Dawnstar

1 hour ago, Rob S said:

That looks fantastic but I wonder how many casts/performances of Cinderella and Swan Lake there were that December

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.

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!).

1 hour ago, The Sitter In said:

November - Scènes de ballet/Devil’s Holiday Variation and pas de deux/Beauty Awakening pas de deux/Thaïs pas de deux/Five Brahms Waltzes/Voices of Spring pas de deux/Daphnis and Chloë (Ashton)

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.

3 hours ago, JNC said:

@Aruna S indeed, I'm not aware of that many (if there are any?) regular trains between Stansted and Birmingham anyway so you'll likely need to go into London one way or the other, unless you can get a coach from Stansted to Birmingham directly (which actually may be quicker if it cuts the in/out London part on the train, and will certainly be cheaper!)

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.

5 hours ago, RobR said:

At the ROH, and I believe it’s the same at other UK companies, with a few exceptions, principals are not generally applauded when they arrive on stage.

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.

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.

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?

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Do you mean the "strings" across the back?  I have seen these on many costumes over the years - they are to facilitate them being worn by more than one dancer who may all be different sizes.  Some of these costumes date back to the original production.

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.

4 minutes ago, JNC said:

This is a sad and pertinent point. If they don’t bring back the likes of Giselle, Fille, Sylvia in the next few years we may never see these dancers in these roles live again. 
 

Nunez feels unstoppable right now so I’m hoping she’ll keep going for at least another 3-4 more years. Osipova is also a bit younger so another decade is perhaps wishful thinking but I’m hopeful for at least 5+ years. Laura Morera retired at around 45, Lamb is the eldest so by age alone she would be next to retire. Of course it’s all very personal and you never know what might happen so apart from Nunez and Osipova in particular being such great character ballerinas I’m very aware of this fact and try to prioritise them when booking casts, because even without retirement it could be injury or illness (or a train strike!). None of what I’ve said is intended to be rude about their ages, it’s more a reflection of the uncertainty of anything happening combined with the inevitable that they will retire at some point. 
 

I very much hope to see Nunez, Osipova and Lamb in Giselle again. And would love to see Nunez in Fille and Sylvia. And the unforgettable Bayadere with Nunez/Osipova is one of the best performances I’ve ever seen so can only dream they dance those roles in London again.

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.

33 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Given that opportunities to see Cuthbertson, Lamb, Nunez and Osipova in the core 19th Century repertoire must be running out, I’m unconvinced by this planning, which i also think will be detrimental to, in particular, the female corps de ballet’s technique.

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.

5 minutes ago, Jane S said:

Didn't Kevin O'Hare once say it was his ambition to have an entire season of works created this century - or something similar? Maybe this is a step on the way.

 

(Or maybe I imagined that.),

If it's true then my immediate reaction to this is to wonder if he wants the RB to go bankrupt?!

2 hours ago, JohnS said:

Many thanks @MildConcern. I’m afraid I didn’t know much about Ted Huffman but I have now read the Magazine article and his approach to Onegin seems promising: not a period piece as he’s ‘interested in the emotional story, rather than the social or historical one.’ And he goes on to say: ‘we really will have dance with a capital D in the show. I really love dance in opera.’

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.

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?

57 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

I don’t think they do. Their pricing is lower to begin with and they always seem to fill up the seats with virtual giveaways closer to the performance dates.

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.

Reading the reviews in today's Links, I'm baffled by these sentences in the Seen and Heard review.

Quote

Some of the other decisions made, to modernise the production perhaps, are more questionable. The display of toxic masculinity by two of the four princes who come to offer Aurora their hand in marriage. The way one of them follows Aurora around the stage after being rejected.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2 hours ago, balletyas said:

I so agree re the double - I felt the hair colour difference was so jarring at the end that it completely broke the spell.

A properly dark wig isn’t surely that hard to come by.

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.

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

@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.

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.

Another day, another train problem. At about twenty to four this afternoon I checked if the train I was planning to get at 16.55 was running on time. It wasn't, and as I refreshed the minutes delayed kept on ticking up. So I scrambled to leave in time to get the one half an hour earlier, and it's fortunate I did as in the time it took me to get ready the 16.55 went from delayed to cancelled. So now I'm going to be in London far too early but at least that's better than being too late.

I didn't say at the time but on Saturday my train home after Swan Lake managed to be as inconvenient as it could by getting into Cambridge 14 minutes late, so 1 minute before delay repay kicks in. Sometimes it feel like they're doing it on purpose! No explanation for the delay either, it left Kings Cross on time & wasn't stationery for any prolonged periods en route.

2 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

I've done the same and rebooked for 13th and cancelled 7th May. 

I was waiting for Friday rush, as 7th didn't have availability in the area I was after when public booking opened, so I'll just be doing rush for a different date. At least that saves me the ticket return fee.

32 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Im assuming it’s similar for you Dawnstar coming from the other end of the line so  you should be able to travel on the 9th though I don’t know whether trains stop slightly earlier on no overtime days

My trains are stopping slightly earlier on 9th anyway, due to overnight engineering, so the 23.09 is the last one before rail replacement buses kick in. It's last minute cancellations due to staff shortages that I'm most nervous about as if the 23.09 got cancelled & I had to get the rail replacement buses I'd not get home until 2am.

10 minutes ago, Shade said:

Between strike days, work to rule days and engineering works there hardly seems any time of normal service on my line - 😔 

I feel exactly the same. I've already got 3 weekends in May with no trains due to engineering & now a week of strikes on top of that.

I'm very hacked off at the latest strike dates as I was planning to see Winter's Tale on 7th May, which I now definitely won't be able to get to, and Swan Lake on 9th May, which might now be problematic. I suppose I'll have to see that Winter's Tale cast on 13th May instead but I can't reschedule SL as on the other date that cast are performing I have no trains due to engineering. (I'm also worrying because with there being strikes on similar dates in April & May if it's the same in June then that'll be just when Sarasota Ballet is visiting the ROH & if I can't get to their performances that I have booked I will be extremely upset.)