Xandra Newman

As much as I LOVE Sambe and O'Sullivan Mr O'Hare has to give priority to his principal dancers in the worldwide cinema broadcasts. Only this Season did he finally start to show his younger principals Takada, Campbell, Hirano and Naghdi and Ball to a worldwide audience.  

41 minutes ago, capybara said:

The fact that Sim has spent so much time and care on her review of yesterday's matinee performance speaks volumes about its overall superlative quality and the two central performances in particular.

Yet these two young dancers, both at an ideal age to be cast as Romeo and Juliet, have only one public showing whereas more senior couples (and I do not include Ball or Muntagirov here), including dancers who have had the role for 10 years or more, are given three outings.

I want an encore from O'Sullivan and Sambe and I'd like it NOW, please!!!!!

In 2015 (yes nearly 4 years ago) two young dancers, one a soloist at that time (Yasmine Naghdi) and the other one a first artist (Matthew Ball) danced their debut as R&J. Everyone present that day was totally bowled over, shed tears, raved and gushed. They were given just 1 public performance, a Saturday Matinee.... That was it!

Nearly 4 years later and we will finally see their highly praised partnership again. 

Mr O'Hare has to keep his Principals happy too and as such we get Osipova, Cuthbertson, Lamb, Nunez, Naghdi, Takada, Hayward (that's 7 out of the 8 female principals) dancing Juliet and all are dancing 3 performances. Only this season Takada was given the opportunity to debut as Juliet. There is first soloist Hamilton who has Juliet in her rep. too, and Stix-Brunell also gets the opportunity to debut.

If besides those 7 female Principals, the 2 first soloists Hamilton and Stix-Brunell and 1 soloist O'Sullivan were also to be given three performances the R&J run would go on for several months!  

Thank you Alison.

The wording on their FB page is so misleading (to me). They surely could have specified the names of the actual cast dancing the R&J live relay on 11th June.

Last night was one of those nights I am truly happy to have been there and to have witnessed the new partnership between Yasmine Naghdi and Marcelino Sambe, and what a gorgeous partnership it was! 

Yasmine Naghdi has really matured into a graceful, very elegant ballerina, is in complete control of her superlative technique and in full possession of all the necessary skills to deliver a magnificent performance. Marcelino Sambe's impeccable partnering (very much improved since the Insight!), combined with his great talent, makes me want to see more of these two dancing together. They were both absolutely wonderful, not only as individual dancers but also as a stage couple. The first one handed lift, well goodness me, I have never witnessed a longer one. And Naghdi's manege in Act 2 was at such a breakneck speed I wondered if the orchestra would be able to keep up with her. 

Naghdi/Sambe's Act III solos/pd2 were simply breathtaking. Anna Rose O'Sullivan, Fumi Kaneko, Matthew Ball, Lukas Bjorneboe Braendsrod/Romany Pajdak (Gypsy couple), Bennet Gartside (Gamache) and Gary Avis (DQ) all deserve my praise too. I thought the whole company was on great form (although I was less impressed by two female dancers). It was a very responsive audience, lots of cheers, and I could see several parts of the Orchestra Stalls giving Naghdi/Sambe a standing ovation. What a great show and what a superlative performance to end this run of Don Quixote (last one tonight).

So, just out of interest Sim and sorry for asking, but if it's a cultural thing do Americans give standing ovations for just about anything? I mean, even when a performer or a performance is mediocre or bad do they still stand up? Do they usually go berserk during a performance or get very loud? 

Another BA comment...must have been some Rose Adagio!

   On 3/14/2019 at 3:36 AM,  PeggyR said: 

First intermission of Naghdi’s SB. One word to describe:  WOW.  Take out second mortgage if you need to, but go to her Friday performance.

"I didn't take out a mortgage but I certainly agree with you,PeggyR, that it was well worth the manipulation of my schedule and extra expense to see Yasmine Naghdi on Saturday night! What a beautiful dancer she is: impeccable, strong classical line, expressive port de bras coming out of a lifted back, graceful, gracious, joyful, wonderfully musical.  She was completely natural and interacted with her parents and the four Princes  - who all looked genuinely happy to be there with her.  She was extraordinary.  The audience was berserk by the the end of the Rose Adagio." 

That's a great idea capybara!

It's so nice to be able to read how RB Principals guesting abroad have been received. 

Since Yasmine Naghdi is the first RB Principal to have been invited by SFB as a guest ballerina to dance in a full-length ballet it is great to know she was exceptionally well received by the audience.

 No it is not fairly common over there just as it is not fairly common at the ROH   Why would it be common in San Francisco?  Only exceptional performances are awarded with a standing ovation. Why would it be any different in SF?  

Shouldn't the RB Press ensure that dancers are correctly accredited in photos appearing in newspaper articles? That all reports about the RB, in newspapers and articles, are correct? The accuracy of reporting is gradually getting worse and worse! Are all these so-called critics/reviewers totally ballet ignorant? Do they not check with the RB Press before publishing an article? 

