Anna C

It was bonkers!! 😱

I agree. While she didn’t quite have the terrifying presence of some Myrthas I’ve seen, Buvoli was wonderfully assured and authoritative, showing no sign of nerves whatsoever. I thought it was an excellent debut, especially given the short notice. Really lovely to see her receive flowers and lots of well-deserved cheers. Cuthbertson and Bonelli are one of my all-time favourite partnerships and having never seen them together in Giselle, I’m glad I chose last night to go. It’s no secret that I think these two are among the best, if not *the* best actors in the company, and so they proved again last night. They have wonderful musicality together too, which made them a joy to watch, especially in Act 1. In Act 2, Lauren seemed to struggle a tiny bit with the two horribly difficult developpés (I think they go round to arabesque) and one of the ladies in the Corps had a battle with those horrid hops, but other than that, the dancing was seamless, with Bonelli dancing with age-defying stamina. His Entrechats were fabulous and he faded convincingly towards the end, making the fall to the ground nicely realistic. Bonelli is not a rotter; I can’t dislike his Albrecht (Kobborg was a really convincing cad) even at the beginning. He seems to be playful and enjoying the fun of pretending to be Loys, but I don’t feel as if he’s playing around with Giselle in any sense other than genuine affection. It makes his grief immediately after her death more convincing but there is less of an obvious character change from arrogance to remorse. That works for me, as the change happens gradually during Giselle’s mad scene (outstanding from Cuthbertson, as you’d expect). Lovely work from the Act 1 Pas de six, especially considering that all six are often First Soloists and Soloists and last night’s was a relatively “young” six, especially in terms of rank (Isabella Gasparini, Benjamin Ella, Mica Bradbury, Charlotte Tonkinson, Joseph Aumeer and the excellent David Donnelly). Really nice to see Olivia Cowley and Hannah Grennell’s Moyna and Zulme, they danced beautifully together, as did the wonderful Corps (all that sweating during rehearsal paid off). Loved Christina Arestis’s mime and grieving; I’m not convinced she looks old enough to be Giselle’s Mother but perhaps she was a child bride. In any case, she’s another dancer who is always outstanding and who I look forward to watching. So for me, a wonderful performance. If this run is Bonelli’s last as Albrecht, I’m immensely glad I got to see him and Cuthbertson together. Finally, the absence of ushers in the auditorium was alarmingly evident when a man near us stood up during the curtain call, walked towards the front of the stalls and tried to throw a bunch of flowers onstage - his throw failed spectacularly and I think a poor unsuspecting member of the orchestra got hit on the head with them. Not great for him or her, and really bad from a security point of view (by which I mean he could have thrown anything). Bizarre.

Poor Claire, that must be devastating. I was so looking forward to seeing her as Myrtha. Wishing her a speedy recovery (and merde to the lovely Annette Buvoli).

😩😩

Lovely, thanks Dave. Waiting to see who’s dancing Myrtha this evening - I thought it was Claire Calvert but the “buy tickets” page says Annette Buvoli so now I’m confused.

Am I looking in the right place for tonight’s cast sheet? https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cast-sheets Still seems to show last night’s cast and today’s lunchtime performance, but nothing for tonight as yet.

MODERATORS' NOTE: The following does NOT relate to White Lodge: Are you talking about White Lodge/RB Upper School, Taxi?

Wonderful! Thanks, Bluebird.

You beat me to it, Lizbie1. ☺️ I don’t suppose the Insight is being filmed/streamed, is it?

Claire Calvert is one of my favourite dancers so I’m very pleased to be seeing her.

