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gothamsglam · 3 years

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How Wonder-land-a-ful!

Transferring to SHIELD high did many things for Tony, one of them was reuniting him with James Rhodes. Just not how he wanted to.

Ever After High/Marvel Fusion. Ironhusbands, of course. (You don't have to know much about Ever After High to read this, think just some fairy tale AU and you'll be fine!)

AO3 LINK IN NOTES

I wanted to churn out one more story for the end of 2020, I thought something more silly would be a great way to end this uh year.

This idea has stuck with me for a while, and I finally wrote it.

Hope you enjoy!!!

~Vix

SHIELD High was so bland . Yes, it was grand of course, structured like the classically large fairy-tale castles of Ever After. The hallways were marble with lockers and vines lining the walls and trees and plants growing willy nilly around the school. Chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, and large arched windows showed off the beauty of the lands around them. In the distance, Tony swears he can see Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

But SHIELD high was just bland in comparison to home. To Wonderland . Not even the personalized dorms could make up for the fact that school was all year long— ew , who made that rule—instead of one day a year. Tony missed the nonsensical beauty of SI High, where the hallways ran instead of you, where you had to find the paintbrushes in passing period to paint the doors—free art credits!—, and the cafeteria that was switched with the auditorium.

But the castle-teria at SHIELD was just a long hall with rows and rows of marvel benches, pillars in the corners to honor the greek storylines and pay tribute to the last generation of Fairytale legends.

It was so boring. And just looking at it made Tony want to *poof* right there and then.

“Hi Tony,” Steve Rogers asked, coming behind him in the castle-teria, “Need a place to sit?”

Oh and this, this was another thing Tony wasn’t fond of. Transferring to SHIELD high meant he actually was walking among the children of fairy tale legend. Disgusting.

Father was too fond of them, far too fond of them. Back when Wonderland and Ever After had many open portals between one another—back before the curse on Wonderland by the Evil Queen of the HYDRA family. Howard was an ambassador , the git.

Howard didn’t get the White Rabbit legacy as Tony did, no, Uncle Jarvis had. Howard was a part of the Wakandan court, one of many peace ambassadors to the other royal families, particularly the ones in Ever After. Oh, the tales Tony was told as a young bunny, of the Rogers Family’s legacy brought forth by the apple, of the Red Hooded Romanoffs, and the Rose pricked Wilsons.

Tony was glad he didn’t have to walk among them at SI High, he was content to only have to see them in the crowd at Legacy day. Tony was actually really excited for Legacy day, his own legacy wasn’t following his father, but rather his mother and Uncle Jarvis. Signing his page in the Storybook of Legends was a milestone Tony didn’t mind looking forward to.

However Tony also understood why James Barnes, heir to the Evil Queen, wouldn’t want to sign. To each their own, he supposes.

But ugh, SHIELD high had too many Princes, he hated it.

His nose twitching, Tony ducked away from Rogers—who was bigger, blonder, and oh the clocks was that a red crown on his stupid head? “Thanks, but no thanks, golden boy. I’ll just—uh—”

He looked out at the rows and rows of tables, at the heads of up-dos and flower pins, and the sea of gelled down curls and impeccable sleeves. Seriously how does no one have a stain on their shirt? It’s mud-loaf day!

There! Out in the crowd, a hand popped out waving him over, Tony grinned, popping up a bit and rushing away from the other guy, “See ya, Rogers!”

“Bye…?”

Resisting the urge to stick out his tongue, Tony padded away with swift steps, the click of his shoes drowned out by the noise of the castle-teria. Reaching the table in the back, he grinned at the sight of familiar friends.

He wasn’t the only one apart of the exchange program of course, in fact, he was the second wave of students, prepared by letters sent by the other students. Tony had his own assigned group of the next exchange student. A lovely little trio of kids. Peter would not stop asking about the royal classes offered at SHIELD and MJ was more interesting in the classes offered by Maria Hill. Tony wouldn’t know, of course, he switched out of those classes the second day after running into pig shit mid-chase. For a house on chicken legs, it was surprisingly very fast.

Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts was donned in swirls of light peach and blue with subtle armor around her waist and shoulders. Her hair was curled, pinned away from her face in a half updo, with the rest falling around her and nearly touching the table as she leaned in to pat the now empty spot across from her.

“Tony!” She exclaimed, freckles dancing across her face as she broke out into a smile, “got lost?” She teased.

Tony blew a raspberry, “Pssht, no, How could I get lost here? Wonderland was more interesting, this place is just boring,” he waved, twirling his fork in his food.

T’challa laughed, the matte gold detailing on his black jacket catching the light beans from the windows, it covered his purple and black card-like patterned dress shirt “That’s what you think, Stark. But with everything looking the same, you’ll pass by the same five classrooms over and over without noticing.”

Tony also laughed, “True. Remember, how—when you missed the upside-down sidewalk outside of bio-mechanics—you could end up in fishing class because of the fountain step? Every time the freshmen would come in dripping halfway through class.”

“Oh, does everyone still call them fish?” Sharon asked, pulling out Earl the dormouse from her empty teacup. He hopped up her shoulder to hide in her mini top hat. Her suit jacket was draped over her shoulders—rather than it being on the bench—and her cream shirt had mini hats detailed, blending in with the folds as it was only a few shades darker.

“Classically,” Tony replied with a wink. They turned back to their conversations, gossiping about their peers such as Maximoff—from Cinderella’s line—who was enamored with Vision—from the hunter’s line. Scandalous.

Tony halfheartedly listened to the discussion but was really on the verge of nodding off. His roommate—Justin Hammer, stupid son of the Cheshire cat—kept playing pranks on him and ruining his things with paint bombs. He almost got a fairy fail in physics because his latest essay had swamp goop over it! He had to stay up rewriting it, which wouldn’t be a problem normally but he had stayed up trying to make weld a new type of gear for his pet project.

Tony must have dozed off for a bit, because when he blinked open his eyes, he was resting on his elbows, folded under some familiar fabric. Blinking blearily at the side of his tray, Tony sat up. Well, that’s embarrassing, so much for his reputation. Pushing a hand through his hair, he avoided glancing around and instead went to look at his lap and pull out his pocket watch. However, someone else reached out to poke his side, resulting in a leap and an ‘eep!’.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty!” Rhodey smirked at him, “I think you and Wilson were supposed to have each other’s destinies. That was some impression you were doing.”

Damn him, Damn it all. Of course , Tony would fall asleep right then and there, drooling over his arms in front of James Rhodes . Of course the first time he’d see the precious son of the Alice bloodline—after literal years in different worlds—would be when he’s conked out in front of his dripping mashed potato tray in the flipping Greek castle-teria. Unbelievable, Tony.

And Rhodes— Rhodey —has the literal audacity to sit there with a playful smirk on his face. Sit there in his v-neck— v-neck!!! —map patterned shirt that should make him look like a dork but he doesn’t , and a necklace that dips over his collarbone —and oh stars —his hair .

Tony really should say something, “Uh—Hi, honey bear?” His voice cracks, because of course, it does.

“Hi, Tones,” Rhodey replies with a smile, and it’s dazzling . Tony just might scream.

Everything is muted, he couldn’t tell you if Pepper and Sharon were still talking, if T’challa had left the table or if lunch was even over. It feels like, for a brief moment, there’s only Rhodey.

Rhodey, who’s turning around to address someone else. Tony also looks away, trying to keep his ears from burning up and turning red.

“Tony, were you drawing in your mash potatoes?” Rhodey looks over, pressing slightly against Tony to peer over at his tray.

Which prompts Tony to dart out and pull the tray towards him with a, “Nooooo?”

Rhodes looks back at him, raising an eyebrow, “Really?”

“Maybe~?”

That prompted a laugh out of him, gaining the attention of Pepper sitting a bit away from them. “Oh, Tony’s still doing that? I thought that was only a Wonderland thing.”

“Hey!” Tony wrinkled his nose and glared at her, silently grateful at the fact that pulled him out of mentally gaping like a fish at his best friend—are they even best friends anymore? Rhodey probably has like a billion of them at SHIELD. “I can do it anywhere. It’s called art.”

“You wouldn’t know art if it slapped you in the face.”

Tony opened his mouth, literally about to say, ‘I mean if Rhodey slapped me in the face I would say he’s art.’ before he’s stopped by the one jellybean of a brain cell in the back of his mind.

Well that and Rhodey’s “If anyone can bring wonder with them to SHIELD, it would be Tony.”

Which, oKAY , Tony needs to stop exploding inwardly and actually say something, “Um, speaking of wonder, does anyone know anything about that one well myth?”

“The well of wonder?” Sharon asked, polling her hand from her mouth where she was probably stifling giggles, which rude, ok.

T’challa also answered, “I believe I might be of help. Why are you asking Tony?”

Tony darted a look at Rhodey—he can’t see his face because he’s looking at T’challa, but he swears that under the table his fist clenches. Weird—before looking at T’challa, “It’s a surprise,” He winked.

And it was! But for Rhodey. He was supposed to have it done pre-meeting him at lunch, but thanks to Hammer he missed his mental deadlines. It wasn’t like he had sought out Natasha Romanoff beforehand to ask about James’ schedule so he could know when they had lunch together or anything, absolutely not.

See—back when in Wonderland—, Tony and Rhodey would galavant about, exploring the lands and falling down many rabbit holes, quite literally. Tony remembers how in his workshop, Rhodey would always love seeing Tony design the swords and spears for the Wonderland card-guards—the Dora Milaje. However what Tony specialized in was watch-making, specifically enchanted watches. Watches with personality, with faces that weren’t just hands and numbers or mini mirror-pods, but near people like. Pixel-faires born of Tony’s creation. DUM-E was his first.

‘You’ was meant for Rhodey, he’d been making them ever since he heard he was chosen for the second era of exchange students. It really shouldn’t have taken so long, but without the wonder of Wonderland and his workshop, it was harder.

So when he heard about the well of wonder, the last remain flow between the two worlds, he knew he had to find it. Too bad it disappeared every night, popping up all over Ever After.

“It would be best to go with someone Tony,” Sharon said, “The well likes to frequent the forest.”

“I could go with you!” Rhodey exclaimed, well not exclaimed, that was just Tony projecting. Mostly... Maybe? No, probably.

“Really?” Tony asked, “You don’t—?”

“It’s my free period anyway," Rhodey shrugged, “Besides you’re already using my jacket, so now you can wear it in the forest too!”

“I—” Tony looks back at the table, and oh.

Oh , that’s what he was sleeping on.

T’challa mentioned stopping by their—his and Rhodey’s—dorm so they can get directions. There’s more regaling of the well, and mentions of seeing Bruce Banner and Thor frequenting the area, which ooo? But all Tony really remembers is seeing Rhodey reaching over, draping his jacket over Tony’s shoulder.

