San Perregrino

3 minutes ago, JNC said:

@San Perregrino I think any professional dancer knows the difference between a gala, where an excerpt is danced and yes you still convey emotion and character but it’s only a segment, so once you’ve performed of course you take your applause and now then. 

 

This is different to a full story ballet being performed where dancers (in my opinion) should be in character when on stage until the very last curtain drop. I appreciate that dancers perhaps feel they are responding to the prolonged applause and “thanking” the audience for this, but I’d rather the conductor swiftly moved the music along and the dancers saved the bows for the curtain call (unless as already mentioned it could be part of the plot where they’re dancing to an audience in the ballet itself, in this case I think they’re still in character). 

 

It’s obviously not easy to keep dancing with maximum effort but they shouldn’t “need” to have an on stage bow for stamina reasons, other dancers can manage. The choreography/music is designed so after a big solo or pas de deux they have some rest time in the wings while the other dancers do their bit. 
 

This isn’t be being critical to Nunez/Muntagirov specifically, I don’t like it when any dancer does this type of thing. Galas and plotless ballets are different! 
 

Imagine if Hamlet broke character for a bow and some smiles to the audience after a big soliloquy? Ultimately anything that is definitely a break in character before the final curtain call I tend to find removes me from the plot slightly and therefore removes some of the “magic” of the story they’re trying to tell. It’s not going to stop me seeing performances by great dancers or writing into ROH to complain but it’s my preference. 

I totally agree with you on all points. 
It totally irks me when dancers stop the action and step out of character to smile and take prolonged bows mid story. It’s another form of distraction. Coming from a theatrical background it makes me start wondering how invested a dancer actually is in becoming a character and living his/her truth if they can turn it on and off so easily. But, theatre and ballet are different art forms and perhaps I expect too much. 

1 hour ago, JNC said:

On opening night there was almost a mini “curtain call” (no curtain) for Marianela and Vadim after the act 2 pas de deux. Deserved but it totally broke the spell of the plot for me and yes felt “untraditional” to ROH - in as I see this more from Russian companies but it didn’t really happen much at ROH previously? I suppose they are only responding to fans but I do wish they wouldn’t do it at certain points.

Perhaps because they dance extracts at so many galas they are used to applause at the end of a sequence where in the context of the complete narrative it makes no sense at all?

My observation is that Nunez and Muntagirov are the couple most likely to step out of character to take a prolonged bow mid-ballet be it Swan Lake or Don Quixote. However, these are complex technical and emotional sequences so on a practical level, for dancers of any age, let alone those more advanced in their careers, an opportunity to get one’s breath back is probably most welcome. 

3 hours ago, Tattin said:

I'm going to the cinema screening. Can anyone tell me at roughly what time I will find the "full" cast on line, i.e. other than just the principals ,Queen, Benno, Von Rothbart and Siegfried's sisters. I'd like to know as I have to drive some way to pick up a friend first so shan't be able to look at the last minute. 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett/cast-list/54729

Humming bus conductors, that takes me back 

Sorted thanks

19 minutes ago, Sim said:

There are many people on the site who have been watching ballet/dance avidly for many decades, and have a profound understanding and admiration for the art form.  They may not be academics or directly involved in ballet, but they often outclass the professional writers and others with their insights.

and, might I be so bold as to suggest that, once upon a time, the people who might now consider themselves to belong to the above categories might well have started out as ‘fanboys/girls, relatives and newbies' , their enthusiasm and curiosity for ballet subsequently engaging them so they added to their experience and knowledge over the course of time. 
IMHO an opinion is just an opinion. an interesting opinion is supported by rationale. the opinion of a fanboy/girl is equally as valid as that of someone who has spent a lifetime watching and studying something provided that the context is given. 

7 hours ago, alison said:

Very sad to hear this.  Also very sad to see that the BBC, despite its links to him, didn't see his death worthy of a mention on the news this evening.

I heard it on the BBC radio news yesterday. 

if anyone has a spare or can't use their ticket, please DM me.

thanks

To see Sarah Lamb dance anything is a memory to cherish.  Her performance last night is another such cherished memory as will be her two upcoming performances. I urge anyone who wants to see her dance Odette/Odile to do so during this run.  Much as we want dancers to go on forever, Time waits for no man or woman.

Reece Clarke as Siegfried literally enveloped her with his love at points during the evening as their connection was both visible and emotional. 

Was it my imagination or had the courtiers withdrawn or receded more than usual from the stage in Act III in order to create the space needed for Reece to soar in his solo sequences?

6 hours ago, Fiona said:

Why does the word "re-imagining" fill me with dread!!

Well, I saw London Tide at the NT last night. An ‘adaptation’ of Dicken’s ‘Our Mutual Friend’, this version has been given a woke ending along the same lines as ENB’s Raymonda.

Much as Raymonda abandons a man she might love, instead leaving to ‘find herself and her destiny’, in London Tide, Lizzie Hexham doesn’t marry the man she thinks she might love but instead heads out to ‘find herself and her destiny’.

Can we expect the same for Ballet Shoes or some gender swapping of the characters perhaps? 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68856354.amp

The Judas Tree as I’m keen to watch things that I haven’t yet seen.

5 minutes ago, FionaM said:

all I could find was a subscribe button.  No listing of the new season?  🤔 

I had to faff around a lot with the calendar. I couldn’t find a simple list. 
@Bruce Wall can you help? Thanks 

15 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

https://kglteater.dk/en/shows?f-type=ballet

 

Link still not working. I think it’s possibly got something to do with booking not opening tomorrow and/or there being a queuing system in operation. 

