Bluebird

I was, indeed, there. I’d seen Jill and Marcus earlier on in the run at a performance when they’d, unexpectedly, replaced another couple. Although that earlier performance was good, last night’s was on another level. Their chemistry in the white acts was palpable and, in the Act 3 pas de deux, they were on fire. It was almost as if they sensed what was to come! Congratulations to them both. On last night’s showing, the promotions are very well deserved. Edited as I omitted to credit @Sophoife in my post. It's thanks to her that I've been able to see so many Swan Lakes in this run. Last year, when the tickets went on sale, I was in an aeroplane on my way to Sydney and, since the affordable tickets sell out very quickly, she was kind enough to do my booking for me.

Almost 20 years ago - 2005. Edited to add that I remember Ashton’s Symphonic Variations was on the same bill. Does anyone remember what the third piece was? Edited again to answer my own question. I just googled it and found a Guardian review of this mixed bill https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/jun/04/dance The third piece was Month in the Country. What a wonderful mixed bill!

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The cinema cast list must, indeed, be incorrect. I've only just noticed that the it contains the following: "All casts subject to change. For full up-to-date casting, find the full cast sheet online."

The cinema cast sheet is on the ROH website: https://static.roh.org.uk/digital/cast-sheets/Don-Quixote/Cinema/Don-Quixote-Cinema-Cast-Sheet-English-07-11-23.pdf?_ga=2.155786171.1095221210.1698592131-1332193509.1615112770

I think the last competition was in 2014 (won by Erik Woolhouse of ENB) The following was posted on the RBS website at the time. "Young British Dancer of the Year celebrated its 15th anniversary this year and the event was dedicated to Gailene Stock, who founded the competition in 2000 with generous support and sponsorship from Ricki Gail Conway (who has continued to sponsor the competition). It was designed to celebrate the new millennium and since its inception it has encouraged and celebrated outstanding young British talent. It attracts dancers from across the country and is a fantastic opportunity to be seen by some of the most distinguished members of the dance community." https://www.royalballetschool.org.uk/2014/03/10/young-british-dancer-year-2014/ I was told that the redevelopment of the Linbury was one of the reasons why the 15th competition was the last but I have no idea if this is accurate.

The article is inaccurate. Polunin was Young British Dancer of the Year in 2007. Will Bracewell won the YBDY in 2008.

Yasmine Naghdi joined the Royal Ballet in 2010 although she was taken in well before the end of her final year at the RBS. If I remember correctly, Sander Bloomaert was also taken in to the Company in 2010. Edited to add that I just googled that year's intake and came up with the following (I'd forgotten that James Butcher also joined that year but I believe he left at the end of the 2010/11 season): Joiners Nehemiah Kish as Principal (from Royal Danish Ballet) Itziar Mendizabal as First Soloist (from Leipzig Ballet) Yasmine Naghdi as Artist (from Royal Ballet School, joined April 2010) Sander Blommaert as Artist (from Royal Ballet School) James Butcher as Artist (from Royal Ballet School) Valentino Zucchetti as Artist (from Norwegian Ballet) Camille Bracher as Artist (from Johannesburg, South Africa) Beatriz Stix-Brunell as Artist (from School of American Ballet) https://balletassociation.co.uk/pages/royal-ballet-news-2010

I remember seeing Polunin in a class at the Upper School when he was in the First Year there. Edited to add that I've just checked my old RBS programmes and Polunin is listed in Year 11 of White Lodge in the Summer of 2004. He therefore spent at least a year at White Lodge and 3 years at the Upper School.

The information in the Klimentová book is misleading. Polunin graduated 2007. Muntagirov graduated 2009.

I think there are often different matadors in Act 3. I remember when David Donnelly first joined the Company, he posted that he was excited to be wearing a matador costume in Act 3. Last night I noticed that Caspar Lench was one of the Act 3 matadors.

I'm not sure that is true any more. This is what is on their website: "Each livestream can be accessed on any device for up to 14 days from the livestream start time without needing to download software or applications" i.e. there's no mention of being allowed to watch the stream once only. I know I watched one of their recent streams on two separate occasions without a problem. I don't remember which one it was but I definitely watched it twice.

Yes. Number 4 was Lucia Moore.

