RuthE

I didn't get along with ballet the first time I tried it, at the age of 29, but 12 years down the line I've been back in the studio for a year with a regular (male) teacher, building on the same combinations throughout a term with the same group of students, and I really enjoy it.  I'm two weeks into Improvers now, with the same teacher, and not completely out of my depth!  From what you've said, it sounds as though once you've been at it for a couple of months consistently, you'll have the hang of the basics and be more comfortable in classes that aren't the specific thing you're used to.

Just now, Meetmeatthebarre said:

I'm hoping to snap up some tickets for Anna Rose's debut later in the run. 

Her debut is tonight...

All sorted now

Thank you! Have now responded.

20 hours ago, capybara said:

 

Takada was paired with Muntagirov in the last run (2015) IIRC. I especially loved her with Bracewell in Swan Lake in 2018 but a partnership with Vadim in other ballets would be equally alluring.

Facebook tells me that on this day five years ago, I (and no doubt many others on this forum) saw double-Onegin, with Mendizabal/Kish/Stix-Brunell/Edmonds/Stepanek in the afternoon (from a front-row seat, as I recall - ah, for the days when you could get good seats for a reasonable price at matinees...) and Nunez/Soares/Takada/Muntagirov/Hirano in the evening

*bump*
 

Still looking...

9 hours ago, LinMM said:

I’m sure it’s my lack of observance but didn’t know there were lifts down to the main loos on the ground level 🙄

9 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

Nor me!  Where are they?  The number of times I have toiled up and down those stairs!

i don’t know about house left, but on house right, the staircase goes all the way into the basement by the new 2nd entrance to the main Ladies’ loos. If you head from the old foyer as if to go down this right-hand side staircase, the lift is on your right just as you pass the upward flight of stairs.

7 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

La Traviata isn’t selling too well right now either - so I don’t think the problem is specific to the new Boheme production (which I’ve not yet felt moved to see).

Five casts, all with that thrown-together feel, less than a full year after the best-cast revival of it I've ever seen...  It's the production I've seen more often than any other opera production (indeed I'd be surprised if there are people who've seen it more times than I have) and even I struggled to convince myself that there were singers I probably really ought to check out this time round.

21 minutes ago, Geoff said:

My view is that the current production falls into the cheap and dreary category. So there may be little repeat business from season to season unless some star name acts as a draw. 

Also, the casting - as is so often the case with Royal Opera revivals of standard rep - gives the impression of having been a bit thrown together.  It's not that the individual singers aren't appealing, more that one often doesn't get that "oh yes, wouldn't those two be lovely together" feeling.  Often, when there are several casts, I reckon I could put all the singers back into a pool and re-combine them in a more attractive way.

That said, I did see it last week, and found the combination of Sonya Yoncheva and Charles Castronovo rather lovely, not least because (like some of our Royal Ballet favourites) he is such a supportive and generous colleague to whoever he is partnering.  Aida Garifullina left a strong impression as Musetta, too.  But I don't like the production, and I don't know anyone who does!  Considering that Richard Jones is, on the whole, one of my favourite directors, and I was really looking forward to his Boheme on the basis of his considerable track record with Puccini (I'm thinking especially of Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi and La fanciulla del West - his Tabarro lacks atmosphere), it's incredibly disappointing that it turned out so boring.

And as others suggest, the recent hike in ticket prices is certainly a factor.

1 minute ago, Lizbie1 said:

My tickets have been zapped without fail recently.

When I was last there on Tuesday night, my ticket wasn't zapped because of a problem with the scanner(s).

And there's still at least one door on which there is never a member of staff - the one into the Stalls Circle on the left, nearest the stage - and perhaps the doors into the Upper Slips as well, unless they have put ushers there since they introduced the scanners.

11 hours ago, Allegro said:

Meaghan Grace Hinkis captured such a delightful portrayal of Olga, I thoroughly enjoyed her performance.

Yes - I'll be totally honest and say Hinkis is not a favourite dancer of mine, but in this role I think she's perfect.