“It’s a date,” Rhodey grinned with a dazzling smile.

~FIN~

So do you like who is who? I didn't recast everyone, but I might continue this AU so maybe I will later down the line! Please let me know what you think in the comments and leave a kudo too! Love you all!!!

#tony stark #tony stark fic #ironhusbands #ironhusbands fic #tonyrhodey #tonyrhodey fic #tony stark x james rhodes #james rhodey rhodes #james rhodes #fanfiction #marvel/ever after high fusion #ever after high #marvel #mcu #vix writes #my writing #long lost #link post

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witchcraft-in-wonderland · 4 years

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Shattered Throne (Pt.1)

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It had been years since Virgil had grown out of the rehabilitation center. They hadnt wanted him to leave, least of all the youngest of the family, but they couldnt support a merman anymore. It wasnt that he was to big, oh certainly not, in fact, he was much smaller than most mermen. But his appetite wasnt, and his scales were to different, to noticable when people were poking around looking for excuses to search the enclosures, for creatures like him.

So he'd decided it was best to leave, leaving meant they were safe, leaving meant that there really were no merpeople in the center.

Leaving meant he was alone now, in the vast expanse of ocean in the middle of summer. It was hot, oh so incredibly hot, he hated when it was like this, the water always felt muddy, it made him sluggish.

But the worst part of the warm months was the boats. Thousands upon thousands of them,sometimes full of people, sometimes with only a few, he hated the ones with small amounts of people the most, because they came with nets and spikes and cameras, and he had to hide from them.

He didnt always hide though, sometimes they had smaller boats, sometimes he could smell new humans, in those cases he could hit the underside of the boat and listen to the screams, he liked those days, but they werent very frequent.

Hence, hiding in a cave, the only thing allowing him to see being the bioluminescent scales under his eyes.

"Come on! They'll never find us in here!" Virgil froze under the water as a voice reached his ears. He sunk further under as three figures entered the cave.

"Are you sure?" A smaller voice piped up after the first.

"Uh duh- no ones gonna look in a cave for a bunch of eighteen year olds," said the first voice.

"Actually, a cave would probably be one of the first places they would look," said a third voice, the second let out a squeak of fear.

"Oh shut up Logan nobody needs your facts," the first voice spoke again.

"My facts saved your life from a bear last week," Logan replied.

Virgil stayed under the water, covering his glowing scales with whatever he could find so they wouldnt see him.

"I couldve handled that bear on my own!" The first voice pouted.

"Yes which is exactly why you were crying for someone to help you," Logan spat.

The two stopped arguing at the sound of someone sniffling.

"Nonono Patton dont cry- we're safe I promise, no one's going to find us," the first voice said softly.

"I kn- know but I- I do-I dont wanna-" Patton inhaled sharply "-I dont wa-nn-na d-die,"

"We arent going to die Pat, it'll be fine," there were footsteps, the trio had sat down on a set of nearby rocks.

"I'm sure we wont be hiding in here for to long, they'll give up eventually," Logan said. Just then Virgil felt something hit the back of his head, causing him to let it an involuntary wince.

The cave went completely silent.

"Roman? What did you just hit?" Patton's tiny voice was what finally broke the silence.

"I- dont know-" Roman responded, he sounded nervous.

Virgil remained as still as possible, waiting.

More footsteps.

And then there was a hand under the water, and another one, and he wasnt in the water anymore.

He wriggled his way out of the person's grip, wedging himself between a pair of rocks at the side of the cave, eyes wide.

"Loooooooo? What the fwuh is that?" Patton side, hiding behind Logan.

"Oh come on Patton it's not that dark, he's obviously a merman, you can still see his tail," Roman said. Virgil let out a hiss and shrunk closer to the rocks.

"Woahwoahwoah- hey- its ok- we're not gonna hurt you-" Logan held his hands out slightly as he spoke. Virgil let out another low hiss.

"I have fruit snacks-" Patton said, pulling a small bag out of his pocket and ripping it open. He threw a few of the colorful gummies on the floor in front of Virgil. Virgil's stomach growled slightly, he looked between the three boys before finally slinking down onto the floor, shoving the gummies in his mouth as soon as he reached it. He was content for a little while, until he noticed a hand hovering over him, he snapped at it and shrunk back into the corner.

"Nice going Roman." Logan said, annoyed.

"Listen- we wont bother you- you can go back to the pond if youd like-" Logan said, backing away and pulling the other two along with him. Virgil waited for a while before crawling back into the pond and resting his upper body on the outer rim.

Virgil was content just to listen to the three talk, and they didnt seem to pay any mind to Virgil, which was nice.

Until louder footsteps began running toward the cave. He noticed Patton go almost completely rigid, and Roman seemed to hug him much tighter than he already had. Virgil looked toward the cave entrance, the shadows of about seven taller humans was slinking across the wall.

So Virgil resolved to take the obvious route, and just as the figures stepped in front of the cave, he lunged out, flinging his tail to soak the intruders, baring the fangs that the boy from the rehabilitation center had been so quick to compliment, snarling so loud it echoed throughout the cave.

He relished in the screams emitted from the invaders as they fled, smiling as he turned back to the three boys.

Patton was crying, he hadnt been crying before, Virgil's face fell, he closed his mouth and backed away.

"Wait you werent-" Roman reached his other hand out, but Virgil had already fled back into the pond, and wedged himself firmly between the rocks underneath, drowning out the voices of the boys.

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@thefivecalls

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@the-sad-strawberry

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#cori writes #long post #shattered throne #ts patton #ts remus #ts virgil #ts logan #ts roman #ts janus #lamp #romantic lamp #drlamp #romantic drlamp #tw abuse #tw implied abuse

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zestria13 · 4 years

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Final Fantasy 15 Thoughts (Spoilers!)

So, I just finished playing Final Fantasy 15 Royal Edition and I have many feelings about it. As I understand it, I have avoided many of the basic gameplay and story problems by buying the Royal Edition, which has all of the patches, dlc's, and fixes many of the bugs encountered when FFXV first came out. Oh, and I have watched the brotherhood anime and the Kingsglaive movie. Overall, my first experience with FFXV is much more complete than it was when the game was initially released (that is my understanding anyways). To be clear, I enjoyed playing FFXV (at least a good portion of it), but I have many issues with it too. One of my main issues with FFXV is the plot, especially the plot following the rite in Altissia. I have read many complaints about how dark FFXV gets after this point and how it becomes a very narrow, plot driven narrative as opposed to its earlier more easygoing and open world setting. To some extent, I agree with these complaints. This change in the game feels very sudden and forced to some degree. However, I personally tend to play heavily narrative games because I like deep, complex plotlines. This turn into a plot driven narrative is not my main issue, though it was, in my opinion, too abrupt a change in the game. My main issue following the events in Altissia, simply, is that the game wasn't as much fun to play after that point. For a game promoting the concept of brotherhood and comradery, that pretty much disappeared after the events in Altissia. Don't get me wrong, I understand the events in Altissia were traumatic for all of the characters and that caused most of the tension, but it was like we were playing with a different group of characters than we started with. All of the comradery seen previously in the game, from the pep talks, to characters interactions, to the short quips in battle (My fav was between Noctis and Ignis, the "You got my back" and "Always" in reply) had created this atmosphere of a team, of a brotherhood that was connected not just by duty, but by genuine friendship.

But then Altissia happens, and the group just...completely falls apart. There is such an emotional whiplash between the first part of the game and the second part of the game, and its jarring. I honestly felt uncomfortable playing the game after the events in Altissia because the atmosphere was tense and strained, and the comradery present in the first half of the game became nearly nonexistent. Frankly, the game never recovers from this mood shift, and the rest of the game has a sort of sullen, discomforting feel to it. And I know people would argue that the brotherhood comes back together at the end of the game, but I would argue that true reconciliation never happens between the characters, instead making their comradery at the end a byproduct of their circumstances. They never truly deal with the problems created by the events in Altissia and afterwards. They just push them aside because they need to do so in order to work as a team and save the world. Now, is it possible that the remaining trio living in darkness may have dealt with their issues and figured things out, but we wouldn't actually know because we aren't privy to anything that happens during those 10 years. Maybe the game wanted you to understand Noctis's perspective in this way (though they don't really touch on how incredibly disorienting that time skip must have been for Noctis). However, the point stands that there was never really time at any point in the rest of the game following Altissia for the group to reconcile and come back together as a cohesive unit.

That leads me to another huge issue I take with the plot of this game. The ending. I know, already, there are people who will comment and say that "Not everything has a happy ending" and "The sacrifice was necessary to save the world", and so on and so forth. My issue with the ending comes back to the question of why. Especially after having watched Episode Ardyn, I just don't feel that the game gives us a clear cut reason as to why any of the ending needs to happen the way it does. Ok, so the sun goes down and doesn't come up after Noctis is pulled into the Crystal, which means demons have pretty much free reign and everything is much more dangerous. Got it. But why did the sun disappear? I know the game explains that there are organisms infected with the Starscourge that release a light-absorbing miasma, which are the cause of the lengthening nights (though you need to be fairly thorough in your examination of items to learn this). It also mentions the idea that the Oracle dying is related to the longer nights and the disappearing sun, though it never really explains why besides the fact that the Oracle can heal the Starscourge. While I understand that her healing those with Starscourge helps to limit the amount of miasma being put into the world, it seems rather unlikely that one person can ever hope to keep up with that demand. Also, we only ever saw Luna heal people who had not fully turned into demons yet, and I would assume that those people aren't giving off the same level of miasma as fully turned demons. And, we know those fully turned demons exist, in the form of demons the party runs into and the MT's that the empire uses. I'm just not sure it is believable that the Oracle, by themselves, is actually healing enough people to actually prevent the endless night in the first place. As for the other part of the explanation, how did those organisms proliferate to the point where it caused an endless night? Based on what we hear from characters in FFXV and read in the research notes, the appearance of the longer nights was incredibly rapid, which begs the question of why those organisms suddenly started infecting creatures and producing this miasma so quickly in comparison to any other time in the history of this world (as far as we know). All in all, I can't think of a solid reason given in the game as to why the endless night even happens, or perhaps, why it hasn't happened already.

