Royal Ballet Promotion Predictions

[FLOSS]

I hope that there are no appointments to Principal this year from inside the company because in my opinion there is no obvious candidate .As far as an outside appointment is concerned there is no obvious need. There are a number of young dancers who are developing very nicely but are not ready for Principal status although some are clearly ready for principal roles. There are others who though more senior appear to have stalled in their careers and in some cases to have regressed.Not being able to field a single good Myrthe or Queen of the Dryads let alone a really good one is a very sad state of affairs.

 

Leaving posts unfilled should act as an incentive to some at least to take the action that is needed in order to fit them for promotion. Hamilton needs to work on her classical technique if she wants to get to the top. While Choe,Takada and Kobayashi all, it seems to me, need to understand that merely reproducing the steps does not constitute a performance.All three need assistance to make their performances project into the auditorium. You might have thought that someone within the company would have noticed and taken remedial action.They can not all simply be classroom performers.

 

The more Principals the company has the less opportunity there is to develop younger dancers if all of them expect to appear in all the nineteenth century classics and MacMillan,s full length works. The remedy to an oversupply of Principals in the 1950's and into the 1970's was that they were all allocated a limited number of full length ballets in which they appeared.The other solution is to increase the number of performances of each of the full length ballets in each run to enable debuts and consolidating performances to take place.But could anyone stand a run of 27 Swan Lakes?

 

The most controversial solution is to cast dancers according to suitability for a role rather than seniority.Restricting all senior dancers to specific roles would, I fear, not be acceptable today although it would save some dancers from themselves.

 

I have to say that I found it strange that given the duration of this run of Swan Lakes and the fact that it must have been known at quite an early stage that it was unlikely that Cuthbertson would dance her allotted performances that no effort was made to prepare someone at soloist level for at least one performance.There was enough time. I would have thought that preparing an in house Odette /Odile was more important and more useful to the company than that dancer appearing in a new ballet.

 

I assume that the company will usually require new Principals to satisfy the unwritten requirement generally applied to members of the company that in order to be a Principal you have to have danced with some success in at least two of the major nineteenth century classics as well as whatever your particular area of specialism is.I think that the unwritten rule used to be applied as a way of ensuring that the dancers concerned had the necessary level of technical ability and to ensure that there was a supply of dancers available to dance the two works which are central to the classical repertory. Although Morera's advancement did not follow that route she had Lise in her repertoire and many other technically demanding works as did Yanowsky. I felt that Watson's appearances as Albrecht and Palemon were not wholly unconnected with his promotion which otherwise would have been almost entirely based on his specialist repertory.

 

It seems to me that the obvious promotions have already been made and that now it is for management to provide the opportunities that dancers from Reece Clark to Harrod, Hay and Hayward need in order to develop .This requires planning as far as repertory and casting are concerned.It may mean tough decisions about those who have stalled. It certainly requires care to be taken to avoid the "flavour of the month"syndrome that beset the company during the 1980's.It requires attendance at performances to see whose performances are effective and whose are not with assistance given to those whose performances are of limited effectiveness.It requires planning. I think that Mason felt that it was more important to ensure that as much of the repertory as possible was part of the company's collective memory than to develop careers. That was probably the most pressing need during her directorship. O'Hare does not have that problem to the same degree but he needs to ensure that those works that were rescued from oblivion are not lost on his watch.His job building on Mason's work is to develop and nurture the careers of his dancers. It will be fascinating to see whether he decides to do that or whether at some point he succumbs to temptation and buys in talent. I am not sure whether hiring Matthew Golding was an aberration or is representative of how he intends to refresh and develop the company and its dancers.

[Bleaden94]

I have to say that I found it strange that given the duration of this run of Swan Lakes and the fact that it must have been known at quite an early stage that it was unlikely that Cuthbertson would dance her allotted performances that no effort was made to prepare someone at soloist level for at least one performance.There was enough time. I would have thought that preparing an in house Odette /Odile was more important and more useful to the company than that dancer appearing in a new ballet.

 I agree! 

I'm not familiar with the usual run of things, but do they understudy for roles in the Royal Ballet?

