2 hours ago, alison said:

Yes, I thought it might be a stretch.

Giving birth? Very much so, I believe......

5 hours ago, Sim said:

As for his dramatic ability, he was wonderful in Dante a couple of weeks ago, and he was the best I have seen in Winter's Tale.

Ryo was also excellent in Onegin and Mayerling, to take just two examples...plus his Espada as course!

For anyone who has been missing Akane so far this season, here is something she has been engaged with at least....

https://shop.chacott.co.jp/news/20231208_645.html

Should we have a "General Steaming Thread" for when we need to let off some?🤔

Pleased to report a smooth booking experience this morning. The MacMillan seems to be booking pretty well considering we are this far out. 

Booked three dates and looking forward to casting in due course. At the ROH you can cancel for a credit very easily if need be.

5 hours ago, Sim said:

 I have only three words:  Will and Fumi.  And a fourth…sigh. 

Should that be "Sae"...?🤔

4 hours ago, PeterS said:

I sat behind Jonathan Lo on Saturday and had an almost clear view. In fact, it struck me that from his position it must’ve been difficult to actually see the dancers onstage. 

I wondered the same thing yesterday at Birmingham Hippodrome...can the conductor see the dancers sufficiently, particularly when they are nearer the back of the stage?

We attended a lovely matinee yesterday and really enjoyed the production. It has some great transformation scenes, super music from the Sinfonia, and includes Clara flying down into the magical kingdom from on high on the back of a snow goose 🪿 (?) at the start of Act 2, which drew some gasps/amusement from the audience (a typical cross-section of which would be 7 year old girl plus Mum and/or Dad/Grannie/Grandad).

Was it debuts this time (or perhaps earlier this run) for Reina Fuchigami as Clara, Riku Ho as the Prince, and Rachel Pizzillo as the SPF? I thought those two main ladies were a touch overshadowed by a super performance from Celine Gittens as The Rose Fairy.

In this iteration the magical kingdom appears just a dream and the Nutcracker is just a toy. There is no Royal Ballet-type imprisoned   Nutcracker/nephew who is rescued  back to real life and who returns to his uncle. I think the BRB misses out on having Drosselmeyer and Hans-Peter's poignant backstory, and their  relationships with Clara, who, in the RB version, retains her link to the magic kingdom with the necklace she is given by the SPF.

I also missed the lovely RB Angels, and the more extensive use of ballet mime.

That said, our own 7 yr old granddaughter loved her first live professional ballet so much that she burst into tears when it had finished and she had to leave...there can be no better recommendation than that!

A great Insight....it made me feel quite emotional to see a rehearsal of the first PDD I fell in love with (when Hayward and Campbell were in the roles), and which  remains one of my favourites.The music is so beautiful and it's the moment the Nutcracker magic really begins. 

The dancers featured were brilliant, and Gary Avis did a superb job in passing on his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm.

I also loved the interview with Kate Shipway, and her amazing duet with Rob Clark.

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

If O'Brien does replace Gartside then he'll make his debut with a Nephew, Zuchetti, who's about a decade older than him!

Good point, although this is not impossible, if my calculations and biological knowledge are correct!

18 hours ago, Sim said:

 

Yes, I would agree that Francesca is fabulous in this role.  I really wish she were dancing it with Campbell again; it worked so beautifully.  

Indeed, but the Takada/Campbell pairing, as planned,  is also to be recommended, having worked wonderfully previously as I mentioned on the RB Winter Casting thread.

Actually I don't think whether or not a synopsis is needed is in itself too much of an issue in terms of  enjoying a work...indeed I note that when I saw The Dante Project on its first run, I posted "I think at times one can enjoy the relatively abstract without feeling there  necessarily has to be  a clear narrative that one must work out and follow sequentially. I think the work generally achieves  what ballet does best -  portraying meaning and emotion,  without words, through dance, music, and staging". (Apologies for quoting myself)! 

So I am reminded that I  enjoyed the work at that time more than I now remember, (although I do recall issues with poor lighting and a lot of mist in Act 3....has this  been improved this time)?

In fact, looking back there seems to have been generally more enthusiasm on the Forum for TDP first time around, than now...perhaps the problem is that it has been brought back rather too soon and some of us would have preferred another choice (e.g. an Ashton ballet?) 

6 minutes ago, DVDfan said:

Wrt the plot, I agree that you need a synopsis but I don't think that invalidates DP as a ballet, because Swan Lake makes no sense without one and no one would say that isn't a great classical ballet

But Swan Lake has a lot of classical ballet mime which helps with  the  story narrative, and is actually quite a beautiful part of the ballet.

1 hour ago, alison said:

A number of expensive tickets (3 figures) for the last performance of this seem to have appeared on the ROH website.

 

EDIT: Yes, they're still there, even if the website had decided to go back to claiming Takada was still dancing  

The website is showing Osipova/Clarke for me on the 17th....and Hinkis/Acri on the 11th as before.

