JNC

agree the “lift” (not a lift but hold?) photo actually looks awkward and bad. The others are not exciting. First photo could be ok but I feel the angle is a bit wrong and given they’re both wearing black they sort of blend into each other… Clearly it’s not selling well if they have only six performances and each has 100+ tickets left only a week and a bit out. It’s also being live cinema streamed (interesting given the Ashton triple I don’t believe was?) and so the advertising should be focusing on non-London for cinema audiences too. I’m invested in this selling well as I would like to see more of MacMillan’s one acts and I feel if it was better marketed it would have had more interest.

I can’t add much to comments (but I will sorry). I wholeheartedly agree with everything fantastic that has been said about Marianela and Vadim. Absolute artists, at the top of their game, just flawless in both technique and character. Vadim’s jumps and landings are weightless, it’s like he suspends gravity. And Marianela…well she’s so exciting and just so beautiful to watch her command the stage. the company is so strong right now, Act 2 the swans were just brilliant in formation and the four cygnets were the most synchronised I’ve ever seen. My small quibble would be I feel parts of Act 2 and 4 felt to be played at a slower tempo than I’d personally like (I’m thinking Nunez’s solo and parts of the swans coming on after that - not sure if this is the dancers’ preference or Kessel’s conducting or the decision or someone like O’Hare). Also I know this may be controversial but I find Act 1 a little boring in choreography. Act 3 is fantastic, all the national dances are fab and I love all the drama! (My other quibble is I’m not a big fan of all the black swans coming on stage for such a short period - it raises more questions than answers for me and it distracts me from the drama of the plot and Vadim going off desperately!). I’m also not a big fan of the ending (Prince carrying the princess swan back in human form - I’d prefer him left devastated alone or both dying) and maybe I’m imagining this but I feel a bit of dry ice for the opening of Act 2 would help with the drama as the stage floor looks quite bare. And if I’m being really picky I didn’t love the bows after the Act 2 pas de deux - they were incredibly well deserved but it broke the flow and spell of the plot for me. Hypocritically though I had no issue with them in Act 3 but I feel it’s perhaps because it’s a showier piece and in the plot they’re dancing to a crowd anyway. (I know I’m being super picky here though.) Anyway I’m so glad I saw it, I had booked for Nunez last run but due to her illness I missed out so this certainly lived up to and exceeded expectations. I feel both Marianela and Vadim keep really pushing themselves to improve and it’s just so wonderful to see them both dance - they do have a great partnership also, great dance chemistry. Fantastic appreciation and respect for them both. How lucky we are to have them both in London/the Uk and the company really is on top form all round at every level.

yes this was very distracting! I wondered if I just hadn’t noticed this before but I would have remembered it so definitely a lighting issue!

