Lindsay

I would be more sympathetic if the brass were exemplary in non-Wagner performances but they are really not.

It can be very temperamental. I saw a Gotterdamerung in the last run where Valhalla was no more than lightly scorched at the end

You must be going to different performances from me then. I was there on Monday and I would say that the majority of the audience in the stalls was over 50. Probably for Nutcracker there will be more youngsters and I have noticed that an all-McGregor programme attracts a somewhat different crowd but other ballet (and certainly opera) audiences skew elderly. And you don’t have to take my word for it - the stats in section 4 of this article are interesting https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/audiences-classical-music

The 'so what' in this case is that, at the current rate, the audiences for ballet and for classical music will wither and die without being replaced. I feel like a positive youngster at the ROH, even more so at the RFH or the Wigmore and I am well into what most people would consider middle age.

Is it not possible though that Hayward's experience is linked to the fact that she is very light-skinned and easily 'passes' as white? I agree with many posters here that the RB is more diverse than many critics have suggested, but (unlike at ENB) there are still no dark-skinned female dancers in the company and very few in the school. That would be the issue I would worry about for anyone taking a dark-skinned little girl to watch ballet at the ROH - there would be literally nobody who looked like her. Accept the situation is slightly better for the men (although I do wish they would stop casting dark skinned dancers disproportionately frequently as the caterpillar in Alice....) I remember Michaela DePrince's mother in the 'First Position' film having to dye the 'flesh-coloured' parts of her costume to match her skin. Even pointe shoes are designed to 'match' white skin. Ballet is still very much a world where the 'norm' or 'default' is pale skin.

Agree with Bruce that watching Manuel Legris coach Sylvia at the Wiener Staatsballett was a highlight - Nikisha Fogo looked as though she will be an excellent Sylvia. And in case anyone is so inclined, the Bayerisches Staatsballett video includes Sergei Polunin being coached through a Raymonda variation.

It's hardly stretching to the very boundaries of extreme political correctness to consider blackface offensive. There was much adverse comment last time the Bolshoi did that here - including the fact that it was RBS JAs who they "blacked up" - I can imagine some parents having strong objections to that. I know that I would......

I would hope that the R&J casting decisions have not yet been finally made and that they will in part depend upon how some of the potential Juliets and Romeos acquit themselves in rehearsals and performances in the early part of the season. Magri for example has some huge opportunities, with both Gamzatti and Kitri - if she pulls them off successfully this could be a real breakthrough year for her.

Au contraire Livia dear, I very much prefer Ashton's best choreography to anything Macmillan ever did. I have 'sat out' Manon and Mayerling for several years now and only attend the very occasional Romeo and Juliet because I am a sucker for Prokofiev. I went to see the Anastasia and Invitation revivals out of curiosity and my (low) expectations were confirmed. I think it is a big mistake to continue staging the Judas Tree at all and that there is, as a rule, way too much Macmillan in the company's repertoire. Like you, I want to see dancers actually express themselves through dance, rather than (over)acting. However, I do not agree that it "is a fact" that none of the current company can dance Ashton. Hayward and James Hay in Rhapsody were as neat and swift as any pairing I have ever seen (and I am old enough to remember Sidley and Dowell in their pomp). Nunez has gorgeous epaulement and "bend" in Fille (as well as steely strength in Monotones), Muntagirov was beautiful in Symphonic Variations and Reece Clarke was surprisingly musical for a debutant in that same role. Morera is an excellent Ashtonian and I hope that she stays around to coach once her dancing career ends. I don't disagree that the company as a whole was accustomed to quicker tempi back in the 60s and 70s, but, except for those at the very top, that was often at the expense of clean technique. I recall seeing lots of very 'buttery' arms and dancers without the strength to maintain their turnout. There is much to criticise in every era but also much to celebrate. You should not assume that all who disagree with you are bent on throwing out the company's past. Opinions are not facts and I fully expect other posters to disagree with many of my views on individual dancers or ballets and that is fine.

