RHowarth

I thought the extract from Apparitions a moving if low-key ending... the Fonteyn figure departed and Ball left alone on the stage... 

I went this morning. There is a full room of Ballets Russes things - a few costumes from Coq d'Or, sketches for Les Noces... They were playing a clip from Coq d'Or (1930s) and one from Les Noces from 70s (Dowell and Beriosova??? It didn't say). The exhibition overall I found very interesting but I wouldn't say the Ballets Russes room was stuffed full of either exhibits or information. 

31 minutes ago, Mary said:

I think after Johnny Cope's very sad acccident , his first role back was in the Firebird, - (correct me if I'm wrong) so I had a sense of deja vu. 

 

He was meant to retire in it wasn't he? I remember he didn't dance in his planned final performance at the ROH, although came on stage at the end to take applause. Ballet Imperial was also on the bill but can't remember what else! Did he then dance it on tour? And in Month as well but was that a subsequent year? 

9 minutes ago, MRR said:

At least in the U.S. I've always heard that step (in the videos of Muntagirov/Acosta) referred to as a double assemble, with double meaning two revolutions.  "Double" is deceiving, because when done on a diagonal it's more like 1 1/2  revolutions. Suppose double assemble en tournant would be the proper turn?  Or grand assemble en tournant.  

MRR, I've heard that shorthand too and if I'd been more awake last night I would have clocked what was meant! 

I've just consulted Gretchen Ward Warren's Classical Ballet Technique...she has a page on assemble en tournant; she describes three (all illlustrated photographically): 'assemble en tournant en dedans (with single tour en l'air)'  'assemble en tournant en dehors (with single tour en l'air' and 'assemble en tournant en dedans (with double tour en l'air' which is the step under discussion! Other books, dictionaries and teachers might well label it slightly differently though. 

Sorry to take this thread off topic (like I said, I haven't seen the ballet this run, and it's only now I've realised what step is under discussion) but to my mind those are assembles en tournant. Different syllabi call steps by different names but I know a double assemble as this: 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=double+assemble+ballet&view=detail&mid=6B523316A60457AC91926B523316A60457AC9192&FORM=VIRE (sorry, don't know how to embed video). 

Very much a classroom step as I stated above.

Let's all demonstrate at the next Balletcoforum get together! 

There is such a thing as a double assemble but it's very much a classroom step. I can't think of an occasion I've seen it done on stage but then I'm not particularly observant. 

Tour en l'air in its most recognisable form is an like an entrechat (or leg wiggles as my husband calls them) but turning instead of staying facing the front. You might also see them in retire devant (so like a pirouette but jumped) or to arabesque. 

That is indeed a tour en l'air! I haven't seen R&J this run and I admit I've been pondering where these all-important assembles were in the choreography! 

5 hours ago, CCL said:

I can’t answer the question, but I recently came across a pile of old programmes, including the programme for my first ever trip to the ROH, Thursday 13th May 1993, when the role of Odette/Odile was performed by Leanne Benjamin, who is listed as a First Soloist. (Adam Cooper was Siegfried, replacing an injured Jose Manuel Carreno).

Super Cooper! 

17 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

60+ tickets currently available on the ROH website across all areas, from £5-£125. Goodness knows where they've all come from but weeks of checking have finally paid off! I've just snaffled a pair of £55 side stalls circle for me & my mother.

Thank you. I already had a ticket but have been looking for one for my mum. Have now snapped up a rear amphi. 

I tried to get a ticket tonight but was told there was an issue with distribution. Might just be at my local Vue but they did say it wasn't their issue. 

2 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

And 2 of the 5 Coppelias and 1 of the 3 Concerto mixed bills (I haven’t checked the others).

 

 

...and not exactly helpful if you’re in full-time employment. I thought one of the ROH’s unspoken aims was to attract a younger audience?

Well I'm 32, I'm never sure if that counts... 

23 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

I don’t where you are coming from, going home to, but have you tried splitting the journey? For example, if you can say, get to Birmingham quite cheaply, you can get singles to/ from London for about £7-£8 outside rush hours. You wouldnt even have to change train, if the service went through your in between station

Thanks Dave but I've tried all that. I don't drive so pretty adept at train travel. That really is what it costs - particularly, as Jan says, when the matinees are early starts. For the triple bill matinee on Friday 7 June it is actually cheaper for me to travel mid afternoon the day before and pay for an extra night in a hotel at £70 than to travel down to London on the Friday in time for the 12 noon start.

7 hours ago, Pulcinella said:

And of the 4 Swan Lake matinees only one is on a Saturday.

As has been mentioned above - it's much dearer to travel on a week day. For me (booking the minute the rail tickets go onsale) a weekday could be £80-£100 each way as opposed to £25 each way on a weekend. Huge difference. 

I'll be there too!

1 hour ago, alison said:

BTW, is anyone familiar with Doncaster's theatre?  I'm wondering what the RB might be performing there.

It's a lovely venue, bright and modern with great sightlines. Small, though, at 600 and something seats. 

Is Doncaster a tour or just a one-off gala? Sorry, I didn't trawl through the press release but read some articles which suggested a gala. I hope to be corrected! The gala in Hull a couple of years ago was impossible for the general public to get tickets for. 

1 minute ago, Jeannette said:

 

Not sure if it’s been performed since 2000, when this DVD was filmed, starring Benjamin & Acosta:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Coppelia-Leanne-Benjamin/dp/B00005S6KR

 

In which a very young Marianela Nunez is one of Swanhilda's friends and Edward Watson is in the corps!  

Gosh Z was my maker when I wore Freeds! I've never been able to compare myself with Fonteyn before.  

Public booking a nightmare! I had to try each page several times before the 'book now' button would load. For the mixed bill it never did until I went in date by date by the cast info links down the right hand side. Needless to say I couldn't get a ticket for the gala although it kept telling me there were still 2 available in the amphi. 

3 hours ago, alison said:

Blast.  I've just realized there isn't a single matinee for this run either  

I think when I queried it they said it was something to do with how long it takes to clear up after the Pina Bausch. They could, of course, have had a matinee and not an evening show... 

9 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

It is a large metal looking structure, perhaps a galleried library, at the back of the stage filled with books.  The books are the journals and they are red.  The edited journals are blue.  It's a simple but effective device and the set allows the maximum amount of dance space

I actually found the set a bit of an issue. It takes up a lot of the rear of the stage, particularly stage right, which means a lot of the dancing happens downstage. From where I was sitting (and I was in the dress circle) I found that I was craning my neck a lot to see the front of the stage, while there was nothing happening further upstage (unless they were on the structure - which I imagine cannot be seen from areas of the upper circle and balcony). Those of you who know me will know I'm not tall so perhaps I just had bad luck with who I was sitting behind.   

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

talk about clashing - with the visit of San Francisco Ballet at Sadlers Wells, the RB's Firebird mixed and R&J programmes at ROH, not forgetting Ballet Black in the Linbury.

Madness!!

Or the opposite, for those who travel long distances to watch ballet. 

That was one of the reasons I chose to go to university there many moons ago! 

Dance for All in Edinburgh has a good timetable of adult classes. Sheena Gough who teaches on a Tuesday night is legendary. I occasionally travel to Edinburgh specially to take her class. Plus, she doesn't tend to stop for school holidays - her classes run through summer, half term etc. 

11 hours ago, Sim said:

I seem to remember they did once upon a time, but I stand corrected.

Didn't they used to have a symbol next to the dancer's name - and then an explanatory key saying it was the dancer's debut?