bridiem

Agree with all the comments above! A magnificent, supremely authoritative performance from Nunez and Muntagirov and the most beautiful, luminous Lilac Fairy from Kaneko. The company as a whole on great form, and a hugely involved and responsive audience; I've never before heard such an audible gasp go round the auditorium when the King decreed that the women with the needles should lose their heads! So the audience became part of the drama - an essential element of a great performance.

Thank you, capybara; that's very reassuring. My primary 100% concern is for dancers (though audiences are also not unimportant) and I think that the ROH announcement did, perhaps unnecessarily, raise some legitimate questions on behalf of both. And yes, I am very much looking forward to seeing Reece Clarke in Onegin, and apologies for my part in this thread getting diverted.

I'm really pleased they're bringing this SB - it's a rare (for me at least) opportunity to see the Nureyev production and as Bruce says it will give a really good picture of the strength of the company.

Ah, I see! Yes, it was about the Heritage programme.

There's an advert for the NBC performances in the ROH magazine but I don't know if they're shown on the ROH website yet. The season is presented by Victor Hochhauser and information is apparently on that website though I haven't looked. (I don't quite understand Don Q Fan's post I'm afraid.)

Yes, but it's disingenuous if the casting is known to be provisional from the outset, which doesn't apply to most casting. Would a big opera star be withdrawn with no explanation? (Btw I'm sorry this discussion is happening on the Reece Clarke promotion thread - his promotion is entirely welcome and deserved whatever the reason that prompted it!).

Well we won't know now, will we? Having seen him in Winter Dreams, I think he's a lot more versatile and mature in his acting than he's sometimes given credit for. And the biggest issue is that he was announced as performing the role and then the casting changed with no explanation very shortly before his début. I know casting is always subject to change, but once announced it should really only be changed for injury/illness/unavailability. If it might be changed for some other reason that we don't know about but the company does, the casting should be shown as provisional/to be confirmed from the outset.

Yes - ENB tweeted a few days ago: On Mon 13 Jan 7.30pm, Emma Hawes replaces Rina Kanehara in the role of Gulnare Ken Saruhashi is replaced by Aitor Arrieta in the role of Lankendem on Fri 10 Jan 7.30pm and Tue 14 Jan 2pm. He is replaced in the role of Ali by Daniel McCormick on Thu 9 Jan 2pm In the role of Birbanto, Fernando Bufalá is replaced by Miguel Angel Maidana on Fri 10 Jan 7.30pm, and Henry Dowden on Tue 14 Jan 2pm On Wed 8 Jan 7.30pm due to illness, Erina Takahashi and Francesco Gabriele Frola replace Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández in the roles of Medora and Conrad I didn't realise this info hadn't been posted here.

That sounds like a really good initiative, Blossom. I don't know what primary school assemblies are like nowadays, but I personally think that the information about any music chosen should generally be kept to a minimum so that the children can respond to it and think about it in their own way/s. And I think that the regular use of reflective music would be good, as a counter to the no doubt endless 'stimulation' that will follow during the day, although more upbeat music could be used too. And music that you might not expect to be appropriate; at my (Catholic) primary school in London in the late 1960s, music (chosen by the headmistress, a nun who was very cultured and musical) was played every day as we filed into the assembly hall, and a regular choice was the Sea Interludes from Britten's Peter Grimes. I had no idea what is was or what the context was, but it was hauntingly beautiful and it stayed with me into adulthood and for the rest of my life. So in general I would choose for the music rather than the context.

Maybe Clarke was cover and so also rehearsing?

I'm so sorry, ninamargaret! I hope you feel better soon (and that Coppélia comes back soon!).

I first saw them at the Lyric, Hammersmith in the early 1980s and loved the company. I'm also grateful to him for later on giving Bryony Brind an opportunity that she was not given at the RB - to dance Juliet. RIP.

Really interesting! And amazing that all 4 boys went to the RBS. I wonder if any of the others became professional dancers.

I have to say that he looks both ridiculously tall and ridiculously good-looking in these photos. I hope Osipova has good eyesight (for both reasons).

So much to look forward to! Especially Dances at a Gathering, Khan's Creature, Alina Cojocaru at SW, débuts in Swan Lake, Dante Project (mixture of excitement and trepidation about that one) and now National Ballet of Canada (I hope the tickets aren't ridiculously expensive for them).

Only what Richard LH has posted in the new thread about it. Plus mentions a few opera stars (Gheorghiu, Beczala and Keenlyside).

The ROH Magazine, which I received today.

I've just put the details in the Spring Season Casting thread (though no casting yet). (No idea about which season is which any more I'm afraid!).

Very disappointed about Muntagirov (perhaps needless to say...). I don't know the ballet well enough to have a general view about casting though. Still looking forward to seeing it (also needless to say!).

Delighted to see that the National Ballet of Canada are coming to the ROH (28 July-1 Aug 2020) with Nureyev's production of The Sleeping Beauty!

Not sure if this is new info (apologies if not), but the bill consists of Solos from Job (RB), Dante Sonata (BRB), Sea of Troubles (Yorke Dance Project) and Valses nobles et sentimentales (RB). I imagine it will be very difficult to get tickets for this since it's in the Linbury and there are only a few performances. But it sounds exciting!

I agree with this, and I think there's some illogicality in the way the film has been presented. I read/heard various puffs for it that described it as 'the story that everyone knows'. Presumably on that basis, there was no synopsis or introduction of the characters at all. And yet it was also presumably aimed at newcomers to ballet who will not have understood balletic conventions and how they may make the story potentially less clear (to a newcomer) unless you DO have a synopsis and keep your wits about you, especially in a truncated version of the work. And unless they've studied it at school I doubt very much that 'everyone' does know the detail of the story anyway, other than that the 'star cross'd lovers' both die in the end. I think that knowing who was who would have been very challenging for a newcomer. And in particular, I felt as if the big plot weakness of MacMillan's R&J, i.e. the fact that we don't know why Romeo doesn't know that Juliet isn't dead, was amplified in this version because of the speed of it all; in fact, without a familiarity with balletic storytelling and given the absence of a synopsis I'm not sure how viewers themselves were supposed to know for sure (if they didn't already know) that Juliet wasn't dead. Anyway, as I said further up I really enjoyed the film; but I don't think I was the target market. It would be very interesting to hear the reactions of newcomers to ballet and/or to the play. I think the only review I've seen was by a ballet critic, which doesn't really help!

Well the Royal Ballet used the word 'retire' when they announced last year that he would be leaving.

I would have assumed the cloakroom was Opened Up all the time the building is open. (I never use it myself.) Anyway I'm glad they re-opened it for you!