Bluebird

I just had a look at the prices for the Summer Season.  We already know the Swan Lake pricing (the same as it is for the Spring run and similar to that for last season's Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella) 

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=54784 

For The Winter's Tale, however, they've gone back to the Manon pricing structure. 

https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=54813

This is good news for those who sit on the bench seats in the stalls circle (seats in the bench seats in row C are £49 and the cheaper seats in row B are £63). 

It is, however, bad news for those who like to sit in the front side amphitheatre seats.  These will be the same price as they were for Manon - £49 (compared to £35 for Swan Lake)  

Stalls Circle Standing and all Upper Slips seats are priced at £14 - again, the same pricing structure as that which was used for Manon.

Here are the seating charts for the two Ashton bills:

The Dream mixed: https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=54801

Les Rendezvous mixed: https://www.roh.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=54837

The Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evening performances have always been  mainly Upper School.  The Friday evening and the Saturday afternoon performances have always been mainly White Lodge. I don’t imagine it will be any different this year,

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

The other magic words you're waiting for: 

 

Fille will be at-

Birmingham (25-28 September 2024) 

Plymouth (10-13 October 2024)

Sadler's Wells, London (24-25 October 2024)

Other cities/venues may be confirmed later. 

London readers, note there are only 2 dates for Fille- block those days in your diaries now! 😉 

 

I've been wondering if the London dates might not be accurate.  BRB are usually at Sadler's Wells from a Tuesday or Wednesday to a Saturday (i.e. with two performances on the Saturday).  The dates given for the new work, Luna,  are Tuesday October 22 and Wednesday October  23.  The dates given for Fille are  Thursday October 24 and Friday October 25.  I've never known them come to Sadler's Wells and not perform on the Saturday. I could be wrong but I suspect that the Fille dates might well be October 25 and 26.

Ticket taken 

Ticket spoken for

Already posted in the tickets forum but am repeating here:

I'm unable to use my ticket for tomorrow's rehearsal of La Bohème (Monday January 22 at 4.30pm) It's an aisle seat in the front side amphitheatre (E81) and is available free of charge to anybody who is able to use it. If interested,  please send me a PM and also post here. Let me know today as it will otherwise be donated back to the Box Office tomorrow.  

I'm unable to use my ticket for tomorrow's rehearsal of La Bohème (Monday January 22 at 4.30pm) It's an aisle seat in the front side amphitheatre (E81) and is available free of charge to anybody who is able to use it. If interested,  please send me a PM and also post here. Let me know today as it will otherwise be donated back to the Box Office tomorrow.  I'll also paste this into the Opera Forum.

I booked without having to log in. I was just asked for my name, address, email address and phone number,

7 hours ago, LinMM said:

How often does the ROH update its seating map? 
For three days now there is erroneous information on seat availability for SL March 7th! 
It keeps saying there are 32 seats available but there has been only one but that has now gone. 
I just don’t believe that every time I access the map there are 32 people with tickets in their baskets!! 
Where are these 32 seats? 

Maybe those seats are only available to Access customers.  Access seats can show up in the numbers of available seats on the website but will only be bookable by certain members  of the Access list.

12 minutes ago, Nina99 said:

Well, I know Fumi Kaneko is for a start. There are some lovely pictures on her Instagram of her and Vadim’s stage rehearsal. It certainly looks like a very promising partnership and I’m really looking forward to seeing them both in February.

 

I think that Marci Sambe it’s also making his debut as well as William Bracewell.

Debut also for Yasmine Naghdi

I’ve already commented on the Jill Ogai/ Marcus Morelli performance that preceded their on stage promotions.

https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/28711-jill-ogai-and-marcus-morelli-promoted-to-principal-dancers-of-australian-ballet-onstage/?do=findComment&comment=425468

I was lucky enough to see most of the other casts. Two of the principals who danced Odette/Odile impressed me enormously. One was Benedicte Bemet who, during the Company’s London visit, drew a lot of attention when she danced with Joe Caley in Diamonds and in the Don Q pas de deux. In these performances of Swan Lake her Odette/Odile was truly lovely. Her Odette was sublime and her Odile cunningly sensual. Another who impressed was Sharni Spencer. Her Odette, in particular, was beautifully danced and very moving.

