balletyas

6 minutes ago, Sim said:

Good luck balletyas!  I do hope you make it.  If so, let me know if you want to come and say hello in the interval/s. 

 

Oh thank you very much! Whereabouts do you hover? I’m coming with my husband as it is actually my delayed birthday treat so might not manage it but it would be lovely to meet a fellow Nagdhi fan!  
 

I do hope so. All I know is having had to miss the Nagdhi Bracewell debut due to illness I’m going to brave the train strike hassle from Cambridge for tomorrow night’s  performance come hell or high water! 

25 minutes ago, capybara said:

My wishes (which apply mainly to the RB) are:

- that (most casts) get three performances in a narrative or classical run in order to be able to develop their roles, reward their efforts and provide more flexibility for their audiences; (if an up-and-coming First Soloist has to wait a little longer for a debut, so be it);

- that the RB in particular demonstrates to the outside world (and I mean world) that it has BIG STARS whose artistry is at least on a level with international artists whom people seem to be more ready to laud; (this might mean diminishing the publicity currently afforded (eg) Nunez and Osipova but it’s high time that the reservoir of top talent the RB has in the 30 - 35 age range is celebrated and promoted)

- that ‘new agendas’ are not so dominant as to deprive future audiences of historic jewels or skew the overall shape of a season etc.; in this connection that ‘residencies’ (choreographers etc) are re-thought to open up creative opportunities

 

In setting down the above, I recognise the challenge each represents, but they must be met if the Company is to continue to thrive.

I second all three!  

7 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

That's ridiculous. Surely anyone could have done it!

Yes indeed!

Just now, Blossom said:

Both dates werent an option for me and I am devastated. 

I think they should have had 3… 

Just now, LinMM said:

Yes another option. 
It’s only in very recent years I’ve been lucky enough not to have to try to get back to Brighton after performances otherwise given the way the trains have been in the last 5 years or so with so many later night cancellations 

….standing on a Victoria platform at 10.30 pm and seeing the train just cancelled in the middle of the winter is not for the 70 plus!!! …I’d rarely go to the ROH

Saturday matinees are often no good because of engineering works especially between October and April

Id really love a regular weekday matinee, a few more 7pm starts or shorter intervals …all three would be great. 
Though I do feel I’m probably showing my age here as when younger never even occurred to me to worry about end times though did live in London then. I retired in 2012 and think have slowly got more bothered by being out much after 11.30 whether in London or Brighton for whatever reason. 
 

I think it creeps up on one - up until 5 years ago I thought nothing of getting back to Cambridge station and trawling through a multi story bike park for my bike and then cycling home, humming the tunes from that night’s ballet - now I live in the country so it’s much harder to get home but I’m also that much older and definitely see it as more of an ordeal after a great performance. I do hope someone’s listening…. 

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I definitely agree with this. Since my train timetable changed last year the final fast train is now at 23.09 so if it's a 7.30pm start of a 3 hour work then I have to really leg it if anything runs late, or get a much slower train that doesn't get in until nearly 1am. It's also difficult to concentrate on a peformance if you're worrying about whether or not you'll make the train. I'd particularly like some 7pm weekday starts since it seems the occasional 7pms are only ever on Saturdays & so many Saturday performances I can't get to at the moment due to incessant engineering stopping the trains.

Cambridge line of course! 

That’s wonderful /Please post more on their performance when you get a chance as I had to return my ticket tonight - so cross as I have been longing to see their debuts….now have to wait till the 3rd…  😡

My wishes for the RB would be: 

Lower prices! 

More 7pm starts because getting home so late on winter nights is so wearing.,, 

Song of The Earth - I can imagine several great casts for this - the current crop of principals would eat this up….and I haven’t seen it since Ed Watson was the Messenger of Death which was quite some time ago… I wish they were doing this for the Macmillan Triple instead of Different Drummer…. 

Bayadere - the white act if nothing else… 

Chroma / still the best thing McGregor ever did for the company and not staged for a very long time… 
 

Job / had been scheduled but was cancelled during the pandemic. I’d just like to see it…  

If anybody has two reasonably good seats together or apart that you might not be able to use please let me know. Many thanks! 

