JNC

Young ROH used to be £10 tickets in the amphi for select evenings designed as “Young ROH performances” back in my day. Granted this was never Swan Lake but rather a triple bill and usually only twice a year. In addition if certain productions didn’t sell out you would receive an email 24 or so hours before a performance with an offer to purchase tickets for £10 (I can’t remember exactly but sense this was also limited to amphi but did mean I saw La Boheme and something else I wouldn’t have seen otherwise for a fair price). I don’t know if the scheme is the same now but all £30 rather than £10 and it does appear to include more “popular” shows like Swan Lake now when it didn’t ever for me. I think it’s a great initiative, yes there will be some certainly who can afford to pay full price but you can’t realistically means test these things so just hope it’s promoted well to those who are deserving so they’re at least aware of it and then hope for the best! I do agree £30 feels a lot, obviously relatively to SL front amphi seats now it’s a bargain but that’s what I used to budget for my performances roughly anyway and I was on a (not much above) average wage at the time so for those struggling £30 won’t do it, but then again you can’t cater to everyone unless you make it totally free (and even then there would be barriers on transportation costs etc for some). In a similar time to when I was young ROH theatres often did under 25 or 30s tickets for around £10 so back then ROH was comparable. Not sure what theatres charge now but yes Sadlers Wells dance pass is up to 30 and £10 - but tickets are not available for all SW shows and are much more limited in number (I’d guess approx 30 per performance?) whereas if ROH have a whole amphitheatre even if it’s not for every performance arguably they have broader coverage.

I think I (and perhaps others here) was of the same mind. I suppose the auditorium is pretty big to fill but if they had maybe done a combination of Sarasota dancers plus RB dancers and given it the “gala” badging for one night only I’m sure enough people would have been tempted to go? My rationale is that anyone interested in attending one of the ten main stage Ashton performances would surely have equal appetite for this? Unless we think a fair proportion are only interested in RB (but this could be modified by having it being a collaborative gala as suggested). I do like the Linbury as it’s so intimate and you can really get close to the dancers the way you can’t on the main stage. (I’ve never really sat in the stalls but I presume with the orchestra pit even if you were front row the linbury is closer?) But the issue with the Linbury for me is: 1) due to size general seats available 2) bad design (honestly it’s shocking a newly designed theatre suffers from this there really is no excuse) meaning many seats are restricted view - further exacerbating seat numbers for those not willing to compromise 3) the performances shown there are a bit more for hardcore ballet fans or those “in the know”. This means that you often have many people there with allocated tickets - eg RB/ROH management, RB dancers, connected people etc. (I actually like this because every time I’ve been I tend to spot a “ballet VIP” but again exacerbates the ticket numbers issue) 4) due to the more experimental/niche shows stated there they often have very short runs of less than a week, again meaning very limited tickets! Ultimately all the above means as a non-friend I always wonder whether I’ll actually get tickets for something in the Linbury and as someone who doesn’t live in London anymore and has limited funds for travel often I don’t take the risk and prioritise other main stage works and casts. If I lived in London still I would have been interested to see The Limit - that one with Campbell and Hayward?) - but I assumed I wouldn’t get tickets and I couldn’t align it with any Don Quixote casts really. (With Sarasota the dates nicely overlapped with Ashton on the main stage for me meaning a combined visit!) I think some shows are very much right to be in the Linbury. For example whilst I didn’t see it, The Limit was right for the Linbury, same with BRB2. And I still remember the very good Merce Cunningham Centennial - I feel doubly lucky to see this as Monotones that was due for the main state was cancelled due to the pandemic and appears to have been forgotten now. The Linbury to me is almost an experimental or testing ground for work and an opportunity for younger/lesser known dancer companies or for emerging choreographers. I don’t know what the appetite would be with regard to shifting tickets (eg if they did a longer run of BRB2, or Lemons etc would it have sold well? I think the longest run I recall there was the Wayne McGregor Odyssey and I can’t recall how well that sold). I think the Sarasota was correctly pitched for the Linbury but I am still optimistic that they could have done one main stage performance “gala” that would have sold well (see Gala for Ukraine or Ballet Icons Gala - “galas” seem to attract non regulars as well?) I’d also like to see slightly longer runs in the Linbury of say maybe two weeks over two weekends rather than one (I think The Limit did have 2 weeks in the end or thereabouts) to give people more opportunity to see it - particularly non Londoners. But ultimately I appreciate there is a supply/demand point ROH has to balance.

