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standingticket

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  1. standingticket
    Not sure if a cast change email has been sent yet but Steven McRae and Anna Rose O’Sullivan have just posted on instagram that Anna Rose will replace Akane Takada in her scheduled performances of Swan Lake.
  2. standingticket
    Thanks everyone. I will pay for the next one! (Although I don't feel too guilty - I donated the cost of all the tickets I had bought, so have more than payed for my enjoyment of Vadim's solo!)
  3. standingticket
    Can I ask whether the clip that the ROH has released is essentially the whole solo? I was going to pay to watch (was busy on Saturday) in retrospect, but mostly for the ballet, so if there isn't any more I will make do with re-watching the clip again and again. So sublime.
  4. standingticket
    I don't think so unfortunately - I have a Tivo like thing that enables me to record and store from tv (like the good old days of VCR!). I feel bad for mentioning it now, sorry!
  5. standingticket
    The email I received said they had cancelled all performances until 19th April (apologies if this is duplicating information posted elsewhere). I suspect it will last longer than that. I am particularly sad to miss Francesa Hayward and Cesar Corrales debuting in SL, but also those of Magri and Sambe. Fortunately I have Nunez and Muntagirov's filmed performance from when it was on iPlayer last Christmas, so will have to satisfy myself with that.
  6. standingticket
    Can I ask if Benno has been wearing dark leggings in act III in other performances this run so far? Ben Ella was tonight, and it is a definite improvement on the Nutcracker prince costume/cream leggings of the last run On a different note, I thought Reece Clarke gave a fabulous debut tonight, and he was also the first person to make the new ending moving for me. It wasn't rushed and the impact was much greater. Still in the last act, I do miss the exhilarating rush of swans to defeat Von Rothbart that comes with that big major sweep of music in act 4. It never failed to give me goosebumps in the Dowell production, and although there is still a similar entrance of the corps, it feels diluted somehow. Elsewhere, Isabella Gasparini danced all 4 acts as Siegfried's sister and a cygnet, and was wonderful. Melissa Hamilton stood out among the princesses, and Hay and O'sullivan were vivaciously wonderful in the Neopolitan dance. And Osipova's foettes were incredible. Took me right back to the first time I saw her dance with the Bolshoi.
  7. standingticket
    Thanks. I only felt the need to clarify, as Xandra's response read as though she thought I had been critical of Naghdi appear nervous in the whole first act, when I mainly meant the mirror pd2. I felt she looked a bit nervous before that too, but as you have all pointed out (and I agree) that is entirely in keeping with the story/characterisation.
  8. standingticket
    I agree entirely with this and thought her characterisation worked very well for the rest of acts 1+2. But as the mirror pd2 is a dream, I don't think Tatiana should seem 'nervous' or awkward there, but rather heart-in-mouth, breathless, swept away. I'm also not saying that I think Naghdi didn't achieve this, but just that in contrast to the rest of her performance, and perhaps to others I have seen dance this in the past (Laura Morera was the person who kept coming to mind) I didn't 'feel' it as much. Maybe it was being at the back of the amphitheatre, I don't know. But it is interesting to discuss and to hear different views
  9. standingticket
    It was my first Onegin of the run last night and I'm very happy it was - a great performance all round. I felt that Naghdi seemed quite nervous in Act I, and perhaps most noticeably in the bedroom/mirror pd2 when I felt like she had too much tension in her body and it seemed a bit 'placed'. However, by Act II and very definitely by Act III she was completely engrossing. I actually particularly enjoyed her pd2 with Gremin in Act III, which i felt conveyed an unusual emotional complexity - what had gone before had not been erased, there was sorrow in her serenity. And obviously the final pd2 blew everyone away with its intensity, and at least from the amphitheatre, Naghdi appeared to be sobbing when she and Bonelli took their bow immediately after curtain down. I think, as others have suggested, she will get even better in this role (perhaps particularly at the mirror pd2) in future performance, with debut nerves out of the way. I thought Anna Rose O'Sullivan was marvellous, as ever - it's the little details she adds to her characterisation alongside her impeccable dancing that make all the difference. In the earlier acts I found myself being somewhat more cross at Onegin's interference with Olga and Lensky's relationship (which Act I set up so beautifully) than at his treatment of Tatiana. I probably agree with those who have suggested that Sissens will evolve his portrayal of Lensky, as it was a bit one dimensional in places. However, I thought that his solo before the duel was wonderful, and made me look forward to the day when he gets to perform Des Grieux... Anyway, a wonderful night watching three stunning debuts alongside a masterful Onegin from Bonelli.
  10. standingticket
    I have two tickets for 16th May (Nunez and Muntagirov) but in the amphitheatre (seats V64/V65) which I am also looking to swap for any other Nunez/Muntagirov performance as I can no longer make this date. I would happily swap for your SCS tickets Alice-Faye, but not sure if you would want amphitheatre tickets? Or any other takers?! I'm desperate to see Nunez and Muntagirov live, having missed them last time round due to being abroad, and all their performances are of course completely sold out!
  11. standingticket
    For me it has to be Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe's Romeo and Juliet - heart stopping/breaking. Also Sambe's Mercutio, which was incredible Can't wait to see their Coppelia on the 3rd!
