The Royal Ballet's double bill for May 2012 - Ballo della regina/La Sylphide

[zxDaveM]

Royal Ballet's double bill for May 2012 - Ballo della regina/La Sylphide - starts this evening.

 

Here are a couple of pics to whet the appetite. :-)

 

 

Royal Ballet - La Sylphide (Steven McRae as James, with Alina Cojocaru as The Sylph

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

Royal Ballet - Ballo della regina (Marianela Nunez and Nehemiah Kish

© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

 

See more...

Set on Flickr of The Royal Ballet's double bill

Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

[aileen]

Lovely photographs, Dave. I'm seeing it in June. I'd like to see a second cast if I can get a good deal on a ticket.

[zxDaveM]

Lovely photographs, Dave. I'm seeing it in June. I'd like to see a second cast if I can get a good deal on a ticket.

 

Thanks Aileen - Ballo was a joy to photograph, and is a joy to watch. La Sylphide one of my faves, its a glorious ballet - i'm sure whichever cast you see, you'll have a marvelous evening

[patsomerset]

Thank you for the lovely photographs. I am going to the matinee on Saturday with the other cast, which has changed since I booked, but I am glad to say Tamara Rojo is still dancing. I am looking forward to it very much. I have never seen Ballo so it will be a new experience. I look forward to seeing the posts during the week and other people's views

[Bluebird]

As always your photographs are gorgeous, Dave. They've also helped jog my memory so as to be able to answer Nina G's query on the rehearsal thread.

 

http://www.balletcof...hearsal-19-may/

 

She said she was disappointed that the cast sheet didn't contain the names of all the dancers. Using your photos as a guide, the dancers in the corps were:

Claire Calvert, Jacqueline Clark, Nathalie Harrison, Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Romany Pajdak, Leticia Stock and Sabina Westcombe

 

Edited to add in a dancer. Through trying to put them in alphabetical order I'd missed one out!

Edited May 21, 2012 by Bluebird

[Jane S]

If Kobborg's production of La Sylphide is new to you, you might be interested in the interview he gave to ballet.co just before its first performances in 2005.

[alison]

Thanks, Jane. Well worth revisiting.

[Nina G.]

As always your photographs are gorgeous, Dave. They've also helped jog my memory so as to be able to answer Nina G's query on the rehearsal thread.

 

http://www.balletcof...hearsal-19-may/

 

She said she was disappointed that the cast sheet didn't contain the names of all the dancers. Using your photos as a guide, the dancers in the corps were:

Claire Calvert, Jacqueline Clark, Nathalie Harrison, Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Romany Pajdak, Leticia Stock and Sabina Westcombe

 

Edited to add in a dancer. Through trying to put them in alphabetical order I'd missed one out!

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to name the full cast Bluebird.

[Bluebird]

the dancers in the corps were:

Claire Calvert, Jacqueline Clark, Nathalie Harrison, Francesca Hayward, Yasmine Naghdi, Romany Pajdak, Leticia Stock and Sabina Westcombe

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to name the full cast Bluebird.

 

I realised tonight that I hadn't named the full cast. This was because there were four dancers who weren't in DaveM's photos. I'm pretty sure they were also the dancers in the rehearsal: Tara Brigitte Bhavnani, Olivia Cowley, Fumi Kaneko and Pietra Mello Pittman. Apologies to those four for leaving them out!

[annamk]

I enjoyed this double bill very much last night. I love Ballo: the quirky arrangement of steps, the music and the joy the performers brought to the stage made me smile. Nehemiah Kish had the unenviable task of following last season memories of Polunin but this seemed to have inspired him because he gave one of the better performances I've seen from him in London. He looked relaxed and happy, flying on to the stage with vigour and enthusiasm, leaping high in the air and landing securely from his tours. Marianela Nunez is as close to technical perfection as you could hope for. I liked all the soloists although I thought Yuhui Choe particularly stood out.

It is hard to imagine many ballets more different than La Sylphide which followed. The Arts Desk review this morning articulated what I thought about Alina Cojocaru's performance. Her sylph changes from minute to minute: she is alluring, she is tantalising. No wonder Steven McRae forsakes everything to pursue her. His debut as James was a triumph of clarity in mime, detailed characterisation and superb dancing. All the supporting roles were strongly cast and danced : Valentino Zucchetti's Gurn, Emma Maguire's Effie, Kristen McNally's Madge, and the lead Sylphs : Claire Calvert, Beatrix Stix-Brunell and Yasmine Naghdi. Much credit to Johan Kobborg for this gem and a hope that Kevin O'Hare gives him more opportunites to produce ballets for the RB.

Very depressing to see so many empty seats in the house. Go get a ticket !

[aileen]

Steven looks really good in these photographs with his red hair and crimson kilt and jacket. Unfortunately, I won't be seeing him, but I'm very happy to see Johan in the role with Alina.

[zxDaveM]

Steven looks really good in these photographs with his red hair and crimson kilt and jacket. Unfortunately, I won't be seeing him, but I'm very happy to see Johan in the role with Alina.