The standout was the dancers and the company tonight - so glad this has sold well and hope they’ll return (with a hopefully stronger more Balanchine programme) in a year or two! Rotunda was fine. Watchable but not wow. It did feel very much like a bit of Balanchine, a bit of Robbins but like a compromise it didn’t deliver either style excellently (I like the description that Peck is the love child of Balanchine and Robbins @LACAD, this is the first Peck I’ve seen but if this is his style it’s a very good description). I was hoping for something stronger as I feel Peck is a choreographer I would like (similar to Forsythe in that I sense he is truer to neoclassical ballet than others out there now). Passable, and at points enjoyable but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see this again. I had high hopes for Duo Concertant as I love Balanchine but also knew going in from descriptions it was not perhaps his strongest work and something that would blow me away. This was correct. If anything this was the biggest disappointment of the evening for me - mainly because it is Balanchine and I expected more (whereas with the others I didn’t know what to expect/expected less). It felt such a shame not to do something like Tarantella (if they wanted a shorter duet) or obviously something more “wow”/special that we haven’t seen in London for years like Seranade, Ballo della Regina (works I haven’t seen but from clips and descriptions I know I’d love more than this). Gustave le Gray No. 1 for me was the best piece of the evening. I love Pam Tanowitz (I know she gets mixed thoughts on here but I find her super creative). I found Secret Things fell flat but Everyone Keeps Me I find intriguing and I actually really loved Dispatch Duet. The costumes despite being a bit billowy worked really well with the movements and actually added to the choreography, and it all felt actually quite innovative (I like Tanowitz as she always seems to try to do something different). I felt the piano being moved was a bit of an unnecessary distraction but this was the one work that held my attention throughout. as for Abraham’s work I had low expectations as I found the Weathering incredibly boring (the only work of his I’ve seen). This was better than that but to be honest it started to drag a bit and yes the costumes were hideous (I felt I could live with the shape but the ruffles and the pattern were just off). I agree the lights felt a bit tacky. I did enjoy some of the pieces and the dancers excelled here (I thought if only they brought a Balanchine and applied this style!!) and despite not loving it it was interesting in parts and better than the Weathering (I don’t remember that at all) and the recent MacGregor I’ve seen (Untitled). I did wonder whether the music was Blake as it reminded me a lot of Forsythe’s Blake works. I personally prefer more classical music allows the musicality of the dancers and the choreography to tell more of a story/fits together better. This was barely passable to me and I didn’t dislike it but again wouldn’t see it again particularly unless it was part of a programme of things I really wanted to see. To be fair I felt the different pieces showed a different mix of the current styles/choreographers of NYCB. It was a very enjoyable evening all round and I’m glad I saw the company. I would certainly like to see NYCB again in London with more Balanchine/Robbins, to be honest given I don’t live in London if they brought a similar type of programme I’m not sure I’d bother to see it given I’ve seen this now and it was good but not “wow”. Having said that I’d say it’s miles better than anything contemporary I’ve seen at ROH recently (like the MacGregor last year etc). Perhaps now we won’t have a Russian company at the ROH in summer for the foreseeable we could get NYCB and maybe ABT guesting there. Similar to Aus ballet they could do a short visit, perhaps a more contemporary programme like this and then a pure Balanchine (and Robbins) one as well. I’d also be interested in seeing Vienna Ballet and maybe Dutch/Danish ballets but that’s a topic for another thread!

But not many for Sarasota as @Bruce Wall suggests. Best to be realistic that I won’t be getting a ticket for this perhaps! on a separate note (I didn’t want to create a new thread for it) does anyone know when we can expect the 2024/2025 season announcement? Last year it was 26 April so presumably thereabouts but I wonder if anyone has confirmed a date yet?

Presumably they’ll have the same issue with enticing people to the cinema live streams as well… A few years back I remember thinking they also did a terrible job promoting La Bayadere. It was just a sort of blurry/long exposure picture of a bunch of dancers standing in a group of white tutus. No photos of the majestic shades scene, or the other dramatic costumes or plot. I didn’t book initially but then did my own research and found out the shades scene was meant to be among the best in classical ballet and I’m so glad I went. But they could have sold it so much better to people who know Swan Lake, Giselle etc…

I agree with this. Why aren’t there more photos on the website page for it? It’s just one picture of leotards that doesn’t tell me much, and it’s only even for one ballet out of three. There’s one brief paragraph of background with each ballet getting one sentence. There’s a lot of “ballet insider” information in there as well - name checking de Valois and Cranko and so to someone new/unfamiliar with ballet it’s probably not really helpful information to be honest. I would have focussed on MacMillan as a choreographer and perhaps the music used (classical etc) and perhaps the number of dancers and types of formations etc (the type of wording you might see more in a review in the paper for example). The titles of the works themselves also don’t really tell you much (with the exception of requiem perhaps). It’s all too abstract - if you know you know and if you don’t well go off and research it yourself! Not great. But ultimately I think more photos or a short video clip embedded into the webpage would communicate and sell this better. At the moment if you don’t know MacMillan or haven’t seen the ballets before there’s nothing that would make you book. And to be honest, how many people are going to go and search for more information themselves? You lose a lot of people by this way, and the people who would do this are more likely to be interested and would have booked anyway to give it a go. to be honest I have only booked because I enjoyed MacMillan’s concerto and for the “novelty” of seeing works I haven’t seen before in ROH. But honestly I have no idea if I’ll like these pieces or no idea of what to expect at all really given the information is so limited. As I’ve booked I’m happy to go in “blind” and hope for the best but if I was trying to sell this to friends, or I was someone with no ballet knowledge I would really struggle to take the risk and pay out.

