Richard LH

To answer my own question.....not sure about the links thereafter though... https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:__eYUES-YFAJ:https://www.roh.org.uk/events+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

We found it perfectly fine in row B downstairs, just occasionally moving one's head from side to side to get a clear view

So the historic pages are still there, from which you can still link to individual previous performance/cast details. You just need the right http link details. e.g. https://www.roh.org.uk/events/calendar/2015/11 for Nov 2015 (includes opera as not filtered for just ballet, as previously possible). By the same token, I wonder if the old "What's On" page is still there and if so what its http address would be ?

Yes indeed...thanks capybara. Cervera seems an excellent dancer and actor, and now coach, and I am sure Acri will be learning a lot from him for this role. I neglected to mention the rehearsal of his earlier solo- thanks for reminding me. He packed a lot into the 50 minutes! Is this Acri's debut as Mercutio?

I absolutely agree...lovely to see her in this, it is a great role for her. Clarke was impressive too, although perhaps concentrating more on the steps and technique than the acting, at this stage. I am sure he will develop this aspect as he gets into the role. The second rehearsal was also very enjoyable, with Avis and Acri clashing swords as Tybalt and Mercutio, followed by the latter's death scene. Does anyone know who was leading the coaching?..I didn't catch his name, but he was very impressive.

A score from minus 1 to minus 5 would be more appropriate...

It is on the home page but you have to scroll down into the pink area at the bottom where there is a phone number and an "email us" link.

Alison this link may work....https://www.roh.org.uk/functions/ballet-studio-live I got there via main page - click "find an event"- click "see all ballet and dance" - click "Ballet Studio Live". Anyway it's Class at 10:30 am (1hr 15 min), and Rehearsals at 12:15 and 13:35 (50 mins each). No intervals. "What's On" was so much better!

Far too much scrolling, awkward use of filters, no simple overview of "what's on" - horrible.

A good Insight - lovely to see Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Reece Clarke happily taking on all sorts of detailed corrections from the wonderful Edward Watson (a new Company role for him?) and Leanne Benjamin. She really seemed to know her stuff, having been instructed herself, I gather, by MacMillan. And clearly (despite a sore throat) Christopher Saunders was having a lot of fun getting Reece Clarke and Nehemiah Kish exhausted through rehearsing their sword fight!

Alison, do you mean "not scheduled" thinking of Stix-Brunell as Juliet with Clarke as Romeo ? - because it seems this rehearsal is with Stix-Brunell as Juliet and Clarke as Paris. I don't think we have any other official casting for Paris yet, or indeed for anyone other than R&J. Clarke is due to debut Romeo with Hamilton as Juliet, and also he will be Romeo for Nunez.

I would agree about the splendid and committed performances put in by Hinkis and Campbell (their PDD at the start of Act 2 was particularly good and well received) and also Kish, although I do prefer McRae’s version of the creature. And Ptolemy Gidney as William was excellent ( a lot of intricate dancing for a young student) and received well deserved whoops from the audience at the end. There is a lot going for this ballet, even if (like me) people feel they do not need to see multiple performances each run. I think the gothic Frankenstein story (which by now is pretty well known as an adapted concept, if not so much in terms of the original) is eminently suitable for telling through dance. In arranging this Scarlett and Liebermann include a series of “dances macabres”- such as occur for example in the gruesome dissection scene, in the raunchy tavern scene (where Henry is teased about the latter), in the awful anticipation within the William/Creature PDD, and in the waltz at the start of Act 3, where the Creature moves in and out of the dance and in and out of the vision of the ever more tormented Victor. In fact that waltz is particularly clever – the beautiful ensemble dancing from the corps is interspersed with the horror of the Creature’s appearances and manipulations which require impeccable timing from all concerned to work so well. The cinematic-style music of much of the score does resonate after a few hearings, taking on some memorable passages when you get more familiar with them. I noticed last night that it marks particular emphases at important moments in the story. And it certainly assists the sense of developing unease and horror as the story unfolds. Another clever element is the use of the “book” motif throughout (remembering this is a story based on a classic book) – starting with the young Elizabeth teasing the young Victor with one of his books (something soon replicated by the older pair, and later reprised by the younger in a remembrance sequence), continuing with the “wrong” student books being discarded by the Professor, and of course principally through Victor’s little red note book. This starts out life happily enough as a gift from his father, and is a receptacle for (presumably) a love note from Elizabeth, but then it becomes a rather dark tome once it starts to hold Victor’s set of re-animation instructions. It is carried off by the Creature (in Victor’s cloak) when he flees at the end of Act 1. Last night it fell out of the cloak in the confusion, so Campbell smartly threw it at Kish as he left, it being important for the Creature to have it later, when he reads it and tries to understand how he came to be. Later dropped, it shows the shocked Victor that his Creation is back- his action then in tearing out the pages is what makes the Creature realise how his Creator rejects him. The note book continues to play its part until the very end, when the Creature pitiably and desperately looks through it as if it will give him the answer to restoring Victor’s life. Finally the stage sets are brilliant. The pyrotechnics of the steampunk/Heath Robinson-type lab machinery that against all odds brings the Creature to life, are magnificent, and great fun !