 

You can't go wrong with that combo! :-)

[Sim]

I enjoyed this double bill very much last night. I love Ballo: the quirky arrangement of steps, the music and the joy the performers brought to the stage made me smile. Nehemiah Kish had the unenviable task of following last season memories of Polunin but this seemed to have inspired him because he gave one of the better performances I've seen from him in London. He looked relaxed and happy, flying on to the stage with vigour and enthusiasm, leaping high in the air and landing securely from his tours. Marianela Nunez is as close to technical perfection as you could hope for. I liked all the soloists although I thought Yuhui Choe particularly stood out.

It is hard to imagine many ballets more different than La Sylphide which followed. The Arts Desk review this morning articulated what I thought about Alina Cojocaru's performance. Her sylph changes from minute to minute: she is alluring, she is tantalising. No wonder Steven McRae forsakes everything to pursue her. His debut as James was a triumph of clarity in mime, detailed characterisation and superb dancing. All the supporting roles were strongly cast and danced : Valentino Zucchetti's Gurn, Emma Maguire's Effie, Kristen McNally's Madge, and the lead Sylphs : Claire Calvert, Beatrix Stix-Brunell and Yasmine Naghdi. Much credit to Johan Kobborg for this gem and a hope that Kevin O'Hare gives him more opportunites to produce ballets for the RB.

Very depressing to see so many empty seats in the house. Go get a ticket !

Lovely review Anna....must try and get another ticket! Thanks.

[Bruce]

Surprised not to see more talk about a wonderful double bill with lots of nice cameo slots and performances. The only downside of Sylphide last night was some appalling festooning of trimmings on the chandelier and mantlepiece. Do they not teach these things at RBS anymore?!

[alison]

Me too (about the former, anyway - I wasn't there last night). I was going to ask for feedback.

[Bluebird]

Surprised not to see more talk about a wonderful double bill with lots of nice cameo slots and performances. The only downside of Sylphide last night was some appalling festooning of trimmings on the chandelier and mantlepiece. Do they not teach these things at RBS anymore?!

 

At the risk of appearing ignorant, I'd be grateful for an explanation of the connection between the festooning of chandelier and mantelpiece trimmings and the RBS.

[Bruce]

At the risk of appearing ignorant, I'd be grateful for an explanation of the connection between the festooning of chandelier and mantelpiece trimmings and the RBS.

 

It was a joke. Not a good one I see!

[Bluebird]

It was a joke. Not a good one I see!

 

Ah! Thanks for that. I think I might have got the joke if you'd written RB. It was the reference to the school that threw me.

[JennyTaylor]

I loved Steven McRae and Roberta Marquez in La Sylphide last night. Amazing dancing from Steven in particular - razor sharp feet. I just sat and gasped at his solos. Very interesting to see Alexander Campbell as Gurn - very creditable indeed and nice to see him given the chance of a major part such as this. All the sylphs were beautiful too - in fact the whole thing was marvellous. Deep satisfaction all round.

 

Ballo was also very pretty/ charming with a radiant Marianella.

Edited May 25, 2012 by JennyTaylor

[Nina G.]

I have seen the Steven/Alina, Rojo/Trzensimiech and Steven/Roberta cast in "La Sylphide". Steven is simply amazing what more can I say!

I also loved Dawid who made the most of this deserved opportunity but Steven is a hard act to follow.

Alina IMO is THE "Sylph".

Of the three Effie's I saw, Emma MacGuire stood out. It is more of a mime role and she did it beautifully. Of the three casts of "First Sylph"'s, it was Yasmine Naghdi whom I felt was the only one succeeding in portraying the lightness of a Sylph. She did not dance as a Sylph but was a Sylph.

I also adored Valentino as Gurn and his jumps were a joy to watch. Alexander Campell danced this role last night with much gusto but I prefer Valentino's stage presence.

 

About Ballo: Marianella, as always, was really stunning (IMO it didn't suit Laura Morera very well but she took over from an injured Lauren Cuthbertson at short notice.) Of the four Soloists it was Yuhui Choe who completely stole the show. Amongst the Corps dancers, one or two stood out for me but one in particular showed great lyrical precision in her steps and overall clarity of movement.

 

All in all I enjoyed this Double Bill very much. There is such great - and some amazing - talent in the Company.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Nina G.

[Beryl H]

Who danced Madge last night? I'm seeing this cast tomorrow, glad to hear Alexander Campbell danced Gurn, he was good on Monday in a very brief solo.

 

I saw the first 2 performances (can't understand why this ballet doesn't sell, I love it) both were excellent, hard to believe it was Steven McRae's debut, and Alina Cojocaru must be the perfect Sylphide, good dancing from Valentino Zuchetti as Gurn too, the RB have lots of Bournonville men, the role of James also suited Dawid Trzensimiech on Tuesday, exciting fast light dancing and touching acting, he showed lots of confidence, looks the part too, quite Danish! Very sad to think this is Tamara Rojo's last leading role in a full-length ballet, she is both capricious and moving as the Sylphide.

 

I usually prefer Madge to be danced by a woman but on Tuesday I must say Gary Avis gave a magnificent performance!

