Bluebird

I've sent you a PM

The full programme is up on the ROH website:

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/40/insights-the-royal-ballet-in-rehearsal/cast-list/52440

2 hours ago, Fonty said:

Thinking about it, aren't there some dancers that never dance in a tutu ballet?  I can't recall ever seeing Leanne Benjamin in one, and she was one of my favourites, although she may very have in the early days of her career.  

Leanne Benjamin has definitely done Odette/Odile. I remember seeing her performances and loving her in the role.   

I just did a quick search of the performance database and found that she featured in several performances in 2005 - i.e. when she would have been around 40 years old. 

Here are two of them:

 https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=1909&row=184

https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=1927&row=190

2 hours ago, alison said:

Blast - I hadn't realised the BRB website now only keeps the cast sheets up until the particular performance has finished   Does anyone have a PDF of the first night and yesterday's matinee casts that they could send me, please?

 

If Sadler's Wells are going to insist on not producing cast sheets, they need to get their distinctly patchy wifi sorted out first.  I was unable to download one yesterday.

Have just emailed them to you

9 hours ago, Bluebird said:

 

There are casting links on the BRB website but they only lead to the names of the conductors.

https://www.brb.org.uk/shows/into-the-music-2022#credits

The casting links now work.

4 minutes ago, PeterS said:

Does anyone have a casting link or information for Into the Music at Sadlers Wells which opens tonight? 

There are casting links on the BRB website but they only lead to the names of the conductors.

https://www.brb.org.uk/shows/into-the-music-2022#credits

...and here's another Mayerling ballet.co.uk thread from 2002: 

http://web.archive.org/web/20030109040009/http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/3169.html

and one from the 2004 run:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040604020745/http://www.ballet.co.uk/dcforum/happening/4217.html

and after a great deal of messing around with the Wayback Machine, I've found the 2007 thread:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070705163355/http://www.ballet.co.uk/dcforum/happening/6219.html

26 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

Can anyone indicate what the running time of this programme is please ? 

According to the BRB website, it's 2 hours 35 minutes

https://www.brb.org.uk/shows/into-the-music-2022

21 minutes ago, PeterS said:

In the Friends Magazine

I've just been through the Friends' Magazine and have been unable to find any mention of the Gala evening casting.  Which page is it on?

Edited to say that I see you've now added the page number but I still can't find the casting.  Maybe some copies of the Magazine were printed later than others - i.e.once the casting had been decided?

12 hours ago, LinMM said:

Yes have no idea whether the tube strike is still going ahead on the 3rd. 
 

It's been moved to November 10.

Edited to add link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63388658

2 minutes ago, Sim said:

Whenever I hear "how we can make it work for audiences of today" alarm bells start to ring.  But I may be pleasantly surprised;  I sure hope so!! 

 

To be fair, he goes on to say "The story is quite real and you really care for Cinderella. So if you've got these grotesque characters, it becomes too much and takes you out of the story.  My feeling is you have to honour the choreography but make it feel right for today."

The Friends’ Spring ROH Magazine has just arrived and contains interesting news about the new production of Ashton’s Cinderella.  It seems that, in the past, women sometimes took the roles of the Stepsisters and Wendy Ellis Somes (who owns the choreographic rights to the ballet) has decided to allow women to get a chance at the parts – in alternate casts.  The Magazine quotes Kevin O’Hare saying that they wanted to take another look at the Stepsisters’ function in the ballet and ‘look at how we can make it work for audiences of today’.  We could be in for some surprises!

29 minutes ago, Sim said:

Given the formality of the Viennese court at the time, it would have been unacceptable for a lady to attend an event with the Emperor and Empress in bare arms, especially Larisch, who would have known better (she had been a close friend and lady in waiting to Sisi) and who is desperate to stay in the good graces of the royal family.  So it's an interesting one.  Maybe it was simply a case of 'wardrobe fail' or that Miss Morera simply forgot to put them back on before her entry (although that would surprise me).  Did anyone notice if it was the same on Saturday night?

I just checked the 2009 Mayerling Blu-ray and Sarah Lamb isn't wearing gloves either.  Maybe it's personal choice? Is it possible that the gloves make partnering more difficult for some dancers?

I noticed this too and, at the performance on Friday,  I made a special point of checking if

Yasmine Nagdhi was wearing gloves in this scene - she was! 

On 06/10/2022 at 01:31, bridiem said:

I can't imagine what logistics led to the decision to broadcast the first performance live - that was surely asking for trouble, and it came in the form of the misfiring gun and costume caught on chair. I haven't seen either of those things happen before so they must have been first night teething problems, but it's a shame they went out live

Re the costume caught on the chair, it has happened before - and to the same dancer!  When Mayerling was revived in October 2002, (the 10^th anniversary of the death of Kenneth MacMillan), the rehearsal and first night took place on the same day.  Marianela Nuñez was Mitzi for both.  I distinctly remember her skirt getting caught on the chair that day but  it might well have been at the rehearsal rather than the evening performance.

