LACAD

Unfair is exactly the word I was thinking of. I truly believe she could’ve grown to be a leader of the ballet world.

I would agree with you, however Watkin may be keeping Rojo’s MO of having dancers audition for the role before getting casted. Kase is a wonderful dancer and still has her place firmly established in the classics, it could be that Khan’s style is simply not suited to her, or to her liking. Velicu, Suzuki, and Bueno (as all the new Giselles) excell in the contemporary repertoire.

Doing a little dance for Joy seeing Sissens’ promotion, he still has room to grow, but I truly believe he’s deserving of this rank and has something unique to offer. I mostly attend mixed/neo classical rep, an arena in which Richardson and Sissens are exemplary. Also delighted for M Sasaki, Tsembenhoi, Maeda, and Boswell. I’m also pleased to see Rebecca Myles Stewart joining, her performance at the black history month insight was very commanding.

After watching the stream it’s quite clear that Breanna Foad is a gem in ENB’s corps de ballet. I knew she had something special since seeing her freshly plucked from the corps by Mats Ek as the lead in the second cast for his Rite of Spring (with Francesco Gabriele Frola as her partner no less!). Thiago Pereira and Shunhei Fuchiyama also impressed me, as did Precious Adams and Eric Snyder in their guest appearance. What fluency they’ve developed, and, as Watkins said upon bestowing the People’s Choice Award—Adams is certainly an exciting ballerina for the company, a principal ranking just might be on the horizon. The competition wasn’t as nail biting as other years, but this year it seemed to all come down to the wonderfully performed contemporary duets. I could watch Breanna’s skulking all night.

I had to do a double-take. Yu Kurihara gave a principal level performance when I saw her at SW, surely she’ll be promoted soon (though there are a lot of principals at BRB right now).

Apologies Alison! I saw the info released last week and presumed it was known. I should’ve been more aware of those avoiding spoilers!

I wholeheartedly agree that Joe Sissens will probably be the next male principal, whether that’s now or later. I also truly believe it is Melissa Hamilton’s time to step up to the plate, she is a dancer that truly excites me at every viewing. As for the other ranks: Tsembenhoi and Pantuso have had great seasons, Masciari has star quality that will need to be unleashed sooner or later, all three are very deserving of being bumped up the ranks.

I would love to see more men at the principal rank at ENB: Junor Souza, Ken Saruhashi, Lorenzo Trossello. I also think Minju Kang and Ivana Bueno have proven their skills enough to jump up from their respective ranks. Breanna Foad too (though I still have to see her winning performance from Emerging Dancer, her contemporary leading roles have been excellent). I’m also hoping for more leading classical roles for Emily Suzuki, who has an astounding level of magnetism in all she does.

I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s performance from BRB. This production is the same one I watched as a child at Dutch National Ballet, albeit the Dutch set is larger and a little more gilded and bright. Still, I felt very nostalgic watching Wright’s Beauty. Overall I was quite impressed with the level of dancing, SB is very exposing for any company and some fatigue peeked through in the first act among some cavaliers and fairies. Beatrice Parma proved her worthiness as BRB’s newest incumbent principal—effortlessly sparkling in each of her solos in the evening. As for Yu Kurihara stepping into the role of Aurora for Alina Cojocaru, what a discovery for me! Steady as anything in her turns, but also playing with musicality in her dainty variations. My hope is that the balletomanes of London were as impressed as I was by her radiance. Lachlan Monaghan was full of spring turning the chugging slogging variation of the grand pas de deux into a spritely gallop in the palace. Sleeping Beauty isn’t my favourite ballet, mostly owing to its length. While a few people left around us after the second act believing the action was all over, I was more than happy to see this sumptuous production to the glittery end.