I’m astonished how differently we all react to the acoustic in the ROH. According to the video, "Seat 56 of row M is,acoustically speaking, said to be the best seat in the theatre". Unless the central block of row M has a completely different acoustic to the aisle seat of the side block, (M47,) I find this hard to understand. For many years I sat on the aisle of the side block in either row L or row M (i.e. mid amphitheatre) and, by chance, got a last minute ticket in the front side amphitheatre for a Jette Parker Young Artists concert. The acoustic there was absolutely revelatory. It was so much better than it had been in the mid amphitheatre that I felt as if I was in a different auditorium. From my experience, the best amphitheatre acoustic (not including the slips) is in the rows in front of the overhang (A-E). I have no experience of the Lower Slips but, in the Upper Slips, the acoustic is even better than the front side amphitheatre. Where seats under the overhang are concerned, my personal experience is that the very back rows have a far better acoustic than the middle rows. Soon after performances restarted post pandemic, I had a rehearsal seat in row U for an opera rehearsal. Seeing there were so many empty seats in front of me, I moved down to row R for the second act. The acoustic was so much poorer there that I moved back to row U for the third act. It’s been suggested to me that this is because the sound bounces off the back wall in the rear amphi. No idea if this is correct. It seems to me that reactions to acoustics must be very subjective and must vary from person to person. Re what JohnS says about the front row of the Balcony, I have sometimes sat in A33 or A53 for a rehearsal and then experienced the same production in the front side amphitheatre. Maybe not everybody would agree but, to my ears, the acoustic is definitely superior at the higher level.

When the House re-opened after the late nineties redevelopment, the weekend prices were cheaper than the midweek prices! At the time, I assumed there was a dependence on 'corporate' bookings to fill the House on weekdays, making it harder to fill the House at weekends. The reopening was in late 1999 and I was taking advantage of these cheaper weekend prices as late as 2002. I don't remember when this scheme was abandoned.

Ticket sold

Your Spanish lady has given you the correct pronunciation of the Spanish name. The book by Cervantes is called "Don Quijote de la Mancha" and, in Spanish, the 'j' is pronounced like an 'h' and an 'e' at the end of a word is pronounced 'ay'. Also,in Spanish, the stress is on the penultimate syllable - i.e. the stress is on the 'o'. Hope that's clear! Although the Royal Ballet use the English spelling of the name (i.e. Don Quixote), they use the Spanish pronunciation.

I have a spare ticket for the November 7 performance of Don Quixote (Magri/Ball). The ticket is Amphitheatre L48. It's on the aisle of row L (behind the staircase) and is £36. I bought it before tickets for this performance were taken 'off sale'. Although you can see the whole of the stage from there and there is nobody in front of you, there is a ledge in front of the seat. This is the reason the seat is marked as 'restricted view'. However, I think you'd have to be quite small for this ledge to be a problem. Because it is classed as 'restricted view', the cost is 'only' £36 whereas L49 (the seat across the aisle from L48) is priced at £67! If interested, please post here and also send me a PM.

At one point in his talk, KOH ‘misspoke’ and started to say ‘La Fille m……’ instead of Don Quixote. He quickly corrected himself!

I’ve sent you a private message

An excellent idea but it seems that not all of the links work. I've just tried the October 2021 Romeo and Juliet links and they all lead to a page with the message 'Technical Error 500'. Having said that, the January 2022 links I've tried do lead to the cast lists. Maybe it's still a work in progress?

Aitor Arietta did dance last night - with Katja Khaniukova - and their partnership was quite magical!

Just received from the ROH: We hope you are looking forward to attending Don Quixote at the Royal Opera House. We are writing to inform you that the following cast change has taken place for a performance you have booked: WEDNESDAY 4 OCTOBER, 7.30pm and SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER, 7pm Natalia Osipova is replaced by Mayara Magri as Kitri. Natalia Osipova sustained an injury during early rehearsal at the start of the Season. She has been advised not to dance her first two scheduled performances of Don Quixote on 4 and 7 October in order for her to continue her rehabilitation. It is very much hoped that she will be fully recovered for her next scheduled performances in November. We wish Natalia a speedy recovery. I am delighted that Mayara Magri will be stepping into the role of Kitri for these two performances, dancing with Marcelino Sambé as Basilio.

I think you may have misinterpreted the seating plan. £140 is the top price in the Stalls, Grand Tier...etc, whereas the top price in the Amphitheatre is £99.

Googled her and came up with this: https://www.theweddingedition.co.uk/marie-claire-chappet/ Edited to add that Ondine and I were posting at the same time.