RuthE

I haven't been into ballet for long enough to know how this issue has varied over time - and also I've never lived in the USA, where it seems there are much more prominent and visible issues of racial politics in general than there are here. However, I don't think I'm wrong in saying that in ballet there is perhaps considerably more prejudice (overt or otherwise) towards black women than black men. Men don't tend to have to spend the beginnings, or majorities in most cases, of their ballet careers playing swans, sylphs, snowflakes, wilis, and all manner of other things in which it's preferable if you look (a) identical to your neighbour, and (b ) as unobtrusive in a white tutu as possible. I've had a couple of very uncomfortable conversations with audience members who would not otherwise consider themselves to be racist, about how such-and-such a black dancer "stuck out like a sore thumb" in the corps of Swan Lake (for the record, I didn't agree - I *noticed*, processed it briefly, resumed my suspension of disbelief, and moved on, just as I do at an opera if I see a black singer and white singer playing close relatives). I bet female black dancers get commented about like that a lot when they're in the corps, and I'm sure some of it must get back for them to hear. It must be very liberating to be promoted out of the realms of corps work. There's just so much whiteness and paleness in the female side of classical ballet, from what passes for the standard colour of a pointe shoe or a pair of tights, to the fact that audiences still go wild for a "white act".

Indeed! It would be nice to hope that one day something like this won't BEnews, because it won't be noteworthy. No more than other ballet promotions, anyway. But the fact remains at the moment it is noteworthy.

I did wonder whether Iana Salenko would at least be given a formalised status as Principal Guest Artist with a one-year contract, or something, much like what Melissa Hamilton is off to Dresden for. Which wouldn't have affected anybody's future promotion prospects, and would have perhaps given her more of an integrated standing with the company in the eyes of the audience...

I'm also pleased to read of the RB Young Choreographer Programme, and with our perpetual gripes about lack of opportunity being afforded to female choreographers, am particularly encouraged that they have selected a woman for the inaugural year of the scheme.

No real surprises here for me, though I didn't realise all those First Artists were leaving! I'd heard about Elsa Godard but that was it. With a First Soloist permanent vacancy left by Deirdre Chapman I am not in the least surprised to see Francesca Hayward bumped up into that slot. Can't be too much longer before she's considered for Principal, surely? I thought they might promote Anna Rose O'Sullivan to First Artist, but perhaps that's one for next year.

I note that the press release has come out this afternoon! http://www.roh.org.uk/news/promotions-joiners-and-leavers-at-the-royal-ballet-for-201516

Last World Ballet Day, the main contribution from the Royal Ballet was the complete live broadcast of morning class in the Clore Studio, as they did when they streamed Royal Ballet Live or whatever it was called a couple of years earlier. I note that October 1st 2015 is a two-show day for the RB (Romeo & Juliet - Cuthbertson/Pennefather in the afternoon and Osipova/Muntagirov in the evening) which makes for one busy day, especially for the corps. Will it just be morning class again, I wonder, or will they somehow find time/space/available personnel to show some other aspect of the company's work? R&J from a backstage perspective would be really interesting to see. Though it's a moot point from my point of view, as I've got a ticket for that matinee...

My only concern about the iPod idea is that iPods don't last for ever. If I was going to bother getting something engraved as a memento for somebody, I think I would want it to be something the person might still be using in twenty years' time...

And yet I'm quite a fan of imaginative, articulate swearing. Genuinely. The weirdest thing happened earlier this afternoon - I was reading through some earlier posts on this thread, and got to one about broken teeth. And then five minutes later a chip came off my tooth

Clearly that's Opera Holland Park's problem then - no curtain... (As an aside on that subject - I always end up applauding at the end while studiously staring down at my lap while "dead" people get up off the stage for the bows, often in broad daylight. In Trittico that happens twice...)

I was in the second row at Opera Holland Park on Friday, and at the start of Gianni Schicchi - at which point the house lights are down (and it's getting dark outside), the conductor has entered, and there are three minutes of "dumb show" with performers on stage prior to the start of the music - there were several people in front of me (i.e. on the front row) openly still fiddling with their email on brightly-lit phone screens. Apparently until the music starts it doesn't matter. FFS, you're in the front row..

Always easier to "step in" - or get a member of staff to do so - from some seats than others, though. I was in Stalls Circle Standing for the first night of La Boheme the other week - somebody was openly filming parts of Act 1 from a mid-Stalls seat and it must have been visible to almost EVERYBODY in the house. But not apparently to the ushers - I wasn't near enough an usher to alert one, and the offender wasn't near enough the end of their row to have been dealt with easily. On the other hand, I frequently find myself in the most central block of Balcony Standing, which has an usher seated directly behind. Any filming I spot anywhere in the balcony is instantly reported and always dealt with immediately. Sure I saw the flash of a camera during In the Night on Monday as well, but it wasn't anywhere near me...

