Bluebird

Casting has been announced for The Dream, the New Marriott, and the Serenade/Sweet Violets/DGV mixed bill. The Concert is still TBA. http://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/serenade-sweet-violets-dgv http://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/the-dream-new-marriott-the-concert If you click on each date you'll find the casting details but I'm pretty sure they contain an error as 'Golding' is listed as Solomon Golding whereas I think it's almost certain it should be listed as Matthew Golding.

The casts are on the ROH website, hidden amongst the comments made below the announcement: http://www.roh.org.uk/news/christmas-broadcasts-from-the-roh-announced-for-2013 Scroll down to the information posted on December 12 at 3.22pm. I've copied and pasted it below: Les Patineurs; Divertissements; Scènes de Ballet Carlos Acosta (Divertissements); Leanne Benjamin (Divertissements); Darcey Bussell (Divertissements); Thiago Soares (Divertissements); Steven McRae (Les Patineurs); Samantha Raine (Les Patineurs); Myako Yoshida (Scènes de Ballet); Ivan Putrov (Scènes de Ballet); The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Paul Murphy; Barry Wordsworth The Nutcracker Gary Avis (Herr Drosselmeyer); Meaghan Grace Hinkis (Clara); Ricardo Cervera (Hans-Peter/The Nutcracker); Roberta Marquez (The Sugar Plum Fairy); Steven McRae (The Prince); Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Koen Kessels Swan Lake Zenaida Yanowsky (Odette); Nehemiah Kish (Prince Siegfried); The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Barry Wordsworth Sleeping Beauty Gary Avis (King Florestan XXIV); Genesia Rosato (His Queen); Lauren Cuthbertson (Princess Aurora); Sergei Polunin (Prince Florimund); Alastair Marriott (Cattalabutte); Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Boris Gruzin Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Sarah Lamb (Alice); Federico Bonelli (Jack / The Knave of Hearts); Edward Watson (Lewis Carroll/ The White Rabbit); Zenaida Yanowsky (Mother / The Queen of Hearts); Steven MacRae (Mad Hatter); Christopher Saunders (Father/King of Hearts); Eric Underwood (Rajah/The Caterpillar); Philip Mosley (The Duchess); The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; David Briskin The relay of Don Quixote on BBC Four will feature Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta in the lead roles.

Hasn't it changed considerably since Janet saw it in 1986? I'd understood that Peter Wright had made major changes when the Opera House reopened in 1999.

Just checked the BRB site. They're at the Birmingham Hippodrome between those dates. Edited to add link: http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/index.htm?act=whatson&tsk=superseason&urn=26829

David Pickering was Paris last night and the flowers were for his last performance with the company. Perhaps somebody else knows if he's actually leaving or if he's staying to continue his work with the Education Department.

It's on at the Phoenix, East Finchley: http://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/news/bolshoi-2013-2014-season/ Edited to add that it's also on in Brixton http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/Whats_On/Seasons_Festivals/Ballet/ and The Gate in Notting Hill http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Gate_Picturehouse/film/Bolshoi_Le_Corsaire/

The Manchester Corsaire casting is now on the ENB website: http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/lecorsaire/ (click on principal casting and then on Palace Theatre Manchester) Edited to paste in casting: Tuesday 11th Feb Klimentova Muntagirov Wednesday 12th Feb Rojo Golding Thursday 13th Feb mat Ovsyanick Bufala Thursday 13th Feb eve Takahashi Acosta Friday 14th Feb Oliveira Konvalina Saturday 15th Feb mat Rojo Golding Saturday 15th Feb eve Klimentova Muntagirov

The Opera House doesn't open its doors until 10am so you will need to queue outside until then. You will, however, be in a covered walkway. Although it might be cold, you'd be sheltered from any rain.

Dayseats are in various different locations. These are the prices for The Nutcracker: Stalls Circle row C side bench seats £34 Stalls Circle standing £10 Balcony standing £10 Rear Amphitheatre £24 and £15 Some of these places have a restricted view. You should check when buying. It’s hard to say what time you should arrive. Obviously, the closer you are to the front of the queue, the more likely you are to get a good ticket. As John says, you will probably be able to get a ticket if you arrive around 9.30am but you might get more choice if you arrive earlier

I'm afraid I'm not very good at remembering what people were wearing but I think I remember Lauren wearing a beige leotard with black shorts over it. Melissa Hamilton is no longer blonde. She now has brown hair. Maybe your blonde was Hayley Forskitt (on the back row)? Claudia Dean is also blonde but she isn't as tall. David Pickering introduced the class and I think that your curly haired lady might have been Deirdre Chapman.

I've just gone through the company list and jotted down the names of those I think were there (i.e. in the order they're listed in the ROH programmes) Lauren Cuthbertson, Laura Morera, Ed Watson, Zenaida Yanowsky, Alex Campbell, Deirdre Chapman, Yuhui Choe, Ben Gartside, Melissa Hamilton, Itziar Mendizabal, Johannes Stepanek, Lizzie Harrod, Paul Kay, David Pickering, Akane Takada, Eric Underwood, Hayley Forskitt, Meaghan Hingis, Fernando Montaño, Sian Murphy, Yasmine Naghdi, Claudia Dean, Nicol Edmonds, Ben Ella, Kevin Emerton, Demelza Parish. Those who were there, please amend the list if it's inaccurate in any way. Edited to say that I might be wrong about Zenaida. I thought I remembered seeing her at the beginning but have no memory of her being there later.

