Emeralds

From a rough count of what members have declared they're doing and the reviews that have been posted, it looks like slightly more members went to ROH although the first night supporters who have posted reviews here have done very well! But then it was a weeknight so there are generally fewer people out and about - I wouldn't have gone myself but I had to see first cast of Danses Concertantes and second cast of Requiem - as you calculated previously, 27 March is a must to catch all the casts if one only wants to go twice instead of 3 times. But I think the rail strikes are messing up plans......including trying to fit Carmen in.

A22, A23, A24 and A61, A62, A63 (all £99). in the Balcony. They say restricted but you only miss an insignificant tiny corner. Front row Amphitheatre A38 all the way to A78 are good views (£49 to £99 for this run) if you have opera glasses/binoculars to see facial expressions clearly. Balcony is closer thah Amphitheatre, but will be a little more to the side (not a huge amount) than £99 tickets in Amphitheatre. Stalls Circle bench and tall stool/chair seats give quite a good view under £100 without need for opera glasses but if you have been blocked by tall people before I'm reluctant to recommend. The front rows for Stalls Circle are £120 so would be over your budget. So there are a number of options for that budget and good seats with very little or no restricted view but I would advise bringing opera glasses wherever you pick.

Do you have an alternate route by bus or train you can use, Linnzi5?

I must admit I've seen the laptop folk as well, LinMM- there seem to be a lot particularly at Barbican Centre who use the refreshment tables to do this, although they do seem to have enough tables for people who want to consume refreshments. I saw a few at ROH (not all at the same time) with a laptop who were very careful to use just one tray space (ie not encroaching into another diner's space) and they did have a hot drink in an ROH cup and saucer so I guess that's just about OK! The people with trailing cables must have left by the time I got there.

There's probably some overlap - ie some people do post such non-profession related items I suppose. 😀

I didn't copy you, @Roberta- didn't know you are attending BRB regularly? I'm just saying that a lot of our members who attend regularly might have seen the programme and want to advise her to scroll through the BRB pages to get more information. I do know that it's difficult for Dawnstar herself to see BRB except when they tour south. The DS programme didn't come to London. Again, we're saying different things- we discussed it extensively when it was presented online (before you joined) and I might have remembered wrongly but I think Dawnstar did see it so rather than sticking a link up, and suggesting she watch the entire one hour event again, I was trying to jog her memory, which is a bit more helpful. (For those who haven't seen the Dante Sonata pas de deux and want to skip the rest, it is at 18:30 minutes in.) It's not a contest, Roberta, people inadvertently copy what I say or what others have already posted all the time. We're here to help fellow readers out- or at least, I am. There are no prizes.

I don't know if there is a distinction between an influencer and someone who uses social media as an extension of their profession eg Steven McRae, Marianela Nunez, Tiler Peck etc ....they may have a lot of followers and have lots of advertising offers and freebies, but I think most people who know these things say they're technically not influencers but experts who are at the top of their field so they attract advertisers and followers the way Roger Federer and Andy Murray also attract million dollar advertising offers and many fans. Your cousin's daughter is probably in a similar situation in that she's using her skills that she trained in, her videos may offer instruction or advice, which I think is different to the influencers that just prance around posting where they went for coffee, what funny sights they saw, and what new clothes they bought, etc

I find Dante Sonata quite traditional. There is a pas de deux without pointe shoes, but it is definitely classical ballet. It addresses World War 2 which was a frightening thing in 1940 as you can imagine- so I think it's right that the pointe shoes were set aside. Yet it's very classical in its approach. Not twee and "pretty pretty" but clearly classical. The pas de deux was danced at one of the Insight Evenings along with other rare gems like Hamlet and Ophelia (also being staged in June). If you saw that Insight Evening online, Dawnstar (still available on YouTube).you probably already know it without realising. 😀

Dante Sonata, definitely. (Can't see the costumes details in the video but I promise you they look better in real life than CG 😊) [Wondering when the BRB regulars are going to chime in and say that BRB has almost identical photos of that scene on their Facebook page and website pages as they danced Dante Sonata several years ago 😉. ]

Sorry, just for accuracy - no red camellia with Marguerite's white dress in the country in Ashton's production. It's all white. The white dress in the country scene in Neumeier's version is also lovely, and London audiences who went to the Dance for Ukraine gala in 2022 were very lucky to see Mathieu Ganio and Alina Cojocaru dancing the pas de deux from that scene. (Bliss!)

