Ryo

Hi Janet! I wish I could go to Virginia,too....(T_T)

Friday 19th (matinee) Swanilda: Maureya Lebowitz Franz: Joseph Caley Dr. Coppélius: Valentin Olovyannikov Friday 19th (evening) Swanilda: Nao Sakuma Franz: Chi Cao Dr. Coppélius: Michael O’Hare Saturday 20th (evening) Swanilda: Carol-Anne Millar Franz: Jamie Bond Dr. Coppélius: Rory Mackay Sunday 21st (matinee) Swanilda: Ambra Vallo Franz: Tyrone Singleton Dr. Coppélius: Jonathan Payn

Thank you so much! I could get 2 tickets!!

lbeardall company members were on a basic salary PLUS a fee for each performance. The performance fee varied of course, according to status Ryo : Dancers of Bolshoi Ballet are on the same system. On a basic salary + a fee for each performance. The performance fee varied of according to status

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET ANNOUNCES 2013 – 2014 SEASON AT BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME UK premiere of David Bintley’s The Prince of the Pagodas with scenery and costumes by War Horse designer Rae Smith Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker returns for Christmas A mixed bill to celebrate the work of choreographer Frederick Ashton includes a new revival of Les Rendezvous A mixed bill to showcase the work of Birmingham Royal Ballet Director David Bintley includes Still Life at the Penguin Café Plenty of family-friendly performances, including weekend matinees, during the Company’s 24th season at Birmingham Hippodrome Flexible range of ticket prices from as little as £15 with a generous choice of concessionary rates Birmingham Royal Ballet announces the 2013/2014 Birmingham Hippodrome season, the 24th season at its home theatre in the Midlands. The season will celebrate the Company’s varied repertory, from the all-time favourite The Sleeping Beauty in the autumn through to the return of The Nutcracker for Christmas and La Fille mal gardée in the summer of 2014. Added to the mix will be the UK premiere performances of a new production of The Prince of the Pagodas in February 2014. This adaptation, by Company Director David Bintley, with scenery and costumes by War Horse designer Rae Smith, will be staged during the composer Benjamin Britten’s world-wide centenary celebrations. Alongside the full-length works, the Company will perform three programmes of shorter works to include the return of Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café, MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations and a new revival of Frederick Ashton’s Les Rendezvous. During the 13/14 season Birmingham Royal Ballet will continue to focus on creating new works and presenting quality productions at affordable ticket prices. The Company has held most of its prices for the last few seasons and from September 2013 a flexible range of prices will enable the Company to offer tickets from as little as £15 with a generous range of concessionary rates available to many. Throughout the season, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 60 full-time dancers from across the world will be accompanied by Britain’s busiest ballet orchestra, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. The Sinfonia under the musical directorship of Koen Kessels, with Principal Conductor Paul Murphy and Conductor Phil Ellis, plays for Birmingham Royal Ballet's wide-ranging programme in the UK and abroad. The 13/14 Birmingham season begins with a mixed bill named Penguin Café. This will celebrate some of David Bintley's most popular, innovative and best-loved shorter works from the last 25 years. Penguin Café Tombeaux / E=mc² / ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café 3 – 5 October 2013 Tombeaux is Bintley’s lament on the death of his mentor, the great choreographer Frederick Ashton. This homage to classical ballet will draw the audience into a passionate and melancholic landscape. Music is by William Walton and designs by Jasper Conran with lighting by John B. Read. E=mc² won the last-ever ITV South Bank Show Award for Dance in 2010. Danced to a specially commissioned score by Australian composer Matthew Hindson, E=mc² explores Einstein’s ‘Special Theory of Relativity’ in music and dance of breathtaking energy and speed. Costumes are by Kate Ford and lighting by Peter Mumford. Completing the bill is one of Bintley’s best-known ballets, ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café. The ballet introduces a colourful host of endangered animals seeking shelter