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Blossom

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About Blossom

  • Birthday May 8

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  • Gender
    Female
  • Location:
    London
  • Interests
    Ballet for exercise as well as a spectator, cooking - especially gluten free food, history, politics

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  1. Blossom
    Thank you!
  2. Blossom
    Loved Naghdi’s firebird tonight. This production really emanates the golden age of Russian ballet- the music, the style, the wonderful wedding scene at the end which is so powerful and of course the beautiful backcloth in the finale. Month in the Country was wonderful to see again, got so much more from the story with Cuthbertson as Petrovna. Realised that she only wanted the attention of Belaiev and not Ratikin and her emotions were very clear. David Yudes was the star of the show though as Koloa. Anna Rose Sullivan was a lovely Vera, role really suited her. Love the sets and the music, the wonderful Ashton port de bras, the oh so obvious ‘Fred step’ (minus the pas de chat?) and the wonderful Ashton comedy. Still trying to work out why I don’t get Vadim and I wish I did. I don’t think this was really his role and much preferred Ball’s interpretation who came across as a complete womaniser! Symphony in C was star studded again- a real celebration of RB talent. A delight to see Gasparini as always and some of the other more junior dancers taking the soloist roles. Fumi Kaneko was outstanding- would love to see her promoted at the end of this season. Great partnership with Matthew Ball. Someone seems to have replaced Meaghan Grace Hinkis tonight but I didn’t see any cast changed. Can anyone shed any light?
  3. Blossom
    Yasmine Naghdi was a simply beautiful Juliet tonight at the cinema screening and there is so much chemistry between her and Matthew Ball. Joy of cinema was all of the wonderful close ups which gave away so much more than live in theatre. Thrilled to see Avis again as Tybalt- love his dramatic attack - and also Zuchetti’s ‘Jack-the-lad’ Mercutio, again enhanced by the close up camera work. Pleased for Padjak too but also Isabella Gasparini who is identified as soon as you can see her stunning smile. A fabulous cast overall.
  4. Blossom
    It was busy the night of the Matthew Ball Insight during opera intervals. Quite honestly was enjoying the peace and quiet till people streamed outside! Lots of people seemed to just order a coffee or soft drink and they were playing a selection of ballet music which was lovely to enjoy. I actually thought it was a lovely use of the space.
  5. Blossom
    Also went to the rehearsal and can’t wait to see it again next week. Such a lovely mix of Ballets, KoH has really got this one spot on. Particularly enjoyable as so many wonderful principal and soloist roles so quite star studded. Look forward to the first BCF reviews!
  6. Blossom
    Row k stalls - 2 tickets now priced at £70 each in this area but I bought for £45 each- a steal. I have actual tickets so can either post first class tomorrow (Mon) or exchange in person if you are at the ROH triple open rehearsal tomorrow. Looking for a taker by Mon 3rd lunchtime or I will try to return to box office.
  7. Blossom
    Prob in the bin then- 🤦‍♀️ Thanks for sharing!
  8. Blossom
    Where was this? I didn’t see it in my mag... In terms of is friends worth it- I have fluctuated between friends and friends+ for the past few years and have seen the benefit. Early booking is helpful and package discounts a benefit although wish they would allow in other tiers. In terms of general rehearsals, if you work in central London and can afford to take a half day off work it’s worth doing for that. I work a 5 min walk from the ROH and have taken along someone from work which meant I was able to take the time off without cutting into holiday. This and packages are the main reason I am a friend. 10% off in the shop is also pretty good esp with their new range but dvds and books still better value elsewhere. I upped my membership originally to try to access insights when they always seem sold out. Membership doesn’t help with this- but regularly checking the site does! ENB membership gives access to rehearsals at night (7pm start) although they aren’t always full dress rehearsals. You also get 20% off most tickets (except Royal Albert Hall) so excellent value.
  9. Blossom
    I know- with Bolshoi prices even higher than Beauty, it simply gives an opportunity to get a better idea of what sort of seats go for what sort of prices (give or take a flexible pricing plan).
  10. Blossom
