HelenLoveAppleJuice

Yes! I forgot to put that in my review. But yes and yes! Hirano is great and the final moment of him... is fantastic. During the 2nd interval I kept thinking about the idea that maybe Hirano might become a principal character artists one day...

I agree with you that Hallberg's cooperation with the Mercutio, Benvolio and the rest of the corp is not as good as other RB's Romeo. But I usually give a guest artist a pass on this perspective. Unfortunately that R&J required a lot of cooperation from male principles not like some other classic that is easier to guest. Well on the "creative" part. Yes I had some same feeling at the opening act of her in Act 1 when Juliet is playing a doll. Probably that I was hoping to see a more shy and maiden like Juliet not this naughty one. But isn't it the reason that I planned to see 4 casts of R&J this run. (LauraC&Ball, Osipova&Hallberg, Lamb&Vadim and Nela. Unfortunately I had to returned the tickets for Valid and Nela because a last minute trip)

Report after today's show It is my first time to see David Hallberg. 2nd time see R&J at ROH. (1st time Laura C &Ball opening night) I have seen R&J in other places as well. I usually don't sit very close to the stage but this time I chose a very close up seat on the floor. I felt that it is very different view of the market scene. The fighting, the moving of the crowd is very different from what I see from upper level. The blended of the color and the light is also a bit different. First goes the doubts 1. I found that several of Hallberg's lifting a little bit of "stiffness" in the balcony scene. But it may be because It is my first time to see so close up of a MaxMillan's ballet. If any of you also attended today's performance, please tell me if I am wrong. 2. Prince of Verona is not as convincing as the opening night. Then goes what I really enjoyed The corp is great. Thank them for such a long lasting run! Act 1 Osipova is always Osipova and her Juliet is a happy Juliet:) I really see the passion between her and Hallberg. She reminded me of my teenage time, more silliness than shyness when you see him. And you don't know how to behave, you feel that you cannot breath but still you want to see him, more of him. The balcony PDD is also great. Despite I felt that several movement, lifting is not as smooth as I would expect. Final act in the tomb:I have to say that this is the moment that David has won my heart. This is the first time in the final act that I felt that Romeo is equivalent in love as Juliet. In all the other performance of R&J, I see more of sadness and helpless from other Romeo but this time I see a great amount of love and a really feeling that he gave up the hope of life. A very touching moment. In all it is a very lovely night and I am very happy to see a very different pair of R&J. Very different from Laura C & Ball. The only regret is that it is not recorded because I quite wish to have a recording of Ospova's Juliet. Actually I wish to see a recording of all RB's Juliet. I just cannot get it enough.

I am more concerned on the male side. 2018-19 season was heavy on male requirement. (Mayerling Manon DQ R&J Frankenstein) and we did really see a last man standing situation. RB is very blessed on a rich list of great or great-to-be male dancers. I would love to see some promoted and some imported made... I am not saying that RB's current male dancers do not make me happy. But I sometimes feel that the current set is a little very Royal Ballet style and I do want to see some different element.

(Totally unrelated to ballet) I had been in a crowd after the La Traviata with Plácido Domingo at the stage door early this year. The stage door staff controlled the crowd and the manager asked us to form a line to come inside one by one. Because Domingo was very tired and he sat at the desk. I brought a CD recording of his Carmen. The recording is older than me. It was recorded by West Germany. I think that ROH staff were really amazing and well organized staff.

I just realize that I booked 2 tickets in Amphi for this gala but my friend will not be in town in June... One spare ticket it means. It is time to call the old friends...

I watched the youtube trailer. The information, especially the part of La Bayadare, really interested me. And I cannot take off my eye on her big diamond ring around 0:27. It looks so beautiful! I don't like the background music of the trailer... It sounds too normal to be fit into an art movie.

Just got home and writing down the fresh hand review. I sat at Row B-9 in Grand Tier tonight. I booked a stall seat for the opening night but could not make it because of a short noticed business trip last week. After a 10+ hour flight, I decided to treat myself at Grand Tier. Kevin OH sat at aisle in the Grand Tier with his iconic blue suit. My review for all three programs is... I really doubt if I lost some sights after the long flight. Or it is part of the lighting problem? I find it is very difficult to see clear of the movement sometimes even though I sat at a premium seat. I have not seen any of the 3 pieces of work before. Within Gold hour is nice and delightful. I wish to know more about that the piece is talking about and the background. Flight pattern: I have to admit that I felt asleep for 5 minutes in the middle of it. It is not my cup of tea. The introduction says that it reflected the refugee problem but I don't really get it. The snowing stage effect at the end was amazing. Could we bring it into the Nutcracker? Medusa: It is the reason why I come tonight. After watching it... I feel a meh. Natalia Osipova is fantastic. Hirano and Ball are wonderful. But like the other reviewers, I feel the story is very plain and not blended well with the music. At the end I felt very sad, not for Medusa but for the dancers. They must have paid a lot of effort for this piece... But it does not work well. Osipova is likely the best or one of the best ballerina in creating modern dance now. She did so many practice and worked so hard with so many newly created work on her. Although she danced her heart but I don't think that any of them is good enough to be called a master piece. (Two feet, Mother, Facada and now Medusa... and many other project). I really don't understand why modern dance has to be filled with struggling, confusion or temper all the time. All are like to dance the R&J final act multiple times... It is not bad by itself but you need to build the atmosphere and build up the character first and let the audience really soak into it. All in all it is an enjoyable night but I won't recommend it to my friends.