Sorry to hear others had a bit more of a stressful time! I was very much focussed on Ashton for this booking season so I didn’t bother at all with WT or SL. I will say whilst my post portrayed everything running perfectly I actually had two devices (laptop and phone) lined up. the first one i tried (laptop) I was able to select a ticket for Sarasota but when I went to checkout my basket had automatically emptied which was very concerning and I envisioned tickets being double booked/snapped up. Luckily it all then went smoothly on the second device so I’m not complaining overall but there still sometimes seems to be a gap between the seat map adding to basket and checking out not corresponding!

Kudos to ROH, I know I moan about them a lot re ticket pricing but I'm pleased they did take on board feedback, and or had the sensibility to do this for Linbury works. I did actually email them a few months ago asking if they would hold back tickets for this for general booking but they gave me a very vague opaque answer which didn't inspire much hope, but glad that for whatever reason they did do it! I hope others who were keen to see the Sarasota have managed to secure tickets also.

Just to say my general booking this morning was very smooth and I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find availability for all Sarasota ashton dates in the Linbury. (No I didn't book all of the dates though it was very tempting!) The date that had the least availability was the Saturday evening gala with only a handful of £110 tickets left (I couldn't really justify that) and not many more restricted view tickets but given my interest in seeing it I compromised on a restricted view ticket which I usually never do! For the other dates there was 'good' availability (given the proportion of the Linbury) for non-restricted seats as well at more reasonable pricing than the Saturday evening performance (I suppose because it's badged as a 'gala' maybe they have raised the prices?). I had a quick question - does anyone know if the 'diverts' mentioned as part of the Sarasota/Linbury programme - will they be the same as the 'short works' that are comprising one of the main stage Ashton bills? Anyway I'm very happy to say in this instance I was very much proved wrong on Linbury ticket availability, so thank you and well done to ROH for holding back some tickets for general booking (assuming that is what they did?). And very happy to have much Ashton in the foreseeable future (doubly happy as the tickets are so much cheaper than everything else this year so I'm spending about £20 less to sit much further forward in the amphi). This will certainly be my ballet highlight for the year! Edited to say - not only was the booking itself smooth but my anxious wait for email confirmation and to see the tickets in my account was approximately 10-15 minutes, which feels much quicker than previous years. If anyone is interested, I decided to line up various tabs to book (prioritising Sarasota). Annoyingly once you add a ticket to a basket you do get taken to another screen, but then if you click 'add more tickets' you can then through that select other dates for the same set of performances. I don't think this is a new function but previously it hasn't worked quite so smoothly for me. In any case to avoid potential issues I checked out my Sarasota purchases before then heading back to add some of the main stage performances - but thankfully it didn't get me to queue from the beginning again. What was interesting was when I tried to sign into my account 10-15 minutes before 9am I was put in a queue! For me it was only about 1-3 minutes but I wonder if the pre-sign in queue avoids a bit of a queue later?

If this was the RB season I’d be very happy. it’s an excellent mix of (less mainstream) classical works plus some contemporary and new works. In short something for everyone! My one quibble with be I’d be less keen on “double bills” of less than 2 hours long so I’d hope the ROH wouldn’t replicate that but if it was part of this wider mixed repertoire it would be a happy trade off all things considered.

