Jump to content

Dawnstar

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,463

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Dawnstar

  1. Dawnstar
    May I check if using surnames only is alright? Or do we have to use both first name and surname upon first mention of each dancer in a post? I pretty much always use just surnames because it is quicker than full names & I do not feel comfortable using first names as I do not know the dancers.
  2. Dawnstar
    True, but while they get what they want - money - in return they give me what I want - opera & ballet. It's philanthropy with nothing in return that I can't afford. I suppose if I spent less money on tickets I'd have more to spare for good causes but that's never going to happen!
  3. Dawnstar
    I'm interested in seeing this at Sadler's Wells but next week's weather forecast looks horrible to heat-haters like me. Can anyone tell me what Sadler's Wells is like on the air con front? I've only been there a couple of times some years ago so can't remember.
  4. Dawnstar
    I'm afraid I don't have the "support the company" motivation for any company because they all, and especially the ROH, have a heck of a lot more money than I do! If I ever win the Lottery or marry a millionaire then I'd be happy to support them but not on my under 20k a year wages!
  5. Dawnstar
    @saki pointed me in the direction of this when the first round of changes came out. It shows the original casts & last month's changes. I suppose now someone could do with updating it for the latest round! https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/44007-bolshoi-ballet-summer-2019-roh-london-residency/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-415362
  6. Dawnstar
    I've not seen her as Manon, obviously, so I can't comment on that but I haven't been too keen on her acting in what little I have seen her in on video (not seen her live, given her withdrawal from Symphony in C), especially the Bayadere Insight livestream where I found myself sympathising with Naghdi's Gamzatti & not liking Takada's Nikiya, which isn't the way round it's supposed to be! Given I'll only be able to see about half the Manons that I do want to see, I'm quite happy that there's one that I don't, as I'm finding it had enough to choose which to see as it is.
  7. Dawnstar
    Thanks for the information. I am busy kicking myself that I didn't decide to try the RB last season rather than this season, as I gather she did have public performances then.
  8. Dawnstar
    Since there are 4 or 5 other casts that I want to see then hopefully if it isn't Hamilton/Clarke then it'll be one of those. In fact the only Manon I definitely don't want to see is Takada. Going by some recent comments on the R&J thread there don't seem to be any new Manons this run at any rate. Not having seen the previous run (if I had then it would remove this whole issue but sadly time machines for watching past performances have yet to be invented!) I don't know about the other lead roles.
  9. Dawnstar
    Right, so the Spartacus performance I've booked for has gone from Ovcharenko to Belyakov and now back to Ovcharenko again (as Crassus rather than the title role). This is confusing!
  10. Dawnstar
    I wish I could but unfortunately the one person I knew who was a Friend moved abroad & I don't know anyone else who is.
  11. Dawnstar
    Tagging on to this thread so as not to start another one, as my query is sort of about Friends membership. I gather that if Friends rehearsals are on the same day as the first public performance of a ballet then the rehearsal won't have the same cast as the first performance but if the rehearsal is the day before then can anyone give any idea if it's likely that the cast of the first performance might do the rehearsal or are performances two days running considered too much? I'm musing on Manon. As Hamilton & Clarke are only doing the school matinee while all the other casts are down for 2 performances I'm wondering if they might do the Friends rehearsal & wondering if it's worth forking out for Friends membership just to try to get a ticket to the Manon rehearsal in case they do it. I realise there's a lot of uncertainty in this but I would really like to see Hamilton's Manon & this is the only remote possiblity I can think of!
  12. Dawnstar
    Thanks for the official moderator confirmation.
  13. Dawnstar
    I'm very sorry, I didn't intend to annoy anyone with my remark. It was just meant to be a facetious aside. I'm afraid I can't remove it myself now but if I've contravened any forum rules on mentioning personal appearance perhaps a moderator could remove it?
  14. Dawnstar
    I don't feel I can judge Hallberg on one out of context pdd but I agree that Tissi was a bit disappointing. I know he only had limited rehearsal time but so did Andrijashenko & I thought he was in another league compared to Tissi. Having two guest Des Grieuxs next season seems rather excessive. Hallberg seems at the moment to be dancing more principal roles with the RB than some of the actual principals are!
  15. Dawnstar
    Maybe it's because I'd never heard the music for Cinderella before, whereas R&J I knew already. Perhaps it's one of those ones that becomes more memorable on repeated listening. I doubt it's down to the conductor as I find I can rarely tell the difference between different conductors. Frankly I'm so uninterested in conductors that I not infrequently see a conductor entering the pit at the start of an ROH performance & realise I have no idea who he is, as I check all the cast but not the conductor!
  16. Dawnstar
    Please thank your friend for not being too tall so I got a nice unobstructed view of the stage!
  17. Dawnstar