Interesting. I can totally understand people lamenting the lack of Cinderella (although the production itself is not in danger of being lost since the RB has done it since the millenium and several other companies, including ABT, have it in their current repertoire). Personally I would be very pleased if Cinderella replaced Manon and/or Mayerling for a few seasons, if only for Prokofiev's music. Daphnis I'm less sure about - I was just thinking when watching Sylvia last year that the kind of camp, cod-classicism aesthetics that were popular in the mid 20th century have not aged well at all. I wonder if that has something to do with the decriminalisation of homosexuality and move towards equal rights? The whole 'Polari' culture now seems very dated and to frame a rather infantile view of the world, and of women in particular, that sits uncomfortably with new audiences coming fresh to the works. But I think it is a little unfair to imply that the direction of travel under O'Hare has been away from Ashton, when he was responsible for reviving the long wished for Two Pigeons. That, to me, is more than paying lip service.

I don’t quite understand why several posters are stating as blunt fact that Ashton has been abandoned in the light of Richard’s factual post above. Naturally some of Ashton’s work has fallen by the wayside (in the same way that lesser Shakespeare plays, lesser Mozart works or lesser operas by many great composers have fallen by the wayside). Even the output of great artists varies in quality and I believe that some works are “justly neglected”. i take the point that plays or music have a text which may be perceived as making them more “robust” than ballet (although in the case of music the case is far more complex than simply ‘plug in the orchestra and play it’) but should the resources of a large, partly taxpayer-funded company be devoted to preserving those lesser works? That seems to me more appropriately done by smaller specialist companies or foundations. i recently saw the ABT revival of Harlequinade and, whilst an interesting curiosity with beautifully lush costumes and sets, I thought the huge amount of money spent on it was not supported by the quality of the work. Other than the much performed gala extracts it seemed to me an historical exercise rather than a genuine artistic endeavour.

I do not think we should assume that the classes broadcast for public consumption on World Ballet Day are in any way typical of the company's daily routine or indeed anything more than a PR exercise. Men's classes are certainly on offer at the RB and I am personally aware of more than a few dancers who work well beyond their contracted hours, including coming in for class on weekends and other 'off-days'. One anecdote from a dancer who has been dead for two years and had not worked with the company for some years prior to that seems a thin basis on which to condemn the present company culture as lazy. It is also interesting to note that robust debate over dancers' training regimes is nothing new. I remember there being a great deal of bitching amongst the amphi regulars in the 90s (before the house closure) about Deborah Bull's "thunder thighs" because she admitted to jogging. Incidentally, the same crowd also disapproved, with almost religious fervour, of Edward Watson's promotion to soloist. Notwithstanding several decades of professions of horror that the barbarians are at the gates of the classical style and that the RB is going to hell in a handcart, nobody has yet (to my knowledge) been injured in the course of the discussion, so perhaps we could all tone down the drama and resume a more measured discussion?

Livia has the bigliest number of private messages Rob. Really really big numbers. The biggest.

I think it is fair that consideration should be given to audience members who prefer some of the new works over some of the 'heritage' works. I would take Woolf Works or Polyphonia over Two Pigeons or The Invitation any day. But equally I would rather have Fille, Symphonic Variations or Rhapsody than any of Alice, Winter's Tale or Frankenstein. I am able to defend my preferences on a rational basis should I be required to do so. The De Valois works that I have seen over the past couple of decades now appear hopelessly dated (if indeed they ever had much artistic merit to begin with) and it is right that they should be retired. This is not a rejection of the company's 'heritage'. As I'm sure Livia will agree, the Royal Ballet is not the Mariinsky. Neither should it aspire to be. I am happy that dancers (and directors) in a leading ballet company in a free western society should play a role in relation to their art form that is wider than mere curators of a museum. If Petipa must be set in aspic, let that be the mission of the Russian companies or the Ratmansky revivals. Although I disagree with many decisions, both repertoire and casting, made by present and past RB directors, that disagreement is within the bounds of recognising that the company is balancing continued performance of the 'classics' with exploration of ballet as a living art form. If that means dancers' bodies represent a healthier aesthetic and that their careers (and later lives) are less frequently truncated by injury, that seems to be a worthwhile price to pay. Hand wringing over a perceived 'decline and fall' seems to me to demonstrate a distinct narrowness of imagination and artistic vision. Those who prefer a corps of spaghetti-limbed giraffes or a flat-out racist production of Bayadere can see the Mariinsky on their London tours. A cursory scan of ballet discussion boards shows that every company has a little posse of amateur critics explaining loudly to newcomers how everything was better in the old days and they are too ignorant to understand why it is All Wrong Now. These people are very predicable and rather tiresome. I have frequently criticised performances by some of the 'favoured' dancers on this site and have never felt attacked or censored for having done so. Livia's shrieks of victimhood seem to me to be Fake News.