I think I last saw Hay in Cinderella as the stepsister. He gave a great performance but not necessarily what I wanted to see from him! Before that I can’t remember the last time I saw him (cast) in a proper principal role but I don’t attend ROH as much as I used to… The principal who I preferred as a first soloist is O’Sullivan. I didn’t want to name initially as I didn’t want to be too critical but I do find the diverging opinions on here really interesting (as yes on some level it’s all subjective and personal preference) so here goes! obviously my opinion and I do think her technique and performances at first soloist justified a promotion and so I wasn’t surprised at all. But for whatever reason her performances as principal just haven’t clicked with me at all. I didn’t feel a connection to her Odile/Odette and while her Aurora was pretty much technically perfect for some reason the character just didn’t work for me (I know aurora doesn’t have much character compared to say Manon but I like to see her youthful exuberance in act 1 etc and Hayward and Nunez capture this well for me). To be fair to her I saw her debuts so I appreciate she will grow and develop in these roles the more she performs. But in the meantime with limited funds I’m prioritising other principals for now. Regardless of my preferences I do very much think she’s dancing at principal level, it’s more just she doesn’t connect with me in roles the way she used to bring a special sparkle to the first soloist roles for me. On the flip side Magri was someone who whilst I appreciate was a good solid first soloist didn’t really do it for me for whatever reason. But I sense she is really growing and developing as a principal which is interesting to see, and I’m growing increasingly tempted to book for her more often as she often impresses me when I see her. And Kaneko is someone who was a fantastic first soloist and continues to amaze and impress me as a principal! Unfortunately I couldn’t see her as Manon this run and still kicking myself for missing her Juliet due to a date clash but hopefully next time!

interesting and thanks for sharing. Seems a shame to cut something that is “unique” to this production, I would have been very interested to see it!

I’m of the perhaps controversial opinion that if anything there are perhaps too many principals now. this leads to current principles being under-utilised, and or very long runs of the same production so every principal can have their go (whilst still not casting certain principals ahead of first soloists or others ironically!). I do appreciate long runs may not be driven by this alone but it does seem like everyone has to have their go at swan lake unlike what for example Paris Opera Ballet do which is having more limited principals in a certain production and each principal tends to dance a few more performances as well. And of course another way of solving this could be solved by having more diverse repertoire with shows running overlapping in some dates (eg a contemporary mix against a classical or balancing a large company set piece against something requiring much fewer dancers). I don’t think it should be a “race” to become a principal and personally in my untechnical inexpert view I don’t think there is anyone ready to be a principal right now. That’s not to say they don’t have talent and potential and shouldn’t still be cast in principal level/style roles (this seems to be happening already anyway) but my preferred dancers seem to be the ones that have the most experience and so I think you generally only get better with time. also interestingly I found I preferred some dancers as first soloists rather than principals as I saw them more but also found I preferred them in first soloists type roles, and the occasional principal role that felt it was suited/tailored to them. There’s one first soloist who I always made a point of seeing and then they were promoted to principal. I then found I didn’t enjoy them as much in some principal roles and now don’t tend to book for them as there are other principals I prefer and find to be more balanced across the repertoire. If I had unlimited money and time I’d happily see everyone but unfortunately that’s not the case, and I miss seeing my favourite first soloists in the same production as my favourite principals. (Selfish I know and regardless of my thoughts the promotion I thought was well deserved.) Of course you need to balance all this against motivating the younger ranks and giving them interesting casting opportunities but I think that is already happening. (But again sometimes at the expense of principals/first soloists who we don’t see for months, again could be solved by diversifying the repertoire.)

before you used to be able to book multiple productions through the same tab by going back to the search function etc. i found last time I got put in a new queue (!) when I tried to do this, so the queues seem to apply for each booking rather than covering your account/browser (if that makes any sense at all). This was incredibly stressful and really threw me off and added 30 minutes to my booking (and all I wanted was to book two performances!). so despite what people are saying about using only one tab I am going to take the approach of multiple tabs this time, as one tab only really didn’t work for me last time. (and if anyone asks my preferred approach is one tab only to be honest but I can’t afford to be in multiple queues one after another. Perhaps I was unlucky or there was an error or issue last time but I don’t want to risk it again!)