Claire Calvert and Hamilton have both performed extracts from Swan Lake for gala performances, and Choe has performed the role abroad.

I hate to say this, but does the constant drafting in of external talent show a lack of confidence in lower levels? 

[Tony Newcombe]

 I agree! 

I'm not familiar with the usual run of things, but do they understudy for roles in the Royal Ballet?

Claire Calvert and Hamilton have both performed extracts from Swan Lake for gala performances, and Choe has performed the role abroad.

I hate to say this, but does the constant drafting in of external talent show a lack of confidence in lower levels? 

 

Interesting that you should mention those three names. I had heard that they were covering the roles. That of course means nothing these days. Choe has covered roles in the past but when somebody who has been cast went off, an outsider was brought in. All very depressing.

[Melody]

 I agree! 

I'm not familiar with the usual run of things, but do they understudy for roles in the Royal Ballet?

Claire Calvert and Hamilton have both performed extracts from Swan Lake for gala performances, and Choe has performed the role abroad.

I hate to say this, but does the constant drafting in of external talent show a lack of confidence in lower levels? 

It might just reflect the financial need to get bums on seats in the short term. I hope it doesn't become too much of a trend, although I'm sure it'd be a temptation. Since the Royal Ballet is one of the world's great companies, I assume they do need to have some international superstars show up from time to time, but I don't think it'd be good for the company to depend on them too heavily.

[Guest]

It might just reflect the financial need to get bums on seats in the short term. 

 

Really? For Swan Lake?

 

Since the Royal Ballet is one of the world's great companies, I assume they do need to have some international superstars show up from time to time, but I don't think it'd be good for the company to depend on them too heavily.

 

Arguably, the RB already has at least 4 "international superstars" within its ranks (plus Carlos Acosta).

[alison]

I assume that the company will usually require new Principals to satisfy the unwritten requirement generally applied to members of the company that in order to be a Principal you have to have danced with some success in at least two of the major nineteenth century classics as well as whatever your particular area of specialism is.

I've always seen it as an unwritten requirement for it to be 2 out of the company's 4 main strands: the classics, Ashton, MacMillan and contemporary. That would also explain the promotions of, say, Sarah Wildor, Mara Galeazzi and (slightly before my time, but I think?) Ashley Page, to name just a few.

 

Although Morera's advancement did not follow that route she had Lise in her repertoire and many other technically demanding works as did Yanowsky. I felt that Watson's appearances as Albrecht and Palemon were not wholly unconnected with his promotion which otherwise would have been almost entirely based on his specialist repertory.

Watson was dancing Palemon while he was still a First Soloist, though.

 

I am not sure whether hiring Matthew Golding was an aberration or is representative of how he intends to refresh and develop the company and its dancers.

 

Have I got this wrong? I thought Golding was hired at the end of Mason's directorship?

 

I'm not familiar with the usual run of things, but do they understudy for roles in the Royal Ballet?[...] I hate to say this, but does the constant drafting in of external talent show a lack of confidence in lower levels?

 

They always have covers, certainly, and people learning the roles. But, historically, it has often taken a long time (if ever) for them to make the move into actually performing the roles. I think both Belinda Hatley and Gillian Revie covered Juliet without ever actually getting cast, and there is footage of Leanne Cope being taught part of the role too. I also remember, from the dim and distant past, seeing footage of Watson (and I think Jane Burn?) being coached in The Dream which I think was filmed during the "exile" from the Opera House, but he didn't ultimately get to perform the role until he was a First Soloist, I'd guess in 2005.

 

As for lack of confidence, well, yes, I suppose you could say that. OTOH, there have been previous instances of dancers being cast too "high" and not performing well and having their confidence severely dented, as well, so I guess it can be a delicate juggling act.

 

Interesting that you should mention those three names. I had heard that they were covering the roles. That of course means nothing these days. Choe has covered roles in the past but when somebody who has been cast went off, an outsider was brought in. All very depressing.

 

Well, Kobayashi can hardly have been covering Swan Lake this time around, can she? (I believe she's cast in In the Night? It would be great if she were back for that) And they would hardly have been the only covers to be passed over in favour of established principals.

[Tony Newcombe]

Kobayashi. When was she mentioned?

