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Audience Behaviour


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The dancers seem to like it, given the number of them who use the photos for their own social media later. 

 

Although I agree that dancers do often repost photos of them taken during curtain calls on social media, I have also seen, on those rare occasions when I sit in the stalls, dancers favouring people who stood up to take photos with amazing glares. I think some people like it more than others.

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I've noticed that taking photos at curtain calls seems fairly common at the ROH. As I wanted to take some myself, I recently asked an ROH Front of House Manager whether or not it was OK to take photographs then. They told me that while photography was strictly forbidden during the performance, the ROH accepts curtain call photography.

Perhaps they found the ban was just impossible to enforce at the curtain calls!

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I really should have been prepared for last night's Swan Lake to carry with it an appalling audience, particularly since it was opening night. As I took my seat, I'm sorry to say that I was filled with dread at the sight of a large group of 6-7 year old girls sitting behind me, loudly talking about all the sweets that they had with them (rustle rustle) and kicking the back of my seat. I saw my first Swan Lake when I was 11, so I managed to persuade myself that I was being a tad uncharitable, and maybe they'd quieten down once the performance started. No such luck. The adults had, rather selfishly, positioned themselves all together, so that they could talk to each other, rather than mingling with the children to keep an eye on them. Sure enough, the girls giggled and whispered their way through the first two Acts, to the point where I did shush them, but to no avail. This culminated in one girl making some kind of strange rhythmic sucking-clicking noise along with the music at the end of Act II. They quietened down a tiny bit for Acts III and IV, so I suppose someone had a word with them. Shame though, since Act II was the best, as it suited Smirnova's talents the most.

Even worse, the man on my left, who unfortunately seemed quite nice, was one of those people who taps their fingers and nods their head in time with the music, as though they were conducting their own mini-ballet from their seat.

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Even worse, the man on my left, who unfortunately seemed quite nice, was one of those people who taps their fingers and nods their head in time with the music, as though they were conducting their own mini-ballet from their seat.

 

At least he didn't get up and mosh with the girls behind you... ;-)

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New ROH behaviour - various locations.......!!!!! As you go past others en route to your seat, don't forget to stop  to talk to your friends so that those you pass have to remain standing for an unnecessarily long time and, oh, don't forget  to knock off the head of the people sitting in front of you with your bag or, better still, drape your coat over their heads as you pass. 

 

I think that, despite that fact that it's summer, the lack of proper cloakroom facilities at the ROH has exacerbated this problem.

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I know we don't all like the Jester in the "Russian" version of Swan Lake, but I have never seen such disinterest at the opening of third act, which is briefly Jester-heavy, as was shown by one lady in seat D50, amphi on Saturday night who decided that even lights down and music starting wouldn't dissuade her from urgently checking her Insta-book-feed thing. The white glow of her phone was horribly distracting. She was one of those people who believe that checking it inside one's handbag magically masks the supernaturally bright glow. (Lady, it doesn't...). I wished for something small yet noticeable to lob in her general direction, a peanut, or a penny...a hardbacked book. She only stopped when the Jester stopped, i.e. it lasted about three minutes. As consequence I was unable to fully enjoy his fantastically athletic cavortings. I was surprised she didn't get a nudge to the head from the person behind's foot. 

 

Otherwise it was a good audience. 

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I was reading et another article trying to explain the Donald Trump phenomenon in the USA, and the author was saying that it was mostly about a rejection of European "high culture." In other words, the revenge of Nascar fans against opera fans. The last couple of sentences in the article made me think of this thread.

 

"As I have pointed out elsewhere, you wouldn’t think of chomping popcorn at the opera, the symphony or the ballet. At a movie, lots of us wouldn’t think of not chomping popcorn. It is a democratic act."

 

Apparently the author doesn't realise that in certain bastions of high culture, chomping popcorn during a live performance is no longer unthinkable.

Edited by Melody
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I doubt that author realises much, if that's what they think it's about. But not a topic to explore here.

 

Why *are* people unable to sit for an hour and a half without stuffing salted cardboard into their faces?

