bridiem

I would be very keen on earlier start times, especially because I now live in the suburbs rather than on the tube and given the vagaries of train times a 10.30pm-ish end can mean getting home at 12.15am. (I know some people have much longer journeys! But it's very late to be walking from the station, especially when it's cold.) However a 6.30pm start would take some getting used to! (And I wouldn't want a start time that caused any problems for the dancers, obviously.)

I think/hope that this may well be in response to the very poor sales in particular sections (especially) for recent programmes. e.g. front/side Amphi and side orchestra stalls were very obviously not selling at the higher prices. (Though I haven't checked the SL prices for side orchestra stalls, and I wouldn't know how they compared to previous prices anyway.) I hope that the persuasive info sent to Alex Beard by @JohnS has actually been absorbed too, so many thanks to him for all his work/analysis.

I can't believe that I'm actually relieved that 'my' Amphi tickets for Swan Lake are £55!!! (Manon = £63, so beyond the pale and I'm sitting further back and have booked fewer performances than I would have.) But will still have to restrict how many I book at that price (NOTE TO SELF...).

When he was appointed director in 2011, KOH was quoted as saying: "I plan to bring together the most talented artists of the 21st Century to collaborate on the same stage - world-class dancers, choreographers, designers, and musicians," and "I will aim to use all the traditional and new platforms now available to engage our audiences in our classic repertoire, and The Royal Ballet's unique heritage." So he clearly did intend not just to look to new creators but also to honour the company's classic repertoire AND its 'unique heritage'.

Interesting!

I didn't receive this offer, so it wasn't sent to everyone who had booked before (or even to all Friends - I'm a Friend).

On Friday evening, Hayward and Campbell did take bows and also acknowledged the musicians. There were a few times when the music was loud and/or they were both speaking together or very quickly when I couldn't hear what was being said, but most of the time it was audible. And yes, I didn't fully understand the 'Limit' thing given that they were almost always speaking in truncated ways right from the start, before the limit was introduced. I thought in the end that this was probably meant to convey that even when we can communicate freely, we often don't. But I'm not sure it was really very effective. (Unlike the performances, the choreography and the music, which were all superb.)

1950. But still, not that early.

A great footballer and a great man. It feels like the loss of much more than just him. May he rest in peace.

I think that if a work/programme is short, it needs to be remarkable, or just a smaller-scale enterprise to start with. So The Limit in the Linbury at 1 hour 10 mins was fine on both grounds (and I was indeed very glad to get home earlier than usual!). But this bill, for me, doesn't meet either of those criteria. (I'm aware that for others, it might well do so.)

More contemporary-but-with-classical base. I understand that 'quirky' is a word often used in association with McNally's choreography, and that would fit here too. But also very effective, I thought.

I would have loved to see Anemoi again; I just don't want to see The Cellist again and clearly I'm not going to book a whole evening ticket when there's only 25 mins I want to see. But with some enticing additions, or a good third work, I would have booked in spite of The Cellist (depending on the prices).

Last time, The Cellist was on with Dances at a Gathering (1 hour). This time, Anemoi (25 minutes). I rest my case.

I would thoroughly recommend this as an interesting and beautifully performed production. Hayward and Campbell were both brilliant - speaking, dancing and (yes, really) singing - hugely impressive, and on stage alone for the whole of the 1 hour 10 minutes of the show. The choreography was excellent - expressive, fun and interesting. The music was surprisingly (to me) beautiful, and the set was simple and effective. I wasn't so sure about the words being spoken - I get the idea of the inadequacy of spoken communications between people/a couple, and thoughts about the effect of having a limit to the number of words that can be spoken - both limiting and potentially enhancing communication. But I'm not sure how illuminating it really was. But it was worth seeing for the quality of the performances, the choreography and the music. (And from what I saw of the Insight a few weeks ago, the second cast of Hannah Rudd and Jacob Wye looked very impressive too.)

They could always call it a 'mis-step'...

Quite; and Cabaret and Guys and Dolls are both very different types of shows in which an element of audience participation (effectively) could work. Ballet is not like that! And, I'm getting really fed up with the apparent inability of so many people to even conceive of putting others centre stage even for a few hours. Live ballet is not an interactive computer game in which you are a main character, or something you can dip in and out of whilst still eating/drinking/chatting when the mood takes you. The audience is there to watch, listen, absorb, appreciate, think; to focus entirely on the stage for the period of the performance which is being given by hugely talented professionals. It's a humbling, and at best thrilling, experience. It's a gift, not an opportunity to continue thinking about oneself.

How extremely depressing.

If the remaining 20% had been discounted to £40, the revenue would be £12,800. If only 70% had sold at £150 and the remaining 30% discounted to £12, the revenue would be £10,860. If the tickets had gone on sale at £120 and all sold out, the revenue would be £12,000. So without knowing how many were discounted, or what the sales would have been like at a lower full price, or whether all the discounted tickets would have sold at (say) £40, it's difficult to judge the outcome. But I hope very much that the ROH is not going to adopt this kind of speculative ticketing strategy. Posted at same time as capybara!

There's another thread for Black Sabbath at SW - zxDaveM's excellent review. Please could the mods either combine the threads or move the SW posts here to that thread?

I don't object to staff, or even family and friends of staff, being offered discounted tickets for at least some performances. I do object to them being offered vastly discounted tickets because said tickets have been hugely overpriced to start with, and/or because it's badly-judged programme for which few people are willing to buy full-price tickets. Both those scenarios imply big problems with both pricing and programming decisions.

Very sad. For years he was one of the critics I read avidly. RIP

I don't find that scene in Cinderella remotely shocking or vulgar. It's sharp, spiky, unexpected, angular, mysterious, and altogether wonderful.

Her bio on the ROH website says she was promoted to principal in 2017.

Yes, I went through all these thought processes. It just seems strange to have immediately cancelled the Don Q performances whilst still planning to dance somewhere else a few days later. (By 'strange' I don't mean I'm doubting the fact of the injury - just the decision-making involved.)

Interesting that a lot of the unsold seats are in the same areas at each performance. I hope that the ROH learns from that where they have got it wrong (or most wrong) in terms of pricing.