Just chiming in with my thoughts from last night’s performance led by Minju Kang and Rentaro Nakaaki. I have seen this production before, Spain’s Compañia Nacional de Danza released a recording online a few years ago. My opinion overall has remained rather unchanged over the piece — its dark intensity is compelling, but impact begins to wear thin in the second act. I enjoy the fascist sterility of the look of the work, and the tenebrous, graphic choreographic style. Some scenes are quite brilliant — the cigarreras in their sweatshop, Don José’s first solo after receiving Carmen’s flower. In one highly effective scene Don José hunts through Seville calling out for Carmen, soon the women he harasses while looking for her begin to hiss Carmen’s name at him and hunt him like a pack. There’s a clear reference to sexual dynamics in Spain, recalling the recent La Manada gang rape of a woman in Andalusia — coincidentally the region in which our story takes place. The second act is much more conceptual and diluted. As we enter Don José’s psyche things become patchier, reflecting his darkening mental state. One overly long ensemble sequence is especially superfluous. We’ve gone from a cool neo-noir to a total halt of the action. The second act also highlights the central issue with this adaptation — the piece never humanises Carmen above an obsession. Don José is by no means a hero, but seeing Carmen solely through his possessive eyes flattens her humanity. Even in death Carmen simply floats away into an ephemeral light. Like the women before her throughout Spanish history, her death is a footnote, the consequence of machismo. The figure of the Boy as a young Don José is an interesting addition to the story conceptually, but even his role as some sort of moral litmus test cannot save the work’s flimsy approach to a topic of such importance. Rentaro Nakaaki’s Don José isn’t the sloppy man we’re used to seeing. He is young, impressionable, and cripplingly unconfident — a veritable incel. Nakaaki is a compelling young talent in the company, he’s highly watchable and has a magnificent command of the contemporary style. Minju Kang stretches her acting chops as much as she can within the confines of Inger’s Carmen. Erik Woolhouse is brilliantly campy and bursting with sex appeal as the glittery Torero. Overall the company are convincing as dramatic performers, especially the vibrant women of the corps de ballet. The philharmonic are typically in great form, zipping through Rodion Schedrin’s orchestrations. Schedrin’s score was originally made for Fernando Alonso’s adaptation of Carmen created on Maia Plisetskaya, leading to a strange mix of Cuban instrumentation and soviet jazz. The new electronic elements by Marc Álvarez are effective in building a smokier mood, but one very long sequence filled with references to Bizet’s original melodies begins to feel like filler. Overall by no means a bad work, but disappointingly quite flat. I sincerely hope this doesn’t tarnish the reputation of the new director, after all commissioning a work that received the Prix Benois de la Danse would typically point to success. Unfortunately, in spite of a talented company of dancers, the work never reaches a boiling point.

Just thought I’d chime into this topic as someone from “Gen Z”. Though I definitely agree that the opera house should be more accessible price-wise, that ballet is more than the Tchaikovsky classics, and that one doesn’t need to be dressed to the nines to see a ballet, this is the trend among many younger people who are enticed by the glamour of ballet. Interestingly in times of recession and financial hardship there is a noted phenomenon where brash and bright pop music, branded fashion and cosmetic brands, and escapist activities (theatre/cinema/concert going) become more popular. And accordingly it seems the opera house — for a while now, as I’ve seen on my own social media feed — is trying to market themselves as a glamorous night out. I am conscious of a pang of elitism in some of my fellow young balletomanes’ attitudes towards the art; it can only be appreciated by connoisseurs, it would preferably be classical in nature, one must be dressed the part to attend, one must expect to pay high prices. I feel this is exacerbated by the recent ‘ballet-core’ fashion trend. And while there are definitely elitist roots in the art form, I find it a shame to reinforce these stereotypes. Especially considering other countries in Europe find success with young audiences in marketing as ‘glamorous’ but also forward thinking and accessible institutions — take the Dutch National Ballet’s young patron’s circle, the Paris Opera selling very cheap tickets for young audiences at previews. To end my long-winded meditation on the matter, I do believe this is a question of financial survival. The opera house needs young audiences to ensure future financial security. We are well past a time where government funding would grant cheaper tickets and more accessibility programmes, so it’s all about selling the experience. And that may well mean having to market the house as a place of glamour and fantasy (tutu included).

Very deserving nominations for Jonzi D and especially Isabela Coracy. Very surprised to see La Ruta and Time Spell nominated — I quite liked La Ruta but I’m aware it divided critics and the audience.

I agree with @Mary that snacks are a must, maybe even something with a little bit of sugar for the final push as the evening stretches on. I went to lots of full length ballets as a kid and if your little one has an interest in dance they’ll certainly enjoy it! Triple bills are also a good idea as they can have some very exciting movement and music for younger audience members. ENB are bringing back Playlist EP next year and I would highly recommend it.

The evening of works that was to feature Rotunda and the Paris Opera Ballet and was cancelled due to the pandemic was curated as a programme of dance pieces to the compositions of Nico Muhly. The third piece was a work by Michael Keegan Dolan who has made some fabulous dance theatre works, and I hope we do get to see the piece he had planned one day. I do think NYCB would fare better than they did in the past if they were to tour again in London. I get the impression that many people (at least where I was sitting) were people who went to see an iconic company that’s known in popular culture. To go and see the New York City Ballet was enough, regardless of what they were performing. Sadler’s and the ROH are relatively small theatres compared to some of the larger spaces across Europe i.e. the Opera Bastille, the Stopera in Amsterdam, the Teatro Real in Madrid. Unless they were given ample time to restage the only reasonable option is the Coliseum.

I certainly noticed how quietly everyone landed @Bruce Wall, I was very impressed! Funnily it was the first thing that really stood out to me while viewing.