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1 hour ago, JNC said:

I enjoyed Magri's rehearsal with Leanne Benjamin on World Ballet Day (in fact, I think it was my favourite part of the day!) and so while I'm not opposed to seeing how it looks further down the line to see the development, I do hope we also get to see others rehearsing the role too...

 

Does anyone know how long filmed insights stay on youtube for? Is it forever or a set amount of time? I'm hoping I can catch it some other time as not sure I'll be able to tonight. 

They usually just stay up there @JNC. I don't remember they ever removing an insight video. So be sure you'll be able to check it out later 😉.

One of my favourite parts of WBD was Magri's rehearsal of Coppelia. In specific Swanilda's awakening scene (her eyes looked so alive and wondrous, quite lovely) and when she did the slow penché ( she even got an wow from Stephen Wicks ). My other favourite part was definitely all the music played during the warm up class, and getting a sneak peak on Ferri ( who I assume is there for The Dante Project, though nothing has been confirmed). 

I hope we see others too. I believe she said they would be rehearsing the wedding pas de deux but also solos. So it could be more than them.

@Dawnstar I have noticed how this weekend a bunch of RB dancers have congratulated the company as a whole on social media for going through this crazy week and basically making it work. And I get it that their schedule is crazy right now but I do think certain roles should be announced together with the leading couple, i.e. Lilac Fairy and Carabosse. 

 

Great interview! Mayara is one of my top favourite dancers at the RB ( I like them all but have a few favourite ones ). I’m very happy that she will be dancing Swanilda and Odile/Odette, and I hope I’m available to travel to go watch her debut in Swan Lake 🤗. 
 

51 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I'm wondering if her sudden reappearance is related to Olivia Cowley suffering a back spasm?  After all, Sleeping Beauty does need quite a few female character artists.  Does her name show up in the programme?

From her social media it seems like Hayley was rehearsing for this role before Olivia’s injury so I would say they are unrelated. Her name is on the programme from the photo @Dawnstar posted here ( it’s her maiden name - Forskitt) for tonight performance with Hayward and Campbell.

1 hour ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I guess people will be rewarded with another Hayward/Campbell/Magri/Corrales performance. 🤗

Hayley Forskitt is a former RB dancer, she is married to Brian Maloney, who is a class teacher with the Royal Ballet and former soloist. There is an interview with her where she talks about deciding to retire to raise her kids. I believe her last role before retiring was Carabosse.

https://tothepointemagazine.wixsite.com/tothepointemagazine/single-post/2017/06/26/To-The-Pointe-Meets-Hayley-Maloney-Forskitt

1 hour ago, JNC said:

I do however still maintain (in my opinion) that dancers would prefer to dance a variety of roles rather than one - if the choice is between dancing Manon four times, but not Aurora at all, or vice versa, or dancing Manon twice and Aurora twice I believe most would likely choose the latter, but again I may be wrong! 

 

Isn't that the reason (meaning the diversity of roles and repertoire) why so many principal dancers in smaller companies later join a bigger company ( like William Bracewell did ) or in the case of the Vaganova school students some prefer the Bolshoi over the Mariinksy? It would be great if the dancers had on average 3 performances to find and develop their roles but I understand that KOH tries his best to give his dancers oportunities, and many dancers have said in interviews ( in english and others in their native language)  how much they appreciate his efforts to do so.

Apparently Magri and O’Sullivan were also Florestan sisters ( with Hay as Florestan). 

1 hour ago, FLOSS said:

 

As far as Raymonda Act III is concerned I wish that all the named soloists in the four female variations in the performances I attended had been less tentative and had performed as if they knew that they were there by right rather than by chance.

 

I’m gonna write my thoughts on the triple bill over the weekend but couldn’t pass up saying that I wish Magri was up for variation 4 on the cinema relay after all the rave reviews she received. From what I read in pretty much all the reviews is that she was the one who was really swinging and going for it. 

4 hours ago, capybara said:

The casting used to list the Lilac Fairy and The Bluebirds - those were the days.............

It's sad that they don't do that anymore (unless it's for the cinema relay).

12 hours ago, JNC said:

I also believe Magri is cast as the lilac fairy (?) and would love to see her! 

You are correct. Magri will debut as Lilac Fairy and Blue Bird. I really hope she is casted in the cinema relay in one of the two roles since that’s the only way I can see her in those.

3 hours ago, capybara said:

Last night, for me, was about being there to watch and honour two great artists who are nearing he end of their careers. They may not have hit the spot in every single respect but, on an emotional night for them, they showed us once again what great artists they are - and they went out on a real performance 'high'. Thank you Laura and Federico 💐🌼

That's a beautiful sentiment Capybara. 

3 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Okay.  Here what you say.  I rather liked the trailer so I shall probably go to see it and am keen to see Hayward and Macrae.  I am pretty allergic to the sheep on social media that take it upon themselves to decide to condemn something before they've seen it so, in a perverse way, I am already rooting for it!

Look, I am of the belief that with a project like this, where it’s an adaptation of a beloved musical, it’s good that they have criticism very early on that may help them deliver a better movie in the future when they release it, especially in this case when most of the things they can do to improve it is VFX. If there is one good thing about CGI is that it’s actually constantly being worked on and evolving and with the feedback they now have an idea of what people liked or disliked. I am in the end rooting for it. And by the way, a lot of people were also making fun of the genie in the live action Aladdin when the first trailer hit the web and then after the initial backlash they re-worked on the VFX to improve it and when the movie came out people loved the genie ( the movie was the sleeper hit of the summer surprising people when it hit 1 billion when it was projected to make way less than that number).

What’s actually more staggering for me in terms of production is the proportion of things that don’t seem to really follow a pattern. Also, where are their whiskers? Why keep the human like nose it makes no sense. I think what’s freaking people out is the uncanny valley of visual effects they were thinking of using ( I can’t imagine they keeping things the way they are). Fortunately for them, those are things they can still fix in post production.

Hello everyone! I've been following this forum for a while and finally decided to be a part of it myself. 😊 I've always enjoyed reading your reviews and commentary and I would love to contribute too. Probably won't do it as often because I don't live anywhere near Englad but as a fan of the Royal Ballet I decided to join in regardless. My main form of contact with the Royal Ballet is through the live cinema relays (thank god they exist), DVDs, and all the content they put on youtube. Besides that, I saw  them live whenever I could for these past 5 years when I visited London.

Regarding the topic of partnerships I have some I like or would like to see more of: Marianela Nunez and Federico ( there are clips of different partnerships they did online , and I love all of them). Marcelino Sambe and Mayara Magri ( I don't think they have danced romantic roles opposite each other but I think both match each other in energy - they'll be dancing Swan Lake so I'll be curious to hear about that). Marcelino and Anna-Rose also proven they match. Matthew Ball and Yasmine Naghdi. Would love to see Magri and Corrales together so I'm glad people are enjoying them in Manon and have Coppélia to look forward. Fumi and Reece for me is one I never understood why they don't dance together more often since is no secret that not only they are in a relationship for years now but more than that they love to dance together ( and from the clips I've seen it's for a reason), I know it's not their decision to make though.

Now, the RB have some other real life couples in it's upper ranks that I would be curious to see together on stage, but maybe because they are more private or because they already have other stage partners they are constantly working with, it seems more unlikely to happen.

Please excuse any english mistakes and nice to meet you all.