Blossom

I remember seeing it with Songs of the Earth - might have had them in rotation.

What a night tonight! It was my first opening night in a while, took a friend who is new to MacMillan and had a lovely spot at the front of the Stalls Circle with a perfect view. Hayward was my first choice Manon based on previous performances, the role just fits her like a glove. I adore her transformation from a naive, sweet girl into the Manon who arrives in act 2. She pairs so beautifully with Marcelino Sambe and really enjoyed their connection. I have always loved Alexander Campbell as Lescaut- the ‘nice guy’ of ballet surprised me first time round in his convincing depiction of quite a vile man. Speaking of vile men, Gary Avis was wonderfully repulsive as Monsieur GM. Also loved Mayara Magri as his mistress. What particularly struck me tonight was the sheer brilliance of MacMillan. His ability to structure a ballet, tell a story and also to build the drama, using all of the characters on the stage to create a ‘play without words’. I had forgotten about the characters from Manon’s past coming back to haunt her in the final scene, which was so incredibly impactful. I also want to know so much more detail about how Massenet was selected, specifically how the music was chosen to fit the libretto so perfectly (in the way that MacMillan ballets really make the music ‘speak’). I also really appreciated the theatrical verging on cinematic use of music between scenes as a connector. Another dreamy night at the ballet, if a rather gritty tale and so pleased I have more dates and new casts to look forward to. If anyone has any depth of insight on the music, I would love to get as much detail as possible!

Absolutely, was thinking of the last run of La Sylphide (which was a long time ago).

Despite having tickets for tonight I am envious as would have loved to go today but its an insanely busy week at work (and tickets were like gold dust). Really looking forward to opening night and some debuts .

Me too. However, whoever would stage this really needs to ensure the right training for the corps de ballet to deliver a uniform and accurate interpretation of the Romantic style.

@Madger @Ryo would like one, so if you also want one then you both win!

Lamb/Hirano Just can’t manage 2 nights back to back! Happy to sell together or as singles. £14 each.

This is really interesting! I would argue a little artistic license has been taken with the aristocratic ladies’ hats which seem to have a larger brim but it does have the desired effect on stage. Wish I could do last night all over again but Manon tonight…

View from the stalls this evening allowed me to get a better look than at the dress rehearsal and I am on side, but made a note to look up ladies Tudor hats.

Tonight was an absolutely fabulous evening and I will endeavour to this time spell Katja Khaniukova correctly… First of all it was a very Ukrainian night, due to Miss Khaniukova but also due to a new find on Bedford Street a short walk away, a beautiful (gluten free) pastry shop owned and run by Ukrainian refugees where the soundtrack is Ukrainian pop and the cakes are delicious. It also happens to be vegan but don’t let that put you off, incredible flavour in every bite and a business worth supporting. Look up Cream Dream (yes really) on Instagram. Giselle was an emotional evening, there is something about this ballet which just sets me off- the heartbreak for Giselle at the end of act 1, followed by the heartbreak for both Giselle and Albrecht in act 2, particularly at the end as Albrecht is left alone on stage and the curtain comes down. The ballet -and the dancers- has the ability to stir up such feelings despite having seen it numerous times. I was almost brought to tears at the end, a feeling I thought was only reserved for Osipova’s Giselle. Khaniukova made a perfectly sweet and gentle Giselle, with a beautifully soft port de bras and she conveyed a sense of innocencr and experiencing love for the first time. Frola is a personal favourite both in terms of his dancing and acting ability and I was not disappointed to see him as Albrecht tonight! The pair seemed to have a good connection on stage and it was possible to fall in love with them falling in love.The peasant pas de deux was well danced by Ivana Bueno and Miguel Angel Maidana- here I was disappointed not to see the initially billed Daniel McCormick but Angel Maidana delivered what appears by no means to be an easy collection of solos. The role strikes me as the equivalent stamina wise of Swan Lake’s Neapolitan three times over, one of those roles which a dancer might just be pleased to get through, so if a little imprecise in places, all was entirely forgiven. In act 2, a strong and chilling performance was delivered by Alison McWhinney who achieved the balance of heart-hardened Willi with a ghostly lightness. She toyed with her human prey like a cat with a mouse. Khaniukova beautifully hit the right notes in terms of the Romantic style of Giselle - to me Giselle’s entrance solo feels like going back in time and it’s another emotional high point for me. My one criticism is that in the jumps in this solo, particularly what I am thinking retrospectively are sissones (maybe someone can correct me if not), did not have the lift of my 2 favourites from ‘the top 5’, but this wasn’t a deal breaker for me in this emotionally intelligent performance. The tension was high as Albrecht tried to connect with the spirit Giselle and I felt my heart ache for them as they did come together and dance once again. Frola’s solo hit every high note. The company as a whole made this a performance to enjoy, particularly the Willis led by Kinju Kang and Chloe Keneally as Moyna and Zulma. Overall left in love with Giselle so glad to have DNB to watch on Sunday and this was a brilliant performance to also feel lots of love for ENB who really delivered. A note about popcorn and audience: Despite the mentions on the forum I was still quite shocked to see the cinema sized proportions on offer and was very glad not to see or hear any in the stalls this evening. There did seem to be a large group of guests, or dare I say high value ENB supporters, in this area this evening who did not look like the popcorn sort! Overall a well behaved audience and a perfect night out and left on a high.

Thanks for this- checked in specifically for this. More so to check Alison McWhinney is still dancing!

I am excited at the prospect of some lovely debuts for Fille.

