Candleque

The Lucia emails I received say: "*offer is only available on the top two price bands and does not apply to boxes" (Not wanting to post the code here for fear of breaking a forum rule, I would suggest that a phone call to the box office asking about the offer would probably result in them giving it to that customer. My opinion.)

Too bad they aren't listening. This to me is another indicative factor as to why so much ROH marketing seems illogical. They seem caught up in their own self image as 'The House' and ignore that the main brand to ticket buyers is either the Royal Ballet or the Royal Opera. Yes some people like both, but they are different art forms with content that should not be treated the same. Ballet is HUGE on Instagram, but the Royal Ballet doesn't even have their own account. What a miss. As someone who works in marketing, I am forever amazed at how little they care about the needs of their different audiences or understand how digital platforms actually work.

Technically this should be under "how NOT to promote ballet" or "how to promote opera" but I thought it was interesting that the Royal Opera House has sent me three marketing emails with a whopping 40% off Lucia di Lammermoor offer. I am a lapsed Friend+ who has never bought a ticket for an opera at the ROH. So they are clearly barking up the wrong tree. As you might guess, the ROH has never ever sent me an offer for ballet. Do you think the opera fans are getting similar offers for the Winter's Tale, which also has lots of unsold seats??

Would love to see Ryoichi win for this. He's amazing as Espada

Great to see Yasmine in this feature article. Thank you for the share token 🙏

Fyi, I have just sent this 15 March Swan Lake Upper Amphitheatre ticket back to ROH

Putting this out there just in case. Am looking to swap a seat for Swan Lake at the ROH on Friday 15 March (Fumi/Will). Ideally want to trade for their matinee on April 1st. (Or will consider swap for any Fumi or Marianela date prior to 15 April.) My ticket is in the Upper Amphitheatre, Row S Seat 54 (No Armrests), £ 35.00. Will pay the difference if yours is a better seat. Or can just purchase, if you have a spare ticket for 1st April matinee with a good view for a short person. Thanks.

Congratulations to Northern Ballet 👏

Love this description. Like many I am in mourning over losing my platonic ballet crush. Alex as a dancer somehow made me feel like I knew him personally and that he was just the best kind of bloke to have as a friend. Having treated myself to a posh seat for this last performance in the same row as Mr. O'Hare, it took all of my strength and manners instilled as child not to grab him and ask this question.

This

I am NOT saying she shouldn't be a principal (she should) but I loved Francesca Hayward as Clara way more than Sugar Plum. Same with Anna Rose O'Sullivan. It is always interesting to ponder casting traditions. Why can a dancer be Juliet at any age but not Clara? Yes, I know this role is a big chance for the lower ranked dancers to shine. And Sugar Plum is the technically challenging role. But three out of four Perditas are principals, which is awesome but doesn't follow the same logic imo. Agree with all above who think the RB principals do not dance enough (at the ROH). Maybe we need more galas or ensemble works. How I wish I could see Alexander Campbell in Dances at a Gathering (live) again.

100% this

Agree this is amazing news. Well done Tamara and unknown (probably tech mogul) SF balletomane. If I was a development director for a ballet company, I would be using this as a prompt for motivating my own circle of donors 🤣 What is also great about this for the ballet world in general is that the donation is mainstream news. The $60 million makes a juicy headline and means ballet is showing up in general news feeds.

This ⬆️. ps: Thrilled to see Arielle Smith have a whack at a new Nutcracker. Can't wait 🎄

Well it will be interesting to see — once they hire this person — how it works with existing artist/brand deals. Or if it is just for pursuing new opportunities. Not a lawyer but I doubt the RB could take a cut of any paid sponsorships already in place. Maybe they will also look at some team sponsorship models for the company as a whole, which are so common in sports. Nike logos on tutus, Mulberry ballet bags. Just kidding. I think 🤣

Wow. Well done her 👍. Perdita is my personal fave in this ballet fwiw.