I’m no longer a friend (for many reasons, personal finances particularly when balanced against seat price increases, a bit of a protest against seat price increases and also the lack of diverse repertoire). But I was a friend for two reasons - advance booking and supporting the Royal Ballet. I would be very frustrated if I didn’t have casting available when I booked as I would feel that would negate a big part of my membership. I do sympathise with ROH here though, we don’t know what’s going on (there may well be personal and private reasons why they can’t explain why casting isn’t finalised yet, dancers are people with personal lives too). But I think it’s a fair compromise here to negate any ticket swap fees (this may be logistically challenging to administer perhaps, I feel the website might not be able to manage it and manual phone refunds seems an administrative nightmare), OR perhaps they could acknowledge the frustration by giving Friends some other sweetener (maybe a free programme and champagne for example, I would have suggested a month or two of free membership but logistically I imagine that’s near impossible to coordinate administratively). Ultimately we are fortunate to have casting available (usually) at time of booking so I’d be willing to cut them some slack on this. My only concern would be if many people didn’t mind they might start making it a regular thing! (But given the number of people who seem to have written in to voice frustrations over this I doubt it’s gone ignored!)

Gosh this booking will be more stressful than usual…! I’m glad they are keeping some back but yes given the size of the Linbury it still doesn’t inspire much hope! Thanks for the info though.

I can see why it’s fair that Friends do get priority as that’s what they pay for and support ROH (in turn in some way supporting us to all see ROH). (If it’s relevant I speak as someone who used to be a Friend but is no longer.) what I do have a problem with, if this is in fact the case as the information around this is murky, is that there is a chance that all seats will be sold out before the general public gets a chance to get tickets. For main stage performances they do have to keep some tickets back (or at least they did in the past) but this seems unclear for the Linbury. I would love to be proved wrong and be able to select a ticket for a Friday or Saturday performance when general booking opens but I am realistic this probably won’t be the case! I don’t think it’s really relevant what events you have or haven’t attended previously frankly - you could either be a hardcore Ashton fan or someone merely interested in something new, for me it’s about trying to make it as fair as possible for everyone to get tickets with the understanding that it’s also reasonable for paying friends to get first priority (but in my view unreasonable for paying friends to be able to buy all tickets available, hopefully that won’t be the case!). I also know if you keep an eye on returns a day or two before it’s likely people would be able to pick something up, but don’t live in London this isn’t much consolation to me.

Maybe one compromise would have been one night only on the main stage (preferably Saturday matinee, or at least Saturday evening for non-London folk) presented as a special gala/guest company (sort of akin to the summer visiting company, especially as it doesn’t appear we’re getting a guest ballet company this summer). Then they could have done additional evenings in the Linbury. I’m sure they would have been able to sell out one main stage performance, but even if not the additional ticket prices they could charge (even if they did £10 ROH or Friend discounts) would still bring enough in. As it’s a “Gala” people would generally be fine with plain backgrounds and excerpts. They sold out the Margot Fonteyn Gala fine a few years ago…this would be similar in some ways I think. I’ve already resigned myself to not seeing them in the Linbury by the time General Booking opens. I’m planning to write an email to ROH if that happens expressing my disappointment and frustration. I doubt it’ll do much but if lots of others do the same maybe they’ll at least reconsider if anything ever happens in future (unlikely but nothing to lose). I would be interested to get an update from Friends after their booking opens to know whether they have definitely sold out! As I don’t live in London I’m already limited to Friday-Sunday performances so I don’t rate my chances at all. I even considered buying Friends membership to be in with a better chance but to be honest I really can’t afford it and it seems options will be minimal even for regular Friends given the limited seats in the Linbury.

