art_enthusiast

22 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

Is it Taisuke Nakao’s debut as Benno?

If so, good luck to him! I’m sure he’ll be brilliant.

I went to this last night (in terms of star spotting, I think I glimpsed Lauren Cuthbertson down the row from me and Joonhyuk Jun elsewhere in the audience!) 

It was good overall, but I don't really think that many pieces stood out to me - particularly not the more contemporary ones. I do understand the perspective of people on here who aren't impressed by Joseph Toonga's works - I don't think they're completely terrible and I think in this one a few ballet moves were incorporated, they were on pointe at least, but I agree that it could be a lot better if he's aiming to achieve some sort of fusion between contemporary and ballet.

The pieces I liked the most were - definitely Norwegian National Ballet, Xander Parish and Eugenie Skilnand were absolutely beautiful. Also National Theatre Brno - a very creative and inventive comedic piece. The dancer in the purple top - I don't know his name - stood out in particular. I found parts of it a bit repetitive though.

i liked the Semperoper Dresden piece a lot, Anri Sugiura is a lovely dancer. Two other very good pieces were the ones from Birmingham Royal Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet. The Birmingham Royal Ballet piece in particular was very choreographically strong and so brilliantly executed, what amazing dancers they have. As a Londoner I do wish I could see more of them, definitely aiming to see their Sleeping Beauty at Sadler's Wells.

The other pieces were not too worthy of note in my opinion, nothing too special. The Korean National Ballet piece was beautifully creative, stunning costumes and a lovely representation of spring. Gorgeous dancers, I just think the choreography could have been a bit more interesting.

Forgot to mention Matthew Ball's piece. I did like it, I haven't seen much of his choreography before. However I wasn't sure if I liked it just due to the choreography, or due to the fact that it was performed by him and Mayara Magri, two of my favourite RB dancers.

44 minutes ago, Neverdancedjustamum said:

Glad to see two are joining the ABT Studio Co. Seems to be a very exciting and vibrant company for young dancers.

Definitely - when they performed as part of the 2022 Next Generation festival, it was the best performance out of all in my opinion. I would love to see them live again.

I’m excited to see him, I’ve never seen him live 

14 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Wow. Sounds really dangerous to me. I do not like heights, so can't understand why anyone would do that! 😱

Exactly, how bizarre. I’ve seen people put small bags/glasses on the ledge part around the stalls circle and have been told by the usher to remove them. This is a step above that - I feel like they should get an official warning as they are endangering others and themselves.

I’m going tomorrow, looks like an interesting line up

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

I adore Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, I find it incredibly moving.  But I can understand why people who were expecting a ballet might be a bit startled.   I think having all male swans rather than all female ones is a terrific concept.  We are so used to seeing them as beautiful and graceful.  Bourne emphasises their power.

I am so looking forward to seeing it for the first time in December. I have wanted to see this version since I saw that ending of Billy Elliot where he performs in it.

39 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Would you pay ROH prices to see the latest claimed wunderkind in their late teens with hardly any stage experience dance Siegfried? 

Depends on the wunderkind. I probably would pay top price to see Marco in a principal role fairly soon, I think he's quite unique - maybe not as Siegfried but Romeo, that's more of a first principal role type of thing for very young dancers, or Colas/Franz from Coppelia.

Not sure if Viola Pantuso is another wunderkind or not - she most likely is close to being one - and she'll be dancing a principal role in The Winter's Tale soon. I booked because of her and Joseph Sissens being cast - with the extreme added bonus of Fumi and Vadim of course.

3 hours ago, Roberta said:

No I'm not confusing anything

In one of your previous comments you used the word spouse, which led me to think they are married or something. But that isn't true I believe, she's his dance partner only? 

47 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

then he just might get to do Siegfried in 2 or 3 revivals time! 

I can see him as a very good Benno, I hope he gets an opportunity to do that when Swan Lake next comes round (or maybe he's even been cast now, won't get my hopes up though but I assume he's learning the role in case of injuries in June or something).

Have Alina Cojocaru's dates been confirmed?

Sorry if this has been asked before - does anyone know which dancers will be dancing on which nights?

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Yes, 16 is too young for a ballet company job here- she would have had to register as a student and just get paid as a part time worker when dancjng and rehearsing (and her hours couldn't exceed part time work hours for students). 

Yep, I think the same happened to Marianela if I'm not mistaken as I believe she was 15 or something when joining the RB? Feel free to correct me, I'm not sure.

I think Takada, Hirano, Choe and others joined the company as PDL apprentices as well? 

1 hour ago, Lucy M said:

As someone who grew up in Bournemouth, this gave me a good giggle 🤣

Same, as someone who went to Bournemouth every summer as a child. Good memories!

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

His lead role created on him by Kyle Abraham in Optional Family; A Divertissement alongside Osipova and Sambe is bigger than either of Masciari's McGregor roles though

I unfortunately missed seeing that live as I wasn't following the company then, but I saw a rehearsal clip on YouTube that looked great. I agree that he is a lovely dancer, I recall noticing him as Clara's partner and in the early Dante Project performances as one of the Thieves. I hope he does get more featured roles.

It's difficult as we all know, the Royal Ballet has such an excess of talent but not enough roles/opportunities for everyone to shine. I assume it's not as easy to leave now as it may have been for people like Xander Parish, who I believe wanted more opportunities elsewhere - and got them (good for him). 

