Richard LH

Thanks very much for this Geoff. I am afraid it is sold out now though.

"Three iconic stories and three bold works on and by women. Broken Wings Iconic painter Frida Kahlo is the heroine of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Broken Wings, a colourful ballet full of warmth and passion. Based on Kahlo’s life and art, it is “a marvellous image of creativity and power” (The Independent). Nora Stina Quagebeur, First Artist of the Company, choreographs her first work for the main stage. Nora is inspired by the lead character in Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, a woman on the path to independence. Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) Pina Bausch’s unforgettable production features 13 male and 13 female dancers on a stage covered in soil. Dancing the selection and sacrifice of a terrified victim, it is as gut-wrenching and galvanising as Stravinsky’s score, performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic. Le Sacre du printemps returns following sold out performances in 2017". Out of interest I emailed ENB to ask if Francesca Velicu will be reprising her award-winning role as the Chosen One in Le Sacre du printemps, and if so on what dates. I had a very speedy reply, albeit of limited assistance, since historically it seems the way it works with the Pina Bausch Foundation is that the role of the Chosen One is never announced in advance, and is decided upon shortly before curtain-up; whilst it is hoped that Francesca Velicu will repeat her role they cannot be specific about which dates she will appear. I suppose there is some sort of dramatic logic in having the dancer playing the sacrificial "Chosen One" chosen herself, at short notice, in this way! But it does not help booking choices for anyone wanting to see a particular dancer...

You're welcome, Penelope !

Yes, discounting the odd minor slip, I believe that was the first fairly major fall I have seen over the last year, in about 30 performances. Ironically, being in Les P, this was a slip on the "ice" in a performance where various falls were included as part of the choreography. But as you say, she just got up and continued professionally, and also looked fine in The Concert later on, so hopefully there was no injury. It just shows how skilful and well trained the dancers are in generally avoiding such mishaps, when having to leap and turn so much. I don't see the odd fall like this as in any way a failure of the dancer concerned - in the same way, for example, that poor technique or characterisation might be criticised. It can happen to any of them, and probably has, over the course of their careers.

But also now out on disc..... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchaikovsky-Crankos-Various-Entertainment-Blu-ray/dp/B07HN5LTVD/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1546769234&sr=1-2&keywords=onegin+ballet+cranko

No I am not suggesting the apparition is her saying goodbye, or that it is her spirit, but rather postulating that the vision is just showing the ending of the swan-queen curse.

The Scarlett version is to have Odette's sacrifice destroying Rothbart's power and leaving Siegfried alive but cradling the lifeless body of the Princess. Having only the remains of the swan-queen in his arms would be confusing in terms of showing the full nature of her sacrifice, which achieves the physical reverse of the original transformation that Rothbart caused, but only through Princess Odette paying the ultimate price. In this version, therefore, the vision of the cursed swan-queen at the end is perhaps no more than a passing ephemera as the curse dissipates, rather than being Odette's actual sprit....in which case it is in the correct apparel, and also it is not that essential for Siegfried to see it (referring to the suggestion JohnS makes).

I thoroughly enjoyed Les Patineurs last night - I thought Sambe was exceptional as the Blue Boy, ably supported by the two Blue Girls, Choe (great fouettes) and O'Sullivan, and the Brown Girls (Stix-Brunell and Magri). Their muffs may have been unusable but at least they were firmly attached. Although Lamb is not someone I would tend to prioritise when booking, I thought she was splendid last night, taking over as short notice fromNunez as the love-torn Masha in Winter Dreams and seemingly effortlessly transforming into a brilliant comic character in The Concert - which is a totally bonkers ballet experience. A good night out, but of the three pieces, Les P is the only one I would be particularly keen to see again.

Thanks bridiem...now getting even more excited about seeing this cast on Tuesday !

For the RB, for "full length" ballets I would like to see (not necessarily in this chronological order): The "new" Swan Lake (THIS time with a debut for Ms Hayward as O/O) Coppelia Onegin Sleeping Beauty Alice's Adventures in Wonderland La Fille mal gardee Woolf Works (a year, therefore, to miss out The Nutcracker) Included in multi-bills I would like the RB to put on: The Dream Serenade ...other "shorts" should come to mind when I have had chance to think/research a bit more..

Mary, how lovely. However I suspect that by describing your muff as you have ( I won't highlight the particularly sensitive parts) you will not help to improve the tone of this discussion when it comes to those posters on this Forum who are determined, vulgar gigglers...

