Candleque

For the many who have wondered what the Royal Ballet marketing / PR team does or doesn't do, here is an interesting job spec currently on their website. Looks like they want to centralise and participate in what many dancers currently manage for themselves (i.e., paid work with brands). The RB might be late to the concept of influencer marketing, but imo this is a smart move. Salary of course quite low for the skills and experience they want. Job opportunity: Artist Brand Liaison Manager, The Royal Ballet >> "...Because of the increasing popularity of dance in general...it is expected that commercial opportunities involving the Artists will increase in scale and regularity...As a result of this, we have an exciting, newly created opportunity for an Artist Brand Liaison Manager to join the organisation...main purpose of the role is to manage brand liaison for The Royal Ballet, developing and managing commercial sponsorship models which will bring mutual benefit to both the ROH/Royal Ballet and the individual Artist."

Totally agree. (Admittedly I'd personally be horrified if he was.) Suspect many RB dancers would feel the same (/speculation). I also think mega talents like Tiler Peck could do whatever they set their mind to. Obvious fits like Elite Syncopations or anything really.

Excuse the off-topic side note, but the discussion above about the RB marketing staff missing obvious PR opportunities made me think about the amazing job the NYCB team is doing promoting Tiler Peck and her new ballet Concerto For Two Pianos. Big profiles in mainstream publications like NYTimes and Vogue and lots of love on their own channels, including their excellent podcast. It's nice to see.

Agree. Emma Hawes was my fourth Giselle this run. She so completely captured the innocence and venerability of Act I for me. Amazing to think it was her debut 👏. And wow Vsevolod Maievskyi. Every inch a prince. (The only flaw I saw in Giselle was that she couldn't see how posh he was right from the start 😁.) James Streeter gave us a Hilarion we could empathise with. Precious Adams was stunning. So happy to see this cast 🤩. The corps was imo giving their all (and on a double show day.) My one difference with Sim's review is that the quite young primary school children flooding my area were all having a cheeky picnic lunch during Act I. It wasn't their fault — their ziplock bags of sandwiches and snacks indicated that the school told the parents to provide nourishment. But forgot to teach the kids to wait for the interval to dig in. In fact, it didn't seem like they had been briefed at all. There was a loud outcry of dismay behind me at the end of the first Act because they were sad it was over. When I told them there was another Act to come, there was a happy cheer of surprise. Although they were somewhat noisy neighbours, I forgave all in sympathy with how much the kids loved the show. Me too! Their whispered gasp when when Myrtha appeared mirrored my own. Bravo to all the dancers.

Act I looked dreamy imo. Am reminded how much I enjoy seeing Alex Campbell on stage. (I know he did Nutcracker, but I like when there is more of a character to shine through the dancing)

Thanks for all the reviews above. I love Giselle and was delighted to get to see opening night. Have been a fan girl of Aitor Arrieta since Emerging Dancer 2017. I didn't miss the entrechat six so much, but was truly bummed they didn't do the iconic horizontal lift in Act II. The aptly named angel lift. It's my fave moment in ballet period. I guess it isn't in this version? (I was holding my breathe for it and it didn't happen lol.) Don't have a good memory of Berthe's mime in other versions. If I didn't already know the story, I would not really understand what she is on about. To me, the audience chuckles when a Wili goes flying by, et al, are more an automatic appreciation of the stagecraft than finding the show funny. They don't bother me. And I felt lots of love and appreciation in the audience for the dancers. Want to give a shout out to debutantes Ivana Bueno and Daniel McCormick for a fab Peasant pas de deux. Wish I could see his Albrecht. I am truly grateful to be booked for two more casts. Thanks to reasonable prices to begin with, and ENB allowing great offers on the public discount sites, I get to see Giselle three times in top tier seats, for less £££ than one stalls seat in the ROH. Bravo ENB.

This. Am also a mega Mark Morris fan. All the musicality missing from McGregor (imo) and more. And I'd love to see the RB reach out to Arielle Smith. Would be great to see what she'd do on the big ROH stage.

Bravo to this. An action I will emulate. Like many people at the top, I suspect Mr. O'Hare is somewhat insulated from grassroots criticism. His staff is more likely to show him those press clippings from Toronto imo, than a report quoting the frustrated balletomanes here.

Hope not. I have tickets and it is James Hay 😍 Thrilled for Ryoichi Hirano.

This.

Agree. I didn't attend last night but imo these amazingly talented dancers always deserve cheering. Personally I feel the often repeated words from the ROH management about expanding their audience usually don't match their actions or marketing. It is weird to think that some hardcore ballet fans also don't really want a more diverse audience, unless the newbies somehow know these unwritten rules about how to behave.

Thanks to @capybara + @oncnp for the casting info 🙏. Stray question: Opening night I know is designated as the 'first cast' and is a mark of hierarchy/respect for those principals. After that, does it make any difference really (as far as prestige) in the RB as to who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th cast, etc. Or is it just a scheduling thing to allow guesting opportunities or whatever?

Ok I know they don't usually dance together, but how great would this be to let them have an uber romantic show as onstage partners 🤍 🦢 🤍

This. (Bold emphasis mine). There is an oft-quoted principle in business which says: in general, 20% of your customers represent 80% of your sales. Smart marketers analyse that top 20% to replicate their characteristics and grow their audience overall. Seeing multiple casts because you know and love specific dancers is a balletomane thing. It is repeat buyers that used to sell out the ROH. The general public doesn't know (or care) that a ballet like Don Q can have 6-7 different must-see casts. Hit your core audience with sky high prices and unattractive programming (cough-McGregor-cough) and it is no wonder many above have mentioned getting their ballet fix more affordably elsewhere. The Royal Ballet need to convince casual fans to buy more than one ticket to replace this drop-off. Mainstream fame for the dancers is key to building demand to see them. (And so obvious even the ROH marketing peeps must know it.)