  12. standingticket
    Delighted by O'sullivan and padjak's promotions in particular. I am not surprised by Acri's promotion in that he frequently dances roles at first soloist level, and does so with considerable skill and artistry. Even if some may struggle to see him as a principal, surely that shouldn't deny him promotion to the rank he is very clearly dancing at?
  13. standingticket
    Bit late posting but I was there on Wednesday and really enjoyed Month in the Country. I thought there was really palpable chemistry between the three leads, and perhaps particularly between Muntagirov and O'sullivan. Some lovely subtle touches, brushing the fabric of Vera's skirt, tender placement of hands, and a good mix of giddy and intense from Anna Rose. Thought Cuthbertson brought a great strength of feeling to the role too
  14. standingticket
    This happened to the man next to me during my first ever Month on Wednesday. So irritating/uncomfortable but obviously also no one's fault! But does make me wonder if they were using amplification for the piano and this was causing difficulties for hearing aids generally, since the offending device had been fine for the Firebird (on Wednesday at least)
  15. standingticket
    Perhaps this is the wrong place to post this, but the RB announced yesterday that Nehemiah Kish will retire at the end of the season.
  16. standingticket
    I think Sambe will be promoted to principal and agree with others re: Clarke, O'Sullivan, Debreuil (sp?!), Dixon, Gasparini and Sissens. What do people make of Clare Calvert's chances for promotion? At one point she seemed very much in the ascendancy...
  17. standingticket
    It's not that I don't find Muntagirov more than capable of dancing dramatic roles - both his Winter Dreams and his Armand were extremely moving and I can still evoke them in my minds eye. Hence my high expectations of his Romeo (despite being left a little disappointed by his Des Grieux - which at the time I attributed to my own frame of mind, as bridiem alludes to above). It just somehow felt like the choreography didn't 'sit' so well on him as on others I've seen (sambe most recently) , which is also how I remember feeling with the Des Grieux solos in Manon...
  18. standingticket
    I also found myself strangely unmoved until the closing parts of the death scene (that Juliet silent scream, together with the music gets me every time). Initially I wondered whether O'sullivan and Sambe have just spoilt me for the rest of the run, but on reflection I was also left uncharacteristically cold by Muntagirov and Lamb's Manon. On both occasions highly anticipated performances. If I'm truthful, with the very notable exception of Winter Dreams, I've not been fully convinced by Muntagirov in Macmillan yet (and I cannot emphasise strongly enough how much I love watching this man dance!). My feeling is it something to do with the extensions (e.g. En arabesque) not being pushed to their limit/held quite long enough.. It all feels a tiny bit snatched and 'neat' and not as liquid as his usual movement or as the role requires. But perhaps expectations are just so high where he is concerned that I'm being unfair. It was still a very good performance (and Sambe's Mercutio was electric! Wow!)
  19. standingticket
    I can only echo all the plaudits for yesterday afternoon's performance. Big fat tears rolled down my face in the closing moments (which is a Romeo & Juliet first, despite at least 20 prior viewings). What a superlative performance from both. From the farewell pas de deux onwards, sheer desperation was palpable in O'sullivan's every move. Wow.
  20. standingticket
    Is this still available?
  21. standingticket
    No indeed, not easy at all. However, perhaps the fact that the whole of the preceding solo is on the same foot as the fouettes was a contributor, and I suppose (inexpertly) that the snatching motion for a fouette is quite different from the pique turns
  22. standingticket
    Yeah she did the turns again instead which I was underwhelmed by. And that part of act 3 is really not when you should feel underwhelmed. The audience went mad for them though, people seemed to love the alternative. I'm not bothered that she substituted them... I just didn't like the way she did the turns. She span as fast as humanly possible round the stage with so much attack...like the kind of attack that would be brilliant in Don Q but just didn't work for this (in my opinion anyway, as I say it got a massive cheer). My biggest problem was it didn't sit right with the music, and also Odile is a woman with a plan. Everything she does is controlled and for a reason so why then would she spin with wild abandon. It didn't make much sense for the character. Interestingly the Royal Ballet have just responded to a tweet I've just read asking about the substitution, to explain that it was done to avoiding aggravating a niggling foot injury.
  23. standingticket
    I absolutely could see O'Sullivan dancing Aurora, Giselle and Swan Lake! She'd be a wonderful Aurora!
  24. standingticket
    I must have seen Manon at least 25 times all in all over the years and I think I can safely say I have missed Des Grieux's entrance every time! 😂
  25. standingticket
    I quite agree. The rehearsal video primed me for seeing them and they did not disappoint! Was it just me or did Elite Syncopations well and truly shrug off the slightly dusty feeling it occasionally has tonight? Takada, easily the smallest dancer on the stage, grabs your attention the second she moves, and she moves with such decisiveness. Clare Calvert was full of sass (I have only seen Laura Morera dance this better) and Sambe sailed (literally) through 'Friday Night'. I want to give particular mention to Luca Acri and Meaghan Grace Hinkis, who were so cute in 'The Golden Hours' I could have wept. Perfect combination of neat steps, great characterisation and really being on the music. Plus Acri basically looks like he is suspended in mid air when he jumps. It was a great performance of this piece which is often more of a miss than hit for me, and I came away buzzing (as did many others, judging by the cheers!)
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