I agree entirely, I was genuinely shocked how loud it was and though it just have surpassed “safe” levels?! Surely it’s not nice for the dancers (or any staff watching) either? I found it painful (both metaphorically and also slightly physically at points) but I slogged through as I know can be sensitive to sounds. Although I’ve been to live music experiences where it’s not been so jarring and uncomfortable for the ears. I am baffled that they continued the sounds levels after the first night, let alone the whole run and then the second run! Sadler’s Wells (and the part of ENB responsible for the sound levels?) need to sort themselves out. I didn’t like the ballet/choreography anyway (although the dancers did their best with it and Jeffery C was fab) but I would never ever go again due to the sound, even if I got a free ticket it’s not worth it! Khan’s Giselle had a similar style of sound but it managed to be impactful without being deafening or painful. I do remember thinking they had perhaps turned up the volume a bit between the first run I saw and the second run, but it was nowhere near Creature levels.

It was my personal favourite of the three combinations I saw! would also love to see James Hay. He seems one of the underused first soloists at the moment, I can’t recall the last time I saw him actually (admittedly I haven’t been much to ROH this 2023/2024 seasons but even last year I don’t think I saw him in much other than the stepsisters in Cinderella?). Don’t get me wrong talent is talent no matter the official rank but I would like to see talented first soloists cast ahead of soloists and artists - they have more time to do these roles and build their experience! I feel many first soloists are being skipped over in favour of those lower down based on some casting I’ve seen over the last few years.

a big congratulations to Alex it’s a well deserved role and he did seem to be expanding into this space with his more producer type roles with the Limit etc. so in that sense it’s not a surprise. I have no doubt he’ll be fantastic in the role based on how he presents well (from my watching of his World Ballet Day livestreams as others have mentioned!). It’s been nice seeing others reminiscing about great performances of Alex they’ve seen. For me, I am also reminded that yes he was the first lead male I saw at the Royal Ballet when he danced Des Grieux with Takada. Since then I’ve enjoyed him in many performances including Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Benno in Swan Lake, the excerpt of Daphnis and Chloe in the Fonteyn Gala and many many more. He has wonderful classical technical but seems to also bring a real depth to performances whether kindly prince or cheeky chappie! I too was hoping to see him in upcoming MacMilland and Ashton works, alas… Not to detract from the fantastic news for Alex but I do agree that the announcement is rather sudden. I appreciate there is lots of behind the scenes working out that needs to happen and once a decision has been made I’m sure there is a reason why they don’t want to delay his appointment for a few months, but I do wish he had been able to see out the Season, if nothing else to give people at least a chance to book for his final performance. I feel sad for people who won’t be able to attend due to how quickly he’s leaving. Something similar happened with Federico Bonelli and so I do wish they did announce things with more time. I also think the Royal Ballet should do an official press release (if they haven’t already, I don’t think an instagram post counts) and piece on their website. (The royal opera house instagram post is just a sort or repost of the RAD done so if you go to click the link in their bio it doesn’t appear as the text clearly means to link to the RAD link in bio!) I really like the idea of streaming his final performance, even better if it’s a DVD! Maybe someone can do a campaign with ROH (unfortunately they probably have sold the seats they need to remove for the cameras already…?) but I hope it can happen! Anyway all this is a very long way of ultimately saying well done Alex, what a great opportunity and you will be missed at the RB but glad you are staying in the world of ballet!

Actually I didn’t mind Miller’s Les Noces. I enjoyed some parts more than others but I thought it was a worthwhile commission and props to ENB for the investment in it and the orchestra. With exception of Creature I’ve enjoyed or at least respected every single new commission ENB has done (I’ve not seen them all but most). This is in stark comparison to RB’s commissions which to be honest I don’t recall hating any of them but varied between being bored or merely thinking something was “ok” but not particularly innovative and not something I’d go out of my way to see again, to the extent I can’t really remember any names of them!

