alison

Is anyone actually watching this yet? I'm intending to later, but it would be nice to find a *proper* schedule, with timings for everything. Plus I hope the "departing" company is putting up a link to the "arriving" company's website to make the transfer easier.

Do we know that Des Grieux *has* religious convictions? I can't remember it from the novel, which I haven't read for a few years now - although as I've pointed out before MacMillan's ballet has so little to do with the novel that it's barely recognisable. Sure, DG is a divinity student, but I thought that back in that time in French society that didn't necessarily mean much, and that they could be as corrupt as the next man.

Would they be allowed? Would they be pro or amateur? This is what I originally thought the thread would be about. And as I've no doubt pointed out before, the Royal Ballet's only two British male principals only took up dancing because their twin sisters did it and they didn't want to miss out. It's mind-boggling how many potential dancers won't have had even that advantage. And I'm sure I've previously mentioned the former colleague of mine who blithely sent her 3-year-old daughter and only child off to ballet classes, but when I challenged her whether she would have done the same thing if she'd had a son her response was along the lines of "Good God no, we'd have sent him to rugby or something". At the time of posting, that post had 18 "Likes", which I suspect may be something of a record for this board This is very true, too. Another reason for avoiding gender-linked colouring.

*And* the oldest town in Germany, of course, going back to pre-Christian times I must admit that I didn't know it had a dance company, although I imagine the stage would be good for dance - a trapezium-shape, IIRC, so great sightlines. Sorry, I obviously haven't been keeping up with this thread over the last month

Hello, Jack, and welcome. I can see where he's coming from on this, even though I don't exactly agree with him. I've just finished reading the reviews for this in the Links thread, and will admit to being a little surprised at quite how positive they were: to my mind, it wasn't on a par with Carmen, or Giselle. And I too certainly got irritated by the patchwork of bleeding chunks of Tchaikovsky.

My reaction too. It may have been at that point that I seriously started questioning her credibility.

I'm not sure it "means" anything, Bruce - it's just a pretty typical finishing time for the Royal Ballet season these days. The days when they used to go into July are long gone, I fear.

If so, that's a bit daft - why try competing? URL for viewing is www.roh.org.uk/worldballetday

I wondered, too. I sometimes felt that some people in the US, critics and non-critics alike, actually disliked MacMillan *more* simply because he *wasn't* Ashton, and was so different from Ashton.

Frankly, I'm not surprised. I have no idea why anyone thought it would sell well at normal triple-bill prices rather than the £40 top-price ones they usually use for new work. [Edit: This was originally in response to Jacqueline's comment: "As for casting, I am wondering when we can expect some for the Brandstrup and co. triple bill run. I see there are many unsold tickets for that also. I have a ticket for the matinee but am thinking about swapping it for this Saturday's matinee of Manon with Roberta Marquez. Any thoughts on whether this might be a good idea?" which was part of a posting which has now been transferred into the "Ashton, MacMillan and their American reputations" thread which John mentions below. Hope that's not too confusing ]

But would that be a cause for nerves? I wouldn't have thought so.

WoodlandGladeFairy, welcome, in case nobody's said it before. I noticed your name as the latest newcomer a few days ago, but didn't notice when your first post was. Enjoy Manon. It does suit her, doesn't it? I always felt her Manon was far more likely to return to Des Grieux than Nunez's the previous night: she seemed more reluctant to leave in the first place, and there was quite a brittleness in her interaction with the clientele during the brothel scene. As for the final act, I agree that her eyes were hugely expressive (and I was sitting mid-amphi, with only standard opera glasses with me) - but haven't you seen her in La Sylphide? Thanks, James. I'll look it out in the library when I have a chance. I think it's not uncommon for established partnerships to work better in some roles than others: for example, there are some roles I really liked Rojo/Acosta in, and some I was less impressed by - sometimes because I'd seen the individual dancers with other partners who worked better, perhaps. I didn't like Lamb's Juliet the first time I saw her - I can't remember who she was dancing with - but then I saw her with Slava Samodurov, and that seemed to work much better. It's a case of trial and error - and hopefully not too much error before the person doing the casting finds a good combination. Double debut? Who else is making his/hers?