from the storm. Be introduced to a morris-dancing flea, a ballroom-dancing ram, a carnival-loving woolly monkey and many more, in a ballet that takes a witty and poignant look at man’s impact on the world. Music is by Simon Jeffes and designs by Hayden Griffin and lighting by John B. Read. The Sleeping Beauty 8 – 12 October 2013 The Sleeping Beauty is one of the most popular fairytale ballets of all time. With a classical score by Tchaikovsky and original choreography by Marius Petipa,The Sleeping Beauty is considered one of the greatest ballets from Imperial Russia. This spectacular production is by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s former director Sir Peter Wright, creator of some of the Company’s best-loved productions including The Nutcracker, Coppélia and Swan Lake. With its romantic finale packed with every fairytale character imaginable, The Sleeping Beauty is as engaging now as when the Sadler’s Wells Company premiered it in 1984. Designs are by Philip Prowse and lighting by Mark Jonathan. The Nutcracker 22 Nov – 12 Dec 2013 Over the last two decades many audience members have said their Christmas truly starts when they see Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker.In this unparalleled, world-famous production by Peter Wright, complete with sets and costumes by the designer of the Company’s stunning Cinderella, this is one family-friendly ballet not to be missed. Music is by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, choreography by Peter Wright, Lev Ivanov and Vincent Redmon. Designs are by John F. Macfarlane and lighting by David A. Finn. Three of a Kind Card Game / Slaughter on Tenth Avenue / Elite Syncopations 19 – 22 February 2014 Three of a Kind presents three witty classics from three masters of choreography: John Cranko, George Balanchine and Kenneth MacMillan. InCard Game, Stravinsky, himself a keen poker player, plays with allegiances, rivalries and power. Cranko’s witty choreography entered the Royal Ballet repertory in 1966. In this modern classic, the sly Joker banishes the proud Queen, the Two, Three, Four, Five and Six strike a straight flush, and little Two of Diamonds tries to spoil everyone’s fun. Music is by Igor Stravinsky and designs are by Dorothee Zippel and lighting by Peter Teigen. Created by great ballet choreographer George Balanchine for the musical On Your Toes!, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is a crazy 1930s comedy, its humour and vitality providing plenty of entertainment. After discovering that a hitman in the audience is to shoot him as soon as his stage routine is over, a luckless leading man has no option but to extend his frantic solo until the cops arrive! Music is by the great Richard Rodgers and designs by Kate Ford and lighting by Johnny Westall-Eyre. In Elite Syncopations, a completely stripped-back theatre bursts into life as dancers in brilliantly coloured costumes gather for a dance competition. An equally vibrant rag-time band play old favourites from Scott Joplin and his contemporaries to accompany a string of sketches, spanning the dazzling, the witty and the touching, as each dancer at the competition takes their turn. One of MacMillan’s best-loved creations, Elite Syncopations is certain to leave audiences smiling. Choreography is by Kenneth MacMillan and designs are by Ian Spurling and lighting by John B. Read. The Prince of the Pagodas 25 Feb –1 March 2014 David Bintley has created an imaginative reworking of the classic story that celebrates the power of family love. Bintley’s The Prince of the Pagodas,to Benjamin Britten’s only commissioned ballet score, was rapturously received by audiences and critics at its premiere by the National Ballet of Japan in 2011. The spectacular and imaginative costumes from War Horse designer Rae Smith promises to bring to life the elegance and beauty of the Chrysanthemum Kingdom, and will capture the audiences’ imaginations in the journey through the elements of earth, air, fire and water. The Prince of the Pagodas tells the story of the Princess Sakura who mourns the death of her brother and the slow disintegration of her once all-powerful father the Emperor of the Chrysanthemum Throne, who, broken by the death of his son, allows his new wife to take control of his kingdom. Presented with a choice of four powerful and wealthy husbands, Sakura’s memories of the true love she once felt for her brother gives her the courage to refuse her suitors. Her