Disingenuous calls for civility, in the context of a barrage of barbed, patronising remarks and the casting of aspersions on the intelligence of other posters does not demonstrate the generosity of spirit which supports productive discussion Livia.

Floss, the school did Patineurs at Holland Park a couple of years ago so Ashton certainly seems to be on the menu if suitable dancers are available in a given year. The problem with a full length like Fille would be the paucity of featured roles, with most graduating students dancing nothing but Corps. This is the one chance many of them may get for a solo on a major world stage and it seems unfair to deny that to all but the very best. Tudor is more problematic- I recall them doing Lilac Garden on the main stage and in the Linbury during Gailene Stock’s tenure and, while it was nice to see it, I came away thinking that it was simply too subtle and sophisticated for such young dancers.

I watched one Swan Lake matinee with the whole of the Lower Slips left standing to myself. And I think there may be around 8 places there - it showed on the site as fully sold.

Cojocaru is extraordinary - such a musical ballerina and her phrasing on Aurora’s solos was incredibly nuanced. Just in a class of her own as Aurora. And agree with Bruce that Bluebird was beautifully done by both performers (although the man’s costume is awful - horrid shiny tights) and Kanehara’s prologue fairy variation was the best of a slightly uneven bunch too. I think this was first time for me seeing the Macmillan production which was interesting. Not sure about the Garland waltz but I liked the Lilac Fairy’s role throughout - beautifully done by Shiori Kase.

Alexander Campbell as Benno came on behind Matthew Ball at that entrance and went to stand by the queen so perhaps it is his legs you can see? (I had the end seat in the slips for that performance and saw Matthew give his thumbs up - nice to see the “other end”!)

Stalls prices are indeed wince-inducing. Sorry about that. I did nab one standing place and one Lower Slips seat as returns last week though - hopefully some more decent deals in that range will pop up again!

There's a couple of stalls tickets just popped up in returns alison (I grabbed one of them - sorry!) if you are quick and prepared to go to that price bracket

Thanks for the cast update Blossom - sad that Cowley is out again. Has Katsura been injured for a while does anyone know? I have been slightly surprised not to see her given any solo opportunities in this production but an injury would explain that.

Fingers crossed that McRae will make a full recovery from his injury! I have certainly seen no indications that he is 'running out of gas'.

I agree with this. I think that improved training in the RBS and elsewhere simply 'caught up' with Choe. There was a period where she was a shining light of reliable technique in classical solos amongst a great deal of mediocrity. In the early 2000s it was very common to see half the fairy variations in the SB prologue muffed completely and there were few men in the company who could do clean double tours (giving rise to particularly hilarious contrasts the year Polunin joined the corps and turned up in the rows of four Hungarian Officers/Flower Cavaliers/Bayadere pas d'action etc etc). In that company Choe really stood out for her reliability, grace and composure and I was and still am very grateful to her for that. Whereas new joiners over the past decade (and much credit should go to Gailene Stock's stewardship of the RBS - however much people might cavil at her 'buying in' of international competition winners to the Upper School) generally have a far more solid technique and those who can combine that with stage presence, impressive musicality etc. have risen up the ranks. There are some dancers (Takada, Hayward, Naghdi) that any reasonable director simply had to promote. I hope that it is clear that I am not in any way criticising Yuhui Choe - she is a beautiful dancer and has played an incredibly important role in the company. If all first soloists and soloists were as clean and reliable as her it would be a remarkable company indeed. From a career perspective though, she has been a little unlucky in terms of timing. There are periods in the company's history where she would certainly have made principal, but, in my humble opinion, she has happened to coincide with a very talented generation indeed.

I think there will be some ‘natural’ turnover through retirements. Much as I love watching Bonelli, Morera and Watson, even they can’t go on for ever. Nunez, Lamb, and Hirano are a few years younger but I imagine will retire within the next decade. By pipeline I meant medium to long term prospects for principal - am not expecting all the dancers I was speculating about to be promoted next season! But it is nice to have homegrown prospects and not be wondering where future principals could come from, as has been the case at times. The more difficult decision for the AD in the short term is what to do with principals like Soares who appear to have been effectively ‘demoted’ from some classical leads. Soares is still very good in Macmillan ballets but the company is not short of dancers who can do those - if anything is lacking it is a deep bench of reliable Siegfrieds, Albrechts and classical partners generally.