Moving on, after Noctis is absorbed into the Crystal, we do a ten year time skip. Back to my question of why, why did Noctis have to be in the Crystal for 10 years? I know he went in to gain the power of providence, but 10 years seems a bit excessive. Maybe that’s just me. Ignoring the fact that almost all of the living things in the world would have died without 10 years of sunlight, the fact remains that, in all likelihood, most of the creatures living in that world would have perished, either by being killed by demons or due to a lack of resources. In all honesty, there probably aren't many people alive by the time Noctis returns, and it’s hard to say if a civilization would actually be able to recover from that kind of devastation. Anyways, let's move on to what is my biggest contention with the plot. The prophecy. I have to say, I really, really dislike this plot point in the game. For one, it makes no sense. The true king, in this story, exists to purge their star of the darkness. Ok, cool, love the vague terms. But again, why? The darkness, which basically refers to the Starscourge, has existed for at least 2000 years at this point in the world. If the gods were so invested in this issue, why didn't they address it earlier? Why wait for a so called chosen king after at least 2000 years of this darkness ravaging their world? And what makes Noctis the chosen king? Simply because the gods said so? If that is the case, why didn't they choose a chosen king earlier? I know, after watching Episode Ardyn, that Ardyn was also a chosen king with the ability to absorb Starscourge from other people into himself. An ability, I might add, granted to him by the gods. But when Ardyn tries to ascend to become a king, the Crystal, where Bahamut resides, suddenly rejects him because of his ability (which, again, was given to him by the gods), and so he is rejected basically by the gods via the gift they gave him. Which makes no sense. As we know, this action leads to the circumstances we see in the game.

To me, at this point, it seems that the gods on Eos are incompetent and create this prophecy in order to fix the problem they created. This seems to become more glaringly obvious when Bahamut tells Ardyn (in Episode Ardyn) that he literally is a pawn in their game to fix the problem they created. At its core, that is what makes me so very frustrated with this prophecy plot line. It seems that the characters in this game are no more than pawns being made to do what the gods tell them to do, and that everything in this world is preordained. Not only does that rake against my own beliefs as an individual, but it ruins the purpose of the game for me. If everything is preordained, then what is the point? It also hurts my perception of the characters as well because the characters, except for Ardyn maybe, never think to go against the determinations made by the gods, they just go along with it. They never stop to consider trying to find another way and instead simply accept their fates as is. I understand there is something inherently powerful and moving in sacrificing yourself to save others, but making it fate instead of an active choice lessens the impact. Noctis doesn't choose to sacrifice himself to save Eos, it is forced upon him. There is no sense of choice here, merely one of acceptance. The cruelty of Noctis' preordained fate disturbs me. Not only is Noctis just randomly chosen to die to save the world, but the gods see fit to inform his father of that when Noctis is 5. I cannot truly imagine the depth of sorrow and helplessness probably felt by Regis in being told that his son is basically a sacrifice. Undoubtedly, knowing that weighed heavily on Regis and I'm sure at times that knowledge put a dour edge on his time with Noctis. One of the saddest things about Noctis' fate is how little time he actually gets to live. I know he is technically 30 at the time of his death, but he really only lived 20 years. Not only is his life cut short, but he actually loses a third of it in the process of becoming the ideal sacrifice for the gods. To me, Noctis' fate is just unbearably cruel. And don't misunderstand, I actually like games that have darker themes and angst in them, but I think there is a balance in crafting stories and this story didn't quite find a balance. And the thing is, I think the creators of the game have acknowledged that too, as they have now created 2 alternative storylines where Noctis doesn't die and his fate is subverted in some way. Personally, I prefer the message given in the Final Fantasy 7 remake where the characters actively fight against a pre-determined destiny, instead of simply accepting their destiny as is. I have more thoughts on the subject of Final Fantasy 15, but for the moment I will end my writing here.

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sullivansgilbert · 5 years

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Reaching out across Tumblr to all my G&S fans, @carpe-mamilia and I just got back from Harrogate from this year’s G&S Festival, and I have some thoughts about the shows which I think I just needed to get down.

Also, bonus shoutout to @carlodivarga-s for being an all-round charming presence and delightful surprise in Harrogate this year!

OK. Here goes.

Princess Ida (Savoynet)

As Stephen Turnbull (he of Harrogate ramblings on Facebook) mentioned, this is a production that could have only worked at the festival. With the two kings portrayed as Gilbert and Sullivan themselves, and the rest of the company (with the exception of Ida herself) costumed as choruses from the rest of the G&S universe.

I know that Ida is written in 3 acts, but to have two 15 minute intervals is a strange experience. Especially as the curtain came down on the Act I at 8:15, it felt as though we were only about getting started and we were all back out our seats and into the bar. When I saw Ida done in Southampton earlier this year, they split Act II in half and placed a single interval more squarely in the middle, and I didn’t think that the pacing or structure suffered as much as it perhaps could have done then.

My greatest issue with Ida is that.. it’s not a very interesting story? And certainly not a very good ending. It feels as though Sullivan far outshines Gilbert. Some of the plot points, too, feel very, well, seen-before? Most noticeably, the male trio dressing up in silly costumes and singing witty songs about it? Done in Patience (and much better, I should add!). That said, Ida definitely has some standout solos, in particular Gama’s two patter songs (’I’m such a disagreeable man’ and ‘Nothing whatever to grumble at’), and Death to the Invaders! is such a TUNE at the top of Act III, though I actually preferred it in Southampton, just as there was more drama and sense of impending peril.

The ending of the whole thing is pretty crap though. Here’s Ida, a feminist ICON who shuns men and rules a chorus of strong academic ambitious women who look down on men, and yet she sort of just limps across the finish line like, oh yeah, I guess I’ll just love you and marry a man and I was wrong about all my studies and thoughts of independence. Ugh.

Y’know what I want to happen to Ida? I want her to shun all the men and grow old, independent, and married to a woman. Princess Ida: a queer legend.

Trial by Jury & The Zoo (LOpSoc)

I can’t say too much about the productions because it was my old university group and I’m sure I can’t write without any bias, so I’ll focus on the shows.

Trial by Jury was my first real show as Musical Director so it’ll always have a spot in my heart, especially having studied law at university. Musically, it’s so well accomplished, at barely 30 minutes, Sullivan manages to cram in so much content, including the brilliant ‘A Nice Dilemma’ sextet (or septet if you count the chorus as one, too), as well as some beautiful patter songs and some great parts for the chorus. You can really see how the rest of the Savoy Operas took inspiration, and to a certain extent, structure, from this first piece.

That said, there are a few familiar elements missing from the piece that become G&S standards later on in the canon, including the contralto exposition song, the romantic leads’ duet, and, well, a second act. Still though, one of my favourites.

The Zoo on the other hand? I’ve now seen it three times, and whilst I enjoy the music, some of it really is quite good, I have no idea what actually happens. I think there are at least 3 plots intertwined with one another, but with no libretto to explore or explain those plots, it’s essentially three totally different stories happening at the same time, just... coincidentally at a zoo. Libretto is pretty naff, but there are some charming songs, such as the ‘Four Tarts and a Couple of Pairs’ jaunt, and the duel of the male and female chorus once the Duke has eaten and faints (??) (’Prop him up upon a chair, lay him flat upon his back’).

Good news though, that LOpSoc were nominated for best director and best chorus for this production which I thought was well deserved.

Ruddigore (Charles Court Opera)

Oh my word. I confess I’ve never been Ruddigore’s biggest fan, but boy oh boy am I a fan of Charles Court Opera, so the chance to get to see this production was high up the list, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. With a cast of 9 (and totally omitting the male chorus), this production was lively, sharp-witted, and for the first time in any production of Ruddigore that I’ve seen, or indeed been involved with, I followed every detail of the plot perfectly.

Only two bridesmaids made up the female chorus, and they also lent their voices to a mixed chorus for the ‘Painted Emblems of a Race’ and subsequent male-chorus numbers (though ‘Welcome Gentry’ was cut) which worked beautifully. Also, a nice little change to Mounted emblems of a race, as the three ancestors were portrayed as severed, mounted heads on the wall of the set. Sir Roderic did have an additional stage presence as he was also portrayed by the accompanying headless corpse come to life.

One of the absolute highlights of this production, too, was lovely, wonderful Simon Butteriss, who is always an absolute joy. With John Reed-esque lightness, but with a voice on form as ever, it was a joy to see him on stage. As it was the whole cast, really. Having seen CCO’s HMS Pinafore at the King’s Head in London in a tiny 100-odd seat fringe theatre with just a pianist, to see them on stage at the Royal Hall in Harrogate with a complete orchestra was really special.

Yeomen of the Guard (National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company)

Oh boy. I was so excited for this performance. And I was so disappointed. The victim perhaps of a festival matinee crowd, as I said to dear friends over dinner after the show, there are a certain number of ‘minimum requirements’ I expect of the NGSOC:

The cast remember their lines. Having a certain member of the principal cast prompted from the wings was... well. Awkward to say the least. And garnered the intake of breath you can imagine from the audience.

I expect the principal cast to be able to stick to time with the orchestra. Several times, the cast fell wildly out of time with the orchestra, making for highly awkward listening.

I expect the principal cast to be able to hit all the notes they’re expected to. Naming no names, but, with a certain soprano aria in Yeomen, there’s a rather important note towards the end that you cannot get wrong. And yet.

I expect the show to be lit well. If actors are stood singing in darkness, either the actor needs to find their light, or the lighting director needs to do a better job.

That all said, the chorus were fantastic, to the point I actually longed for them to come back on to stage whenever they were gone, but I must say of Andrew Nicklin’s direction... I found it lacking. The staging was particularly dull and unimaginative, with barely any choreography, or even any movement come to that. My first time actually seeing Yeomen on stage and... ugh. Y’know? That said, there were reports from a friend having seen it earlier in the week at the festival and it being remarkable, so.. maybe just an off-performance.

The Mikado (National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company)

Now, THIS is how you do G&S. The company were almost unrecognisable from the afternoon, and the show was packed to the rafters with joy, energy, and sheer brilliance. Genuine laugh out loud moments from a full auditorium who are, I’m sure, more than familiar with the source material! Andrew Nicklin who was conducting, made sure that the pace was kept up, and my word, just, my heart was pounding with, well, a combination of relief and amazement. I loved it.

In particular, Mae Heydorn as Katisha. Fuckkkkkk. This wasn’t your usual Katisha, this was a dazzling, glamorous Katisha, and although you’d think that might not work, it did. And what a voice. On the final note of Act I, Mae managed to outsing the full assembled company and orchestra with a note that travelled and reverberated into our very bones.

My only criticism would probably be that Richard Gauntlett, who also directed the show, delivered some of Ko Ko’s lines so fast, if you weren’t familiar with the show, you wouldn’t have a clue what he’d just said. That and Nanki-Poo, in a typical tenor manner, did tend to rush some of the songs, even when singing as part of a trio - perhaps a little indicative of not listening to his cast-mates. But alas.

____

OK, I think that’s all. A brilliant, lovely few days away. So much G&S. I loved it. So much so, I think I’m going to start a bit of an artistic project to create some more G&S content, so keep an eye if you’re interested!

