Richard LH
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Posts posted by Richard LH
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9 minutes ago, aliceinwoolfland said:
A shame that Naghdi and Hayward only have one show each when they are so popular. I feel that Hayward especially could have done with two given her lack of big roles in this season. Also, I know she is the most experienced principal with a luminous RB career, but it’s a bit frustrating to always see the same line up - Nunez and Muntagirov - and they also do most opening nights. They’re not always the best pairing, I don’t know why they’re exempt from KOH’s preference for mixing up couples, and I don’t think Nunez is best suited to every role in the RB’s repertoire.
Alice if you are referring to SPF in Nutcracker, Nadghi and Hayward actually have two shows each.
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In putting on some 23 performances of Nutcracker, and being up against the RB and the BRB, I wonder how Coliseum seat sales will go....
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2 hours ago, capybara said:
There will surely be more leavers as next season progresses as some names are 'going missing' from the casting.
As the only castings published at this stage are for the main roles, surely it would only be principals who could be noticeably missing? As I recall, no principals are totally missing for the Autumn, although one or two seem to have relatively little lined up. Are you looking more at who seems to be missing in the new year, such as for Don Q ?
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12 hours ago, alison said:
Just pencilled the dates for the Nutcracker into the diary and realised how oddly un-Christmassy they are: a mere smattering throughout December then a fairly solid run in January!
And seemingly fully booked before Christmas, at least as things stand just at the moment, apart from Christmas Eve (mainly Amphi).
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There are so many interesting possible combinations given the talents available.
As much as I like the idea of bringing back certain succesful pairings (such as Hayward/Campbell) I wouldn't want any lead pairs to be tied to each other more or less as a matter of course - as now seems to be happening with Nunez and Muntagirov, at least in the main roles, presumably as this pairing is considered to be a safe bet and popular .
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Floss, another very interesting post! -- I entirely agree with the latter part about the casting of the specific principals you mention.
But regarding your first section, I wonder if there is really so much MacMillan, and so little Petipa and Ashton, that those in the RB below soloist level can't sufficiently develop their artistry or technique? I would have thought the mix with classical, narrative, and more modern exploratory dance was pretty well balanced at the RB. Not everyone will prefer the sort of classic production whose main aim appears to be to show off technical skills, with numerous variations for somewhat random incidental characters, at the expense of narrative and dramatic flow. As well as technique, learning and performing narrative and acting skills, as exemplified in the likes of MacMillan, even in "back story" roles, must surely be an important part of a successful dancing career, and this seems to be something the RB is generally praised for. Newer works allow development of different ideas to compliment or develop the more established forms - of course they are not always seen to be successful, at least to begin with, but then the same can be said for some of the classics.
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Alexander Campbell has made a short video about some of the feedback from the Observer/Guardian article, addressing one or two misconceptions.
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12 hours ago, Shya100 said:
Well perhaps Hayward will do the a firebird and Juliet. I would would dearly enjoy Campbell as her Romeo. If she doesn't though, she doesn't. Her career is really her own concern, if she is unhappy with the amount of work I would encourage her, or anyone, to look at other company's to guest or whatever. Campbell does seem to sometimes get overlooked though. They play safe with him, but again it's his own career and concern and he has certainly voiced wanting to do other things and doesn't seem dedicated to the RB. They both seem pretty savy as concerns future opportunities. Something tells me these two will be fine. Iron rod of a survivor in both.
One overseas event where Hayward will guest very shortly (after Lagrasse) is the Vail Dance Festival, Colorado, along with Sambe. I see that they also did this last year, dancing the balcony PDD from Romeo and Juliet, so I guess it will be that again. It looks a lovely venue, (Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater). Anyone likely to be out that way ?!
https://vaildance.org/event/international-evenings-of-dance-ii-2018/
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31 minutes ago, nycitybird said:
It seems impossible to choose one Two Pigeons cast. A good problem to have I suppose.
I am finding that problem with most RB productions at the moment! Until I took up a renewed interest in ballet last year, I would never have imagined going to more than one performance in a run of any stage production - now (like other Forum members) I am not only going to see different casts in the same run, but sometimes choosing to see the same cast more than once. Expensive, but so enjoyable.....
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What's On is incomplete, yes.There are 3 other performances of The Two Pigeons, happening along with a Scarlett work performed by RBS students.
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51 minutes ago, MAX said:
Very weird she is cast as a first soloist or even as a soloist not as a principal next season....
Kevin O'Hare seems to be disapointed...
Hardly likely, Max, after her 17/18 season. I think she is just being cast in 18/19 as the (young) principal that she is... after all she is still SPF in Nutcracker, creating a role in The Unknown Soldier, and debuting as The Girl in The Two Pigeons and Irina in Winter Dreams. Also there are 4 more ballets yet to be cast for the Spring and Summer 2019, including Frankenstein and Romeo and Juliet (which she has danced before). But I share some disappointment in not yet being able to see her as Mary V, Nikiya, or Kitri.