resolve is reinforced when a fifth suitor arrives at the palace – a scaly Salamander, both fascinating and repellent. Determined not to be forced to follow her stepmother’s bidding, Princess Sakura throws herself on the mercy of the new arrival. After a long and dangerous journey they arrive at the Salamander’s kingdom, but Sakura’s adventure has only just begun. Bintley follows in the chorographic footsteps of Cranko and MacMillan. Cranko choreographed The Prince of the Pagodas in 1957 for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet and MacMillan’s version premiered in 1989 for The Royal Ballet. The Prince of the Pagodas is supported (2014) by The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The John Feeney Charitable Trust, The Britten-Pears Foundation, The Patrick Trust and The Boltini Trust. Darkness and Light Dante Sonata / Les Rendezvous / Façade 4 – 7 June 2014 Darkness and Light presents three early works from the founder choreographer of the Royal Ballet companies, master of the art form, Frederick Ashton. Fragile innocence confronts desperate evil in the simple and poignant Dante Sonata, created at the height of World War II. The elegant white-clad Children of Light battle the dark and serpentine Children of Darkness with only one certain outcome – like every war, there will be casualties on both sides. Danced to a passionate, virtuoso score by Franz Liszt, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, the piece still holds a chilling resonance today. Designs are by Sophie Fedorovitch and lighting by Mark Jonathan. Created in 1933, Les Rendezvous was Ashton’s first major ballet for the then Vic-Wells Ballet. This gentle piece, in which friends and acquaintances meet and dance together in a park, allows each of the dancers an opportunity to display virtuoso skills and technique in a series of solos, pas de deuxand ensemble dances. Music is by Daniel Auber, arranged and orchestrated by Constant Lambert, with designs by Anthony Ward and lighting by John B. Read. Finally, based on Edith Sitwell’s deliciously nonsensical poetry, Façade embraces the fun of it all with whole-hearted and wilful abandon. Music is by William Walton with designs by John Armstrong and lighting by Peter Teigen. La Fille mal gardée 11 – 15 June 2014 The 2013/14 Birmingham Hippodrome season finishes with the funny and tender La Fille mal gardée. This charming ballet was an instant hit when it was created by Frederick Ashton for the Royal Ballet in 1960. Ever popular because of its simple, engaging story, wonderful wit and passion, La Fille mal gardée is known for its famous clog and ribbon dances and remains a firm favourite for all the family, ballet aficionados or those new to ballet. Music is by Ferdinand Hérold,freely adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery, scenario by Jean Dauberval with designs by Osbert Lancaster and lighting by Peter Teigen. ENDS BRB @ BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME 2013–14 season on-sale dates 10 April: BRB Friends’ season and individual tickets, and season tickets for previous subscribers processed from this date (post only). 17 April: New season ticket purchasers (post only). 7 May: Individual tickets BRB Friends (telephone) and Birmingham Hippodrome Friends. 8 May: On-line individual tickets, telephone and in-person individual tickets. Book tickets online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com or phone Birmingham Hippodrome ticket office 0844 338 5000. For full booking informationplease visit www.brb.org.uk/seasonticket Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Birmingham Hippodrome 13/14 season at a glance: 3–5 October 2013 - Penguin Café (Tombeaux | E=mc2 | ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café) 8–12 October 2013 - The Sleeping Beauty 22 Nov–12 Dec 2013 - The Nutcracker 19–22 Feb 2014 - Three of a Kind (Card Game | Slaughter on Tenth Avenue | Elite Syncopations) 25 Feb–1 March 2014 - The Prince of the Pagodas 4–7 June 2014 - Darkness and Light (Dante Sonata | Les Rendezvous | Façade) 11–15 June 2014 - La Fille mal gardée · Autumn 2013 tour dates confirmed (more information and 13/14 tour dates to follow) The Lowry: 25 – 28 Sep The Sleeping Beauty Sadler’s Wells, London: 15 & 16 Oct Penguin Café, 17 – 19 Oct The Sleeping Beauty Sunderland Empire Theatre: 24 – 26 October 2013 The Sleeping Beauty Theatre Royal Plymouth: 29 & 30 Oct Penguin Café, 31 Oct – 2 Nov 2013 The Sleeping Beauty