From memory the Bausch version (as part of a triple) sold well both times ENB did this? I don’t know what ticket sales were like for the Mats Ek version but I thought it was great ENB got him to choreograph something for them. He is a “figure” in the ballet world whether you like his work or not and having the likes of Ek, Forsythe etc choreograph new works for your company speaks volumes about how the company are keen to innovate in ballet and try things out (whether successful or not). As for Raymonda I think the London run suffered from some Covid outbreaks and cancelled performances (from memory) so I think it’s unfair to base ticket sales/success on this as they were unlucky with that. As for the regional tours I know there are always issues with selling these types of works (see the discussion on Le Corsaire). I haven’t seen it so can’t comment (I couldn’t go due to last minute plans changing and not being London based I wasn’t flexible on dates) but I would be quite happy to see this revived, it was a big investment and as memory recalls while it maybe wasn’t 5 star reviews it was by no means a critical flop? I appreciate it’s perhaps a bit odd for me to strongly support two works I haven’t seen (although I’d like to see them) but I think it’s the symbolism of these works - dynamic choreographers, reviving a classic - showing a real investment in BALLET that I think was a good strong message to fans and others as to what the company stands for and the works it wants to support and perform. Khan’s Giselle was superb and innovative and whilst I won’t see it again in the near future (only because I’ve seen it twice) I happily expect this to have regular revivals. Creature on the other hand was awful imo and if others were anything like me it sold out on the strength of Giselle, but one viewing was more than enough. It’s about the only ballet I seriously considered leaving at the interval because I hated it so much and the sound was actually deafening so I was rather uncomfortable.

I agree! Adding this (back) on would sway me into seeing Skeaping’s Giselle again so soon.

I love Bayadere. Yes it might be set or inspired by “India” but it’s stylised and not a documentary! Why don’t we ban Swan Lake as it’s offensive as it means “Germans” are into beastiality! Or Romeo and Juliet for portraying forced marriages and Italians as aggressive murderers. I’m obviously being a bit flippant but if anything thinks Bayadere is meant to be accurate to any real place in the world they need to check (ballet) history and understand people were building fantasy lands inspired by exotic new environments. Madame Butterfly is another example, I think if a production uses yellow face that’s unacceptable but it remains a staple of the opera canon whether you like it or not. To be honest I find Madame Butterfly worse as it’s clearly meant to be set in a real place and without the fantasy element it is fairer to be critical of the stereotypes it enforces about Japanese women/society. (To be balanced the western men don’t get a free pass as they’re portrayed as careless misogynists and a bit racist!) But just because you don’t like something banning it isn’t the answer. How about critical discussion, or explaining context to audiences in a better way? And ultimately as @Sim says if you don’t want to go, no one is forcing you too! I do think there is a difference between fairy stories and things inspired by something to create a new/different world/story to black and yellow face which is obviously not acceptable. I’ll be honest and say I can’t remember the old Chinese dance from the Nutcracker (maybe I’ve forgotten it or maybe they re redid this one before the Arabian dance?) but I don’t find the new one bad, although it’s hardly amazing. As for the Arabian dance I remember thinking the new version paled in comparison to the old which was interesting and a bit sultry, the new one just appears all round awkward with odd lifts and very un-smooth choreography, I felt quite cringey watching it as it just didn’t hit the mark at all and detracted from the atmosphere. It used to be my favourite little section of the “cultural” dances and now it’s the worst. And so it’s not totally off track, I’m pleased to see Rojo is inspiring such large donations at SFB. I loved what she did at ENB - a truly fresh company with diverse repertoire, really doing their own thing and not just trying to be a touring/smaller Royal Ballet. After Watkin’s season announcement I missed her all the more and wondered what she would have planned for ENB if she was still around!

Oh dear this is a shame if true. The Royal has so many great Giselles and Albrechts right now. But at least I’ll save money I suppose, as the saying now goes!

I didn’t enjoy Le Corsaire BUT I’d be interested in seeing it again to give it another go as it has been a few years. As someone who plans things months in advance whilst it would benefit London people if they were going to do a 75th Anniversary Gala I’d hope they would announce it sooner rather than later! And in the hope that ENB is reading this for next year I agree with Etudes, why not Les Sylphides, maybe some Roland Petit, more Balanchine, Mats Ek, and yes Coppelia would be a welcome surprise as well. I hope Raymonda gets at least one revival rather than being cast off after its truncated opening run…Also I don’t think ENB have done Sleeping Beauty for a while if I’m not mistaken (unless I missed it?).

fair enough then if it’s really that terrible I retract that maybe they shouldn’t be focussing on rechoreographing this! i still remain disappointed about the announcement overall though the more it sinks in. I’ve not seen Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet so that would have appealed to me. I find it also odd to focus on it being the 75th season and not do a celebration gala - the one they did for the 70th was fantastic. A missed opportunity.