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Royal Ballet Romeo & Juliet, October 2013


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Here are couple of photos of the Steven McRae/Evgenia Obraztsova general rehearsal for Friends on Saturday lunchtime. They were marvelous - can't wait to see them in performance!

 

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Steven McRae and Evgenia Obraztsova (as Romeo and Juliet)

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

 

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Steven McRae (and Evgenia Obraztsova)

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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Set from DanceTabs - The Royal Ballet's 'Romeo & Juliet'

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

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Fabulous pictures, as always, Dave! I particularly love the one of Obraztsova, in the Balcony scene, in arabesque and just about to fall into McRae's arms. For me it sums up the entire pas de deux - a new favourite photo of R&J for me!

 

Alas, work means I'll only be catching one R&J this season - Hamilton and Watson next month. Very excited to see them (esp Hamilton's Juliet who I've not seen before) but really disappointed to miss the other casts (especially Cuthbertson/Bonelli - one of my favourite pairings for R&J).

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My favourite moment in Cuthbertson/Bonelli's R&J on DVD is the look in Lauren's eyes as the camera closes in on her face at the beginning of the balcony scene. Gets me every time.

 

I was so torn between seeing Cuthbertson/Bonelli or Nuñez/Soares - wish I could afford to go twice! Very excited about seeing Marianela and Thiago's interpretation though and I'll have to keep playing my DVD of Lauren & Federico in the meantime.

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Love the Obraztsova pics - that's the cast I'd have most liked to have seen, though I thought the Cuthbertson dvd was excellent.   Evgenia was born to play Juiet.


Edited by Janet McNulty
Edited to enhance the size of the font so that fogies like me can read it!
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I went to the first night of R&J and I must admit that by the end of the performance I was in tears.

 

Considering that I had to arrange a trip from Italy, this was the first time I was seeing Romeo and Juliet live at the Roh.. and it was really worth it!! Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli were absolutely great in the lead roles. During their meet in the ball scene they danced and acted with such a tenderness and innocence that made me believe in their love at first sight!! Then I was totally blown away by the balcony pas de deux, which perfectly showed the incredible on stage chemistry between them. The chapel scene gave me goosebumps as I was so devastated and moved to see the grief of Romeo who finds out that Juliet is dead and vice-versa.

 

Lauren Cuthbertson danced open heart for her public that was so happy to finally see her back.

 

A special mention for Gary Avis as Tybalt and Ricardo Cervera as Mercutio. Dawid Trzensiemiech was very good as Benvolio and I think he is one to watch for the future. Laura Morera danced the leading hartlot but, after having seen her the previous night as Mercedes in Don Q, I can’t understand why she is not dancing neither Juliet nor Kitri.

 

In my opinion Lauren and Federico are a great match. Now I hope that these two amazing dancers  will be cast together the next time that Manon will be on.

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Just got back, and wow! 

 

I thought Steven McRae was an excellent Romeo and loved his dances with Tristan Dyer as Benvolio and Alexander Campbell as Mercutio - particularly the three of them with Kristen McNally as the Nurse, incredibly funny. Deirdre Chapman, Camille Bracher and Olivia Cowley were stunning as the three harlots - full of life and superb dancers. Swordfights were wonderful, act 2 absolutely flew by (I know it's a short act at just over half an hour, but I was so entranced I couldn't believe it when it was time for the interval!)

 

As for Evgenia Obraztsova - words fail me. Completely exquisite, and her and Steven were brilliant together. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen her!

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If you like Evgenia on Youtube there are a series of "films" on the young stars (at the time) from the Maryinski and Evgenia is one of them. They are in Russian (or maybe French....trying to remember...though but are very interesting anyway.

I'll see if I can get the proper name of this series for quicker access.

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In my opinion Lauren and Federico are a great match. Now I hope that these two amazing dancers  will be cast together the next time that Manon will be on.

 

Well, I'm rather in two minds about that: Morera and Bonelli were so good together in their one performance that I think those who missed out might want to have another go!

 

Thank you for posting, caterina, and I'm glad you thought the trip from Italy was worth it!

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Well, I'm rather in two minds about that: Morera and Bonelli were so good together in their one performance that I think those who missed out might want to have another go!

 

Thank you for posting, caterina, and I'm glad you thought the trip from Italy was worth it!

 

I saw Laura Morera and Federico Bonelli do a duet from Onegin at the Lowry in a mixed programme that seemed to be a 3-line whip on principals from RB and BRB - they were staggeringly wonderful together and made sense of a duet that should have made no sense out of context.  I would love to see them do something together!

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Can somebody please, please tell me why Morera is cast so rarely in Principal roles, particularly in the MacMillan ballets?  She was brilliant in Manon, so why so just the one performance?  (Edited to add I think she just did the one?  I have been away quite a bit, so may have missed out on up to date info)

 

I know she was desperate to dance Juliet, so why has she never been given the chance?

