TSR101

Well it did take him quite a long time then - 11 years roughly I think.

Regardless of whether they retire, they will dance less and they will step away from some roles completely. They will also be increasingly susceptible to injuries and recovery time will also lengthen. Their bodies are still human. I think leaving the ROH would be a travesty personally - and given the challenges of finding anywhere to substitute for it during the ROH's renovations I can't think of anywhere they would readily move too. Whilst I have always been jealous of the lavish opera houses that other countries have - the ROH is very drab compared to the Garnier for example - I don't think they would have the money to build something other than a ghastly concrete box somewhere outside of London.

TBH this seemed to come about because he became Natalia's choice as partner. I am only guessing, but this seems the logical reason why he did so many, not only principal roles but the lead principal roles before becoming principal. It was actually a bit silly that he wasn't principal sooner given the casting decisions.

Hmmmm I love the Royal Ballet but tbh this comes across a bit arrogant (no offence intended). The RB's repertoire is special but it's not so special extremely talented dancers cannot adapt and excel in it, as has been proven. TBH I would take Guillem over any other performer of Manon. Personally, I would take Tissi over any of the first soloists or other prospects from the company. I haven't seen enough of Soares to judge but I expect he would have had to come in as a First Soloist (his Bolshoi grade) and work up which would have been worth it for the company but it is probably less appealing than immediate promotion he got to Principal in Berlin. To be honest, there does not seem to have been any effort by the RB to accommodate exiled dancers from Russia in the long term (I think May Nagahisa was here for a while before she returned to Russia - tut tut) or to use it as a reason to bring in fresh talent. To me this is a failing of the company and a mark against the AD. Spurious wishful thinking but if I could recruit a male and female principal into the company I think it would be Marchand (I think a wonderful Des Grieux per my first point above) and Smirnova. Alas I fear this may never happen!

I am not convinced personally that the pipeline to replace the older principles exists as you say. There are quite a few of them and they include the biggest names the company (Lamb 43, Nunez 41, Cuthbertson 39, Osipova 37, Hirano 40, McRae 38). Furthermore regardless of the pipeline, no single ballet school will produce all the best ballet dancers and I think you do the company an injustice as an AD if you aren't trying to bring in talent - again as I have said in other threads - imagine the history of the RB without the stars that have been brought in - there is no Acosta, no Guillem, no Nuryev, no Kobborg etc. A lesser company it would be. For me the issue is who? Obviously a lot of the Russian talent is no longer available really! Most of the dancers I would like to see move to the RB appear quite happy where they are unfortunately!

Surely Sissens is primed for the next male slot, Kevin seems to really like him given his castings. He was cast more often than Campbell was in lead roles! I would expect his promotion in the autumn tbh and 2025 at the very latest. Personally, whilst he is a great dancer I am not really convinced of his acting ability. For example, in Dark with Excessive Bright - which given our proximity wasn't very forgiving - he went for a very weird dopey spaced out look which was very out of place with the other dancers. As I have said before, I actually think RB needs some new blood from outside. The last major recruitment of Principals was Osipova and Muntagirov I believe. RB should always seem to bring in proven talent as well as develop it - it offers the company greater variety, given different training styles and wider repertoire, and enhances what it can do. That said, I don't think Frola is it tbh, not sure he is actually better than some of the First Soloists they have in the ranks. ENBs top ranks have been somewhat denuded over the past couple of years. There are a number of RB First Soloists (Acri and Hamilton for example) that would walk into the ENB's top rank with ease in my opinion.

How would this differ to the arrangements for the Bolshoi for example where they invited guests?

I noticed today that Olga's website says she will be performing the Diamonds Pas de Deux with Tissi.

What does this mean exactly? Does it just mean that the company has to pay for the venue?

