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 Royal Ballet Principals |
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Viviana Durante | |||
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A small dancer who knows how to deliver the goods no matter what the piece. In the traditional repertoire she is all innocence and high ideals and in the MacMillan repertoire she is all knowing and tarty (as needed of course!). Occasionally she can look somewhat cool, as if her mind were dwelling on other things. She typifies the subjective nature of dance criticism: although no-one will quibble about Durante's technical ability, her ability to connect emotionally is not consistent. Thus for some tastes, her Giselle and Manon (the latter is superb) are too cool and too detached. One of the most unfair things to happen to Durante recently was substituting her for an injured Darcey Bussell in Sleeping Beauty last September - the near six-inch difference in their heights led to a distorted Rose Adagio in which the entire cast towered over Durante. But these are dancers that should not be compared, although unfortunately they all too often are.
Viviana's performances in Manon (with Irek Mukhamedov) are excellent - they are widely regarded as the definitive Manon and Des Grieux of their generation. They closed the Royal Ballet's Coliseum season with a standing ovation that reduced Durante to tears. (It's worth noting that Durante reduces Bruce to an incoherent heap of ecstasy.) In general their partnership has proved one of the best over the last few years; they are the most dramatic of dancers and certainly spark off one another. {principals}
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Darcey Bussell | |||
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She danced Nikiya at the Kirov in St Petersburg in February 1998 at the request of Zelensky, and the pair had to take nine curtain calls after their first night! She guests worldwide, and won over the notoriously finicky New York City Ballet audience in Balanchine performances. She seems capable of embracing nearly all ballet styles and succeeding. Darcey has an image as the "nice" girl of the Royal Ballet and many people have difficulty with her performances in seamier roles. She and Zelensky danced Manon together for the first time in the summer and were not received with universal approval. That said, her dramatic abilities are strengthening and future performances should be much stronger.
The Independent (26/10/96) included a review of peoples favourite things. Bamber Gascoigne gave details of his favourite ballerina: "I joined the board of the Royal Opera House in September 1988, when Kenneth MacMillan was just starting to notice Darcey Bussell, in the Chorus with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. It's been fascinating watching her develop and grow within the company. I don't think it's a requirement for a ballerina to be lovely, but I do find her immensely beautiful. Her beauty is of such a serene kind. It's crazy to say this about someone whose craft is movement, but she has this amazing quality of stillness; even on a crowded stage, your eye is always drawn to her. When she does move, it always seems so incredibly sure. It's a calm based on incredible physical confidence and control, particularly in the Rose Adagio in Sleeping Beauty, that agonising thing that happens almost as soon as the ballerina comes on. It's such a worrying moment, but it's part of the appeal of ballet - that hire-wire fear. Whenever I've seen her, she's done it with unbelievable ease. She's never disappointed me, but then I'm a bit of a push-over". Here is some more, this time from Twyla Tharp:"Leon [Wieseltier] got totally hypnotised by celadon. He saw a few pieces
at the Freer Gallery and all of a sudden everything was about celadon,
about the spirituality of this colour and this glaze. And I got hooked
into it, and the second movement of "Mr. Worldly Wise," for the Royal
Ballet in London, is dressed in celadon, because Darcey Bussell -- have
you seen Darcey dance? She is beautiful in every conceivable way.
Physically beautiful, but also genuinely, spiritually beautiful. And
she's a phenomenal dancer. Darcey got this role called Mistress
Truth-on-Toe, because she's simple, pure, direct. She's so beautiful, you
just give her the simplest thing and say, fine, get back, don't get in her
way, let her move. That's the beauty of her."
{principals}
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Miyako Yoshida | |||
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Small and technically dazzling she is somebody who can more than look after herself. One of the best things she has done were some divertissement pieces and Don Quixote with Teddy Kumakawa. The combination, in the right pieces, gives rise to irrepressible fireworks and it is a shame that they have not been seen more together. Her Talisman pas de deux with Mukhamedov was also enchanting, while her classical performances with Bruce Sansom, particularly in Swan Lake, are a joy. She has been partnered with Jonathan Cope, an incongruous pairing of two sensitive dancers - Cope is too tall for them to produce a satisfactory line. {principals}
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Leanne Benjamin | |||
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She is also more than capable of taking care of herself. Leanne has the knack of making the most recalcitrant partner behave himself and give a more than creditable performance. Final note is that Leanne was originally a Principal at English National Ballet; not many make such a move. {principals}
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Deborah Bull | |||
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Recently made a CBE, she is on the Arts Council, has published two books and also appeared on radio and television, from morning chat shows to co-hosting Dance Night on BBC2. Just recently it's been announced that Bull will be responsible for developing and programming the Studio Upstairs - a third performance space (based on a rehearsal studio) in the redeveloped Royal Opera House. Her name has also been mentioned as a possible Royal Ballet artistic director at some point. Quite a list! On the dancing side Bull sees herself more as the Salieri than the Mozart. It's typical of her thoughtful and reflective approach. Bull has not been seen so much in the classics, though her Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) pleased many and in all the senior soloist roles she is much admired. But it is in the modern works, particularly by Forsythe, that she commands the greatest attention and respect. As she gets older she becomes more involved in new works it seems and the Studio Upstairs will extend this involvement.