LEVEL 1 / Stalls Circle / Door 1B / Row B Seat 24 and 25/ £ 47.00 each 
Bench Seat 

can’t get there on Wednesday, DM me if interested… 

15 minutes ago, capybara said:

Watching the rehearsal and itching to comment 🫢 but hoping to read reactions after tonight’s opening show.

Me too! 

Nagdhi was sublime . Feel very privileged to have witnessed that. Radiant, so assured, so musical and clearly loving every minute, the conductor and she so very in sync,,, the connection with Ball particularly lovely tonight.  
too shattered to write more now! 

On 26/04/2023 at 11:00, Sim said:

Very happy with the Ashton programmes, and especially Sarasota's visit.  With the MacMillan triple I would replace Different Drummer with Gloria (although it's probably too depressing to have that with Requiem!), but happy to see the other two ballets again.

 

I wasn't crazy about The Cellist but liked Anemoi very much so will give it another go.

 

Will probably skip Dante as I liked Act 1 but then it was downhill from there.   The other full length ballets are oh-so-predictable, but I understand they need to present bums-on-seats stuff.   Glad to see Winter's Tale back.

 

Disappointed that yet again we get Nutcracker at Christmas.  Yes, it makes money so I understand why they are showing it, but for me as an enthusiast there are so many other ballets that could be put on, or at least alternated with Nut.  Oh well.

 

Very disappointed that yet again Fille is not being done, nor Bayadere, nor Sylvia, nor Onegin.

 

Happy that the season is starting with DonQ....I will see that and then save my money until the last third of the season.  I hope with what I save that I can take a trip or two to the Continent to see other companies.    

 

 

 

Quite agree - would so love to see Fille  or any of the others... Bayadere for the white act - the other two acts seem to be fraught with issues so perhaps best avoided...but such a loss not to see that wonderful white act again....and Fille and Sylvia would be a joy.. also why not Les Patineurs and at the Macmilan end, Song of the Earth which ive sorely missed..... I could've done without Swan Lake yet again, and agree with others that the Dante is a bit too soon for me.. 

Thank you very much! 

Aarrrgh!  I mean B24 and B25 - can I edit this? Not sure how... 

FOR SALE:  FUMI KANEKO AND WILLIAM BRACEWELL IN CINDERELLA 

SADLY CANNOT ATTEND SO I HAVE TWO VERY GOOD SEATS TO SELL -  STALLS CIRCLE LEFT B24/B25. £112 EACH

DM IF INTERESTED 

Yes I’m very interested can you reserve for 30 mins please? 

6 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

What does everyone (who bought/read one) think of the current Cinderella programme, from ROH?

Can't say I was impressed when I took a glance - at all!! 6/8 pages (3/4 double spreads) of blurry, unidenifiable flower meadows. (??) Pages with blurry rehearsal photos (arty? - do me a favour, just get in a professional photographer!). You know you're in trouble when the synopsis is IN BIG PRINT to fill out more space....

I thought it was very lean on information and the pictures were soooo frustrating - full page bleeds of blurry nothingness is insane - all those gorgeous principal Cinderellas and they showed only 2 or 3 at the most! Very disappointing! 

1 hour ago, annamk said:

I’m baffled as to why the Royal Ballet chose to spend what was presumably a significant amount of money reviving this. It is so so much less than Fille - I could weep. The score is difficult, the story is not well told, the choreography is less appealing than other Ashton ballets and the stepsisters are appallingly unfunny - someone should tell them it’s the 21st century, not the 1950s. 

Quite agree! I put Fille on yesterday just to remind myself why Widow Simone’s clog dance is so much more enjoyable than all that stepsister nonsense.. I think it’s the music - everything is comes from that whereas the sisters antics seem utterly detached from it. Agree to re story - so much better told  and the staging and costumes remain absolutely perfect.

1 hour ago, Sim said:

No it’s not just you…I totally agree.   

