FionaM

As with ROH there are late returns if you can wait for the casting and hope to be lucky …  and then book late flights and hotels too.  

@myrtle further back in this thread 

last post on page 7

3 minutes ago, capybara said:

However, it is all the more galling given that the pdf was clearly signed off by KOH on the 26th March.

Well spotted.  It would seem like an admin error then … not getting the email out in timely fashion. 

Personally delighted by Sae Maeda and Daichi Ikarashi in Rhapsody together. Booked!

I’m guessing Matthew Ball is missing because he is guesting in Hong Kong in a new Swan Lake by Yuri Possokhov running 31/5 - 9/6

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5DGmf6JPTn/?igsh=b2loY3M2ZmlzZGFp

98% of tickets sold is VERY impressive.  The  ballet company should get more performances in the next season on this evidence .

On 23/03/2024 at 22:13, Geoff W said:

As Fiona did not like these fouettes, which had their bumpy moments, pushing technique to the limits, they were exciting in the spirit of the piece, and she saved any catastrophe, which was sadly not the case for the dancer in the Swan Lake Odile pas de deux earlier in the evening

I actually preferred Skylar Brandt’s back up plan of pique turns and a grand jete en tournant, when her fouettés went off.  (I am guessing she was intimidated by the legendary status of the Icons gala, as she can perform phenomenal pirouettes as we saw earlier in her solo.)  I admire her for having a back up plan for the fouettés (every dancer should), and choosing in the moment (how difficult is that) to do something else to maintain form and purity of ballet style.  Bravo.
 

My issue with Osipova is not only the fouettés.  Throughout the whole pdd, she was turned in, had bent knees, stepped onto bent knees, had raised shoulders, and chicken wing arms.  These are all examples of bad technique that have been seen in her performances for some years now.  I didn’t take to her over exuberant expression either. 
 

So this performance was not classical ballet to me, … not like she used to perform it.  It made me feel sad and ashamed.  I shrunk in my seat in a futile attempt not to see it. 
 

It is possible to give an exciting performance of this pdd whilst maintaining purity of positions and movements.  See Nunez/Muntagirov.   Cojocaru/Kobborg, Makhateli/Simkin… too many to mention on YouTube. 

13 hours ago, San Perregrino said:

On the way out I overheard an audience member say “I don’t know who he [Colas] was but he should have been promoted too. He was referring to RB principal Marcelino Sambé! who danced his socks off in his second guest appearance here.

hilarious!  Thank you for sharing that 😂

9 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

You know what they say, FionaM- all publicity is good publicity! The account holder is thrilled to get all reactions! (Especially if negative feedback triggers a wave of "aww, poor thing!" "don't mind the criticism" reactions as well.......) 

indeed 😂😂😂

Apparently the influencer has had a mountain of negative feedback from professional dancers.  

15 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Fun to see Tzu-Chao getting very excited for Beatrice:  throwing confetti over her and dancing during the applause. 😄 

was it confetti?  If so how did he know?  I suspect he dispersed the head of a flower from a bouquet 😉

https://www.instagram.com/p/C40i9MSIhgt/?igsh=dDdncGxzbDUwdGli
 

This influencer is dressed up as a ballerina in the ROH … and clearly isn’t one.   This offends me.  

Sadly the VPN route is not working for me.   Maybe they block VPN, like North Korea do! 
 

thank you for the extracts 🙏

Just now, Roberta said:

 

I don't know how effective a strategy this is in the long term, though I suppose the ROH marketing team try to keep up with the times I can see no way of monitoring how many people do actually buy tickets as a result of these influencer postings. 

 

this is what a survey to ticket purchasers should find out … not just where did you hear about the show, answer ‘via social media’ … but which type of entity on social media.   Their surveys aren’t clever enough yet. 

Regarding Swan Lake … all dates in the first run were sold out, so any availability now is returns.  I’m always grateful for these late returns, and have often taken advantage.

I don’t have a problem with ROH using influencers to reach a new audience.  The marketing of Swan Lake will overflow … the psychology being that an interested person finding Swan Lake to be sold out will get the idea that RB shows are popular, and, that they better book the next thing quickly.  
 

I also don’t have a problem with the influencer being glamorous.  The ROH is a place of beauty … both the building and the performances.  We all have enough grimness in our ordinary lives that dressing up for a night out is good for our mental health.  Young people are savvy enough to create their own look without going to the expense of the influencer’s products.

The visit to the Acosta Centre sounds amazing.  Thanks for the report @LinMM

I wish I could have joined.  It seems to me to be managed at a different level professionally, marketing wise, etc than most dance organisations.  
 

Congratulations to Javier Torres and Carlos Acosta …. I believe they are ‘upping the game’.  

1 hour ago, Roberta said:

 

To be fair I once could! Long long ago. 

yes I could too … 32 singles … only! 
 

In the last century.  

