Duck

I saw the tweet when I read through current posts of @theroyalballet, without being logged in to my twitter account. It is currently shown as posted "1 hour ago".

There will inevitably be different opinions on specific ballets. As you already have a ticket and been looking forward to the performance, go for it.

The Royal Ballet tweeted a short while ago that the casting would be announced "later on today".

Thanks Alison & I agree. I only picked it up as the link was posted on Twitter by someone who I presume must have spotted the video on YouTube, and I would have assumed that it would be on the ROH web site by now. With the style in The Waves being so different to Orlando, watching the clip from The Waves may attract additional audiences. Though maybe they are holding back some information until next week? Many thanks Ian for posting this link. The article provides imho so much insight into the creative process as well as the finished product. Interesting to see that Mrs Dalloway will have a quiet atmosphere; I had imagined this part of Woolf Works to show a flurry of hectic movements among clocks ticking (though I guess I was thinking too much of Septimus rather than Clarissa). Wayne McGregor did mention the female/ male sets of costume for the cast for Orlando at the Insight Evening however there is so much more information in this article about the ballet as a whole. The content of the article is the type of information that, in an ideal world, I would wish to see on the ROH web site for a new ballet. Though maybe some information is held back until next week in order to have a steady stream of news (not sure as I would have thought that information such as the content of the article helps with ticket sales)?

I am hugely looking forward to the opening night of this ballet. The fluidity in movement & accompanying music for the PDD by Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli reminds me of the final PDD in Infra (Infra was "love at first sight" for me and still is the McGregor ballet that I have enjoyed most to date), and the energy in the solo by Edward Watson lets me think of Chroma. With the style of dancing and music so different in those two rehearsal clips, it'll be interesting to hear the music/ see the movements for the first part of Woolf Works. I sometimes buy the music before I attend a ballet performance so I can familiarise myself with that element beforehand. Woolf Works is the first ballet where I have been reading books in preparation (Mrs Dalloway, currently Orlando, though I'll only have time for a summary description of The Waves), and I can't wait to see how, in a non-narrative ballet, elements of these books have been used to create choreography. In fact, I keep highlighting text in Orlando that, based on the Insight Event, I would enjoy seeing in a ballet.

Here a link to a rehearsal clip with Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli for the third part of Woolf Works, based on The Waves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oz3gNlnQFA&feature=youtu.be

Information on the running time of Woolf Works has now been put on the ROH web site. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/woolf-works-by-wayne-McGregor A total of approximately 2 1/2 hours, consisting of 35/ 35/ 25 minutes plus the two intervals.

I believe the presenter mentioned Virginia Woolf as part of her introduction to the evening and then handed over to Wayne McGregor for the first rehearsal. As the first rehearsal has now been put on-line in full, I am hopeful that this will also be done for the second rehearsal (with Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli) and some of the panel discussion, all before the opening night.

Thank you so much for posting this. I was lucky to get a return ticket for the Insight Event for Woolf Works, and watching the video has transported me right back to the event. I am still fascinated by how quickly and fluidly any corrections are taken up and integrated into the dancing. I can't wait to see the finished product in less than two week's time. Edited to remove the link to the video in the quotation so as to shorten my post.

I agree with the differentiation between a ballet and a particular performance when it comes to describing it as "perfect". The emotions that dancers were able to convey, the chemistry between the leads, the precision of the dancing as well as other factors have all influenced how much I enjoyed a particular performance of a ballet compared to another of that same ballet. In fact, I can't think of a ballet that I have seen that would not be influenced by such factors. Where a specific performance was comparatively lacking some of these attributes, I have seen it as a reflection on the performance rather than on the ballet. If I look at ballets that I didn't like as much, I don't think that this was based on the cast of the performance I saw, and instead much more based on the choreography or storytelling.

The ROH web site now shows "Ballet Essentials" for Woolf Works - http://www.roh.org.uk/news/ballet-essentials-woolf-works, and the response to a web site comment states that rehearsal footage will follow. Wayne McGregor said at the Insight Evening that the cast for Orlando would have two sets of costume each - one female, one male. I am currently reading Virginia Woolfe's Orlando, and have just got to the events when Orlando wakes up as a woman and puts on clothing that can be worn by a man or a woman. Bearing mind that McGregor's choreography will be non-narrative, I am looking forward to seeing how the different kits of costume will be used by the dancers (and whether the three female figures that appear during Orlando's sleep make any appearance in the ballet).

I have tried rows A to J of the Orchestra Stalls in recent years and have settled on row C. This is close enough to see the dancers' facial expressions in detail, and the view on to the stage was, on the average, less impacted by tall people in front me than when I was sitting further back. Rows A/ B are great however difficult to get. There have been a few performances though when my neighbours were surprised to see me sitting on my jacket or laptop bag to get a better view (I am 5'3). Having said that ... I believe that some ballets are better seen from further up e.g., to see geometric lines in dancing and/ or lighting patterns ... Given the prices for autumn 2015/ 16, I will explore other areas of the House, and I think my local cinema will see me more often

When I think about what "perfect" means to me, I am looking at various aspects, and each of these bring different ballets to my mind - perfect in terms of an atmosphere of serenity - Monotones, Requiem, Song of the Earth - perfect in relation to the energy on stage - Bolero (Béjart), Four Temperaments, Age of Anxiety (I know I may in a minority with the latter ) - perfect based on the emotional development of the main characters - Manon, Mayerling, Onegin The music plays an important part for me e.g., I liked Connectome at the Insight evening when it was rehearsed to piano and then somewhat less when it was performed to an orchestrated version.

