DanJL

I'm very sorry you've experienced those things MAB. Whilst there are sadly always some intolerant individuals, I really think the prevailing culture (in terms of theatre, television etc) is strongly against the forms of prejudice you've listed and generally in favour of celebrating diversity. Certainly agree there could be a more thoughtful way of society engaging with different sets of values however. 

I don't think there's a problem with portraying people with offensive attitudes in drama. The issue is when the production actively reinforces those prejudices. In reality, there are things that are clearly unacceptable and others that are more subjective. The latter is where it gets really difficult when deciding whether to programme something made in a previous era. But perhaps the compromise of showing it with a suitable warning is a good solution. 

I was born in 1975. I grew up in a time when homophobia, racism, sexism and more were commonplace and often went unchallenged. Presumably this was similar for preceding decades as well. Inevitably some of this fed through to characters in theatre and television, and due to the prevailing culture perhaps little was thought of it by the majority of viewers. I think it's easy to forget how far we've progressed into becoming a more tolerant society. An inevitable impact of which is that language and attitudes in productions from a few decades ago can indeed seem badly out of step with what we would expect and view as being acceptable today. 

For me, the great thing about Nutcracker is that, based on the same or similar scenario, different companies manage to bring that magical feeling in different ways. The BRB version has always been a favourite and tonight I was reminded of its many unique and wonderful touches - from scenery / production and costumes, to elements of the choreography and storytelling.

It's been a few years since I managed to fit in a visit. Last time I was very impressed by Beatrice Parma as Clara, and tonight it was fantastic to see her dancing Sugar Plum Fairy so beautifully. Rosanna Ely was a lovely and confident Clara (according to the programme, her first season in the role) and I particularly enjoyed Lachlan Monaghan's Drosselmeyer, leading us all through the adventure. Yaoqian Shang was another stand out as Rose Fairy. But overall the whole cast was on great form. 

Wonderful casts and I'm particularly excited for this evening, it being the one show of Don Quixote I'm able to attend this season (but also looking forward to the cinema showing!). I was especially hoping to get chance to see Isabella Gasparini's Mercedes, but so many other of my favourites dancing in other roles too 😊 

Fair enough that this isn't the topic of this forum and apologies. I would point out that I was simply making a statement on a point of often misunderstood fact rather than seeking to express any opinion on the debate itself. Certainly share the sentiment of your last sentence bridiem. 

5 hours ago, Robin Smith said:

Dan,

 

The prediction is that inflation will be around 5% by the end of the year (let's call that using the same basket of goods on December 1st 2022 as we use on December 1st 2023). At that point you will only need a pay rise of 5% or more to improve your financial position (other things being equal). The rail unions have already been offered more than this so by then the members will be itching to accept the offer. That's my point.

But the point (regarding the pay element) is that these pay rise negotiations cover a period when inflation has been much higher. If inflation is indeed 5% by the end of the year, this means that prices will be another 5% higher, not that the overall increase over the period in consideration is only 5%. Out of interest, while the basket of goods is still a key basis of inflation statistics, this approach is increasingly being supplemented by richer sources of data. 

22 hours ago, Robin Smith said:

 

The rate of inflation is the % by which a basket of goods has gone up in price over a year (or in this particular case is predicted to have gone up by the end of this year). Various bodies will produce figures based on their definition of this "basket". In this case the prediction is by the Bank of England. The current rate (the latest actual rate the BoE issued yesterday) is 7.9%.  

This doesn't change the fact that inflation has been higher over the past year and a reduction in inflation only means that prices continue to climb from that much higher base at a slightly slower rate. To keep up with all of that, wage increases would need to be far higher than current offers. Only negative inflation would reduce that disparity. 

I ended up decided to book nothing at all when the Friends booking opened! Partly due to increased costs - not just the tickets, also trains and particularly accommodation for later finishing shows. The upshot being that I've decided I can only see each production at most one time, which means I want to choose the dates with favourite dancers. And for this season there wasn't any production where I felt I had enough information to do that yet. I almost did for Don Quixote, but it's a close choice between principals so hoping to discover more about supporting casts (possibly once their shows have started) and aim to get late returns. All of which leads me to wonder if it will be worth renewing my Friends membership when it comes up in December. 

I noticed in an early comment that Melissa Hamilton is suggested to be in this new piece. For me at least, the prospect of Hamilton in a new McGregor (or any McGregor!) is very enticing! Looking forward to seeing this one 🙂

A few people have tried to make this point already, but it seems to me that the work does have a very specific title, based on the name of many of Herrera's works. It's not the ballet which is untitled, but the works it is based on. In the same way someone may decide to make a ballet inspired by Van Gogh and call it Sunflowers or similar. Seems as good a title as any. 

I'm very happy overall - lots of things I haven't seen before (much more than I expected!) and the return of many favourites - some of which I've only seen one cast in before. Of the latter I'm particularly glad about Don Quixote, Winters Tale and Dante Project. And it's always nice to see different casts in Manon, Nutcracker and Swan Lake too 😊 

Have to say I was expecting a bit more excitement with so much Ashton and many of the above predictions and wishes coming true! I'm very happy at least 😊 

32 minutes ago, alison said:

 

But didn't we discuss this in relation to BRB's Don Quixote, where it was indicated that the schedule was so tight - and there were so many performances - that dancers were somewhat relieved to be able to share the load?

