Dawnstar

Thanks. So nothing on the ROH website yet then. Mind you, I don't know why I'm so interested given they're in the Linbury so I almost certainly won't be able to get tickets.

I've just looked at the ROH website to check which pieces on the list will be done by the RB & which by Sarasota Ballet but I can only find the RB Ashton bills & can't find the Sarasota Ballet performances listed. Am I missing something or are they not on there yet?

They could surely do pieces in the Linbury that are too small for the main stage. However in reality the Linbury's dance schedule seems to be almost entirely given over to contemporary dance.

Although the Royal Opera performs fewer new operas than the Royal Ballet performs new, er, works (I really can't call some of them ballets), at least with the RB you know if you are going to a classical piece then it will have an attractive & reasonably traditional production, which cannot be said for many of the opera productions at the moment.

What I'm now wondering is if ENB didn't do Manon between 2007/8 and 2018/19 are we going to have to wait another decade+ before they do it again. If I never get to see Frola as Des Grieux again then I am not going to be happy! I know some people complain about the RB doing the big 3 MacMillans in an approximate annual rotation but it does mean that if you want to see a dancer in a role again, or if a dancer you want to see misses a run or you can't get to their performances, then you'll probably only have to wait 3-4 years for the next opportunity to see them rather than the prospect of having to wait a decade or even never having another opportunity.

Where is there to go though? For those of us who can't afford to travel further than London there aren't a lot of options beyond the RB. ENB does only 2 or 3 full-length ballets per season. BRB & overseas companies occasionally visit to London. The RB is the only company which does a full season in London.

Thanks. I wish ENB had the equivalent of the ROH's performance datebase. It's so hard to find out about their past performances. I'm now Googling & have found from reviews that ENB did Manon in 2007/8 when Klimentova danced with Vogel. I can't find that Muntagirov danced it with her though.

Sorry, I meant in terms of sets & decor rather than choreography. Were they using the Royal Danish Ballet's production prior to 2018 or did they first use the RB's then switch?

A tangental question but may I ask what production ENB used for Manon then? I was under the impression that the 2018/19 season was the first time ENB used the production they used then & had therefore assumed that prior to that ENB hadn't done Manon, but evidently at least one of those assumptions must be wrong. Part of me thought that but then who would she have as a partner with Bonelli already retired? I think I'd rather keep the memory of them being so wonderfully matched together in the last run than see her dance it with someone who might not be as good a match.

It was definitely Hayward last time, 1st October 2019. As that was the only public rehearsal I've ever been to it stands out in my memory! I hoped for that last time, given she had zero public shows, but it didn't happen.

Is Elmes a contemporary specialist? He was the most prominent dancer in both I New Then and Watermark last week.

According to the ROH performance databse the RB have done Jewels 43 times over 5 runs, with 6-8 performances per run except in 2017 when they did 14. (Did that last run sell out? 14 performances seems quite a lot for a non-narrative ballet.)

Apropos Campbell doing both Des Grieux & Lescaut, Ball has only done Des Grieux, hasn't he? I would love to see him do Lescaut as well.

I saw this tweet & thought of the discussions we had had about popcorn at the Coliseum & RAH earlier this season. Very depressing.

I was curious to see if Lamb had done Manon with McRae before so just looked it up. The answers looks to be yes but not at the ROH, only on tour. However I was struck by how few performances of the title role she has done, only 13 and that includes 2 "extra" substituting for Cuthbertson in 2014. Assuming this next run is likely to be her last, that will mean 15 performances in total. (I don't know if she has ever guested in the role elsewhere.) That seems so few performances of a role for an entire career, & she will have had a longer than average career.

I am SO happy Hamilton gets a public performance this time. I was deeply disappointed not to be able to see her in 2019. I'm also very pleased she's dancing with Richardson, as seeing him do the bedroom pdd at the Diamond Celebration made me want to see him do the role in full. I thought Bolle came over as too old for Des Grieux when I saw him in 2019 so I'll be passing on him this time, though I'm sorry not to be seeing Nunez as after seeing her do the bedroom pdd with Acosta 2 weeks ago I was hoping she'd be cast with a partner I wanted to see. The other 2019 pairing I'd hope would be changed was Cuthbertson & Ball, as I thought he was brilliant but her Manon didn't do much for me, so I'll probably skip them this time too. I'm pleased Campbell is back to doing Lescaut (though I rather wish he was doing Des Grieux with Hayward like last time & Lescaut in another cast), as he didn't last time so I've only seen him as Des Grieux. I wonder if it was originally slated to be Corrales doing those performances, as he was paired with Magri last time? I was hoping Magri would get to do the title role this time around but I'm not too surprised that she isn't. It looks like I won't get to see Naghdi as the Mistress, as she missed the last run due to injury & is now moving on to the title role. I'm pleased to see Dias making her Mistress debut as I can imagine her in the role. I find it harder to imagine O'Sullivan in the role so that'll be interesting to see. Added: I forgot to say that while I will definitely be seeing Kaneko/Muntagirov and Naghdi/Bracewell, I'm not sure whether I am pleased by the pairings or whether I would have rather seen them the other way around... Overall I think I can probably manage to restrict myself to 5 casts, the same as last time, which is a relief from a financial point of view!

I think that is the nub of why I find the RB's extensive use of McGregor & others of his ilk so depressing. Apart from the short runs of 1 or 2 ballets from ENB, & occasional even shorter visits from BRB and overseas companies, the main supply of classical ballet in London is from the RB. So when the RB is doing contemporary works there is likely to be no classical ballet on in London. For instance this comming season as far as I can find there will be no classical ballet performed in London from 18th November to 4th December, as the RB is doing the Dante Project. And no, I for one certainly can't afford to travel anywhere else to see performances when there aren't any on in London.

Is anyone able to say if I New Then is typical of Johan Inger's work? I have just realised he's the choreographer for the Carmen ENB is doing next April. Given I did not like I New Then, if that is typical Inger then I will certainly be giving Carmen a miss.

I wonder if that was because the top opera prices were so much higher than the top ballet prices? I could never afford to do a subscription for opera tickets as even with the I think it was 20% discount the ticket prices were too high, whereas with the lower top prices for ballet the 18% discount brought them down to just about affordable for me. However now the ballet top prices have gone up significantly in the last couple of seasons I wouldn't be able to afford them even with an 18% discount, so thinking about it maybe even though I've been bemoaning the abolition of package booking it's actually moot for me!

Thanks. It sounds like just the same Gala info as on the 2 page free one handed out yesterday then.

It sounds like I should have bought the Jewels programme then & not waited in the hope for a Gala one. Does it give any contextual information about the gala pieces?

Thanks for the information but I don't want to risk booking without the casting. You can bet if there was one cast without Frola I'd manage to book for that one!

@Sophoife It's so useful having an interpreter! You wouldn't think an interpreter would be needed when the visiting company is from another English-speaking country but evidently it is!

It's great that the Giselle & Nutcracker casts are going to be announced well in advance. However if they're going to announce those casts "within the next couple of weeks" & the triple bill casts "at the end of this month" then that would mean the triple bill casts would be announced after the Giselle & Nutcracker ones, despite the performances taking place 2-3 months earlier, which would be a little odd!

I get the feeling the ROH would like people to do that!