That’s so kind, John, thank you. Like your Wife, I find ballet life-enhancing and an escape from pain, especially when the marriage of music, choreography and drama all blends so seamlessly and beautifully. It’s one of the reasons I love MacMillan’s choreography so very much; when performed wonderfully by partnerships like Bracewell and Kaneko, Romeo and Juliet are not dancing steps, they’re *being*. I can forget all pain, both physical and emotional, and live every moment with them. It’s an expensive means of pain relief, but definitely my favourite! ☺️

Dawnstar, I’m convinced Bonelli has a portrait in the attic. He never seems to age! He is a wonderful actor though; one of the very best, so I’m sure that helps. I’ve had a couple of days to digest what I saw on Saturday afternoon, so I’ll try to write coherently now, despite only having had one cup of coffee this morning. Firstly, WHY isn’t William Bracewell a Principal. His dancing is beautiful, his landings are light, he’s a superb partner, and a very fine actor already. It seems crazy to me that he hasn’t yet been promoted, and I hope Kevin O’Hare saw both Bracewell’s performances of R&J and rectifies this oversight ASAP. The chemistry between William and Fumi Kaneko is off the charts. I haven’t felt weepy at a studio rehearsal since 2014 (?) when Bonelli and Nuñez rehearsed the final pdd from Manon. Yet watching the balcony scene rehearsal last week on World Ballet Day had me in tears, so an even bigger thank you to the person/s unknown who returned seats for Saturday’s matinée. As soon as the lights dimmed and the beautiful rich sound of the ROH orchestra began, I felt real joy at being back. Wonderful goings-on in the marketplace with lovely acting by the younger artists in the company. A super trio of Harlots was led by the astonishingly versatile Kristen McNally, who was so funny, proudly lifting her skirts to show her leotard “knickers” in order to shock the more prudish members of the Verona streets. Nice to see Ryoichi Hirano onstage as Tybalt but I do prefer him as Paris; his Tybalt was vicious and supercilious but rather one-dimensional, especially when compared to the great and nuanced Tybalts of Gary Avis and Matthew Ball. Hirano did die very well though! Joseph Sissens’ acting skills have really come on since I saw him as Lensky, and he will surely develop further to have even more presence as Benvolio in future. He and Luca Acri were a good team and I felt a good bond between them and Romeo. Christopher Saunders is my favourite Lord Capulet so far so I was pleased to see him perform as quietly terrifyingly as ever. The lovely Nathalie Harrison didn’t quite live up to Christina Arestis’s exceptionally dramatic Lady Capulet; her grief for Tybalt was heartbreakingly sad but without the abject fury shown by Arestis. That said, I thought Harrison more sympathetic and genuinely sad for Juliet, looking reproachfully at her Husband in his treatment of their daughter, but knowing she was powerless to stop him. It was a different but still excellent portrayal and I will very much miss Harrison onstage. Lovely that she got such a huge cheer at the end, with gorgeous flowers. Kaneko and Bracewell - well. What can I say that hasn’t already been said in a better and more comprehensive way by my fellow forum members. These two are very, very special together. Like Cuthbertson and Bonelli, Naghdi and Ball, this is a partnership I hope to see repeated again and again. I had tears rolling down my face during the balcony scene, full-body chills at Fumi simply sitting on the bed - honestly - and actually wept* in Act 3. Juliet’s scream was one of the most moving and heart-rending I’ve ever witnessed. I only had one tiny “criticism” - not really a criticism, but I wished for a little bit more desperation during the bedroom PDD, rather than just deep - almost resigned? - sadness. But that was all that was missing for me in the whole glorious 3 hours. How I wish these two had been filmed so we could relive this exceptional chemistry again and again. * If you know me in person, you will know that I’m usually concentrating so hard on managing my pain at the theatre that I very rarely weep. It should be taken as a huge compliment to the performers when my tears flow. 🤭☺️

Hi Kim12 and welcome. If St Albans is do-able then you won’t find a better teacher than Helen Brewer: https://brewerdanceacademy.com/staff Helen, along with the late Mary Schon, taught my daughter most years at the sadly missed Harpenden Summer School, and is such a wonderful teacher. If that’s a bit far, then Tring Park does run evening and weekend classes under the Tring Park Associates umbrella: https://www.tringpark.com/associates-classes-ages-3-19/ TPA is confusingly named Associates when the actual selective Ballet Associate scheme at Tring is called Classical Ballet Academy: https://www.tringpark.com/classical-ballet-academy/ which I can also recommend, but it’s designed to supplement evening/Saturday classes rather than replace them.

