Nina G.

4 hours ago, fashionista said:

 I think it is invidious to make comparisons - all are important.

Everyone is important yes but in a varying degree 

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Yasmine only danced those Elites as Sarah Lamb injured, so the casting in May reverts to how it was - now that Sarah injury free again.

I was told Yasmine Naghdi was cast to dance the title role in Elite Syncopations in the upcoming May run but as Sarah Lamb was injured back in October Naghdi took over from her on Opening Night and all other performance dates; Lamb will now dance the role in the May run instead of Naghdi (and since Naghdi is not dancing the title role in Manon nor in Elite Syncopations the hope is thus very high that she will be cast as Odette/Odile). 

A principal dancing a full-length ballet is on stage for most of the time, the mental and physical demands and pressure are enormous; the sheer physical demands and stamina needed to get through a full-length ballet is beyond what is demanded of a soloist or a corps de ballet dancer. A corps dancer can "hide" within the group of dancers and a mistake or weakness in technic is less often visible and "forgiven", they are also on and off the stage and have time to recover from their short performances .  A soloist will perform a 3 or 4 minute solo (they often do not (yet) have the stamina to perform continuously at the highest level), nor may they have the exceptional technic and artistry required of a principal. A principal must have it all: formidable stamina, an exceptional technic, great artistry, mental and physical strength of the highest level; after all they are continuously in the spotlight, often dancing all alone (or with their dance partner), numerous spotlights and 2500 (ROH) pairs of eyes on them. Indeed it is all about quality over quantity for a principal dancer.

2 hours ago, Josephine said:

Some of the comments above make for very uncomfortable reading in my view. It seems both unnecessary and unfair to hijack the thread with this chain of negative criticism I think.

I agree with your point and I wish to apologise. I have the utmost respect for all dancers who dedicate their life to an art form I very much enjoy and my comment did not reflect this respect.  Sorry.

8 hours ago, Sim said:

And is Nehemiah Kish a star?!

Not really . I have always wondered why on earth Monica Mason took him on. The only time I was slightly impressed with Kish was when I saw him in Frankenstein. Frankly there are male dancers down the ranks who impress far more! 

Two Nutcrackers for me, one with Hayward and one with O'Sullivan as Clara, and Naghdi as the Sugar Plum, has completely satisfied my appetite for Nutcracker over the festive season  

2 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

Good point, Mary. Who cares about access to the building if you can't afford to go to the performances??

...it gives better access to the building to those who CAN afford the expensive tickets ...:)

Well first of all I wonder how much the cost is for staging this new production? Cost of making new costumes? Scenery? Remuneration to choreographer Scarlett,... I guess once that's all accounted for there won't be much left over to "sponsor" ticket prices. Doesn't the ROHouse set the prices? The Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera are two separate bodies working under one umbrella: the Royal Opera House 

yes thanks to their generosity the RB is able to bring this new production to us mere mortals  

The ROH webpage shows the production is sponsored by Van Cleef & Arpels, and further philanthropic support comes from: The Monument Trust, Ricki Gail and Robert Conway, Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet, Jette Parker, Celia Blakey, Sarah and Lloyd Dorfman, Doug and Ceri King, the Swan Lake Production Syndicate, The American Friends of Covent Garden and The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund

I remember many years ago BBC1 made this beautiful documentary "The Magic of Swan Lake", narrated by Darcey Bussell. In the documentary we also see a very young Naghdi and Hayward being coached by Darcey Bussell, and young Naghdi also "co-narrated".

I am so happy on behalf of all those NYC female ballet dancers who were mentally abused, belittled and scared for life by their AD Peter Martins that many years of his (sick) abuse of power has been made public. One report mentioned he even abused his own wife! That his behaviour was seemingly allowed to go on for years by the NYC Management is truly shocking. Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal many women finally stood up against those males-in-power who abused their position. The career of an actress, a model, a female ballet dancer, ...,depends entirely on the casting director/artistic director (very often male!) and therefore dare not to speak out when they are physically and/or mentally abused. Since the majority of choreographers are male and therefore in a position of "power" I also wonder what female dancers have to put up with?

41 minutes ago, Shya100 said:

My feeling is all principals of right age should be given a go but they are saying six casts?  Which reduces that liklihood. Of course can have six casts and more leads. If only six lead pairs. Nagdi wiuld probably come behind some others who have been there longer. But hopefully more people will get a shot but Lamb, Vuthberydon and Nunez are a given.

"All Principals of right age should be given a go..." ?

What is the "right age" if I may ask?

Casting is not so much based on which Principal has been there longer but is based on suitability and capability to dance this highly classical and demanding role. 

9 hours ago, RuthE said:

 

Apologies if I have missed somebody suggesting this further up the thread, but my hunch is the opposite; I wondered if the reason Naghdi is not dancing the title role in Manon is because she is preparing her first Odette/Odile.

Very much my thought too! 

That's my impression too LinMM, that Scarlett's involvement is limited to re-choreographing some group dances and that the rest of the ballet will remain the same (except Odette/Odile's tutu as the recent Muntagirov/Nunez photo shows)

34 minutes ago, alison said:

Wonder what Morera will do?