For the many who have wondered what the Royal Ballet marketing / PR team does or doesn't do, here is an interesting job spec currently on their website. Looks like they want to centralise and participate in what many dancers currently manage for themselves (i.e., paid work with brands). The RB might be late to the concept of influencer marketing, but imo this is a smart move. Salary of course quite low for the skills and experience they want. Job opportunity: Artist Brand Liaison Manager, The Royal Ballet >> "...Because of the increasing popularity of dance in general...it is expected that commercial opportunities involving the Artists will increase in scale and regularity...As a result of this, we have an exciting, newly created opportunity for an Artist Brand Liaison Manager to join the organisation...main purpose of the role is to manage brand liaison for The Royal Ballet, developing and managing commercial sponsorship models which will bring mutual benefit to both the ROH/Royal Ballet and the individual Artist."

Totally agree. (Admittedly I'd personally be horrified if he was.) Suspect many RB dancers would feel the same (/speculation). I also think mega talents like Tiler Peck could do whatever they set their mind to. Obvious fits like Elite Syncopations or anything really.

Excuse the off-topic side note, but the discussion above about the RB marketing staff missing obvious PR opportunities made me think about the amazing job the NYCB team is doing promoting Tiler Peck and her new ballet Concerto For Two Pianos. Big profiles in mainstream publications like NYTimes and Vogue and lots of love on their own channels, including their excellent podcast. It's nice to see.

Agree. Emma Hawes was my fourth Giselle this run. She so completely captured the innocence and venerability of Act I for me. Amazing to think it was her debut 👏. And wow Vsevolod Maievskyi. Every inch a prince. (The only flaw I saw in Giselle was that she couldn't see how posh he was right from the start 😁.) James Streeter gave us a Hilarion we could empathise with. Precious Adams was stunning. So happy to see this cast 🤩. The corps was imo giving their all (and on a double show day.) My one difference with Sim's review is that the quite young primary school children flooding my area were all having a cheeky picnic lunch during Act I. It wasn't their fault — their ziplock bags of sandwiches and snacks indicated that the school told the parents to provide nourishment. But forgot to teach the kids to wait for the interval to dig in. In fact, it didn't seem like they had been briefed at all. There was a loud outcry of dismay behind me at the end of the first Act because they were sad it was over. When I told them there was another Act to come, there was a happy cheer of surprise. Although they were somewhat noisy neighbours, I forgave all in sympathy with how much the kids loved the show. Me too! Their whispered gasp when when Myrtha appeared mirrored my own. Bravo to all the dancers.

Act I looked dreamy imo. Am reminded how much I enjoy seeing Alex Campbell on stage. (I know he did Nutcracker, but I like when there is more of a character to shine through the dancing)

Thanks for all the reviews above. I love Giselle and was delighted to get to see opening night. Have been a fan girl of Aitor Arrieta since Emerging Dancer 2017. I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version? (I was holding my breathe for it and it didn't happen lol.) Don't have a good memory of Berthe's mime in other versions. If I didn't already know the story, I would not really understand what she is on about. To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny. They don't bother me. And I felt lots of love and appreciation in the audience for the dancers. Want to give a shout out to debutantes Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick for a fab Peasant pas de deux. Wish I could see his Albrecht. I am truly grateful to be booked for two more casts. Thanks to reasonable prices to begin with, and ENB allowing great offers on the public discount sites, I get to see Giselle three times in top tier seats, for less £££ than one stalls seat in the ROH. Bravo ENB.

This. Am also a mega Mark Morris fan. All the musicality missing from McGregor (imo) and more. And I'd love to see the RB reach out to Arielle Smith. Would be great to see what she'd do on the big ROH stage.

Bravo to this. An action I will emulate. Like many people at the top, I suspect Mr. O'Hare is somewhat insulated from grassroots criticism. His staff is more likely to show him those press clippings from Toronto imo, than a report quoting the frustrated balletomanes here.

Hope not. I have tickets and it is James Hay 😍 Thrilled for Ryoichi Hirano.