My reactions exactly: who is Vladimir A. Mozart and how are the Mariinsky going to do in Alice? You have to love Google Translate, don't you: it can be such a laugh.

Wow, to come away from an accident like that with only minor injuries seems little short of miraculous. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

I don't think it helps that the public in general probably hasn't got its collective head round the fact that the RB season has started yet, but Manon has never proved that easy to sell - certainly not with the numbers of performances we have this season. There must have been quite a lot last time around (2011?) - but they were split between two different seasons, which may have made a difference.

Well, that's a useful start: so, it's likely to be early again. I wouldn't have expected that. Do bear in mind that Carlos doesn't dance in the whole of the Company's repertory, so quite conceivably he might not be dancing in the last bill of the season anyway (he didn't this year, or in the one immediately before that), so I wouldn't bank on June at all. I believe he's been contracted to do about 25 performances a year in recent years, although whether that is still the case as he drops roles he used to do I don't know. I don't imagine that the Company arranges its entire schedule around giving him X performances Whether he will still be dancing all the roles he is still doing now by the end of next season is anybody's guess: he already said a couple of years back that he wouldn't be doing any more classical princes, and yet suddenly here he is dancing Siegfried again. Floss is right about the scheduling: at the moment, having just begun this season, we have several weeks of only Manon before other things start to be woven into the schedule, so it could be more advantageous to aim for a little later.

Sorry about the mess above. I'd just found the email in my inbox and was trying to post it up before the train left the station and my WiFi signal disappeared At the rate we're going, we'll need an Excel table to fit in all the different offer details!

Book your tickets now Tickets are now only £35 in the Orchestra Stalls and £22 for the matinee performances on 27 September and 4 October (usually £77, £73 and £71 and £47, £42, £30 respectively). Tickets are now only £44 in the Orchestra Stalls and £27 for the evening performances on 10 and 13 October (usually £97, £91 and £88 and £58, £51 and £40 respectively). To book, visitwww.roh.org.uk/manon, select performance and enter the code wosmanon into the 'Do you have a code?' box, which is situated above the seating plan on the booking page, and click 'Update'. To book by phone, please call +44 (0)20 7304 4000 and quote wosmanon. Tickets subject to availability. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, or on tickets already purchased. Only valid on performances on 27 September, 4, 10 and 13 October

It's not as if they've made anything of the anniversary.

Sim has a good point, because the start of season is always unpredictable: it's usually October, but unusually early this year. Also, the RB perform in rep with the Royal Opera, so there's no guarantee of what nights will be taken. I think the schedule usually comes out late March/early April, but one year I think it was late January or something weird. Welcome to the forum, BTW

Do they do 24-hour WiFi?

Actually, now I read the Evening Standard, I realise that it's only a limited number of lines anyway: the cross-London ones, rather than e.g. the District and Circle/Hammersmith & City etc.

Another post from ambros1a, which I've copied over from the Paris Opera Ballet thread: "I don't know if there are many people on this forum from Ireland but Manon is live in HD in some cinemas (IMC, Lighthouse and Screen in Dublin; Carrick on Shannon and Letterkenny). The Manon performance is on May 18th and is the farewell performance of Aurélie Dupont. According to the Paris Opera website it will also be available from May 19th on Culturebox (online I think) There is also (to be confirmed) Nutcracker (recording) and Fêtez la Danse (which I think is a recording of the Défilé and Etudes from the livestream of October 4th) on December 18th. This is to be presented by Brigitte Lefèvre. http://classicalarts...allet-de-paris/ http://www.fnacspect...T.htm#blocInfos"

Not to mention the one - I think it turned out to be their last with the RB - which was broadcast live to big screens across the country. It had a very large proportion of Trafalgar Square - my friend and me included - seriously in tears by the end! There is clearly a lot of anti-MacMillan feeling in the US, stoked in part over the years by various critics as well. This is one time when I really hope people don't let themselves be swayed by that. I suspect you'll have to resort to changing it for another performance of ... something or other. That woman has been so unlucky over the years. I wish her a speedy and full recovery.

Darn. I was there just at the weekend for Open House weekend and noticed the posters. There are some good names among them, I think?