I am thinking of moving out of London back to US. I really don't want to leave after seeing the schedule. Coppelia and the sleeping beauty is top on my wish list. Ohhh...

Is Coppélia a new production? The old production is really out of fashion and I don't like the design color theme. Bolshoi's Coppélia has a very nice design. I watched the recording of Osipova as Swanilda. It will be very interesting to see her dancing Swanilda again after so many years.

I did not released the triple bill first night will be so popular! I guess maybe some celebrating event was scheduled after the show. So the supporters all booked the ticket. I did see quite a few tickets left on that date when I booked as a young friend ( I chose Hallberg on June 5 anyway) So.... I booked a 8 pounds standing ticket for that night from Amphi... I have not tried that view before and seems very interesting to me.

Thank you very much for these information! So it seems that it is mainly due to conflict of schedule. But then it sounds more shady because they posted those names from Bolshoi and Mariinsky on their official PB page on February 12. I hardly believe that the Mariinsky festival schedule had not been settled by February 12 or Bolshoi schedule. I am certainly very happy to see all other dancers on stage and I don't think that any blame to the original list of cast, who knows if they really made the commitment or not? What to do next? I will certainly skip this Gala next year or any performance by this organization and advise my friends to do so. ------------------------------------------------- Russian Ballet Icons Gala February 12 · The Russian Ballet Icons Gala 2019 at the London Coliseum on 31 March will be another highlight in the ballet lovers’ calendar featuring captivating classical masterpieces and exciting contemporary repertoire. The programme will be performed by Maria Alexandrova (Bolshoi Theatre), Sergio Bernal (Ballet Nacional de España), Elisa Carrillo Cabrera (Staatsballett Berlin), Jeffrey Cirio (English National Ballet), Mikhail Kaniskin (Staatsballett Berlin), Maria Kochetkova, Liudmila Konovalova (Vienna State Ballet), Kristina Kretova (Bolshoi Theatre), Misa Kuranaga (Boston Ballet), Lucía Lacarra (Bayerisches Staatsballett), Sarah Lamb (Royal Ballet), Vladislav Lantratov (Bolshoi Theatre), Julian MacKay (Mikhailovsky Theatre), Steven McRae (Royal Ballet), Yasmine Naghdi (Royal Ballet), Artem Ovcharenko (Bolshoi Theatre), Giuseppe Picone (Teatro di San Carlo), Marcelino Sambé (Royal Ballet), Dmitry Semionov (The Semperoper Dresden Ballett), Polina Semionova (Staatsballett Berlin), Daniil Simkin (Staatsballett Berlin), Alina Somova (Mariinsky Theatre), James Stout (Dutch National Ballet), Anna Tsygankova (Dutch National Ballet), Anna Tikhomirova (Bolshoi Theatre), Josué Ullate (Víctor Ullate Ballet), Ivan Vasiliev (Mikhailovsky Theatre), Maria Vinogradova (Bolshoi Theatre) and Konstantin Zverev (Mariinsky Theatre). To book Gala performance tickets visit https://tinyurl.com/yav9sxjq To book the VIP packages to include the Gala Dinner at the Savoy in the presence of the star dancers and other distinguished guests please email admin@ensembleproductions.co.uk -------------------------------------------------

The worst things I have seen: Playing with a big phone just surfing facebook for a while during the kingdom of shades. I would say it is not only rude but a crime. Yes it happened last year at La Bayadere opening night with Nela/Osipova/Vadim cast at RoH. I was at Row A Amphitheater(sitting at Amphi for the shades and music!) The women sitting next to me clearly has zero interest in ballet. She took out her phone and random played the apps. I was so astonished that I did not know what to say. Two gentlemen behind me knocked her and told her stop after several minutes. To save some face, she did not turn it off immediately but continued for a minute then turned off... Then they confronted her and criticized her during the interval. She did not come back. This kind of behavior is not associated with age or race. I am holding a young friend card and the gentlemen behind us were minorities. It was just so... appalling... Usually if you attend the opening night and sit in front row, you will sit next to art lovers. I don't know what happens that day...