However the performance that stood out from all the others was the one I saw a few days ago. Rina Nemoto, a senior artist (equivalent to first soloist), who was a Lausanne apprentice at the Royal Ballet some years ago, was partnered by ex Mariinsky dancer, Misha Barkidjija. Misha really lived the role of Siegfried and I found his performance intensely moving. This didn't just come from his facial expressions. He was acting through his dancing, something I find quite rare and have experienced with very few male dancers. His partnership with Rina was electric. They were completely in tune with each other and their pas de deux, especially in the white acts. were absolutely beautiful and very moving.

Throughout the performances, the dancers in the corps de ballet were exemplary. Laura Day, who is now the corps de ballet repetiteur, can be very proud of them.

As a footnote, one interesting difference to the Royal Ballet is that the female soloist roles, in the performances I saw, were most often taken by members of the corps de ballet and coryphées (and an occasional soloist). Although senior artists sometimes took the soloist roles, on occasion, a senior artist was cast as a cygnet while lower ranks danced the soloist roles. In fact, despite having been promoted to principal dancer on the 16th, on the 19th Jill Ogai was a cygnet!

On 14/12/2023 at 12:40, Ondine said:

Small Nutcracker & RB deviation, I see 19-year-old Laura Griffiths has joined Australian Ballet, trained at English National Ballet School (David Yow) and was Senior Award Winner in the 2022 Cecchetti Classical Ballet Bursary Awards, adjudicated by Anita Young.

It’s interesting that you should mention Laura.  I’ve been to a number of performances in the current run of Australian Ballet Swan Lakes and Laura is one of the dancers who has consistently caught my eye, whether as a cygnet, as one of the dancers in the Neapolitan or as a member of the corps.  She definitely seems to be one to watch. 

Edited to apologise for taking the discussion away from the Royal Ballet.  I didn't see any other way of responding to this particular post. 

9 hours ago, Sophoife said:

@Bluebird will hopefully provide a report as she was there! 

 

Couldn't be more pleased for both - his partnering needs work but gee he can dance! She has grown in the last two or three years so much from the girl I once condemned as a great contemporary dancer. Now a real artist.

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.

21 minutes ago, Ianlond said:

. I know Monica Mason programmed Les Noces a few times but when was the last time Les Biches was performed? 

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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1 minute ago, Silke H said:

well, this is odd, cast list for tonight states Leo Dixon again as lead gypsy couple, same as in last Saturday's matinee.  I guess the cinema-published cast list is incorrect

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

54 minutes ago, annamk said:

What happened to YBDY ?

 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.

8 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

And Young British Dancer of the Year in 2007.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/william-bracewell-swansea-schoolboy-birmingham-2023016

 

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

36 minutes ago, capybara said:

The Year William graduated (2010), IIRC no dancers were taken into the RB. Others who were prominent students that year went to ENB (Angela Wood and Barry Drummond) or, initially, Scottish Ballet (Imogen Chapman).

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

56 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Polunin entered in year 3, I believe, so spent only 1 year at the RBS before joining the company. Muntagirov started in year 1 and did all 3 years. According to his book, he could have skipped year 2 but chose to do it to improve his English and stay with his year group. 

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.  

1 hour ago, Sophoife said:

IIRC Muntagirov and Polunin were the same year? and Dame Monica offered a contract to Polunin. 

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

1 hour ago, JennyTaylor said:

 Also, I do wish the cast sheet would give the names of all the matadors rather than just two (one of which changed in Act 3). So annoying as I spend half my time trying to work out who they all are.    

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. 

16 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

 

 

 

AusBallet's streaming model is WEIRD and at $29AUD quite expensive to only be able to watch once.

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.

48 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Beginners question: number 4 was my pick last night, is that Lucia Moore?

Yes. Number 4 was Lucia Moore.