Mimi

In all the photographs I've seen of them in close proximity, there doesn't seem to be any appreciable height difference that isn't down to Campbell's springier hair FLOSS pointed out last year that Campbell had clearly hit his ballerina height limit in Nutcracker when partnering Morera, who is not tall.

The only additional change I spotted is that Howells is no longer listed as a soloist.

The Problem of the Journal is partly a source issue, because the Creature doesn't mention it at all until he describes learning how to read. He really was just lugging it about in Victor's stolen coat. Unfortunately, there's probably no good way to convey that the Creature was reading Goethe, Plutarch, and Milton...

It's not really the appropriate repertory for most of them, though, is it? Golding, Kish, Soares, and Watson aren't going to dance Colas. Nor are Golding, Kish, and Soares the types of male dancer that McGregor appears to prefer, which is either short and fast or tall and hyperextended. Muntagirov also has other announced commitments during this time frame.

I suspect that seeing the ballet in the theatre vs. watching it on video will also affect one's response. Mayerling, which I've seen only on DVD, felt interminable, but I can certainly see that it might be profoundly moving when watched live. On the flip side, Wheeldon's Alice struck me as better in the cinema than when I saw it danced by the NBoC, and not just because there were some noticeable differences in the execution: the camera angles and closeups concealed spots in the choreography that, in the theatre, had no real focus.

They were, but they weren't announced to the public until after the tour was finished.

The decision to show the 2009 broadcast predated the various and sundry cast changes. It's certainly not the sort of thing that is going to build a US audience for these showings.

My first thought, after being surprised--he's had some very good roles lately--was that Kevin O'Hare was now wailing to himself, "give me strength, I've got to convince someone else to learn how to tap..."

It's as though Scarlett wanted to get both aspects of the Creature, who is very big and very fast, but couldn't reconcile them in the same dancer...

Alexander Campbell has just tweeted that he and Yuhui Choe will be rehearsing Two Pigeons at 12:30.

They normally film twice. The first time around serves as rehearsal, as well as back-up in case of disaster.

Certainly on our side of the pond, Royal Ballet screenings are promoted very badly. In my neck of the woods, we get them at one of the local multiplexes, but there are no ads! All of Fathom's promotional material last year was for the Metropolitan Opera screenings. I don't know if this is because of the area's culture--ballet companies never tour here at all, but classical music is a big deal--or a more general nationwide tendency. It would be nice of the ROH to do something like a for-pay livestream, but that might be financially prohibitive on their end.

American unlurking here. I suspect part of the problem is that the two full-lengths Americans definitely would want to see--Alice (which has a crossover audience) and Winter's Tale--are also the two full-lengths to which the NBoC has North American touring rights, so they're right out. Fille would be interesting, but promoters might worry it wouldn't have sufficient name recognition to sell. Of the other story ballets, Don Q has the advantage of being new, at least, as opposed to Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake. (Ironically, I'm on your side of the pond, so while I got to see Woolf Works, I'm missing the tour entirely.)