    I ended up going for a £40 stalls seat block G row 7 seat 7 yesterday afternoon as it was the best the box office offered me about 15 mins before the performance. I was then highly annoyed when I got a text from my aunt, who had also come on spec, saying she had been able to buy a seat for £35 much nearer the centre of the stalls! Given there were only a other people in the entire row & block G I asked an usher if I could move round & was told I could at the first interval so at least I saw Acts 2 & 3 from only 3 seats in from the next aisle round, which was a much better angle. I thought the production was alright but no amazing. Compared to R&J, Prokofiev seemed to have less inspiration for Cinderella. I only found one melody really attractive. Wheeldon's choreography I likewise found decent rather than brilliant. This is the third ballet of his I've seen & I do dislike his habit of sometimes having the female dancers flex rather than point their feet, though at least that didn't feature too often here. I don't think I'll be rushing to see any ballet in the round again as I found the frequent movement of people or pieces of set on or off stage to be rather frenetic at times. The final scene in Act 1 with all the seasons & strangely-costumed groups baffled me. It didn't seem to do anything to contribute to the plot & felt like it was there purely to give the corps more to do. I wanted to see this cast in order to see Frola again, after being extremely impressed with his Des Grieux, and I really liked him again in this. I thought Emma Hawes was very good as Cinerella, though en pointe she seemed perhaps a little tall for Frola. I see they both dance for the National Ballet of Canada. Does anyone know if they are often partnered together there? The rest of the cast all seemed to give good performances, though some of the casting required a certain suspension of belief in order for the plot to work! I was pleased to spot Alison McWhinney as one of the Winter dancers. Long fingers seem to be in fashion in ballet: first Kostchei in Firebird & then both one of the Princesses & the Conkers in this!
  18. Dawnstar
    I've not seen the pay. I've looked up the plot but I think I'd rather go & see BRB without watching any filmed versions first & see what I think of it live. Just dithering between Friday evening & Saturday matinee!
  19. Dawnstar
    I was wondering if people would be doing end of season round-ups. I'm not sure I'm exactly to do so, as this is the first season I've seen a significant amount of ballet, but I'm going to give it a go. If anyone wants to criticise my very inexpert tastes feel free! Highlights (chronological) Mayerling - I'd never seen the RB live before but was interested in seeing this piece, after unexpectedly coming accross the tomb of the last Habsburg Emperor in Madeira a few years ago & subsequently reading up about late Habsburg history including the Mayerling incident, and I only wanted one opera in the autumn booking period so I though I'd give it a go. While Hirano as Rudolf wasn't to my taste, I was blown away by the rest of it. To the extent that I've seen 16 subsequent RB performances in the following 8 months! Les Patineurs/Winter Dreams/The Concert - only the second time I've ever seen a triple bill & I really enjoyed all 3 pieces. Manon - ENB, again blown away by MacMillan especially McWhinney & Frola, who I preferred to the more famous Cojacaru & Caley. Two Pigeons - yes, perhaps a little too much of the gypsies but I love a romantic comedy. Don Quixote - I know a lot of people aren't keen on the production but I, not having seen anything else to compare it to, really enjoyed it. Romeo & Juliet - especially the Hamilton/Andrijashenko & Hayward/Corrales casts. The first time I've seen a ballet enough times - five - to enjoy seeing dancers in multiple roles. The score, how I love the score. A Month in the Country/Symphony in C - I wasn't as keen on Firebird but really enjoyed the second & third parts of the triple bill. Fonteyn Celebration - first time I've been to a ballet gala. So impressed by the opportunity to see so many of the principals on stage in one performance. Lowlight Flight Pattern - I was wishing for it to end from about half a minute in. I will be avoiding all modern dance in the future as it's clearly not to my taste. I'm trying to do exceptional dancers but am having difficulties as I've been very impressed by the majority of the RB dancers in everything. I suppose Muntagirov, Campbell, Nunez, Lamb, Cutherbertson, Hayward, Avis, Saunders, Hamilton, Corrales, Magri, Mendizabel, Hay, Storm-Jensen & Mock have all particularly stood out for me in one or more roles but I'm sure I've missed some people out and with injuries etc. I've not seen all the dancers yet.
  20. Dawnstar
    Interesting then that there are so many principals/first soloists doing that when 3 of the 4 leads are soloists/first artists. Though not having seen the rest of the season I don't know how the workload has been shared out. Maybe the principals are glad to have an easy assignment for the end of the season!
  21. Dawnstar
    May I ask if you were on the far right side? I was in B28 & the two ladies sitting in front of me were from their conversations evidently very knowledgable regulars so I'm now wondering if you were one of them. While watching Muntagirov last night I was thinking about the comments on here as to whether the character is a womaniser or not & thought his in his interpretation definitely not. He comes over as far too nice! Which had me thinking: has he ever played any vilainous or unpleasant characters? I can't imagine him doing so.
  22. Dawnstar
    She did at least get a bouquet & the other dancers were applauding her after it was presented. Edit: pics removed after I found @bangorballetboyhad posted a better one on the triple bill thread. I should give up trying to share my curtain call pics as everyone else always gets much better ones.
  23. Dawnstar
    I'm amazed that there are two people in the first cast, Jonathan Payn & Marion Tait, who were in the cast of the Nutcracker the only time I've previously seen BRB way back in 1994! Do the Salvation Army have large roles in the ballet?
  24. Dawnstar
    I too was wondering who she was, so checked on here as I was sure some of the experts would know! I did see her as the Nurse in R&J but failed to recognise her in a different costume.
  25. Dawnstar
    There are dancers I'd like to see in most of the casts but with the high ticket prices I can only afford to go the once, so had to decide who was my priority. I'm on a train to London now. I should get to the RAH about 1.40pm so I'm just going to go to the box office & see what they've got. At least I'll save on the rather high booking fees.
×
×
  • Create New...