Jane S

The older Benjamin sister (Madonna Maree?) was in the RB for a time but Leanne joined the Sadler's Wells RB when she graduated so they weren't in the same company.

.

Really looking forward to seeing Beatriz Stix-Brunel's debut on Saturday. She brings joy to the stage and lights it up whenever she dances.

 

When did a woman in the corps de ballet last dance the lead in a 3-act ballet at the RB, I wonder? The last one I remember was Dana Fouras as Juliet, but surely there must have been some since then that I've forgotten?

Details: here

 

Four performances - August 30,31 September 1

 

Quite cheap too, by Mariinsky standards! Public booking opens March 24th

Within the Golden Hour and Beaux would be top of my must-see list, together with anything with Lorena Feijoo in it - any advice from people who've actually seen some of these?

Programme details

 

** Booking opens 10 a.m. on Thursday 15th March **

 

Programme A

(Sept. 14,18 at 7:30pm; Sept 23 at 4:00pm)

 

Divertimento No.15

Choreography: George Balanchine

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Divertimento No 15 in B-flat major

Staged by Elyse Borne

Costume Design: after Karinska

Lighting Design: Mark Stanley

 

Symphonic Dances

Choreography: Edwaard Liang

Music: Sergei Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances Op. 45

Costume Design: Mark Zappone

Lighting Design: Jack Mehler

 

Within the Golden Hour

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon©

Music: Ezio Bosso

Designs: Martin Pakledinaz

Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls

 

Programme B

(Sept. 15, 21 at 7:30pm; Sept. 16 at 4:00pm)

 

Ghosts

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Music: C.F. Kip Winger

Scenic Design: Laura Jellinek

Costume Design: Mark Zappone

Lighting Design Mary Louise Geiger

 

RAkU

Chorography: Yuri Possokhov

Music: Shinji Eshima

Scenic & Projection Design: Alexander V. Nichols

Costume Design: Mark Zappone

Lighting Design: Christopher Dennis

 

Trio

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence

Scenic Design: Alexander V. Nichols

Costume Design: Mark Zappone

Lighting Design: Christopher Dennis

 

Programme C

(Sept. 19, 20, 22 at 7:30pm)

 

Beaux

Choreography: Mark Morris

Music: Bohuslav Martinů Concerto for Harpsichord and Small Orchestra,

Two pieces for harpsichord, lento

Scenic and Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi

Lighting Design: Michael Chybowski

 

Classical Symphony

Chorography: Yuri Possokhov

Music: Sergei Prokofiev

Costume Design Sandra Woodall

Lighting Design: David Finn

Video Concept: Yuri Zhukov

 

Guide to Strange Places

Choreography: Ashley Page

Music: John Adams Guide to Strange Places

Scenic & Costume Design: Jon Morrell

Lighting Design: David Finn

 

Number Nine©

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Music: Michael Torke Ash

Costume Design: Holly Hynes

Lighting Design: Mary Louise Geiger

Just out of interest, compare this, from another young man who shocked the Royal Ballet by leaving at a time he seemed to have been given everything::

 

'I had had enough,' he said. 'I was frustrated all the time, sick of the discipline, burnt out. I think that maybe I never really wanted to dance; it was just my job. I suppose I was a bit of a prima donna... I wanted to see what life was like on the other side of the fence. I wanted to stay up late, drink as much wine as I liked, eat anything I fancied.'

 

This was Jonathan Cope, in an interview for the Independent when he decided he'd like to be a dancer after all, after 2 years completely out of the ballet world. So maybe we'll see Polunin back one day, too.

Well, I find the opposite - it's much easier for me to have things broken down into smaller topics than having to look through everything to find what I want! Maybe more use of tags, as was suggested the other day, is a possible compromise?

John, are you planning to use subforums (as they do on BalletAlert?) Otherwise I think I would find a joint News/What's Happening forum (which so far as I'm concerned is more or less Everything Except Links) a bit too much, and perhaps it would be rather overwhelming for newcomers.

SFB will be at Sadler's Wells from September 14th to 23rd - repertoire to be announced later.

 

It's been far too long!

...and I meant to say, for me neither McRae nor Gomes consoled me for the loss of what Polunin might have made of it. Of all the ridiculous number of debuts he was scheduled for over the rest of the season, Oberon was the one I most looked forward to seeing.

I love The Dream: it's one of my very favourite ballets. I also think it's one of Ashton's greatest masterpieces. Yet at the first-night performance I was struggling to believe either of those statements. The whole ballet seemed to me to be unfocussed, and lacking in clarity - almost in as much of a fog as the one which Oberon called up to confuse the pairs of lovers. Recent upheavals may of course have played a part, but the problem seemed to me to go beyond that, as if not all the cast had totally grasped the part they had to play in the ballet and how they interrelated.

 

Absolutely agree, Alison - more than once I found myself thinking that if I didn't know what company I was watching I'd think they'd learnt it from a video and badly needed someone to help bring it all together. (Enigma looked much the same.)

 

Fascinating to see Gomes as Oberon - about as different from McRae as it's possible to imagine. I really admired his authority and presence but thought he was a touch too human and nice.

Agree with Bluebird about Monotones - scandalously neglected. And Illuminations, and A Wedding Bouquet

 

It's also far too long since we saw The Concert, and I'm really surprised the RB gave up on In the Night so quickly.

 

Also I'd like to see Four Temeraments back on stage, and Ballet Imperial.

 

I don't remember seeing MacMillan's The Invitation for a long time.

