So grateful this ballet has lived on and so grateful for this chance to see it again. I'd happily watch an hour-long Swan Lake minus most of the swan action! Interesting...I do think being 'up close' to register the emotional details of Sambe/Ball/Cuthbertson's facial expressions would have helped. We already had the comments for the streaming of the other half of this cinema bill, The Cellist, in this thread, so it seems to make sense to move the comments for the Dances At A Gathering stream into this one as well. It's a shame Hayward was out (due to her Milan trip, O'Hare came on stage but I wonder why they hadn't sent an email out as they had for Corrales...also I note it appears she is rehearsing in the building for Swan Lake which seems counterintuitive but perhaps I am wrong!) I wonder whether its reception by the viewer is affected by its appearance in parodies, to which I possibly haven't been as exposed as some. I was in difficulty at its last RB showing and I am no more captivated this time around. Perhaps if I had sat somewhere else or seen the cinema screening I would have appreciated it more. Gary Avis as one of the cello teachers, Calvin Richardson as The Instrument and Beatriz Stix-Brunell as The Cellist. O'Sullivan's character seemed a bit wasted - I think it would have been a stronger ballet if they cut secondary characters such as the sister/cello teachers/musical friends (either that or expanded their roles so it is clear who they are). Marcelino Sambe and Lauren Cuthbertson. (Going off their respective instagrams.). Really wonderful to see Dances at a Gathering last night! Morera was also brilliant, just perfect. [5] The ballet starts with a solo performed by Brown Boy, originally Villella, and in the middle of the ballet, a woman who had not appeared in the ballet before dances a solo. Heartbreaking. I thought she danced wonderfully and I will admit previously I haven't quite 'got' her the way others have but her Coppelia and now this has won me over and I think she's only going to get (even) better! Francesca Hayward has posted on her Instagram that she and Corrales were doing a stage call of Swan Lake today. As for The Cellist I was also intensely moved by it. Photographed by Bill Cooper. Come back capybara, I am sure you will be forgiven ! Sign up for a new account in our community. My first time seeing this ballet properly, having missed it earlier in the year due to illness and only seeing some old YouTube clips from another company previously. Ian Macmillan, I was aware they were there, but they didn't distract me..   You can try and analyse the whys and wherefores of things as much as possible but sometimes you just have to accept that some things are a mystery and you can't really explain them. Learn more about the cookies we use. Spot on, JNC. Such a talented cast! [7] Robbins also staged the ballet for the Paris Opera Ballet, and the company debut it in 1991. I see this argument often here - but IMO the mood has already been broken by the applause after the pdd, so I don't really understand it. ©ROH, 2020. I have found it increasingly satisfying at each iteration. Dances at a Gathering/The Cellist review: Passion and pain in story of musical genius Jacqueline du Pré ... 1/8 Aisha and Abhaya, Royal Ballet and Rambert. I take your point. As someone else has already mentioned particularly the pdd with Sambe/Cuthbertson where Cuthbertson and Sambe sort of half cartwheel over each other in a series of lifts just looked bad. (7), The Cellist. Now let's hope that by April we are not in a situation where all theatres are closed....will be just my luck!! Robert B Jones: 'So many earworms and eyeworms - each piece sticks in the mind and repeats there again and again! The first Royal Ballet cast included such leading lights as Monica Mason, Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell, Rudolf Nureyev and David Wall, and this revival presents a wonderful opportunity for audiences today to see the current generation of Royal Ballet dancers take on such a milestone work. When I saw Alex Campbell touch the stage on the first night, it brought tears to my eyes. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies), Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location. All photos taken by Bill Cooper, Royal Opera House. The choreography was charming, I particularly liked the quirky lifts and thought the dancers all brought out a little distinctive character even though there is no story! Bravo to The Royal Ballet and thank you! It's not just the head waggling but the scampering steps contrasted with what looked like a set of po-faced expressions. I don't know about "adulation", but I found  there were many moments of true delight in  seeing ballet expressed in such a pure and simple form. It may be worth remembering that quite a lot of people absolutely hate ballet altogether!! [4][6] In one section featuring three men and three women, the women are tossed from partner to partner. Dances at