Blossom

Sorry to hijack but just wondering what level of ‘friends’ do you have to be to secure tickets for these events? They always seem to be sold out by plain old friends level...

Absolutely loved it last night, in fact, the whole programme was excellent. I was seriously concerned after having seen Aladdin which had zero highs and which made the company look rather lacklustre.

I took my daughter to the performance which was her first foray into the non-classical world and it was great to see her engaged and literally leaning forward during this piece. The music went from bringing to life the discord between Pan and his followers which wasn't so pleasing to the ears (!) to a more harmonious sound by the end of the piece which helped to bring together the story telling. The sets were striking and beautiful, costumes added further dimension to the setting and the dancing was top class.  It was full of the energy needed to open up the triple bill and couldn't fault the quality of the dancing (which I very much had done with Aladdin).  

Le baiser de la fee was a beautifully delivered classical piece. Loved Corder's choreography and there was a traditional full pas de deux which included male and female solo piece, allowing for a little showing off which I always enjoy. Loved the way the set slotted in and out of place during the performance, taking us from the forest to the village etc.  When the fairy (of the kiss) lured the man away from his bride at the end,  the choreography really demonstrated the hold the fairy had over him. The fairy costumes and headdresses were incredibly striking - beautiful but not pretty for the fairies were quite dark characters and of course there's an unhappy ending.  Interestingly my daughter

Penguin café... I have wanted to see this since I was about 10 which is the age my daughter is now.  We both adored it - music, costumes, set - and it left us hungry for more, as well as contemplating the serious message around animals at risk of extinction.  Not quite sure how the flea being at risk of extinction is a bad thing - interestingly, I read that Bintley wrote to some museum/archive to find out if any fleas had become extinct and received a reply to say that no-one has ever bothered to find out!.  Loved how each animal was brought to life in dance with authentic animal like movements and the moments of humour which accompanied them. Hard pushed to pick a favourite piece within the ballet, but if pushed, would be between the witch-doctor-like Zebra and his vogueing lady zebras, the hilarious morris dancing flea tying the morris dancers up in knots and the fluid and lyrical rainforest people. Stunning dancing, loved the flow from piece to piece and left the theatre on a complete high.

Overall a very enjoyable night with a little bit of everything - from contemporary/classical to true classical dance to something which I can't categorise at all.  A delight to enjoy with the fresh eyes of a 10 year old also and to learn what excited her - less of the classical and more contemporary please.  Previous expeditions have been to Nutcracker and Giselle - will definitely play it less safe in future!!

Saw Aladdin at Sadlers Wells on Thursday night and despite having read reviews in the press and here, I was exceptionally disappointed and considered leaving after the first act. It was my first time seeing BRB and was expecting to be at least dazzled by the great dancing which the programme promised. I wasn't keen on the music - kept almost hearing the Back to the Future theme and it was a bit blockbustery rather than balletic. Wasn't keen on the quality of the costumes which in places which looked cheap and gaudy. Most of all, the dancing seriously disappointed, but strongly believe that this was down to the choreography which was largely lots of petit allegro which confined dancers to very small spaces, racing through lots of steps without showing much in the way of style. There was little adage and disappointing pas de deux which could have developed out in to a bit more of a thrilling piece of virtuousity to give the show an energetic lift.

The only positive I can think of is that my kids would probably have liked it (which is fine as long as I don't have to take them).

Thanks first of all for the guidance on finishing times. Another late start tonight but a perfectly timed cab! 

Any my thoughts from anyone on the music? The tempo seemed considerably faster for some bits vs the Royal Ballet at least and music on cd etc going back as long as I can remember... 

Right, in cab on way home and desperately trying to avoid reading about the exit polls, too depressing. 

Loved The Dream, David Yudes' Puck was fantastic, as were Sambe and Hayward.

Previously saw Symphonic Variations in New York, definitely prefer it at home at the ROH, was a completely different ballet to watch.

M&A was one I was particularly looking forward to being a huge fan of Ashton. I have Rojo/Polunin on DVD and just love the chemistry and the passion. It wasn't quite right tonight except for the final scene which Ferri delivered well. I think the problem is that she is just too old.... There wasn't enough fire in her in the early scenes, was her line just not long or stretchy enough? Was it something about her upper back? Really can't put my finger on it. And then there were huge cheers for Ferri... 

Really excited for Song and Sylphide in particular. Although it doesn't necessarily make sense, it works for me!

This completely feeds my love of history as well as love of ballet. In a parallel life I could quite happily have become an archivist (not specifically in the ballet world) if only it had crossed my mind at the time...

For anyone in London, Ballet Black are rehearsing one of their pieces and doing a Q&A this Thursday at Arts Depot in Finchley (where London Studio Centre is based). It's a free event.

https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/dance/ballet-black-open-rehearsal

They are also performing at Arts Depot in Finchley (North London) which is pretty local to me, so I am catching them there. Really looking forward to it.

I have friends membership and logged in on the first morning to buy tickets for Mayerling as due to other commitments, I only had the option of 1 or 2 dates. I waited till after work to actually book and seats were almost all booked out, with some odd single tickets in the stalls being available then pretty much nothing else but the far amphi. That's for Soares/Cuthbertson. I have never seen tickets move so quickly in what was essentially 8 hours. 

i have just checked on the site as I know the number of tickets you can book with membership is relatively limited and this is what it says:-

Advance booking ahead of the public - you can purchase between one and four tickets for most productions and sometimes up to six. However, the number will occasionally be restricted to two tickets for productions where there is exceptional demand.