As I said in my earlier post, all you would have to do to have the view of dancers not obstructed by the singers (without compromising the sound) is stand them in front of the proscenium arch rather than next to it. In the position where you would have the sign-language interpreter for an opera, or a stand-in for a sick singer who was miming their role. I personally wish they would provide surtitles as well, but then I'm the sort of person who will quite unashamedly go to a ballet like Song of the Earth specifically to hear the singers

I almost went home during the interval last night as I wasn't feeling too well, but in the end I decided if nothing else I wanted to HEAR Song of the Earth (particularly as I really like the mezzo, Katharine Goeldner, more than Catherine Wyn-Rogers who did it a couple of months ago in the other mixed bill)... so I sat on the floor behind my standing place for much of the performance and just stood up for my favourite bits of the ballet... I'm sure the singers in Song of the Earth have been a significant few inches closer in towards the centre of the stage this time round than in the 2012(?) revival, which would obstruct the view of the dancers a bit more for those in side seats. I also recall seeing Scottish Ballet do it at Sadler's Wells, perhaps just before the last RB revival? and am sure the singers were pretty much in front of the proscenium there, rather than being out onto the stage. As for Faun, it was my first time seeing it and I can't say I was gripped by it... not my taste. Though I did think that lift where Vadim had Melissa lying horizontally at waist height made her look notably light, given that she's pretty athletically-built compared with how long and thin he is! In the Night... meh. Saw it last time they did it and it's very pretty, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Good to see Hikaru Kobayashi dancing so well on return from maternity leave, however.

Finally discovered the answer to this in passing on Twitter - either Kiandra Howarth or Lauren Fagan (both Jette Parker Young Artists). I didn't actually realise it was a live singer - I assumed the voice had been sampled - but Lauren said she and Kiandra had each sung 4 shows.

Ah, boo, I'd really like to see this but just looked up the dates in Bromley and am not free :*(

They're also terrible for the environment, not being biodegradable. However I agree that they are very comfortable and easy to use and I wish they'd been around when I was 13 (not that I was ever a dancer).

It seems to me that ENB is already over-reliant on guests for its *male* leads, particularly since Muntagirov's departure. I rather hope that there might be enough longevity left in Rojo's and Cojocaru's performing careers, and enough strength of vision from Rojo as an artistic director in the meantime, that by the time both stop dancing there will be no shortage of company-bred stars available for promotion, with a strong audience following to match. That said, I find ENB's ranking system overcomplicated and baffling, even at Principal level. Presumably most laypeople would assume Principal to be top rank, but then there are Lead Principals...

Just out of curiosity, does anybody know whose voice the solo soprano in the score of Tuesday (The Waves) is?

Try refreshing or using another browser (I sometimes get false "sold out" notifications when on Chrome) - I can still see 34 seats in the amphi, 10 in the balcony and 2 in the GT! https://www.roh.org.uk/events/25928/tickets

I'd been stalking for Stalls Circle Standing, as Monday's the only day I'm free for the first cast, but having just now managed to pick up one of my favourite Amphi seats (left end seat of row E) for the same price, that'll do nicely. And if I don't hate it (I'm not McGregor's greatest fan...) I'm sure I can pick up an SCS return for second cast at a later date.

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or start a thread on the Tickets board, but a substantial number of tickets in various parts of the Amphitheatre have been released for the previously-sold-out opening night of Woolf Works, sometime in the last hour. Presumably this is the arbitrary point at which they draw a line under Dedicated Student Amphitheatre restrictions in order to get bums on the final few seats.

I'll add my voice to those saying that the opening night with Morera/Muntagirov was the most enjoyable of all (though I did miss Roberta Marquez's cast). Must put in a word for Jonathan Howells though, as Widow Simone in the Choe/Campbell cast - when I saw him on Saturday evening, his second performance of the role ever, he was my second-favourite only to Tuckett with a perfectly-timed Clog Dance with no missing beats.

Ha ha! It's just occurred to me that my mum would undoubtedly also have passed comment on the mismatch between the exterior and interior layouts, were we not in seats (Stalls Circle A16-17) from which the exterior of the house was pretty much the one thing we couldn't see!

Hmmm. This looks like it covers only Sadler's Wells and the Baylis, not the Peacock as well, unless I'm mistaken. I was expecting to see details of British Youth Opera (who perform at the Peacock). That's not usual, is it?