@jmhopton I agree beautifully designed posters are missed! Unfortunately they were before my time (all the recent ones have been photos photoshopped style which don’t appeal as much as the proper art designed ones). I love seeing all the vintage posters in the corridor outside the amphitheatre - my favourites are Giselle (the blue background with a white drawing of Giselle jumping), Winter Dreams triple (I think? The one with Darcey, Viviana and one more under a veil), Giselle again as a black and white photo (it’s hard to go wrong with Giselle!), the beautiful cartoons of Elite Syncopations etc. As much as I like Nuñez I was disappointed with the Cinderella poster/art, if this had been a beautifully designed drawing or graphic I’d probably have bought one but the “behind the scenes”/fashion photoshoot with photoshopped flowers didn’t appeal to me. I appreciate these take a bit of money to produce but it’s art supporting art (giving work to artists) and I suppose they wouldn’t need to do a new Swan Lake poster every 2 years (although why not). I’m sure people would buy them in the shop if they were priced reasonably - when you go to an art exhibition you can often pick up a poster for anything between £5-10 and they seem relatively popular. Then you can have print on demand as well as you’re not printing what you don’t sell.

Glad I’ve sparked some conversation! I’ll clarify that yes I’m very happy that ROH is a “glamorous” place and I have no issue with people dressing smartly - I just want ROH to publicise people dressed “normally” every now and again so people don’t feel they *have* to dress up (by all means do so if you wish and I often admire those who have made the effort to do so!). I actually think this marketing would have been better for the lesser known works not Swan Lake - yes I accept Swan Lake as a “gateway” to other works. But why not show them seeing the MacMillan triple - with a comment about how ballet isn’t just tutus and that the MacMillan works are very interesting and moving (or something like that). That could then spark more interest in those to book now? Also I appreciate social media is just one arrow in the quiver of an overall strategy (so to speak). But there have been 3 such posts in the last 2 days. For MacMillan, they did one 3 days ago with a photo. Then one a week ago - a short behind the scenes clip but to be honest the colours are greys and blacks (not a criticism as it’s a rehearsal but it does look less engaging on a quick scroll then a photo from the production itself or those of the influencers in the beautiful ROH building with all the red). I guess I don’t have the data for what “works” but I think I’m just concerned that because the MacMillan hasn’t sold well they’ll continue to reduce the repertoire and focus on “blockbuster” ballets and claim it’s because they don’t sell well. But if you don’t put in the same effort (or admittedly more as these ballets are not household names like SL, Nutcracker etc) if just seems a losing battle! I think I’m also a bit wary that posts like this could encourage more use of cameras in the auditorium. Nothing wrong with that when the performance isn’t happening but it appears some people continue to struggle to understand where to draw the line. Appreciate I may be adding 2 and 2 to get 5 but I’m getting sick of the constant filming during performances and it doesn’t help when dancers themselves share those posts on their social media stories (that’s for another thread though!).

I don’t think a thread on this already exists although I know it’s been discussed in various threads, I didn’t want to put this in the Swan Lake thread so here goes - I’ve seen quite a few instagram posts recently by ROH and also someone else (a younger “influencer”) promoting visiting ROH as they received tickets to see Swan Lake (it’s unclear whether the tickets were gratis or not but the wording and “thanks” and obligatory social media posting jointly indicates they were). I’ve always been a big supporter or the Young ROH scheme that provides discounted tickets for younger people (no it’s not means tested because the admin for that wouldn’t make it worthwhile) to get them seeing something they might not have seen with the intention of building lifelong customers. I’m also not against ROH using social media to promote themselves in this day and age. But I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed at ROH (presumably) gifting free tickets to influencers to promote ballet, or at least Swan Lake. When tickets are so expensive for the general public and they haven’t done a good job promoting the current MacMillan bill, and when Swan Lake will a sell itself, it feels poorly thought through. If this was simply people who had paid for their tickets I’d be less annoyed perhaps. (I’d be interested to know how they selected these individuals as well.) And if tickets were gifted for the MacMillan bill I’d also be less annoyed (as heaven knows that could have done with more promoting particularly to a younger audience who are certainly less likely to be familiar with MacMillan as it’s been a while since these works were on stage). And I also find the “influencer” nature of these posts a bit annoying actually - all dressed up. This risks putting off “normal” people who don’t have “fancy” clothes and seems to risk a stereotype that ROH isn’t for them? Perhaps I’m wrong to be so annoyed but when I can barely afford tickets anymore the fact they’re giving them away to influencers to promote a well known ballet and promote an image of ROH as a “glamorous” place where you have to look a certain way has irked me. Nothing wrong with ROH being glamorous but it’s more the way they’re trying to market themselves as perhaps more “exclusive” and less for the ordinary people. This also buys into ROH being a special treat - it totally is and at current prices it has to be, but this is also (unintentionally or not) at odds with normal people attending regularly because they love ballet rather than a one-off visit for social media…? I guess it all boils down to what is ROH’s PR strategy when the MacMillan bill has been poorly promoted (both for in person and cinema streams) with still 100+ tickets available each date left and they’re giving our free tickets to a ballet that is mostly sold out (I’m actually surprised to see there are tickets available for remaining dates, this would never have happened prior to the increase in prices I feel). I suppose you could argue they’re promoting the second run that goes on sale next week but I’d rather instead of gifting tickets to a well known ballet they got a better strategy for people to be interested in lesser known works and also made ROH feel a place you could go to regularly not a one-off big social media event! Just interested to others’ thoughts as to whether I’m just bitter (!) or if their social media / PR strategy needs a rethink…!