This is the same at all levels of Friends membership, so for so many tickets to disappear so quickly when performances are so highly sought after and therefore a max of 2 tickets per booking, is this something which a 3rd party could really get away with, or was this a proactive move by the ROH? Can't be a 'robot' sale given it was friends dates...

Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals...

According to the Times article today, he will be performing Take Me to Church live and there will be a Q&A on 2 March at the London Palladium.. I assume most people know this already as it is pretty booked up.

A pity this was cancelled. Thanks for letting me know as I didn't receive any confirmation from them!

I always thought that they only use ticketing agents when productions aren't selling so well to try to broaden out the audience. I can't believe the mark up! Tickets are already expensive but thankfully not as much so as New York/Lincoln Center for example.

Definitely in agreement that the u shaped theatre isn't ideal for viewing from many places - it actually makes it really difficult to buy tickets as there are so many restricted view seats. Having said that, at least there are plenty of affordable seats!

I booked on the day Friends opened for booking. Waited 4 hours to find out if friend could join me but tickets were flying so fast that I just had to go ahead and book. Thankfully a ballet I particularly wanted to treat myself to a better seat for as there was nothing reasonablly priced left...

I've been looking at a few of your conversations about school and/or uni leavers and not sure if this is of interest, but to those who say their children would gladly take any job, this is what I can tell you from my industry, advertising:-

School leavers - apprenticeships - everything you need to know http://www.creativepioneers.co.uk/Jobs

Post uni paid internships - there are TONS of entry level jobs in London in particular, but not exclusively. This is the industry internships site which is pretty good at giving a complete overview. Because data is so important these days in everything we do in the digital world and beyond, there are actually some really interesting roles for people with a maths or science background who know how to manage data, structure tests.... http://www.theadmission.co.uk/

I think one of the toughest things for graduates is knowing what they want to do if they haven't done a degree, but maybe this industry would appeal. It is somewhat competitive for the programmes I've linked to, but there are still often plenty of entry level jobs available in companies like mine. 

I hope this might help just one of your kids!

My money is on one of the ladies this year. Looking forward to seeing Cesar Corrales perform on the night too as the reigning champion. 

It didn't seem to indicate what was super...

Pricing is out in the latest ROH magazine, prices up to £150 for 'super seats', then £140,£122,£105,£90,£80, £65....down to £10. There seem to be 14 pricing tiers vs the usual 13...

Fascinating, thank you. I love the idea that this is a truly historical version of the ballet, history being another love of mine, pieced together by Skeaping. 

Back to curtain calls, looks like the Willis danced most of the male cast to death

Thanks for comments on death scene - no idea why it is so important for my daughter to know, because at 9 it isn't an issue as to what is authentic, but we had discussed it while I have been explaining the story, the music etc!

The staging of Red Shoes was very well done - and really fast paced to boot, especially in comparison with the classics which develop their stories very slowly. I find the conversation above as to which ballets will endure quite an interesting one. The drama, passion and emotion of a MacMillan ballet is what I think would continue to capture imaginations and as long as there is life in the traditional pantomime, I still see Ashton's  story ballets enduring, because they have so much charm. People will always have an affinity with stories... Having said that, there is still so much that has not endured, but why? Is there a magic formula for creating a ballet today which will still live on in generations to come?

I very much agree with MAB that arts appreciation has to be taught - this is something I feel very strongly about, having had a teacher at a (state) primary school who created a wonderful programme of music appreciation when I was at school. Aside from ballet, the classical music I have most appreciation for today is that which I fondly remember from his simple intiative of having a piece of music playing at our daily morning assembly across a week and 2 children giving a summary of the composer/history/story if any at the final assembly of the week. That would have been a good 35 or more weeks per year for 4 years - a considerable amount of music was covered.  

Can't wait to see it on Saturday night. I have to say that I had thought from seeing some of the rehearsal video clips that there seems to be little chemistry between Cojacaru and Hernandez. I want to try to sneak in a Badenes/Corrales show if I can - she came across in the clips as exceptionally expressive and Corrales is a huge draw.  I have my eyes set on Wednesday...

A question from my daughter - how does ENB play Giselle dying? Does she die of a broken heart or does she stab herself with a sword as in the RB version? 

I am not sure that  the following argument I often hear actually makes any sense: ' too few young people go to ballet/opera/ etc and therefore the future audience will dwindle.'

Don't peoples' tastes change as they get older?

Perhaps most of us didn't go to so much opera and ballet in our younger,say,15-30 years- ?

 

 

I certainly didn't go to the ballet so much between 18 and 30ish because of the challenges of too little money and very small children, I think that will always be the case. What I see as the difference between now and my parents' and grandparents' generation is that there are so many other things vying for our attention. Nothing will ever beat live theatre of whatever kind, but the general trend, in everything we do, is that there is more and more choice and fragmentation as people carve out new ways of doing things - dance included. In the 21st century, our children's point of references are completely different. Where once (8 year olds were consuming ballet books and annuals  and were fascinated by the stars of the ballet world (and there were 3 or less tv stations), their points of reference are completely different - tween popstars, children's TV programming across kids only channels, mobile phones and tablets, the 'selfie' society and choice, choice and more choice... I think if we don't find a way to operate for the audiences growing up in today's digital world which has a completely different context to even my childhood in the 80s, there is a risk to the preservation of some of the culture that we enjoy today, or the perceived value of it which enables it to self perpetuate.