 

This must be a perfect production of this ballet, what a masterpiece it is, not a step or gesture is wasted, Johan Kobborg has done a wonderful job, I wish the BBC or someone would film it, especially the one and only Cojocaru/Kobborg performance in June.

[Nina G.]

It is indeed a PERFECT production showing the RB at it's very best and every dancer gave it their all. A gem that should be screened worldwide I think.

I am so much looking forward to watching Alina and Johan on 12th June.

[Nina G.]

Beryl H. it was Elizabeth McGorian as Madge last night.

[annamk]

Madge last night was Elizabeth McGorian and she was magnificent. All three Madge have been excellent but Elizabeth has the advantage of being older than Kristen and more beautiful than Gary (!) which I felt made her a more natural fit and having seen her I am definitely less keen on a man in the role.

I agree with others about Dawid's very fine dancing - it was an excellent debut and given that it was his biggest role to date by far he seemed noticeably less nervous than I've seen on other occasions. I'm sure his acting and charisma will develop as he gains experience.

[bangorballetboy]

...Elizabeth has the advantage of being ... more beautiful than Gary (!)

 

Harsh!

[aileen]

It's surprising to me that this bill hasn't sold very well. As I understand it, most of the recent RB programmes have sold out or at least sold very well. Even the recent Wheeldon/Scarlett/McGregor triple bill sold out, admittedly after a great deal of marketing/publicity. Why is this? Is it because Ballo was performed last season? I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing La Sylphide which I have never seen before. I thought that it would be really popular, being a fairytale with the Bournonville pedigree that it has. I don't know how often it is performed in the UK. I wonder if it has suffered from its scheduling (immediately after the hugely popular Fille). I also think that the tickets are rather expensive when compared to the tickets for other less popular programmes, for example, the recent triple bill and the triple bill coming up at the end of the season, both of which were attractively priced.

[alison]

It's not very well-known to the general public, unfortunately. And yes, it did strike me that the tickets were a little on the pricey side.

[zxDaveM]

I love La Sylphide, and like other posters, am very surprised its not completely sold out (especially with the delicious aperitif of Ballo della Regina). Perhaps the lack of marketing for it (I didn't see any posters or anything - when compared to Pagodas anyway, which seems to be everywhere I look), perhaps the ticket pricing pitched a little high? Whatever, I'm certainly very glad to be seeing it myself. Johna Kobborg has spread the joy around when he did the casting, providing us with an interesting mix of debuts and experience, often at the same performance. Can't say any of the dancers have let him down, that's for sure. Looking forward, we still have Sarah Lamb as The Sylph (who I really like last time), and of course, I will FINALLY get to see Johan himself dancing James, which I hve been anticipating since the castings were first announced, many months ago.

[Anna C]

I'd love to see Ballo/Sylphide, but in between paying for EYB and the dance physio's fees plus dd's school trip to France, I'm beyond skint. :-((

[Nina G.]

Johna Kobborg has spread the joy around when he did the casting, providing us with an interesting mix of debuts and experience, often at the same performance. Can't say any of the dancers have let him down, that's for sure.

 

Indeed Johan did spread joy around when casting, giving deserved opportunities to several of the younger dancers. It's so refreshing!

I like the "unpredictability" of whom we'll get to see in a new role (usually we can predict who will get what...)

[Julie 2 Milner]

I was meant to be going tonight with my husband but he had to do something else. Everyone I asked to come with me was busy. So I've given my tickets to a receptionist who works at my husbands offices. She is thrilled . I tried to swop them on thursday but they wouldn't do it as it wasn't the clear 3 days.:-( Ah well at least I know someone will enjoy tonight. I guess I'll watch Eurovision instead!!!!!

[tim b]

Madge - male or female? - I can only pass on what I've been told - the best ever seen in the last 40 years was Erik Bruhn

[aileen]

Well, I finally succumbed and booked to see a second cast this afternoon, despite the high ticket prices. I wanted to see Tamara again before she left the RB, and as I'm not planning to see PoP and will be seeing the alternative cast for the triple bill I decided to book for the matinee today.

 

I loved both ballets. Laura was fine but did not look entirely comfortable in Ballo. To be fair, some of her steps looked fiendishly difficult, and I doubt that many ballerinas in the RB or elsewhere would be able to dance her "part" entirely successfully either. I'll be interested to see Marienela dance the same part in June. Federico danced well without setting the stage alight.

 

I thought that Sylphide was well cast. Dawid, Romany and Johannes all looked very believable in their roles. I thought that Dawid (a first artist) did well in such a large role. I wasn't sure that I was going to like Tamara in the role of the Sylph but she grew into the role after a slightly unconvincing start. She was very good in Act 2 and her death scene was really touching. The ballet was beautifully staged and the Scottish theme was very attractive. I really enjoyed the "Scottish" dancing which included a number of children who performed very well.

 

The theatre was almost full this afternoon and the audience was very appreciative of the performances. I think that it is an excellent double bill and it is puzzling (and a real shame) that it has not sold better. If you can, I urge you to go as it will probably be some time before we see either of these ballets again in the UK.