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I think they do that sometimes on the Bolshoi cinema broadcasts too. Might be cultural!

 

It seems to me that Russian audiences tend to regard ballet more as a spectator sport than an art form. Hence all the clapping in time to fouettes and the applause that often greets various tours de force that  would not be applauded outside Russia (e.g.. the hops on point in Giselle's Act 1 variation). Dramatic atmosphere and continuity is often ruined by these audience interruptions and the subsequent "milking" of applause by the performers. This addiction to "tricks" does, however, go back a very long way. A Russian ballet reviewer in the 19th century wrote that anyone can do tricks, but it takes a real artist to move an audience. Those were the days when ballets contained a great deal more mime than they do now.

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I was reading et another article trying to explain the Donald Trump phenomenon in the USA, and the author was saying that it was mostly about a rejection of European "high culture." In other words, the revenge of Nascar fans against opera fans. The last couple of sentences in the article made me think of this thread.

 

This claim strikes me as somewhat ironic as America has in many ways become the keeper of the flame when it comes to Western classical art forms (music/dance/etc.) largely due to its huge philanthropic sector and, thus, sizable funding for and investment in the arts. I don't really agree that there's a rejection of high culture over there; for one thing there's far less intra-class resentment in the States than there is over here where opera in particular is a commonly used stick for one class to beat another. In America, the divide is more racial/nationalist and the arts don't really intersect with that. Thus, where an English football fan may very likely direct bitterness towards high culture, the average NASCAR fan frankly couldn't give a toss (and I say that having been to both Daytona and NYCB/ABT, the latter many times and the former once -- which was enough.) Also ironically, my experience is that modern Amercan audiences, perhaps because they take an instinctively reverential view of European high culture, tend to as well if not better behaved during performances than is, increasingly, the case over here. I honestly wonder if UK theatre's shouldn't follow the airline safety card model and put "how to behave in a performance" instructions on each seat. My particular beef is the idiots who think an overture amounts to the provision of free background music while they continue their conversation(s), only grasping the performance has begun when the curtain goes up. Imbeciles!

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No, I'm afraid that you have got that wrong godots_arrived. For the "amateur" audience a ballet performance is only taking place when you can see  people moving about on stage in a manner that is immediately recognisable, even to the untrained eye, as being directly connected with what that audience thinks of as dance. The curtain going up does not mean a thing if the stage is empty or if there is movement but no obvious dancing taking place.Special rules apply for those who are there with their best friend, their partner, girlfriend, boyfriend husband or wife because they know that the person they are with needs a running commentary on everything that can be seen on stage so that they don't  miss anything. They have gone to the theatre to savour and share the experience and they are going to make sure that they share it,and to do that, they have to talk..  

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In my experience, American audiences, like any audiences, are extremely hit and miss.  It all depends on luck and luck alone.  

 

Interesting idea. I've never tried to hit anyone in an audience but I'm tempted to give your suggestion a go :-)

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At the ROH tonight OS row C, sitting next to an odious little man all evening. Before he takes his seat, he peers into the pit and announces loudly 'Too much Fxxxing timpani as usual!'

Gets in the seat beside me, makes a phone call to someone, loudly talking about how he's the RB junior's choreographer or something, on and on about how wonderful he is, and how awful this Bolshoi cast is compared to 10 years ago. Coughing all the time.

 

An announcement is made, 2 dancers are being substituted. His reaction? You guessed it, a very loud 'Fxxxing hell!'

 

First interval, lights go on, he loudly pronounces to no one in particular 'Fxxxing choreography so tight' that everyone around us turns to look. Another phone call 'I don't like the RB, but that Oskipova [sic] she's wonderful, why she has to do that modern stuff.....Oskipova she's wonderful, this lot are good, but not nearly as good' on and on cough cough.

 

Hateful man, ruined my night.

Edited by Mousem40
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At the ROH tonight OS row C, sitting next to an odious little man all evening. Before he takes his seat, he peers into the pit and announces loudly 'Too much Fxxxing timpani as usual!'