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3 minutes ago, JohnS said:
Apart from Colonel 'Bay' Middleton!
Sorry, yes, missed that one !
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2 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:
I think ROH must be loading all casting
On Naghdi's page it already shows she dancing Irina in "Winters Dream" http://www.roh.org.uk/people/yasmine-naghdi
Same thing for Francesca Hayward and Akane Takada, they are also cast as Irina on their own pages. It seems they don't update all the pages in one go.
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For Don Q, they are using just 5 of the female principals for the lead, and 4 of the male principals, with no leads for Hayward, Lamb, Morera, Soares, Bonelli, Kish, Watson, or Hirano. So good roles for first soloists Kaneko, Magri, Corrales, and Sambe. Kish seems absent from anything so far published for autumn and winter.
After arguing for some changes in who gets the filming, I am delighted that Takada (with McRae) is down for the live screening (and hopefully a DVD) as Kitri; also very pleased to note debuts (I believe) for Naghdi and Sambe Magri (another debut?) and Campbell also catches the eye.
Looking forward also very much to Hayward and Bracewell partnering in The Two Pigeons.....two more debuts?
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OK sorry I am going over to the other thread now !
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For Don Q, they are using just 5 of the female principals for the lead, and 4 of the male principals, with no leads for Hayward, Lamb, Morera, Soares, Bonelli, Kish, Watson, or Hirano. So good roles for first soloists Kaneko, Magri, Corrales, and Sambe. Kish seems absent from anything so far published for autumn and winter.
After arguing for soem changes in who gets the filming, I am delighted that Takada (with McRae) is down for the live screening (and hopefully a DVD) as Kitri; also very pleased to note debuts (I believe) for Naghdi and Sambe Magri (another debut?) and Campbell also catches the eye.
Looking forward also very much to Hayward and Bracewell partnering in The Two Pigeons.....two more debuts?
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Do you mean for Infra and Symphony in C , Alison, in the autumn programme? (There is casting in for The Unknown Soldier in that mixed bill, also for Mayerling, La Bayadere and Nutcracker). For Symphony in C , I assume most of the company is likely to be involved but I suppose they may give the lead pairings for each of the 4 movements. Winter programme booking for the general public opens 31 October.
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So pleased for those two, thanks Jenny.
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Floss thanks your thoughtful response, I will try to find the earlier performances to which you refer.
But are you suggesting that no later alterations should be made to the original choreography or tempi of Petipa, or other Greats, because they could never be improved?
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On 19/07/2018 at 19:14, Richard LH said:
Oh my....hard to follow on with this discussion on such terms...
Just for the sake of context, in case anyone has been trying to read through this thread more recently and make sense of it, I posted the above in relation to the preceding one soon after that was posted. At that time the preceding post contained other material which now has been removed.
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22 hours ago, Geoff said:
it is as if speed, precision and musicality has increasingly suffered at the expense of athleticism and "emotionalism".
Geoff I think a great ballet performance does need an ability to act and yes "emote" if you like, to convey a role convincingly to the audience, unless, I suppose, the dance is purtely an abstract one with no story involved. Also athleticism, and stamina, must be crucial, albeit kept within the context of proper ballet techinque. I'm sure it's a question of striking a proper balance between all the elements and of course this won't always have succeeded in the past, just as it does not always succeed in the present.
The speed of a perfomance is an interesting one... I found this older RB Pas de Trois from Swan Lake Act 1 - not sure of the year, or even the performers (but with acknowlegments to the Royal Opera House) where they do the variations played at a fair lick, but for me the current RB equivalent is more successful, with the music signficantly slowed down. I think dancers can show good technique and musical appreciation by displaying fine control during slower passages. Overall I do prefer the latest RB version (some of which at least can be found on the internet although I am not sure about the copyright issues. DVD next May, hopefully).
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8 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:
perhaps because K O'H feels that the company as a whole cannot currently do these works justice
I don't why he would feel that, going by the glowing reviews for recent productions I refer to above.
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Well plenty of critics, and paying customers, appear more than satisfied that Ashton is still safe in the hands of the RB, judging by the enthusiastic reviews of the most recent productions of La Fille, Sylvia, and the M/A, Dream, and S/V triple bill (about to come out on DVD). Hayward (as I mentioned before) and Takada are two young principals who have gained particular praise in Ashton roles.
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Autumn 2018/19 RB Booking Experience ..
in Performances seen & general discussions
Posted
Thanks for that SPD444 - I have just managed to get a 2 seats together by clicking on the "best available" option, and currently there still seem to be options available either for 2 seats or 1 seat. But Insights seem very popular - nothing now available, it seems, for the Mayerling, La B, or Nutcracker ones. As these are to be filmed, hopefully they will be available online.