aliceinwoolfland

I naively logged on at 9am, to find that there was already a 20 minute queue! Really wanted front row Grand Tier seats for The Winter's Tale (treating a family member for her 70th) but got row B, so pretty happy overall. 

I'm excited for Manon, but really sad that once again, there's no Alice

I know very little about ballet so this is basically just the opinion of an uninformed casual ballet-goer, but lots of people on here have commented on Hayward being a natural Ashtonian yet she appears to have had issues mastering the choreography, to the point where people have noticed mistakes during multiple performances. I've seen her in other roles and was blown away, so I get that she has the magical lyricism and lightness that lend themselves so well to ballet, but isn't part of being an 'Ashtonian' dancer being able to execute the steps with few or no mistakes? I know that the grumpy dance critic (Telegraph? Times? I can't remember) was dismissing Nunez and holding Hayward up as the greatest Cinderella before she'd danced the role, but I think she needs time to grow into it. 

I was a bit apprehensive about this production after some of the reviews, but I thought on the whole it was fantastic. There were a few bugbears (such as the weirdly dressed spring child attendant and the dominance of the sisters in act 1) and I definitely heard a bang as the set was moved out of the way in act 3, but aside from that it was a thoroughly enjoyable day out. Yasmine Naghdi was absolutely superb - technically excellent, but also so lyrical and expressive. I'm not a dance expert so I don't know how 'good' the quality of dancing was generally, but I was impressed by the corps. I also actually found the sisters (Whitehead and Acri) quite funny - I understand the concerns about it being more panto than ballet, but it was worth it especially to see the delight on the faces of the children next to me! 

I have a lovely antique pair of mother of pearl opera glasses. They can often be bought for fairly reasonable prices in antique shops/centres

Helen Crawford is also leaving 

Sorry, I didn't mean to do anything wrong...just thought people might want to read the article from this thread too 

Lovely feature about Marcelino here https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/marcelino-sambe-royal-ballet-dancer-kevin-o-hare-carlos-acosta-f3tzm78h7

55 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Was there?  I didn't notice one where I was.  I did belatedly wonder, however, from the cheering from the rear amphi, if half of Liverpool had come down again  

I did think it a bit unfair that they didn't even get a second curtain call, though.

I was in the orchestra stalls, near the front, and pretty much everyone behind me was standing 😊

Such a special performance. A standing ovation from the audience! 

Fed up that there is no Alice or Woolf Works! Not feeling super inspired by the upcoming season. 

As I'm pretty small, I often find that my view is partially blocked if I'm sitting behind someone tall. Fair enough if it's a restricted view seat, but if it isn't then it can really spoil my experience of the ballet. I once used an inflatable cushion and was angrily told by the person behind me that they're only for children!

I prefer the front row amphitheatre seats with limited legroom as they seem to be pretty good value, but as a treat I like to sit in the orchestra stalls. The one ballet I regretted not seeing from lower down was Woolf Works - I didn't get the full effect of the wave patterns in Act 3 sitting higher up. 

Ah, that makes sense! 

Does anyone have a review of O'Sullivan and Sambe's R&J?

2 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Whilst  he has danced Albrecht (with Hayward) and Des Grieux (with Takada) it was  as a sub. rather than first choice.   I would have thought he would also have made a great sub. for McRae as Romeo, particularly with Takada as Juliet as they had a  great partnership in Manon as referred to above (as well as more recently in Don Q). But yes, we have been here before. 

 

Yes, I'm aware he was a sub for those roles, I just think he deserves to be first choice for once! 

Disappointed that Campbell isn't being cast as Romeo, especially given the number of male principal roles he's been overlooked for in the last year or so. (Siegfried, Albrecht, Des Grieux..) 

Is it just me who doesn't find the new website that difficult to navigate...?

I'm hoping that the takeaway from this is that prices should be slashed by about a third to 50% depending on the seat, and that a shorter run with sold out performances is preferable to a longer run with hundreds of empty seats per performance. 

I live in Oxford! So sad I've only just seen this 

3rd April 7.30pm (Naghdi, Sambe, Ball, Stix-Brunell)

Amphi A34 - restricted view

Selling at face value (£19) plus £1 postage (will be a bit more if you want recorded delivery) so £20 in total

Last night was brilliant - I'd been worried that I wouldn't enjoy the ballet after reading reviews in the press and on here. I loved the atmosphere of gothic decay created so skilfully by John McFarlane. The sets often seemed somewhat disembodied, eg the hallway of the Frankenstein mansion surrounded by empty nothingness, which I thought was very clever given the subject matter of the ballet. The special effects were dazzling, and I *know* the score felt cinematic but I loved it. The orchestra were on top form and received a huge round of applause! 

As a huge fan of the novel, I do have some questions about the omission of large parts of the plot. I can understand the Creature's tale being left out, but it seemed bizarre for Act 3 to begin with a lengthy wedding ball rather than with the Creature's impassioned appeal to Victor to create him a female companion, and Victor's creation and destruction of that companion. It would have made for much more powerful and compelling viewing; crucially, it would have given the audience a greater insight into the Creature's decision to kill Elizabeth. Contrary to what the ballet seems to suggest, the Creature does not just go on a mass killing spree because Victor abandoned him - there is more to his side of the story.

This ballet needs a bit of tweaking, and choreographically it is nowhere near as good as my favourites, but I would definitely see it again. 'Hideous progeny' it is not! 

18 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

I've seen Kish dance the Creature in two runs now and I think he's been excellent on both occasions. Although this is not my favourite ballet, it did inspire me to read the book (not usually my thing at all) and after that, I felt there was far more that could have been made of this character in the ballet. Indeed, when I watched it on Tuesday, I was frustrated in Act 2 to see Kish just appearing in the background for half the act - and of course, no appearance in Act 1 until right at the end.  I find the whole thing so frustrating!!

I haven't seen the ballet yet, but I've read (and taught) the book, and I agree that 'Frankenstein' is arguably the creature's story as much as it is Victor's; as readers we are forced to see things from the creature's perspective, and to empathise with him. A shame if he's mostly reduced to a lurking background figure? 

11 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

What was the question, your favourite colour? 🤔🙂

Your ballet highlight of 2018! I talked about Francesca Hayward as Manon 

They're literally giving tickets away - I won a Royal Ballet competition and they gave me 2 central front row amphitheatre seats for Friday's performance! Very excited, but would not have paid £70 each for them.....

Now sold