I wonder if Morera herself would still want to dance (at the age of 41 or 42) the highly classical and very demanding role of Odette/Odile.

Odette/Odile needs to be danced by highly classical dancers with a very strong and pure technic, and who also have the necessary beautiful classical line. Akane Takada already made her debut as Odette/Odile during the previous run so I feel the 6 casts will go to: Nunez/Cutbertson/Lamb/Osipova/Naghdi/Takada with Muntagirov/Clark/Hirano/Bonelli/Ball/McRae.

In the current issue of Dance Europe ex-ENB principals Lauretta Summerscales and Jonah Acosta reveal -  LS: " You start to realise...your CV is still the same after several years....you need a break to learn new things..." and Jonah Acosta:"...been there six and a half years and did all the repertoire they had...I also had a problem with Tamara (Rojo) , we were fighting a lot because I wanted to be freer to do my own things". 

The limited repertoire and dancer/AD issue(s) seem to be the reason why these two dancers left ENB, I can only guess the reason(s) why so many other dancers left ENB last Season.

1 hour ago, capybara said:

• there will be 6 different casts initially (as yet not announced) with opportunities in due course "for some of the up-and-coming company dancers to take the principal roles"

 

- Marianella Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov  - we now know as a confirmed cast

I guess the others will be:

- Lauren Cuthbertson and Reece Clark

- Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae

- Natalia Osipova and ?

- Akane Takada and ?

- another younger principal and ?   to guess...

Frankly I find their participation in Act 2 really annoying, I preferred the previous version where Clara and Hans-Peter just sit on a throne during Act 2 and watch the magic of all the variations unfolding before their eyes, to end it all with the grand Sugar Plum Variation. Thank goodness they don't come and distract us during that beautiful PDD! 

7 hours ago, bridiem said:

It seems that his announcement on Facebook preceded the press releases from ENB and the RB (both of which I received after hearing about his post). Perhaps they were rushed out because of his announcement. I think as a matter of courtesy your employer should be allowed to announce such things before you make them public yourself. E.g. I recently resigned from my job in order to retire early next year, but although I told my immediate team I didn't tell other colleagues or discuss it with them until my employer had posted it on our Intranet. Admittedly I'm not a ballet star, and I don't post on Facebook; but there is still good practice. (Yes, I'm sure this sounds very old-fashioned. I just think there are good/proper ways of doing things, and ways that are not so good.)

 

If I've misunderstood what happened, apologies to Cesar Corrales (not of course that he will care - or know- what I think!!).

Quite rightly so - and as a matter of courtesy indeed - it is the employer who should make the Public Statement. 

Those RB dancers who receive a promotion by the end of their season, before going on Tour, keep it rightly out of Social Media, until the ROH/RB make a Public Announcement.

I guess Corrales must have been over excited...

In time of brexit, talk of refugees, immigrants etc.. I find this particular case being described as a British Ballerina, interesting as she probably holds other passports too from her non British parentage. 

...and your point is? 

Sorry, with all due respect but I am bowing out of this discussion.

My 'spiteful' last comment about wealthy immigrants, highlights the issues raised in Mr Jennings' article about how money is a big factor in being able to study ballet from a young age.

Well that's also a wrong statement!

Just look up the RBS Fees Policy. It states that no child is turned away from training at the School and as far as I have been led to believe the fees are solely based on the parents' earnings. The rich pay in full, the less well off will pay next to nothing, parents who are jobless pay nothing for their child's training. Can it get any better...?

4 minutes ago, SwissBalletFan said:

 

 

Well you have one in Marienela Nunez, she has the passport and was trained at white lodge. 

 

 

Marianella Nunez was not trained at White Lodge (Lower School of the RBS).

She went only for 1 year to the RBS Upper School because she was just 1 year too young to start working at The Royal Ballet.

27 minutes ago, Nina G. said:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

 

SwissBalletFan:  perhaps this article by Luke Jennings will explain it all...

...and "Jane Hackett, a former director of the English National Ballet School and the Central School of Ballet, now co-director of creative learning for Sadler's Wells Theatre, is concerned by the figures. "It's inexplicable, when you look at the amount of money invested in British ballet, that such a very small percentage of British dancers are graduating and progressing through companies."

...and British tax-payers are rightfully pleased to see that some of their tax invested in British ballet schools are not a waste of money, I hasten to add.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/mar/25/will-they-make-royal-ballet

SwissBalletFan:  perhaps this article by Luke Jennings will explain it all...

49 minutes ago, SwissBalletFan said:

I am not sure why there is the fascination if they are 'British'.

 

I would hope that the British public, look equally as inclusive and kindly on a child born in the U.K. of refugees to be unquestionably British. As much as they do of rich immigrants that have a child in your country.

For years the British Press have questioned UK training, wondered why so very few Principals are British, and had their training in Britain. Thus, when two exceptional ones recently came along British ballet fans were/are naturally delighted! We have Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson as British Principals at the RB but now Naghdi and Hayward have joined the Principal rank.

I find your last statement truly puzzling and particularly provocative.