JNC

2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

 

I see your point. But given that it's Ashton? I feel like the main stage would have been a sell out.

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. 

39 minutes ago, Mary said:

really the venues have no business subjecting an audience to this risk.

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. 

2 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

He and Hayward were superb together, their version ended up in the Stream I think.

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! 

5 hours ago, FionaM said:

too many unsuccessful versions of Rite of Spring

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. 

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

Thanks @Jane S, I remember loving Men Y Men when I saw it.

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! 

12 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

I wouldn’t get your hopes up

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?). 

4 minutes ago, TSR101 said:

Yes it needed scrapping from an artistic pov in 2010, the day after it premiered. It was a rushed job (as shown in the documentary A Year in the Life with the English Ballet' and it showed. It also had the ugliest Nutcracker doll known to man. 

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. 

Is ENB’s current nutcracker really that bad that it needs re choreographing? For those that have seen it is it vastly different to the Royal’s? 
 

One thing I always appreciated about ENB was although they tended to stage fewer works throughout the year than RB, it felt like it got the balance right between new/old/classical/contemporary and always had something a bit unexpected or exciting. I hope this announcement doesn’t indicate a more formulaic repertoire…

I don’t want to criticise ENB given the financial times we’re in but agree with those saying this is disappointing - my word would be underwhelming!

I was very pleased to see Skeaping’s Giselle this year but precisely because of financial constraints I’m not tempted to see it again so soon next year, as much as I enjoyed it.

I really like Khan’s Giselle but I’ve seen it twice now so equally likely to give this a pass. I can see why this maybe makes more sense to revive as it’s been a couple of years and it does tend to sell very well. 

I may try and see the Forsythe bill but I have already seen EP/Playlist so it’s not a “must see” for me. I think it depends what the Royal is doing at the same time and balancing my own finances/schedules but doesn’t feel like something I’d go out of my way for (unlike BRB’s La Fille!). 
 

And to be honest if finances are so tight I don’t understand the investment in a new Nutcracker. That will sell regardless and I’d rather the money was spent elsewhere to be honest. (Although I appreciate I’m speaking as someone who has never seen ENB Nutcracker.)

there are more recent works that they could have repeated that I’d be happy with - either because I haven’t seen them or they have only been repeated once and over a year ago. I mean Raymonda, Mats Ek’s A Rite of Spring - both were works I was looking forward to but I had scheduling clashes meaning I couldn’t see them. 
 

It feels a step backwards from previous years where it’s been a nice mix of completely new work (either new creations of things like Balanchine not seen in London before) and revivals (but not so many revivals so soon after a previous season?). Usually there’s at least 2 programmes I’d go out of my way to see and get very excited for but this year it’s barely 1.

2 hours ago, OnePigeon said:

I so agree with you, it’s not a trend I’m very keen on.  Personally, when tickets are so expensive and priced the same across all casts, I’m not as thrilled to see a soloist get a top role when there are so many amazing principals at the top of their game who have worked hard to get where they are, only to get a few performances each, or none at all.  I would be more prepared for this trend if there were a certain amount of performances with non principals which were slightly cheaper, but it doesn’t make economic or artistic sense to me to keep casting lower ranked dancers in top roles when there are already so many principals.  I also don’t understand why a ‘premium’ cast with 4 of the top and most popular principal dancers in the company are dancing on early week day nights when surely they should be given at least one weekend.  It’s almost like the audience aren’t really a consideration.

this is how I feel about some of the MacMillan triple casting. As I can only see this once live and there are limited performances I would rather have seen principals cast in the main roles for all performances to be honest. 

The opening cast for MacMillan would probably have been my preference but not living in London I opted for the Saturday performance where to be honest the casting wouldn’t have been what I would have wanted to see. Particularly with younger dancers down the ranks we’re more likely to see them in these pieces again, but now it’s unlikely I’ll ever get a chance to see Marianela and Lauren in those roles again. 
 

if there is space for first soloists and soloists if there are a large number of performances it differs slightly but as there are so many principals now it still feels like we don’t see many principals that often anymore. 

Sorry a tangent to booking specifically but does this confirm there won’t be a visiting ballet company at ROH this summer? They don’t have anything showing for August at the moment so wondering if there’s scope for an announcement still…?

Although as mentioned it will save me money! 

Thanks to those who have shared casting it’s very interesting! 

Pleased for Pantuso and nice to see Calvert making a return in both Swan Lake and Winter’s Tale. Similarly good to see Corrales is hopefully recovered from his injury.

I agree Campbell is being criminally under-utilised at this point. 
 

The casting for Winter’s Tale looks quite nice and balanced, even for me who is generally “picky” about casting (more down to budget and not living in London now) all casts do look appealing rather than there being a standout cast of my preference.

Having said that I (sadly) won’t be attending. The pricing is on a similar par to Swan Lake for the seats I can actually afford (£50 and under and my preference for works I am a bit more uncertain if I’ll like if I haven’t seen them I prefer to stick to £40 and under). This combined with the fact that there are no matinee performances (like MacMillan) means I can’t afford it (or couldn't justify it if I could!). To spend a minimum of about £200 (for a £50 ticket, associated travel and hotels) for a ballet I’m unsure I’ll like, or at least for that amount I’d have to love it, is something I’m not prepared to do. 

I’m making an effort for MacMillan (and diverting funds into that and Ashton in the Summer) as that interests me far more and the tickets are cheaper at least, and thankfully Ashton has matinees. So overall perhaps I shouldn’t complain as I’d rather a Winter’s Tale had none than Ashton. 