I also got quite emotional when I went back to ROH and Sadlers Wells for BRB and ENB (I don't recall which was first of BRB and ENB as one of them is missing from my log), but mostly, I felt I could breathe again. Whatever was on was not enough. There was lots of racing to buy tickets for different performances at ROH to catch them before they were locked down again. It also changed my relationship with Nutcracker which I was bored of but now had new meaning.

‘Arts bring people together and you don’t realise how important it is until you lose it’ Yuhui Choe, Royal Ballet ‘Covid’ gala

There are about 4 seasons of the podcast Open Barre with @ToThePointe and Brandon Lawrence which are a really good listen. Also in podcasts there is RAD’s Why Dance Matters and from Australia, Talking Pointes.

What this suggests to me is that the ballet prices may in part rising to cover the burden of costs from opera, which are clearly a great deal higher.

Was wonderful to get an insight into such minute detail which adds to every performance thanks to Laura’s coaching. Incredibly sad that I can’t make either of the Naghdi/Bracewell dates, even more so now that I have seen them working on it, but glad I get to see Sissens at least!

Unfortunately will need to wait til tomorrow night to watch this- what a wait!!

Too late to edit unfortunately at 28 minutes, @Bluebird kindly reminded me that Kanekova was scheduled but didn’t dance due to injury.

An interesting review from McCauley and while I agree that ENB can sometimes come across as 'clunky' as per the last paragraph, I remember thinking how slick their performances of Swan Lake were this time of year, simply bliss. We saw a repeat of this with their Balanchine at Sadlers' Wells at the beginning of the season - which made me think that Watkin is working to really drive precision. One of the reasons why I think the company may come across as 'clunky' is I think that they have been much more diverse in their recruitment in terms of 'look' than other companies, at least during Rojo's tenure and this can potentially lead to the corps de ballet looking a bit unbalanced sometimes (again, not in Swan Lake or Our Voices). Having only seen the WSR, I cannot really comment, other than to say that it must be exhausting to go straight from Nutcracker to Giselle with little more than a 24 hour break. Much more endurance is required from the corps de ballet in particular in act 2 - and they are having to deliver after running a marathon in terms of Nut. Historically, the company hasn't 'nailed' the romantic style, particularly port de bras, thinking specifically of the corps Sylphides in the last run of La Sylphide (which seems forever ago, but if Giselle was last in 2017, it must have been Jan 2018). I look forward to seeing how they shape up on Tuesday night. Based on the WSR and noting that opening night was McWhinney's first official performance post maternity leave, I personally loved her Myrtha. Severe and cold, but able to deliver on aforementioned port de bras and just beautiful to watch. I will reserve comment for Kanekova for opening night, but I remember enjoying her guesting with the Ukrainian Giselle a couple of autumns ago. I shall be watching her footwork as a result of McCauley's comments, but I shall also be looking at the quality of her acting in Act 1 in particular as this is an area where I often think ENB needs to shape up, in classical performances in particular. Giselle should be in absolute thrall of Albrecht - demure, innocent, shy but adoring and a dreamer. Dramatically speaking, she should be more Tatiana (Onegin) than Lise (Fille). Conveying this in ballet should use the whole body and not simply the tilt of the head and use of the eyes. In addition, we have to remember that Giselle isn't supposed to be physically robust, she has a weak heart and her mother worries - this needs to be carried across in the way that she holds herself - more Odette and nowhere near as confident as Odile, but softer still. Aside from the peasant pas de deux (six), Act 1 relies purely on characterisation and drama and it's important that dancers playing Giselle can deliver. ENB has so much potential under Watkin and I look forward to seeing what his focus will be and whether any of these thoughts seem to have crossed his radar (as well as the desperate need for a new Nut).

Thank you, this is extremely helpful!

I think the challenge for ROH is that in the current financial climate, if they won’t budge on their inflated pricing, they are going to have to work harder to sell tickets. The benefit of TodayTix is that they can discount later vs practically giving away tickets at rock bottom prices to eg the NHS. If I understand your last point directly, I think it’s lunacy that they don’t share offers with their most committed audiences who might be more inclined to pick up an additional performance or bring a friend who would otherwise not be in a position to go.

I guess it depends what’s most important to you about where you sit or stand. My pet peeve is other people’s heads being in the way, which is why I prefer to stand with the occasional row A or loose balcony seats. The tall stools with slight restricted view on the balcony have seen a price hike for Manon which made the price of the clear view in the row infront a more valuable seat- twice the price but more than twice the value. However, these seats are available only a month before if unbooked by access customers, so there are no guarantees. In contrast, even at an old theatre like the Coliseum, there are much fewer restrictions on view. Even the far sides of the curve of the dress circle provide a very central, unrestricted (and unoccluded by heads) view for the first few rows. It’s incredibly frustrating that ROH can charge such a premium for such poor visibility.

I think yesterday's Young ROH booking making the site go haywire for non-Young ROH people (me) looking to book other newly released tickets (me) should have been a bit of a hint to ROH that today would be at least as bad and give them time to manage some of the challenges. I had similar issues with tickets saying they weren't available or on sale... In short, I would say yes, particularly for the more popular ballets, especially central SCS. I find it a challenge to get central SCS for the specific performances I want as a Supporting Friend, but there aren't that many tickets available in the central block and there are thousands of premium friends (and other supporting friends who get onto site faster than i can) who will have been able to access these tickets sooner..

Yes i did. Thank you! Thank you for this also - going to look up early Tudor ladieswear! Re Alison, so pleased. She was a fabulous Myrtha but would love to see her dance Giselle. I tend to find that not all dancers (not ENB specific) can get the Act 1 characterisation quite right and I get a sense that she could. She is the ENB dancer I cannot understand why she has not been promoted to Principal.