Cayla and Kenta Kojiri.

Rearray by William Forsythe reunited the choreographer and the dancer into an evolution of their prior work together decades ago In the Middle Somewhat Elevated.  Although there were still dashes of beautiful lines present in the piece; it was highly characterized by the intellectual work that Forsythe is known by, and the lighting was just perfect.

27’52” by Jirí Kylián kept the audience glued to the stage.  Effortless contemporary movement from the dancers combined with intrigue of what will happen next prevented me from blinking the whole time.  At least, that is what it felt like. Watching NDT dancers perform is always a joy for me.

Finally, Mats Ek’s Bye, a very clever piece combining and unifying a Sylvie Guillem solo and film, was what maintained the audience applause for many curtain calls at the end of the show. 
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