Gets in the seat beside me, makes a phone call to someone, loudly talking about how he's the RB junior's choreographer or something, on and on about how wonderful he is, and how awful this Bolshoi cast is compared to 10 years ago. Coughing all the time.

 

An announcement is made, 2 dancers are being substituted. His reaction? You guessed it, a very loud 'Fxxxing hell!'

 

First interval, lights go on, he loudly pronounces to no one in particular 'Fxxxing choreography so tight' that everyone around us turns to look. Another phone call 'I don't like the RB, but that Oskipova [sic] she's wonderful, why she has to do that modern stuff.....Oskipova she's wonderful, this lot are good, but not nearly as good' on and on cough cough.

 

Hateful man, ruined my night.

 

I'm so sorry, Mousem40 - that sounds awful. I wonder if he always behaves like that. I used to go to football matches regularly and if people behaved badly they were BANNED. Maybe that could be introduced at the ROH?! (And elsewhere for that matter.)

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How disgraceful! Did you not tell the ushers?

 

Whenever I am confronted with a badly behaved, selfish audience member at ROH (I have stopped going to many theatres and cinemas precisely for such reason) I do not confront them personally. I go to the ushers and ask them to intervene.

 

The ROH must ensure to effectively monitor badly behaved patrons and deal with them accordingly or it will get worse and worse; if not it will start putting off people like myself from attending on a regular basis.

 

A zero tolerance policy against such bad, rude, selfish behaviour-that spoils it all for paying members of the audience-

must be in place if ROH wants to keep their loyal patrons! 

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Would they do anything about a person who's just being loud (obnoxious but nonthreatening) during the intervals, as long as he behaves during the performance?

Edited by Melody
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I don't think they'd do anything about obnoxious behaviour during the intervals. 

 

The ROH is going out of their way to attract all layers of our society, rightly so, but some of those layers lack social education and  good manners. They are a reflection of what has become of our society today: total disrespect for others, totally selfish and very rude (in manners and vocabulary). Mind you, I have encountered rude so-called "upper class" ladies at ROH too!

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At the ROH tonight OS row C, sitting next to an odious little man all evening. Before he takes his seat, he peers into the pit and announces loudly 'Too much Fxxxing timpani as usual!'

Gets in the seat beside me, makes a phone call to someone, loudly talking about how he's the RB junior's choreographer or something, on and on about how wonderful he is, and how awful this Bolshoi cast is compared to 10 years ago. Coughing all the time.

 

An announcement is made, 2 dancers are being substituted. His reaction? You guessed it, a very loud 'Fxxxing hell!'

 

First interval, lights go on, he loudly pronounces to no one in particular 'Fxxxing choreography so tight' that everyone around us turns to look. Another phone call 'I don't like the RB, but that Oskipova [sic] she's wonderful, why she has to do that modern stuff.....Oskipova she's wonderful, this lot are good, but not nearly as good' on and on cough cough.

 

Hateful man, ruined my night.

 

I feel for you Mousem40 :( . I would certainly email the ROH with his seat number and your complaint. I would hope that if they get a few complaints (it sounds like he would be a repeat offender) they might do something.

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I have to say that one of the major reasons I stopped booking to see the Russian guests when they come to London is the type of audience they attract.  Okay, some will say that sounds elitist.  For me it is simply that I give up a lot of other things in order to afford a nice seat at the ballet and I expect to enjoy the experience in peace.  For whatever reason, the guest ballet companies seem to attract a lot of people who are only interested in saying 'i went to see the Bolshoi.'  I am no expert but I love ballet and yearn to learn more at each performance I go to.  I don't want the evening spoilt by noisy guests who spend most of the performance working out the correct angle for their camera.  I don't hesitate to tell ROH staff when things go awry. 

Edited by penelopesimpson
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Maybe I was exceedingly lucky throughout the Bolshoi season so far, but with the exception of a weird guy jiggling his keys/coins in his trouser pockets, the audience has been pretty good so far wherever I was standing. A few attempted phone uses, quelled quickly by other audience members or ushers, that was about it.

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