Thanks @Linnzi5 yes I would have been more than happy for the staff member to flick through for me as I had no real desire to touch it directly it was just a means to an end to assess the content! I’m glad that I wasn’t completely weird for asking to see it, it certainly didn’t/won’t spoil performances for me at ROH, it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but for all they knew that was my very first visit to the ROH and if it was I certainly wouldn’t have felt very welcome at all (I know I mentioned I already had two programmes already to them so at that point they would have figured I’m not a “newbie” but that was only after I asked initially to view and was told no so felt I had to explain why I wanted to see, so at the initial point of interaction they had no way of knowing). It also felt embarrassing to say £8.50 isn’t “nothing” for me to spend and that’s also why I wanted to look to see if it was worth it as maybe they feel if I have the money to buy a ticket I can easily spend £8.50 on the programme? As an aside I do think the programmes are very high quality but yes I don’t want to buy them if there’s nothing new inside! I agree the Cinderella programme wasn’t great, I would have liked to have seen more behind the scenes sketches of the set designs and costumes and or archival photos of previous Cinderella productions to reflect changes over the years not random photoshopped flowers! Sorry to take the conversation off topic and thanks those who have replied kindly!

This was opening night of Swan Lake so I looked there initially when I arrived but they didn’t have them out, that’s when I went to the main front of house bit. I also find where they’re placed in the shop to not be particularly conducive to browsing as they’re right where you queue so you have to block the queue a bit… In future I’ll certainly be going to the shop to avoid this, or if I have a similar encounter politely suggest display copies! @Sim thanks, yes I certainly didn’t let it spoil the sublime performance of Marianela and Vadim. Originally I did wonder if the original staff member I spoke to was new and just worried about doing something “wrong” by letting me have a look but I got the same attitude from the “manager”. And when I went back the original staff member to say the manager says it’s ok I can have a quick look she was still very resistant and repeated that they don’t like people touching them as people complain and it really had to be a very quick look!