While Bull will inevitably hang up her pointe shoes sometime, after a career that many dancers can only wish for, it's hard to imagine that her experience will be lost to dance and indeed it may well be that her best years, as dance ambassador, programmer, influencer, director and broadcaster are yet to come.
A Royal Ballet member since 1981, and principal dancer since 1992, she sprang to the general public's attention when she wiped the floor of the Oxford Union by defending lottery funding of "elitist" arts in 1996. Lord Gowrie, her debating partner, described it as "the best speech I have heard on the arts in 30 years". She has since written extensively for broadsheets, published two books (the second an account of the recent tumults at the Royal Opera House), and become a member of the Arts Council and board of the South Bank Centre.
The youngest of four daughters of a Derby vicar, Ms Bull, 36, trained at the Royal Ballet School, where she was the only student in her year to take an A-level (French, which she crammed in a year). She has since been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Derby for "her cogent public advocacy of the place of the arts".
{principals}
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Irek Mukhamedov | |||
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Possibly his finest hour was/is in "Manon" with Viviana Durante - it's a ballet that suits them to perfection. Generally, Mukhamedov pulls out all the stops for MacMillan ballets - he's also an excellent Romeo. Irek however seems to have lost his way somewhat over the last couple of years and he has also not been seen on stage so much. He has now been made a guest artist - and he is not happy with this move. Without MacMillan (a hero and friend) the repertoire over the last few seasons has not particularly suited him and this coupled with the inevitable creeping up of age and the sabbatical of Viviana Durante means he has been less happy and perhaps not so motivated. He has also put on weight and his jumps take more effort than formerly. Even so he wows audiences and the return of Durante as a partner certainly boosted his performances this year. Is he past his peak? Well, yes, he is, but don't be deterred. The effort makes his performances even more compelling viewing, albeit tinged with sadness for audiences who love him. On a more irreverrent note, in an ideal world Irek would become a character artist - although they're not usually roles given to someone of his fame and stature, many in the audience would love to see him as the bullying Ugly Sister in Cinderella or Widow Simone in Fille Mal Gardee. But Irek could walk on stage and read the telephone book and still pull crowds. He has a magnetism and stage presence like no other and we all look forward to his every performance. He also does the most outrageous and entertaining curtain calls - the only person who shows more neck at this time is Farouk Ruzimatov of the Kirov. {principals} |
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Tetsuya Kumakawa | |||
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Teddy gets screams from the Opera House audience when he's danced one of his heart-stopping solos. It's not what he'd want to be remembered solely for, but Teddy dancing a ninety-second extravaganza like the Golden Idol in La Bayadere is an awe-inspiring sight.
At the time of writing, Teddy had just resigned from the Royal Ballet. More details can be found on postings.
{principals}
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Jonathan Cope | |||
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He suffered some poor crits particularly early in his career. Now nearly all the critics are behind him. He is never over the top and is always a perfect partner. His dignity in the big roles always shines through; others see this reserve differently. Sylvie Guillem rates him very, very, highly indeed and while Darcey Bussell also cited him as a best friend in an interview. An all round good egg.
You need to catch Cope in the next few years while he is still at the height of his powers; while ballerinas can go into their 40's and beyond, alas this is not normally the case for male dancers. In particular, he's more than worth catching as the Salamander Prince in Prince of the Pagodas, a role he created. Also does a nice line in comedy, particularly in Matthew Hart's Cry Baby Kreisler, in the 1997 Dance Bites tour.
{principals}
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Bruce Sansom | |||
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Also, rather surprisingly, looks good in the Judas Tree, which is a million miles away from his usual repetoire and image on stage. Danced his heart out as the Foreman's Friend in this ballet, demanding the audience's attention, not easy when Irek Mukhamedov and Leanne Benjamin are dancing the leads. After that, it would be good to see him do "dirtier" roles to see what he would make of them.
{principals}
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Stuart Cassidy | |||
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Always worth watching - a nice sound dancer. Is often partnered with Darcey Bussell and has a very good rapport with her. Catch him as Lescaut in Manon - he judges the drunk solo to perfection.
{principals}
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William Trevitt | |||
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Can surprise you as a dancer - was very good in Push Comes to Shove, but can also be very patchy. For example, he was atrocious in the Third Movement of Symphony in C one afternoon, and danced it to perfection (with a different partner) that night.
{principals}
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