Tony Newcombe

6 hours ago, alison said:

Is that a first?

I seem to remember the Collier twins taking a curtain call with their mother while still quite young. In front of the Queen Mother

19 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Not only Shang but Miki has also been promoted to principal.  Apparently Acosta came on stage and announced the promotions at their respective performances as Kitri in Plymouth.  Nice to know he was visible at at least one venue on tour.

I was there for both performances. After a few words to the audience Carlos said to Miki, “Miki, please step forward”. The initial look on her face was one of worried surprise. Then he said the magic words. The audience stood and cheered. When he came on stage at the end of the matinee the following day one knew what was going to happen. So happy for these two wonderful dancers who are great friends

Still no cast list on ROH site

21 hours ago, capybara said:

 

I've started a new information thread for the LWFC casting.

 

 

Many thanks. Still nothing on website with less than 24 hours to go

I have heard that Seymour did manage to complete four fouettés in Lac.

Could any of our present day dancers do a Nadia Nerina. Nureyev had done 32 entrechat six in Giselle. Some days later Nerina did these in Lac instead of the fouettés. Apparently Nureyev was not amused. ( Mary Clarke and Clement Crisp book Ballerina the Art of Women in Classical Ballet

It’s happened again. After this afternoon’s matinee , Carlos Acosta came onto the stage and announced that Yaoqian Shang would be promoted to Principal dancer from the beginning of next season. I am so happy for her particularly as she and Miki Mizutani are great friends. Anyone following them on social media will be aware of this. This really evens up the ratio of male and female principals in the company. Oh! and her dancing was absolutely wonderful this afternoon

5 minutes ago, alison said:

That's fast, isn't it?  How long has she been in the company?  Congratulations to her.

She’s served her time Alison. She joined BRB from ENB School in 2012

At the end of tonight’s performance of Don Q in Plymouth, Carlos Acosta came on stage and announced Miki Mizutani’s promotion to Principal from the beginning of next season. Thoroughly deserved, particularly after tonight’s wonderful Kitri. So happy for this wonderful dancer

2 hours ago, cjp said:

I couldn't agree more, Fumi's SL debut (and Federico's farewell) was one of those performances that will always stand out for me as absolutely magical and unforgettable, so the chance to see her dance it with William Bracewell, if it ever came along, would be pretty unmissable.

 

As magnifent as Kaneko’s Odile was, Bracewell’s Siegfried is far too intelligent to be be taken in by such a siren

Back to six matadors this evening and Laura Day is gender bending again in this run at Plymouth

33 minutes ago, AnticaFiamma said:

I was left a bit underwhelmed tonight, I liked it but didn't love it. There was obviously loads to enjoy: I particularly liked the Neapolitan dance, Calvin Richardson's gorgeous Benno (such a beautiful line, pity he doesn't have his solo bow at curtain call!) and William Bracewell's Siegfried. He's such a beautiful, poignant dancer and a subtle actor as well: his movements are very lyrical but also pregnant with meanings, and in the first act his Siegfried could be easily mistaken for Hamlet. And his variations in act 3 were so good, very elegant without showing off.

I was not as convinced by Francesca. There was nothing particularly wrong with hrr performance, but all the pairs we've seen so far were so exquisite and all the debuts so well realized that tonight felt a little off by comparison. Obviously she's a very fine dancer (those arabesque!), I liked the subtle characterisation of Odile, and she was great in act 4. But in act 2 and 3 I thought she wasn't quite there yet, it felt slightly underpowered and she seemed to me a little slow at times. I didn't love how far towards the orchestra she travelled during the fouettes, Bracewell completely outshone her technically there. The last ten minutes of Act 3 generally leave me with a rush of adrenaline that I definitely didn't feel tonight. She'll get there for sure, I have no doubt of that, but in a season with so many accomplished and fully realised debuts this is still a bit of a work in progress for me.

From the ovation at the curtain calls, l got the impression that the audience were not underwhelmed 

6 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

Hello Sheila I stand corrected.

 

From Yasuo's IG today (with film of his final performance) it looks as though Shang danced with Brandon in Birmingham.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CazKP7XAt9n/

Yes she did. I was at that evening performance. She brings an incredible sharpness to role of Kitri.

Also worth mentioning that the Ukrainian National Anthem is being played here before the performance. The audience rose as one. Heartening.

1 hour ago, capybara said:

How fabulous !

It came out of necessity and she was quite wonderful in the role this afternoon. She is due to repeat it this evening. There were quite a few obvious gaps on stage this afternoon but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the audience. Another standing ovation. Maslen and Shang very good in the leading roles

24 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I agree with all the plaudits above for Kaneko - just wanted to add that I thought the Act 2 mime passage was extraordinarily good: in fact, "mime" doesn't do it justice - it was more a whole-body expression of the story and her despair.

 

I've now been lucky enough to see her debuts as Aurora, Juliet and Odette/Odile, and I can't tell you which was more impressive!

