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catullus101 · 6 months

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William Bracewell rehearsing for The Dante Project

London, 2023. Ph. Andrej Uspenski

#william bracewell #royal ballet #the dante project #wayne mcgregor

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enchanted-keys · 1 year

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Marianela Nunez and Matthew Ball in Woolf Works (Royal Ballet 2023)

- photos by Andrej Uspenski

#marianela nunez #matthew ball #woolf works #wayne mcgregor #royal ballet #ballet #tuesday

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b-mw · 10 months

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The Royal Ballet - Untitled, 2023

choreographed by Wayne McGregor

#classical ballet #ballet gif #royal ballet #roh #wayne mcgregor #ballet #Daniel lee #burberry #Melissa Hamilton #my gif

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loveforskekgra · 11 months

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Thoughts on ‘UniVerse a dark crystal odyssey’ (LONG POST AHEAD):

The dancers were talented. Let’s get that first- they were good dancers and clearly had put a lot of work into what they were doing so that, at least, I appreciate. I think they were let down by the repetitive and meandering choreography and strange costume and soundtrack choices. Given better material to work with I’m sure they could shine. The soundtrack was weird and droning (and at times downright harsh and unpleasant, ow my ears) and lacking any beat or rhythm so I wonder how the dancers were managing to keep in time. Costumes, incredibly unimpressive, literally just printed morph suits and occasionally a black hoodie and track pants (yes, really.)

Little to no references to the dark crystal at all. Aughra’s eye was a recurring image but it was just sort of floating there projected onto the mesh screen in front of and behind the dancers, not really doing much. There were some symbols and a single image of a Skeksis that I recognised from the ‘world of the dark crystal’ book. There was a scene I think (?) they were referencing the image of the mystics walking to the castle from the movie and a headdress that vaguely resembles a Skeksis. Other than that, there’s nothing of the dark crystal to be found.

The ‘message’ of the show was all over the place and felt very unclear. Wayne McGregor certainly had something to say, but I’m not sure I understand what it is, and I don’t really think he does either. Strange slam poetry (?) sections in between some of the dance parts where the topic shifted all over the place from the environment to race to gender politics, and none of it was really explored properly or handled well. He sort of like mentioned each thing then instantly went on to something else without really expanding on what he was previously saying. The imagery on the projections was very on the nose (the segment with a picture of what appeared to be a drawing of a dead bird that then gets covered with black goop- presumably meant to represent an oil spill- springs to mind) and seemed uninspired. At times it felt like they’d just taken pictures of videos or unrelated things to project onto the mesh screen to distract you while the dancers were backstage changing their costumes. And they continued to be distracting while the dancers were onstage. I missed whole segments of dance because I was busy looking at the projections wondering what exactly I was looking at or why there was a goldfish there.

Nothing of the environmental and political themes he was trying to touch on were anything that hadn’t been said a million times before (in much clearer and easier to understand ways). There was nothing that really struck me as being particularly thought provoking or new. The themes of oppression, overuse of natural resources and the importance of nature and caring for each other are all already present in the original dark crystal story- a proper adaptation would’ve touched on these themes, and in a way that is understandable and accessible. There was no need for all the strange modern dance trappings.

It felt at times like it was trying too hard to be artsy and highbrow and modern, almost as if there was the intention of looking down on the source material (and audience!!). It felt obnoxious and boring in its attempts to be abstract and artsy. The hour and ten minutes of the performance dragged. I was incredibly, incredibly bored and thinking how much i would rather be at home watching my dark crystal dvd and eating popcorn with my friend.

Ultimately, I think what makes me sad is that I feel Wayne McGregor has entirely missed what it is that makes people like the dark crystal. I don’t believe he is a fan and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never actually seen the dark crystal. The removal of anything that gives the movie its charm and memorability is a huge shame. We love the characters and creatures and whimsical fantasy world of the movie! It’s our love of them that really drives the films message of caring for the planet and each other- if we didn’t love them and identify with them then we wouldn’t care what happened to Thra, and then be able to learn from the story and be able to view what’s happening in our world with Thra in mind. The movie presented the message in a way that was clear, easy to understand and accessible for its audience (notably, children. Despite the darker tone and large amount of adults in the fandom, it’s a childrens movie. An exceptionally good one). There were quite a lot of people that I saw who had brought their kids with them. We got about 1/3 of the way through before I noticed people with kids leaving. Imagine the disappointment of being a kid going to see what you think is going to be a fun fantasy romp with charming gelflings and scary Skeksis, only to be met with some strange modern dance with an awful soundtrack. Wayne McGregor has succeeded in completely alienating the source material’s primary audience.

