Wayne McGregor's Deloitte Ignite 08

[ArnoldtheDestroyer]

until now i havent been a fan of contemporary ballet. fantastic, inspiring and fresh! exactly what the rbc need!

[BrianFantana18]

yes pddwatch81, i know that entity is a work for random dance im just merely saying that he is able to create a piece which has longevity and popularity. This is a stupid argument, the only opinion which really matters in this case is that of Monica Mason and she obviously seems to think that Mcgregor is doing good at the RB.

[LaMagnifica13]

pddwatch81

You seem very easily upset. Clearly you don't 'get' Wayne's heart, soul and intellect which is present in different doses throughout his work. I am not a dancer but I fully appreciate the importance of someone coming into the grand ship that is the ROH/RB and adding something creatively white hot.

Check out his Dido and Aeneas guys.

[pddwatch81]

LaMagnifica13, What's 'easily upset' got to do with anything? I'm just saying what I feel, I made a few jokes too!

I feel I *do* get WM and that is why I feel he is inappropriate for the RB.

You say he's 'White hot'. This is a good description. His works are all buzz and gloss and hype and it soon fizzes out to nothing .. that is just not good enough for a big company which needs new works able to sustain themselves beyond just 1 or 2 runs. OK not every work but one that could would be good!

[LaMagnifica13]

pddwatch81, I repeat, you don't 'get 'Wayne. Or, you think you do, which is your opinion to which you are entitled. You praise him with one remark then damn him with the next. His Acis and Galatea has some supremely elegant, emotional and sophisticated choreography that I forsee will be revived. Only time will tell.

[BrianFantana18]

pddwatch81, argue with monica mason, and if your talking about the popularity of a piece and how long it stays in a rep, do you know that mcgregors "entity" is touring untill April 2010. Thats a full two year tour of one show. Also, getting mcgregor into RB is purely to make new things, The RB are constantly performing the classics which are incredibly popular, but having a contemporary choreographer can create something for a new audience. Stop being so narrow minded

[pddwatch81]

BrianFantana18, Entity is Random Dance not RB and therefore not what I was talking about at all. AFAIC RD is where his style works and all he has done at the ROH is to stick it the same tried and tested formula onto a completely different (kind of) company (sure they look hot ...). THAT to me shows lack of imagination, or guts or respect + narrow mindedness.

If he'd gone the other way and started making big classical ballets (new or old) for random dance that would have been equally misguided.

[zerozeroz1]

Dear, I don't keep up with what's really going on but I will spout anyway,

errrrrrrrrrrr where's the DJ night? Please let us dance fans know -- we would all like to go.

And, if you are so motivated to make a story ballet -- go ahead. You know what they say - talent will out! Perhaps you could become the resident choreographer of back and beyond.

Thanks x

[pddwatch81]

Zerozeroz1: I never said I wanted to MAKE a ballet MYSELF. My comment was even addressed to WM the person currently EMPLOYED to be res ch.

You are trying to belittle my comment by insinuating my gripe is really to do with my 'secret failed ambition' as a choreographer INSTEAD OF JUST BEING a concern for an art form I am passionate about.

Your reply is a bit pathetic and immature TBH.

As for 'back of beyond' - let's see how long any of WM's ballets stay in rep before being relocated there...

[zerozeroz1]

TBH

Your initial comment was a bit pathetic and immature, as is your final 'quip' here. There is room for everyone you know, room for lots of different ballets, lots of diverse ideas --not just things YOU like and things YOU would like to see. A little selfish aren't we!

[pddwatch81]

Strictly speaking my 'quip' was a response to your *original* quip about me becoming a 'choreographer of back of beyond'.

A 'quip comeback' if you like LOL ;)

But I digress.....

[pddwatch81]

With a company like RB at ROH there is NOT 'room for everyone' or 'lots of different ballets'. That's the WHOLE POINT!

It's a huge company/ big theatre/ orchestra. That MEANS lots of RESTRICTIONS and so challenges+ RESPONSIBILITY. I know, I know responsibility and art together - how unfashionable is that!

It's much easier to work with the ideas and formats you know you can achieve easily- even if they are totally unsuitable for the company/ theatre etc

And you accuse ME of being selfish!?

[pddwatch81]

What everyone seems to be forgetting/ ignoring/ unable/willing to grasp is that, like I just said, the RB and ROH is a BIG (classical) company in a BIG theatre+orchestra et al.

Whether people like it or not the ROH is in so many ways a grand ocean going ship! And a beautiful one with a passionate crew of hundreds! And like any vehicle it moves best in its own element.

And in hiring WM they seem to have hired someone who seems to have no interest in large ships, or sailing, or the sea....

[pddwatch81]

But make no mistake it is that grand 'ship like scale' of sets (or at least space) / grand choreography/ music/ EMOTION which draws 2000ppl a night to a ballet 50 -100 years old

So WHY make 'grand' so forbidden in ballet now? WHY follow technology and be so nano - in EMOTIONS, story, heart and soul!

Who'd dare choreograph a Juliet now with emotion so intense it presses up against the exit doors? What we have from WM is a little angst, irritation- to glitchy music, a mere puddle- not the sea!

[pddwatch81]

'Grand' does not need to mean court scenes - it can be of this age too! To not see this is to be totally lacking in imagination IMO

Make ballets of ANY kind on ANY subject but ones that actually SUIT the grand scale vessel which is RB/ROH and you will ALWAYS have wind in your sails and an audience desperate to climb on board!

Make 'non ocean going works' that don't suit the RB/ROH and you'll be forever resorting to HYPE, gimmicks and still papering the first run before shelving them forever...

[zerozeroz1]

;})

[pddwatch81]

Dear Mr Resident Choreographer for the Royal Ballet,

Please can you- instead of making trendy DJ nights for the cool crowd - make a proper ballet with you know, actual substance, meaning, depth... about PEOPLE! real life or fantastic stories+ themes -things that are actually interesting, enjoyable and EMOTIONAL to watch - just like the ballets the resident choreographers before you made which still endure, returning every 2 to 4 years 30 ... 50 years later because they are so good!

Thanks! x

[rudalev]

the show it advertises may well be great; the video, though, is pretty pointless. Though at 26 seconds it's at least short and pointless.