It is all odd, given that she did (possibly introduced) on stage promotions at the ENB so she knows the importance of giving speeches and honouring your dancers in public in that way. It's such a shame because I think she did such a fantastic job with making the ENB's repertoire often more interesting than what RB was putting out for me. Whilst I do not follow SFB I have also started to hear rumoured discontent about her relationships with the Hernandez's and how that impacts the company. Obviously this is an easy rumour to throw around, and something that existed at the ENB, but it cannot help her current situation in getting her audience and company on board (even if there is little truth in it).

I think this argument - to give them a break since they do usually provide casting and there could be other reasons which have made it difficult - would have more weight, if they hadn't just done the exact same thing with the MacMillan triple. To do it back to back on the triple shows lack of competence or just lack of care for the impact. It also indicates potentially a worrying trend. I also do not buy the - other companies don't provide casting until [insert any stupidly short time period before the performance] argument. Those other companies are in my mind doing a poor job of engaging with their customer base (they are certainly with me given it is will result in me not spending money with them) and it is not something that RB should be seeking to replicate. Like others, the fact that I can use advanced booking to get to see the performance I want, in the seat I want - is by far the most important driver behind my membership and the membership level that I am willing to pay for. The membership is also vastly more important for ballet for this reason - there is almost no opera performance where I have not been able to pick up tickets last minute, even in prime locations - with the exception of when someone like Kauffman performs etc.

It's a bit rude to extend this offer to Patrons but not Friends who also pay, albeit less, for a form of membership specifically to allow them advanced booking.

What a wonderful eloquent quote! I won't go through every one of the performances - I enjoyed them all and it was a great evening - I would however add that like the poster above, I felt although Olga's 'Dying Swan' was technically exceptional, I didn't feel the swan was dying. More graciously flying around whilst finally coming to rest. In my mind I was very much comparing it with the recent Osipova Dying Swan, which I felt made me feel I was witnessing the final fluttering of a swans wings before it lay down to die.

You mistake lack of awareness for lack of agreement. You fail to respond to any of the points put to you. You fail to put forward the basic premise of what is objectionable in the ballet La Bayadere - in this instance blackface/yellowface hasn't actually been argued for, those particular production techniques may be employed by some companies but are not an integral part of La Bayadere. You fail to realise that if you were to eradicate cultural stereotyping you would eradicate much of the western narrative ballet canon which are full of stereotypes as is much of most cultures dramatic depictions. You fail to realise you only care about giving special protections to 'non-western' cultures and alas you fail to state how La Bayadere itself is racist, simply choosing instead to try and claim some position as a crusader for justice and equality. Your contempt demonstrates perfectly why people don't stand up to those who speak loudly for the minority. Alas I am off to tonights Gala.

Really? Christians believe in one god, but the exact form of that god between Christian faiths is not always the same but once again good try at evading the substance of any point put to you.

To be clear Roberta, as a mixed race person who is part welsh, part English, part Scottish, part Indian, your conflation of this with racism to me is offensive because it's not. Trying to conflate this with the right for people to have jobs and housing, to be not abused on the street, be treated equally is also offensive, because this is not about trying to be treated equally, its trying to be treated unequally, in a way that affords special protections. There is literally nothing racist about the plot and characters in La Bayadere. Your action, to try and claim the moral right, as though no one should argue with you, and if they do, they are morally wrong, is EXACTLY, why people are scared of speaking up to try and prevent this loud minority. Well done for demonstrating it.

There is SO SO SO much to fear from the phrase - 'I want to make sure there's absolutely nothing that could ever be considered as insulting' - that is such an incredibly wide remit and exactly the problem. Would the man make sure that there the same level of concern for a western culture? Would he stop a production ballet, theatre, opera, film that denigrated a Christian god? I am actually shocked that someone could get away with saying that. I suppose he would criticise a play that sought to examine the origins of covid and how it related to the secretive practices of the Chinese communist state - in case it insulted China.

Roberta you can keep saying the same point but you address none that has been aimed at you. You also rather demonstrate the point. The ADs aren't responding to popular opinion or what people feel, they are bending to the whim of a minority. Trying to diminish those who disagree by referring to it as 'oh it's political correctness gorn mad' and the Daily Mail comments section blusterers' demonstrates your weakness.