And finally, I feel the advertising was deceptive- on purpose. I really do think that the dark crystal name was just put onto an unrelated modern dance piece in order to get fans of the movie to see it. There was notably little in the way of promotional material or photos- besides one video that shows precisely nothing- after the show was first announced and the summary that we were given for it was extremely vague. The ‘in association with Jim Hensons puppet company’ gave the idea that there were going to be puppets and it was all very much made out to be something that it absolutely isn’t. It feels like it was all a ploy to trick people into going to see something that they otherwise would’ve never even had an interest in. It’s not the dark crystal. It’s nothing to do with it. I think they should remove the name from the title to be honest. And it makes me worry for potential dark crystal projects in the future. Are we just fated for more failures and disappointments?

If I had to choose one word to describe this performance it would definitely be ‘disappointment’. If I were to choose two more they would be ‘confusing’ and ‘strange’.

#ramblings #the dark Crystal #universe a dark crystal odyssey #the dark crystal ballet #wayne mcgregor #WAYNE I WANT TO TALK I HAVE QUESTIONS #sorry this is veeeery rambly #I have a lot of thoughts #edited to fix typos

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miss-mollys-ballet-blog · 3 months

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#LMAOOOOO #infra #wayne mcgregor #ballet #choreography #ballet meme

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miss-m-calling · 1 year

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Wayne McGregor’s Maddaddam (National Ballet of Canada, 2022)

Photos by Karolina Kuras and Bruce Zinger

#maddaddam #wayne mcgregor #choreography #set design #costume #this was amazing amazing AMAZING

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mapmyrestlessness · 5 months

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by William Bracewell (@williambracewell)

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#william bracewell #wayne mcgregor #dancersdiary #Instagram

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nonesuchrecords · 5 months

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The Dante Project, the award-winning ballet by choreographer Wayne McGregor, composer Thomas Adès, and visual artist Tacita Dean, returns to London's Royal Opera House, where it was first performed in 2021, for eight performances by the Royal Ballet, from this Saturday through December 2. You can get tickets here.

Adès's music, Dante, was performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2022, the Nonesuch recording of which was just nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary Classical Composition, Best Orchestral Performance, and, for the album's producer, Dmitriy Lipay, Producer of the Year, Classical. You can get it and hear it here.

“In any new shortlist of great ballet scores by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Bartók, Ravel, Prokofiev, Britten, and Bernstein, Dante must newly be included for its musical invention alone,” exclaims the Los Angeles Times. “There is not a second in its 88 minutes that doesn’t delight. All of it is unexpected and wanted.” The collectable limited vinyl two-LP edition of Dante includes artwork by Dean and photography from the Royal Ballet’s performance.

Photo: Royal Opera House by Andrej Uspenski

#the dante project #dante #wayne mcgregor #thomas ades #tacita dean #royal opera house #royal ballet #los angeles philharmonic #gustavo dudamel #grammys #contemporary classical music #nonesuch #nonesuch records

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strechanadi · 1 year

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Calvin Richardson

Woolf works

photo: Andrej Uspenski

#ballet #royal ballet #calvin richardson #woolf works #wayne mcgregor #oh I would kill to see him dance Septimus!

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balletroyale · 1 year

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When will we be free of Wheeldon and McGregor?? Are their roles lifetime postings? I'm not convinced either has anything more to add to the company that improves over the existing rep

I personally don’t mind either of them so much (Wheeldon’s latest full length aside, and even that wasn’t really much to do with his choreo as a general problem of being too overwhelming with the story). I’m not a fan of McGregor’s work personally but I can see the merit in his work. I think most people would argue the Dante Project was a good addition to the rep, for example.

It’s pretty common for choreographers associated with a company to stay there for most if not all of their career.

Honestly I don’t have too much of a problem with this, personally.

#ask #royal ballet #Wayne McGregor #Christopher Wheeldon

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gramilano · 2 years

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Athelhampton House Gala: Stars of The Royal Ballet dance in charity gala this weekend

10 and 11 September sees the return of the Athelhampton House Gala in Dorset, UK, with Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers.

Akane Takada and Ryoichi Hirano in Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour The Athelhampton House Gala in Dorset has become an annual happening after the Royal Ballet’s Meaghan Grace Hinkis created the event after the first lockdown in 2020. Hinkis, who has been a first soloist since 2021, wanted to support her industry with the gala in response to the closures of performing arts venues.…