-- Thomas

#Gilbert and Sullivan #G&S #The Mikado #Yeomen of the Guard #Ruddigore #Trial by Jury #The Zoo #Harrrogate

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thechocobros · 5 years

Text

My little (not so little) Kingdom Hearts III’s review :)

(possible spoilers under the cut)

Somebody asked for my personal opinion about the game, so, here I am! I’ll try to be as objective as possible, even if you probably know already my deep affection for this saga and for its creators XD

Let’s start with the positive things, the things that really impressed me the most about KH3, which are: the graphic (even the in-game one), the gameplay, the huge amount of enjoyable exploration. And then I’ll start voting the rest, by giving my opinion.

- Graphic: 10/10. I was able to see the pores on Sora’s face and on Terra’s hands. I was able to zoom on the smallest details with my Gummiphone and still find some amazing details in the landscape. Literally EVERYTHING was so well done i had to stop more than once to admire what i was playing. It was stunning. Let’s not even talk about the Disney cutscenes, because those were a masterpiece and i have no words to describe them.

- Gameplay: 10/10. Listen, i never played a game where there were so MANY options for the gameplay. I beated the 13 darknesses by using attractions, limits, different forms, combined moves, special abilities, combos, different keyblades ... There were so many minigames, ideas, i fought on Baymax, i fought as a captain of a ship, i cooked, I did treasure hunts, took pictures, the gummiship style too ... every fricking world offered so many different gameplays options i even freaked out because i wasn’t able to learn them all. It was so FUN!

- Exploration; 10/10. Let’s be real, every world (except Twilight Town lol) was as huge as all the Disney worlds of the previous KH games together. Really, i was lost. It was even too much. It will take me a lifetime to explore all the worlds in all its beautiful details xD for ex in the POTC’s world we are able to access to at least 6 different islands + Port Royal + underwater + the battles setting + we command an entire sailing ship. Also, have you try to collect all the lucky emblems? Because I think they all are in some areas i still don’t know they exist. It was AMAZING.

- Music: 8/10. I love “Face my fears” so much, i like “Don’t think twice” a lot, Utada is always a queen. As for Yoko, she never dissapoints me either, even though this time she didn’t came out with “new” brilliant melodies like she did in the other games. She mostly arranged differently songs and themes we already were familiar with, which is nostalgic and happily welcomed anyway. + Bonus Points to Somnus song mixed together with Hikari. Wow.

- Plot twists/Surprise/content/plot elements: 8.5/10. Every Kingdom Hearts game needs a huge amount of “WHAt-THE-moments” and KH3 makes no exception. The final battles and the endings were a concentrated of twists and turns, starting from Yen Sid, to Ephemer, from Sora dying (like twice, during this game? the last one almost got me tho), to Kairi dying, from Xigbar’s real identity to Yozora officially inserted in KH’s main plot etc etc. It was a rollercoaster. And I loved it. Funny enough, the only “secret” that didn’t feel like a “secret” was the “secret” that Nomura defined the “biggest secret” XD ... aka Roxas xD I mean, they talked about making a replica for Roxas all the game long, so when Roxas actually appeared and claimed that Vexen made a replica for him, i was like ... yeah, thanks, that’s not a brand new information xD Talking about Vexen, him and the rest of the Organization had some really nice surprising elements, their story was worthy.

- The narrative/structure/pace: 6.5/10. Ok, here’s the thing. Even if the actual story content was interesting and pretty good, there were problems in the pace and we all hardcore fans noticed it. Why was that? Because they changed some things they shouldn’t have changed in order to give more space to Disney worlds.

For ex, I’m talking about the fact that we started our adventure in ... the Olympus world. I have nothing against that world of course. But in KH1 we started in Destiny Islands/Traverse Town. In KH2 we started in Twilight Town. In KHBBS we started in the Land of the Departure. In KH3 we should have respected traditions and start from an original world. Why? Because original worlds are strictly connected to the original characters’ development + main plot. By making Sora starting in a Disney world, they cut out an extremely important part in the KH3 story’s development, aka the very own basis. And no, Twilight Town arrived 3 hours later, and was half as big as the other Disney worlds, so it doesn’t really stand the competion.

So, by putting so many Disney worlds and cutting out the original worlds, they confused the storyline’s pace. The actual story’s progression was reduced to some cutscenes between a world and another which is ... not a really good idea. We needed at least one or two more playable original worlds somewhere there in between, like KH2 had Radiant Garden and KH1 had Traverse Town, so that the story could have been developed and the characters would have been able to meet and interact properly.

In fact, the biggest problem is that the entire main plot is rushed in the last hours of the game. 35 hours of funny happy Disney gameplay. 5 hours of actual plot. It’s not balanced. The player didn’t feel the rising pressure for the final battle of light against darkness. No matter how epic the Keyblade War actually was, of course it felt a bit rushed, because it popped out all of a sudden and wasn’t smoothly inserted from the beginning of the game.

I can actually justify this choice though: KH3′s purpose was to give a conclusion to Xehanort’s saga. Which means they didn’t plan to develop the story or the characters more than what they already had in the previous games. They just wanted to show a proper “conclusion”. Not “development”.

It’s not the choice i would have taken in terms of storytelling, but it’s an option so i’m not really angry about it. It worked anyway because almost all the characters really had a solid background plot. .... almost. Which sadly leads to the sore point of the game. Here we go.

- Characters development: 7/10. Kingdom Hearts has a large quantity of very developed characters. Kingdom Hearts’ original characters are the ones who entered in out hearts years ago and we love them for a reason. They’re all well characterized, with specific strengths and weaknesses. Which means that no matter how weird the pace of KH3 could have been, the characters have been so well written in the previous games that they were able to tollerate everything in terms or story telling. Sora, Riku, Aqua, Roxas, Axel, Ventus, Xion, Terra, Naminè .... they all had a major role in KH’s plot on their shoulders and unique facets. But one character was strongly penalized by this the rhythm of KH3: Kairi.

Unlike most of the other characters that belong to the famous trios, Kairi could never count on a strong background, nor a good characterization.

Even though i liked her in KH1 (where she at least interacted with both Sora and Riku multiple times and had a part in the main plot, even if she was comatose for 80% of the time), it’s not a secret that she got benched immediately after that. KH2 didn’t make her justice with all that being kidnapped, and in the next games she completely dissapeared even. She was never involved in the story ever again. What am i referring to?

In Birth By Sleep, only Sora and Riku met all the members of the wayfinder trio and played an actual part in their lives. Kairi barely meet Aqua once, and never played an active part in her life anyway. I mean, Aqua never needed Kairi for anything, never. On the contrary, both Sora and Riku were vital for all the members of the wayfinder trio, back then and later on.

In Chain of Memories, Coded, 358/2 days ... Kairi was replaced with two other girls that quickly became more interesting than Kairi herself, aka Naminé and Xion. In those stories Kairi is barely mentioned and almost never appears. But Sora and Riku ... oh, Sora and Riku! They’re the PROTAGONISTS. They always interact, they always appear, they always do stuff.

Let’s not even talk about Dream Drop Distance, where it’s JUST Sora and RIku.

What’s my point? The Destiny trio isn’t a trio, it’s a duo. Kairi is ALWAYS put in a corner, she never has a part in the story.

I’m not talking about ships, i don’t care about ships, I don’t ship Soriku nor Sokai, it’s not about this. The problem is Kairi’s character development, which did not exist. Not only a development, but even a purpose was missing.

So, since i kinda liked her in KH1 and the potential was there, i thought that KH3 would have set things right for her. I had high hopes especially because of Axel, I was like, “WOW here it is a great potential for a good, healthy, platonic relationship, finally Kairi found someone to be paired with and do stuff. We will finally see her being weak, finding her power again, maybe she will be a playable character, maybe she will interact with BOTH Sora and RIku too, making jokes, express her preferences etc etc” yeah and what we got? Kairi is reduced to a mere man pain object again. She almost forgot about Axel once that Sora appeared. She got kidnapped here and there all along. Again. She kinda forced Sora to eat that fruit and never asked for his opinion, while Riku was having an existential drama going on just some steps away. But i don’t think she cares for Riku anyway since she never had any kind of bond time with him and isn’t interested in his problems. She fought once (badly), revealing that her training was somehow useless (she had to be saved by Sora and the others). She gets killed (pretty stupidly too) and Sora had to sacrifice to bring her back. And what made me angry the most: Sora’s heart gets lost in the process of saving her but it’s NOT Kairi the one going after him in the secret ending. IT’S RIKU. LIKE WHAAAT?? Riku?? She can’t even take her girly keyblade and go after the boy she is supposed to love and that died for her?? Riku has to do it? Really? It’s ridiculous. ...

Furthermore, she wasn’t a playable character. The only characters that we were able to play were Sora, Riku and .... Aqua! Pretty funny. (I think they are Nomura’s favorites, i don’t know.)

Kairi’s only part in KH3 was changing outfit and “being Sora’s light” somehow but ... that was so much out of the blue and most likely an isolated moment. It could have been a nice coronation for a developed love story but the problem is that no development was there before.

So, going back to my point.

Even if i would have chosen another way to tell the story, the rushed pace of KH3 worked for everyone anyway, except for Kairi. Kairi needed a different treatment.

But at this point i don’t think she will ever get it, probably Nomura doesn’t like her too much since he decided to make another DreamDropDistance game settled in Insommia next time xD so i give up on her. I’ll focus on the other beautiful female characters of this game.

Anyway, even if i talked a lot about why Kairi was another flop, i want to point out how interesting some characters got instead. I’m talking about Xigbar (great plot twist), Saix, Demyx, Vexen (Vexen had so much importance, i mean, i didn’t expect him to be the one moving kh3’s plot), Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene and Repliriku! They used to be marginal characters and now they turned out to be protagonists, it’s amazing.

- FF characters: 7/10. I really loved Verum Rex’s surprise, it’s a clever idea to recycle the Versus characters and concepts Nomura couldn’t bring to life. Now that Nomura turned them into original characters, he has the copyright over them again thanks to Disney and he can use them as much as he wants, bringing the “ff characters cameos in kh” on a brand new level. Starting from the next game, we will have semi-FFcharacters included in the main plot, not just having a cameo here and there, which is amazing!

But. This doesn’t mean i didn’t miss actual FF characters in Kh3. Cloud, Leon&Co left a hole in kh’s tradition.

