What ballets have you seen?

[Xena]

I am just curious as to what ballets people have seen as I feel I am lacking in that department.

 

I have seen 4 ballets, all by The Royal Ballet and all starring Darcey Bussell. I've seen The Nutcracker, Mr Worldly Wise, Giselle and Cinderella.

 

I guess I should be seeing more....

 

Jeanette

[Guest luna]

Great question, Xena!

I wish I lived in New York and could see quality ballet performances as often as I could afford, but...I'm here in a small town in the Appalachians--great quality of life, but not much ballet!

Before living here I lived in Atlanta though, and my husband and I almost always bought season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet. They always did "The Nutcracker," one full-length ballet (classic or contemporary), and at least one mixed program a year.

In December I went to Paris and saw two performances of the Paris Opera Ballet--"La Bayedere" and a mixed program including 2 versions of "Afternoon of a Fawn" and part of "Scherezade" (spelling?). I enjoyed both performances immensely!

[Alexandra]

I think this is a terrific topic, and just dropped in to say, you all are more than welcome to post in the company forums, or on Recent Performances, when you DO see a performance. It's great that you've found a home on these Adult Ballet Students forums, but you're very welcome on the rest of the board, too

[Guest Tibbit]

I have seen 2 ballets. I saw a college presentation of The Nutcracker and I saw the PA ballet perform Karmina Burana. I also performed in one college ballet, Petrushka. (so, I sort of saw it) I definitely plan to see more, but money is still an issue. Someday...

[Jaana Heino]

I've seen Don Quijote, performed by the Finnish National Ballet, and then two performances that were not full length ballets, but collections of dances by various coreographers (is there a word for such a performance?).

 

On Saturday I'm going to see Cinderella. I'm pretty excited about that.

[Xena]

and you'll be sure to write a tiny bit about it in the dance review section? Just your feelings about it, whethe ryou liked it , what you didn't quite like, that sort of thing..look forward to hearing about it...

[Jaana Heino]

I'll try and write something on Discovering Ballet, at least. Maybe not on the real ballet-goers forum yet, though. I'll see how much I understand about things that I could review, and decide then...

[Guest beckster]

When I was in my teens I saw Coppelia, Swan Lake, Peter Pan, and something else, which was a bit more modern but have no idea what it was, all by the Scottish Ballet. And then I saw Swan Lake again, by a Romanian company. And a few Christmases ago I saw a Russian ballet company (maybe the St Petersburg?) do the Nut in Cardiff. I'm sure actually I've seen Coppelia twice but I cannot remember when the other time was. I actually don't like Coppelia much. The music is lovely, but the story is so tenuous - "A man and woman fall out over a doll, then get back together again, and the village people celebrate with a mazurka". It's the second half that gets to me - the story bit only takes up half of the choreography, and the rest isn't anything to do with anything. Somehow (inexplicably) I feel cheated. I like non-story ballets, but I want a ballet to be one or the other!

 

I'd like to see Sleeping Beauty, Swan lake again, and Giselle.

[Mr Robin]

I'm really lacking in this department, having only ever seen ballet on telly... Considering I live in a major city with an international-standard arts venue, opportunities for seeing ballet are dissappointingly scarce. And since I don't have cable, opportunities for seeing ballet on telly aren't any better!

[Kate B]

Did you used to be based in Scotland beckster? I just ask, because I was and usually the only ballet around was the Scottish Ballet - going to see the Nutcracker at Christmas time was quite a regular thing - and the sets and costumes didn't change for about 15 years! Which was nice, because I like seasonal traditions to be constant!

 

However, when they opened the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh it was great because a lot more variety of dance seemed to be on offer - it was there that I first saw the Kirov and the Rambert Dance Company. I also saw the Cullberg's version of Sleeping Beauty which was ace - so humorous and brilliantly danced.

 

Of course one of the reasons I was so excited about coming to live in London was that I'd never seen the Royal Ballet or been to the Opera House. My first ballet there was last Christmas and I saw Darcey Bussell in Swan Lake. I was so excited!