Wait until she dances Manon. At the Yeo Valley gala late last summer, we saw her dance the bedroom pas de deux with Reece. It gave me visions of what we will witness as she makes her entrance into the Hotel particulier of Madam. All that finery provided by Monsieur GM. I worry that the old gentleman client’s heart problem will prove to be fatal.

44 minutes ago, YSmith said:

Absolutely agree with this! Watched both nights of Vadim/Marianela shows, I think cast was same for both. It goes without saying that the two guest principals were phenomenal, but I was most shocked by the sheer presence and attitude of Alexander Yap's Espada. I go to see his profile on the programme and he is only an artists! How is this possible, I would've thought he was at least a Soloist if not higher- any one know who this rising star is? I'll definitely be interested to see where he goes....

 

The rest of the cast were phenomenal too, Kit Holder makes the perfect Gamache, and Rory Mackay makes just the perfect amount of strict but loving father. I must say, I was shocked to see the collision of the two matadors, they recovered from it professionally but I hope they were ok.

The set is absolutely gorgeous, the windmill is a clever play with the colour changing sky a gorgeous addition. I do think the costumes are alright, not sure why the revamp especially as did someone say they spent over 800k? Is that right? Not sure they do the spending justice but that is just imo...

That was the cost of the production

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Katie Derham loves, loves, loves ballet and knows tons about dance, opera, classical music, theatre, and of course, is one of the best presenters and interviewers on Radio 3. I was extremely disappointed that, having seen her do a stellar job presenting the Back On Stage broadcast for the Royal Opera, that she wasn’t scheduled for the Royal Ballet one. Yet she still graciously did a PR “plug” on Radio 3  for the screening and urged all her listeners to watch it, even though she hadn’t been given the gig. A vote from me for Katie Derham to present future live relays too! My other choices if Ms Derham isn’t available would be Leanne Cope, Kristen McNally or Alexander Campbell (performing commitments allowing!) - they’ve been brilliant at presenting RB Insight/Rehearsal events in the past.

Leanne Cope. Superb chairing a few insight evenings. Question from the audience“can you spot a Royal Ballerina very early on” The great and the good on the panel didn’t seem to want to answer. Of course you can replied Miss Cope. The moment I walked into my first class at White Lodge, I knew Lauren Cuthbertson would be one

33 minutes ago, alison said:

Did they wear their costumes from the RB production, or ones from BRB's?

 

I'll also be interested to hear whether there is a notable change in performances "post-Nunez/Muntagirov" from "pre-Nunez/Muntagirov".

 

Total redesign. 135 new costumes. Over 800K. 

Couldn’t agree more. Lost count of the number of Nela smiles that Jonathan Payn(Don Q) received in the final scene. 

1 hour ago, Odyssey said:

I think it’s a sarcophagus as it’s meant to be stone.

That rings true with me. At the dress rehearsal last year it made a very late appearance. The curtain went up and it was missing momentarily. Then suddenly appeared. Probably pushed by a frantic stage crew

11 hours ago, alison said:

I think that dress is going to need to be binned ...

 

Great photos as always, Rob.

Present it to her. A reminder of a wonderful performance

Quite simply one of the most wonderful Juliet’s I have ever seen. Her discovery of the dead Romeo one of the greatest pieces of acting,simply sensational

45 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

There were subscription packages pre-pandemic.  These are due to be re-introduced post pandemic.  The current offering is a multi-buy discount offer if you book 3 or 4 different productions (not including Nutcracker).  The discount is available to be booked until 31st May and I don't think it is Friends and previous subscribers only.

 

Makes a change for thread diversion to be this way around!

I love the BRB subscription system. Last time round before the pandemic, I was attending a BRB performance and walked up to the booking desk and renewed my subscription. Took less than a minute!

3 hours ago, prs59 said:

Cast changes announced for Saturday in Southampton. It’s going to be a long day for Lachlan Monaghan but a bonus for his fans, including me 😃

And if first night casting is anything to go by, Miki Mizutani will be very busy too. 

1 hour ago, capybara said:

Thank you. Nice cast.

But how come BRB is using students from the ENBS and Central as well as the RBS when their partner school is Elmhurst? A wonderful opportunity for the young dancers involved, of course.

 

Someone on here must have seen the show surely?

I think it is a geographical thing. I’m pretty sure Elmshurst will be involved in Birmingham. When they did Cinderella at the Rep last year, there were three corp de ballet bubbles. BRB, Elmhurst and ENB School. I was at last nights performance of Don Q but in view of some of the posts on this thread I really don’t feel like commenting. What I will say in answer to Guest Artists taking roles away from BRB dancers. Not at all. All the dancers one would expect to taking on the role of Kitri are listed. Indeed last night there were four other Kitri’s on stage as well in other roles. Kurihara as Mercedes, Shang and Mizutani as Kitri’s friends and Parma leading the corps in the vision scene. Tonight Parma will be dancing Kitri!