Let’s sum it up my notes:

Graphic: 10/10 +

Gameplay: 10/10 +

Exploration: 10/10 +

Music: 8/10 +

Plot twists/Surprise/Content/Plot elements: 8.5/10. +

The narrative/structure/pace: 6.5/10. +

Characters development: 7/10. +

FF characters: 7/10. +

Total = 8,3

AND ... THAT’S IT FOR NOW I GUESS? xD

#kh3 spoilers #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #obina plays kh3

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clan-fuildarach · 7 years

Text

the third generation

prince corin meets a homeless man

(this is a painfully rough piece of writing ok just bear with me i’m still getting back into it)

Sometimes, Corin missed his siblings. But, he feared, it was purely for selfish reasons. The company of Antiva or Magnolia was far preferable to the company of his tutor, Adreanas.

Before his siblings had been sent away from the Court, his days had been relaxing, almost stress-free. He'd never forget that fateful day where his mother had called him out of his bedroom and informed him that it was time for him to start preparing for his duty.

“You are my oldest child,” Rosa had said, her gaze rather dispassionate, as if she didn't quite care. “One day, the throne will be yours.”

Being raised to be a king was just about the opposite of relaxing or stress-free. Suddenly, he'd found himself separated from his siblings, thrust into the world of court politics with only Adreanas and his taciturn bodyguard for company. He went days without seeing his mother or father; Rosa was always busy with queenly duties, and Atropa had his own business empire to run.

Corin didn't really know what to feel about the whole thing. He accepted his duty, aware that there were others in the kingdom who were not even half as fortunate. The lessons were dry and difficult, but he tried his best. He had nothing else to do but try, anyway.

“Your Highness,” Adreanas said curtly, tapping his pointer off the map of Dorchadas territory. “Please pay attention.”

Corin tore his gaze away from the scrap of blue sky visible through the window of the royal suite. The map wasn't half as interesting, so densely detailed that he'd have had to use a magnifying glass to make out half of the labels. Adreanas indicated one of the crests indicating the presence of a hold in the north of the territory.

“Who lives here?” Adreanas said.

“Lord Alejandro and his family,” Corin said, idly pushing his fountain pen across his desktop. Ink marked his fingertips.

“Indeed. His ancestry is-” Adreanas broke into a long and deeply boring speech about the lord's extended family and noble roots. Corin took notes, or, at least, he tried to. Distracted half-way through the lecture, he abandoned his writing and started to doodle. The inky edge of a mantarune wing swept across his notes, obscuring the text. He began to sketch in a trio of coliseum fighters. One of them was himself, a small, slight guardian with narrow wings and sparks of magic floating between his claws.

The tip of Adreanas' pointer landed firmly in the middle of the scene, making Corin's pen-stroke go awry. In the corner of the room, Corin's bodyguard gave a start as if jolted from sleep.

“Am I boring you?” the wildclaw said snidely, looming over Corin.

“No, sir.” Corin quickly turned over a new page, tossing the drawing into the waste-paper basket.

When the lesson was over and Adreanas gone, Corin collected the drawing and smoothed it out before carefully folding it into one of his pockets. He cleared his throat to rouse his bodyguard again, then indicated the door of the classroom.

“I'm going to the library,” he said.

His bodyguard scowled, but did not complain. It wasn't his place. He inclined his head, his overgrown mane of cyan hair falling in his eyes. “As you wish, Your Highness.” He picked up his sword-belt and clipped it on, as if there was even the slightest chance of anyone attacking Corin in the library.

Rosa had insisted on a bodyguard. It was probably wise, since her own father, the old king, had been assassinated in public by a disloyal guard. Rosa herself had been attacked before, though she did not like to speak about that particular incident. Either way, Corin was not allowed to wander the corridors of Court Dorchadas alone.

As the two of them moved through the well-guarded royal suite, Corin showed his bodyguard the drawing he'd done in class. “Have you ever seen a mantarune?” he demanded eagerly.

“No, Your Highness.”

“I heard they're bigger then a whole mountain!” Corin said, his eyes wide at the thought of such a creature. He spread his fingers and shot a volley of violet sparks harmlessly down the corridor, as if he was getting ready to attack a giant monster. Technically he wasn't allowed to use magic outside of his tutor's supervision, but thankfully his bodyguard wasn't a snitch.

“That's probably not true, Your Highness.”

“Well, how do you know, if you haven't seen one?” Corin said, carefully folding the drawing up again.

The bodyguard moved ahead to open the double doors that cut off the royal suites from the rest of the noble quarter. Corin moved through, still picturing some vast underwater fight scene. Out in the open he was supposed to be wary, constantly on the look out for potential attackers, but that was a lot to ask of someone so young.

The trip to the library was uneventful. A large chamber hung with black and gold tapestries, crammed with mahogany bookshelves, it was one of Corin's favourite places to be. His lessons were boring, but that was because the content was often as dull as dishwater. Over in the library, he could learn about far interesting things. He'd spent hours poring over books about magic and monsters, inserting himself into stories of distant adventures.

His bodyguard was less than thrilled about the library. “Hey, Your Highness?” he said, as Corin made a beeline for the zoology section. “Is it okay if I leave you here for an hour?”

Corin frowned, one hand drifting across the meticulously-kept tomes. “You always say that,” he said dismissively, “but you're always back late.”

“I know,” his bodyguard said. “C'mon, Corin, you can look after yourself for one afternoon.”

Corin bit his lip, hesitating.

“I'll let you use my sword,” his bodyguard said cajolingly.

That sold Corin. He nodded, a delighted grin appearing on his face. Obligingly, his bodyguard left his filigree rapier on one of the reading desks, then took his leave.

Corin glanced around, making sure he was truly alone before he made a fool of himself with the rapier. Nobody was around, so he took up the sword and brandished it experimentally. It was balanced for someone a bit taller than him, just a little too long, and it felt heavy and unwieldy in his inexperienced hand.

Now that there was a sword to play around with, Corin all but forgot the books.

He darted down one long book-lined corridor, fencing invisible enemies, trying not to stumble over his own feet. Thoroughly preoccupied, he didn't notice the man standing just inside the library door.

Corin froze, dropped the sword, and shot behind one of the nearby shelves. Had the man seen him? Corin's bodyguard would be punished severely if anyone discovered he was slacking off. Not to mention the fact that technically, weapons were not allowed inside the library.

He peered out from behind the shelf. The man was turned away, staring down the corridor outside as if searching for someone. Corin would have just left, but something about the man caught his attention and held it.

It was always easy to spot a Dorchadas noble; they wore the most expensive clothes, well-made and fashionable, nothing like the dull utilitarian uniforms of the staff or lower classes. But a member of the Dorchadas nobility would rather have died than be seen in public looking like this. The man's extravagant outfit was falling apart, the jacket hanging open and the golden embroidery threadbare and loose. He sported a truly impressive bedhead and his tail dragged as if exhausted.

Was he lost? He didn't look like he belonged here. Corin's instinct to help the stranger warred with his caution.

The man glanced around again, and Corin quickly retreated behind the shelf again, not quite brave enough to make his presence known. When Corin next peered out, to check the coast was clear, the man was even closer, staring down at the dropped sword with an odd expression on his unshaven face.

Might as well own up to it before he got in even deeper trouble. Corin edged out from behind the bookshelf.

“I'm s-sorry, sir,” he said, his voice a thin squeak, “I dropped that.”

The man didn't seem to hear. Corin cleared his throat.

“Are you okay?” he said. “You're not lost, are you? Sir?”

That seemed to get the man's attention. Corin wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not, as the man turned a look of blank confusion on him.

“Corin!” a sharp voice said, from by the door. Corin turned, blanching at the sight of his bodyguard striding over. “Did you drop it? You know that ruins the integrity of the blade.”

“Yes,” Corin said weakly. He glanced back at the man, ready to explain, but he found himself alone. The decrepit man was gone.

“Be more careful, next time,” Corin's bodyguard muttered, stooping to snatch the blade off the ground. He checked the blade over.

“I'm sorry, Emiliano,” Corin said, hoping to placate him.

His bodyguard barely grunted in acknowledgement, too busy ensuring that Corin had not damaged the sword.

“Where did he go?” Corin said, indicating limply the space where the strange man had stood.

“Hm?”

“The man, where did he go? I think he needed help.”

“What man?” His bodyguard sheathed the sword carefully. “I didn't see anyone, thank the gods. Now come on, we can't spend all day in here. Her Majesty wants you back by dinner.” Emiliano's nose wrinkled as he referred to the queen, and he half-turned away, as if that could hide the venom in his voice.

“He was right there,” Corin said faintly, and he followed his bodyguard out of the library.

#quill darach #corin cd #adreanas cd #emiliano cd #serraden cd #a Lot has happened since my last lore update #which was regiecide

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gramilano · 4 years

Text

The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House.

We caught up via Skype in June: I was in my office in Milan, and Nela was 11,000 km away, sitting against an orange wall which steadily turned maroon then almost black as the day drew in.

Daily 500-metre walk

Nela’s dad during lockdown

Lockdown

Lockdown in Argentina! How’s that working out?

It’s very strict here. We started lockdown at the same time as England, pretty much – I know you in Italy started earlier. There were only a few cases, but obviously here there are more difficulties compared to Europe, and they were worried that the health system would collapse.

Here, the problem is that we are now getting into winter, which is difficult, and a lot of neighbourhoods are very poor. People don’t have running water and they’re living literally on top of each other. This is in Buenos Aires because actually the rest of the country is running more or less normally.

We’re only allowed out once a day to walk 500 metres, so we just go around our place, then everything else is at home. It’s unbelievable how suddenly your home becomes a studio by moving the furniture around. It’s been hilarious, and it’s incredible how creative people are.

So, why Buenos Aires and not London?

Alejandro [Parente, her boyfriend and former principal dancer at Teatro Colón] is the reason I came here because my idea was to stay home, and for me home is London. I didn’t want to leave London and my little flat, because I knew that as soon as things became easier I would be closer to my other home, The Royal Opera House.

I just wanted to feel safe, and the last thing you want to be doing at this time is travel. I travelled on the 22nd of March! At the airport, it literally felt like I was in a movie. It was scary and sad, so empty, and we were running not to miss the plane – it was way too stressful. But it was a complicated situation: Ale had only just arrived in Argentina from Italy where he was dropping off his daughter Luna who had spent the holidays with him in Europe. Then he was meant to be coming back to teach in Milan.

Obviously, that didn’t happen because everything was closing. Also because my mom and dad are also here, and they’re over 60, and my brothers too, it seemed like the best place to be. Otherwise, I would have been alone in my flat in London without knowing for how long. It was the worst moment to realise just how divided your life is. I’m just waiting now for the airport to open here then obviously, I need to go back home. [Since we spoke, lockdown has been extended in Argentina, and now she’s hoping to get a plane back to London at the end of July]

Believe your inner Nela

Alejandro making a barre

Barre made

With the homemade barre

What are you doing to keep in shape?