21 minutes ago, JNC said:

failing that I’d like to see Cinderella revived again (although not necessarily so soon over other works that haven’t been, but would rather have that than Alice!). 

Really, did you not like Alice? I've never seen it live, only clips, but I would be happy to see it next Season if they brought it back. A lot of the music seems lovely.

I think it feels a bit too soon for Cinderella as it was only on last year. I liked it very much though

Just now, capybara said:

Now that’s a real pity for Lauren and us. I felt that she was gorgeous in Requiem.

Yes indeed. I hope she is back for The Dream.

12 hours ago, capybara said:

Marco Masciari seems to be 'doing OK' at the RB but Stanislav W perhaps not so much

Yep, I’m not sure Stanislaw has done many soloist roles? I remember one of his Draft Works pieces from 2021, that was very interesting!

I think Marco has such great stage presence and not surprised he got the roles in McGregor pieces - loved him as young Dante and the Cinderella Jester. I hope to see more of him - maybe as Puck in The Dream? 

20 minutes ago, LinMM said:

But in his view although he still loved Fonteyn he thought Moira Shearer was his favourite dancer ( so going back quite a bit!)

I loved the Red Shoes with Moira Shearer, especially that amazing dance sequence and the music. I don’t suppose there was ever a Red Shoes ballet?

Kind of wish the one in the film was real and still being performed.

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

standing in the aisle whilst taking numerous selfies or having someone take shots of them in artful poses. All very entertaining, apart from the problem of the aisle clogging up with people trying to get to their seats.....

Yes they are HUGELY annoying. I’m always having to not so subtly clear my throat to get them to move.

I understand if it is their first time in the ROH, but maybe wait until the interval to do it, not when people are trying to get to their seats. 

On 27/03/2024 at 17:41, Missfrankiecat said:

she is an extraordinary dancer, of rare acting ability and immense power and, sometimes, inventiveness.  If you look back, her technique has always been criticised by some/many - I feel tentative in commenting, but I find it hard to believe she would have risen as high as she did in the Bolshoi if she were so lacking in technical ability. 

Yep, totally. I’m of the same opinion. I have booked for Natalia’s Titania (as well as Lauren Cuthbertson’s) and her Odette/Odile. Everything crossed she will be able to do her Swan Lakes. (I have also booked for Akane Takada who I am also really hoping to see).

15 hours ago, SheilaC said:

I rarely sit in the stalls circle but last night I did and to my utter amazement the woman next to me hit me on the hand! I was silently retrieving a cough sweet from my bag as I could feel the nervous cough developing that I occasionally develop at the theatre and she told me to stop and hit me. I decided not to say anything, even in the intervals or at the end, as I assumed she must have mental health issues and I didn't want to exacerbate things.

That’s quite unnerving, I understand that you didn’t want to exacerbate things by responding to them though. I would probably do the same.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to touch people with force like that. If I needed to get the attention of someone leaning forward in the stalls circle for example, I would lightly tap them. Or maybe cough/clear my throat loudly. Hitting is very inappropriate.

I remember when Marriage of Figaro was shown in 2022, I stood up to clap at the very end (because I’d only just started going to the ROH and wasn’t familiar with the etiquette there). The woman behind me poked me quite hard in the back, when she could have simply been polite and asked me to sit down, as I would have done if our positions were reversed. Or she could have lightly tapped me instead of poking. This is the sort of thing you learn in early childhood, spatial awareness/how to respect others….

1 hour ago, Cescablue said:

He was quite mortified and very apologetic when I asked him to move though. 

That was nice of him. Some people are either rude, or they act like they don't understand what you're asking... very annoying.

I had a ticket for Alina Cojocaru's 25th April performance now featuring Miki Mizutani and Max Maslen. I still want to go as I've never seen BRB's Sleeping Beauty (though it's not my favourite ballet overall, I did mainly book to see Cojocaru as Aurora). Can anyone more familiar with BRB dancers give me some info about these two? In the last Sadler's Wells Don Quixote run, I was fortunate to see Momoko Hirata and Beatrice Parma and both are of course superb, but I'm not too familiar with the others. 

Also is this version of Sleeping Beauty basically the same as the RB's without the Prince's Act 2 solo?

3 hours ago, BeauxArts said:

I don’t regard proximity to the well-heeled occupants of the Grand Tier as guaranteeing me a better consumer experience! The Upper Slips are modestly priced, have a sub-optimal view but the viewer experience is usually very good because of the calibre of the other nearby audience members, often some of the most knowledgeable people at the ROH. They also don’t audibly unwrap sweets….

Please don’t mistake me, I don’t think proximity to rich people means a better standard. Definitely not. I myself am clearly not rich, don’t dress up to go to the ROH, and I am about 40 years younger than most of the elderly rich you find in the top price seats. I sometimes do purchase them as I have credit leftover and I like the immersive experience of being close. (And I go less often to accommodate for paying higher prices).

I never sit in the Grand Tier, only the OS and stalls circle sides.

I don’t think of the ROH as an elitist venue, I just think because of its incredible legacy and history, a standard of behaviour should be adhered to. It’s like going into a cathedral as you do for free, to see the beautiful paintings and architecture, or to worship. Silence and respectful behaviour is just part of the experience.

Watching ballet is almost like a religious experience for me and a lot of others I’m sure. The last thing you want is to be distracted from that.

I just meant that if you’ve paid top price it strings a bit more if your experience is ruined by any annoying audience behaviour, as…. money is valuable and I just invested it in having a good non disruptive experience and a good view of the stage.