    Adding to Janet's note, top price Cinderella tickets at Manchester Opera House and Swan Lake at the Lowry are about £50. Still, the ROH is a magical place to visit, but the challenge is finding a seat without restricted view at the right price. Because the seating plan is changeable, this might not be a completely foolproof way of checking prices, but with Bolshoi seats topping the Sleeping Beauty prices, you could look at some of their performances which still have unsold seats you can click on to see the price/view to get an idea of where in the theatre you could sit. https://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-bright-stream-by-bolshoi-ballet is a good one to look at - 8th Aug performance has a lot of seats still free.
  11. Blossom
    Just looked at the year broken out into seasons. It’s very top heavy. 4 productions in Autumn all of which I want to see and very little classical ballet in Winter/Spring/Summer. I think I am going to become quite a stranger to the opera house this year. On the plus side that leaves more money for ENB and BRB at the Coli and Sadlers.
  12. Blossom
    Finally Coppélia! It’s been so long since I last saw it- predates when RB last had it on. Only Ashton’s Cinderella remains- don’t know when they last danced it but I last saw it in 2010. Happy with all of the full length ballets- for those shown recently I will prob choose one cast carefully and squeeze in cinema if I can. Having seen Francesca Hayward in place of Laura Morera I wonder if i will get to see her this season. Swan Lake has to be Naghdi/Ball. Naghdi was perfection last season. Looking forward to the Ashton/MacMillan/Nureyev triple and also to seeing Onegin for the first time. Imtrigued to see what the impact of no Nutcracker will have on speed of sales.
  13. Blossom
    Class today was enjoyable to watch. There were a few Aud Jebsen dancers who look so, so young but danced beautifully. In terms of all of the dancers, class really demonstrated just how hard they have to work, how focussed they have to be on all of the tiny little details. Wonderful simply watching the dancers’ feet to see how much strength, flexibility and fluidity they can work through them. Matthew Ball took class and it was easy to see why he has made principal- striking focus, super strong technique, so precise. So hard to take eyes off him.... Representing the ladies were Mayara Magri- again a cut above, the wonderful Itziar Mendizabel and Leticia Dias who were delightful to watch. One of the AJ ladies finished the class with a crazy number of fouetté turns only exceeded by one of Magri and Mendizabel but can’t remember which. Joseph Sissons also wonderful to watch and one to watch! Also lovely to see David Donnelly in class.
  14. Blossom
    McCormick was on fire last night! Velicu was a lovely partner and they worked well together but Daniel McCormick has such incredible presence for this punchy pdd. Speaking of punch, Julia Conway appeared to be channeling Osipova - sublimely Russian and danced her pdd with such authority - and what a fantastic pairing with Rentaro who was also electric! It was definitely one of those years where you really couldn’t guess the winner. Wagman was obviously in his element given his competition history, he and his partner worked well together although she and Yeomans’ partner looked a little nervous. The ladies danced beautifully but Conway was a step ahead In the ladies’ camp. Yeomans was just a joy to watch - he was radiant and reminded me of one of my nephews with his dimply smile (I could just pinch those cheeks!). Soft spot because he is a fellow Manc. Had the pleasure of sitting next to/infront of some of the principals/first soloists who coached the performers (including Jeffrey Cirio who seems a lot taller in real life!) and their whooping after each performance really added to the enjoyment (although a certain Grizabella infront of us chose to stick her fingers in her ears).
  15. Blossom
    Where I am sitting tends to be less important than who is sitting around me/who i am sitting behind! I had a terrible experience sitting behind a couple on a date at the last two pigeons run. They were constantly leaning into each other and I couldn’t see a thing. Neither could the people behind me. I find this really stressful and on this occasion I should have complained or left. That was stalls middle bank of seats where each row is slightly offset so this shouldn’t be a problem. A decent view is a big factor in terms of my favourite seats- at all price ranges. It doesn’t always mean front row or best price at the ROHbut this is something I won’t compromise on (unless I have knowingly booked a slight restricted view). At the Coliseum, it’s much easier to find a good view and to really get drawn into the performance. Atmosphere is also really important- some areas of the ROH are just more buzzy to sit in than others. Sadlers Wells is often simply lacking in terms of atmosphere -it can depend on the production which sometimes dictates the crowd but i also think it is lacking because it is such a sparse, modern auditorium. Live music also much preferred in this venue to recorded music which is a lot less involving.
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