Re Naghdi quite agree / perhaps partially because she is is so consistent and her technique is so rock solid that people feel she’s an automaton but her Giselle and Tatiana should have put paid to that…(I didn’t see her Mary Vetsera - that would have been interesting) 

6 hours ago, Candleque said:

Spot on. Rather dreading having to sit through the sisters act again and again 🙈. Because I was excited to see so many ballerinas making their debuts as Cinderella, I made the rookie mistake of booking multiple tickets for a show I had never seen. If it comes back (as no doubt it will given the investment) once will be enough for me. 

Am sure the Jonathan Gray review is in the Links; hope it is ok to quote one line:
"If only the producers had been braver, bitten the bullet, and given the ballet the pruning it really needs."

That's exactly how I feel. With all respect to Ashton, how long does a ballet have to be around before it is okay to make some tweaks? Agree Ashton is a genius, but that doesn't mean every work is perfect.

On the other hand, while not my own cup of tea, I know that pantomime is super popular in the UK. So my new marketing question to the ROH is: Why not communicate that element? This Cinderella really is the perfect entry ballet for families that love panto. But a lovely ballerina in a field of flowers does nothing to communicate the slap-stick humour that is half the show. Contrast with the original VHS cover image on the ballet's wikipedia page which features the step-sisters as well as Cinders and her Prince. (Note the page in the background appears to be in blackface so thankfully it is ok to make at least some needed changes for a modern audience.) 
 

I agree with so much of this and have to say have been astounded by the marketing choices.   Marianela surrounded by flowers perhaps arose from the initial creative process that apparently took place in Wendy Somes’ garden and of course the ball had changed into a garden party but as the general public couldn’t know any of that before seeing it, it’s not surprising that ticket sales were so sluggish. There are so many famous elements (slippers, broom, pumpkins etc)  in Cinderella that could’ve been harnessed cleverly to show off the new production it seems downright perverse not to use them! 

5 hours ago, Mary said:

Perhaps a very dark, twisted and frightening version with Ed Watson and Wayne McGregor?

😄

 

 

 

(No offence Ed and Wayne, I know you are 2 of the nicest people one could hope to meet)

 

I’ve been dreaming of Ed doing it but I don’t think Wayne is right…but Ed could be brilliant!  But I also feel that the music doesn’t really help the sisters / unlike the Fille Clog Dance there are very few obviously ‘danceable’ bits for them….but that may just be my inability to really ‘get’ this music… 

4 hours ago, Fonty said:

How much dancing do the step sisters have to do?  I don't know how old Aston and Helpmann were when it was first created, but maybe there is an opportunity here to coax back some retired dancers?   I was just thinking about earlier comments, saying that the humour came from knowing the individual dancers and what they normally performed. 

 

Would someone like Mukhamedov be too old now?  Having seen him in the Cinderella  on tv at Christmas, I am certain he would be wonderful.  Edited to add maybe Bussell could take a turn, with....?

21 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I very much enjoyed last night’s Cinderella. Apart from the lighting during the overture which I found intensely distracting, I liked the production and costumes. The magic certainly worked for me.

I thought Francesca Hayward delightful - fully convincing in the house scenes (mesmerising when discovering her slipper) and some fabulous dancing in the ball and final scenes although there were a couple of moments which I’m sure will be more secure with further performances. I recall how her second Act 2 Giselle was a triumph and complemented what she’d achieved in her first Act 1. She and Alexander Campbell do make a great partnership and I’m very much looking forward to seeing their final performance. I’m even tempted to have another look at Easter Bank Holiday Monday as I still have a ticket but I doubt a Fairy Godmother will magic transport for me.

Christina Arestis and Kristen McNally I thought made for an engaging pair of step sisters, certainly not over the top, and more importantly provided a credible sense of family domesticity. I rather hope there’ll be more female sisters in performances not yet cast. 
I enjoyed the Fairy Godmother, the Seasons, the Jester and all the cast - a tremendous ensemble making for a celebratory evening with enormous thanks to Koen Kessels and the orchestra.

Ah yes the lights! I found them very disconcerting but my companion loved the effect!