I may try and go see in the cinema though, I haven’t done a live screening yet so will try and investigate closer to the time. 

Is there any hope for seats to be available at public booking? I think I recall they don’t necessarily hold any seats back for general booking in the Linbury. 
 

I’d love to see this but it’s probably easier to resign myself to not doing so rather than getting my hopes up. 

(not helped by the fact I can only do performances on the 7, 8th (possibly 6th) due to not being that local!)

thanks for sharing @capybara

My main frustration with this bill is the overall lack of performances and there is only one weekend day, and on top of that no matinees, so for those not in London accommodation costs add up. 
 

Annoyingly the weekend casting (Saturday) wouldn’t be my preferred one. I would have liked to have seen the first night casting best as Hayward/Sambe/Campbell sounds an excellent combination. But this is a very personal situation and I’m glad to be seeing all new works for the first time! 
 

Ideally if I still lived in London I’d loved to have gone to two performances but alas. Or even if they did a Saturday double show with a matinee and an evening would have been heavenly for me! 

On 27/01/2024 at 15:33, alison said:

The "life" of credits now seems to be 3 years, to judge by my account.  Worth not forgetting they're there - in the same way that one shouldn't forget about the balance on gift cards or similar (as I always suspect shops may be hoping you will!)

I find 3 years to be quite generous and fair, most places it’s about 1 year. Having said that I do think it would be nice if they automatically applied the credit to your basket rather than you having to do so, but I guess that’s maybe a step too far for them…! 

Manon Sat 17 Feb 1pm 

Hayward/Sambe 

Amphitheatre J45 £49 

5 hours ago, Blossom said:

 

Photos at The London Palladium (aviewfrommyseat.co.uk)

was the palladium where they had the Nureyev gala? I think I sat in the cheap seats for that and don’t recall any issues with comfort or sight lines (and I dislike the coliseium uppermost level for lack of legroom/comfort). 

@Fonty agree - I find the best Albrecht’s are the ones who are a bit of a “playboy” in Act 1 but genuinely remorseful in Act 2.

Re Hilarion I agree with @bridiem, whilst I do feel some sympathy (unrequited love is tough) but it seems he’s mainly motivated by jealousy and wanting to control Giselle and force her to marry him by exposing Albrecht. I suppose women didn’t have much agency during that time period so maybe it’s unfair to view with a modern lens but he’s always struck me as a little creepy/possessive and doesn’t care about Giselle’s true happiness. Also the whole sucking up to Giselle mother just feels furthers this and feels manipulative also. Sure it would have all come out at some point but the public shaming of Giselle that Hilarion sets up is just cruel. Therefore I don’t have that much sympathy for him overall and don’t mind the Willi seeing him off (also because it makes for great dramatic tension and dancing!). 
 

It does feel unfair Albrecht gets to live on but he could be always unhappy and maybe he’ll go on to do some good things for the peasants out of his love for Giselle. Also Giselle wanted to save him despite his lying to her (maybe his remorse convinced him, or she just loved him anyway). 
 

Act 2 is certainly my favourite of the 2 but I like how different yet complimentary they are. 

If anyone has a spare SCS for this performance please let me know, I’m in London despite various rail strikes so seizing the opportunity if it arises! Thanks 

On 12/01/2024 at 11:25, Sim said:

I too was in the Balcony (row C) and I will never, ever buy seats in rows A, B or C again.  The people in rows A and B were having to shift around constantly and lean forward (I had to ask the woman sitting in front of me to please sit back) because their views are impeded by both the guard rails and those bits that stick out.

This is why I really dislike the Coli as a venue. It’s usually fine one level down but the tickets get very expensive (for me) down there but I find the balcony uncomfortable (I’m not that tall and the leg space is dire) and full of heads leaning forward in a domino effect for the reasons mentioned here. There are some parts of row A which not only have the guard rails but also some protruding metal bits (for lighting? Structural?) which means you have a large black rectangle obscuring your view if unlucky enough to sit there, far more restricted than the regular guard rails (bad enough) but the same price…! And isn’t row C much more expensive as well, it should be reduced accordingly as they know heads are in the way here. 
 

there must be some sort of modern improvement to the guard rail, but perhaps not I imagine it may be trickier than it appears. I know money probably also would be an issue but then they could charge more for those seats - the view would actually be pretty good without the rails. 

@Jan McNulty this is the article I was referring to https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/how-britain-became-a-gerontocracy/ if you’re interested you can also see median financial wealth by age broken down here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/totalwealthingreatbritain/april2018tomarch2020

I’m well aware there are many struggling pensioners and lots of young affluent people with large disposal incomes. I didn’t/don’t want to turn it into a “intergenerational war” and lots of things could be done to improve both the lot of the young and the retired. 
 

My overarching point I think is that if we are generalising on age groups the young (on average) are facing incredible costs (rent, housing notably being a very high proportion of income compared to previous generations) and so even though I no longer qualify I’m very supportive of schemes providing discount for 25 or 30 and under!
 

Schemes like Young ROH targeting such broad groups can’t individually means test individuals so they have to just pull from existing data and what they want to achieve (as already mentioned I don’t think Young ROH is just about targeting those likely to have less money but also targeting a younger customer base in the hope they become customers for the next 30/40/50+ years). 
 

I won’t comment on this further as I don’t want to take the topic further off track but just wanted to clarify I was by no means trying to say ALL pensioners are wealthier or undeserving and of course every individual will have different circumstances.