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The Royal Ballet: New Swan Lake Production, Summer 2018


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1 hour ago, capybara said:

But, surely, they will be the Romeo and Juliet for the cinema and the DVD next summer?

 

50 minutes ago, Sim said:

Who knows (I sure hope they are)?  And even if they are, this exciting partnership needs to be filmed more than once, like others have been!

 

I don’t want to set any pulses racing, but the Romeo and Juliet cinema relay is being advertised with a picture of Naghdi and Ball. Probably doesn’t mean anything…

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14 minutes ago, Saodan said:

I don’t want to set any pulses racing, but the Romeo and Juliet cinema relay is being advertised with a picture of Naghdi and Ball. Probably doesn’t mean anything…

 

Actually, it usually does "mean something" - e.g. McRae advertising Mayerling etc etc.

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In this case it seems so. 

Nunez having danced O/O last night  can't be asked to dance it again tonight, Lamb is dancing O/O tomorrow and also can't be asked to dance O/O twice in a row, Osipova I guess is not in the country right now and Naghdi cannot be asked to replace an O/O before having danced her own scheduled debut this coming Monday so that leaves Management only with Takada as replacement of the injured Cuthbertson. 

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51 minutes ago, Fonty said:

Is Takada the go-to replacement for every injured leading lady?  She seems to have the ability to dance with a variety of partners at short notice.

 

Her size must be an advantage, I'd guess, too.

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1 hour ago, Xandra Newman said:

I was hugely disappointed when the Swan Lake casting went up to see Yasmine Naghdi had not been partnered by Matthew Ball. Those two most exquisite dancers dancing their debut in the new Swan Lake, how exciting would that have been! 

I agree Xandra and still don't understand it.  KOH seems to have put this rare and wonderful partnership on ice, and I am at a loss to understand why.    After all, they debuted beautifully in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle together, so why not this one??  Here's a chance to create another beautiful British partnership at the RB (a rare thing), and it's being let slide.  By the time we see them dance together again in a full-length ballet (assuming R&J next year) it will have been a year since Giselle.  A gap like that does not a partnership make.  As many of you will know, this is a real bug-bear for me:  what on earth does current management have against forming some long-lasting and special partnerships if they are there to be formed??  

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8 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Her size must be an advantage, I'd guess, too.

 

I thought about that after I posted, Alison.  Even so, leaving aside the issue of her height, and also programming, which obviously comes into it, I admire her ability to adapt quickly.  It can't be easy for either the female or the male in those circumstances, especially as Swan Lake is one of the most technically challenging roles

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14 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree Xandra and still don't understand it.  KOH seems to have put this rare and wonderful partnership on ice, and I am at a loss to understand why.    After all, they debuted beautifully in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle together, so why not this one??  Here's a chance to create another beautiful British partnership at the RB (a rare thing), and it's being let slide.  By the time we see them dance together again in a full-length ballet (assuming R&J next year) it will have been a year since Giselle.  A gap like that does not a partnership make.  As many of you will know, this is a real bug-bear for me:  what on earth does current management have against forming some long-lasting and special partnerships if they are there to be formed??  

 

Hi Sim, I assume it is/was because KO'H wanted to have the debuts with a dancer who had at least some experience with dancing Swan Lake in the past - especially considering it was a new production.  That's how I read it.  

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21 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree Xandra and still don't understand it.  KOH seems to have put this rare and wonderful partnership on ice, and I am at a loss to understand why.    After all, they debuted beautifully in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle together, so why not this one??  Here's a chance to create another beautiful British partnership at the RB (a rare thing), and it's being let slide.  By the time we see them dance together again in a full-length ballet (assuming R&J next year) it will have been a year since Giselle.  A gap like that does not a partnership make.  As many of you will know, this is a real bug-bear for me:  what on earth does current management have against forming some long-lasting and special partnerships if they are there to be formed??  

 

Yes WHEN will we see them together again?? They were oh so lovely in Onegin, followed by their most moving performance in Romeo&Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, SPF and her Prince and in Giselle. Next Season they are again not cast together :(  in La Bayadere (Naghdi/McRae/Takada), in Nutcracker Naghdi will be dancing with Australian Guest Principal Jackson...so we'll have to wait until June 2019 to hopefully see them in R&J?? 

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1 hour ago, Xandra Newman said:

Nunez having danced O/O last night  can't be asked to dance it again tonight, Lamb is dancing O/O tomorrow and also can't be asked to dance O/O twice in a row, Osipova I guess is not in the country right now and Naghdi cannot be asked to replace an O/O before having danced her own scheduled debut this coming Monday so that leaves Management only with Takada as replacement of the injured Cuthbertson. 

 

there have been occasions when dancers have made their debut before they were officially supposed to debut (though I'd have been particularly flummoxed if Yasmine Naghdi had debuted without me being there!). And are there no understudies available? Saying that, Akane Takada is one of those dancers I like a lot, so I'm certain she will be superb! 🙂

 

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31 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree Xandra and still don't understand it.  KOH seems to have put this rare and wonderful partnership on ice, and I am at a loss to understand why.    After all, they debuted beautifully in Sleeping Beauty and Giselle together, so why not this one??  Here's a chance to create another beautiful British partnership at the RB (a rare thing), and it's being let slide.  By the time we see them dance together again in a full-length ballet (assuming R&J next year) it will have been a year since Giselle.  A gap like that does not a partnership make.  As many of you will know, this is a real bug-bear for me:  what on earth does current management have against forming some long-lasting and special partnerships if they are there to be formed??  