And that mix-up reminds me of the time at my primary school when I was a sub on the school under 11s football team, which included the important duty of handing out refreshment in the form of 22 slices of oranges to the players at half time. The Head instructed me to serve the guests first, so I dutifully started offering slices to the visiting parents standing on the touchline...

Which is a serious problem and I am glad no-one has tried to make a cheap joke about it.

I am excited to have done a bit of nabbing too - a ticket on Tuesday to see Cojocaru - the first time I have seen her live - with Cirio. There are still a few seats for some S L performances at the Coli.....if not, there are loads available for Manon here this month...in fact far too many for the ENB's liking I suspect.

Thanks for the thread capybara. Roll on 2019!

Great job mods...thanks for all your hard work this year, (my first here). Such an impressive and informative forum...

Hope you are feeling better - and congratulations for your in depth review! Personally I much prefer the RB version. I find the narrative of the somewhat older Clara discovering romance, and expressing her youthfulness and joy through dance, generally to be a welcome and cohesive thread throughout the whole ballet. As is the Hans-Peter story and his relationship with Drosselmeyer, whose appearance throught Act 2 keeps the narrative going. I find there are too many small children in the Balanchine version ! And of course it misses out completely on the beautiful Act 1 PDD between Clara and the released H-P, in which the RB makes a superb use of one of Tchaikovsky's loveliest pieces of music. For me, the RB version looks to have the more accomplished choreography overall. Just one example would be the Arabian dance with RB's lady entering and leaving sitting high up on one of the three gentlemen's hands held up at full stretch, before engaging on a series of intricate and sensuous movements. The Balanchine Arabian lady looks a little lost on her own! Plus I prefer the RB sets and costumes! Finally, no I don't see any particular resemblance between the RB Prince and Joffrey from Game of Thrones - other than they both wear crowns! Happy New Year !

Well spotted! I thought I had beat the system by distinguishing between performers and performances ....

The corps looked absolutely fine to me.

Merry Christmas balletomanes! My 5 favourite ballets of 2018 - all from the Royal Ballet: Giselle (Hayward/Campbell) Manon (Hayward/ Bonelli/Campbell/Calvert) Swan Lake (Takada/Bracewell) La Bayadere (Takada/Naghdi/McRae) Symphony in C (Cuthbertson/Nunez/Takada/Naghdi/Muntagirov/Hirano/Campbell/Zucchetti)

After such a great production it was crass and disrespectful to cut out most of the curtain calls and have an announcer talking over what part of them they did show. But otherwise, well done Beeb for putting this on to enhance our Christmas Day. Seeing Francesca Hayward's wonderful dancing reminded me what we have been missing recently. Come back soon!

Merry Christmas balletomanes! My 5 favourite lead performances: Francesca Hayward as Manon Alexander Campbell as Des Grieux Akane Takada as Odette/Odile William Bracewell as Siegfried Akane Takada as Nikiya

That asking rather a lot Lizbie !

Yes please ! You can always PM me to avoid offending the Magic Circle...😉

Some random thoughts from last night..... I do admit to having favourites! William Bracewell being one - he has had a great year - so in the interests of objectivity, capybara, I thought he landed awkwardly twice in his solo as the Prince. But he recovered and I thought otherwise he was a wonderful support for the lovely Fumi Kaneko. Meaghan Grace Hinkis danced Clara rather than Emma Maguire....I don't think that change had been flagged in advance unless I missed it. She dances very well but I felt perhaps she tended to portray more of the young girl throughout rather than the blossoming young woman finding romance. I didn't get the same thrill from her and Acri as from other pairings (Hayward/Campbell, O'Sullivan/ Sambe). For the first time, I started to think they were tending to intrude on the divertissements rather than enhance them. It was great to see Mendizabal perform the Arabian dance. Leo Dixon was one of her gentlemen, and I had noticed him earlier as a very good "Clara's Partner". I liked Saunders' Drosselmeyer as a contrast to Avis - he was rather more avuncular and less mystical, but still pulled off some great magic (including the odd different trick). I still can't work out how a handkerchief transforms into a stick when it is thrown in the air! And he moon-walked into his curtain call to great applause. It is good to see some of the Artists coming though and performing with more experienced/higher ranked dancers - so for example we got Annette Buvoli and Chisato Katsura along with First Soloists Melissa Hamilton and Beatriz Stix-Brunell as the Leading Flowers. Finally the Corps again lit up the stage ... completing a wonderful year, from Willis, to Swans, to Shades, to Symphony-in-C-ers, and now to Snowflakes. Such hard work and training, producing such beauty!