Fantastic to see so many young dancers on the cast list for the 2nd mixed bill in New York.

It looks like an error on the web site to me. Currently the cast on May 14th has one more male dancer/ one less female dancer than all the other performances.

If the candle is representing a specific person, I would think it may be Alessandra Ferri who, based on an article referred to earlier in this blog, is playing the role of Virginia Woolf.

Vadim Muntagirov is now scheduled to dance in the role of Colas at the matinee on 2nd May http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-changes-la-fille-mal-gardee-on-21-april-and-2-may-2015

I am not close enough to be able to know. Based on the Insight Evening, it was very much a collaborative process between the choreographer and the dancers. Wayne McGregor gave a number of precise corrections to the dancers' movements, and in other situations spontaneously adopted into the choreography the movement form that the dancers had chosen (e.g., going into a plié before a turn rather than just doing the turn). He also explained that he was constantly on the move during the rehearsal so that he'd be able to see how the dancing looked from different angles and thus would be able to adjust a dancer's position towards to audience where required.

I have just found an article on the recent Woolf Works Insight Evening on the web. http://bachtrack.com/article-insights-woolfworks-mcgregor-ferri-bonelli-watson-royal-ballet-apil-2015 (this really reads "apil" rather than april" in the link) While I was in the audience, I kept quiet earlier in the week as I wasn't sure how to translate what I saw into words. And reading the article by Carla Escoda, she does this so much better than I could have done . A few words on the solo for Edward Watson, in addition to what has been written in the article. The solo was a combination of extreme shapes and fast classical turns. At one point, Edward Watson did, if I observed this correctly, a grand battement on demi point. The leg went up to 180 degrees and he held on to that leg in front of him, all while being on demi point on the other leg. And then he just remained in exactly that position. It was just incredible, and there were gasps in the audience. The Pas de Deux for Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli was fluid and beautiful to watch. Wayne McGregor was hugely appreciative of the dancers throughout.

A short clip from Alastair Marriott's new piece "Zeitgeist" with Natalia Osipova and Edward Watson has been put on Instagram by the organisers of last night's event, the link here https://instagram.com/p/1njU-OIQVv/?taken-by=nakedheartfoundation This is the first time that I am including a link in my post so please bear with me if the link doesn't work. ;-)

Watching ballet performances has repeatedly opened up new musical horizons for me. I have discovered composers such as Poulenc, Fauré or Satie and broadened the range of music that I listen to from composers whom I had known previously e.g., Rachmaninoff. I also moved from buying some of the music following the performance to trying to do this before I see the ballet. And in those cases where I really enjoyed the music to a ballet, I have purchased CDs with other compositions by the same artist. Encouraged by the joy of listening to singers and choirs in ballets, I also tried opera a few times (with mixed results though ;-). While music has been the main focus, I went to see the Virginia Woolf exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery last year in preparation for the forthcoming Woolf Works ballet. The exhibition in turn led me to reading Mrs Dalloway, which – after some initial getting used to her writing style – I found captivating. I am now about to start reading Orlando and am keen to progress as much as possible before the première of Woolf Works.

Thank you Alison. I had been following the forum for a while and been tempted to post a couple of times however then didn't go ahead. I agree about the English titles of the songs in the cast sheet for Song of the Earth.

Thank you

I hugely enjoyed the final performance of Song of the Earth on Tuesday. Laura Morera’s use of her eyes to display the Woman’s emotions during the final song was exquisite. Edward Watson danced with great precision and intensity, and was simply superb in the role of the Messenger. The corps danced in unity, which supported the sense of purity and beauty. Overall, it was a very special performance. There was some foot stamping when the curtain closed on the Woman/ Man/ Messenger, and in particular the Principal Dancers received lots of loud cheers at the curtain calls. At the moment, I could watch Song of the Earth on repeat mode, and I can’t wait to see it again in May/ June. I’d seen Song of the Earth at the Royal Opera House both in 2007 and 2012, and while I recognised at the time that it was classified as a masterpiece, I didn’t enjoy it as much. The clue for me was seeing Song of the Earth with Stuttgart Ballet as part of their Requiem/ Song of the Earth bill last December. The similarity in topic and atmosphere of the two pieces greatly supported each other and created a very special, moving event. The music in the first song of Song of the Earth did not overpower the singer, so the link between the dancing and the words were clearer. Also, the cast sheet (rather than just the programme notes) showed the titles of the songs. And the dancing, of course, was supreme. With that recent experience in mind, I spent much more time reading the poem before the performance this time. Rather than just glancing over the paragraphs as I had done in the past, I read the poem a number of times, aiming at summarising the content of each song in a sentence so I’d hopefully be able to match some of the dancing with the contents of the songs. I also wrote down the titles of the songs as an aide-mémoire during the performance. And what a difference it made! A note on the length of the applause. The number of curtain calls at the Royal Opera House seemed to be much planned in advance and followed through exactly. Three successive groups of three performers followed by each Principal Dancer individually, and then the Women inviting the Man and the Messenger back before the curtain as the final curtain call. If I remember correctly, this pattern was used for all performances of Song of the Earth in the run that just finished. At the performance in Stuttgart that I went to in December (and admittedly, I can only talk about this one performance as don’t get to Stuttgart very often), the number of curtain calls seemed to be more influenced by the intensity and length of the applause by the audience. Also, on a different note, refreshingly, the last curtain call after the final piece in the mixed bill in Stuttgart was with all dancers rather than just the leads.