Yes I’m still kicking myself for not seeing them together in Romeo and Juliet, I think the dates didn’t align for me. Slightly off topic but not sure where else it would go, when I went to see the production a couple of weeks ago I noticed it’s no longer possible to simply pick up and flick through a programme. I usually do buy but I’ve already got 2 swan lake programmes so I was only interested in buying this time if there were new articles or photos that I was particularly interested in. I asked the staff member selling them if I could take a look to decide if I wanted to purchase and she looked at me like I was mad and said I wasn’t allowed to touch before buying as people don’t like their programmes being touched. (I wonder if they’ve had complaints or people returning “soiled” programmes?!) I very much do understand this as someone who likes pristine books and programmes without smudgy fingerprints but I explained I just wanted to take a quick look for the reason outlined above (already owned a programme and wanted to see if there were any new articles). I was given a rude look and told I needed to ask the manager! Feeling rather silly I went over to ask for permission (!) and was again made to feel very odd (I wasn’t going to rub my hand over it every page but merely hold on to the cover to flick through very quickly). Begrudgingly I was told I could take a quick look and was stared at very intensely while I flicked through the program in about 30 seconds. I know in the grand scheme of things this isn’t a big deal but it was more the fact the staff were very unfriendly (no smiles, abrupt answers, nor at all apologetic) and I was made to feel like I looked dirty or was doing something wrong. It’s the first time ever I’ve felt unwelcome in the ROH and like I don’t belong because I’m not a certain clientele. (Not that it matters but I think I looked relatively normal with a backpack and a black coat. I wouldn’t say I looked particularly dirty or anything!). I’ve always found ROH staff to be friendly and pleasant in interactions before and so I was a bit surprised and disappointed by the whole encounter and terribly embarrassed. I don’t think wanting to flick through is an unreasonable (or odd) request, I don’t want to pay £8.50 for essentially the same programme from 2 years ago (and yes I confirmed there were no new articles so I didn’t purchase one in the end, I also thought if I had purchased one it would only serve to remind me of the whole encounter). I completely understand they don’t want people just mucking up programmes but why not have a display copy available that people can flick through - that’s only a few (1 per each location they sell them) throughout each run which in the grand scheme of things won’t be a huge loss. I guess I’m posting on here as I’m curious as to whether I am unusual in wanting to look before I buy? And whether if this happens again if the suggestion of a display copy is a sensible one? As someone who used to be a friend and attend ROH regularly it really put me off them actually. I’m not going to cut of my nose to spite my face so I’ll obviously still attend performances I want to see but I feel this is an encounter I’ll remember if I ever consider being a Friend again (highly unlikely this aside) and I used to buy the odd ice cream/drink as I wanted to but also to support ROH but they’re nothing special really so won’t be inclined to do this type of stuff in the future. Overall it left a very unpleasant atmosphere for me (thankfully this dissipated once seeing the performance), it was less what they actually said but how they said it if that makes sense? I appreciate staff are busy but I wasn’t holding up a massive queue of people trying to buy a program or anything like that either.

I think Hannah O’Neill is fantastic. Of course Gilbert and Marchand as well (individually and as a pair). I also really like Sae Eun Park and Laura Hecquet too.

Fantastic for Sambe and great to see RB dancers are appreciated and recognised overseas. To me though it emphasises the odd position of RB dancers having to guest overseas to dance an acclaimed work by a British choreographer (the founding choreographer of the company no less!) as they don’t have this opportunity on their home stage. I remain hopeful that positive reviews and sales for La Fille in Paris and with BRB may finally convince Kevin O’Hare to stage a revival at Covent Garden if not in the 24/25 season at least in 25/26. There are so many great RB dancers in their prime and ready for these roles and they shouldn’t have to go to Paris to dance them! My dream casting would be Sambe and Hayward but I’d also love to see Nunez, Muntagirov, Bracewell, Hay, Kaneko etc in these roles. I have now sadly missed seeing Campbell as well now he’s retired. I didn’t really follow ballet when it was last on in London so have never seen it live, I couldn’t justify the cost of going to Paris but I’m very excited to see BRB perform in Birmingham.

The photos of Fumi and Will are glorious! Thanks for posting and reading reviews the performance sounded as good as I would expect (ie incredible). I’m sorry they weren’t originally cast together as I would have booked, I only hope they are cast together next time as they would be my “one to watch” then. (I’m also hoping for them to be cast together in Manon next time…)

@Roberta surely if Australian ballet can sell in ROH NYCB would have no issue? They are a bigger “name” for sure.

It may have been Nunez’s preference to dance slower but my personal preference is to go a bit faster regardless!

I would also like to see Coppelia return. I agree it’s odd Frankie and Cesar haven’t been partnered much recently - their R&J was fab. I believe they were both meant to debut in swan lake together but that performance was cancelled due to the pandemic. I feel they would be very interesting together in Manon, Mayerling as well as Swan Lake. Giselle too!