I think one of the issues with the BRB Don Quixote was that guest casting was announced after tickets went on sale - problematic for fans of the BRB dancers who might have bought early tickets. Personally I enjoy the possibility of seeing a guest dancer but it is important to announce it well in advance and give audiences the choice. 

For Manon, Lamb has a great history dancing with Muntagirov - would love to see more of that partnership. 

2 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

I'm still waiting for Lauren Cuthbertson's Swan Lake, Ashton Triple Bill and the most recent Nutcracker. If those are added to the stream I will be so happy.  

These would all be wonderful. Probably unlikely but I'd personally love to see the previous (2021) Nutcracker again - with the alternative battle scene and a fantastic cast (Naghdi, Corrales, Gasparini, Acri). Felt too good to never be seen again! 

In terms of performances not available on DVD I think we now have four: 2011 Sleeping Beauty, 2018 Winters Tale, 2021 Giselle and 2022 Romeo and Juliet. It seems to me that they're gradually moving in the right direction - adding older ballets, some of which never made it to DVD, along with newer broadcasts (although there seems to be about 12 months lag between original performance and adding them to ROH Stream). 

It would be nice if this was a quicker process, but I'm hopeful that this pattern will continue - including the much awaited Ashton Triple! 

1 hour ago, AnticaFiamma said:

They added 2011 and 2017 Sleeping Beauty. Yawn.

To be fair the 2011 has not been available previously, so for me at least this is great news 😊

They were due to bring a gala programme to Cardiff but unfortunately cancelled with the following explanation:

Due to travel issues with some of the international dancers and the touring schedule for the tour, the promoters have had to cancel the Gala programme.

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

I don’t really understand why Professional dancers would want to share some video taken on a phone by an audience member of their performance🤔

They have so many opportunities to have proper photographs and other studio filming which must surely be far more useful. 

The audience ones can’t be of the best quality so not sure what the attraction is other than… dare I say it…vanity! 

Presumably for most dancers the pinnacle of what they work towards is their performances on stage, so it seems understandable to me that they would value a visual reminder of that, no matter how amateur. Obviously professionally filmed would be better, but they only come around occasionally (streamed or cinema relayed performances, which obviously don't catch every cast). 

I enjoy seeing them shared myself too - the chance to see a clip of a favourite dancer in a performance I might not have been able to catch. 

None of this is any excuse for audience members filming of course. Just to point out the motivation for sharing afterwards. A shame it doesn't seem possible to share such clips from less intrusive / official filming instead (eg the camera used to allow latecomers to watch). 

This prompted me to check the rest of their 2023 dates and very sad to discover they don't seem to be making their usual (spring) visit to Cardiff this year. 

Personally I'd feel much more comfortable living in a country where no-one feels prepared to go to war. So sad that the world hasn't entirely moved on from this cruel folly and that for some this is a necessary part of life. 

This seems to be the difference between the 60th year (ie the one that starts the day after the 59th anniversary and continues until the 60th anniversary) and the year when the company is 60 (which goes from the 60th anniversary up to the day before the 61st anniversary). Comparing to birthdays, it would be natural to celebrate a 60th birthday once someone has turned 60 rather than in there 60th year (whilst they are 59).

So if TAB turned 60 just over two months ago, it does make sense to celebrate the anniversary this year. Assuming they've had a season every year, this would indeed be the 61st season. But also the season of the 60th anniversary. 

Again nothing that hasn't already been mentioned but my main wish for next season would be Jewels. Perhaps after the success of Diamonds they could be tempted to programme the full ballet. I've never seen it live before (and even missed the show of Diamond celebration I'd booked for) so would love to see Royal Ballet perform it. 

After that, Sylvia is another one I haven't seen but would really like to. And definitely like the idea of another winter triple bill - ideally featuring Les Patineurs and Winter Dreams again! 

I think there's probably a difference between trigger warnings for content that some may find upsetting, and content that makes fun of, stereotypes or is insensitive to a particular group of people. Especially when that group may be viewed as being disadvantaged in some way. There are unfortunately many clear examples of the latter (across different art forms and media), which most people would agree it would be inappropriate to show in our thankfully more understanding times.

However, there are also plenty of examples where such an interpretation is much more borderline and therefore divides opinions. I imagine Fille and La Bayadere might be seen as examples of borderline cases and if so perhaps some directors of ballet companies decide to take a cautious approach to avoid the possibility of making an insensitive programming decision.

If that's what's happened with these two ballets, hopefully there's a solution of some kind that can preserve the choreography and spirit of the ballets. 

59 minutes ago, Jeannette said:

Pite’s mass groupings, moving together as machines. Dark, bland, muddy. Ugly as h***.   I turn to Imperial joy…Petipa forever!
 

 

Thanks for clarifying Jeannette. I don't see anything socialist in that personally and at its best I can feel the same joy with Pite as I do with Petipa, but appreciate you explaining 🙂