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Dawnstar

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Everything posted by Dawnstar

  1. Dawnstar
    That is absolutely baffling. The seats in my usual area are fortunately "only" £49 for Winter's Tale vs £75 for Swan Lake. I cannot understand why relative seat prices vary so much between productions. Surely it would make far more sense if they set a top price for each production & then every other price band was a percentage of that top price? If there are any discounts then add me to the list of people who are really hoping they'll be sent to those of us who have already booked for some performances. I'm hoping to see all 4 casts & it would be really nice to be able to afford at least one unrestricted viewing, which at current prices I certainly can't.
  2. Dawnstar
    I'm waiting for the casting for Northern Ballet's R&J at Sadler's Wells for that week so I don't know yet which performance of that I'll be going to & therefore if I'll be free on 29th or not. ETA With the discussions about the SB costumes, I've just seen this on Twitter! (I hope this isn't too off topic as it's not a ballet costume. If it is then please remove.)
  3. Dawnstar
    Oh, I didn't realise they were repeating this in London. I wonder if it's likely to be the same dancers as in the Birmingham performance? I'm very tempted to see if I can possibly afford to squeeze it in as it looked like a really nice programme.
  4. Dawnstar
    ENB have tweeted about casting updates. Comparing what is now on their website to the info above, it's a reshuffle of existing casts for some dates rather than either any dancers withdrawing or any new dancers being added. So still only 4 casts and no Takahashi or Kase. The two matinees that were previous down as TBC are both now Hawes & Arrieta.
  5. Dawnstar
    If the ROH performance database is correct then there were 20 performances of Cinderella December-January and 13 of Swan Lake, with 12 more Swan Lakes in May.
  6. Dawnstar
    I've seen the majority of this season from Friday rush seats & it looks like I'll be doing the same again next season. Between the endless train strikes & engineering, being able to get a better viewing angle from the same price from rush seats than the advance booking ones, and casting both being available later & as always subject to change, booking within a few days of the performance rather than up to 3 months in advance seems the safer option. So with Friends booking being even further in advance than public booking, there would be absolutely no point in me considering having Friends membership again (after about 2 years the ROH gave up sending me emails trying to persuade me to get it again!).
  7. Dawnstar
    Given the lack of any full length 19th century ballets next season it's a pity there isn't an equivalent to this mixed bill but with all classics rather than all Ashton. There could be the Kingdom of the Shades scene, as that still seems to be considered acceptable even though the rest of Bayadere isn't, Raymonda Act III, and several classical pas de deuxs & solos. Also in hindsight I regret that I didn't start seeing ballet at the ROH at the same time that I started seeing opera, as last week was the 20th anniversary of the first time I visited the ROH.
  8. Dawnstar
    There are direct trains between Stansted & Birmingham but they're at most once at hour and sometimes only once every 2 hours. They're also fairly slow and can be very busy as they're usually only 3 carriages. It will be quicker to go into London & get a fast train out of Euston to Birmingham.
  9. Dawnstar
    That reminds me of something that slightly irks me with the RB's Swan Lake: Odette getting entrance applause in Act II when she's already appeared in the Prologue. I can't say I'm that keen on entrance applause anyway, unless it's a special occasion such as a retirement, but applause for what is actually a dancer's second appearance on stage baffles me.
  10. Dawnstar
    I'm very sorry to read this. As far as I know I never met her in person but I have enjoyed her posts for the years since I joined the Forum. I am so sorry for her that she wasn't able to live a few more weeks to see the upcoming performances that she wanted to see in the rest of this season.
  11. Dawnstar
    I see that next year's cinema season includes only 4 live ballet performances: Alice, Cinderella, R&J and the Wheeldon mixed bill, whilr being re-shown are this season's Nutcracker and Swan Lake. That feels as though it shows a lack of faith in the season of live performances having enough appeal to the general (cinema) public. Also if they want to re-screen some of the classics then why not pick performances from a few seasons ago rather than repeating ones we have only just seen?
  12. Dawnstar
    Yes. I'm aware that costumes are often made so the sizes can be varied but I've never noticed it be obviously visible like that before.
  13. Dawnstar
    The shock of Campbell retiring at such short notice last month really brought it home to me that dancers aren't necessarily going to retire at the approximate age & the order in which I was expecting them to. I hadn't even started to think I needed to start seeing him in roles in case it was the last opportunity when suddenly it was too late. At least with Morera, and Bonelli, it was apparent they were winding down so I saw them in as many roles as I could in their last couple of seasons & I am now doing the same with Lamb, Nunez & Hirano just in case. Given the lack of Giselle again, I am now kicking myself for not seeing Lamb in that last time but as that run was the first time I'd seen the piece there were more casts I wanted to see than I couldn't manage to do so. At this rate I will be too late now. As for Fille, I've been waiting so long for that that I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get to see any of the dancers I'd like to in that, and can only hope that BRB's autumn Sadler's Wells performances will features some of their dancers who I like. While Bayadere I've given up hope of ever seeing live.
