Bluebird

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!

The casting for The Sleeping Beauty is now up on the ROH website. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-sleeping-beauty-by-marius-petipa I've pasted it below but had a bit of a problem with the format. Apologies for the strange layout in places. Saturday 22 February 2014, 1.30pm ·Cuthbertson ·Pennefather Saturday 22 February 2014, 7.00pm ·Lamb ·McRae Wednesday 26 February 2014, 7.30pm ·Choe ·Hirano Thursday 27 February 2014, 7.30pm ·Cuthbertson ·Pennefather Thursday 13 March 2014, 1.30pm ·Choe ·Hirano Thursday 13 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Lamb ·McRae Saturday 15 March 2014, 12.30pm ·Cuthbertson ·Pennefather Wednesday 19 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Lamb ·McRae Friday 21 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Kobayashi ·Bonelli Saturday 22 March 2014, 1.30pm ·Nuñez ·Soares Saturday 22 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Marquez ·Kish Tuesday 25 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Takada ·Trzensimiech Thursday 27 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Osipova ·Golding Friday 28 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Nuñez ·Soares Monday 31 March 2014, 7.30pm ·Kobayashi ·Bonelli Tuesday 1 April 2014, 7.30pm ·Nuñez ·Soares Saturday 5 April 2014, 7.30pm ·Osipova ·Golding Tuesday 8 April 2014, 7.30pm ·Marquez ·Kish Wednesday 9 April 2014, 7.30pm ·Osipova ·Golding

They've also posted the casting for the Sadler's Wells Mixed Bill: 15 October 2013 7:30 pm E=mc² Energy: Joseph Caley, Elisha Willis Mass: Callie Roberts, Jenna Roberts, Yvette Knight The Manhattan Project: Yijing Zhang Celeritas²: Maureya Lebowitz, Mathias Dingman Tombeaux Principal woman: Nao Sakuma Principal man: César Morales 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café The Great Auk: Ruth Brill Utah Longhorn Ram: Angela Paul Texan Kangaroo Rat: Joseph Caley Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk Flea: Laura Day Southern Cape Zebra: Chi Cao Now Nothing: Tyrone Singleton, Céline Gittens Brazilian Woolly Monkey: Jamie Bond Conductor: Paul Murphy 16 October 2013 2:00 pm E=mc² Energy: Yasuo Atsuji, Yvette Knight Mass: Yijing Zhang, Jenna Roberts, Callie Roberts The Manhattan Project: Samara Downs Celeritas²: Momoko Hirata, Tzu-Chao Chou Tombeaux Principal woman: Maureya Lebowitz Principal man: William Bracewell 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café The Great Auk: Ruth Brill Utah Longhorn Ram: Samara Downs Texan Kangaroo Rat: James Barton Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk Flea: Miki Mizutani Southern Cape Zebra: Tyrone Singleton Now Nothing: Ana Albutashvili, Brandon Lawrence Brazilian Woolly Monkey: Yasuo Atsuji Conductor: Paul Murphy 16 October 2013 7:30 pm E=mc² Energy: Elisha Willis, Joseph Caley Mass: Callie Roberts, Jenna Roberts, Yvette Knight The Manhattan Project: Yijing Zhang Celeritas²: Maureya Lebowitz, Mathias Dingman Tombeaux Principal woman: Nao Sakuma Principal man: César Morales 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café The Great Auk: Yaoqian Shang Utah Longhorn Ram: Maureya Lebowitz Texan Kangaroo Rat: Tzu-Chao Chou Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk Flea: Karla Doorbar Southern Cape Zebra: César Morales Now Nothing: Samara Downs, Tom Rogers Brazilian Woolly Monkey: Mathias Dingman Conductor: Paul Murphy Edited to add link to page on BRB website http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/index.htm?act=WhatsOn&urn=26830&tsk=fullcast

The full results are up: http://pilot-rad.org.uk/news/genee-2013-medallists I've copied and pasted them below: "High performance standards left the judges with difficult decisions, but they eventually awarded five medals. The full list of medallists is as follows: No gold medals were awarded." Silver medallists (two female, no male) Isabelle Brouwers, 17, from English National Ballet School (German)Sasha Leong, 15, from Sydney Ballet School (Australian)Bronze medallists (one female, two male) Natasha Watson, 17, from Ballet West (British) - winner of the level 2 Genée Dance Challenge 2010.Rory Ferguson, 17, from Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy (Australian)John Rhys Halliwell, 18, from English National Ballet School (British) - finalist in the RAD's Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition 2006 and winner of the RAD's Phyllis Bedells Bursary 2011.The Audience Award, voted for by audience members on the night, went to John Rhys Halliwell. The Dancer’s Own Choreographic Award, announced at last Friday’s Semi-final, was presented to winner Padua Eaton − who choreographed her own variation − by Armando Guadagno, General Manager of award sponsor Mondor.

Just noticed that the title and first cast for the new Dawson are on the ROH website. The Human Seasons: Bonelli Watson Underwood Trzensimiech Stepanek McRae Cowley Nuñez Mendizabal Lamb Hamilton Cuthbertson Stix-Brunell http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-human-seasons-by-david-dawson These dancers are only listed for the first two performances. The casting for the later performances is still TBA

Maybe you weren't aware, Aileen, that ENB did take two graduates from a UK school this year. Daniele Silingardi and Joan Zamora are both 2013 RBS graduates.

Am I right in thinking that First Position is about the 2010 YAGP? If so, there is a list of the top candidates here: http://www.yagp.org/eng/NY_winners_2010.php, William Bracewell was the winner in 2010. He would have been one of the dancers representing the UK.

Thanks for that, toursenlair. You may not have noticed it, but the casting for Le Jeune Homme et la Mort on your website contains the following information: Set cour­tesy of: Eng­lish National Ballet We therefore have the answer to Beryl H's question!

No, Yaffa. You're right. I tend to download interesting YouTube clips to my computer so was able to check for you. The 2013 students started to come on stage about 4 beats before the 2012 students - i.e. before the beat that normally signals their entrance. I agree with you that it does very slightly diminish the impact, nevertheless it doesn't stop my goose-pimples!

In theory, the ROH already has such a scheme. Here is a quote from the ROH website (the highlighting is mine): "Occasionally we are able to offer standby tickets four hours before a performance at half-price. These standby tickets are also available to those on Income Support, ES40 holders, deaf and disabled people, under-18s, Westminster ResCardholders, WC2 residents and Senior Citizens receiving Pension Credits at £12.50 for ballet and £15 for opera. Information about standby tickets is given within 24 hours of the performance. These tickets are offered at the Management’s discretion. For information about their availability, phone the Box Office on +44 (0)20 7304 4000" However, I imagine it is some time since this kind of standby has been offered as the current student standby scheme probably takes precedence.

Thank you for solving the mystery, Amelia. We were misled by what must have been a non-traditional transliteration of her name.

Some matinée castings have been announced but there are a number (mainly in Oxford and Bristol) which are TBC. I've been hoping that this might mean that some of the younger dancers are learning the roles and that they're waiting to see how they get on. edited for typo

I’ve done a little more research and have discovered that Slawomir Woźniak has a wife called Irena who used to dance with him at the Warsaw National Opera House. Maybe Surniewa is her maiden name? Her first name could just have been misspelled in the credits. They are both on the faculty of the Master Ballet Academy in Phoenix, Arizona. On the other hand, the dancer in the South Bank Show has dark hair and according to the picture on Irena Woźniak’s biography, she has blond hair. She could,of course, have changed her hair colour. Maybe Meunier knows the dancers and can provide further information? Here are their biographies from the website of the Master Ballet Academy: http://www.masterballetacademy.com/faculty.ht,