zxDaveM Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the rehearsal of The Royal Ballet's 'The Nutcracker' at the Royal Opera House, Dec 2017 Here are some sample photos... Snowflakes © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Francesca Hayward © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Steven McRae, Sarah Lamb © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more...Set from DanceTabs: RB - The Nutcracker 2017 Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind permission of the Royal Opera House 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Thank you - and Yasmine Naghdi as Rose Fairy, hopefully in the cinema broadcast? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nina G. Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) The ROH has not yet put the full Cast list on its cinema advertising website so yes fingers crossed we get Yasmine Naghdi as Rose Fairy in the cinema relay. Also looking forward to seeing Sarah Lamb as Sugar Plum! Edited December 4, 2017 by Nina G. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Lovely photos, but it got me thinking. Is it normal to cast a principal as Clara? I always think of this as a lovely opportunity for some of the lower ranked ladies of the company to show what they are made of. I know that the current casting does do that, which is why I was slightly surprised to see Hayward cast as Clara, especially as she is also doing SPF. Not that I am complaining, but I just wondered. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I would have assumed that it is a matter of stature! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I thought of that after I posted, Janet! Hayward is very petite, and clearly it wouldn't do to have young Clara towering over everyone else. But I've never got the impression that Stock or Hingis are particularly small, or O'Sullivan for that matter. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 But surely Francesca danced both Clara and Sugar Plum Fairy last year as Principal. I'm delighted she's still dancing Clara - a fabulous part in the Royal Ballet Peter Wright production and in my opinion better than the Sugar Plum Fairy. That said I'll look forward very much to her and Yasmine's SPF with Anna Rose as Clara. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 33 minutes ago, Fonty said: I thought of that after I posted, Janet! Hayward is very petite, and clearly it wouldn't do to have young Clara towering over everyone else. But I've never got the impression that Stock or Hingis are particularly small, or O'Sullivan for that matter. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of them. Did not realise Hingis had retired from tennis in order to dance Clara 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Oops! Too late for a sneaky edit. I did, of course, mean Hinkis... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 2 hours ago, Nina G. said: The ROH has not yet put the full Cast list on its cinema advertising website so yes fingers crossed we get Yasmine Naghdi as Rose Fairy in the cinema relay. Also looking forward to seeing Sarah Lamb as Sugar Plum! I'm delighted to confirm that Ms Naghdi will be dancing Rose Fairy for the cinema relay! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Actually, when Hayward was promoted to Principal last year one of my first thoughts was "I do hope that doesn't mean they feel they have to stop casting her as Clara". I'm very glad to see this hasn't so far been the case. (As I think I probably said at the time of its broadcast, I wish the 2016 documentary had mentioned that Hayward was dancing Clara, a role in which she was already very experienced, in certain performances as well as preparing to dance her first Sugar Plum Fairy. I also wished it had been mentioned that she was one of four dancers (along with Calvert, Naghdi, Stix-Brunell) preparing the role of the SPF for the first time.) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Fonty, there is precedent (particularly when recordings are involved!): Cojocaru and Putrov danced Clara and Hans-Peter for the TV recording after the House had reopened. So, Steven McRae gets to dance the Prince for, what, the 3rd? 4th? time on a relay? I know someone was complaining about getting the same SPFs over again and not ringing the changes, but what about the Prince? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Speaking personally, I would have loved to see the Naghdi/Ball/O'Sullivan/Hay cast at the cinema. But there is only one principal, so that is probably why. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nina G. Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 46 minutes ago, RuthE said: Actually, when Hayward was promoted to Principal last year one of my first thoughts was "I do hope that doesn't mean they feel they have to stop casting her as Clara". I'm very glad to see this hasn't so far been the case. (As I think I probably said at the time of its broadcast, I wish the 2016 documentary had mentioned that Hayward was dancing Clara, a role in which she was already very experienced, in certain performances as well as preparing to dance her first Sugar Plum Fairy. I also wished it had been mentioned that she was one of four dancers (along with Calvert, Naghdi, Stix-Brunell) preparing the role of the SPF for the first time.) Naghdi, Calvert and Stix-Brunell were unfairly and unjustifiably left out in that 2016 documentary (many have remarked upon) as it was also their debut. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Give 'em a few years ... Edit: that was in response to Fonty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Nina G. said: Naghdi, Calvert and Stix-Brunell were unfairly and unjustifiably left out in that 2016 documentary (many have remarked upon) as it was also their debut. I'm not sure I fully agree; if the doc had been solely about the Sugar Plum Fairy, yes. But they were covering so many angles - the White Lodge students auditioning for children's roles, Upper School students filling in in the corps and so forth - that there was a huge amount to cover in a relatively small amount of time. I can see why Hayward would be chosen as *the* example of a new Sugar Plum Fairy (because at the time she was one of the company's newest Principals and the highest-ranking dancer of the four available) but I thought the other three should have been at least mentioned. (I also thought the doc infantilized Hayward a bit; focusing on her grandparents and her old local ballet school and talking about her upbringing, as if she were still a dependant. I suppose perhaps that's unavoidable when that's the