Luca has been accepted to the Royal Ballet company in early March.

Thanks Janet. I enjoyed the trailar very much! Ryo

Dear all, Please allow me to update my verdict. I've just came back from Japan and suffered from sevier jet lag when I posted the 1st version... I have checked my 2012 performance diary to make below updated version. Some of you may be suprised to find that I added many names which belongs to the Royal Ballet Company... Best Production Overall: 　 Swan Lake by Sir Peter Wright (BRB) Best New Production: Faster by David Bintley　(BRB) Best Revival: 　　 Far from the Madding Crowd (BRB) Best Staging: Faster by David Bintley (BRB) / *Trespass in Titian 2012 (RB) Best Home Company: Birmingham Royal Ballet / Northern Ballet Best Visiting Company: San Francisco Ballet / *Eifman Ballet Best Male Dancer: Chi Cao (BRB) Best Female Dancer: Nao Sakuma (BRB) *Tamara Rojo (RB / ENB) Best Partnership: Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao, Nao Sakuma & Robert Parker Most Promising Male: Kevin Poeung (NB) Most Promising Female: Antoinett Brooks Daw (NB), Maureya Lebowitz (BRB), * Beatriz Stix-Brunell (RB) -Alphabetical order- Worst Production: N.A. Special Mention(Good) Dancers Jamie Bond as Sergeant Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd(BRB) -Alphabetical order- *William Bracewell as Oberon in The Dream (BRB) *Yuhui Choe in Requiem (RB) *Ryoichi Hirano as Salamander Prince in The Prince of the Pagodas (RB) *Valeri Hristov as the King of the East in The Prince of the Pagodas (RB) *Steven McRae in Carbon Life (RB) *Itziar Mendizabal as The Firebird (RB) *Marianela Nunez as Diana in Diana and Actaeon in Titian 2012 (RB) *Tyrone Singleton as Boldwood in Far from the Madding Crowd, as Prince Siegfried (BRB) *Beatriz Stix-Brunell as Princess Rose in The Prince of the Pagodas, in Trespass / Titian 2012 (RB) *Dawid Trzensimiech as James in La Sylphide (RB) *Edward Watson in Requiem (RB) *Valentino Zucchetti as The Fool in The Prince of the Pagodas (RB) Choreographer *Alastair Marriott & Christopher Wheeldon / Trespass in Titian 2012 (RB) *Liam Scarlett / Sweet Violets (RB) *Valentino Zuchetti / Brandenburg Divertissementhis in First Drafts (RB) Eye-opener of the Year: Faster by David Bintley　(BRB) / *Anna Karenina by Boris Eifman

Best Production Overall: 　Swan Lake by Sir Peter Wright (BRB) Best New Production: Faster by David Bintley　(BRB) Best Revival: 　　 Far from the Madding Crowd (BRB) Best Staging: Faster by David Bintley (BRB) Best Home Company: Birmingham Royal Ballet / Northern Ballet Best Visiting Company: San Francisco Ballet Best Male Dancer: Chi Cao (BRB) Best Female Dancer: Nao Sakuma (BRB) Best Partnership: Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao, Nao Sakuma & Robert Parker Most Promising Male: Kevin Poeung (NB) Most Promising Female: Antoinett Brooks Daw (NB), Maureya Lebowitz (BRB) Worst Production: N.A. Special Mention(Good) Jamie Bond as Sergeant Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd(BRB) Eye-opener of the Year: Faster by David Bintley　(BRB) I live in London, watching performances by the Royal Ballet Company as much as I watch performances by BRB and by NB. I just can not find interesting productions, dancers, partnership within the Royal Ballet Company in recent years.

Casting sheet / Bath performances 27Nov.,-1Dec. http://northernballet.com/index.php?q=beauty-and-the-beast/cast-sheet

Saturday / 1st December./ Evening performance Jenna Roberts & Matthew Lawrence will be performing (Not Nao Sakuma & Jamie Bond)

Hi Janet, I saw the news,too! Alex has been busy working for both RB & BRB!!

Hi Janet, I heard that Elisha Willis & Iain MacKay will be performing tomorrow afternoon. Jenna Roberts & Matthew Lawrence will be performing tomorrow evening.