41 minutes ago, Sim said:

Yes, that's exactly what I meant, which is why I specifically said 'Monarchy' (i.e., the institution) rather than 'King and Queen' .  

Thanks for confirming that @Sim.

Drawing a couple of discussion points together, and going back  to the King's visit, I hope his reported "foot tapping along to the music"  was suitably discrete and not a distraction for those nearby!

It's something I find myself wanting to do with catchy and familiar ballet pieces, but probably not a good idea...I know l would be annoyed if a neighbouring attendee started it!

33 minutes ago, Sim said:

In order to get this thread back on topic, we will be hiding any further discussion or comments about the Monarchy,  as requested above.

 

Thank you.

@Sim do you just mean no more  general discussion here on the merits of the Monarchy? I don't think we should prevent any further relevant observations on this thread about the King (President of the ROYAL Ballet) and Queen attending this particular performance of Don Q.....

49 minutes ago, Linnzi5 said:

I’m glad it didn’t bother you and you felt it enhanced the performance for you - but it did not for me. At the performance I went to, (not opening night) it was non-stop and I didn’t enjoy it and that is my opinion, just as you are entitled to yours. It was near hysteria at times (loads of screaming girls!)  I can’t comment on tv shows, but the comparison I made was appropriate to how I felt.

Probably just as well you missed  the opening night @Linnzi5, as it was the most enthusiastic audience of their three shows!

But I am afraid I just don't recognise your description of  the audience behaviour at any of their performances.....but perhaps it was different according to the locale within the auditorium (we were in the Stalls)?

5 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

I have no problem with enthusiastic audience members cheering at the end of a particularly wonderful solo - that's lovely. I love it when the audience claps when the principals first enter on stage and I have no problem what people verbalise during curtain calls (as long as it's polite!). It's when the performers just are on stage and the cheering and screaming go on all the time, as in the Nunez/Muntagirov performance I went to. Seriously, it was like witnessing videos I've seen of Beatles mania and was, quite frankly, really distracting and silly at times. It stopped the ballet for extended periods and ruined the flow of performance, at times, for me. I just ended of raising my eyebrows and thinking how silly and excessive it all was. I don't watch Britain's Got Talent, I have to say and gave up on Strictly some time ago, for various reasons, though it wasn't to do with filmed audiences 🤣

I think it is an unfair exaggeration to compare the audience reaction with Nunez/Muntagirov to Beatlemania or the sort of mindless (and orchestrated) cheering that takes place on some TV shows. I felt it to be spontaneous, and an unusual and rather surprising, but genuine, sign of appreciation for two wonderful dancers on dazzling form,  back on stage at the start of a new season. It certainly wasn't all the time, and if anything I thought it enhanced, rather than hindered, the flow of a cheerful ballet...and the dancers clearly enjoyed the enthusiasm and fed off it to a large extent.

Oops sorry Rob got there first...

RMT and train operators reach breakthrough in national rail row.....(The Guardian)

Being more positive and less picky  about last night, it was clearly  a very special  event for the Company and their guests, and a  great advertisement for the general standard of ballet dancing and production at the ROH.  Following on from some of the plaudits above for specific dancers, I agree Annette Buvoli is a super Queen of the Dryads, and that Sae Maeda has particularly shone this run, as a Friend (last night) and also as Amour. I have also loved Mica Bradbury in various roles (leading Fandango lady last night). 

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 it's never nice to see a dancer fall on stage but especially not for them when it's being filmed.

True enough but  she had essentially finished the fouettes very well (but perhaps a little too fast given the outcome)  and just slipped down at the very end. She was back up straight away with no obvious sign of a resulting problem, and finished like a true pro. If you were to close your eyes at the very end you wouldn't know about it  (apart from some possible gasps from anyone nearby)!

I was wondering if my wife and I were the only ones rather underwhelmed by last night's cinema screening, but I see a few other posters do seem to feel the same way.

The poor screen lighting in our cinema, and the dearth of attendees, didn't exactly help, but even allowing for this I thought that whilst the dancing was technically fine, most of the main dancers  failed to achieve the same level of detail in  characterisation as other casts we have seen.

I was a bit surprised about this in the case of Mayara and Matthew, as, for example, their characterisation in the Carousel Gala segment was brilliant. Perhaps they were overly nervous given the Royalty/screening combo, or perhaps they are  more  successful at acting  as (respectively) more vulnerable/unattractive characters ....(Matthew is a really good Tybalt).

Or is it more difficult to act out a similar relationship to the one that you have already in real life?

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

whether it's the lighting, the camera work, or a combination of the two, it wasn't half gloomy - even in the sunny town square (where sunny = beige, and indoors = dark brown)

Same for us (Bedford Vue where only about 20 people attended) and not for the first time for these ROH cinema screenings. Did others suffer the same  poor lighting?