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JohnS

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  1. JohnS
    There were a number of very positive comments about the first Insight event on a tickets for the Friday 13 Insight thread. You might want to post them here.
  2. JohnS
    A fabulous matinee, and what a celebration for Anna Rose and the Royal Ballet. The curtain came down a fraction early at the close so we were deprived of Alex’s final twitch of ear - perhaps the curtain controller was as keen to applaud as the audience. I have no idea how Benn as King of Hearts managed to keep his head buried in the newspaper during the wonderful Anna Rose/Steven pdd - resisting a peek a testament to sacrifice in the name of art. Laura’s Queen was imperious and lovely to see her balance in the tarts adage. And what strength across the entire cast - everyone on the cast list derives a mention and then all those who don't even appear on the published sheet, lead cards and gardeners or should I say painters, and the corps. I was also very impressed by Tom Seligman’s conducting - a great asset for the Royal Ballet as conductor and also when giving pre performance introductions. But the matinee rightly was a wonderful opportunity for Anna Rose and how richly she deserved the stunning bouquets and applause. A tremendous talent, quite delectable, and I’m sure Alice will be the first of many lead roles for her.
  3. JohnS
    Thank you Bridiem. I recall Junior Associates being under 26 and remember Upper Slips places being in effect free or 50p for many performances when using the vouchers, including Jon Vickers in several unforgettable Tristan performances.
  4. JohnS
    There are also some very complimentary comments about Tierney Heap's Queen on the Alice thread.
  5. JohnS
    Agreed! One vignette - Irek Mukhamedov's coaching Benn for the suffocation was absolutely mesmerising. Irek still has such fluidity in his movement and brought back many memories of past performances.
  6. JohnS
    As regards tickets being possibly held for partner companies, I was thinking more in terms of house tickets for company management use, not supporters. I recall Janet's earlier post about the absence of Friends equivalency when there were disappointments in not being able to get seats when booking opened. As I say I have no knowledge about ticketing arrangements but the various comments on the numbers of seats and their location seem to suggest management arrangements rather than ad hoc returns. No doubt there will be some lessons learned when reviewing the arrangements for what promises to be a fascinating and very welcome collaboration.
  7. JohnS
    It never crossed my mind that Floss might be being critical of the event. I was simply rather taken aback by Floss's suggestion that higher tier Friends may have discovered something better to do and so returned tickets, with its implicit charge of dilettantism. Others shared my disquiet and were blunter in their posts. Whilst I find MacMillan's ballets have often provided truly gripping performances, so have many other choreographers, and had Floss made her comments about any Insight event, my intake of breath would have been just as sharp.
  8. JohnS
    I wonder if there may be another more charitable explanation. Individual Friends may find there are circumstances beyond their control which result in their returning tickets (for some events such as rehearsals simply for others to have the benefit of booking with no refunds for returned tickets). But it would be unusual for a number of Friends to find at the same time that they were not able to attend and so return 'a whole bunch of tickets'. I have no knowledge of ticketing arrangements but given the collaborative nature of the Macmillan Celebrations, might it be the case that some tickets were held for partner companies as well as the Royal Ballet which are not being used and have now been made available? Such arrangements may also be a factor in large numbers of tickets being made available for some of the Macmillan Celebration performances at relatively short notice. I apologise that my contribution is speculative: perhaps I'm just being a little sensitive to Floss's suggestion that high tier Friends may have discovered something better to do although I do agree with her sentiment about the public spiritedness of returning tickets.
  9. JohnS
    A very enjoyable Alice matinee with Francesca utterly enchanting as ever. Tierney Heap was a fearsome Queen of Hearts, with Benn ‘leading’ the reluctant cavaliers. I liked Tristan Dyer’s Jack and James Hay’s White Rabbit and it was very good to see Calvin Richardson’s Hatter after the Insight relay - I thought he was particularly strong when leading the ensemble work. It is a fun piece, great production and engages the audience, young and not so young. Special mention to Koen Kessels and the ROH orchestra - and very well received by the audience. It strikes me that the Royal Ballet have begun the new season pretty much where they ended last season. How fortunate we are as there seems to be an abundance of talent throughout the company - all the smaller roles made a real impression and the corps de ballet cards all come up trumps. I’ll look forward very much to seeing Anna Rose in her second performance, with Laura’s Queen of Hearts, and then the cinema relay. Again thanks to bangorballetboy for fabulous curtain call photos of the afternoon's performance on Instagram. But I'm also pleased to have picked up my Anastasia DVD - a diet of Alices might be too much sweetness and I don't think extra insulin would work.
  10. JohnS
    Many thanks for the reports and photos of last night - must have been fabulous. I too am very much looking forward to Anna Rose's matinee performance on the 14th, as well as tomorrow's cast. I'm not sure I'd let Jillykins' gardeners loose on the pruning.