Royal Danish Ballet 2024/2025 season includes:

Giant Steps: Balanchine Evening: Serenade, The Four Tempéraments, Symphony in C.

The Princess & The Pea

Bournonville’s (Englund and Hübbe) A Folk Tale

Blood Wedding (new work by Eukene Sagues)

Balanchine’s Nutcracker 

Wheeldon’s Sleeping Beauty

Hübbe’s Don Quixote

The Great Gatsby (new work by Arthur Pita)

i don’t think the prices are expensive for central London in mid-December.  They range from £20 for rear stalls up to £72 for front stalls depending on the performance with the weekend being slightly higher.

The price range for Richmond in late November and Woking in January is broadly similar. Richmond also has premium seats inc drinks & nibbles at £105.

For comparison stalls seats for:

A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic range from £25 - £180

and for:

ENB Nutcracker at the Coliseum range from £85-£115 (child reduction is available)

9 hours ago, Birdy said:

The show was sold out within a minute of ticket sales starting

I’m always surprised with events that present/showcase students that parents dont automatically receive a pair of tickets or at least ‘first refusal’ to buy some ahead of the general public. 
Were it a ‘grown up’ evening sponsored by ‘X,Y & Z S.A.or Ltd’ I’m sure these sponsors would have received an allocation. In this instance I’d suggest parents are the equivalent of the sponsor.

It wouldn’t surprise me if R&J was programmed along the same lines as Swan Lake this season i.e. spaced out from March until June with things inbetween, say another full length like Onegin and, in my dreams, there’d be a Triple that included my favourite ‘Symphony in C’.

Separating Alice from Cinderella with Maddaddam would certainly help even out the ‘sweetness’ quotient of the first two thereby potentially attracting a different demographic. 
The scheduling of Maddaddam and Onegin could easily be reversed too.

Is Like Water For Chocolate due for a revival?

11 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Not the way I look at it.

The soliloquy between Acts 1&2 is gorgeous, his Act 3 variation can be spectacular. The rest is partnering an Odette or an Odile who completely obscures Siegfried from view for much of the time.

@Mary’s version (see above) would sort the dancing issue for me nicely. But not the ending 🤔

 

As I said he’s got a lot to do once out of the starting gate. Partnering is dancing surely as it’s integral to the choreography? 

Another random thought is, in an era where obviously great store is given to chaperoning princesses and young women, why is Odile allowed to disappear alone with Siegfried running off after her and what could the pair of them possibly be doing together out of sight of their elders? 

2 minutes ago, Mary said:

; I would also:

change Benno's Act 1 costume so he looked less like Buttons in a pantomime;

cut about half his dancing in Act 1  and give it to Siegfried ( I find it very frustrating when Siegfried just teases us with tiny bits of dancing here and there);

It randomly crossed my mind last time I watched SL what would the reaction be if, rather than saying no to dancing with his sisters, Siegfried decided that a bit of a dance might be just what he needed to dispel his melancholy tendencies…? though perhaps then he wouldn’t need to slip off to the woods and the lake which would make it a shorter ballet as he wouldn’t see the swans. 

Personally I’d keep the Benno dancing because it means better opportunities for more male dancers. Siegfried does have a lot to do once he’s out of the starting gate. 
As far as costumes go, I’d get rid of all black tights and shoes. A lot of the choreography especially in Act 3 is lost to view because black blends in to the richness of the Palace background rather than standing out. What’s the point of making all that effort for the audience not to be able to the skill involved? 

40 minutes ago, Sim said:

But I would like it more if Siegfried had put up a good fight,

A bit hard to do if you’ve been knocked unconscious. This Siegfried has shown us in previous scenes that he’s under his mother’s thumb and somewhat afraid of Von Rothbart at court. So having him taken out the action with a single blow sort of makes sense. 

1 hour ago, Sim said:

He should be up, fighting VR

That would be the obvious man triumphs over monster macho fight, the St George slays the dragon etc

Much more subtle is the girl power of the massed swans rising up in revenge for Odile’s death.

Perhaps Liam Scarlett foresaw that times were changing and so gave us this seemingly unconventional ending. 

53 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Thanks. It's useful for knowing approximately when in the season each of them will be on. Interesting to see they're reviving the new Carmen immediately, especially considering there are a lot of performance this season & the latter part of the run currently has quite a lot of the more expensive tickets still available.

Equally baffling is that it looks like Hansel & Gretel is being revived.

32 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Oooo David Donnelly as Von Rothbart this evening!!! 
 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett/cast-list/54699

Is it Taisuke Nakao’s debut as Benno?

Good to see Liam Boswell & Madison Bailey will dance Neopolitan too. (First time this run I think?)

I dont know the answer to your question as such.

Here’s a few musings:

Perhaps the balcony being closed off on opening night would give a negative impression and the producers have decided that there are enough less affluent ballet fans to buy up the tickets so I’ve put the balcony on sale.
Perhaps those lucky to have balcony seats are a ‘reserve pool’ on hand to be ‘upgraded’ on the night to fill any empty seats lower down to give the ‘full house on opening night feeling’. 
Making cheap seats available at the start of the run can help with promoting the show to the widest audience through social media and word of mouth. And/or whetting the appetite to encourage people to come again and buy a more expensive seat.

Again group bookings may have taken up the first two dates that you mention, either at a discounted rate or maybe they have been invited by the producers. Again the combined power of young fingers and social media can be a huge promotional asset if harnessed correctly.

In the case of BRB Sleeping Beauty at the Mayflower in Southampton earlier this year, once all seats in the stalls and dress circle had sold for a date, the gallery was then put on sale. This might happen with the balcony at the Coliseum.