Blossom

I've decided to upgrade to a seat for opening night! SCS 37 and 38 now available. £9 each. Happy to sell separately.

Are you sorted? Decided to upgrade to a seat for this performance. I have central SCS, happy to sell separately.

A fantastic insight live in the studio and the first one my daughter has joined me for- she was a bit star struck. Love that one of my kids has the ballet big too. The discussion and the rehearsals were a real treat, especially having not seen any of the works before. There is something really special about Kenneth MacMillan’s works and it was fascinating to see the dancers and coaches really breathe life into them. The conversation element is brilliant - a way for us as the audience to really get close to the genius of MacMillan and understand better that baton passing from generation to generation.

Links, Tuesday 12 March, 2024 Review – Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, ROH, London: Maggie Foyer, Seeing Dance Review – New York City Ballet, Mixed Bill, Sadlers Wells, London: Alastair Macauley, AlastairMacauley.com Bruce Marriott, Lifted Leg Review – New York City Ballet, Copland Dance Episodes, New York, Leigh Witchel, Dance Log NYC Review – Pontus Lidberg, On the Nature of Rabbits, Joyce Theater, New York: Jerry Hochman, Critical Dance Candace Thompson, Fjord Review Review – Various, Flamenco Festival, New York: Marina Kennedy, Broadway World Review - Arno Schuitemaker, If You Could See Me Now, Janet Smith, Stir Preview - Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company, Solera, Sadlers Wells: Teresa Guerreiro, Culture Whisper Preview - SF Ballet gears up for first full run of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in nearly 40 years: Garth Grimball, SF Examiner Article – Royal Ballet Principal dancer Francesca Hayward nominated Lead Ambassador of Royal Ballet School’s ATAP: Graham Spicer, Gramilano Feature - Artistry in seven shades of grey, Matthew Lawrence, Dance Australia Feature - Wayne McGregor: ‘People think of me as an outsider, but I’ve never felt like one’: Kat Lister, inews Feature - Yuri Possokhov: A Choreographer of Many Facets, in Movement: Aimee Ts’ao, SF Classical Voice Feature/Preview - SF Ballet soloist Sasha Mukhamedov talks Balanchine, returning to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: Lauren Harvey, The Daily Californian Article/Preview - Robert Moses’ ‘New Legacies’ takes on the specter of censorship: Mary Carbonara, 48 Hills News - Queen Margrethe to design set for ballet at Copenhagen Tivoli: Staff, The Local DK News - Cincinnati Ballet names new president and CEO: Nikki Kingery, Cincinnati Business Courier

Is it worth considering that he mightn’t have danced in Don Q in order to concentrate on his family?

Links, Monday 11 March, 2024 Review – Northern Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Leeds: Lyndsey Winship, Guardian Elizabeth Hayward, Always Time for Theatre Review – New York City Ballet, Mixed Bill, Sadler’s Wells, London: John O’Dwyer, Seen and Heard Review - Far from the Norm, Until We Sleep, Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome & Ballet National de Marseille & La(Horde), Roommates, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London: Sarah Crompton, Guardian Review – New York City Ballet, Quadruple Bill: Leigh Witchell, Dance Log NYC Season in review – At City Ballet, 2 sparkling premiers and many moments to remember: Gia Kourlas, NY Times Preview - Boston Ballet showcases classic ‘Cinderella’: Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald Preview - Foreign travel and fresh repertoire inspire City Ballet’s ‘An American in Paris’: Marcia Lutrell, San Diego Union Tribune Feature - Then & Now: Boston Ballet’s Cinderella: Alanna Love, En Face Magazine Article - La Bayadère: Should it be cancelled? Karen van Ulzen, Dance Australia Article - The ballet world is in transition: are dancers artists or athletes? Sarah Rainsford, BBC News (via Yahoo news) Article - Leading drama, dance schools fight for survival after ‘decade of neglect: Linda Morris, Syndey Morning Herald

Which date are you looking at specifically?

