GTL

Well done RMM1!

I remember well the one described by Alison in post 2. It included excerpts from "Homage to the Queen", which was performed in 2006 as part of the Royal Ballet's 75th anniversary celebrations. 2006 would be the right date for a young Anna Rose O'Sullivan, she would have been dancing one of the young girls in the Dowell "Swan Lake" around then.

Not such a bad thing, it can be the beginning of a successful directorial career. www.empireonline.com/movies/features/amazing-adverts-amazing-directors/

Deleted, double post, sorry.

That puts it up against the last-ever "Downton Abbey" on ITV and the traditional "Eastenders" Christmas Day Fight Special on BBC1 (with comedian Alan Carr on Channel 4 and "Chas'n'Dave's Christmas Knees-up" on Channel Five as the "niche" offerings), which I suspect will make it one for recording in most households.

SwissBalletFan, if English is not your first language you might miss that the terms "social-media botherer" and "middle-Englander" are a bit disparaging. As to who she could possibly be thinking of? Well, there are not many of us who discuss the Royal Ballet on social media: here, the Royal Opera House website and Twitter account but where else? There is the comments box at the end of "The Spectator" article which invites readers to respond, but to date it shows a zero take-up. We know it has not failed to attract any readers because several here have seen it, thanks to its exposure above and on our "Dance links" sub-forum. Perhaps the publication's own readers are in complete accord with it or totally indifferent to it - or put off commenting there by the prospect of being "social-media botherers", which does not bode well in these times when journalism is so dependent on "click-bait" to generate revenue, i.e readers interacting with their website. As to the article itself, it is one thing to express reservations about such audience-led programming, another to dislike "The Two Pigeons", but something else altogether to denigrate those who like the ballet and who replied to the ROH's invitation for suggestions. The tone of the article was less than gracious.

Plus a swipe at "social-media botherers" who "include some of the most trenchant Middle Englanders of the ballet crowd, the most grimly set in their convictions that 50 years ago we never had it so good in ballet and The Two Pigeons represents all that is great about British art". Who could she possibly be thinking of?????

I am glad she will get a decent send-off in 2016/17 and I hope I'll be there. I treasure the memory of her as Lise and in "Onegin" with Thiago Soares a few years ago. She and Soares were in the Brazilian section of the London 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony:perhaps she is involved in the Rio Olympics next year?

He is to talk about his farewell tour.

She has spoken publicly about her dyslexia: blog.dyslexicadvantage.org/2015/08/04/dancer-darcey-bussell-for-me-in-my-life-dyslexia-has-been-a-little-bit-of-a-blessing/

It is indeed a tricky one and "mean-spirited" goes both ways. In the commercial London theatres, it is recognised that a poorly-sold performance is dispiriting for both audience and cast, so a good house manager will reallocate in order of price paid, telling people to move without blocking the view of those already seated. Of course this strategy is harder to implement in the Royal Opera House and, sell-outs being the norm, unnecessary at most performances. It is further complicated by the fact that many expensive seats there are reduced to "restricted view" when you have someone tall in front of you. So while I personally have no problem with self-upgraders who do not block my view, I would be pretty upset if my own experience were to be downgraded by their moving. From what I've seen, most ushers let it go if the self-upgrader is discreet - except in the Grand Tier, I've seen a few evicted from there. Has anyone RECENTLY, say in the last two years, managed to do a paid last-minute upgrade at the ROH box office or via the House Manager? Common sense and commercial acumen should make it possible and it used to be simple but the procedure seemed to get more complicated recently, I think they tightened up their formal accounting processing. If it can be done, I think they should amend their website FAQ to cover this.

It looks as though the official answer is not within three days of performance, according to the ROH website http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/tickets#exchange : " Can I exchange tickets? For performances taking place at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden site, exchanges can be made to tickets within the same price band or higher and are subject to availability. You may only request an exchange by telephone or in person, for productions in a Season that is open for public sale. Successful exchanges are subject to a £2 fee per ticket exchanged plus the cost of the new tickets. The original tickets must be returned to the Box Office no later than three working days prior to the performance; these tickets would then be fully refunded to the original purchaser. Exchanges are not permitted within three working days prior to the performance. Please note that tickets to productions by The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera cannot be exchanged with tickets to productions by visiting companies. If a production does not take place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, please visit the host venue's website for their terms and conditions of sale and exchange policy. If returning a ticket for a Saturday or Sunday / Bank Holiday performance, the ticket must reach us in the post on the Friday as we have no deliveries on weekends or Bank Holidays. Otherwise, customers need to return unwanted tickets in person." The usual etiquette at London theatres is that you move only at the invitation of the ushers and they move people in a way that does not inconvenience or shortchange those who have paid more for their tickets. You could try speaking to the House Manager who is usually at the desk between the front doors of the portico. Probably better to do this at the first interval rather than the start. Hope you enjoy the show whatever happens!

