This was a triumphant finale to Mason's directorship and a vindication of her vision for the future of the company. The rapturous reception given to "Diana and Acteon" should also leave the Royal Ballet in no doubt that the public are thirsty for narrative and drama in new works.
J Gingell
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it all - I was afraid that, with so many contributors, it would be a bit of a dog's dinner (no pun intended). A glorious way for Dame Monica to leave. Tamara Rojo and Edward Watson looked fabulous together - what a pity they haven't been paired together more often. But the machine has to go!
A lot of the lighting was too dark. When we buy ballet tickets, we want to see the dancers - especially when they're this good.
I visited the National Gallery Titian exhibition on Monday afternoon before the Titian ballet performance on Monday evening. The exhibition puts the ballets into context showing three large Titian paintings over 400 years old and more modern works by the set designers of the ballet stages for the Titian ballets at the Royal Opera House that night. The National Gallery exhibition explores the ideas shown in Titian's paintings about Ovid's Metamorphosis later explored in the ballet performances. From peeking at female bathers to a modern robotic machine rebuking the observer whom is subsequently killed because of their prying, the exhibition explains many aspects of the Metamophosis Titian ballets. I thought the music for Diana and Acteon was intense and dramatic, the choreography was superb, and the ballet was very well perfomed. It showed the death of Actaeon in the hands of dogs after Diana threw water at him for looking at her. Brilliant. The long scene between Diana and Actaeon was one of the best of the whole year. I hope the Diana and Actaeon ballet will be perfomed many times again in future seasons. An understanding of the Titian paintings and Ovid's Metamorphosis greatly increase the enjoyment of the ballets.
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18 March 2013
6 February 2013
22 January 2013
This was a triumphant finale to Mason's directorship and a vindication of her vision for the future of the company. The rapturous reception given to "Diana and Acteon" should also leave the Royal Ballet in no doubt that the public are thirsty for narrative and drama in new works.
J Gingell
Monica Mason is the greatest human that ever breathed.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it all - I was afraid that, with so many contributors, it would be a bit of a dog's dinner (no pun intended). A glorious way for Dame Monica to leave. Tamara Rojo and Edward Watson looked fabulous together - what a pity they haven't been paired together more often. But the machine has to go!
A lot of the lighting was too dark. When we buy ballet tickets, we want to see the dancers - especially when they're this good.
I visited the National Gallery Titian exhibition on Monday afternoon before the Titian ballet performance on Monday evening. The exhibition puts the ballets into context showing three large Titian paintings over 400 years old and more modern works by the set designers of the ballet stages for the Titian ballets at the Royal Opera House that night. The National Gallery exhibition explores the ideas shown in Titian's paintings about Ovid's Metamorphosis later explored in the ballet performances. From peeking at female bathers to a modern robotic machine rebuking the observer whom is subsequently killed because of their prying, the exhibition explains many aspects of the Metamophosis Titian ballets. I thought the music for Diana and Acteon was intense and dramatic, the choreography was superb, and the ballet was very well perfomed. It showed the death of Actaeon in the hands of dogs after Diana threw water at him for looking at her. Brilliant. The long scene between Diana and Actaeon was one of the best of the whole year. I hope the Diana and Actaeon ballet will be perfomed many times again in future seasons. An understanding of the Titian paintings and Ovid's Metamorphosis greatly increase the enjoyment of the ballets.