 

Like most of you I wish I made more effort/had more money to go and see more, at the Royal Ballet and to see other companies and more contemporary things.;)

[psavola]

The full length ballet works I've seen live are:

 

Giselle

La Sylphide

Swan Lake

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

Don Quixote

La Bayadere

Artos (A ballet about King Arthur)

Onegin

Romeo and Juliet

The Nutcracker

 

Several of them more than once, some four or five times. I love Finnish National Ballet's student pricing.

 

I've also had the opportunity to see several mixed bills, but I cannot remember all of the short ballets in them. A recent favourite would be Metsänhaltija in this years' Sibelius celebration collection. The contrast in the characters' natures was echoed very strongly in their dance style, and I thought the staging was inventive in a good and fresh way.

 

Then I have seen some contemporary ballet/modern dance crossover works, but I'm not counting them in.

 

Some ballets I would really like to see live would be Spartacus, Coppelia, Balanchine's Jewels and La Fille Mal Gardee and... (In fact, just about everything )

 

Päivi

[Guest bertrande]

What a great thread... I live in Singapore and we have all but ONE ballet company so my ballet-going experience has been limited to what the company has to offer! So far, the works I've seen are:

 

The Red Shoes ( choreographed by Peter Miller-Ashmole)

Giselle (Jean Paul Comelin's version)

Nutcracker (chreographed by Anthony Then)

2 seasons of Ballet Under the Stars (short works the names of which escape me at the moment)

A triple bill featuring Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Jiri Kylian), Petruschka (Joachin Scholoemer) and Sextet (Thierry Malandain)

 

I know it's awfully limited so I hope to catch some Royal Ballet works when I go up to London in December

 

Does anyone here get 'lost' when they watch more er..contemporary works? I find that sometimes I can't seem to understand what the choreography is trying to say. I guess story ballets still work the best for me!

[Guest beckster]

I used to be based in Yorkshire, Kate, and the Scottish was the only company that regularly visited! I've been living within spitting distance of London for three years though, and I keep saying I'm going to go to the Opera House but I never do! I'm not organised enough to be able to plan enough in advance to get tickets.

[Tancos]

Live ballet performances by "major" troupes: a very short list.

 

"Jewels," performed by the Miami City Ballet (this required traveling to St. Louis. It was worth the trip).

 

"Super-Duper-Stars of the Bolshoi" (or was it the Kirov?). A maddening evening -- a lot of flashy dancing, all instantly forgettable. They presented eight pieces, mostly very slight. It was like eight servings of dessert and no main course. It didn't help that these included mindlessly abbreviated versions of "Don Quixote" and "La Bayadere."

 

Live ballet by local Wichita troupes:

 

"Sleeping Beauty" (in which I made my stage debut: I ran on stage in the prologue, gesticulated frantically for 10 seconds, and then spent the rest of the scene staying out of the way), "Coppelia," "Swan Lake," "Giselle," "The Firebird" (in a version that borrowed conspicuously from Nijinska's "Les Noches" (I would love to see *that* done live, with a good orchestra and singers. Fat chance)), plus various works by local choreographers, some pretty good, some not so good.

 

Borderline cases:

 

Hubbard Street Dance, who did pieces by Nacho Duato and Jiri Kylian, and the touring companies of Eliot Feld, Paul Taylor, Garth Fagan and probably a few others over the years that have slipped my mind.

 

... and way too many "Nutcrackers."

[Guest Lolly]

Beckster, I have had lots of luck getting last minute tickets at ROH - I think I probably book for about half of what I see in advance and half I just go on the spur of the moment. And they do day seats where you queue in the morning for that day's performance, I have done that before when it was completely sold out and I just HAD to go!

 

I keep all my tickets and have just counted up 54 visits to see RB from the past two years... but I'm not obsessed! Okay, well I am... (It's a good job I don't live in London or I would go every day!) And can I just say again that it isn't expensive? I know I say it all the time! Lowest price is £3/4 and I regularly sit in them (out of choice! Though my favourite seats cost £6) Maybe I should go and work for ROH marketing!

 

So instead of saying what I have seen I will say what I would like to see but haven't... BRB are doing a triple bill called Way Out West, consisting of Fancy Free, Western Symphony and Concert Fantasy. Sadly I can't drive so Birmingham is impractical to get to, and they aren't touring anywhere near me.