I have to do Pilates because otherwise my body won’t function and just hurts, so yeah, Pilates is a must. I just finished a session before you called. I do it with online with a studio opened by Luciana Ravizzi, an Argentinian teacher who’s a friend of mine from The Royal Ballet School, though I was already in the company when she joined. When she graduated, she went to Scottish Ballet, but we stayed friends. Then she opened her Pilates studio in Argentina. I’m doing three times a week.

The rest of the time I do my own thing together with ballet lessons that the company’s been providing us with. A friend of mine, Erico Montes, from Brazil, is a dancer with the company and he’s starting to teach, so he’s giving me lessons too. Sometimes Alejandro teaches me. I don’t often catch the live version of the class that the company does, but they record it, so I’m able to access it later. The choices are unbelievable. Olga Evreinoff, who often comes to The Royal Ballet to teach and take rehearsals, teaches us online. She’s a wonderful, wonderful teacher. I wonder if she ever imagined teaching a company via Zoom! She’s always giving corrections, ‘Stretch your knee!’ Fantastic. Amazing.

It’s also a way to see your colleagues.

The first time I will never forget because to do a class live with them online I need to wake up at 5.30 am – I’m four hours behind and class starts at 10.30. I did it twice! The first time I did it, it was wonderful –Zoom went on and suddenly you see all these people popping up on the screen. I was in tears. Even when I do the recorded version and I see everyone again I just… [tears well up]. Well, I’m missing them so much. I can’t wait to see them.

Self-portrait with orange wall and cat

Yoda

Nela with Yoda

Do you do class with Alejandro?

Alejandro does his own thing and he’s also teaching a lot, so basically he does his own little bar, but he’s quiet and I hardly even see him do it. He’s been giving classes to Rome Opera Ballet online and on Thursdays a class with Joburg Ballet in South Africa. Before lockdown, I was meant to guest there. I was going to do Don Q [Don Quixote], and as it didn’t happen, they were disappointed because it was going to be a highlight for them, and for us as well. So their CEO Esther Nasser asked if we could do an interview online, talking to the dancers and all of that. We did, and it was such a lovely meeting that now Ale is teaching them class, and I do it with them every Thursday.

That sounds encouraging. What are some of the positive things you’ve got from this period?

You know, funnily enough, there are a lot of positive things because online I see this big dance community that is all together, not just little groups. All over the world, we are trying to inspire and support each other. Every time I see a video of dancers doing class at home, trying to stay fit, trying to be creative, I find it amazing and I feel so proud. I feel touched to see how dancers are saying, OK, this is tough, but we’re going to do something with it.

I feel honoured to be part of an institution like our company. Our management calls us, you know, and they’re constantly in contact with us, sending us emails and making sure we are OK and providing us with classes online and ballet and yoga and all sorts of fitness. To feel that you have your company behind you is amazing. We’ve literally stayed together throughout all this.

I actually get very emotional because it’s powerful to see all these people trying to produce art from home and helping each other. One of the biggest positive things is that our creativity, and wanting to stay together, and keeping in shape to be ready for coming back, has come through.

The emotional element is palpable. Another Royal Ballet dancer told me that the company was offering some of their online teaching to smaller companies who don’t have that possibility. That’s a beautiful thing to do.

Kevin [O’Hare – director of The Royal Ballet] decided to just open it up because not every company has the facilities that we do. It’s an amazing gesture. It’s kind of scary right now, and a gesture like this brings the community together. It’s just phenomenal. I was so touched.

Beginnings

So you’re back in Argentina where it all began… why did your mother send you to ballet school? Why not gymnastics or something else?

I had three brothers, so everything was very boyish at home. Football, football, football. My mom had had enough, and finally a girl finally arrived she was like, ‘OK, thank God, I’m not alone in the house anymore!’ She dressed me in pink. She loved dancing herself, and although my granddad was amazing – my number one fan, now looking down at me from up there [she indicates the heavens] – he didn’t want her to dance. She just did a little bit of Argentinian folk dancing and that was it. So as my mom loves dancing, she took me to a little ballet studio, three blocks away from our house.

What she didn’t expect is that little Nela would love it too. The teacher’s studio was her garage. She would take the car out and there were some barres and a concrete floor. My kindergarten friends were also there but it wasn’t serious enough for me… it was more like playing. Why I wanted something else I can’t explain because I had never seen ballet, but that little girl said that she wanted to dance seriously. I think you’re born with your calling and there is no other way.

I read this wonderful book that you have to read. I had it in my dressing room and Alex Ferri saw it and she said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve read it, it’s wonderful.’ It’s called The Soul’s Code by James Hillman. It’s about how you are born with this, and no matter what you think, if it’s definitely your calling, somehow you’ll get there.

It may have been your calling, but for you to fulfil that it must have meant a big change for your family.

For the family it was a revolution, especially when I really took it seriously because from that studio, I went to another studio, still in the neighbourhood, but where they only did ballet. But it still wasn’t the Teatro Colón, you know? But the teacher was wonderful and actually she’s a figure that is still in my life, helping with the shows that I do at home every year for charity. She had trained at the Colón school and she said, as soon as she saw me, ‘She’s got a lot of talent, she’s determined, and she’s disciplined, and I think she should definitely go to the centre of the city to study.’ She and another teacher got me ready and I was accepted.

When that finally happened, my mom had to travel around with me a lot as we lived far away from the Teatro Colón school. I basically stole away my mom for me, and my brothers had to adapt to that; so it was a big shift for the family. My grandma would stay and cook for them. But they all did it, and I’m so grateful because obviously I was doing what I loved but the whole family had to support that. Even though they were not interested in ballet, they were definitely interested in what I was doing and my achievements.

And do they come and see you dance now?

They do. They watch everything online and if our relays are shown in Argentina they will go. They read everything that’s printed about me and are super proud.

Nela backstage with her parents

Nela with her parents

Nela in her parents’ house

How old were you when you entered the Teatro Colón School?

At the Colón school you start at eight years old and you finish at 18, so it’s ten years. But I only did half of that because Maximiliano Guerra wanted me to dance with him when I was about 13. He was doing the same as I do now when during the summer break in Europe, he would come to Argentina and do his performances here. There was a tour that he was doing around Argentina with La Scala principal Anita Magyari.

So we toured around Argentina. They were doing the third act pas de deux from Don Q and I was one of the two friends. At the end of that tour, Anita had to return to Europe and as there were some performances in Uruguay coming up, he said, ‘OK, I’ll dance with you.’ We did Don Q and the Diana and Acteon pas de deux. I mean, unbelievable! I was always super star-struck with him, and he had this wonderful presence, but when you’re young and naïve you just kind of do it, like you don’t really see what’s happening.

We were at the beautiful Teatro Solís in Uruguay and I remember when we finished the Don Q I was thinking, thank God I made it. But the audience went wild and wanted us to repeat the coda. We did. That meant doing the 32 fouettés again.

I had a temperature afterwards from all the pressure and I was shaking when we were having dinner, but it was wonderful. At that performance was Raquel Rossetti who was the director of the Teatro Colón and had been a principal ballerina. She said, listen, I want you in the company. So I joined the company of Teatro Colón right after that. I was 14.

I did a lot of corps de ballet work, but the director really liked me, so whenever there was a gala somewhere, she would take me to do a pas de deux, and that’s when I danced with Alejandro for the first time – I was 14, he was 24! We did the Don Q, and Graham you have to see that online – I’ll send you the link. I stayed in the company that year, but I’d known since I was about 11 that I wanted a career outside Argentina, and I had it clear that The Royal Ballet was my dream company.

I had all the videos: La fille [mal gardée] with Leslie [Collier], Bayadère with Altynai [Asylmuratova], Darcey [Bussell] and Irek [Mukhamedov], Romeo and Juliet with Alessandra [Ferri] and Wayne Eagling, Manon with Sir Anthony Dowell… I had all of them. I had never seen ballets like that before. I saw Onegin at the Colón and although I was really young, I went, whoa, as I’d never seen anything like it. But all the other powerful ballets I saw were on video and with all my favourite dancers at The Royal Ballet.

Teachers explained how the company’s repertoire was amazing and how important repertoire is in a dancer’s life. Massimiliano said, ‘If you go to a company like that, not only will you have all that, but also, they will look after you properly; with someone like you who is super talented, it could easily happen that people will take advantage and you’ll get burnt out, but in a company like that you will be guided, and you will grow as an artist.’

So I decided to audition for my dream company. It was my 15th birthday. The fiesta de quince años for a girl here in South America, especially in Argentina, is big. You have a party, kind of like a wedding, and you wear a big dress. My parents said, ‘It’s either the party or we’ll pay for the ticket for you to go to LA.’ The company was in Los Angeles on tour, so I went to LA, auditioned, and I got my place.

The Royal Ballet

Did you know that you couldn’t immediately go into the company and work because you were too young?

Actually, I didn’t know. When I auditioned, that wasn’t taken into consideration. But then they said, ‘No way, you’re 15, you can’t, it’s not possible.’ So they said, ‘Listen, we’ll keep the contract for you, so go to The Royal Ballet School for one year and when you turn 16 you can join the company.’ So I said, ‘OK, fine, I’ll go back to school.’ Now, this is me looking back, being mature about it, but at the time it was a little bit hard for a 15-year-old to understand. I’d been dancing all these roles, but I had to go back to school. It was emotionally quite difficult because I was in a new country, far away from my family. But it was a blessing. I needed to finish school and I needed to learn the language. I also needed to learn what the company was about, what our style was about, what the history of the company was. I just needed to nurture myself. So that was definitely, definitely the right choice. That was back in 1997.

It was necessary.

It was totally necessary. From a very young age, my teachers here had given me a strong technique, a really good base, so that’s why I could do all that stuff. I probably was born with some of that, but I think my teachers played a big part in it. They gave me the confidence to be on the stage. When you see pictures of me in competitions, or the videos with Massimiliano or that video with Ale, you can’t believe it’s only a girl. Of course, you see it’s not refined, and my port de bras is not great, but there is a presence, and even though I’m standing with principal dancers, there is nothing childish about it. I guess my teachers gave me that. What I needed to learn in London was how to refine all that strength and confidence and really understand what this art form is about.

What opened my mind in London was the importance of stagecraft and the artistic side of things. I had seen that, obviously, in the videos that I had, but when I saw it live when I attended my first full call, I was amazed. I just had never seen ballet done like that before – they weren’t just dancers; they were actors.

It was Belinda Hately in Giselle. I loved her so much… beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And it was her debut. I had never seen a ballerina like that. And then I kept looking around the stage and usually in the classics people will be standing all in the same way and moving their arm at the same time. This was the first time I saw each person in the corps de ballet with their own character and they were standing in different ways. They were not reacting in the same way at the same time. I had never seen such a beautiful thing in my life; it was so real. I thought, OK, definitely, I have so much to learn.

