This thread is for discussion of the Royal Ballet triple bill that opened on 22nd October. Newspaper reviews will be catalogued on the database as they appear, with balletco reviews being added later.

Several weeks ago, the Royal Ballet held an insight day on the three ballets, Gong, Tryst and Carmen. PhilipB was there for balletco - his report is on this link. October's Dancing Times has a feature by Beth Genné on Mark Morris's Gong.

The triple bill that opened the Royal’s 2002/3 season gave much material for thought about companies and choreographers, and how new work sits on a company. The evening was a surprisingly mixed experience. The opening work was Christopher Wheeldon's Tryst, which had its premiere late last season, the only work of the three specifically made for the Royal,. This was followed by a new acquisition, Mark Morris's Gong, made recently for ABT, and Mats Ek’s Carmen, which the Royal acquired last season. It was a strongly cast programme featuring both big names which always sell tickets (Bussell, Guillem) and some of the fans favourites in new work (Watson et al).

Tryst is more and more convincing on subsequent viewings, with more fine detail becoming apparent in its structure. There are short pas de deux for four couples, supported by a corps which precede the central event, a long, languorous pas de deux for Bussell and Cope The principals disappear after this – leaving us wanting more – and the corps flood the stage for a final sequence, all silhouetted in golden light. The company seemed more confident and more on top of the work than when it was first shown, understandably as they have more performances under their belt.

But there is still a contrast between the rest of the cast and the utter assurance and authority of Bussell and Cope in their remarkable manoeuvres, balances, and mysterious negotiations. This, you feel, is choreography absolutely made to measure for its dancers, an haute couture creation for the abilities and special qualities of Bussell and Cope. These are dancers Wheeldon would have observed before he left the company, and for whom he has subsequently made a number of works. The rest of the cast don’t claim ownership of the work as theirs in quite the same way. (ENB as a company inhabit Hampson’s Double Concerto: it is quite clearly theirs, made for all of them, based on a close knowledge of the company as an in house choreographer.) Wheeldon’s corps work might sit more happily on the NYCB, where he is based now, than the Royal: some of the movements might look more incisive if there was a more Balanchinean zippiness in the legs.

Although Tryst was originally produced as an opening ballet of a mixed bill, this may not be its ideal position. It is a very well made work and repays repeated viewing, but it is restrained and reticent, and doesn’t necessarily get the audience’s blood moving – it might be better placed as a middle work.

Mark Morris is very popular in the UK, and has enjoyed great success over the years with both critics and the audience. He is the choreographer that ballet companies pursue at present. ENB are in the process of acquiring a Morris piece also. So importing a Morris piece made for ABT sounded a great idea. But, despite a starry cast, it didn’t come off on the night. The music was supposed to be based on Balinese Gamelan music, but very little of the influence seemed to come through (Prince of the Pagodas has much more gamelan flavour in it).

The musicality that usually provides such pleasure in Morris’s work didn’t seem to be in evidence. It was odd to see some of the pas de deux danced in silence. The dancers didn’t seem at home in the work: Bussell who had earlier dominated the stage, appeared subdued and the women (Bussell, Burn, Cojocaru, Nunez , Tapper) seemed generally ill at ease. The men had a better time of it, with Watson making an impression. There wasn’t much sense of the sheer joy of movement shown by works he has made for ballet companies he knows well (Sandpaper Ballet for SFB springs to mind). Perhaps Morris at two removes has somehow become too diluted. He did get a warm response from the audience though.

Mats Ek’s Carmen may not have been made for Sylvie Guillem, but she ignores this small matter, grabs the role by the scruff of the neck and does what she pleases with it. It’s certainly a remarkable performance. However the work itself is curiously lacking in passion for such a fevered and obsessive narrative. Carmen in the opera carries on her chosen path though she has seen her death foretold: Ek’s Carmen does not have this stature, she is just a strident woman whose luck runs out. Murru’s Don Jose is not a character who engages any empathy. For all the energy and shouting, and undoubted commitment and hard work by the cast, it is a rather hollow experience.

I’ve now seen it twice. I was at the rehearsal and at Friday night’s performance. Same cast for Tryst and Carmen – different cast for Gong. (I’m fairly new to the site so I hope it’s OK to comment on rehearsals)

The more I see Tryst the more I like it. Last night the lady next to me felt that the dancers weren’t as ‘together’ as they had been on Tuesday (she was at the first night) but I found it hypnotic. I liked it when I saw it last summer but, in my opinion, it now flows more naturally.

The dancers in Gong seemed more at home with the choreography than the first night cast (though, to be fair, I only saw the first night cast at the rehearsal) Zenaida Yanovsky impressed particularly, as did Deirdre Chapman. At the rehearsal I’d had my doubts about the suitability of the choreography for the company but these doubts were completely dispelled yesterday.

I know there are many who don’t like Ek’s Carmen but I found yesterday’s performance utterly convincing. The audience seemed transfixed by it and the cheers and the applause were still continuing as I left the building to catch my train.

Gong is a disappointment. Wonderful score - and, as Jonathan says, very redolent of Poulenc's double piano concerto, and in particular the final minute or two of the first movement. But I felt I was wandering through a jumble sale; that Mark Morris had taken quick and easy options and thrown the piece together. Morris does not radiate the impression of a man who is used to being questioned: yet this is a piece that should have been sharply edited before it was ever staged. The failure is ABT's as much as Morris's. Why Ross Stretton should have bought it for the Royal Ballet, I cannot imagine. Lovely lighting plot. Richly coloured costumes. Yet the costumes themselves were not well shaped - the men seemed industrial and shapeless almost. The jewellery did not have any impact that crossed the prosecenium arch. One of the men struck us strongly - Thomas Whitehead. Really strong performance.