  11. JohnS
    First opportunity to see this production - a mesmerising tour de force. Very unfortunate for Fernando Bufala and I do hope he quickly recovers. In the first few minutes of the performance, I was struggling to distinguish between Albrecht and Hilarion and I do wonder if the roles could be more clearly differentiated. I wondered also about the prolonged death of Hilarion and its brutality, a cat toying endlessly with a mouse before finally dispatching it, but in this world the brutality Akram Khan captures is played out time and time again. And what a wonderful contrast with the Giselle/Albrecht pas de deux - utterly captivating, and truly uplifting, with love, remorse and forgiveness triumphing. If only we could all find the Giselle within us. And incredible to think the two dancers may not have partnered before - does any one know? A final word to say how much I enjoyed the score and the contrasts between the pulsating industrial rhythms and the reworking of sections of Adam. Thank you Akram Khan and all at ENB. I look forward very much to seeing the RB’s Giselle with a new perspective and on the train home thought that the Akram Khan production will make the traditional production even more poignant.
  12. JohnS
    I think you'll find that there is now more casting information for other roles http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-by-christopher-wheeldon
  13. JohnS
    The Francesca/Yasmine debuts are really special, particularly given how wonderful their debuts in other roles have been in recent seasons and how we've been privileged to see them both flourish. I'm rather hoping Laura will be able to elicit a warmer, more engaging performance from her partner and I couldn't resist Natalia. So four for me.
  14. JohnS
    Brings back wonderful memories, particularly the Ring Cycle. Delighted ROH are bringing these back.
  15. JohnS
    Further release of c50 tickets for both performances.
  16. JohnS
    Rather late but details are on the ROH website (including opera): https://www.roh.org.uk/cinemas
  17. JohnS
    Many thanks for the upgrade - took me a little while to realise that I needed to sign in anew (but I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to IT - and no doubt much else).
  18. JohnS
    I agree. Wonderful to hear all the contributions, including Kristen and Calvin. Brought make memories of one of the undoubted highlights of last season. I do hope Flight Pattern and Crystal Pite will be back soon.
  19. JohnS
    I'm afraid I have to disagree with Alison re Nehemiah Kish's Albrecht. I thought he didn't engage in the 'loves me, loves me not' play and his placing of flowers on Giselle's grave I found perfunctory. In Act 1 I guess one interpretation is that Albrecht is simply toying with Giselle but surely in Act 2 he realises he loves her and would show this in positioning the flowers with as much tenderness as possible? I was however very impressed with much of his dancing but it was undoubtedly Akane who made the performance truly memorable.
  20. JohnS
    Good news - thank you Bluebird. Had hoped that Benn Gartside might be given another Leontes following his promotion to Principal Character Artist but I see he's in Age of Anxiety. And Christina Arestes does dance Paulina.
  21. JohnS
    I agree with Bruce - Harrison Lee is phenomenally talented and I do hope the Royal Ballet are able to sign him up. I also liked very much all of Here We Come and Solo - the School and Royal Ballet seem to have an incredibly rich vein of male dancers. It was good to see Onwards as there'd been an opportunity to watch this in early rehearsal at a recent visit to the School. And wonderful to end the main programme with Concerto where in the recent Solo evening the 2nd movement PDD had been performed beautifully. A hugely enjoyable afternoon, particularly in light of the promotions announcement.
  22. JohnS
    Delighted to see all the promotions - congratulations to all and so well deserved. Wonderful to see how Kevin O'Hare and all at the Royal Ballet nurture and reward such talent. I would just hope that the new Principal Character Artists will continue to have opportunities to delight audiences in a range of roles - for example I'd love to think that we'll see Benn dance Leontes and I still dream that he may reprise Rudolph having missed his earlier performances.
  23. JohnS
    I would be very interested to know if the Programme Notes/Cast Sheet for Woolf Works at QPAC include more helpful synopses. This issue was raised when Woolf Works was performed recently at ROH and I believe was being given further consideration. The overview on QPAC's website is very brief but I think significantly more informative than what I recall from last time here and the press review today is also insightful - that of course may well be down to the critic and not the programme note! https://qpac.com.au/event/rnb_woolf_works_17/
  24. JohnS
    Not sure if these have been mentioned but curtain up on Symphonic Variations is wonderful. Clara's recognition that she has her necklace from the Sugar Plum Fairy and has indeed saved Hans Peter always gets me (and how good it is to see in the Nutcracker casting that Francesca will continue dancing Clara as well as Sugar Plum Fairy). But I have to agree with one of Bridiem's choices earlier on - the closing of Song of the Earth is utterly sublime.
  25. JohnS
    Francesca certainly was dancing Alice - with Vadim! Wonderful.
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