Geoff

Just to say I notice a number of website issues coming up over the last day or two (including one or two new to me, they still keep showing skill at great innovation on the messing up front, well done the eager clever website elves!) These problems and idiotic marketing behaviour are discussed on anther thread, try scrolling down from around here: https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/27634-royal-ballet-casting-for-autumn-2023-24/?do=findComment&comment=418212

As predicted the discounts have started. Try code DUPRE25*

Contrary to what it still says on the Sadler’s Wells website here is the programme for last night (there were some last minute changes in the running order but all - except I think one piece - was performed):

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This thread has been going for weeks now yet so far no one has chosen Viviana Durante for any role. Really? She was by far the most gifted and expressive ballerina of her era at the Royal Ballet and thankfully some, at least, of her greatest performances are captured in good quality recordings. If I had to go for just one, I’d pick her pairing with Irek in Mayerling but her Giselle and Aurora are also still burned into my memory.

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Yes it was. Fwiw I don’t agree the ENO show was better. ROH has the better cast, more coherent staging and, above all, a wonderful balance between the orchestra and clear diction from the singers resulting in an authentic Wagner sound London audiences have not heard in many years. More on that point in this review: https://theartsdesk.com/opera/das-rheingold-royal-opera-knotty-riveting-route-destruction

For the record, here is what the Sadler’s Wells website says at the moment: We are privileged to be welcoming this incredible group of artists to the Peacock Theatre for their first ever London performances. The company presents a varied programme of excerpts from some of their favourite pieces including Les Sylphides, a fragment from the ballet Tribute to Peace (choreographed by Ivan Kozlov), Carmen, Sirtaki, and Men of Kyiv (a Ukrainian folk dance).

Wishing her a swift and complete recovery, here’s a memory: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxQNRGIAsgf/

This would suggest that “turning down the volume on a few speakers” is what has actually happened, rather than “turning off amplification”, which is what they should do. Pity.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxStWA0ozBN/

+1

Did you see it in Vienna a couple of weeks ago? I had a ticket but couldn’t use it. What was the show like (not in such good shape before the summer, so I heard)?

Speaking personally I did not think the last ROH Ring was “very good”, more like a show maybe worth seeing once only. So I am relieved that production is being replaced. Seeing this new show on Sunday.

By way of comparison, anyone remember this Deborah Bull story from over 20 years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jun/30/sarahhall

What an interesting discussion. Three possible analogies, perhaps more food for thought:— 1) From the 16th century on there was a European boom in castrati, young boys castrated to inhibit growth of their vocal cords and thyroid glands during puberty to give them a “special” (essentially female) voice. This practice endured into the modern era (one can find a commercial recording on YouTube). This kind of voice was very popular and some of these mutilated performers became superstars. The practice has died out but it seems connoisseurs enjoyed the sound for centuries. Do times move on? 2) Some people eat foie gras. Some don’t. Production is banned in, for example, the UK but not, for example, in France. Free choice? 3) Modern research into British boarding schools appears conclusive. The work of for example Joy Schaverien and Nick Duffell shows that even if one has a perfect institution (no bullies, no violence, no perverts, letches or other abusers), the simple act of taking a prepubescent or pubescent child out of an intact family to live in a “boarding school” for long periods of time can damage that child for life. Yet British boarding schools - starting from around the age of 7 - have not been banned, and, as charities, even receive state support in the form of tax breaks. Why?

MODERATOR NOTE: To avoid confusion as to the actual content of this programme, discussion prior to its broadcast is now in a separate thread, here: ----------------------------------------------------------- As this thread is now active again, might I make a request on behalf of those outside Britain who will be unable to see this programme (the BBC is very strict at policing its international reach)? Some people say they know ways around the BBC restrictions but many will not. As it seems this documentary may be of international relevance (or at least interest) perhaps someone who is planning to watch it could take a few notes and post a summary of the comment?

I was prompted to post by the (to me astonishingly vicious) reactions on the US forum Ballet Alert: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/47366-dont-think-dear-—-former-sab-students-memoir/ The comments followed an article in the New York Times in advance of publication. However I see that once the book came out, no one on Ballet Alert has thought to write about it. So it seemed like a good idea to do so here.

As maybe not everyone reads the posts in Doing Dance, might I draw attention to what I have just written about this new book:

Alice Robb’s excellent recent book Don’t Think Dear has had a few mentions in Links but has not otherwise been highlighted on the Forum. That’s a pity, hence bumping this up now to give her book a bit more visibility. Don’t Think Dear is not (as one might fear) a long moan by an ex-dancer but rather an extremely intelligent and thoughtful personal meditation on what it means to want to dance, to learn to dance, to become a dancer and then to fall away from the profession. It does not require any specialist knowledge yet takes one deep inside the real life of real dancers today. It is as well done as one can hope for, a literary gem, far better written than books by dancers (or, dare I say, many books about dance by dance writers) tend to be. Robb draws with mature honesty from her own experiences and those of other dancers, as well as memoirs and other writings (in fact her book is far better than many of the works she draws from so one might recommend this over them). Some of the content (for example on sex, EDs and other “adult themes”) makes the book unsuitable for children although I can imagine an intelligent teen getting a lot from it (and, if a ballet student, perhaps shedding a few dangerous illusions a useful year or so sooner than they otherwise would). As an American book it is unsurprisingly focussed on the US experience and on the influence of Balanchine in particular. But that should not put off the non-US reader: her nuanced account of the business of ballet chimes with what I have learned from dancer friends in Britain and elsewhere. So I would recommend this to just about any reader of the Forum. Look around for reviews (as so often the detail and range of opinions from readers posting on Amazon are most illuminating) and see what you think. Not everyone will like this book but it deserves attention. I read it before the summer but still find myself thinking about it.

Thanks everyone. I should have been clearer: my question was actually whether this is likely to happen again at this venue in Italy. Perhaps this is currently in discussion at Milan airport (I feel for everyone trapped by this mysterious air traffic fault).

For those who didn‘t see what happened at Grease in the West End this weekend: https://news.sky.com/story/police-called-to-disturbance-at-grease-show-in-londons-west-end-as-four-theatregoers-escorted-out-12949343

How marvellous! Might this kind of event be tried there again next year? And if so, can someone publicise the details here?

Just received an email from The Friends which includes instructions on how best to book tickets online. I am copying this part here so that everyone can see what they say. Two thoughts. First, perhaps these instructions are helpful and useful and will mean that there won’t be problems in the future, let’s hope so. Second, after all that has happened in recent years, is the ROH really persisting with the cover story that there is nothing wrong with their awful website except that people use it the wrong way?