Your drive is strong, but not in a negative way. I imagine you don’t put broken glass in other ballerinas pointe shoes, but you just want to be the best you possibly can.

From a very young age, like five, I wanted to do this for real. When I started at the Colón school, I said, I definitely want to become a professional dancer. I knew I didn’t want to be in the corps de ballet. Not that there is anything wrong in being in the corps de ballet, but I personally wanted to be a prima ballerina. Having clear what you want from such a young age definitely helps you to focus in order to get what you want.

Tell the truth: you didn’t want to be in the corps de ballet because you can’t keep in line!

You’re laughing, but it’s true! Really! I got promoted to first soloist when I was a baby, because I joined the Royal Ballet aged 16 and usually people are about 18, so the girls in the corps looked after me really well. When they found out that I got promoted they were so happy and one of them, Julie Lack, who has a great sense of humour, wrote in lipstick on my dressing room mirror, ‘Congratulations. We are so lucky you’re finally out of the corps de ballet because you can’t keep in line.’

And I thought I was joking!

[laughing] It was brilliant: ‘Congratulations, we’re really happy that you’re out of here!’

Technique and preparation

I hear people say that you have an ‘easy technique’, yet everyone knows that technique is never easy. How much have you worked to make it seem easy?

My teachers gave me a good base, working hard on me to make it clean and strong, but they did it in a positive way… they never pulled a trigger on me, and they gave me a sense of freedom and ease. Now, I constantly work on my technique. I feel that to be completely free on stage and live the story and have fun and project that to the audience, you mustn’t think about the steps. The audience can tell when you lie, or if you’re insecure: ‘Oh my God, is she all right? Is she going to make it?’

I really work hard on that because, especially now, at this point in my career, I can use it to really let go. It doesn’t mean that I go crazy on stage and do whatever I want because I really like to keep my technique neat and in the style of the ballet. Just because I can do certain things doesn’t mean that I need to them in every ballet. I know what I want to do and what each ballet requires, and I think to do that you need to keep your technique in top form.

Genesia [Rosato, principal character artist with The Royal Ballet for over a decade] once told me that as the Queen in The Sleeping Beauty, sitting on the throne before Aurora’s entrance, she sees the ballerina in the wings. She said you were the only one who looked excited, as though you could wait to get on stage.

Well, I do get really nervous and the older I get, the earlier the nerves start… probably three or four days before a performance. I get more nervous now, but at the same time, seriously, I really want to go on that stage and do it. It’s so weird, and I can’t explain it, but there are other nerves that say, oh my God, let me get out there. But if you put The Sleeping Beauty music on now, I’ll really feel like I want to be there. It’s unbelievable. So, I do get nervous, but at the same time, my body wants to do it. I get most nervous before Swan Lake. With Swan Lake, it’s the whole four weeks of rehearsal that I’m nervous thinking, oh my God I have the performance, I have the performance! But then you hear the music [she sings], and you see the Prince, and I feel as though my heart is going to break. It’s the best feeling in the world.

You positively use that emotion and don’t let it destroy your performance. Others could crumble under the stress of that responsibility.

Yeah, It could definitely go the other way! But I was born loving pressure and pressure makes me kind of push more and get in the zone. It just drives me. I’m not going to lie: now that I’m older, there are moments where I have to tell myself, come on Nela, you’ve worked hard, you’ve done this before, you’ve rehearsed. So yes, the nerves are very strong but so is the passion and that counterbalance is fantastic.

Your career has been relatively injury-free.

Well, in 22 years I’ve never missed a season. I did have a couple of minor things. I pulled the TFL muscle, which stabilises the hip, so it’s kind of an important muscle and its super painful. The first time I did it, I didn’t stop. Like all dancers, I never want to miss anything and we were doing amazing ballets like Ballo della Regina, which I’d never danced before, and we were getting ready for The Prince of the Pagodas. I thought that there was no way I was going to miss that, and I carried on. Then six months later, I did it again.

The second time, I had only three weeks until my debut in Onegin. I had waited all my life to dance in that ballet and I was like, OK I’ll do it with one leg, I don’t care. But I seriously couldn’t walk because the pain was so strong and so I was crawling. It was before Christmas, so I said, OK, I can rest over the Christmas break and then come back, I don’t care what it costs, I’ll do it. I did, and so I didn’t miss that debut. Phew! I also had something in my foot early on, and I needed to have a little injection. It’s probably the only injection that I have had in my whole career. I’ve had nothing major for a long time, so I’m lucky.

And your feet? Those pointe shoes can be cruel.

Look at them [she holds up her feet to the camera]

Ballet feet!

They are taped because I was doing pointe work just now – but you know, I never had a problem in my metatarsal, and I do a lot of jumping… a lot! I don’t have bunions either, which is unbelievable for the amount of work I do. My toes are the only thing that probably are not great because they have a shape from being so much on pointe. So my feet are all right – they’re not pretty, but they’re all right.

They’re healthy.

They’re healthy. They’re not pretty but they’re healthy.

When you’re not in lockdown, what other things do you do to keep your body healthy?

We are super lucky at the Opera House because we have an amazing team of physiotherapists and it’s like a clinic on the fourth floor. We’re constantly looked after, so I make sure I have treatment all the time. I get massages during the weekends. I look after my body at all times, and the first thing when I go guesting is to find a masseur – I’m very conscious about that. Exercises and recovery treatment are essential.

When do you do a massage – immediately after a show?

It’s changed over the years. When I was younger, I would have a massage before the show. People were like, are you mad? [laughs] I’ve got such a strong body that I sometimes feel better when I feel more relaxed. I don’t like soft massages but really strong ones. Now, I will probably do it the day following a performance, just to recover.

You’ve said in other interviews that you are very neat and ordered in your house and your dressing room. Is there any connection between that need and feeling secure with your technique? Everything always is in order.

The control freak in me. Definitely. Yeah. There has to be a connection for sure. I don’t function without order. I say to Alejandro, look I need things neat around me because otherwise, seriously, I freeze, I can’t cope.

If you see my ballet bag, it is freaky. It’s like perfection. Otherwise, I feel sloppy. And it’s the same with my dressing room and the same with my wardrobe at home. It’s the same with my little bag that I take on to the stage. I’ve told this story before, but when we were doing Dances at a Gathering, not this time but around 2009, I took my leg warmers off and folded them neatly, as I always do, to put in my bag. Most dancers will chuck them into their bags, but I always take my time. We were about to do the pas deux and Fede [Federico Bonelli] shouts, ‘Nela!’ and I turn around and see him scrunching up my leg warmers. I gasped and really wanted to go and refold them, but I’d have missed my entrance. Oh my God, what do I do? It was like Sophie’s Choice. Of course, I went on stage, but I think there’s definitely some connection there.

Thomas Whitehead and Marianela Nunez in The Sleeping Beauty photo by Andrej Uspenski ROH

Show time

On a performance day, how do you gear your body up to go onstage? I imagine that you do a company class before the performance, but what about The Sleeping Beauty or a gala when you are offstage for a long while, and then you have to come on and fire off some technical pyrotechnics?

In our company we don’t do a company class before the show because usually we’re working until 5.30pm, so everybody does their own warmup. But if I’m doing Aurora in the evening, I won’t be rehearsing during the day.

What I do is that I come to the theatre in the morning and do my Pilates class and then ballet class with the company, but I take the rest of the day off, when I usually sew my shoes and so on. I start getting ready in the theatre about three and a half hours before the show – I take my time. Then I calculate for the role. For Aurora, I would probably be warming up just a little before curtain up, and then during the whole prologue. Then I like to put my tutu on for the interval and go on stage. I try things out with the cavaliers, I feel the stage, and then I go into the wings. I don’t exhaust myself. I keep warm, and I need to feel calm. Some dancers make themselves almost late so they don’t have to think about going on, but I’m the opposite. I need to just kind of drop, you know, just to be calm. If it’s a gala or something – and when I dance I’m often on last because its Don Q or Swan Lake or something – and maybe it’s cold in the theatre, then you have to be clever with layers and leg warmers and so on.

Of course, when guesting abroad, you might find yourself on a stage with a rake – I remember your performances with the Rome Opera Ballet where the rake is steep.

I used to freak out with rakes. In fact, the first few times I went to La Scala, I felt like I couldn’t dance. I think it was back in 2006 and then again in 2009. I couldn’t find my balance, no way, but it’s amazing what experience brings. I still worry about rakes because I’m not used to them, but now I get nervous, but I can do it.

What does guesting give you – apart from some extra income?

Many things. Obviously, you see different people doing ballet in different ways, with different styles, so it kind of opens your mind and enriches you.

I love waiting and watching. Especially dancing with Vadim [Muntagirov] we’re usually at the end with the classical pas de deux, and sometimes those galas can be long. So I like to watch all these dancers up close, dancers that I don’t get to see often, or only online, so it is super inspiring. Usually, the audience for galas are so excited and you can see the bubbles, like champagne, it’s fantastic… fantastic.

And the pressure dancing alongside other top dancers and having to show your worth?

Galas are like parties where you see all these dancers together and it’s amazing to see, but of course you do feel the pressure because, as you say, you have the best of the best around you. You just have to show your game, though after doing it for so many years you kind of know-how to beat that pressure.

Galas are actually really difficult thing to do because usually you arrive either the day of the performance or the evening before. You’ve probably done a full-length ballet the night before, you need to adjust to a new theatre because the floors can be hard or the lighting can be strange, so it’s certainly a challenge, but it actually makes you grow as an artist because you are out of your comfort zone and you have to make it work.

Roles, casting and interpretation

Do you ever feel taken over by a character and so immersed in the story that you are able to get lost in the moment, even while following the choreography?

I think lately I’ve gotten to a stage where I can do that quite often. Of course, there are performances where it’s more but always in the second act of Giselle you can totally forget about the world. Like suddenly you’re there. Definitely in Onegin.

In the last performances I did of Swan Lake before lockdown, well wow, I wish those performances had been recorded. It was unbelievable. And not just because of how I felt or how Vadim felt but also the company and the audience. I never thought it would be possible to experience that with a ballet like Swan Lake, which I love very much, but I get so nervous about. Seriously, I could close my eyes and almost forget about myself. It was like when we did the recording of Bayadère when we worked with Natalia [Makarova] and suddenly I felt as though I’d left Nela behind and I was on another planet. I think the older I get, the more I have those experiences, and they are super strong.

I think the audience senses when that’s happening.

In those performances of Swan Lake before lockdown, I could feel that the audience was in the same bubble as we were… there was something in the air. You’re right – the audience can sense that for sure.

