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Richard LH

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  1. Richard LH
    Totally agree Elle. For me, they were the outstanding SL pairing.
  2. Richard LH
    Yes that makes most sense! I was over-thinking this...
  3. Richard LH
    Sorry to be dense, but by "new principal castings", do they mean: a) new castings (whatever the category of dancer) for the two lead roles (hardly newsworthy, as it is pretty unlikely the exact same castings as last time would be proposed ) b) new Principal dancers of the company cast in the lead roles for these productions (definitely newsworthy) or c) new castings for Principal dancers of the company who have not previously danced the lead roles in these productions,or d) some combination of the above, or something else ? !
  4. Richard LH
    Golden Hour was an utter joy tonight! 7 beautiful couples dancing to exquisite choreography, music and lighting.
  5. Richard LH
    As mentioned elsewhere, you could avoid doing that each time by creating a bookmark to each production page you are interested in.
  6. Richard LH
    I wonder if that is rather a misconception (or perhaps just an exaggeration to make the point). If I have counted correctly, in the current season just 3 of the male RB principals were cast as Romeo, 3 in Don Quixote (including Campbell for the original McRae), 2 in Frankenstein (presumably 3 if McRae had not been doing Cats), 2 as The Prince in Nutcracker (originally 4 but McRae and Bonelli were replaced), 4 in La Bayadere, and 4 in Mayerling. Some of this may be due to the particular stage in their careers reached by Soares (now going), Kish, Bonelli and Watson (along with the latter’s injury). But Campbell's absence from various lead roles has been well ventilated, and neither Hirano, Ball, nor even Muntagirov have been cast in every full-length. It looks to me as if only McRae might have danced the lead in all full-lengths this season if not for other commitments and injury. I think you may be a bit closer to the mark with the ladies, but even then as far as I can see every one of them has been left out of the lead role in at least one full-length ballet this season. They certainly don’t all seem to be shoe-ins for the lead in any given full-length ballet. Without trying to list them all, there appear to have been multiple opportunities for soloists and first soloist to dance leading roles this season. I would hope a few, through their progress in that way, may be in line for further promotion quite soon but I rather feel a dancer does need to be someone very special to be a principal of the Royal Ballet, and that the artistry, and indeed honour, this status implies should not be diluted. Once they get there, and all other things being equal, I think it is only a fair for them (and indeed for the public) to expect that they get more than the odd leading performance in most, if not all, of the main ballets.
  7. Richard LH
    Could I add a vote for Leo Dixon for promotion from Artist, and even as a tip for eventual principal? Also Nicol Edmonds from soloist, and again an eventual principal. Definitely William Bracewell for principal too. Going somewhat downwards in terms of size, we may add Corrales, and then of course Sambe and Hay, thus securing the outstanding three amigos from the current R&J. I am not sure any of the male first soloists will be made principal next season though. I am pretty much at a loss regarding female promotions..they all seem so good to my inexpert eye. Having said that, edited to add surely Romany Pajdak's promotion is long overdue, and is now further supported by her performances as lead-out Shade, and for putting up with all those annoying teenagers as Nurse in R&J.
  8. Richard LH
    Wow that is quite a bold prediction this far out, capybara! But why not...going by this clip, for example...lovely control and poise, I thought, at just 16.
  9. Richard LH
    I would imagine it is the one that was live in cinemas, which was last Thursday evening (16th).
  10. Richard LH
    Which is understandable. The uncertainty so far out may mean the ROH won't be gaining as many front-loaded "Winter" bookings as they hoped.
  11. Richard LH
    Of course other companies open booking before casts are announced, but it would certainly be an unwelcome and retrograde step for the RB. I suppose minimal casting information might be announced (just the two main leads) before first booking, but with the increased risk, so far ahead, of more cast changes nearer the time.
  12. Richard LH
    As has been pointed out elsewhere (by Lizbie1), Swan Lake runs from 05 March to 16 May 2020 yet has been placed in the Winter booking period which starts on 03 September for Premium 2 Friends, on 25 September for Friends, and 24 October for general booking. How will this tie in with the casting announcement and booking decisions? This year Frankenstein started on 05 March as well, and ended 23 March, and it was perfectly logically placed in the Spring booking period, which started on 27 November 2018 for Premium 2 Friends, on 12 December for Friends, and 30 January for general booking. Casts for Frankenstein and the rest of the Spring season were announced 23 October 2018, just over 4 months before it started. Casts for Swan Lake are going to have to be announced by late August to be in time for first bookings in September, just over 6 months before it starts and almost 9 months before it ends. Is this at all realistic? Or is it more likely that booking for Swan Lake will already have opened long before any cast announcement?
  13. Richard LH
    Yes indeed but you do find listed casts and other relevant details by going to the production pages. As I said, I just posted this as helpful tip for anyone's benefit, not as an attempt to resuscitate the earlier discussion which I agree has had its day.
  14. Richard LH
    Not meant as a further reposte, Sim, but hopefully a helpful suggestion....you can considerably speed up ROH website functionality by creating a bookmark for each production you are interested in. (I think this has been mentioned elsewhere).
  15. Richard LH
    OK everyone, I get it !! Surely enough said...
  16. Richard LH
    No not really! Just a passing thought on my part. I admit to being disappointed for Akane and concerned about her, so probably feeling rather disgruntled all round...
  17. Richard LH
    Perhaps rather insensitive, yes, or perhaps a bit thoughtless. I don't think you need to be confused.. the distinction surely is that the cast change, if correct, has yet to be officially announced, so not "confirmed", and the change information may be sensitive in terms of timing, or even inaccurate, and he is a member of the Company and presumably subject to the sort of protocols Capybara indicates. I would have thought that anyone who is on this Forum talking about a dancer whose has a confirmed injury is reasonably free to speculate about its ramifications, subject to the normal sense of decency and provided they are not themselves Company members (you would not expect a Company member to speculate publicly about other dancers in the Company).
  18. Richard LH
    Although he does seem to have time to use social media to announce it himself....
  19. Richard LH
    Hmm, maybe, but I am not sure it was for him to make that assumption without checking first. Although I suspect the ROH are just being dilatory, there may be some good, or sensitive, reason the ROH has yet to post the cast changes. So I still think it is preferable for all concerned that social media posts do not pre-empt official announcements in such cases. It is not even as if Sambe were himself the dancer replacing anyone.
  20. Richard LH
    http://www.roh.org.uk/seasons
  21. Richard LH
    With under 24 hours to go, at the time of writing this, Akane Takada is still listed as Medusa on the website. I would have thought that out of respect to the performers involved, and the customers, the ROH should have flagged up this important cast change well before now, without learning about it indirectly from social media. Actually I also think it is rather insensitive of Sambe to post this before it has been officially announced.
  22. Richard LH
    Kristen McNally would have been the ideal presenter, but of course she was otherwise engaged.
  23. Richard LH
    Thanks for posting the link. I think this could be an extremely moving work, given the music and the subject matter. Here is Jacqueline du Pre playing the concerto ....
  24. Richard LH
    Joanna ..welcome to the Forum! (getting in with this before the usual welcome from one of the mods.!)
  25. Richard LH
    And it was Leo Dixon, not Calvin Richardson, as one of the opening pair with Luca Acri
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