Angela Essex

Yes I think the prices at the ROH are very reasonable I generally pay between £10 and £30 a ticket and have a great view. Stalls circle standing, balcony row C standing, the loose seats on the balcony and front side amphi are all excellent value for money. We are so lucky in this country to be able to see such world class performances for £10. It costs £20 plus to go to the cinema in some places so I really think we can’t grumble. Having said that I’d love to see some sort of discount for public sector workers against the higher cost tickets as these are totally out of my price bracket. Also it does take a bit of planning and strategy to get the decent cheap seats at the ROH - a lot of checking for returns and early booking.

Good point - next time I feel the urge to go to the SD I’ll be brave x

Ooh maybe I will go to the SD one day then. I nearly did for Caesar Corrales in rhapsody and Nunez in Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet and Olivia Cowley for doing the Arabian dance in Nutcracker but talked myself out of it. I just wonder if the dancers find it a bit creepy, like they’re doing it out of obligation rather than because they like it. Also at 46 I’d feel a bit silly.

Hello Emeralds, do you know what the Crystal Pite ballet is about or what it’s going to be like? I couldn’t find much about it on the ROH website so haven’t booked yet. Any info would be very much appreciated. Ditto Lost Dog. Thanks in advance x

I almost had a nightmare but ended up okay in the end. I didn’t want to risk trying to add multiple performances to the basket before checkout only to find my seats unavailable by the time I got to checkout so I booked and paid for each performance individually. I booked diamonds first - all SCS gone for the date I could attend and luckily got a balcony standing in row C - quite near the centre. Next was Mayerling ended up accidentally booking twice for each performance I wanted as initially nothing was showing up in the ‘events’ section of my account and no confirmation of booking e mail arrived so I assumed I hadn’t completed the booking. Now I’ve double booked. Lastly and most annoying was trying to book 4 seats for my husband and I to take the kids to see the nutcracker on New Years Eve. The booking system kept emptying my basket of seats and for some reason it wouldn’t add 4 seats to my basket at once. I had to individually add each seat to the basket in the end. All of this faffing meant that we can no longer all sit together now - we are front row of amphi at right of centre but there is a person in the middle of us with 2 of our seats on either side of them. Very frustrating as at the start of trying to book there were 4 seats together in this location. I thought about booking the Lost Dog and Crystal Pite too, but didn’t as there wasn’t much information explaining what they were like on the ROH website. Any ideas anyone?

I haven’t ever been to a stage door. I just feel so sorry for the dancers having to be polite to a whole load of people they don’t know when they’re exhausted and want to get home. I automatically assumed they wouldn’t appreciate it. Having said that did see a crowd around Matthew Ball at the Stage Door after a performance I’d attended and he was being so polite and clearly taking time to sign all his fans programmes and talk to everyone. He was so generous with his time. A true gent. I watched from afar. He genuinely seemed to appreciate the acknowledgment.

Ooh good luck with your performance Michelle ❤️ Hope the feet heal up soon x

@bbballerinais this still for sale? If so Id like to buy it please x

😭 that’s sad I’d love to see him dance again

Yes- this afternoon was beautiful and agree Miyake was absolutely brilliant. It was so lovely to see the students perform - a privilege to watch and so nice to hear such abundant cheering and applause from the audience for them. Their smiles at the curtain calls could melt the hardest of hearts. Christopher Powney came and sat right next to me in the level 5 bar and literally almost bumped into Dame Darcey too ❤️

This is from the RBS website: This year’s programme includes a variety of both classical and contemporary pieces, selected by our Artistic Director Christopher Powney. Performances will feature Raymonda by Marius Petipa, PreSENTIENT by Wayne McGregor, Yondering by John Neumeier and Swan Lake by Marius Petipa & Lev Ivanov with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton. We are also thrilled to be bringing all new works by Mikaela Polley, Joseph Toonga and Jason Mabana, created on students especially for these performances.

Great to hear how you’re doing @Michelle_Richerits impressive that you’re doing Advanced 2 pointe. How long have you been dancing and had you danced before you started ballet? So nice to hear the progress of other adult ballet students. I’m currently doing RAD intermediate foundation (I’m 46) but just been working on the barre exercises en pointe - not done any centre yet. Best of luck with your showcase! Do let us all know how it goes x

Fabulous - pleased for you Viv. Congratulations on your performance ❤️

Thank you. No I’m not a huge opera fan and also I’d be broke if I was 😂 I sat in row E - centre of Amphi for Nunez/Vadim swan lake and it was too far away - is the front much better than row E?

