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Indigo

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  1. Some good stall circle standing places are available for tonight on the ROH website, Alison, if you're interested. Agreed - I'll be interested to see what Wei Wang brings to the role of Creature after seeing both Steven McRae & Nehemiah Kish in the roles previously. Whatever I think about Frankenstein after seeing the revival, I know I shall enjoy seeing Laura Morera & Federico Bonelli.
  2. Not by 'normal' standards. But by current ROH standards... 😄 More Forza tickets have appeared for sale on numerous Kaufmann / Netrebko / joint dates this morning; some more front row grand tier & stalls circle, plus good stalls. As I type, there's 17 tickets appeared for Friday 12 April. Surely they're not finding this many tickets down the back of the ROH box office sofa?
  3. One would think a clear statement would be made. On the other hand, I've been following the Forza ticket sales this afternoon. There's been a relatively steady stream of tickets coming up for various Kaufmann or Netrebko or joint performances covering various price bands (usually £87 & over, though some £41 I think) & in different parts of the house. I know from past experience tickets can pop up soon after public booking, including for sold-out performances. But I was surprised by the number of them & the seat locations were good ones - including the grand tier & stalls. So it left me questioning where they'd all appeared from & why they weren't available at public booking?
  4. I thought the same, Lizbie1, but then wondered if perhaps Alex Beard was being deliberately vague to cover up just how big this re-selling issue has become for 'star name' events at the ROH? I also wondered whether the seats that were coming on for sale this afternoon had been re-claimed from ticket re-selling websites. Or am I being rather optimistic there!?!
  5. Quite a few Forza tickets appeared this afternoon for various dates. As I missed out at public booking, I was delighted to grab a couple of tickets as a birthday present to my husband for Kaufmann & Netrebko. On the ROH News page, Alex Beard has posted a piece explaining the lack of Forza tickets at public booking.
  6. I don't know the original play, but after reading the programme notes & seeing yesterday's matinee & evening performance, I felt this opener to Winter Dreams might be part of illustrating the limited pool of ideal men from whom the sisters could find a marriage partner in this remote, provincial northern Russian town. So there were the dashing & exciting soldiers, who attended their dinner parties / social events, but with them came the potential for being rather brutish, lax morals & betrayal by adultery - including by men at captain/officer level. Or there were the more worthy, but potentially dull options such as Kulygin. So much of this ballet seemed to be depicting inner lives & relationship dynamics (while the superficial surface was playing out behind around the dinner table), including around mistakes made in choice of marriage partner, the ability to truly assess character/worth. And the dilemma of settling on a marriage partner just to achieve security or to escape - Irina.
  7. As I've posted before on a few other threads, Dowell's Swan Lake was the first RB production I ever saw - in 2012 at the cinema. Agreed, it really did pack a huge emotional punch for me too. So much so, that you could say I've never really recovered - it definitely triggered my love for watching ballet! 😍 And it abundantly demonstrated to me the emotional power that ballet can have. I'm missing that from the new Swan Lake. It will be interesting to see how it comes across on the big screen when it's relayed to cinemas in June - I'm planning on catching an encore screening. Re. the tambourines - sounds like a misunderstanding between brand new addition & reinstated new to this production! Thanks for clarifying, Lizbie1. I'm glad it's back 😃
  8. I may well have misunderstood, but it's not shown on my 2009 RB Swan Lake DVD.
  9. I've been enjoying the national dances in this production too. They feel more an organic part of the story, rather than an add-on, which I gather from the Insight event was Liam Scarlett's aim. Tierney Heap impressed me in the opening night's Spanish Dance. In fact, ever since I first properly registered this dancer (back in 2015 when I thought she was fabulous dancing the title role in Carlos Acosta's 'Carmen' ) I've enjoyed Tierney Heap's performances in various roles. And I must put in a word for the "tambourine flunkeys" during the Neapolitan Dance. I gather from ballet-goers more knowledgeable than me, it's a new thing Liam Scarlett's added to his production where the tambourine flunkeys remain on stage after catching the tambourines & start playing them. I think it's a really fun touch.