11 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

I’ve had a ludicrously busy week and although I’ve formulated thoughts on the Onegin matinee and the ENB Saturday night Gala I’ve not yet committed in writing, but I have to agree with Allegro re the noisy landings. It was particularly noticeable next to Thiago Soares who doesn’t now in technical terms have the younger dancer’s pliancy but was much more disciplined in such matters. And, I’ll try to write at more length, I thought Mendizabal was wonderful.

I wish I'd known you were there! I agree, Mendizabal was terrific.

Maybe they were getting him mixed up with the other Strausses?

2 minutes ago, Geoff said:

 

After Domingo’s miserable performance the last time he attended Traviata, I would pay *more* for the nights he is not singing. But still maybe not those prices, despite Don Carlos being one of my favourite scores. 

It's worth noting that the dress rehearsal is, unusually, on a weekday evening.

Also I imagine quite expensive to put on, as it's long.

If anyone has a spare decent SCS or central Balcony Standing ticket for this Friday's performance, I would be very pleased to hear from you.

20 minutes ago, Xandra Newman said:

I was always under the impression The Royal Ballet is supposed to dance Onegin at least once every three years, but this time it was last danced five years ago, when Marianella made her debut as Tatiana.

It is not the case that Marianela Nunez debuted as Tatiana in 2015 - she also danced it in the previous run, in 2013.

2 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

Very pleased with something the conductor at ROH last night (Simon Hewett) did.  He asked the orchestra to stand for their audience acknowledgement before the prelude for act 3 of Sleeping Beauty.  As a consequence, the audience knew the performance was about to continue and so we were spared the dreadful chattering that has blighted this run so far whilst the orchestra played this prelude.

Indeed - it made such a huge difference.  Having not seen it since mid-December, I didn't realise this was the first time it had been done.

1 hour ago, capybara said:

I don't recall ever seeing a more rivetingly accomplished performance of this ballet from the two leads. Aurora's Act 1 solo (after the Rose Adagio) and the Prince's Act 3 variation were out of this world.

I loved the way she finished in the final pose almost with a shrug, as if to say "look how easy"...

12 minutes ago, Sheila Beelam said:

It was my left arm and we have an automatic so I was able to drive. When fully frozen, if you tuck your elbow into your waist, you can move your forearm - just look a bit like a deranged T-Rex 😂

 

I had to click "like" on this, I'm afraid - not because of the frozen shoulder, but just for the mental image!

35 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Yes ...I Thought it a bit mean that they didn’t all survive the ship wreck ...forgotten this from last time. Perhaps it’s in the poem though that only Medora and Conrad survive....a rather romantic ending I suppose...enduring love conquers all etc. 

I'm not seeing it this time, but have seen it 3 or 4 times in the past, and this point has always troubled me - it seems a happy and triumphant ending, despite the fact that the secondary couple supposedly drowned not 30 seconds earlier...

Happy to report that she’s back, and sounding wonderful.

I wear either a leotard with 3/4-length leggings over the top, or a leo and tights with a chiffon skirt.  Depends how I feel on the day - I'm really curvy, have gained a few pounds recently, and I find there's a fine line between feeling confident and feeling large!

Sonya Yoncheva has posted on twitter this morning saying that she is ill and hopes to be back for the next performance.  Common sense dictates that if an artist were to cancel for non-genuine reasons, they definitely would not choose press night to do so.

20 minutes ago, Jane said:

Tea might be better than the trays with red wine and two glasses that seemed popular at the cinema I went to on Sunday lunch time. I’ve decided I don’t like the smell of red wine. 

I love the smell of (good) red wine - but it's quite a strong smell, and therefore a sensory distraction when (a) my eyes and ears are meant to be focusing on a performance, and (b) I haven't chosen to have it within smelling distance.

15 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

I saw that the prices were £8 to £120 which (if memory serves) was only a little less than the Bolshoi.  (Certainly the cheapest standing room for that was £10.) 

 

I would imagine this programming is largely targeted to the tourist market at that time of year.

Will tourists flock to NBC in the same way that they flock to the Bolshoi, though?  For those who aren't ballet aficionados, the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi (and possibly the Mariinsky) might be the only companies a lot of people have heard of.  Don't some of the prominent international companies which tour to e.g. the Coliseum have trouble selling tickets?