One wonders how these mistakes will affect voting for the Emerging Dancer People's Choice. I noticed that the in-theatre voting box was completely full, indicating that many people have already voted. Some of these votes might well be for the dancer named on the sheet rather than the one who actually danced!

Daria Klimentová did, indeed, dance this evening. A lovely performance. What a pleasure to have her back on stage!

This afternoon's cast was as follows: Medora: Laurretta Summerscales Conrad: Arionel Vargas Gulnare: Shiori Kase (although the castsheet had Ksenia Ovsyanick's name) Lankendem: Ken Saruhashi Ali: Zdenek Konvalina Birbanto: Fernando Bufala (named on the castsheet as Fernanda!) I'd thought it was Laurretta's debut but the castsheet doesn't have the normal asterisk by her name. She danced with a lot of confidence and acquitted herself well but, for me, the standout performer was Shiori Kase. As others have already said, her Gulnare is just gorgeous. As for Daria's return, I've been told that she is intending to dance this evening. I have a ticket so will be able to confirm in due course.

Sorry, Jenny, I've only just seen this. I'm delighted that you now know that not all regulars at the Royal Ballet are unfriendly! We look forward to seeing you when you come again.

I don't think it affects other performances. I just spoke to the Box Office and it appears that it was made available to the general public by mistake. It was supposed to be a performance at a special price which was only available to people who'd never before visited the ROH. I don't know if they're going to leave it on sale or not but I imagine that, if they were to take it off, they'd have to honour existing bookings. I'd originally phoned about a similar situation with the Nutcracker Insight on November 17. It appears that, after Premium and Supporting Friends had booked for this insight, they took it off sale as they'd decided to make it part of this programme for people who'd never before come to a performance at the ROH. Since, however, it has now put on sale to the general public (by mistake), it appears that they intend to honour the £5 bookings. I was even told that I should return my full price ticket so as to be able to exchange it for a ticket at the lower price.

The ROH acoustic is very strange. Sounds are often louder in parts of the amphitheatre than they are in the lower areas of the House. The Makarova production of The Sleeping Beauty had a child Cupid who blew a kiss to demonstrate to the Prince how he should wake Aurora. I always remember that kiss sounding really loud even in row V of the amphitheatre. Indeed, it was so loud that I assumed that the House used some sort of amplification but, when I later went on a tour of the House, I was assured that amplification is never used for Royal Ballet or Royal Opera performances.

Since nobody has reported on last night, I will do so briefly. I can't allow Fumi Kaneko's debut to go unnoticed. I thought that her Kitri was quite gorgeous and that she had great chemistry with her characterful Basilio, Thiago Soares. In their final pas de deux she seemed particularly radiant. To my eyes she just glowed!

When the seating plan was on the ROH website I downloaded it to my computer where I have it as a Gif File. I've tried (and failed) to find a way to attach the file to this post. Does anyone know if this is possible?

It wasn't much longer than usual. The curtain came down just before 10.30pm.

Lauren Cuthberston and Ricardo Cervera were recently in Paris promoting the Royal Ballet Cinema Season. At the time, the French website, Dansomanie, reported that they had understood that Lauren would be dancing Kitri in the future and they seem to assume that this will probably be next season. http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4792&start=915&sid=a5d7e6debb93bb858ec60074d884b5f6 Scroll down to the September 27 posting. I suppose this could be speculation on their part. It's hard to know.

I think that is a strange assumption. I was looking for a cheap ticket for a friend and I also saw Friday's tickets suddenly become available. Even the very expensive ones were very quickly snapped up. I've just checked tonight and there are a few left but, apart from some very expensive Grand Tier tickets, they are mostly the very restricted view balcony standing day places.

The Sleeping Beauty cast for Sadler's Wells has been announced. I've pasted it in below: 17 October 2013 7:30 pm The Sleeping Beauty : , Princess Aurora: Jenna Roberts Prince Florimund: Iain Mackay Carabosse: Marion Tait Enchanted Princess: Momoko Hirata Bluebird: Mathias Dingman Lilac Fairy: Delia Mathews Conductor: Koen Kessels 18 October 2013 7:30 pm The Sleeping Beauty : , Princess Aurora: Nao Sakuma Prince Florimund: Chi Cao Carabosse: Samara Downs Enchanted Princess: Natasha Oughtred Bluebird: Tzu-Chao Chou Lilac Fairy: Jenna Roberts Conductor: Koen Kessels 19 October 2013 2:30 pm The Sleeping Beauty : , Princess Aurora: Elisha Willis Prince Florimund: Jamie Bond Carabosse: Marion Tait Enchanted Princess: Céline Gittens Bluebird: Yasuo Atsuji Lilac Fairy: Yvette Knight Conductor: Koen Kessels 19 October 2013 7:30 pm The Sleeping Beauty : , Princess Aurora: Natasha Oughtred Prince Florimund: César Morales Carabosse: Callie Roberts Enchanted Princess: Nao Sakuma Bluebird: William Bracewell Lilac Fairy: Yijing Zhang Conductor: Philip Ellis

I've just checked and there are some clips of her Aurora on YouTube. I won't post the links as I have a vague memory that we're not supposed to do so but, if you google Osipova Aurora, you'll find them.

The Winter's Tale is also in Period 3 but, as it's a completely new ballet, it's unlikely we'll get the casting before the start of rehearsals. Sometimes, with new works, we don't get the casting till shortly before the première!