Wednesday was the opening night. However half of male dancers who supposed to perform The Prince have been injured or ill. Momoko Hirata & Cesar Morales performed last night.(not Natasha Oughtred & Joseph Caley) Nao Sakuma & Iain MacKay will be performing tonight. (not Nao Sakuma & Jamie Bond) I am wondering whether Iain MacKay will be performing tomorrow afternoon or not.

You can enjoy some photographs / re: Sylvia Japan Premiere. 9 photographs of Studio rehearsals in Birmingham (on the Japanese monthly dance web magazine) Photos of Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao / rehearsing their solos and Sylvia PDD with David Bintley Photos of Nao Sakuma & Yasuo Atsuji (ex dancer of BRB , a member of New National Theatre Ballet of Japan / performed Orion) rehearsing Sylvia & Orion with David Bintley You can click to enlarge photographs http://www.chacott-j...rt/post-64.html 10 Stage photos byTakashi Shikama on New National Theatre Ballet of Japan website (You can see the photo of Nao & Chi on the 2nd from the top (Left), Nao & Yasuo on the 2nd from the top (Right) http://www.nntt.jac....94_frecord.html Ryo

Hi Janet, Much obliged! I am also very much looking forward to seeing Chi performing as Cinderella! (⌒∇⌒*) Ryo

Hi Janet, Thank you so much for the video & link! I heard Kevin Poeung will perform The Nutcracker and many other soloists roles in Leeds in December. I am sure you have many opportunities to see him next month. (I am not sure whether I will be able to see many shows in Leeds...) Hi Aileen, Janet & others, I saw NB's Beauty and the Beast for the 1st time on last Thursday afternoon. I have been watching BRB version many times since it's World Premier. I like both Bintley & Nixon versions. 1 male lead dancer perform both The Prince & The Beast for BRB version. In NB's Nixon version 1 male lead performs the Prince and other performs The Beast. Bintley version (BRB) The Beast has a mask therefore the audience can not see The Beast's facial expression. Nixon version, The audience can enjoy both facial and physical expression by The Beast. I absolutely adore NB's Beauty & The Beast's sets and costumes! It is very interesting we can see 2 very different Puroductions of Beauty & The Beast by 2 UK Ballet Companies.

I went to Woking to see yesterday's matinee. We were so lucky to witness Kevin Poeung (1st year Corps de ballet) 's role debut as The Beast. It was just astonishing!! He has amazing physical abilities with true star quality, Moved by his expressive acting,too! Kevin is due to make his 2nd Beast appearance on Saturday evening! (03/11 Eve) Worth going down to Woking to see it! Ryo

David Bintley's Sylvia will be performed by the New National Ballet of Japan in late October to early November. Nao Sakuma and Chi Cao will be guesting to the company on the 31st of October and 2nd of November. You can see some Interview Videos (In English) useing the following link. http://nnttballet.info/2012sylvia/movie.html#10 David Bintley Interview (at the bottom) Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao Interview (on the top) Chi Cao interview (2nd from the top) Enjoy!! Ryo

Jamie Bond will not be able to perform at Birmingham Hippodrome Jamie Bond has been injured. He will not be able to perform 'Opposites Attract' nor 'Swan Lake' in Birmingham.

Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao will not be performing at Sadler's Wells in London in October. I believe many of you are waiting to find out the full casting for the mixed programmes at Sadler's Wells. Nao Sakuma & Chi Cao have to fly to Tokyo in middle of October for David Bintley's Sylvia Japan Premiere by The New National Theatre Ballet of Japan (opening performance 27/10, Nao & Chi will perform twice on 31/10 & 02/11) Therefore they will not be performing in London this autumn. You can see some of the information of Sylvia Japan Premiere by The New National Theatre Ballet of Japan useing following link. http://nnttballet.in...lvia/index.html Videos http://nnttballet.in...lvia/movie.html Ryo