"Influencers" are just random folk who open a social media account to use it to earn money- previously only Instagram but now usually with Tiktok and X/Twitter as well. They post lots of videos and photos, usually at least a few a day, carefully photographed (and stage managed).to look as photogenic as possible, posted on public setting, to attract as many viewers as possible. It'sike the digital equivalent of the street entertainer or unlicensed busker. Or as my older relatives call it, being a hustler! 😄 Teens and young folk have a more forgiving view- I'm informed by a young relative that having a YouTube account or Instagram account that attracts a lot of viewers and followers can earn you a tidy sum in advertising revenue, and just about every teen knows of people who cheerily post rubbish on social media and YouTube every day (from whining about traffic to pop gossip to gaming anecdotes) while holding a respectable, useful job, and the social media account actually pays more money than their real job! Eventually if you have a lot of followers, companies might ask you (perhaps after you have approached them by tagging them) to photograph yourself with their products or their business premises and put them in your posts and pay you for doing so. If you have lots of followers and attract advertisers in this way, you can be called an influencer.

Hi @Fonty, Marie has been called common-law wife since the 1984 premiere, perhaps to emphasise that they are living as a couple with a child just like married couples, except they aren't married. I'm only guessing- I haven't come across any quotes from him or evidence of anyone asking. (Perhaps another list of questions to ask Deborah MacMillan at the next Insight event!) I think partner or domestic partner is a newer term (especially when used for both gay and straight couples)? While girlfriend or mistress sounds a bit like he's just having a fling, common law wife sounds like he is taking on the responsibilities of a father and husband - his willingness to subject himself to horrendous experiments to earn extra money for his lover and child does feel noble and self sacrificial, even if it all goes horribly wrong. I thought the term common law wife/marriage was quite old fashioned- I don't actually hear people using it nowadays to refer to themselves or their friends/relatives who fit that description. I looked up the etymology of the phrase and apparently it came into common usage in the 1960s; before the 1900s, there was a risk that couples in such arrangements could actually be prosecuted. Despite the word "law" in the phrase, the term actually has no legal standing in the UK and most countries.

Great photos @Dawnstar! I bought the programme- there is a colour photo of Lauren Cuthbertson with the whole ensemble and she's the only cast member in a performance photo from both the last and current run. Nunez is in the performance photos but is of course no longer in the run. There are rehearsal photos of the current casts of all 3 ballets. Some nice historical photos of original cast members eg Maryon Lane (Danses Concertantes), Ferri and Eagling (Different Drummer), and Marcia Haydee (Requiem) if you like history. I'm afraid the programme this time (again! - same problem as in 2017 with the triple bill) has omitted the ballet synopses altogether. There are articles discussing intentions and memories making the ballets but no mention of the actual plot you will see. A bit annoying to queue and pay £8.50 and still end up having to be a human souvenir programme to explain the plot to your newbie friends!

I suppose the purple is meant for audiences in the 1970s and thereafter rather than for historical authenticity. Red with white camellia and white with red camellia have already been used for Ashton's production from 1961 so he can't use it- it would look like balletic plagiarism. Nowadays white is also associated with brides (and in somd countries, bereavement) so it would be even more confusing. I don't think Aumer's version even survived as far as 1950 or even 1940. I saw the mention in Wikipedia too, but there aren't any photos of the production (even black and white) or mentions of it in biographies, memoirs of dancers or choreographers in the latter half of the 20th century. It's possible that it didn't even last beyond the 19th century. I think it's reasonable not to know who the Manon/Des Grieux figures were if you hadn't read or heard about the synopsis beforehand, as it's quite a Neumeier device - using parallels, dream figures etc - whereas Ashton's version and other versions tend to follow a straightforward linear style of narrative,: A happens which leads to B which causes C to happen next.

I have always felt the policy was fair. The cost, cleaning and maintenance of the tables and chairs are funded by the customers who pay for sandwiches, drinks and other refreshments bought at the bar. It isn't fair nor logical that someone who has paid nothing but packed their own takeaways takes an entire table, while someone who has bought two plates and a glass either has to balance them on a ledge standing up, or doesn't even get a ledge to put the plates and has to sit on the floor to eat them because the tables have all been grabbed by non-paying folk. I don't have objections to people whipping out their own snack at the table, eg dried fruit (which isn't stocked at the bars or cafe) if they have bought coffee, tea or a cold drink from the bar because they've at least bought something. It's also very strange that reserving and paying for food/drinks before the interval doesn't guarantee one a table which is the practice in many venues/cities. There are admittedly a limited number of tables, but perhaps a small first come first served option of paying £2 could reserve a table- the tables could be given a code like a food item so once the tables are all sold, that could alert the bar staff not to sell any more. Also, perhaps there should be a sign in the ground floor cafe that people shouldn't occupy tables (meant for customers who have bought food/drink to consume before the show or at the interval), when they haven't bought anything and are just sitting there to chat, play with their phones or read.