I admit to a degree of carelessness and laziness! Let's move on...

Sorry, Itziar's surname is spelt "Mendizabal" of course.

I gather that Beatrix S-B as Juliet will be rehearsing in this live-streamed Insight tonight, with Reece Clarke as Paris, coached by Edward Watson and Leanne Benjamin. Also Christopher Saunders leading some sword fight sequences. Should be good !

I don't think you can draw conclusions like that from one unaware person. It is not as if tickets for R&J aren't selling. If anyone is at all interested in ballet, it doesn't take much to find out what is on. Surely people are not yet so spoon fed by social media that they simply wait for any suggestions it may happen to throw their way, rather than proactively searching themselves for events of interest.

Following on, I thought I would add this link to show what sort of work she and Bolle have been performing. I would love to see more ballet/dance choreographed to Radiohead music !

She outlines her career progression in some detail! Some of this background may help explain why her success (including her Roberto Bolle tour) has been perhaps more linked to her roles when "on loan" from the RB, rather than at the RB itself.

This was a very well received and moving event celebrating the life of a much loved former principal of the Royal Ballet. Her dancing partnership with Ronald Hynd blossomed into a 60 year marriage. She died of motor neurone disease in 2017, a couple of weeks before her 85th birthday, and the event was also a platform to mention this disease and request support for the MND Association. Ronald Hynd also talked to the audience about some of his fond memories of Annette, and she appeared herself in a filmed interview and some dancing clips. She seems to have been a completely down to earth, yet charismatic character, and a beautiful dancer noted for her slight but graceful build and wonderful balance. We were treated to some excellent live dancing to recall some of her roles: Mendizabel and Hirano in the opening Firebird PDD Nunez in the "Fanny Elssler" solo from La Fille Mal Gardee Cuthbertson and Ball R&J Balcony scene Nunez and Avis The Merry Widow PDD also a new PDD "Ever After" by Andrew McNicol referencing the effects of MND danced by Olivia Cowley (who must have had a quick change thereafter to perform in Frankenstein as Victor's mother) and Nicol Edmonds. Annette and Ronald's daughter Lulu also took applause at the end, with Lady Sainsbury (Annette's lifelong friend); they had originated the event with Kevin O'Hare.

Surely it is more reasonable to assume that Don Q sales went well because "the bulk of the ballet audience" does regard this staging of Don Q as a success!

I see what you mean, only I am not sure that is what FLOSS was arguing, nor I am sure that it is fair to assume any significant cash has been "squandered" on advertising Don Q, given that these things presumably have to be planned out sometime before, and as I recall the fear or complaint of some at the outset was the opposite, i.e. that Don Q was not going to sell well. So it might be that the advertising for Don Q has proved very cost effective. Also, don't things like automatic email / pop-up adds, once instigated as an algorithm at an earlier stage, tend to have a bit of a life of their own, independent of cost? Not that I have noticed any particular deluge of these, for any RB production, in my own internet usage.

Frankenstein maybe, but Don Q has been pretty much a sell out. Unless by wrong calculations you mean Don Q has been over-advertised, under-priced or under-provided in the number of performances?

Agreed!

Either way I don't see "legginess" per se would be some kind of inherent bar to being partnered by Campbell !

Fair enough, but no-one need partake in any discussion on here that they don't personally find useful, or of value. Although the point discussed was that question mark (as to whether he will be able to dance Romeo), which happens to arise from a current injury, rather than talking about the injury itself. But in any event, as public performers surely ballet dancers do have to expect a degree of public interest and associated discussion, whether about performances, suitability, injury or whatever. I would imagine they are pretty hardened to it by the time they reach this stage in their careers. I am sure we all try to avoid anything unreasonable or unfeeling that would cause undue offence, but I can't see anything said above that would fall into that category.