Is anyone a member of Central Tickets? I just stumbled upon their seat filler service. Don't know if they ever have ballet. An article in the Guardian (2018) says there are several agencies like this, but doesn't name the others.

Side question: Has Matty ever danced Espada? Or Yasmine Mercedes? Also — I know this has been covered — but it is sooo crazy how little we get to see Yasmine on stage at the ROH this season.

En fuego 🔥👏🔥

I also received the offer email today. First time ever IIRC. I did see the Cellist last time, but haven't booked for this year. Interestingly, I actually received two emails. They are testing subject lines and copy. Which is best practice, but typically you don't send them to the same person one after another 😆 1st email Stalls tickets from £50... > Experience extraordinary ballet from some of the best seats in the house with our exclusive offer: get 25% off selected tickets. Simply use the discount code DUPRE25* to redeem! 2nd email 25% off tickets... > we're also offering you a 25% discount on the first three performances of this mixed programme with our discount code GODS25*.

Felt like a Christmas miracle — I was able to get a SCS ticket for opening night. Guess the ROH must hold a few back for general booking? I wouldn't have booked for more than one Manon otherwise. Saved my pennies (pounds) for a good seat to see Yasmine Naghdi and William Bracewell. Splurged on another SCS for Sarah Lamb, who I love but rarely get to see. Bonus is James Hay as her brother 😍

So sad and distressing to read about Peanut68's experience and all the others on this thread. I am reminded of a (public) podcast interview with former RB first soloist Tierney Heap where she talks openly about body image, including being told as a RBS US student that she should get a breast reduction. The Royal Ballet School owes it to students past and present to address these issues imo. Instead they just appear to be ramping up social posts that show happy kids on a school outing or exploring London.

Just want to say thanks for all who post here, especially for sharing specifics like whether they spot good SCS places available on the Friend+ or Friend booking days. The ROH actually sent me a 'renew your membership' email with a countdown to booking dates (only remarkable as it is smart marketing) and I struggled to decide if it is worth it. Early booking is most valuable imo if you can get a great view at an affordable price. (Going by Don Q, there are plenty of the high priced seats available on the public booking day 😁)

If you google "Royal Ballet School" and go to the News results, you'll see a few of these positive PR placed stories creeping in underneath the mainstream newspapers (Daily Mail having a ball btw). On random sites like Warrington Worldwide (no offence to the actual town) which states in its fine print: "Please note this website contains advertising and sponsored content..."

Agree. I read that piece and and immediately felt it's 100% press release. Having worked for a global PR agency, I recognise this common tactic in a reputation crisis — the organisation under fire scrambles to get positive stuff placed on friendly sites like this to mitigate all the negative headlines. Especially as search results last a long time. Many are wondering what the schools in question are doing in response. Sadly I suspect this is it.

Super interesting thread. Thanks capybara 🙏 My opinions of dancers' performances is not influenced by their social so much as my interest in them as people/celebrities. Which makes me want to see them dance. Which makes me buy more tickets. For example, I love Balanchine and adore his masterpiece Jewels. But only saw it once. My head (budget) won over my heart, because I didn't know any of the Australian dancers. Instagram is a great tool to spot the younger dancers, which makes it easier for me to recognise them on stage. Caspar Lench is already my fave new RB joiner and I have never seen him dance IRL. His Instagram posts just seems full of joy and charisma. I think a lot of us root for corps members and soloists to get opportunities because we follow their lives on social. Even the principal dancers are relatively young. They grew up knowing how to use social to control their own narrative. Which is fantastic in my eyes. For example, soon after it launched in 2004, Facebook introduced the Relationship Status feature. Now, Instagram is the platform of choice when dancers want to publicly share a relationship milestone, as well as a career highlight. They do it purposefully. Considering how much their dance career is controlled by others, I love seeing dancers take agency for their own lives. There are common conventions for content on Instagram that may seem off-putting to us. Wikipedia tells us that thirst traps (those sexy photos) can contribute to personal branding. The line between tasteful and icky is different for everyone, but the poster is controlling their own content and increasing their reach on purpose. Brand sponsorships and modelling opportunities definitely look at follower counts and type of content posted. I suspect gala producers do as well. Humble brags (publicly thanking partners, announcing guest performances, et al) are seen as good manners. I agree with FionaE that a star like Natalia Osipova could really help boost ticket sales if she chose to. Dancers that post a lot about their photo shoots or brand gifts are signalling to that world — saying both thank you and this is something I'm open to as a side gig. Anything dancers can do to boost their income is a positive imo. Even world class stars get paid so little in comparison to their peers in sports and entertainment. Part of that income disparity is a dancer's fame is quite niche. I believe the more famous dancers get as individuals, the better for the art form. How many people went to their first ballet because they saw Darcey Bussell in mainstream media? What would it mean for ballet if TV stations were fighting for the broadcast rights as they do for football? While many here may disagree with our celebrity chasing culture, we probably agree that these amazingly talented artists deserve kardasian-level attention and rewards.

💯 Same. Thank you @Irmgard