Links, Sunday 10 March, 2024 Review – New York City Ballet, Mixed Bill, Sadlers Wells, London: Alastair McCauley, Slipped Disc Nancy Brie, West End Best Friend Vicki Jane Vile, Broadway World Charlotte Kasner, Seeing Dance Review – Northern Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Leeds: Christine Goode, On Yorkshire Magazine Review - Wayne McGregor and Ben Cullen Williams, A Body for Harnasie, Royal Festival Hall: Nicola Claire, Seeing Dance Review - American Contemporary Ballet, Jazz Review, Los Angeles: Jillian Verzwyvelt, Ballet Herald Review - Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Lunar Halo, Taipei: David Mead, Seeing Dance Review – Ballet Philippines, Limang Daan, Cultural Centre of the Philippines: Yumi Pascual Paras, Phillipines Star Life Preview – La Scala Ballet returns to China – on tour to Hong Kong and Shanghai: Graham Spicer, Gramillano Article - Dancers get a turn as choreographers in Portland Ballet’s ‘New Works’: Megan Gray, Portland Press Herald

Huge, huge thanks for sharing this. In a way, I am rather glad to have seen this online and not in person as I am now looking rather red and puffy eyed. The speech he made just reinforces that he truly is the nicest man in ballet. I do hope we get to see and hear so much more of what he is up to at the RAD- including a significant feature in World Ballet Day!

I can't imagine what it was like on the other side of the curtain last night before the performance - I certainly needed to calm my nerves in anticipation of Cesar Corrales being back on the ROH stage! It really was wonderful to see him back, although it did feel like he was playing it safe last night. Having said that, I really enjoyed his performance in terms of not just the dancing, but the quality of his acting. He seemed to be a particularly young and innocent Siegfried, which led to Odile's deception having double the impact.. I felt particularly in Act IV that Corrales deeply connected with Odette and was intensely regretful. Mayara Magri is one of my preferred Odette/Odiles - her Odette is a character of beauty and timeless classical style, contrasting with her sly, predatory Odile. I do particularly enjoy her partnership with Corrales which I hope will get back to full, explosive power after a bit more stage time and a bit more confidence on his part. It's such a shame that the next performance is Young ROH only - and would love to find a way to sneak in, perhaps I could be an usher for the evening?! Also really enjoyed Sae Maeda and Leticia Dias as Siegfried's sisters but particularly Joonhyuk Jun's elegant and effortless Benno - amazed at the softness of his landings. There was so much to enjoy in terms of the whole company last night from the beautiful swans of the company to the incredibly stylish character dances and the fun of Ashton's Neapolitan that I wouldn't want to do anyone a disservice by mentioning some names and not others. Last night was a reminder of exactly what puts this company on top. I could easily watch Swan Lake over and over again with the rich set designs and gorgeous costumes, Tchaikovsky's incredible score and the talent of the Royal Ballet to boot, but unfortunately due to holiday clashes, I now have to wait a painful 2 months until my next performance, so will have to survive on all of your fabulous reviews.

I saw this ad with different copy which was much better. I can’t remember how to post pictures directly so just copied and pasted the words. Three unique works: the endless invention of a British ballet titan Experience the many moods of 20th century ballet as The Royal Ballet celebrates the breadth of Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s one-act ballets. Danses Concertantes is grand, geometrical and sharp; Different Drummer is complex and haunting; and Requiem, poignant and elegiac. Danses Concertantes / Different Drummer / Requiem open on our Main Stage from 20 March. Book your tickets today: https://bit.ly/4bAXRUz 📸 Marcelino Sambé and Francesca Hayward in rehearsal

SO excited for Cesar Corrales' return to the stage tonight!

Finally, a proper preview piece on Gramilano. I’m sure @Jan McNulty will have this in tomorrow’s links!

Obviously there is quite a bit going on here. It's a long run of Swan Lake which is physically very demanding, so starting to understand why managing casts for triple bills alongside this could be rather stressful.

