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MJW

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    Audience Behaviour - Thread 2

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    43 minutes ago, capybara said:

    Rather distressing last night to see so many members of the audience from the Stalls leaving during the curtain calls.

    The performance did not finish late

     and it looked and felt so discourteous.

     

    I’ve always found that quite rude - I can understand when the performance is running late but not otherwise. I always hope it’s not too obvious to the dancers 

     

    • Like 5

    Audience Behaviour - Thread 2

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    I found this letter published in today's Telegraph very amusing (hope its ok to publish in full - otherwise please delete) - 

     

    SIR – I recently sat through the first half of a wonderful ballet with the very annoying distraction of the watch of the young lady next to me flashing a bright light every so often. At half time I remonstrated with her; she told me it was her smart watch reminding her that she hadn’t done any exercise for a few minutes. I asked her to turn it off and to remember never to do it again in a theatre. This she did with apologies and good grace.

    I really thought I had brought up my daughter to know better.

    • Like 18

    Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    37 minutes ago, Mary said:

    Ah just checked Kavanagh's biography of Ashton and see that he did originally think of casting women  - but when he and Helpmann took the roles: 'both invented characters so real to the audience that the joke of the pantomime dame did not apply.'

    -as others have said above.

     

    That is no doubt the sort of onstage chemistry/magic that cannot be replicated.

     


    I’m a child of the 80’s and I still enjoy it (but then I liked the Two Ronnies and Les Dawson in drag). Less keen on modern drag acts!

    • Like 1

    King Charles visits Germany

    in Not Dance

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Sabine0308 said:

    Hats off to King Charles who speaks in front of German Parliament right now, switching between German and English (in large parts in German!) Mentioning past, present and future.

    Also, I like his references to Humor.

    Welcome, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/live/084fo4xDKYM?feature=share

     

     

    It was very moving I thought to see the King speaking both German and English today (and indeed last night at the banquet). I am sure that those there (and indeed the wider German public) would be very gratified to see him take the trouble to do so.

    • Like 4

    Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    Just now, Sim said:

    What a shame.  :(  I do so admire the dedication of people like you and all the others who struggle with the vagaries of the trains to come from outside of London.  Much as I love and adore ballet, I think I would give up the ghost!

     

    I think I paid for the trip home from Woolf Works on the Tuesday evening where everything went smoothly; managed to catch a train home with two minutes to spare and was home within 80 minutes as opposed to 2.5hrs plus on Friday!

    • Like 1

    Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

     

    I see that the running time has been amended compared to the dress rehearsal & first night cast sheets so it's now 2h55 in total. I'll be doing some rather rapid post-show dashes for trains next month then. And are the new sets so complex that two 30 minute intervals are needed to change them? Seeing a 30 minute interval followed by an only 25 minute Act III makes my heart sink a bit. It's a lot of hanging around when you're attending alone - especially as I'll be doing so 6 times over!

     

    The lengthy intervals do annoy me - I appreciate time is required for set changes etc etc plus of course for the audience to do whatever but two half an hour intervals is a bit too much; perhaps 20 and 25 mins - its not that much shorter but can make all the difference for those travelling further home in the evening. Either that or start earlier!

     

    The General overran by ten minutes so finished about 22:25. I knew I wouldn't be able to get to Waterloo for the 22:30 even if it had finished on time. Unfortunately SWR cancelled the fast 23:00 and I had to get the slow stopping train. I'm afraid that rather ruined the evening! 

    • Like 5

    Royal Ballet Cinderella March/April 2023

    in Performances seen & general discussions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Sim said:

    I agree with all the plaudits above.  I still don't love the music, but can understand why others do, especially when it is played so beautifully.  Whereas the choreography is lovely (and I think Ashton got better and better as time went by), my one niggle about the ballet (not the production; the ballet) is that the narrative isn't clear enough.  Everything seems to happen in a rush.  It isn't clear how abused Cinderella really is.  It isn't clear that the sisters are excited to go to a ball at the palace where the prince is going to choose a bride (it would be great to see the invitation arrive and the reactions). They just sort of disappear off the stage.  There is almost no interaction between them and the prince; in their delusion each of them was convinced that the prince would choose her, but there is virtually no attempt to try and win him over (if any).  I am not sure why there is no stepmother in this version.  It is almost more disturbing that the father stays alive and allows his daughter to be treated in the way that she is.  Speaking of the father, his wig and glasses reminded me somewhat of the White Rabbit in Wheeldon's Alice.  

     

    Aside from my own little niggles above, I love this production and look forward to the other casts I will be lucky enough to see.  


    Interesting that you should mention Alice - a lot of the hairstyles and costumes made me think of Alice. I presume the two productions don’t share the same designers?

    • Like 1

    Ashton's Cinderella - new Royal Ballet production

    in Ballet / Dance news & information

    Posted

    18 minutes ago, bridiem said:

    I notice that for tomorrow evening's performance it says '100 +' tickets left, but when you go into the seat plan there are actually not many tickets left (not sure how many, but way less than 100). So the info is misleading. Maybe that applies to other dates too? Does that info have to be changed manually? (Surely not.)


    I noticed that the other day - it gives a (potentially) false  impression of poor sales on those days.

    • Like 1
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