If it is your first time, you will be surprised by how dirty the NY underground is ... comparing to tube in London. lol And they don't allow smoking or publicly consuming alcohol in general, on the street.... Very different from what happens in Covent Garden. Among all the musuems in NYC, I enjoyed Moma most. A very organized collection.

Yes. I waited at the stage door after Sat Don Q performance. Vadim rushed out carrying a big suitcase and apologized that he had to make his way to airport immediately He only signed for a cute little girl coming from Italy then ran away. He was so polite and adorable. So no one was unhappy. We just continued to wait for Osipova. And something completely unrelated... Osipova has made an amazing improvement on her English speaking. Maybe she spoke good English long ago but she did not talk in English before. This time she spoke in English and I must say it is very good comparing to my lovely English college who worked in UK for 3 years:)

I don't know if anyone has already talked about the filming arrangement of R&J or not. I am very sure that when I booked the tickets when booking opened for friends, both Naghdi&Ball performance and Osipova&Hallberg performance were marked as "filming". It was known that only Naghdi&Ball show will be broadcast. And we thought there is probably a DVD filming for Osipova&Hallberg. When I checked last week, now no filming label for Osipova&Hallberg show but for Takada&McRae, O'Sullivan&Sambé, Hamilton&Clarke. Anyone with any idea what happens? Personally I like O'Sullivan,Sambé,Clarke and McRae very much. Not a big fan of Takada but no objection on her. I heard good review of Osipova&Hallberg partnership and really wish to see a DVD or broadcast for them, not only speaking for me, but speaking for a group of fans for them two. Many of them cannot come here to London to see the show...

After Osipova suddenly called off DQ in St. P and all Bolshoi&Mariinsky dancers did not show up, I was worried for a little bit if the cold war came back or something worse happened Then I saw Ekaterina Krysan and Vasiliev and what a relief... Not everyone is injured. Maria Vinogradova updated on her instagram with some after show photos. I really wonder why she could not make it while Vasiliev did. I just cannot think of any explanation. While I usually don't count on gala, this time I thought it was a long star list and even if half of them showed up... To this stage, I really wonder if the list of icons did agree with the arrangement. Such a big disappointment. The event is organized in a way just to create a chance for the "celebrates" to dress up and have warm-up before their $$$$ Savoy dinner, while lures some innocent fans to chip in a bit. PS: By no doubt, the dancers, if not all, but most of them really did a good job.

It is my first comment on this forum. I don't want to be picky but I have to say that I am very disappointed by this gala. I was there last night at dress circle. 7th row. Good view enough. First as the previous comment pointed out, many of the advertised dancers did not show up. I appreciate all the dancers on stage last night and I don't think that some dancers are "much superior" than the others. But, if you advertised some big names, "icons" in this gala, then you should give some sort of explanation... or at least make an announcement on your facebook account https://www.facebook.com/Russian-Ballet-Icons-Gala-160784144021767/ or make some adjustment on your ticket selling page of "cast" https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/russian-ballet-icons-gala-2019-with-the-participation-of-russian-and-international-ballet-stars/#prod-cast. As of now, that cast page still put Maria Alexandrova at top and Alina Somova as well. They made an announcement in January on their FB page saying "The Russian Ballet Icons Gala is delighted to welcome the famed Mariinsky Theatre Prima Ballerina Alina Somova at the Gala on 31 March 2019 at the London Coliseum." So I really wonder what happened. (Maybe I missed something) but yesterday the only Bolshoi dancer is Ekaterina Krysanova All their advertised Bolshoi "icon"s did not show up. Maria Alexandrova Kristina Kretova Vladislav Lantratov Artem Ovcharenko Maria Vinogradova Anna Tikhomirova And neither of their advertised Mariinsky icons showed up. Alina Somova Konstantin Zverev I fully understand that injury and travel plan may affect. But everyone? Does it worth an announcement? Honestly it is called "Russian icon gala". Yes Daniil Simkin from ABT and Julian MacKay from Mikhailovsky really shone but isn't not that "Russian" enough...? Royal ballet two pairs of dancers really shone. But why should I, a Royal Ballet frequenter paid more to see them (dancing a shorter program) than I can regularly do at RoH? The black swan PDD, Don Q PDD are both danced by non-Russian and not related to Russian background dancer in American/English style. OK the original is Russian... It is like you invite me to a French restaurant and tell me how excellent the fish&chips here is... No matter how excellent it is, it is not the reason I come. Not the reason that I paid >100 pounds and modified my travel schedule for. The tickets are not refundable. You won't lose anything to let us know the truth. Totally disappointment PS I can see that many audience are focusing on "spend a interesting night" and did not really care what it is on stage. I saw a Russian girl frequently pop out her huge phone and just checked the messages. I confronted her before 2nd half and her response was "I only light it up when lighting was brighten and... " No dear, I can even tell what app you installed even I sat several rows behind you.