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graemew

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Everything posted by graemew

  1. It amused me the way the paint is carefully poked into the ear! That will be a problem to remove. Presumably done for patrons in the boxes with extreme side views.
  2. I know some of us are finding levels and doors on "our" side confusing but a back stage tour reveals the nightmare of levels and colour "guides" behind the scenes.
  3. Apparently the large deer in Sylvia has applied for the role in La Bayadere, claiming experience acting upside down.
  4. As usual, Wife and I were the only ones in there (except the cleaners) while the credits rolled!
  5. Springbourne3: As has been noted elsewhere, the graphics seems to break from time to time and last night was very much the case. I wonder whether the cameras couldn't handle it or whether it just "went wrong". Either way, when I saw it live it was very clear and convincing. Last night it looked like a dust cloud.
  6. That was based only on my own observation of her not having a connection on stage with other dancers - that magic we often look for. I'm not suggesting she may not have mixed or "gone down the pub" with any of her colleagues. It's somethings which I have observed with Russian companies. Now I just love the way she reacts and throws herself into the mix.
  7. Natalia is becoming much more tuned into RB ways nowadays without loosing that spark and impetuous way of dancing (love or hate it). She seems to be more of a team player as a result. She is still reluctant to speak English - is there a specific reason for that? She must have picked up a reasonable vocabulary by now.
  8. Did Marianela remove the snake at all? I spent anxious seconds wondering whether during the build up steps when Ms N was waving the bouquet about enthusiatically the snake would fly out prematuely but finally I didn't see the snake at all. When the fakir rushed over to whop it on the floor there didn't seem to be anything there. Knowing how kind the lady is to children and animals i am sure she would have let it reside in its flowery repose. Must have been confusing to newcomers who may have put her demise down to hayfever.
  9. Two years ago my wife and I had a few minutes conversation with Romany at the Ballet Association dinner. About 6 weeks later we were walking down Drury Lane and we heard someone say "Hello" and realised it was Romany. She stopped and chatted for several minutes. We were amazed that she took the time and trouble to do that and that left such a pleasant impression of the lady. I am sure that personable attitude helps her sustain her role in the corp.
  10. I saw the McRae cast live and then last night's Cinema Live. Overall I enjoyed Vadim's cast better although the closer views offered by the Cinema (compared to mid Ampitheatre) add to the enjoyment by showing expression more clearly. McRae outdanced Vadim in the big solo although I thought Vadim had more emotion towards his ladies. Marianela and Natalia were wonderfully sparky together although I admit to being passionate about the stunning Ms Nunez. I noticed the scrim was brought down part way through the final act. The collapse of the temple projection didn't work at all well compared with how I remember my previous experience, where I recall seing the large statue disintegrate into falling rocks. This time it seemd to be a large dust cloud. In defence of Ms Bussell, I think you need to put it in context of the target audience. I would imagine the majority of cinema live patrons are relatively new to ballet and so need a different approach and information in comparison to contributors to this forum. At least at the end she didn't stand up and scream "It's a 10!"
  11. I see that Marianela's insight inDecember has been moved to the Linbury. Those of us who managed to get tickes have been told that we will be allocated new seats. Since the Linbury has more than twice the capacity of the Clore, I would imagine that once the ticket re-allocation has been completed, another batch of seats will become available. I wonder whether the same will happen with Steven McRae's even in February? Good that a wider audience can enjoy but i rather suspect that the intimacy will be lost. I got my two tickets for both events when a few more were released for general booking. Both, like most Insights, were sold out well before booking level reached "Friends" level. I hadn't realised that tickets were held back for the general booking date.
  12. Frankie is a very talented lady - I bet she can sing! Steve McRae needs to be wary about visits to the vets!
  13. Two Pigeons seems to have been rather over-done in recent years! I suppose once you have trained the pigeons you need to make the most of their "talents" before their natural demise. I was amused to see in one performance that Wood Pigeon was on the menu in the Level 5 restaurant. A veiled threat perhaps?