  10. I wasn't at the event, but funnily enough, the other night Mr Indigo was asking me whether his favourite RB performer, Peregrine the Pony, might be in Swan Lake or any of the other ballets in the 2018/19 season!!! 😁
  11. Some rather belated thoughts on Saturday's performance & my second viewing of the new Swan Lake. I was impressed by William Bracewell's debut as Siegfried. He appeared so assured, with strong partnering & I thought it was a really good foundation to build on. His acting came across especially well, with his portrayal of a naive Prince Siegfried. In fact, he looked at his Odette so totally adoringly, I'm not surprised that by the close of Act II she was melting into his embrace. And it made the tragedy of Siegfried's inadvertant betrayal with Odile so much harder to bear. There was a lot I liked about Akane Takada's O/O; her dancing was lovely. If Akane Takada is not an innately theatrical dancer, in the way say Zenaida Yanowsky is, I get the impression (including from The Times' April 2017 interview) that her acting is an area she will continue to develop. Her Odile came across as merciless & coolly enticingly glamourous; her Odette vulnerable yet with a quiet dignity which I felt were interpretations which played to her strengths. Marcelino Sambe's Benno was good fun & as another poster has said, this worked really well with William Bracewell's take on Siegfried. At second viewing, it really struck me how much more dancing & prominence Benno has in Act I than Siegfried. I can see why Mark Monahan made the comments he did on this in his review. Though I guess Benno's role does provide a good opportunity to see other talented male dancers in the company. I'd like to see some other interpretations of Von Rothbart, as I've not yet quite made up my mind on what I think about this role. Though I imagine it's a tough challenge for the character artists to project the kind of manipulative villainy required, especially over such a prolonged time when V-R is less active but still very visible on stage, such as when sat by the queen in Act III & in parts of Act I. I'd also prefer Act III to have a slightly less frenetic pace at its climax, when everything appears to be happening at once & I feel I can't take it all in properly. I'd especially like to have more time to appreciate the black swans & frustratingly I keep missing their entrance due to being caught up in the action elsewhere on stage at the time! Although it's a great moment theatrically, I've also started wondering if V-R seizes power / control of the Kingdom at the end of Act III, why Siegfried's number one priority is to immediately dash to the lakeside to apologise to Odette? Wouldn't he be trying to defend his kingdom, his mother & his subjects? Maybe I'm just being too prosaic & unromantic. And where does the lake begin in Acts II & IV? Is the lake even really visible? After sitting pretty centrally in the front half of the amphi, I have no idea. I've asked a few other people & even though they were sitting in other parts of the auditorium, they couldn't answer that question either. It looks as though there might be shallow water ripples on the dark stage floor, but I can't be sure. If they are representing shallow water, then various cast members were dancing or entering / exiting through them which seems odd! I previously posted my impressions of the Act IV ending from the opening night & I'm afraid these haven't changed. It just doesn't move me & feels all wrong. Others will feel differently, but I keep wondering why on earth this ending was chosen. Unfortunately, I also find the vision of Odette up on the hydraulic lift rather naff. It probably didn't help that on Saturday, from the central-ish front amphi, after Odette has jumped to her death I could see her moving off the stage from behind the rock & then saw her again behind the scrim (?) getting ready for the hydraulic lift moment. Overall, I'm just not engaging emotionally with this production so far. I can admire the dancing, costumes, sets etc. And there is a lot to admire about this Swan Lake. But after two performances, sadly it's just not touching my heart. Though if anything can change that, it will be Yasmine Naghdi's debut O/O - experience has taught me to pack extra tissues for her performances in narrative ballets. Roll on the 28th, double Swan Lake day!
  12. On the ROH news webpage, "Your Reaction: What did you think of Swan Lake 2018?" a poster suggests that Gary Avis may not be performing as VR, though they hope the RB will confirm to the contrary. I'd love to see what Gary could do with this role too.
  13. Lovely to hear that about Solomon Golding. On World Ballet Day 2017, I'm pretty sure I spotted him in a SFB rehearsal segment & hoped he would do well there.
  14. Why, what can happen? Do they become a whooppe cushion or something?!?!? 😲 I occasionally use the ROH blow-up cushions when I'm sat in places with no-one behind me, to get an extra clear view of the stage. Crikey, I'd never thought to check the bung before now!!! Though thinking about it they can make a bit of a squeaking sound if you don't sit pretty still...
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