Teletubbies 🙊

Was Cesar able to jump like he did before?  🤞🤞🤞

@Geoff regarding my primitive writing, what words would you prefer me to use to express my displeasure and disappointment?  
 

and my comments did not only apply to her fouettés.  

7 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Full casting has been announced.  No PR yet but from the ENB website:

 

https://www.ballet.org.uk/production/carmen/#cast-section

 

 

Huge congratulations to Minju!!!!

based on her brilliant dramatic performances at Northern Ballet I was disappointed that she came to ENB at the most junior level of the corps de ballet.  She should be a junior soloist at least!   Maybe it was the only way in.  But still I found it insulting to an artist of her calibre.  I’m really glad that she seems to be on the fast track.

17 hours ago, art_enthusiast said:

I do find this quite harsh. And clearly the RB doesn’t agree otherwise they wouldn’t still be casting her in the classics.

 

Can’t speak for this performance as I wasn’t there, but I very much enjoyed her Kitri performance at ROH in November 2023.

I was at her last Kitri performance.  It was that which confirmed my growing concern … flat footed, turned in, bent knees, raised shoulders, over the top characterisation.  
 

I note 2 reviewers of the Icons gala (bachtrack and culture whisper) have said similar and another ‘seeing dance’ has omitted to mention her.  The latter is the usual formula of critics to poor performance.  It must be bad if critics are prepared to actually say it.  
 

With regards to her continuing to perform at ROH in classical ballets … she does still sell tickets.  It’s the same as going to watch Nureyev when he was 50.  Glimpses of past glory is enough for those audiences.  
 

It makes me sad and ashamed to see her destroying her reputation and that of the RB like this.  
 

Time to move on to other types of ballet and dance.   Her Manon earlier this season was also not at her previous level. 🥺

Delighted by the news of Paris Opera Ballet being screened by Pathé Live.  Can’t wait!  

Mixed bills of Made in NL and Other Dances look interesting.  Maybe some of the others? 
 

Will have to wait for further info on new full length … Lady Macbeth by Helen Pickett.  
 

My thoughts:

▪️graceful performances displaying technical excellence and pure beauty of classical ballet:

Gold stars:

Muntagirov (twice, though Diamonds is almost entirely partnering), Casalinho, Fernandes (also twice), Battistoni.  
 

I did notice rather careful grand pirouettes from Vadim.  I’d have liked more attack.  Fernandes’ balances in Esmeralda didn’t come off as planned, they are similar to Aurora’s in Rose Adagio.  As we know from Lesley Collier, there are “fiendishly difficult”.  Frankly it’s a trick I could do without in ballet.  It makes me too nervous. What’s the point (double entendre intended). 

Kaneko wasn’t at her technical best, she can be a LOT better.  Smirnova and Godunova were lacking in presentation and emotion.  Smirnova’s bling tutu and tiara (tons of sparkling jewels) were too distracting. Godunova was much better later in the evening as one of the DQ bridesmaids.  Mackay looked under-rehearsed, though his partnering was smooth.

The organisers should have had Yasmine Naghdi & Reece Clarke in this category.  They were wasted in Qualia, which is so dull and has the worst costumes ever. (white underwear, no thanks.)

▪️ performances full of emotion and dramatic intensity as well as technical proficiency:  

Gold stars:

Sakamoto & Allen, masterful in the range of emotions including some tongue in cheek moments in choreo by Hans Van Manen.  She has exemplary technique effortless triple pirouettes without any preparation and subservient to the emotions of the piece.

Pett & Clausen-Knight who gripped me with their emotional interplay of relationships.  
Both the above couples had smooth partnering, a sign of well rehearsed pieces. 

Potskhishvili - fabulous extra flourishes and technical difficulty.  Huge stage presence, physical and charisma. Tendency to go beyond is exciting.  I hope he can contain it so that it doesn’t become wild and uncontrollable.

Commended:

Hayward & Cornejo - a good partnership in this special duet despite en8ng of different companies.

Gouneo & Bocca - the only pure comic moments of the night.  Cranko genius.

Motomi Kiyota - sparkling in Corsaire solo with the biggest smile and enjoyment.

Brandt & Cornejo - super interplay of the story of Black Swan duet.  Extra points to Brandt for having a good alternative when the fouettés went off.  Every ballerina should have a plan.  Very few are going to pull these off night after night

Lee & Haw - super energy.  Maybe a little wild.  The piece is too short for me! 

▪️weaker parts of the gala:

Sadly Osipova was a vulgar parody of herself and a disrespect to ballet as an art form.  Giorgi Potskhishvili deserved better.  As did the audience.  She should stick to contemporary or dramatic narrative ballets. 

Bolle and Hamilton were super together, seamless partnering.  His dancing alongside her was not at the level expected, which is not surprising as he is 48.  He’d be better to choose pieces where he partners only, as Matthew Golding did with Lucia Lacarra.  Their piece wasn’t as good as previous years. 

I would have liked to see Abbagnato & Bernal in something better.  The piece was saved by the music and onstage musicians.