[barton22]

Watson was dancing Palemon while he was still a First Soloist, though.

 

Have I got this wrong? I thought Golding was hired at the end of Mason's directorship?

 

 

I think FLOS's point re Watson is that he may have been given the role of Palemon as a first soloist at least in part to tick the Ashton box in preparation for his promotion.  (And I think he was promoted immediately after a performance of the role, wasn't he?)

 

Golding joined just last year (he gets rolled out so often that it sometimes feels like he has been here longer).  You may be thinking of Kish, who joined a couple of years before (2010) Mason's directorship ended.

 

(Sorry; I haven't yet figured out how to multi-quote.)

[alison]

Kobayashi. When was she mentioned?

Oops, sorry, misread your post. I was thinking you were referring to the one above mentioning her, Choe and Takada. 

[loveclassics]

I can't help thinking that the Press has a lot of (possibly undeserved) influence on promotions.  Back in the mid 2000's there was no shortage of articles about the paucity of home-grown talent amongst the RB principals.  With the remaining two British stars retiring (Bussell and Cope) there was a lot of comment in the broadsheets about too many foreigners in the upper ranks of our native company and I suspect this may have influenced the AD of the time to promote dancers such as Watson, Cuthbertson and Pennefather.  

 

No reflection on the dancers but the timing was a little suspect and I can't help wondering if the latter two would have had fewer injuries without the pressure of the spotlight being put on them in this way.

 

Linda

[alison]

Not sure I agree with that. Firstly, I don't think the general public gives a toss about such things anyway, and certainly Watson had been promoted for a couple of years by the time Bussell retired, and before Cope retired too, if I remember rightly. Not sure about Cuthbertson and Pennefather - they may have been promoted after Bussell's retirement.

[Tony Newcombe]

The promotion of Cuthbertson and Pennefather was always going to happen. Ironically it was Bussell and Cope ,a long time before their retirements, who talked about this at an in conversation session chaired by Sarah Crompton in response to the inevitable question about future principals. They were always seen as future principals. 

[alison]

Thanks for that, Tony.

[LinMM]

I think McRae carries of Princely roles superbly Ive been excited by everything Ive seen him in to date but that might not be as much as some people's. Will report back on last weeks Swan Lake later today.

 

I'm not going to speculate on who I think deserves promotion especially not in the lower ranks as quite a few eye catching dancers there but I will say am glad Fumi Kaneko is back as just as I thought "who is that" she sort of disappeared. She seems to have a lovely radiance about her.

 

The thing is (and I'm sure there are posters on here who are more privy to this) I don't see these dancers day in day out in class and in rehearsal etc however am assuming the management do so they should have a better idea of who would cope with certain promotions......especially to Principal level......and some of this is bound to be down to other individual qualities other than being a fantastic dancer.....however good you are in that respect.

Maybe some dancers don't actually want to go on to Principal level even if others think they do have the abilities required to take this on. This may be one reason why some don't seem to get promoted who audiences as a whole seem to like.

 

Hopefully Cuthbertson will be able to play a greater role next year as well.

[Bleaden94]

Did anyone else found it interesting that in the 2015/2016 trailer that O'Hare placed so much emphasis on giving younger dancers more of a chance? I think it will be fabulous season if he does carry that out, but I wonder if he is aware that a lot of his principals are of a similar age, and may fear a repeat of Benjamin, Galeazzi, Cojocaru, Kobborg and Rojo departure? 

[FLOSS]

I think that we shall find out whether O'Hare is serious about building the company up from the bottom by the casting announced for the first booking period.It will be interesting to see just how many young dancers are cast in Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker and Two Pigeons.When it comes to Pigeons I shall be disappointed if the artist and young girl are roles allocated to mature dancers.

 

It is to be hoped that casting and promotion will be based on suitability rather than seniority and on performances given on stage rather than those given in class.

[Fonty]

I think that we shall find out whether O'Hare is serious about building the company up from the bottom by the casting announced for the first booking period.It will be interesting to see just how many young dancers are cast in Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker and Two Pigeons.When it comes to Pigeons I shall be disappointed if the artist and young girl are roles allocated to mature dancers.