We didn't wait for Carmen. I've suffered it before and refuse to so again. Mats Ek gives me indigestion.

Gong looked very beautiful, but suffered from Stretton syndrome in being too similar in mood to Tryst. The music was attractive and unusual. The men were excellent, Watson tremendous, with Jose Martin an impressive newcomer. The women, especially Bussell, looked rather ill at ease. It will be interesting to see how it grows.

Carmen is superficial, the screaming is self-conscious and daft, and the novelty has already worn off. At least it was a change of mood. But the RBs sense of style now carries it off well, it generates energy, and it got tremendous applause. Guillem is quite outrageous.

I didn't like Tryst when it was new - but it is haunting, really staying in the mind. But it needs help: I see it as a central work in a prgramme not an opener.

I have a feeling it has to open the programme because of something to do with the set. Isn't that the reason (the reason they gave, anyway!) that "Beyond Bach" had to be swapped for "The Leaves are Fading" in the original "Tryst" bill? And wasn't there a very long interval after "Tryst" on that bill? I could be wrong!

Anyway, I love "Tryst" and would happily see it at any stage in a mixed bill - although as a big company piece and with that wonderful mystic ending, I think it might make a particularly good closer.

I really enjoyed all the pieces on the triple bill on Friday by the way. I thought it was one of the most exciting triple bills I've seen the Royal Ballet do.

I saw it last season. Quite different from the Bussell/Cope interpretation but hard to put into words. Bussell and Cope seemed to me to be like etherial bird-spirits, immersed in their own reality. Hatley and Harvey were more ........ any of the descriptions don't quite express it properly: "earthy","human", "warm", "accessible" all sound as if I am making unflattering comparisons between the two partnerings which is far from the case. I think Bussell and Cope were clearly "above the world" and somehow inviolable whereas Hatley and Harvey were "of the world" and vulnerable. Both brilliant, and if it's true that Hatley is unable to perform then it will be a real shame.

Gong, thought the girls costumes made them look like men in drag.
Too many people were coughing during the silent parts which was off putting but expected for the time of year I suppose. I think its a piece that really showed off how good the men are.

Carmen, Yanowsky rose again in my estimation, I really didn't like her the first couple of times i saw her but she was really amazing as M. First time seeing Sylvie Guillem, I hope to see her again.

Will go to second cast..of course!

Roll on the later triples...

I adored Morris' 'Gong'. I thought it beautiful, vibrant and slyly funny with its unexpected po-faced send-ups of classical ballet. More relevant maybe were the cleverly structured groupings and patterns - and here I was glad to be sitting far up the dreaded Amphi, where they could be seen to the greatest advantage. I loved Jean-Marc Puissant's gaudy costumes, particularly the womens' 'dinner-plate' tutus - seeing Alina Cojocaru, clad in day-glo fusica pink, being lifted by Martin Harvey in dazzling orange proved that there's no such thing as a 'clash' of colours.

Mats Eks 'Carmen' was as usual loved by the audience. Guillem dazzled with the extraordinary suppleness of her body and her immaculate comic timing, and was particularly well partnered by both Massimo Murro and Jonathan Cope. Murro was genuinely moving in the role of the put-upon José (he has an excellent speaking voice), and Cope had whale of a time as the flashy, feather-headed bullfighter Escamillo. Zenaida Yanowsky as 'M' made the witty most of her mysterious role as the bent-over woman (thoughts of Gamzatti's maid in 'Bayadere' come to mind here); she too had extraordinary control of her tall, rangy body.

Most enjoyable triple bill I've seen in ages; well done all concerned.

Gong was very enjoyable, with charm and warmth. It was well danced as an ensemble, but I thought the men were nothing like as strong in the second cast as the first. Laura Morera stood out, especially in the second silent pas de deux

Carmen was notable for a terrific performance from Thomas Whitehead as Don Jose, far better than Massimo Murru. I hope he will be cast as Lescaut. Tamara Rojo was feisty and rather charming as Carmen, and much less wilfully sluttish than Sylvie Guillem. Although they danced very well, for me Bennet Gartside and Jaimie Tapper cannot yet eclipse the bravura and style of Jonathan Cope and Zenaida Yanowsky

>The music is
>very difficult, and the last
>movement with screeching brass almost
>unbearable.

Just a comment on the music - I love it, I really enjoy the MacMillan music, particularly those screechy brasses at the end...but should Tryst ever return to the CG stage (and I'm sure it will) I'd highly recommend not sitting in the front left hand corner of the stalls where you'd directly in front of the woodwind and brass sections where the music, especially at the start, is at it's screechiest. My ears, my ears!!

Having said that, I thought Tamara was excellent and Thomas Whitehead was just incredible. Gong's growing on me but that's mainly because I could tell the dancers apart this time which made it mildly more interesting. I like the first movement a great deal but I found the silent pdds a little pointless and the 2nd section with the lightbox not interesting at all. Oh well, the evening WAS much better than I expected.

Deirdre Chapman did the role Nunez usually does in Gong last night (because Coppen is ill and Whitehead was doing that bit) and she looked very impressive.