JNC

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! 

3 minutes ago, capybara said:

Is there a display copy of programmes  in the ROH shop?

If not, there should be.

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! 

13 minutes ago, alison said:

 

They were moved to the wall behind the ice cream kiosk, for some reason.

 

JNC: the pause was announced before the performance started, IIRC.  Certainly I knew it was going to happen.

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! 

44 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I didn't even see any cast sheets at SW - I'd have had no idea who was dancing if it wasn't for the sheet posted on this forum on Wednesday. I bought a programme but there was no reference in it (and no announcements) as to where cast sheets could be found.

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. 

51 minutes ago, Sim said:

I also found much of the music played too slowly for my liking, but maybe it's the dancers' liking so there we are.  

 

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…

6 hours ago, bridiem said:

I would, however, object to seeing Love Letter (on shuffle) again. I see it premièred at a fashion gala, and you can tell (and that's where it should have stayed). Appalling costumes, and the sort of pointless choreography that any dancers in the world could have performed. Why give NYCB dancers this to do??! All those years of training... I also hated the music. And it went on and on and on... The whole thing was a triumph of (apparent) style over (a complete dearth of real) substance. I actually thought it was quite tragic. I found myself thinking: how have we come from Balanchine, to this? How has NYCB come from Balanchine, to this? A profoundly depressing (to me) reflection of current tastes and trends. And of the thinking of NYCB management - why on earth would they think this is something to bring to show the company off to London? Is this really what NYCB is now?!

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. 

6 hours ago, Roberta said:

 

I'm not sure filling the ROH for each performance, in the long term, will matter too much.  There's life and an audience out there beyond the ROH. 

 

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. 

13 hours ago, alison said:

That was pretty much my reaction, too.  And the choice of rehearsal photos wasn't really anything special which might actually entice people to buy a ticket.

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. 

11 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

Did you also miss the strange silhouette of Odette on top of the rock before she was supposed to be spot lit, she looked like she was having a conversation with someone on the ground  behind the rock

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! 

4 hours ago, PeterS said:

to update non-friends, there are currently hundreds of tickets still available for all performances of both Ashton triple bills in the main house.

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?