Booklover89

It was extremely touching indeed. Feeling very privileged to have been there and may have shed a tear or two at the lovely tribute from Kevin O'Hare. Wonderful to see Sir Peter Wright, Monica Mason and others join the company on stage as well. A marvellous performance of Giselle by Marianela and Vadim, though my teeth were set slightly on edge by the incessant coughing in Act II...

Has there been any news on the other ENB promotions, joiners and leavers?

RB promotions were announced at about this time last year, before the company left on tour. Could we find out next week? I would love to see promotions for Yasmine, Matthew and Reece, to name but a few.

I've just managed to snag a ticket for Cuthbertson/Bonelli on Friday! SO excited. My first time seeing the Macmillan R & J.

Although I am very much looking forward to going up to see Northern Ballet dance 1984 there next month! No R and J tickets this time around for me (counting the pennies) but there are dancers I'll be really interested to see (primarily Nagdhi, Ball, Hayward, Muntagirov) when it inevitably comes back...

Going back to the topic at hand...it should be only a few weeks until promotions are announced. For my two cents, I'd love to see Francesca Hayward promoted to First Soloist. Even though it's only been a year since her promotion to Soloist, she's been so consistent in such a range of featured and solo roles, not to mention Manon and Alice (and her Juliet to come). Otherwise, many of the people who have impressed me this season have probably been promoted too recently to go up again this year. I would quite like to see Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Leticia Stock rewarded in the corps though. I think there was some discussion of the First Soloist rank on here recently. Is it the case that one really has to be under consideration as a future principal to reach this rank? Or can it be a kind of 'reward' for particularly useful soloists with the understand that they probably won't go any further? If the latter, I can think of a few soloists who consistently impress and might merit it e.g. Paul Kay, as a kind of specialist in the demi-caratere roles?

I was glad to finally see Song of the Earth and didn't think it a low point on which to end the season at all, though I can see why it divides opinion quite sharply. Ed Watson was just so fabulous and powerful and it was a treat to see Lauren back. Faun was intriguing, and Sarah Lamb does that intense, ethereal otherworldliness so well, but In the Night didn't do much for me. I would love to see the company bring back Dances at a Gathering though. I hope Melissa Hamilton attracts some kinder remarks after she comes back from Dresden. She does seem to get some fairly brutal comments on here from the same people each time. Is it really necessary to make the same negative points repeatedly about a dancer making a debut?

I would really like to see Zenaida Yanowsky in the Ferri role...has she ever done any McGregor? She doesn't seem to be in his group of regular dancers...

FLOSS, with respect, that is a little bit patronising. Not all young (in ballet terms) audience members are limited in dance-watching or other cultural experience and age doesn't necessarily equate with the kind of broad and varied experience which you rightly value in a critic. Though I do agree that the response to Woolf Works above is hyperbolic, remember that the positive experience may well encourage the writer to go and see more ballet in future.

Discussion of Woolf Works on Radio 4 Front Row right now.

I like Hamilton, and do hope Dresden is an enriching experience for her and gives her a boost in classical roles. It does seem a bit of a catch-22 when you need to develop in a particular part of the repertoire in order to advance, but there are 1) others ahead of you in the casting queue and 2) limited opportunities to try roles out away from the pressures of the Covent Garden stage. It will be interesting to see whether others have the confidence to explore opportunities outside the company as well. Edited for typos.

I really hope not :-(

Thanks BillBoyd - but stop asking Judith Mackrell to point out the 'young audiences' that new works have attracted to Covent Garden. We do exist!!

And I find those Guardian comments pretty depressing, if I'm honest. I'm in my mid-twenties and probably among the demographic that ROH are keen to attract. Chroma was the very first performance I saw at Covent Garden and I'm looking forward to Woolf Works. I've been contacted by several friends (the same age) who have spotted the adverts and are intrigued enough to look for tickets. The overwhelming negativity towards McGregor and anyone interested in seeing or discussing his work is, however, really off-putting. I might be tempted to go and see a play or something instead.

I hope they do revive The Four Seasons in that case, FLOSS. I confess I hadn't heard of it before (I've only been watching ballet for a few years) but would very much like to see it.