 

It is to be hoped that casting and promotion will be based on suitability rather than seniority and on performances given on stage rather than those given in class.

 

I hope that the roles of the artist and young girl are cast with a view to their ability to give a wonderful performance of the Ashton choreography, rather than their age.

 

I agree with previous posts that some performances seem to have been cast according to seniority rather than suitability.  However, I would hate to see the pendulum swing the other way.  Some of the senior dancers have not yet had a chance to perform roles for which they seem ideally suited.  I would love to see Morera as Juliet, for example.  

[Booklover89]

I hope that the roles of the artist and young girl are cast with a view to their ability to give a wonderful performance of the Ashton choreography, rather than their age.

 

I agree with previous posts that some performances seem to have been cast according to seniority rather than suitability.  However, I would hate to see the pendulum swing the other way.  Some of the senior dancers have not yet had a chance to perform roles for which they seem ideally suited.  I would love to see Morera as Juliet, for example.  

 

 

And I would love to see her in Two Pigeons...

[Tony Newcombe]

She danced in it at her school performance as the gypsy girl

[alison]

So she did.  (Before my time watching RBS, but I remember seeing a review of it)

[Fonty]

Can anyone remember who danced the artist and the young girl at the school performance?  I tried to do a search, but my computer keeps crashing for some reason.

[Tony Newcombe]

Bennett Gartside and M. Maeda who is now ballet mistress for K Ballet

[LinMM]

And K ballet is?........

 

Excuse ignorance in advance!

[Tony Newcombe]

The company set up by Kumakawa after he left Royal Ballet taking with him Nunn Trevitt Avis Cassidy and Dibble

[Sunrise]

And K ballet is?........

 

Excuse ignorance in advance!

 

Tetsuya Kumakawa's ballet company. He danced with the RB in the 80s and 90s, then left with a host of RB dancers to from his own company. It looks like it's still going strong and Cassidy is still a principal.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Sunrise

[Jane S]

Bennett Gartside and M. Maeda who is now ballet mistress for K Ballet

 

Gartside... now that could be a fun Pigeons cast: Gartside/Osipova/Morera, perhaps, or Gartside/Morera/Osipova?

[alison]

It looks like it's still going strong and Cassidy is still a principal.

 

Really?!  I'd assumed he'd retired by now - the last time I noticed his name in the casting was some years ago, and he was doing Dr. Coppelius, IIRC.

[aileen]

I can't see Gartside/Osipova/Morera in these roles myself. I would prefer a very young cast for the two leads. 

[Jan McNulty]

I could!  Sometimes more mature dancers actually come over as younger than young dancers.

[Naomi M]

Really?!  I'd assumed he'd retired by now - the last time I noticed his name in the casting was some years ago, and he was doing Dr. Coppelius, IIRC.

　Cassidy recently did Conrad in K-Ballet's Le Corsaire and I saw that performance, he was still great as a classical dancer.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Naomi M

[Jamesrhblack]

There hav been several comments in this interesting, if inevitably speculative, thread regarding some stalling of dancers' progress. Given how hard they work it seems a little unkind but there seems to be some truth in the notion, especially around what seems to me, with a couple of exceptions, a rather stagnant First Soloist section. Is it invidious also to contemplate who may be leaving? If this post is inappropriate, I will quite understand if it is removed, but it does seem to me, especially given some of Kevin O'Hare's comments re younger dancers and late confirmation of casting that we may be in for some changes....

[bangorballetboy]

There hav been several comments in this interesting, if inevitably speculative, thread regarding some stalling of dancers' progress. Given how hard they work it seems a little unkind but there seems to be some truth in the notion, especially around what seems to me, with a couple of exceptions, a rather stagnant First Soloist section. Is it invidious also to contemplate who may be leaving? If this post is inappropriate, I will quite understand if it is removed, but it does seem to me, especially given some of Kevin O'Hare's comments re younger dancers and late confirmation of casting that we may be in for some changes....

I think it would be in very bad taste to contemplate leavers unless already announced.

[aileen]

I think that stalling / 'stagnation' at first soloist level is inevitable because there is not room for every first soloist to become a principal and there are always people coming up from below.