The latest changes were to remove the hairstyles and not yellowface and if you have a problem with that particular historical Chinese hairstyle (which they were) then simply change for another, historical Chinese hairstyle. I am sorry the comparison with the Star of David in the context of the holocaust and the intention to exterminate a group of people is simply historically inaccurate.

Roberta you can try to argue against it but actually you can claim an issue with almost any old ballet if you want. R&J is a ballet about Italian history by an Englishman (who probably never went to Italy) and his story has then been coopted by people from all over the world. The Sleeping Beauty needs to become The Awake with Eyes Closed and Fully Aware of Her Surroundings and Able to Consent Beauty. Don Q is one long litany of stereotypes. You can go on and on. The only thing that sets the ballets apart that are being suggested for revision, is that they are considered 'non-western' and therefore are purportedly deserving of some special protection for their cultural values. Nevermind that culture by its very nature is fluid and pulls from everywhere and always has done. Nevermind that throughout history those who have sought to create fantasies have drawn inaccurate or not from other cultures, not there own. La Bayadere for all its inaccuracies is hardly a hard-hitting diminishment of culture from the Indian subcontinent. I doubt any sane person comes out with some negative idea about Hinduism or India. Anyone who complains should be challenged on what exactly in the ballet they find offensive about it, and it's my culture and you can't use isn't good enough. This exactly the problem with the RB's change of the Arabian Dance because of 'harem overtones' - but they did have harems. So what is the objection? That we shouldn't depict it, that a harem isn't a suitable topic for a family ballet? The problem with getting rid of the hair in the Chinese dance, is why have wigs to depict European hairstyles from a historical period in any ballet? Manon for a start. The hairstyles in the Chinese dance weren't yellow face, they were a depiction of imperial Chinese hairstyles which were meant to match the costumes they were wearing. To please Zed, I am more than happy for RB to commission a hard-hitting but accurate ballet of historical Indian culture, where we see the progression of a 12 year old child bride married to a 60 year old man through to her eventual demise 8 years later when she tied to a pyre and immolated in an act of sati. It would provide a vastly more negative portrayal of Indian culture than anything in La Bayadere.

I find the sales quite curious for this. I know it was announced late and its at a venue no known for ballet but there are some serious stars in the cast with Olga and Marianela. It also has had quite a bit of marketing. Perhaps post-Christmas belt tightening by some is not helping.

Not to labour a point but... there is so much lazy journalism in the article you have quoted. The article claims he is a 'Hindu Statesman' but I fail to see on what basis this claim is made. The organisation he is president of is something he just made up. The changes Kevin made to the Nutcracker - just in case someone somewhere was offended by something that hadn't been offensive before and literally in this case hundreds of thousands had seen not been offended by, and for which no one had actually complained about - are in my opinion weak. The Arabian dance has lost much of its power by reducing the number of dancers due to some nonsense concerns of 'harem overtones'.

This is exactly the nonsense I was referring too - lets be clear - one person (who isn't even based in this country) complained, literally ONE PERSON, and they scrapped a ballet enjoyed by what around 20,000 attendees during its last ROH run (12 performances). Unfortunately we are in a point in time where authorities bow down before loud voices even when they don't represent the majority and don't even have a strong argument beyond I don't like it. Any decent AD or Theatre Director would have left the email unanswered until he can demonstrate that he represents public opinion and therefore should be listened too. Try gaining 1,000,000 signatures from UK citizens on a petition and then you claim to have some morale authority on what should be performed in UK theatres.

The problem is that companies and ADs will bow to a small but loud minority, and they will also begin to repeat what they believe to the latest socially agreeable position whether they think its right or not (I make no comment directly here on what Jaffe herself thinks). It is much harder to coral the passive but often larger majority on things like this to say 'enough now, stop being ridiculous' enjoy it for what it is a heritage ballet, with excellent opportunities for virtuosity, with a inaccurate historical almost fantastical setting.

I guess it does depend just how much it is changing.