bridiem

She was a fantastic Clara!

Maybe The Dream? Or Penguin Café?

Well if so (which I'm sure is the intention), it doesn't come over to me at all.

It's a very long time since I last saw Les Patineurs and I thought it was stunningly beautiful. A feast for the eyes and a balm to the spirit. Gorgeous sets and costumes, witty, sophisticated choreography, joyous music, and wonderful dancing. A work of uplifting harmony; a work of genius. Very impressed by Meaghan Grace Hinkis's fouettés! And I thought Luca Acri was a brilliant blue boy. For the second time in recent weeks, the sheer beauty of ballet at its peak brought tears to my eyes as Acri spun round and round in a pool of light at the end, with the rest of the cast and set fading away and he alone spinning and spinning like a turning point in a still, light-filled world. Magnificent. I did, in the end, very much enjoy Winter Dreams. I'd forgotten about the table at the back etc, and I think it's really a bit pointless since you can't see who's there or what's happening (well I can't, from the Amphi). And there are too many characters and too many episodes in the ballet; if I hadn't reminded myself of the 'plot' in advance I suspect I would have been pretty confused at times. Since MacMillan decided to pare down the play, and to stage it without scenery, I think he could/should have pared down more radically. The brother and his wife, the nanny, the doctor - none of these really contribute anything (though Kirsten McNally danced a most beautiful slow, grave solo). But the core of the ballet - the Masha/Vershinin/Kulygin triangle - was so powerful that it made the whole thing worthwhile. Lamb, Muntagirov and Avis were all brilliant and desperately moving. Muntagirov's dancing was absolutely breathtaking and his acting absolutely heartbreaking. And Naghdi was a lovely and very touching Irina, though even that storyline seemed a bit secondary. I like the ambition of Winter Dreams; even if it isn't wholly successfully, it's highly admirable. And as danced tonight, even reached brilliance at times. The Concert was a riot, with great performances by Melissa Hamilton, Nehemiah Kish, Itziar Mendizabal and Mayara Magri. And what an evening for Robert Clark! Solo pianist and on stage in both Winter Dreams and The Concert, and an excellent job he did too. I thought this was a superb triple bill and very appropriate for the time of year; and I do hope that Les Patineurs will be programmed more often.

Do you think that means there are notices at all the programme sale points? I don't go to the cafe area before performances so don't want to have to rely on that.

I haven't seen it yet - looking forward to it tonight!

Strange how information that's in the public domain apparently isn't known at the ROH. Or perhaps someone just thought they were unimportant roles. Who knows.

I did too! So that's at least two...

I can't say I care very much about the discrimination in this case. I just care about the dishonesty. (I didn't know that 'everyone does it', but even if they do it doesn't make it right.) If social media is going to be used for advertising, it should be clear that that's what's happening. If apparently independent individuals are going to promote an organisation, they should acknowledge if they are being incentivised to do so.

They can, and I would expect them to do so. But I don't think they should be bribing their patrons in this way .

That's really awful. If people are impressed by the displays and are allowed to take photos they can choose to do so, and to post on Instagram if they want to. Bribing people to do so is embarrassing and really quite pathetic.

Well yes. You couldn't make it up, really. I only occasionally see Rambert nowadays, but I hope the company will flourish under his directorship.

Or me!! (And I appreciate that many more of such posts could get a bit much...).

Oh dear oh dear.

Presumably his next review of The Sleeping Beauty will include a withering criticism of monarchy as a system of government.

Slightly worrying though that he says 'I've got to do this now'!

I'm afraid if he stuck to RB new works it would be a very poor season, and I think he must know that so I'm hoping that idea has been quietly dropped. Involving other companies would be excellent, but unfortunately I suspect problematic for all sorts of reasons (other than for a very short run as for the MacMillan anniversary).

I was actually just editing out my comment about the triple bills, Lizbie1, when you posted this; but I do agree that a lot of triple bills nowadays are insufficiently enticing. But that shouldn't, of course, be the case.

I've just looked at the R&J prices for the first time. There are now so few seats in 'my' price band in the Amphi! (And I just told my sister where they were because she wants to book with some friends! So we'll probably be competing for the same tiny number of seats.) AND of course now we know exactly what they're doing, and why. In spite of the denials, it's absolutely clear that they're adjusting the prices of the less expensive seats bought by regulars and so pricing the regulars out of going - er - regularly. At this rate they will end up with an audience where the only 'regulars' are rich. Talk about elitist.

All those potential Ugly Sisters are mouth-watering prospects! Bring them on!!

Who says ballet can't be relevant?!

Good for them - they clearly appreciate the significance of the centenary and think it worth marking in a significant way. (Wouldn't it have been nice to have had a similarly-titled bill at the RB?). It will be interesting to see what the Celebrations do consist of.

If they have a 'fully tested solution', why can they not apply it now, I wonder? And what does having 'an opportunity to release the code' mean to those not involved in website development? Very poor practice to use such jargon in general communications. But thanks for the info, Mummykool. Let's hope it is ok next week (or earlier).

Presumably this tattoo, like others, will be hidden/covered when he performs (unless it's some sort of political or personal work where the tattoo is deemed to be relevant). Otherwise his career as a dancer will become untenable.

I think the angels are thrilling... I haven't seen the BRB version for years, unfortunately, but I remember absolutely loving it. I do find the whole nephew sub-plot in the RB version a bit obscure (but I don't really pay much attention to it).