ArtsFest 2012 Saturday 8 September 21:00 - 21.30 Birmingham’s Centenary SQ. Main Stage Birmingham Royal Ballet is once again delighted to be part of Artsfest, Birmingham City Council’s annual city-wide arts festival that celebrates art companies small and large, new and established, experimental and traditional – all performing to highlight the region’s wealth of creative productivity and output. Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers will perform on the main stage in Birmingham’s Centenary Square on Saturday 8 September from 9 to 9.30pm, offering a selection of classical and modern excerpts from the Company's exciting Birmingham Hippodrome 2012-13 season. The performance includes the choreographic work of Frederick Ashton and David Bintley, and includes excerpts from Swan Lake and Coppélia, productions by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director Laureate Peter Wright. During the Artsfest performance, the pas de deux from Frederick Ashton’s The Dream will be danced by Principal Natasha Oughtred and First Artist William Bracewell. There will be two excerpts from company Director David Bintley’s Take Five to music by Dave Brubeck. Four Square will be danced by Tom Rogers, Kit Holder, Lewis Turner and Jamie Bond, and Flying Solo will be danced by Mathias Dingman. Take Five can be seen in its entirety at the company’s home theatre Birmingham Hippodrome as part of the triple bill Opposites Attract from 26 to 29 September. The Act II pas de deux from Swan Lake, the world’s favourite narrative ballet, will be performed by First Soloist Momoko Hirata and Principal César Morales. Peter Wright’s full-length production of Swan Lake opens in Salford later this month and can then be seen on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage from 2 to 6 October and then in Plymouth, Sunderland and Cardiff. Birmingham Royal Ballet's ArtsFest performance finishes with the Act I divert from Peter Wright’s production of Coppélia. This will be danced by Principal Ambra Vallo and First Soloist Tyrone Singleton, with Maureya Lebowitz, Arancha Baselga, Samara Downs, Laura Purkiss, Laura-Jane Gibson and Callie Roberts

The Lowry Swan Lake Casting / Benno , Rothbarth, 3 Princesses The Lowry - 18 - 22 September 2012 19 September 2012 7:30 pm Odette/Odile: Nao Sakuma Prince Siegfried: Chi Cao Benno: Mathias Dingman Baron von Rothbarth: Jonathan Payn Hungarian Princess: Jenna Roberts Polish Princess: Céline Gittens Italian Princess: Momoko Hirata Conductor: Koen Kessels 20 September 2012 2:00 pm Odette/Odile: Elisha Willis Prince Siegfried: Joseph Caley Benno: Tzu-Chao Chou Baron von Rothbarth: Valentin Olovyannikov Hungarian Princess: Ambra Vallo Polish Princess: Victoria Marr Italian Princess: Laura Purkiss Conductor: Koen Kessels 20 September 2012 7:30 pm Odette/Odile: Natasha Oughtred Prince Siegfried: Jamie Bond Benno: Jonathan Caguioa Baron von Rothbarth: Tyrone Singleton Hungarian Princess: Laëtitia Lo Sardo Polish Princess: Samara Downs Italian Princess: Arancha Baselga Conductor: Paul Murphy 21 September 2012 7:30 pm Odette/Odile: Nao Sakuma Prince Siegfried: Chi Cao Benno: Mathias Dingman Baron von Rothbarth: Jonathan Payn Hungarian Princess: Maureya Lebowitz Polish Princess: Céline Gittens Italian Princess: Momoko Hirata Conductor: Paul Murphy 22 September 2012 2:30 pm Odette/Odile: Jenna Roberts Prince Siegfried: Iain Mackay Benno: William Bracewell Baron von Rothbarth: Tom Rogers Hungarian Princess: Laëtitia Lo Sardo Polish Princess: Yvette Knight Italian Princess: Arancha Baselga Conductor: Koen Kessels 22 September 2012 7:30 pm Odette/Odile: Elisha Willis Prince Siegfried: Joseph Caley Benno: Tzu-Chao Chou Baron von Rothbarth: Valentin Olovyannikov Hungarian Princess: Ambra Vallo Polish Princess: Victoria Marr Italian Princess: Angela Paul Conductor: Paul Murphy

Janet McNulty Is Noriko Ohara the lady who used to dance so wonderfully with Scottish Ballet? Yes, Janet.

North East Tour / Durham Gala / 8-9th May /Cast Change Chi Cao is not well. He may not be able to perform in Durham on 8th & 9th. There is some possiblity for him to start performing from York Theatre Royal.