 

14 minutes ago, Xandra Newman said:

 

Yes WHEN will we see them together again?? They were oh so lovely in Onegin, followed by their most moving performance in Romeo&Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, SPF and her Prince and in Giselle. Next Season they are again not cast together :(  in La Bayadere (Naghdi/McRae/Takada), in Nutcracker Naghdi will be dancing with Australian Guest Principal Jackson...so we'll have to wait until June 2019 to hopefully see them in R&J?? 

 

Drifting off topic a bit but although Naghdi/Ball have made some great debuts and dance well together, I don't feel the chemistry the way many on this forum do and of all the partners I've seen Ball with so far I actually loved him most with Lauren Cuthbertson in Marguerite and Armand. I could see them looking great in Romeo and Juliet. I'm looking forward to seeing Ball with Osipova in Swan Lake. 

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12 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

And are there no understudies available? Saying that, Akane Takada is one of those dancers I like a lot, so I'm certain she will be superb! 🙂

 

 

I guess with 5 alternative Odette/Odiles an understudy wasn't considered necessary. And don't they tend to come into play when they expect several performances to be likely to be affected?

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53 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

Hi Sim, I assume it is/was because KO'H wanted to have the debuts with a dancer who had at least some experience with dancing Swan Lake in the past - especially considering it was a new production.  That's how I read it.  

Yes I am sure that was his reasoning, but neither of them had previous experience dancing SB or Giselle before, and they are all three ballets of the same difficulty in various ways. 

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33 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I guess with 5 alternative Odette/Odiles an understudy wasn't considered necessary. And don't they tend to come into play when they expect several performances to be likely to be affected?

Yes, I think an understudy would be a last resort in this case, preparing a debut one day before a performance with (presumably) no time for a full stage call.  

 

Nunez also wasn't a good option given she danced the student performance yesterday.  

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21 minutes ago, Sim said:

Yes I am sure that was his reasoning, but neither of them had previous experience dancing SB or Giselle before, and they are all three ballets of the same difficulty in various ways. 

 

I agree .... but the Swan Lake this time round was the premiere of a new production ... and he may have felt it was better to be safe rather than sorry given the demands surrounding its premiere ... Just a thought :) 

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From first hand experience and talking to other people, it seems that the line-ups for Benno and Prince Siegfried's Younger Sisters are:

 

Campbell/Hayward/Takada

Sambe/Kaneko/O'Sullivan

Zuchetti/Hamilton/Mendizabal

Dyer/Calvert/Stix-Brunell

Acri/Gasparini/Magri

 

A long time ago, there was talk on here of Naghdi being cast as a sister so there might be a sixth trio yet to be revealed.

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@Sim I have a horrible feeling that the powers that be have decided that Ball is a suitable partner for Osipova..... I SO want to be wrong - & I probably am. But like you and others I don't understand the reason for not promoting and nurturing the Nagdhi/Ball partnership. I mean they are just wonderful together....🙄🙄🙄

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2 minutes ago, Sim said:

I so hope Gary Avis.  

 

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.

 

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8 minutes ago, Sharon said:

@Sim I have a horrible feeling that the powers that be have decided that Ball is a suitable partner for Osipova..... I SO want to be wrong - & I probably am. But like you and others I don't understand the reason for not promoting and nurturing the Nagdhi/Ball partnership. I mean they are just wonderful together....🙄🙄🙄

 

It's no bad thing to be considered a suitable partner for Osipova. She's one of the biggest names in ballet, after all!

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1 hour ago, capybara said:

From first hand experience and talking to other people, it seems that the line-ups for Benno and Prince Siegfried's Younger Sisters are:

 

Campbell/Hayward/Takada

Sambe/Kaneko/O'Sullivan

Zuchetti/Hamilton/Mendizabal

Dyer/Calvert/Stix-Brunell

Acri/Gasparini/Magri

 

A long time ago, there was talk on here of Naghdi being cast as a sister so there might be a sixth trio yet to be revealed.

James Hay?

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56 minutes ago, Sharon said:

@Sim I have a horrible feeling that the powers that be have decided that Ball is a suitable partner for Osipova..... I SO want to be wrong - & I probably am. But like you and others I don't understand the reason for not promoting and nurturing the Nagdhi/Ball partnership. I mean they are just wonderful together....🙄🙄🙄

So in my ideal world:  bring Shklyarov in to dance with Osipova and leave Ball for Naghdi!  In my dreams, I know, but hey.....a girl can dream!!  

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6 minutes ago, Sim said:

So in my ideal world:  bring Shklyarov in to dance with Osipova and leave Ball for Naghdi!  In my dreams, I know, but hey.....a girl can dream!!  

Ball and Clarke are very new to leading classical roles. Casting them with Ballerinas who can look after themselves is probably a good idea at the moment. Doesn’t mean that they will not dance these roles with preferred partners in the future.

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