I missed this/ or forgot the information as we had a whole interval before that. In any case lots of people in the second circle moved to the doors for a drink/toilet break so it could probably do with repeating!

same - at least in ROH they have QR codes, SW didn’t seem to be even advertising those. will also say though that SW did a better pre performance speech about how the light from phones can be distracting for audience members around you so please don’t use them etc. unlike ROH’s generic announcement. However they were less good at communicating the “pause” between DC and Gustave pieces - the curtain went down and lights didn’t go fully up but we’re on enough for people to start getting up thinking it was an interval. Ushers sent them back to their seats at the doors but still led to unnecessary disruption - they could have easily put something on the tannoy either before DC started or when it ended.

my inexpert opinion was in parts of Odille’s act 2 solo danced by Nunez there were points were I felt she was holding herself back from going a bit faster because she was trying to stick to the music, I think in one of the slower turns it looked to me like she almost physically stopped herself from naturally taking the next step and having to pause and drag the movement out. It would be a pure assumption as I would like to hope that Kessels and the dancers have a conversation about this in advance or there is an agreed set tempo for all but I feel dancers would prefer this faster as it would be easier/flow better. Not the same ballet I recall once Naghdi saying something about one of the shade variations in Bayadere being trickier than it looked because it’s so slow so your technique is really tested. My guess would therefore be it would be “easier” and more natural for dancers to take this at a bit of a faster pace and it also helps build better flow and pacing in the plot as well. Didn’t see last night’s performance but glad Cesar has made a return to the stage. I can’t speak to chemistry in these particular roles but I remember thinking Magri and Corrales worked really well together in Coppelia many years ago…

I wholeheartedly agree with this. While I didn’t hate the work, it is certainly not Balanchine level. Balanchine was a genius, innovator, even in the abstract it felt his work had meaning and some sort of story/plot/point. This was a series of unconnected vignettes, and while the dancers attacked it vigorously the fact there is no real “successor” to Balanchine, and seeing ballet evolve more toward “street” / hip-hop/contemporary dance is a real shame. I wouldn’t mind the odd cross collaboration but if this is what “ballet” is now I agree it’s a glum state of affairs. Ballet can’t and shouldn’t be stuck in the past to be relevant (although personally I might not mind only seeing work pre 1980!) but the fact there aren’t really any exciting/genius pure “ballet” choreographers of our generation like Balanchine, Ashton, MacMillan etc is disheartening. Forsythe maybe comes close (?) but he’s in his Autumn years and I’m not sure he’s on the same level as those names personally.

I think it does matter in terms of revenue, deciding future programming (something not a “sellout” unlikely to return in this financial climate), morale for dancers (not dancing to an enthusiastic sold out venue - although given we’re in darkness and they’ll do their best regardless this probably matters less). Of course cinema live streams and DVDs are important but the ROH is fundamentally about live performances. (Also if this hasn’t sold so well I imagine they’ll reconsider a DVD release as would there really be a huge market for it / enough money made on it?) ROH revenue I think I read once before means that only about 50% of their required income comes from ticket sales - the rest has to be made from philanthropy, government funding and other avenues. So if they make (even more) of a loss on a non sold out performance for an entire programme (as opposed to an odd one here or there) that all adds up and will cut into margins.

@art_enthusiast yes if RB don’t announce any Balanchine for their 2024/2025 season I don’t think we’ll see any of his work in the UK until late 2025 at the earliest. Given ENB aren’t doing any of his work next year either. (Unless we have a touring company from elsewhere again like Aus ballet with Jewels last summer.) And I think the last Robbins was well over a year ago now (?) and whilst I like Dances at a Gathering would like to see other works!

Thanks for the info @Bruce Wall i actually liked the Gustave costumes and thought they worked well (though imagine novelty might have worn off if the piece was longer). The Abraham ones were not to my taste at all! I suppose they didn’t get in the way at least but didn’t add anything either. Would love to see more Tiler Peck (both dancing and choreographing) in the UK - I saw she is also sitting out this tour due to injury on her instagram.