Thanks for the info, Dawnstar. The Bull is like the figure of Fate or Destiny in other ballet versions, and only has a tiny amount of dancing - when I saw it, I thought "What a pity Matthew Golding and [second cast] Ryoichi Hirano get so little dancing and partnering in this version". It's mostly an acting role, but the dancer also spends the ballet with a large bull mask over his head.

Osipova's first Swan Lake (with Acosta), Nutcracker (with Bonelli) and Sleeping Beauty (with Hirano) at RB were actually beautifully classical- I think she really did try to learn the company style and gain from the experience. She did dance Aurora with Mikhailovsky Ballet (rather unconventional production by contemporary dance choreographer Nacho Duato) before joining the Royal Ballet and I understand she had one fairly low key (for her!) Odette/Odile debut at the Bolshoi before she left (although seasoned Bolshoi watchers may be better able to confirm that). I think over time her injuries and her desire to be creative may have made her interpretations less conventional although I still find them enjoyable if not exactly a textbook version of what one expects from the classics.

Good observation, Dawnstar- I think the critics were at Sadler's Wells, although I'm not sure that the same people who generally watch MacMillan or Royal Ballet will necessarily watch this style/genre of dance. (Case in point- quite a few of our members!) I was intrigued to hear Inger describe his works as contemporary dance which is danced by dancers with ballet technique when interviewed on Radio 3 this week. I am still sitting on the fence about whether to go: I could watch a one act piece by Inger with 2 classical ballets, but will need some convincing about a full length work.

Starting this thread for ENB's new acquisition: Johan Inger's version of Carmen (originally created for Compaña Nacional de Danza) set to Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite based on themes by Georges Bizet, with additional music by Marc Álvarez. Costume design is by David Delfin, sets by Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Ganan, lighting by Tom Visser. Minju Kang, Emily Suzuki, Erina Takahashi and Ivana Bueno are scheduled to make their debuts as Carmen.

I must admit I didn't gel with her version of Juliet - though she has said she loves dancing Juliet. I felt her rendition was more like Nureyev's Juliet than MacMillan's. Still, I enjoyed it enough as a whole. I do like her Manon and Anastasia (didn't see her as Mary Vetsera), Natalia Petrovna and Lise.

Tube strike returns, it seems- most are on 4 May. Unfortunately not for the date that my friend is begging me to find! At this rate I might end up giving her my tickets and settling for a show in June.... (mainly because I'm getting bored of stalking the website). 😄

What a gentleman he is! Beautiful bouquet for Hannah also.

Hurrah!

The paywall might have prevented @Jan McNulty and @Blossom from getting the review up for the Dance Links (although you can see a lovely photo of Yasmine Naghdi in a beautiful arabesque from the Rose Adagio!) - it came out 2 days ago 8 hours ahead of UK time- but somehow with a click here and there I managed to get a non-paywall edition on Pressreader to read. There's also a great photo of Hamilton and Hirano in the Manon bedroom pas de deux. (Fantastic that Hirano is dancing Des Grieux for the third time this year after many seasons as Lescaut!) The photo of Naghdi and fellow dancers appears on the Straits Times headline but not in the pressreader website. Yasmine Naghdi's photo: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/dance-review-international-ballet-principals-offer-rare-treat-for-balletomanes&ved=2ahUKEwj9vq-c5JSFAxW9gf0HHReOCX0QFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0ldC3xNcLjZmzzs6a3bUTo Review (click on the green "read this article" icon): https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.pressreader.com/singapore/the-straits-times/20240325/282428469184591&ved=2ahUKEwjv6-vy4JSFAxVAh_0HHbakAoIQFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3H15dOBcna-fmPCqLRMn78

Thanks Odyssey! I went to sneak a peek at the box office shortly before the first performance and was amazed to find that it was sold out apart from a small section at the back ie only the cheapest tickets left. The second performance had slightly more tickets left but a similar scenario- all the top prices sold out, just a number of the cheapest prices left. That's so refreshing compared to what we have here- it means the prices are not out of reach for their audiences. Both Melissa and Yasmine's masterclasses were sold out. That's lovely to get that report and impression from Xander. I wonder if he will be in the Belfast performance since it's worked out well. The one ballet I know will be unlikely to be brought to Belfast will be Momentum with its entire cast from Singapore Ballet, as that will mean a lot of long haul plane tickets! (A pity though - Choo San Goh's ballets are gorgeous and reminiscent of a mixture of Ashton and Cranko with a touch of Bintley, and I think UK audiences would love them.) It would be so thrilling if Melissa could bring the programme to London and a few other British cities as well. Can't wait to find out what will be on the Belfast programme!