  14. It not the sort of ballet where the "stars" make a BIG entrance, which typically would be from the back of the stage with accompanying "I'm here" gestures and onto a split stage! My near neighbours on Saturday were not frequent ballet goers and probably didn't recognise the characters, let alone the dancers. When we went to the opening night of the new Swan Lake, the gentleman on one side didn't know it was First Night and the lady on the other was not aware it was a new production. I didn't like to point out that the Black and White swans were indeed the same dancer!
  15. On Saturday evening we were leaving the Ampitheatre at just after 9.50 and after using facilities and getting coats we were at Charing Cross by 10.15 If you need to leave during the curtain calls then try to get a seat at the end of a row although with the increasing (and annoying) habit of everyone at the front of the ampitheatre standing up to applaud, it probably doesn't matter anyway!
  16. I have had a number of conversations with ushers recently and have found them very personable, knowledgeable and helpful. One lady I had spoken to a week of so ago was on door 5d on Saturday and took the trouble to say "Hello, how are you?" because she recognised my wife and I. There are some new ones but I have only good experiences in dealing with them. Presumably the extra "open" hours will have necessitated increasing staff numbers quite dramatically for both ushers and bar staff, so the ushers will need time to find their way around.
  17. The broken doors were a godsend! When they were working it was near impossible to get through without them stopping mid-revolution due to over sensitive sensors. A staff member had to stand by telling people trying to get in to "keep walking" to clear the sensor behind them and get the doors started again. So not only did you go into the gents, but you exited by the "in" door! Did you not see the OUT on the other door, it was big enough. haha! You have to agree that the ROH is giving access to more areas as part of the Open Up programme.
  18. Didn't notice that last night. In fact I was surprised that the level 5 and g/f bars were still serving.
  19. Nit-picking perhaps, but at the intervals between last night's Bayadere performance, the male loo on level 5 was in a state, as was the ladies apparently (my wife tells me). Previously (probably on 100+ visits) the loos have been manicured between intervals, but this definitely hadn't happened. Is this because they are now in more continuous use? Also those terrible door signs! I usually wait in the corridor while my wife uses the facilities. People are getting terribly confused because the over-large printed-paper signs take all their attention and they fail to see the small "male" and "female" icons and seem transfixed. Why not replace them temporarily with the m/f icons on them too? Always amazed at the agility a lady has in escaping from the gents loo having picked the wrong IN
  20. Perhaps it is reset to "Max" before the new dancer tries it on! Actually, I would imagine that today's dancers are slimmer than their predecessors. I am sure they must be fitter.
  21. Last night's performance (Saturday 3rd): We thought McRae's solo was amazing. Haven't seen jumps like that for a while (reminded me of Carlos' early days) but then we didn't see Vadim earlier in the week. Enjoyed Takada - beautifully danced - but take on board the comments about "lack of connection". I was watching Yasmine as closely as I could in the final act (ref my later comment) and thought her facial expression was a little static although her dancing throughout was enjoyable. The Corp was truly remarkable - such precision. I feel both Babara and I enjoyed it, but not one we were still talking about by the time the train got to Chislehurst. We shall go to the Cinema Live to the see how the incomparable Marianella/Vadim compare! The scrim screen was a problem from the Ampitheatre. It took the edge of the clarity and my wife, who hadn't realised it was there, thought her glasses needed cleaning. In other ballets we have seen a similar screen in place as the curtains open and for it to be raised a minute or two later. I was always taken by the effect it had on reducing clarity. Sadly we sat with that effect through a large proportion of the ballet.
  22. Just hope she can't skate in case Starlight Express is at a planning stage somewhere!
  23. We went. They made the point that the classes were now about "Ashton Revisited" rather than Rediscovered. No filming this time (previous sessions were recorded for posterity) and it differed very little from a regular one on one rehearsal. They had been coy about which dancers were attending and in fact is was Luca Acri and Marcelino Sambe. Carlos gave an entertaining "show" (particularly with Sambe) but all in all in didn't really mine the depths of Ashton's intentions when the works were originally choreographed. The event was pretty well full and cynically could be regarded as fund-raising rather than augmenting the archives of knowledge. However, the Foundation is important is promoting his works and that needs financing so it is understandable that events like this are organised from time to time.
  24. I wonder what there was about the fame and fortune promised by a major film role that attracted Frankie?
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