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?

1 hour ago, capybara said:

Now looking forward to the cinema relay and to seeing those of you with tickets having your “night out with The King”.

I understand he will be playing Gamache....

6 minutes ago, Sim said:

Will’s flowers were from me, to congratulate him on an amazing debut run of Basilio.

Lovely gesture @Sim...!

Another wonderful, dazzling night for Fumi (those fouettés!) and Will - they dance with so much synchronicity and connection - and the whole Company. 

Well done  Hanna Park for doing better with the Italian fouettés this time!  

One query that I have about the casting....is it really necessary to double (or triple) up on some of the roles so much? For example Hannah Grennell dancing as  Kitri Friend as well as Lead Gypsy, and Annette Buvoli dancing as Dulcinea, one of the Dryads, and Lead Fandango lady. I would have thought there might have been more opportunities to afford less experinced dancers some of the doubled-up roles.....

8 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

or Calvert/Campbell or Campbell/Campbell (unless he's going to be dancing with Takada) 

Takada/Hay would also be lovely, as per the last run of The Sleeping Beauty.....

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Hope Takada and McRae will be recovered sufficiently for June

Takada is not cast to dance Nutcracker for another two months, so I am still keeping fingers crossed for her recovery by January. Without knowledge of her specific problem (she doesn't communicate through social media like McRae does) we don't have any idea of her  possible  return date.

1 hour ago, JNC said:

And no McRae, unless he's going to be paired with Takada for the Summer season? 

That seems a fair assumption, if both are fit. On the latter point, both are still cast in The Nutcracker and Manon so hopefully they are not currently ruled out for later performances as matters stand. Certainly Akane Takada usually tends to be cast towards the end of runs for some reason.

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'm both glad & frustrated to hear that. I started having a panic attack just as Mercedes & the matadors entered & after about 10 mins fighting it I had to leave. I'm absolutely livid with myself for missing most of the performance. (Currently on a train fighting to try to control waves of anxiety.)

How horrible for you @Dawnstar...hoping you feel better very soon..

BTW does anyone know when we are likely to get the casting for Swan Lake and the MacMillan Triple ??

On 25/10/2023 at 17:36, oncnp said:

'Can't see KOH breaking up the pair that made the roles in 2018 so I think you will get your wish

Are you referring to a  potential Kaneko/Bracewell partnership in Swan Lake? It would be a great pairing, but Fumi first danced it (amazingly) in 2022, with Federico Bonelli (his Swan Song).  

(It was Takada/Bracewell in 2018...anothjer great partnership).

3 hours ago, Henry said:

Have you ever sat in the theatre at the end of Act II and thought "25 minutes interval, 35 minutes for Act III, if I leave now I can get home an hour earlier"???

 

 

Fortunately not as yet... it would have to be a pretty bad play, or whatever, to cause that reaction!

For ballets, allowing for the effort in travelling  in (and back) I would stay for the last Act, or work, even if I had only really  booked  to see the first two Acts or works.

5 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

I would have loved to see Anemoi again; I just don't want to see The Cellist again and clearly I'm not going to book a whole evening ticket when there's only 25 mins I want to see. But with some enticing additions, or a good third work, I would have booked in spite of The Cellist (depending on the prices).

Exactly this.

5 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Ouch! Linbury (but I do know what you both mean)....the problem is where to fit the full orchestra for the Rachmaninov symphony, the Elgar Cello Concerto etc on  the small Linbury stage. Basically it's a programme that should have had just 3 performances, like last year's Diamond gala. 2 with the first cast, 1 with the second cast, over 2 weekends. It probably wasn't a great idea either to stage it during the two weeks where it's directly competing against Hayward and Campbell on the same nights in a new work [with lower prices]. 

Fair point re. the orchestra.

The fact that as posted elsewhere, it's a programme of only 2 hours including the interval, surely can't help....couldn't they have included a third work as well?

20 hours ago, capybara said:

Obviously, there has been a 'special offer' for the double bill for Saturday but, from Monday onwards, the situation remains dire. I have never seen anything like the chart is showing for next Wednesday and the 1st Nov and the nights featuring more 'star names' are not much better. 

 I see this as a problem of overpricing for what is essentially a mediocre double bill which, if staged at all, would have been better staged in the Linbury, as someone else said. Personally I wouldn't have attended this programme even at discounted prices, bearing in mind travelling costs can't be avoided even if tickets are given away, and for me the money saved will be better spent on other upcoming productions.

3 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

 

My attention has been caught by Tom Whitehead in all the roles he has played in this run.

I agree...I find him well worth watching in all his different character roles. There always seem to be a  number of difficulties for whoever plays Gamache, to do with the costume, or finding his coins, or hankie,  or handling the sword, as well having to endure all the planned indignities of the role. Last night it looked as if Tom might have hit his head on the table in his fall as a result of the fish-slapping incident..and later he managed to bend his scabbard at some point during his "duel" with the Don. He managed it all with great aplomb and humour.

4 hours ago, Fonty said:

the girl in the lilac tutu in the dream sequence (Amour?)  in the second act whose name I can't remember (I am sure someone will let me know)

Sae Maeda was Amour last night....I agree, she really sparkles in the role. 

Marianela's jete out from the curtain gap was a fitting end to her wonderful run as Kitri this time round...and an amusing riposte to Vadim's earlier jump out...."anything you can do" etc ....

Edit for @Dawnstar....dancersdiary has captured the leaps on Instagram.

14 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

After 2 lots of ballet-travel train problems recently today I decided to get a train half an hour than usual to be on the safe side, given there are signalling problems on the East Coast mainline that my line joins with. However we got stuck in terrible traffic so it took twice as long as normal to get to Cambridge station & I was only just in time to get my usual train. Touch wood it's running on time so far, but I'm having to stand all the way. I feel like I'm cursed!

There have been a spate of signalling problems into London from East Anglia recently.... the other day it was on the Cambridge line at Royston, today it's on the Peterborough line at St Neots. Hope you arrive in good time @Dawnstar. Do you change at Finsbury Park for the Piccadilly line?

47 minutes ago, Rob S said:

I guess if the ROH’s priority is the appearance of a full house rather than the revenue at that short notice their £150 to £12 strategy is more effective than that of Paddington’s Sainsbury’s on my way home from a performance the other night 

 

 

😂

19 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Or is it simply Don Q dancing the Gavotte with Kitri, then Dulcinea, then kissing Kitri’s hand?

I think this is it ...

Totally agree with all the plaudits about last night....another very special performance. Fumi and Will have such a rapport, and such smooth, apparently effortless, dancing from them both! And this time the gypsy dancing went very well...

Evereyone seemed to be on top form .....and Mariko Sasaki is certainly one to watch...her Queen of the Dryads was superb!