Commiserations from me too Lisa, what rotten luck. I hope you have some other treat lined up soon by way of compensation.

I saw the second cast performance of 28 October and agree almost word-for-word with Bridiem's post #67 - except that I love the Mats Ek "Carmen" as a bit of light relief on a heavy bill, or variety on a mainly classical mixed bill. I felt this one showed the broad range of the Royal Ballet's repertoire and capabilities. We all know how most dancers relish the opportunity to participate in new work. As others have said, much of that new work will be only partially successful but if risks are not taken, nothing that is both astonishing and durable will emerge, and these partial failures play their part in the eventual creation of a masterpiece. On other threads we are wondering if ballet has a future and how it needs to attract new audiences. Perhaps the answer is that classical companies sometimes have to offer it in programmes such as this for its brilliant other-worldliness to be appreciated alongside earthier, more populist dance. Could any of the audience drawn in solely by Carlos Acosta's deservedly high reputation fail to be impressed by the rest of the programme? Not if the applause and general buzz was anything to go by. The "Carmen" was too long and muddled but so was the original "Raven Girl" by a more experienced choreographer. As Carlos Acosta has said in interviews, he wanted something different. With revision and pruning, it could differ from his previous work as well as existing "Carmen"s and be worth a second run.

And there is an almost-mother-in-law in James's mother in "La Sylphide". Both ladies wear distinctive costumes which display their family allegience. The designer or, in more complex storylines, a dramaturg is really important, and of course the Royal Ballet discovered that a freely available plot synopsis sheet helped for "Mayerling".

"..one of their professional fundraisers.."(post # 6): that's part of the problem IMHO. We now have a whole new industry of these, doing what was previously done in-house, supposedly less efficiently but I wonder how much damage this new way does. I certainly find it off-putting so in my case it's counter-productive. As was a missive from English National Ballet last year thanking me for attending their"Coppélia" the previous week - in large letters across the front of the A5 envelope. Thanks to that announcement to my rather Philistine household, I now have less time and money available to spend on ballet.

I haven't looked for discounts but I think them unlikely because the V&A is offering early-morning weekend entry to Members (their version of the ROH Friends) and has warned that it expects the final weeks to be very busy - it closes 2 August.

Melody, Transport for London issues Visitor Oyster Cards and accepts some foreign Contactless-Payment-enabled cards http://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/cash-free-buses-for-visitors?intcmp=17150 http://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless/what-is-contactless?intcmp=8610#on-this-page-1

It could be a microphone hanging over the orchestra to relay the sound backstage, e.g. to dressing rooms.

And the Nunez/Acosta DVD isn't very old.

OK so here's the thing. It isn't selling well enough. The yoof, the London literati, the textile technology community have been targeted but there are still empty seats. Who is missing from the cast - the Royal Ballet's biggest star since Darcey Bussell, Peregrine the pony. So get him in, they should be talking to his people. Mrs Dalloway can reminisce about her beloved childhood pony, Orlando is Elizabethan so s/he can ride a pony, Virginia Woolf can drown and be reunited with the ghost of her favourite childhood pony. Let's face it, most of the punters who can sit close enough to the stage to see properly have long forgotten whatever Virginia Woolf they once read and those who can still remember will be too far away to notice the finer details. Plus it tides Peregrine over until ENB invite him to star in "My first little pony". A win-win situation all round. There are still four days left, so go for it, Royal Ballet.

Yes Fonty, soubrette always seems a bit derogatory to me. Don't they say in "The Theatre" that comedy is the hardest to play?

True - I saw them live twice in it and watched the DVD a few days ago. ☺

Marquez and Muntagirov - quite a height difference!

A quick search of "Mick Jagger ballet" brings up a lot of results, this one being one of the innocuous: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a496595/one-directions-harry-styles-taking-up-ballet-to-emulate-mick-jagger.html Apparently Harry Styles of One Direction is impressed by "Jagger's intense routine of kick-boxing, running, weights and, most importantly, ballet.". I've seen photos from the 1960s of Sir Mick in the audience at ballet performances, so it's a long-standing interest.