So would I - although I am not sure I can make their dates!!! What's pretty incredible is that from what KOH came out and said before the performance, I don't think that Sasaki/Sissens were originally set to dance the rehearsal, after all, they aren't due to dance for 6 weeks. I know we don't comment on the dancing from a dress rehearsal but can't not say that given the above or otherwise, the black swan pdd was very exciting to watch. I was also reminded how stunning the designs by John McFarlane are.

😂 but there are definitely worse things than humming Tchaikovsky!

My guess is Fumi/Will. Close enough but not too close to opening night. Or possibly Anna Rose/Marcelino

In other news, any thoughts on who might be dancing in the General Rehearsal (Swan Lake) tomorrow?

Actually it's for Requiem

I would return to the original topic of the thread- the issue is that the information is so limited that nobody really knows what these pieces are about or who MacMillan is. The challenge is selling something blind, offering discounts for first night has certainly filled most of the house but for sustainable sales, they really need to get some preview material out into the public domain

Would have loved to see Fumi and Vadim!

There is a studio version of Marianela and Reece Clarke on YouTube filmed by Dancer’s Diary which is my favourite, despite lack of costumes. Agree otherwise in terms of RB, I found Lauren Cuthbertson/Vadim actually ran rather slowly as did Darcey Bussell. I enjoyed Baryshnikov and Patricia McBride but although I rather like Tiler Peck in general, her version wasn’t ballet for me, it lacked elegance and grace.

Finding some free time on my hands today I have been watching Tchaikovsky pas de deux videos on YouTube back to back. I have found it really interesting in terms of not just style but the confidence of each female dancer in terms of trust in their partner for the fish dives. The Russian-trained dancers seem somewhat restrained and there is less sense of abandon, one of the more recent American versions strikes me as being gymnastic but not particularly balletic (particularly compared to recordings from previous decades)z Overall I think Marianela and partner (both Vadim and Reece Clarke available to watch) is the speediest, the most trusting and has the artistic flair and precise technique to beat any competition hands down, but what do you think? Playlist here

It's possible that they were seated elsewhere, but either way, to be committed enough to book both performances but to only stay for Act 1 is rather ridiculous, especially when the drama swells so much from act to act (which you think they would have noticed having seen the matinee).

Links, Sunday 3 March, 2024 Review – Ballet national de Marseille, Roommates, Southbank Centre, London: Grace Spencer, The Reviews Hub Marian Kennedy, London Theatre 1 Franco Milazzo, Broadway World Review – Grand Kyiv Ballet, Giselle, Pennsylvania: Staff, Times Leader Review – Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Connecticut: Lara Beckius, Her Campus Review – Regional Area Dance Festival, Wellspring Theater, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Marin Heinritz, Revue West Michigan Preview – Royal Opera House Muscat, La Fille Mal Gardee, Staff, Times of Oman Preview - Ballet Hispanico reflects on changing images of Latin culture in Sarasota program: Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald Tribune Feature - Ingrid Silva: Shattering Ballet Stereotypes, From Rio Slums to Global Stage: Saboor Bayat, BNN Feature - How Brazilian Dancer Ingrid Silva Is Changing the World — Starting with Ballet! (Exclusive): Gillian Telling, People Article - Ukraine's Lviv Opera Ballet Members Flee Amid War, Sparking Debate on Conscription Evasion: Salman Akhtar, BNN Article - 2 yrs on, Ukraine evacuees dance in Japan for peace in motherland: Ko Hirano, The Mainichi Article - Coco Kopelman Reflects on Her Time at the School of American Ballet: "It Was Like a Degas Painting": Isiah Magsino, Town and Country via AOL Feature - Bethany Truax: Vienna Dancer's Decade with Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet and Artistic Future, Muhammed Jawad, BNN And finally… Article - Beyoncé Goes To The Ballet In A Sleek Suit And Oversized Coat: Quincy Legardye, Harper’s Bazaar