Have you ever had roles given to you that you felt that you’d rather wait for, and also the opposite, that you were desperate to do a part and it wasn’t offered to you?

The opposite! All the time! Now, the mature me can say that it was right to wait for certain roles, but most of the time I’ve had to wait. I did my first Onegin when I was over 30, and also Manon. For Giselle, I was 27 or 28. So I have had to wait, but I’m now so grateful for that because I think you can do them when you’re young, but the understanding you have when you’re more mature is something else. It’s another game.

I recently did Marguerite and Armand and A Month in the Country for the first time, but it was the perfect way to do it because when you get the chance, you’re so hungry that you want to do your absolute best… ah, finally! Also, you understand things in a different way and you can prepare in a different way, and absorb the information you are given in a different way. I think that that waiting for roles, and for a lot of things in my career, as I said at the beginning of our conversation, comes from the fact that I was looked after properly as an artist. It’s a journey. I think I’ve matured in the right way and, after 23 years of career, I hope I’ll still have chances to learn and to improve. And I want to do it. I don’t think, OK, I’m done. No, I’m still like, oh my God, I have so much to improve on, so much to learn.

You revisited the role of Myrtha after many years. That seemed such a wonderful thing for you to do as it’s such a difficult role physically, but also so difficult to judge emotionally: she’s got to be strong, but she can’t be spiteful. She’s not the wicked stepmother, and I’ve seen dancers get it totally wrong.

When I did it for the first time, it was filmed – it’s the one with Alina [Cojucaru] as Giselle and I’m the queen, and I was probably only 22 at the time. I had the most amazing time with Monica [Mason] in the studio. She can coach that role like no one else. Someone should film her and put it in the archives because what you can learn from her is incredible.

We worked, and we worked, and we worked. She has such an amazing way of coaching that it stays with you. It really does. Obviously, I moved on to doing Giselle, and I did that for many years, but then the last time we were doing it, I said to Kevin, ‘Listen, I would love to go back to that.’ You know Graham, as you were saying, it’s such a demanding role, technically and artistically, but I felt that as I now have a little bit more knowledge and a little bit more experience, I wanted to go back and see what I could do.

It’s was a challenge because it’s probably harder than doing Giselle [she laughs]. Monica came to coach me again, and I remembered every correction that she had given me years before because it had made sense. It had such a big impact on me. You know, next time we do it, I definitely want to do it again because I think it keeps you intellectually alert and helps you artistically in many ways. As you said, it’s a very difficult role to get just right, and you’re the character that sets the scene: the first act has been very earthy and human with all this emotion going on, and then suddenly you go to a different world, and you see this person crossing the stage in a pas de bourrée. Monica said that crossing that stage you really have to set the mood, and you have to make the audience believe in the world we’ve gone into. It’s a huge responsibility.

Marianela Nuñez as Lise, Carlos Acosta as Colas and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

Marianela Nuñez as Lise and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

Marianela Nuñez as Lise, Carlos Acosta as Colas and artists of The Royal Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, The Royal Ballet © ROH Tristram Kenton, 2012

You danced with Alejandro for his farewell performance in Argentina in a role which I think is perfect for you: Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow. Those demi-caractère roles seem aligned with your offstage personality.

That is kind of where my career started. I always feel La fille’s Lise put me on the map. The soubrette roles, even Kitri, are very fiery, and they come naturally to me, so that’s why, at the beginning of my career, I was doing those kinds of roles. The Merry Widow was recent, but with Coppélia and Lise, I was worried that I was going to get stuck… get pigeonholed. I love them, but I knew I could do all the ballerina roles. I knew I had a dramatic side in me.

I don’t want to sound big-headed and arrogant, but one of the things that I really treasure and work hard on is having a full range. Not just for the sake of it, but because I really feel comfortable in all those different roles. I feel equally comfortable doing Lise as I do playing Tatiana, Swanhilda and Odette/Odile, Giselle then doing something abstract like Balanchine. I feel the same joy doing them all. I feel comfortable. I don’t feel fake going from one extreme to the other.

These two extremes come together in La Sylphide, yet you’ve never played her, or indeed danced in that other sylph-themed ballet, Les Sylphides.

I was never cast. It’s funny because a lot of people go, ‘Oh my God, with all the jumping and being so joyful, it’s so you.’ But no, I was never cast.

And you are good at acting naughty…

Oh yes, she’s so naughty – unbelievable! I would love to do that part but, like anything really, it would have to be properly rehearsed. I think there is so much of the style to get absolutely right. To learn how to do those movements correctly. And Les Sylphides? Definitely!

You know I love Makarova very much, and there’s a video of Les Sylphides with her and [Yuri] Soloviev [she sings and moves her arms]. Oh my God, I keep looking at it, and I go, how is it possible to dance like that? It looks effortless. It’s phenomenal what they can do, a piece of art in capital letters, and though it’s from many years ago, I don’t think anybody can come close. I keep rewinding and going forward. It looks like she’s not real. Incredible. To do a ballet like that, you need a lot of rehearsal… rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Like Giselle, they’re the ballets that are meaningless if there isn’t an understanding of the style.

You might get close to the style, but that’s not enough. You see Carla [Fracci] in Giselle, act two, and with some of the steps she does you think, are you human or what? It’s like she’s floating. And look at those eyes of hers and how they focus into another world. It’s faultless. You need to study these roles for hours and hours and hours.

Coaching at The Royal Ballet is treated very seriously, and it must be fantastic working with someone like Leslie Collier, the latest of a long chain of dancers who now creates new links of the chain by working with younger dancers.

It’s made me the ballerina that I am today. Thanks to The Royal Ballet, I’ve worked with the best of the best. You get to work with people who worked directly with Kenneth [MacMillan], with Ashton, with Balanchine and the roles were often created on them. It’s like drinking water from the fountain. It’s important not only for a debut but even for a ballet such as Sleeping Beauty that you’ve done many times to return to the coach. And it’s not just the steps, but they cover all the angles of a performance. It’s never, OK, just do this and do that, and then they leave. No, it’s about the meaning… why we do these steps. At The Royal Ballet, you are cared for from head to toe – how your makeup is, your wigs, the length of your costume, the lighting. You’re continually refining everything to the highest level, and so you feel safe because you’ve been looked after in such a complete way.

It’s the biggest advantage of being in a company, and something you don’t get when guesting.

I’ve built my career thanks to all these people teaching me, looking after me, dancing with me, and being able to see the others dance and share the stage with them. When I do Sleeping Beauty, the King and Queen are not just sitting there watching, but you feel like they are the King and the Queen. You do Swan Lake, and you have a Rothbart who acts the role which is it’s so inspiring. When I do Onegin, the letter for Tatiana is not just a piece of paper, but our wonderful prop department actually writes it. So I’m standing there, and I’m literally in tears already, and then I look at that letter and I’m in pieces. The audience won’t see that writing, but for the artists, it’s amazing. They’re doing their job at the highest level. It really is an unbelievable place.

Being Nela

After the performance, you’re very generous with giving autographs and chatting to people at the stage door, but there must be times when you’d rather just go and eat, or get home and put your feet up.

I genuinely love it, and I’m telling you the absolute truth. I’m dancing for them, you know, so it’s like give and take. I’m grateful for the fact that they have come to see a performance and given me their support. People go to the theatre also to forget about the world and their problems and to connect with art, which is so necessary for all of us. At the end, to have that interaction is unbelievable, not only for them but for me too. They’re sharing my passion and that’s why I genuinely love connecting with my audience.

That’s why I love social media too because I generally love to interact with ballet fans. Also to show them my gratitude for everything that they give me. I love to have that contact and if I’m tired it actually gives me energy back.

Do you know when it’s hard? It’s when I feel that I didn’t perform well, and I’m a little bit upset. It’s almost like I feel guilty. I kind of want to go, I’m so sorry, I feel bad, you paid for the ticket, and I didn’t deliver what I wanted to deliver for you. But generally, I love it and I’m so grateful to them.

Although you’re a dancer who adores everything about dance, what do you like doing when you’re not sewing shoes or doing Pilates?

As you know, I’m a city girl, and I love London, so when I’m not dancing, I make the most of that city and oh boy, there’s a lot to do in London. Even when I don’t have a specific thing to do, I enjoy sitting in cafes and walking around the city.

A lot of Sundays, which is my only day off, I go to Columbia Road Flower Market or the garden centre. I don’t have a garden myself, but I have window boxes, and I love buying plants and playing around with flowers. I love flowers a lot. I’m lucky that I get a lot of flowers after performances, but I just sometimes go to Colombia Market to see the different kinds of flowers and talk to people to learn about flowers. Hopefully, one day I will have my own garden so that I can really get into it properly.

For me, a lot about London is seeing performances and we also have The National Gallery just next to the theatre and that’s a place that I go to often. But for much of my spare time, I’m not going to lie, I often just want to stay home. I travel a lot, so when I’m home I enjoy having a hot bath, candles everywhere, cashmere socks, good pyjamas… just being at home, chilling out. Enjoying home is great. There will be time to do more things when I’m 80.

At 80, when you retire.

[laughing] Yes!

Everybody loves Nela. Is there a nasty Nela hidden away somewhere?

Oh, I can get in a bad mood. Probably my parents get to see that. Maybe not nasty, but I get frustrated, mostly with myself if things don’t go as I’d like or if things aren’t done as I want. I’m a perfectionist, like every dancer, but I’m good at keeping irritations to myself. The words can flow if a rehearsal is not going well, so my coach will see that, but it’s frustration mostly with myself. I wouldn’t be nasty.

You seem extremely happy having Alejandro in your life. What does he give you? He must be special as logistically it can’t be easy, living in different continents.

Ale is older than me, and we have totally different personalities. His feet are firmly on the ground. I think he has helped me mature as a woman, but also artistically. He often has a different view of things, and that has opened my mind to see things in a totally different way. He’s wise, and I’m not saying that because he’s my boyfriend. He’s a deeply grounded person and that has helped me a lot, I think people who know me have seen a change in the last five years.

But he’s also fun.

Crazy fun! Unbelievably fun. And very spontaneous. We laugh a lot. He lets me relax.

[Whispering] Is he tidy?

[Shrieking with laughter] No, he’s not!

I knew it!

I think he’s helped me with that because I’m so the opposite and we compliment each other. We balance each other, but he’s learning too: you know the Japanese lady on TV who teaches how to tidy up things? In lockdown, that’s what I’ve been doing in his flat!

Marianela Nunez by Rick Guest

In conversation with Marianela Nuñez The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House.

#Anthony Dowell #Federico Bonelli #La Scala #Marianela Nuñez #Rick Guest #Rome Opera Ballet #Royal Ballet School #Vadim Muntagirov #Vladislav Lantratov #Wayne Eagling

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