ravensara

When were promotions announced last year, and when is it likely to be announced this year?

I would add Tierney Heap to the promotions list for first soloist

If anyone else is having problems streaming the live video on www.worldballetday.com, the video streams much better on Facebook. Great to see how much world ballet day has grown to include so many companies, but I'm rather biased and mostly looking forward to watching the Royal!

I thought Nehemiah was actually pretty good as Albrecht opposite Akane, but unfortunately I couldn't get invested in what happened to her Giselle. I found her disappointing. I think the Collier-Hayward comparison is pretty apt! I don't mean to compare Yasmine and Francesca, I think they're both principal material and it's exciting that we have two very talented young ballerinas rising through the rank. They are quite different stylistically and I think that's a good thing. Francesca is such a delight to watch on stage, and maybe with time she'll find more depth and complexity in her interpretation. And I'm definitely looking forward to Yasmine's career. I do think Francesca has been promoted too soon however, and I wish she'd been allowed to debut a tutu role before being promoted as her debut will now be watched and commented on more closely. You're right Nina, perhaps Yuhui made a better artistic choice staying on in RB. She gets to perform lead roles in Ashton ballets, the occasional principal role and the opportunity to create new works with Mcgregor etc. I agree she's not quite principal material, but she is popular and not quite just a first soloist either, unlike Kobayashi. Maybe she's a Principal-Soloist?

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think Francesca merits the Alina comparisons yet. They have a similar stature and elegance, but where Francessca is delightful and naturalistic, Alina is subtle and layered. Francessca is a delight to watch but her performances don't stay with me after they way Alina's does. I prefer Yasmine, who usually gives a powerful emotional performance that is technically flawless but doesn't feel technical, much like Alina. Really happy to see her promotion, hope they make her principal one day! As for Akane, her performances leave me cold. Beautiful technique, and utterly boring! Giselle is my favorite ballet and I was unmoved by her performance, I was bored. Her technique was faultless but I felt like I was watching ballet exercises. Reminds me of the time I saw Polina Semionova do Swan Lake at the ABT, beautiful arabesques and flawless fouettes, but I checked out by the second half and didn't care what happened to her Odette. I feel sorry for Yuhui. I wonder why she didn't leave earlier. She could easily make principal at another established company in Europe. She trained in Paris, and maybe she should have pursued her career with the Paris Opera, a very traditional and classical company that puts more emphasis on elegance than dramatic talent. First time posting but long time ballet enthusiast