@Lizbie1what seats do you tend to go for if you don’t mind me asking please? This last season was the first time I’d been inside ROH since childhood so I’m trying to get my head round which cheaper seats to go for next season.

Yass agree 💯 Hinkis’ Gertrudis and Nagdhi / Corrales in LWFC 🔥🔥 and Corrales in Rhapsody 😮😮😮💪🙌

So prior to this season I hadn’t seen a ballet at ROH in 30 years so every experience at our wonderful ROH has been amazing, but a few moments stand out: Akane Tadaka as Giselle - first ballet I’ve seen at ROH in 30 years. I almost wept when Akane’s Giselle found out Albrecht was engaged - she conveyed so much heartbreak in that moment. Nutcracker matinee on 4th December - can’t remember who the cast were but I saw the Nutcracker four times this season and it was this cast that amazed me. Nunez as Juliet and Odette/Odile - next level amazing. Vadim in Swan lake. Nagdhi/Corrales in LWFC and Hinkis as Gertrudis Caesar Corrales in Rhapsody on 23rd April - jaw dropping. I also saw Joonhyuk Jun and Reece Clark and they were breathtaking - can’t for the life of me remember in what though??? Note to self: must keep a diary next season. A wonderful season. It’s safe to say I’m hooked 😁

Would’ve loved this but too late 😭

I’d love to hear that TED talk - do it 🙌

Ooh thanks Sim didn’t know the balcony standing were on Friday rush 👍

I think Friday rush are rear amphi which I find too far from the stage and stalls circle which is too expensive.

Oh dear! I hope your shoulder has recovered now? And that Covid hasn’t left you feeling too drained? When I had it I was lethargic for over a month afterwards. I’m still chipping away at the rad intermediate foundation work. I saw a physio regards the sore Achilles and she said I was overusing my calf muscles as my hamstrings, quads and core is weak. To address this I’ve increased the amount of strength training I’m doing (back up to 3-4 x 30 mins weights a week) and am now back doing a tiny bit of pointe at the end of my weekly syllabus lesson. My teacher seems happy with most of the barre - says it’s at the standard of a merit currently, but the rest is mostly not at the standard of a pass (maybe port de bras and adage would scrape a pass, but pirouettes, especially en dedans are a train wreck and we’ve not even started with the allegro 2 and 3 and only learnt the first little bit of variation 1. I only started ballet just over a year ago now so I’m taking it slowly and using the syllabus to learn the basics of ballet. Tbh my teacher had wanted me to do the exam in December this year, but I think it’ll be next year or year after. How’s your exam preparations going Viv? Xx

Hello All! Just wondering if there are any people who are friends of the ROH on here and whether you would recommend it? I love to watch ballet and have seen pretty much every ballet at least once in the last season. The ROH is a magical place to me, but as a public sector employee (NHS) I’m on a budget and I’d like to be able to get more SCS tickets or the bar stool style seats at the back of the balcony. This last season I’ve been checking the ROH website multiple times most days for returns and only managed to score SCS twice and the bar stool balcony seats three or four times. Other times I had to shell out to sit at front-ish (row E) of amphi or at very far side of stalls circle and didn’t like either compared to SCS or the bar stools at the rear balcony. I’d like to be able to book multiple performances in SCS or rear balcony in one go in advance of the next season commencing. Would being a friend allow me to do this? Previously I’ve been on the ROH website at 9am when the general public booking opens but I’ve rarely if ever seen any SCS or rear balcony still left. Would I be correct in thinking that all these seats get snapped up by friends? Just wondering if I should become a friend? My budget only stretches to being an ordinary friend - is it worth it? Are there any decent cheap seats left for ordinary friends? I’d love to hear people’s experiences of being friends of ROH. Thank you in advance x

I’d highly recommend going to Leanne of Straight to the Pointe. She’s a mobile pointe shoe fitter and she’s fantastic. She fitted me for my first ever pair and they’re fantastic. She fits for all the major vocational schools too. She can custom order shoes so she can literally find multiple pairs to fit any foot. She spent about 2 hours on my fitting and found about 5 pairs that would fit me. I’m really happy I went to see her. She is really thorough and knowledgeable and analyses everything about your foot in detail. I was really impressed.