  14. Dawnstar
    I've been dithering over whether to see Osipova in SL in June, given I've now seen Clarke with Lamb this run & that SL is not exactly my favourite piece, but I now feel like I probably ought to given I've not yet seen her in any of SL/SB/Nutcracker & there's obviously now not going to be any opportunity to do so next season. Having already seen Nunez & Lamb in Nutcracker & SL this season at least I've now ticked off seeing both of them live in all three. I would have seen Cuthbertson in Nutcracker & SL this season had she not pulled out of both, and ditto SB at the cinema in 2020, so I may have to abandon trying to see her in any of the big classics. I wonder if some of the more junior dancers, whose only opportunity to dance lead roles is often in Nutcracker, will be feeling disappointed at its omission next season? While the Hans-Peters at least might get to do the Jester in Cinderella, there's no decent-sized female roles that the Claras are likely to get cast in. If it's true then my immediate reaction to this is to wonder if he wants the RB to go bankrupt?!
  15. Dawnstar
    If it's not a period setting then that's probably going to be an Avoid for me. Also given one of the things I most disliked about Holten's Eugene Onegin was the use of dancer doubles for the 2 main characters, the prospect of another production with dance as a significant feature does not encourage me either.
  16. Dawnstar
    Further to the comments about the Lilac Fairy's gown in this production, I was okay with the colour and liked it from the front but was rather puzzled by the back, which looked rather as though it didn't fit very well & was being held together by strings. This was Eilis Small at the first of the Sadler's Wells performances. Can anyone say if the other Lilac Fairies' gowns looked the same at the back, which would indicate that it was actually part of the design?
  17. Dawnstar
    I really hope that the lack of any of the major classics doesn't mean that anything that isn't outright contemporary will have a massive ticket price hike to make up for the lack of the Petipas that are usually the most expensive pieces in a season. I am braced for Cinderella to be pricey, given it was last time & it's the big Christmas ballet, but I'll be disappointed if I end up being priced out of seeing Onegin or R&J as many times as I would (well, probably would, depending on casting) like to.
  18. Dawnstar
    Reading the reviews in today's Links, I'm baffled by these sentences in the Seen and Heard review. I thought one of the four Princes was played as a bit arrogant & self-important but I liked that there was an attempt to provide some character & differentiation between the Princes, as often none of them show any character whatsoever. Is a male character being a bit full of himself really considered "toxic masculinity" nowadays?! Also, when does Aurora reject any of her suitors? I thought she succumbed to sleep before she had time to make any choice among the Princes. I feel like I was watching a different production to this reviewer.
  19. Dawnstar
    While I agree it wasn't technically ideal in filming or sound I still enjoyed all the performances apart from the Aye solo, which was not at all to my taste, so 7 out of 8 is a good ratio for a gala. A nice mixture of dancers who are among my favourites, dancers who I've only seen a little of before, and dancers who were new to me.
  20. Dawnstar
    I can't decide whether the 3 Auroras pictured in the recent curtain call photos are wearing tutus with slightly different bodice details or if it's the different angles & lighting that is making them look different.
  21. Dawnstar
    This is rather confusing to read. I was able to take curtain call photos on Wednesday without being stopped, as was the woman sat next to me (I was using a compact camera, she was using a phone), and as I was sat front row stalls I was hardly inconspicuous. Then I posted the same photos on Twitter yesterday that I'd posted on here tagging in BRB & they have "liked" my posts.
  22. Dawnstar
    They seem to not be bothering to try to make the doubles look like the proper Odettes unless they happen to do so already. On Saturday evening Madison Bailey doubled for Sarah Lamb in the Prologue, which given how few blonde dancers there are in the RB is about as good at match as you can get, but as she was then dancing one of the Cygnets the double at the end of Act IV had brown hair rather than blonde! I agree with the comments about bows in Act II, especially @Fonty's post.
  23. Dawnstar
    I see the better curtain call photographers were at Swan Lake tonight so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with mine! Some labelling because I for one wouldn't know who all either the dancers or characters were if I hadn't been there tonight. As it is now ten to three I will save my comments until tomorrow. The company Yu Kurihara (Aurora), Lachlan Monaghan (Florimund) & Daria Stanciulescu (Carabosse) If anyone can identify the fairytale character on the left then I'd love to know the answer because he baffled me. (It's not the Wolf, who's on the right.) Behind Monaghan's arm is Alisa Garkavenko, who danced the Fairy of Song. Eilis Small (Lilac Fairy), Yu Kurihara & Lachlan Monaghan Yu Kurihara & Lachlan Monaghan with conductor Philip Ellis. Yuki Sugiura (White Cat) & Gus Payne (Puss-in-Boots) Sofia Linares, Ryan Felix, Rachele Pizzillo & Shuailun Wu (Pas de Quatre) Enrique Bejarano Vidal (Bluebird) & Beatrice Parma (Florine) Eilis Small Lachlan Monaghan & Yu Kurihara
  24. Dawnstar
    @alison It's amazing how good they are at just coming in under the delay repay thresholds. I didn't bother claiming for the delay I had at the beginning of the month because the train I had to switch onto ended up getting in to Liverpool Street just under half an hour late (never mind that I had to bail at Tottenham Hale & pay for the tube to make sure I got to the ROH in time) so I would only have got one quarter of half of £15 (Bank Holiday Monday so cheaper fares) which wouldn't even cover my extra tube fare.
  25. Dawnstar
    An impressive line up of fairies, with 3 Principals. I suppose Mizutani & Gittens can leave after the Prologue & get an early night before their Auroras. A query: are the fairy variations danced in the same order as in the RB production? With all the fairies having different names I can't tell from the cast list.
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