Like “Bravo Man”? ☺️ I can’t help thinking Sleeping Man could have a nice nap at the back of Stalls Circle, rather than in Row H of the stalls! 😂

Good grief! Reminds me of last time I saw Manon at the ROH; very expensive stalls seats but the man next to me settled into his seat as the lights dimmed for Act 1, went to sleep and was snoring gently by the time Des Grieux appeared. Perhaps he finds Massenet soothing but I can’t help thinking it was a pricey place for a nap!

Having lost Robert Webb early, they *could* have a week without a dance-off….whether they will, though, is another matter. 🙁

Hi Kim12 and welcome to the Forum. I’ve moved your post here to “Doing Dance” where hopefully you will get some advice. ☺️

Hmmm. Judy and Graziano will not be dancing this week as Judy has tested positive for COVID. I can’t help worrying that a better dancer will go this week if they go ahead with the dance-off. 🤔

Having just posted, I see that DanJL has kindly started an apposite thread!

I was typing this before Bruce posted (the online grocery delivery interrupted me) but in essence I was going to agree and say that this particular thread has already veered off the topic of this run of Romeo and Juliet on quite a few occasions, and not just onto mask-wearing - at this stage it would be difficult for we Mods to go back through all the posts and separate those posts (or parts thereof) that are not just “views of R&J”. Half the trouble is that enjoyment of any particular performance at the ROH can be greatly enhanced or reduced by the behaviour of other audience members - which at the moment mostly happens to involve mask wearing (or not), coughing, and so on. I do appreciate that people on both sides of the “argument” feel very strongly about it, and I certainly don’t want the thread to descend into a “flame war”, but as long as the thread remains largely as people’s thoughts on and reviews of the current run of R&J, it doesn’t necessarily need to be an issue if people comment on COVID restrictions/audience behaviour at the particular performance they attend - it can be useful for those thinking of going. But that’s just my 2p worth. ☺️

Especially given the alarming rise in case numbers and COVID-related deaths, which - I believe - are higher in the UK than in our neighbouring EU countries *combined*. I will keep my ROH tickets for R&J* and Giselle, as I have end seats with my husband next to me - less sure about daughter and I being so closely surrounded by (possibly non-mask wearing) strangers in SC for Nutcracker in December though. Assuming non-socially-distanced performances are still happening in two months… * The ballet Gods must have taken pity on me because someone returned suitable-for-my-disability seats for Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell’s performance this Saturday - I nabbed them! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Genetic/inherited, yes, but actually h-EDS/Joint Hypermobility Syndrome/Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders are rarely *diagnosed*, not rare. One young locum GP at our Practice had not heard of it, and was reluctant to do a repeat prescription of a non-addictive, low dose medication initially prescribed by a Consultant at RNOH and well known for helping with sleep and night time pain. And of late, things seem to be changing wrt what referrals GPs *can* do - especially for MSK problems. Everything MSK related (with the exception of X-rays) in our Trust has to go to an MSK Triage Service, which itself is quite limited as to what it can refer you for. In the last few months I’ve had an absolute devil of a job battling red tape just to get a hip ultrasound (rejected), an MRI (rejected) or a referral to see a Hip Specialist at St Thomas’s (must be referred to a local Ortho consultant first, even though I’m already under Ortho Consultants at St Thomas’s). 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 My poor GP is tearing her hair out at the ridiculous hoops we’re both having to jump through. It used to be hard enough to get a referral to an EDS Consultant when GPs could refer directly; I dread to think what it would be like now.

Yes, at the beginning when Tess also mentioned Robert Webb having to pull out. She said that Ugo has an ongoing back injury. Let’s hope he’s able to dance as planned this weekend.

No, there was quite a gap between the two; a chat with Joseph Sissens and Federico Bonelli about the Chance to Dance scheme, a couple of short bits etc. and (IIRC) the Draft Works rehearsal.

Samantha Raine is such a terrific Ballet Mistress; she always gets the absolute best from the hardworking ladies of the Corps. Lovely to see Claire Calvert and Melissa Hamilton in rehearsal as Moyna and Zulma (sp?) too.