What exactly is the function of the RB Press? What is Mr Ashley Woodfield (Head of RB Press I believe) responsible for? 

Another poster on BA raves about her Rose Adagio too, and she got a standing ovation and loud cheers from the entire audience. 

Must have been a remarkable performance!

BRAVO Geoff, Mary and David!

I hope the new ROH Management - who made a total mess of everything - will get to read what you said! 

It's all too horrible and very very sad at a time when The Royal Ballet and its superb dancers are at an all time high!

Thank you for posting this link Bruce! 

I really enjoyed listening to this interview, she speaks with such clarity, it is fascinating to hear her talk about her early training years and the years progressing through the Company ranks. She also mentioned in this interview how she taught herself Helgi Thomasson's version of "Sleeping Beauty" whilst simultaneously preparing for her Kitri debut in Covent Garden.

Reading the various comments via your link an audience member commented on her Rose Adagio saying: "...Naghdi set the Golden Standard...". How I  wish I had been able to witness that! SFB hardly ever invite a Guest dancer and she's the first invited RB Principal to dance with them in a full-length ballet. The RB was in USA in 2015 but did not perform in San Francisco, it must be fascinating for the audience to have the opportunity to see the RB style of classical dancing.

Yes What's On and Booking Periods have disappeared now...

Yes, and it is a very impressive quality to possess. When I met Yasmine Naghdi by the Stage Door after her Saturday evening debut as Kitri she told me she was due to fly out to San Francisco the next morning and she had just under a week to learn the new Sleeping Beauty version and with a new partner. Hats off to her as this has often happened throughout her career. 

Ballet fans seem to be a hard-to-please bunch

I think the majority of the SFB fans must have been very pleased to be able to see their Principal Joseph Walsh dance his debut as the Prince, thanks to Yasmine Naghdi flying over and stepping in, learning Helgi Thomasson's "Sleeping Beauty" at short notice. She enabled Walsh to dance his debut and they had the extra bonus of seeing Naghdi dance!.

Yes, why....? 

I have now read all the SFB/SB comments from the beginning and some SFB fans were not very happy that the Director of SFB had invited Naghdi as a Guest to dance with Walsh in his SB. They felt she deprived some the SFB soloists of an opportunity to have a chance to dance Aurora. 

Thank you for this link Odyssey! Great to be able to read the reaction of the SF audience. 

Sounds like Yasmine was a great success last night and impressed the SF audience who gave her and Joseph Walsh a standing ovation. Not surprised to read: "...she brought the house down with her Rose Adagio..." and "...a Gold Standard Rose Adagio.."

https://www.sfballet.org/season/casting

She's dancing on Wednesday 13th and Saturday 16th evening performances.

...and another one (posted by Joseph Walsh) showing Helgi Thomasson rehearsing Joseph Walsh and Yasmine Naghdi.  

The SFBallet also interview their dancers before the start of a performance.

On Opening Night Yasmine will be interviewed in front of the San Francisco audience. https://www.sfballet.org/explore/meet-the-artist

Oh if only SF wasn't so far away ... I would love to see Helgi Thomasson's "Sleeping Beauty".

Looking forward to their London visit end of May, they are a great company. I very much enjoyed watching the SFB when they last performed at Sadler's Wells.

Things were sooooo much better before the ROH Open-Up: their website worked properly, casting was correctly updated (and names of dancers spelled correctly), the News section was updated, etc.etc.

Why has it all gone so wrong?

Who was/is in charge of all those changes??

15 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Please, dear Capybara, don't take it personally ... It's merely a turn of I think a fairly prevalent Latinate phrase  ... and I simply wanted to ensure she was high up on - and certainly not forgotten from - that rightfully esteemed list.  All's well Promise.  

 

Yes Bruce, sure, I have no doubt O'Sullivan was amazing at the CC gala but reference here was made to British International ballerinas of Principal status  

12 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

I suspect this may be in exchange for SFB's Wei Wang as Frankenstein's Creature with the RB.  

I don't think it has anything to do with that Bruce, that's coincidence if you ask me (because Bracewell, Corrales,... are injured the RB needed a replacement so they took SFB's Wang who already danced the role when Scarlet's Frankenstein was performed in San Francisco).

Naghdi has nothing to do at the ROH for a month. Good for her she takes this opportunity to go guesting with other companies whilst she has big performance gaps. 

No Naghdi doesn't have much to do in London right now. Her next Kitri is a month away on 3rd April. 

Thereafter she's dancing the Opening Night of Firebird on 4th June and another one (plus few Symphony in C's), followed by 3 R&J's in June. Wouldn't be surprised if she goes guesting again with another company in May...

Even if I was offered a free ticket I still would not attend Frankenstein. I've seen it once, no need to see it again.