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RobR

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  1. RobR
    I’m afraid that in the absence of any/much ballet, I haven’t been following the Forum as often as I did formerly but I’ve now (re)started doing so. I seem to have missed the post about the little blue shields which now appear against some of your names. Perhaps someone could tell me the significance of these 😀
  2. RobR
    Sorry, Capybara, I may have missed something in the thread but I was in row J yesterday afternoon and from my vantage point I could see that the Stalls Circle seemed quite well populated.
  3. RobR
    Writing from the perspective of a parent, whose child attended ballet classes until 11 and a full time ballet school thereafter, and is now a professional ballet dancer, I can’t recall any parent (well connected or not) succeeding in promoting a less able child (at any age) to the disadvantage of more able pupils. Naturally, any parent will do whatever they might believe would assist but, after watching the progress of whole classes of children over a 12 year period, the better dancers always looked better than the others, they were the ones spotted by the schools, the companies and the directors. I didn’t know much when I started watching, but in the following 12 years, can’t recall seeing a poorer dancer selected ahead of a better one. The popular parental trope was that one should compare the dancing of one's own child with the dancing of the others in the class/year group to gauge ability. It seemed a pretty infallible approach. If I could see it, which I could, so could any professional appraiser watching the group.
  4. RobR
    Well, it all sounds very nice but who’s dancing ‘Little girl’?
  5. RobR
    You put it perfectly - I couldn’t have put it better myself
  6. RobR
    So, apart from Janet McNulty, this forum's membership must be predominantly from the South given that the MP for Rossendale and Darwen contends that Northerners prefer football to ballet https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-54908862
  7. RobR
    No one has mentioned the Hofesh Schechter opening - what a super start to a great evening. And how nice to see the all Company in Elite. The pas de deux were great, particularly Carousel, but I always think that without the rest of the company, particularly the Corps, and without the general narrative of a full ballet, it’s just two dancers in search of a role.
  8. RobR
    It’s very positive news at a very difficult time. These young dancers will have been hugely worried, and may still be, about what the future holds. All will have been in training for eight years and they, and the years below, at the RBS and other schools, will be very concerned about what their future holds. So, this is definitely good news.
  9. RobR
    Just heard, and I hope I’m right, that the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, has confirmed that theatres and cinemas (and I assume ballet/opera companies) are exempt from the 10pm curfew
  10. RobR
    I’ve no real problem with the multiple requests. All of us on BCF are aware of the need to support the Arts and, with our interest, the RB/ROH in particular. Many of us will already have sent donations to the RB and/or other Arts venues/companies. That said, 75% of my group (3) had never previously visited the ROH and may not have appreciated the multiplicity of funding requirements and the 'taster' tour may spark an interest to both watch and support the Arts.
  11. RobR
    There you go, two more 😉
  12. RobR
    I’d give you more ‘likes’ if I could 🙏
  13. RobR
    Thanks There were no restrictions on photos and I would have done a selfie but for the fact that I was wearing a mask although some would say I look better wearing a mask ;)
  14. RobR
    I don’t know if anyone else went but it was wonderful to be back in the ROH, to visit the ground floor cafe/bar, the shop and to go on the backstage tour. All the ROH staff seemed very happy to be showing us around and were all very helpful and informative. The Stalls seating has been completely removed, to enable the orchestra to perform on a socially distanced footing for the upcoming live performances to be streamed. The tour finished on stage, where the informative and very engaging David Pickering, showed us all how to bow/curtsey to the Royal Box and the imaginary audience, accompanied by real and very good-natured clapping from the ROH backstage staff present. I finished off in the shop buying cards/postcards of my favourite ballet dancer. So good to be back
  15. RobR
    Any other Forum member intending to be there on Sunday for the 7pm tour?
  16. RobR
    Sorry for the mixed metaphor
  17. RobR
    I think so. I had the same problem for the Friends dates that others have reported. Very nice to be able to post positively on the Forum. I’m hoping it’s a ‘green shoot’ on the road to the return of events at the ROH
  18. RobR
    Well, I’ve got one for Sunday evening 🎈🎈
  19. RobR
    Yes, quite possibly but the difference for me is that they are available now and online without my having to buy the dvd, at about £20 each, as and when it’s for sale and, with a terminable rental of about £9.00 per month for all of them. But, I’m not advising anyone else doing what I’ve done, merely pointing out that it’s there and on a free trial offer.
  20. RobR
    I recently received a recommendation to Marquee TV and I’m very impressed after watching two Royal Ballet productions. The filming is very good, you see the stage as though you’re in the middle of the stalls, close ups are well handled and the focus and the editing is excellent. The other feature I enjoy is that the productions that I’ve watched so far are recent and the casts are, largely, the current company. Of course, the older filmed productions are very nice, particularly for a trip down memory lane, and I recognise old favourite dancers from my fairly regular ROH visits over the last twenty years but as a balletgoer averaging about four visits a month I’m suffering from withdrawal and find it more entertaining to watch, for example, the recent Hirano/Cuthbertson WT than the otherwise excellent, but considerably older Watson/Cuthbertson version, shown last Friday. I haven’t yet fully explored this streaming service but the range of ballet company productions from both the UK and abroad, as well as the theatre productions it offers could keep me entertained for a much longer lockdown. (I should say, having read what I have written, which could be mistaken for some sort of press release, that I have absolutely no connection with Marquee TV and am currently enjoying my free trial, having committed to a monthly subscription.)
  21. RobR
    Of those who went from White Lodge and are currently in the company; Chisato Katsura, Isabel Lubach & Julia Roscoe, with choreographer Charlotte Edmonds as the little bird. I hope I haven’t omitted anyone.
  22. RobR
    The options are: 1. Donate your tickets or, 2. Request a credit or, 3. Request a refund
  23. RobR
    I think it inevitable that performances will cease in the near future. This will inevitably add to financial pressure on both the RB and the ROH. With this in mind, I do not intend to return or seek a refund on tickets I currently hold for performances which are either not performed or for which I choose not to attend.
  24. RobR
    I’m afraid I don’t agree. The music and traditional choreography requires a pas de trois. In Dowell’s SL, it didn’t involve Siegfried - it was just some random bloke and two random girls. The introduction by Scarlett of the two princesses (replacing the two random girls) need someone specific to dance with. Benno fits the bill, as I believe he does in other choreographic versions. It would never be Siegfried who dances with his sisters in the PDT, he’s got bigger fish to fry, so there we are. I can’t see what the perceived problem is or why Benno shouldn’t dance with the princesses.
  25. RobR
    And, back to performances. I was there for Reece Clark’s debut as Siegfried. I’d originally booked this ticket without regard as to who was to perform. I think RB casts are uniformly good, albeit that some feature dancers whose performances I sometimes enjoy more than others. So, it was with considerable pleasure that I learnt that Reece Clark was debuting. I thought he was excellent and, as an earlier poster remarked, it could as easily have been his twentieth performance as his first given, in my view, his competence and (justifiable) confidence. Apart from his dancing, which I enjoyed and admired, he acted the role convincingly - something that not all dancers, principals or otherwise, can manage although that was no great surprise having seen him recently as Onegin. What you had to be there to notice was the collective holding of breath by the audience during both his big numbers in Acts 1 & 2, coupled with the (almost audible) exhalation of relief and the applause that accompanied his successful completion of his performances; almost as though they were willing him on. A great debut.
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