 

Others:

 

In the middle somewhat elevated

 

Perhaps another go at Lilac Garden? (One of the things I'm really looking forward to is seeing O'Hare's ideas on casting, which I hope may give us fresh insights into some familiar works.)

 

I'd like to see some of the earlier MacMillan pieces but only if they could be taken back to their original versions: Le Baiser de la Fee, Symphony...

 

Helpmann's Hamlet, perhaps? (thinking of some potential Hamlets among the principals)

 

Also, although I know the point of this discussion is to get away from Swan Lake, I wouldn't at all mind seeing the company doing Act 2 on its own occasionally; also the Shades scene from Bayadere in the Nureyev version.

 

Almost all of these have the advantage of having lots of good roles so we'd get to see more of the dancers getting chances.

 

(Incidentally I discovered whilst typing this that if someone else adds a post to the thread you're working on, this new system tells you and lets you see it, removing the problem of simultaneous postings - neat!)

But oddly, about half an hour ago I got straight in - no wating room - though every other time I've tried today I've been several hundred down in the queue

I thought it might be interesting to summarise the results of the main categories in the ballet.co (almost) annual surveys over the years. Nice to see dancers moving from 'promising' to 'best' etc.

 

BEST MALE DANCER

 

1997 Igor Zelensky

1998 Irek Mukhamedov

1999 Carlos Acosta

2000 Johan Kobborg

2001/2 Johan Kobborg

2003/4 Carlos Acosta

2005 Thomas Lund

2006 Carlos Acosta

2007 Carlos Acosta

2008 Edward Watson

2009 Edward Watson

2010 Ivan Vasiliev

 

BEST FEMALE DANCER

 

1997 Altinai Asylmuratova/Miyako Yoshida

1998 Viviana Durante

1999 Nina Ananiashvili

2000 Darcey Bussell/Sylvie Guillem/Tamara Rojo

2001/2 Alina Cojocaru

2003/4 Zenaida Yanowsky

2005 Zenaida Yanowsky

2006 Marianela Nunez

2007 Elena Glurjidze

2008 Elena Glurjidze

2009 Tamara Rojo

2010 Natalia Osipova

 

BEST PARTNERSHIP

 

1997 Durante/Mukhamedov

1998 Durante/Mukhamedov

1999 Durante/Mukhamedov

2000 Guillem/Cope

2001/2 Cojocaru/Kobborg

2003/4 Cojocaru/Kobborg

2005 Cojocaru/Kobborg

2006 Cojocaru/Kobborg

2007 Oaks/Edur

2008 Oaks/Edur

2009 Oaks/Edur and Benjamin/Watson

2010 Osipova/Vasiliev

 

MOST PROMISING DANCER (M)

 

1997 -

1998 Edward Watson

1999 Yohei Sasaki

2000 Ivan Putrov

2001/2 Ivan Putrov

2003/4 Thiago Soares

2005 Steven McRae

2006 Steven McRae

2007 Steven McRae

2008 Sergei Polunin

2009 Sergei Polunin

2010 Sergei Polunin

 

MOST PROMISING DANCER (F)

 

1997 -

1998 Mara Galeazzi

1999 Zenaida Yanowsky

2000 Alina Cojocaru

2001/2 Marianela Nunez

2003/4 Lauren Cuthbertson

2005 Sarah Lamb

2006 Lauren Cuthbertson

2007 Yohui Choe

2008 Yohui Choe

2009 Melissa Hamilton

2010 Akane Takada

 

BEST PRODUCTION

 

1997 Giselle (Mariinsky)

1998 Manon (RB)

1999 Don Quixote (Bolshoi)

2000 Jewels (Mariinsky)

2001/2 Onegin (RB)

2003/4 Mayerling (RB)

2005 Manon (RB)

2006 Bright Stream (Bolshoi)

2007 Jewels(RB)

2008 Manon (ENB)

2009 Mayerling (RB)

2010 Don Quixote (Bolshoi)

 

BEST NEW PRODUCTION

 

1997 Edward II (BRB)

1998 Babel Index

1999 Sandpaper Ballet (SFB)

2000 Sleeping Beauty (Mariinsky)

2001/2 Tryst (RB)

2003/4 Pharoahs's Daughter (Bolshoi)

2005 La Sylphide (RB)

2006 Chroma and DGV (RB)

2007 The Snow Queen (ENB)

2008 Infra (RB)

2009 Limen (RB)

2010 Invitus/Invitam (RB)

.... and for me at least if he doesn't come back he will be a very great loss.

 

...and for Louise Levene too:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/9038573/Sergei-Polunin-the-ballet-cheek-of-it.html

There's a later article in the Guardian now with lots of quotes from Tamara Rojo, very strongly admiring and supportive of Polunin:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jan/25/royal-ballet-shocked-sergei-polunin?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

 

I have found his performances amongst the most rewarding I've seen at the Royal Ballet in many years and for me at least if he doesn't come back he will be a very great loss.

...with immediate effect. But no details of where he's going....

The Royal Opera in Copenhagen also had to cut both headcount and productions, and as a result the director, Keith Warner, has today resigned after less than one year in the job.

Janet, thank you for posting this - I had been hoping you would write something about your trip. You seem to have enjoyed it rather more than some of the French observers! Interesting that you saw Thomas Lund as one of the suitors - the first time he's done it, I think.

 

It must be hard for the company to look so cheerful when they have the threat of job losses hanging over them - the decisions will be announced next week. Let's hope there will be fewer than some rumours have suggested...