a Gathering is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins to the music of Frédéric Chopin: [2], Following the premiere, there were many speculations regarding the narratives of the ballet so Robbins wrote to Ballet Review in all caps to insist that the ballet has no stories, plot or roles, and the dancers are merely "themselves dancing with each other to music in that place. Robbins created the ballet for New York City Ballet in 1969 and mounted it on the Royal Ballet in 1970. You can change these settings at any time. From this perspective, I had a concentrated view of the main characters. While I felt it did sag a little at times, I thought it was terrific - particularly when the three of them danced together. Her family didn't know much about ballet, and wanted to honour her love of the art. Maybe this is why I enjoyed it much more than I expected to? Please note our phone lines are currently closed, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775). I almost wonder if at some level Cathy Marston lacks confidence in her actual choreographic skill (as opposed to her ideas and her thoughts on staging etc, about which she is very clear and articulate and interesting). Though I personally would want to see the parts of Acts 2 & 4 with Odette, Siegfried & Von Rothbart that advance the plot, just not the endless swan corps parts. I think choreographers and others involving in creating a ballet should be aware that it needs to looks good from ALL areas of the theatre. Personally, I think The Cellist would be better if it was pared down, getting rid of all the extras, and just having the focus on the main characters. Thank you bridiem. Anyway back in hotel room and just watched livestream of Dances and loved it all over again! For me as well one Swan Lake goes,a very y long way! Ditch the swans and I'd ditch the ballet. I still feel that Ball was underused.... Not as underused as Anna Rose O'Sullivan, I thought the role would've been better for an Aud Jebsen dancer than a First Soloist!!. It's easy! Dances at a Gathering is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin, costumes designed by Joe Eula. I was aware they were there, but they didn't distract me..   I've just booked to see him in Prodigal Son as a consolation!! And for lack of a technical way of saying it I think for me it was lacking in 'proper dancing', every time I thought it was beginning to get promising we were rushed into the next scene and it felt like a lot of moving about without proper space to take a few minutes for a more complex piece of dance...I think I have worded this badly but I think the contrast between DAAG which looks to be very simple but actually has many layers and interpretations and patterns you can notice, as opposed to the Cellist which to me felt the opposite and quite busy with lots going on but actually suffered from a lack of depth because of it is perhaps the best way I can describe it. By Loved the guys as well of course - fantastic technique and quality. Jerome Robbins's Dances at a Gathering (1969) is a plotless work set to piano pieces by Chopin. Although I was seeing them both for the first time, having deliberately avoided seeing the cinema relay, I agree with you on both works. Dances at a Gathering, first mounted on the Royal Ballet in 1970, the year after its creation, completes the programme. Thank you for moving my post to the correct thread! I thought the entire cast was fantastic. Please note our phone lines are currently closed. Please don't! ', Christine Müller-Welt: 'Gorgeous dancing, beautifully expressed emotions, great piano playing - so poignant, it really pulled at the heart strings, perhaps especially at this time. Marcelino Sambe and Lauren Cuthbertson. He could not return to Russia and he thought he would never see his homeland again. (I did, at the end of both ballets). The Royal Ballet perform Dances at a Gathering, Jerome Robbins's fluid exercise in pure dance, to music by Chopin, broadcast online as part of the Royal Opera House's #OurHouseToYourHouse series. 1970 was the height of the Soviet Union and Rudolf was an exile. The Cellist / Dances at a Gathering Screening search. Oh no, please no! This website uses cookies to improve your experience and to show you personalised content. I always visualise Eric Morecambe in full Egyptian costume in The Intelligence Men when I hear this music. This was so much better than I expected based on those other clips. I found some of the choreography awkward and clumsy at times - no fault of the dancers, I think it's meant to be like that. Dances at a Gathering… [2] When he taught the role originated by Villella to Rudolf Nureyev, who was regarded as one of the best ballet dancer in his generation, Robbins attempted to make Nureyev unrecognizable to the audience. Is there another performance with this cast before it finishes? (5), The Cellist. The first time I saw their dance I was reminded in a weird way of Wilson and Keppel (without Betty).