aspect of her private life about which she's always been prepared to be most open in interviews, whereas she seems to be very clear the rest is nobody else's business, and good for her. But partly because she also looks very young, I watched it thinking that if I didn't know she was an independent professional woman of 24 I would have taken her for a lot younger, and the angle the doc chose to take with the footage of her family didn't help. Edited to add: in some ways the doc actually made Nadia Mullova-Barley and her RBS cohort seem more sophisticated, as we only ever saw them in a professional context rather than round their grandparents' house...) Edited December 4, 2017 by RuthE 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 So agree about Clara being just as good ( if not better) to dance than Sugar Plum. I love that pas de deux and THAT music which is just before snowflakes absolutely glorious. Sugar Plum is tricky little piece but doesn't grab the heartstrings like the Act one pas de deux does for me! And much prefer snowflakes dance from Act one to the big waltz of the flowers in Act two again down to a preference for the music and that lovely choir piece much rather be on the stage for that inspite of the falling snow everywhere!! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Oh dear, I'd decided not to go to the cinema for casting reasons even though I love Hayward and Campbell as Clara and Hans Peter. But now Sim has thrown Naghdi's Rose Fairy into the melt and I'm at sixes and sevens . 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I'm right with you Capybara; I had decided not to go for the same reasons, but now......??? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I'm still aiming to give it a miss ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I wish we were going. I loved it last year but since the Odeon hiked the price of tickets for ballet and opera live links we can’t afford it. Some tickets at the ROH are cheaper, no kidding. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 That's a shame Fiz, I know what you mean: Picturehouse have encore screenings which are cheaper. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Not all Picturehouses do the Encore. And my local one is very expensive. They insist that the prices are set by the ROH, and their hands are tied. But I have seen several live screenings while I have been in Portugal, and we just paid the normal rate for a cinema ticket. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I was told that was the cost of the seat. I asked why it was cheaper to see a ordinary film in the same seat - I didn’t get a reply. I think the cinema is trying to price the live link events out of existence so they can say there is no call for them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Fiz said: I think the cinema is trying to price the live link events out of existence so they can say there is no call for them. Well it isn't working because The Nutcracker is completely sold out in both my local cinemas! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Well, Fiz, there are the costs of the transmission equipment for a start, plus the (to the cinema) inconvenient starting time, which might well mean that the broadcast takes up time in which they would otherwise be able to show two films, plus generally the length. I appreciate that it's not cheap to show these things, but at the same time I think some of the cinemas are taking advantage. If the ROH sets the prices, then wouldn't they be the same at all (UK) cinemas? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 12 hours ago, alison said: So, Steven McRae gets to dance the Prince for, what, the 3rd? 4th? time on a relay? I know someone was complaining about getting the same SPFs over again and not ringing the changes, but what about the Prince? Did McRae dance the Prince in any relays before the 2012 one? In 2013, the Prince was Bonelli, in 2015, Kish, and in 2016, Bonelli again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Hello Grey and welcome out of the lurking shadows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 8 hours ago, grey said: Did McRae dance the Prince in any relays before the 2012 one? In 2013, the Prince was Bonelli, in 2015, Kish, and in 2016, Bonelli again. He did 2 with Yoshida, I think possibly also one with Marquez ...? Not sure of the years. There was an Ansanelli/Hristov in there as well somewhere. Okay, perhaps I'm misremembering slightly: it may have been first-night casts rather than cinema ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Casting for the cinema relays and the first nights speaks volumes about the relative status of the RB's Principals in the minds of management. It's almost as if there is a Lead Principal rank as at ENB. Interestingly, however, people who post regularly on this forum are not entirely at one with Kevin O'Hare. Moreover, the focus of interest here feels, in the main *, as if it leans towards the 27 and under age group, irrespective of rank. And there are some Principals who hardly ever get a mention. Not sure why this is. * Campbell and Osipova being obvious exceptions! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrancingMum Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 11 hours ago, alison said: Well, Fiz, there are the costs of the transmission equipment for a start, plus the (to the cinema) inconvenient starting time, which might well mean that the broadcast takes up time in which they would otherwise be able to show two films, plus generally the length. I appreciate that it's not cheap to show these things, but at the same time I think some of the cinemas are taking advantage. If the ROH sets the prices, then wouldn't they be the same at all (UK) cinemas? The same cinema chain charges different prices depending on where the cinema is. We had to shop around as some were charging more than others even though they were only walking distance away from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 On 12/4/2017 at 09:18, JohnS said: Thank you - and Yasmine Naghdi as Rose Fairy, hopefully in the cinema broadcast? Yes Yasmine Nagdhi is dancing the Rose Fairy tonight! Joy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 18 hours ago, Fiz said: I wish we were going. I loved it last year but since the Odeon hiked the price of tickets for ballet and opera live links we can’t afford it. Some tickets at the ROH are cheaper, no kidding. Here in Liverpool the prices have increased by £2.50 since the last cinema's relay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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