Edited by Fonteyn22
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Well, I'm rather in two minds about that: Morera and Bonelli were so good together in their one performance that I think those who missed out might want to have another go!

 

Thank you for posting, caterina, and I'm glad you thought the trip from Italy was worth it!

Thanks alison, I think I will try to arrange a trip once every season!! It was such a great experience.. now I need to start saving my money again!!

 

Unfortunately, I've never seen Morera dancing Manon, but I will be pleased to watch her and Bonelli in the cinema relay of Nutcracker :)

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Can somebody please, please tell me why Morera is cast so rarely in Principal roles, particularly in the MacMillan ballets?  She was brilliant in Manon, so why so just the one performance?  (Edited to add I think she just did the one?  I have been away quite a bit, so may have missed out on up to date info)

 

I know she was desperate to dance Juliet, so why has she never been given the chance?

 

She seems to have a first soloist career, despite being a principal. Very odd.

 

Saw R & J tonight. Cuthbertson was stunning, Bonelli was great and all the cast were on top form. Wish Macmillan had choreographed a solo for Romeo in the final death scene though. It always feels over too quickly for me, and Romeo has far fewer dancing in this ballet than Juliet (or so it seems to me).

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Yes, Cuthbertson and Bonelli did make a great couple - both of them really expressive. They brought me new insights even after about 50 R and Js! Fabulous.

 

Fabulous, too, was Morera as chief Harlot. She really is so good, as she was in Don Q and earlier this year in Mayerling. For me a real star.

 

And who better for Tybalt than Avis. Still the classiest actor/dancer going, in my book!

 

Trzensimiech worried me, though. Just before he fell I thought he seemed as if he wasn't quite sure where he was; he recovered quickly but seemed to stay a fraction of a beat behind the others in the remaining pas de trois. Such a reliable and accomplished dancer - I wonder if he was not well tonight?

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As for Evgenia Obraztsova - words fail me. Completely exquisite, and her and Steven were brilliant together. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen her!

 

And, what's more, she had never danced the MacMillan version before, but learnt it from scratch on coming to London. All her previous Juliets have been in the Lavrovsky version.

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Can somebody please, please tell me why Morera is cast so rarely in Principal roles, particularly in the MacMillan ballets?  She was brilliant in Manon, so why so just the one performance?  (Edited to add I think she just did the one?  I have been away quite a bit, so may have missed out on up to date info)

 

Better ask the artistic directors, I guess.  And no, it wasn't just the one, it was two: it was Bonelli who got injured and couldn't make the second performance.

 

She seems to have a first soloist career, despite being a principal. Very odd.

 

Saw R & J tonight. Cuthbertson was stunning, Bonelli was great and all the cast were on top form. Wish Macmillan had choreographed a solo for Romeo in the final death scene though. It always feels over too quickly for me, and Romeo has far fewer dancing in this ballet than Juliet (or so it seems to me).

 

Oh no, no, definitely not.  Juliet, dancing-wise, is, it seems to me, a relatively easy role.  Carlos Acosta, Jonny Cope and Ed Watson have all gone on the record as saying that Romeo is more physically tiring than Crown Prince Rudolf.

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And, what's more, she had never danced the MacMillan version before, but learnt it from scratch on coming to London. All her previous Juliets have been in the Lavrovsky version.

 

I can't understand why Royal Ballet had to invite a ballerina who has no experience of MacMillan Juliet and have their coaching resources spent on a guest dancer. It is ridiculous.  

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Steven has lost one of his regular partners (Alina) and Roberta seems to be dancing more with other partners eg Nehemiah and Alexander. I wonder whether another permanent partner is being sought for him, either from within the RB or from outside.

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He's dancing with Marquez in The Nutcracker: it may be that he'd only been "moved up" to dance with Cojocaru, then she left and had to be replaced, so we'll have to wait and see whether things get back to "normal".

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Better ask the artistic directors, I guess.  And no, it wasn't just the one, it was two: it was Bonelli who got injured and couldn't make the second performance.

 

 

Oh no, no, definitely not.  Juliet, dancing-wise, is, it seems to me, a relatively easy role.  Carlos Acosta, Jonny Cope and Ed Watson have all gone on the record as saying that Romeo is more physically tiring than Crown Prince Rudolf.

 

That's interesting. Maybe it's because Romeo is often on stage with lots of other people, it seems like he dances more than Juliet, who is often on stage with just her hurse.

 

On a different note, it's a shame Campbell isn't playing Romeo this season. He was a great Mercutio and I think he'd be really good in the part.

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That's interesting. Maybe it's because Romeo is often on stage with lots of other people, it seems like he dances more than Juliet, who is often on stage with just her hurse.

 

On a different note, it's a shame Campbell isn't playing Romeo this season. He was a great Mercutio and I think he'd be really good in the part.

 

 

According to last night's hastily scrapped and replaced giveaway programme, Alexander Campbell WAS playing Romeo. I hope he managed to grab a copy for his memory book before they were put in the bin.

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