18 hours ago, SimonJC said:

Thank you Geoff for posting the photograph of the 17 September evening cast sheet.

 

Please could you (or anyone else that has any of the below) PM me to send me the files of photographed cast sheets for the following performances:

 

Wednesday 14 September evening

Thursday 15 September matinee

Saturday 17 September evening

 

I would be grateful to save them myself to check against what I wrote down - I do not have a camera!

 

Thank you.

I've tried to send you the September 15 matinée cast but I couldn't see how to attach a photo so I've uploaded it to this post. I'm sorry it's not very clear! 

You ask for the September 17 evening, but Geoff has already posted that above. 

I remember another Forum member taking a photo of the September 14 evening performance.  Let me know if he hasn't already sent it to you and I'll contact him to get it.

1 hour ago, JNC said:

 

What I do find annoying is when you add tickets to your basket for a performance (i.e. in order to 'reserve' them) you then get automatically directed to the checkout screen. That means if you are booking for multiple performances or multiple dates you have to then go back and search for the performance and go through all the click through pages to book another performance and scroll down to the date you want.

When booking for multiple performances of any one production, I find the quickest way to book for a second (and subsequent dates) is to use the 'history' function on my device. After putting a ticket for any particular date into my basket, I then use the history function. This allows me to go straight back to the production page so as to be able to choose my second date.  I then repeat the process for further dates.

17 hours ago, LinMM said:

Sorry I’m a bit late here now but going back to Bluebirds posting of Les Sylphides …Thankyou …such a beautiful piece… does anyone know the name of the dancer in the top clip who is centre stage initially …in the group of three ..I thought she really captured the essence of that piece. So essential to keep the softer arms and expression beautiful soulful dancing.  

That was Crystal Costa, a truly lovely dancer.  If I remember correctly, she was the winner of the People's Choice award in the very first Emerging Dancer competition (2010?).

16 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I too have been desperately awaiting a performance of Les Sylphides! Or Chopiniana. I don’t mind the name, as long as we get the ballet. If we don’t count the Mariinsky version that Xander Parish danced in 2011 on one of their summer tours to ROH and a double bill by a small visiting company from Kazakhstan at the Coliseum in 2019, the last was the Royal Ballet in 2009 as far as London goes (I don’t know if BRB/NB/Scottish Ballet performed it subsequently as I couldn’t get listings for performances up north over 6 years ago).

 

It was the opening ballet on a Royal Ballet triple bill, followed by Sensorium (by Alistair Marriott) and Firebird. It’s a mystery as to why nobody has revived it recently. If it’s programmed sensibly, it will sell well- also another child-friendly ballet. 

Re Les Sylphides, English National Ballet also danced it in 2009 (as part of the Ballets Russes Centenary celebrations) and, in my opinion, their performances were vastly superior to those of the Royal.  When I asked a member of the ENB staff about this, she told me that Maina Gielgud had been responsible for the coaching.  She also told me that Maina Gielgud had been coached in the work by a dancer from the Ballets Russes.  If my memory is correct, that dancer was Tamara Karsavina.

There are a couple of extracts on YouTube, filmed when they performed it in Barcelona that season.

39 minutes ago, RHowarth said:

These threads always strike me with panic! Is this for priority booking or have I missed a general booking period? Can someone please let me know what is in this BP? I checked Sleeping Beauty booking dates but there don't seem to be any scheduled for today- unless last week's was postponed due to the national mourning period?

I think it must be booking day for Friends plus (their booking day doesn't seem to be listed on the Winter period production pages)

The link is in Yumi’s post. Just click on ‘part 1’

Edit: simultaneous posting!
 

 NB I found that ‘part 2’ led to the stream for part 1 but there’s a link to part 2 on the part 1 stream

Christina Shevchenko and Oleksii Tiutiunnyk. Myrtha will be Elizaveta Gogidze

10 hours ago, alison said:

Tuesday is 13th September, Bluebird?

Thanks, Alison.  Typed in haste. It should, of course, read Wednesday, Sept 14.  At least I got the cast right! Are you able to correct for me please? Thanks.

Quote

 

I've upgraded my ticket for the Wednesday Sept 14 Giselle (Alina Cojocaru) so am selling Upper Circle J58 (aisle seat) £10. If interested please send me a PM and also post here.

Scheduled cast is as follows:

I've upgraded my ticket for this performance so have Upper Circle aisle seat J1 available (£10) If interested, please send me a PM and also post here.  Scheduled cast is as follows: