emmarose

7 minutes ago, Sim said:

In order to get this thread back on topic, we will be hiding any further discussion or comments about the Monarchy,  as requested above.

 

Thank you.

Sorry, but I was literally only answering your own question on the monarchy... But no more.

1 hour ago, Sim said:

Why?

Well, this is a long and complicated issue and will probably just lead to off topic arguments, but I am a republican. The royal family serve no purpose in a modern society and it was never more obvious than on Tuesday when he sat on a gold throne draped in gold and mink with a diamond studded crown and talked about the struggles of the cost of living.

We shouldn't have them, especially as they currently are.

5 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

King Charles is head of state of so many countries that I'm sure he would happily cede sovereignty of the ROH to Nunez and Muntagirov.

It only seems fair!

As an aside, re the cast for a cinema relay... Yes, Nunez does have a recording of her and Carlos, but it does feel like a great shame that her and Vadim have not been shown to the world in these roles together, because what they created together was nothing short of magical.

25 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Well you’ve made me laugh @emmarose

Thanks for that.

Haha, I'm glad it was taken in the way I intended! 

20 hours ago, Fonty said:

Warning This is possibly a controversial post but:

 

Why were Magri and Ball chosen as the leads for this very special occasion?  Surely the obvious choice would have been Nunez and Muntagirov? There must have been sufficient notice about this for a swap around of casts if necessary?  

I am not saying the principals performing last night were not capable.  But the other two are an extremely experienced and established paring.  They seem the obvious choice for a performance where an extra touch of nerves might have have been expected.  Not to mention wildly popular.   

I think the reason why Nunez and Muntigirov were held back from the royal performance was for the simple fact that then everybody in attendance would realise who the true king and queen of the ROH were and they would be the ones performing. The king surely couldn't have that.

* This is a joke, before anybody gets on me for disrespecting Mayara and Matthew, both of whom I greatly respect. I probably did mean the slight disrespect to Charles and Camilla though... 

3 hours ago, Silver Capricorn said:

I'm hoping to cast Swan Lake Fumi with Vadim.  They perform together at almost all foreign galas, but not yet at ROH.  I'm glad that it finally worked out in Manon, so there's still Swan Lake left.  And even if it doesn't work out, they will host together in June 2024 at the Swan Lake in Rome.

Yes, I would enjoy those two together, and likewise Will with Marianela, the audiences abroad have enjoyed both and I think both pairings would be lovely. 

2 hours ago, capybara said:

 

And the wonderful thing about a live performance is that every one of them is unique.

Absolutely, it's why we love it!

28 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

While I can absolutely see that's a sensible & pragmatic viewpoint, I would prefer not to adopt it myself as I think I'd find it awfully depressing to end every performance thinking "What if that's their last performance ever?" when in the vast majority of cases it won't be.

It doesn't have to be an ever present thought, it's just a simplistic way of saying enjoy every performance. You don't actually have to say that in your head, that it could be the last performance, we just never know about anything, even the world itself, so just enjoy them all while they're here.

13 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

This is probably me being autistic but I don't see how one can cherish a dancer whom one does not know? My understanding of the meaning of cherish is that it requires a warm personal relationship with someone. I admire & appreciate performers but would never be presumptuous enough to imagine I could get to know any of them them well enough to be able to cherish them.

 

 

I too am hoping they will get paired together in Swan Lake. Kaneko will have to have a new partner anyway.

The ones you enjoy watching, if you enjoy watching any of them, never take anything for granted. You never know when it's their last performance.

I wouldn't expect you to cherish a dancer you've never seen nor heard of. You don't have to know them personally to cherish their work/performance.

I'm autistic too.

4 minutes ago, Sim said:

They do say just before curtain up that everyone should switch their phones off and that photography is not allowed during the performance.  

I obviously never listen to it (to hear it, not because I ever use my phone during a performance)

1 hour ago, Lindsay said:

The girl sitting next to me in the amphi filmed most of the show last night..

I've told people to stop before, or told them to stop playing with phones, if not tell an usher, it's distracting to the audience.

I feel that there should maybe be an announcement as so many seem to be doing it lately. 

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

I understand this viewpoint as I have thought the same myself at times, however I thought last night, and on opening night, Marianela, in particular, didn't just repeat a standard "safe"(?) performance but incorporated various special moments of her own, playing around a little with the choreography and timing..I think she is so confident in the role that she can manipulate things to suit and add her own twist. Also she had a wonderful rapport with the audience, and you could see and feel her joy as she danced the role...

I agree with this, I feel that in the space that she is 'safe' within the role, it also allows her to play, especially with holding things or going for those turns in certain ways. On Instagram (they really shouldn't) there was a few posts from last night, and in the Act 1 Kitri solo, it looked like she had a 'special' moment where she just kept spinning.

21 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Muntagirov's only 33! Unless he has injury problems (and he doesn't seem to be injury-prone, touch wood) I would have hoped he'd dance for about another decade. That would give him time for another 3 or so runs of Don Q.

I would say this, it's always good to cherish dancers while they're here, you never know what can happen, you hope they can stay on to have a long career, but injury and also burnout can happen to any dancer, so no matter what age, cherish them all.

1 hour ago, MildConcern said:

Fumi also danced a number of 'doubles' last year - Lilac and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and also both Cinderella and Fairy Godmother.

 

A counterbalance to having a very healthy number of female principals is that the first soloists are not as strong as they have been at other points in the past (my opinion only, of course). I rather like seeing Kaneko, Magri and O'Sullivan still dancing secondary roles, alongside their many leading debuts. 

I have to say, it always feels like such a special treat to have those casts

11 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

Yet, Melissa Hamilton who I would regard as a strong first soloist with a wonderful stage presence, has yet to appear. I know she has, and will be, guesting with Roberto Bolle at the end of this month, but I hope she will appear perhaps taking on a role such as Mercedes, rather than ‘just’ revisit the Queen of the Dryads. 

I'm quite surprised she's yet to be used in any show in this production, she's one of their biggest assets as a first soloist. 

2 hours ago, Rob S said:

Steven  McRae has announced he tore his ACL mid performance☹️

Poor thing, that's another tough injury and rehab for him

7 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

😂 Friends have told me that they asked William about the arabesque at the Stage Door and he said he had borrowed it from Nureyev 🤣

Oh, I love that!

26 minutes ago, oncnp said:

In other Don Q news....Marianela Nunez has posted a brief close-up view of the wedding pdd costumes and their exquisite detail....https://www.instagram.com/p/CyWaX1lr5b2/

I saw this. One of my favourite tutus for the details. 

One thing that has been on my mind is that sometimes they will have a white flower in their hair and then other times (most of the time this run) a tiara instead. I wonder if a switch was made before opening night and the tiara won the day.

32 minutes ago, MAX said:

The Royal Ballet is not very lucky with Don Q !  I was in the audience many years ago when Fumi Kaneko injured herself in the middle of Act one, they had to close the curtain, we had to wait for a while and Kevin O'Hare came on stage to announce that Marianela Nunez had accepted to finish the show...  Exactly the same story happened the second time I was in the audience for Don Q, this time it was Natalia Osipova getting injured at the end of act one and we had to wait even longer to get the news Akane Takada had accepted to finish the show...

Oh god Max... have you booked tickets for any performances this time...?

1 minute ago, greypuss said:

Absolutely gutted for Steven. I hope he isn't seriously hurt and has stopped as a precaution. 

I just saw a video of him on Twitter talking about mental health and the toxic nature of just pushing through all the time, I think his injuries taught him a lot, and one thing would be to not just push through here and maybe do more damage. Hopefully he's just taking care of himself.

10 minutes ago, oncnp said:

Hopefully McRae isn't injured.

With Ball and Bracewell tomorrow who's available? Sambe?  Muntagirov?

Possibly Marci as she already has an established/trusted partnership?

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Oh dear, it's starting to feel as though McRae is cursed with onstage injuries.

 

 

Not discounted?

 

 

It would be lovely to be the sort of person who could go "I fancy a last minute night out.... I know, I'll buy a £150 ballet ticket"!

But the fact that rows went too, it would mean groups? None were left, even odd ones, which was even weirder.

5 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Kevin came out and said that’s it for act 1, join us for act 2 after the interval…wonder if emergency Basilio is on his way 

Where had they got up to? Anna Rose is so new to the role, I wonder who they'll get now? 

Poor Stephen. 

3 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Oh dear, Steven slipped over towards the end of act 1 and although he got up and they carried on for a bit the curtain came down while things were still going. Then an announcement about an issue with the stage 

Oh no, after all of his injury troubles as well.