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Emeralds

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  1. Emeralds
    Hoping that she will come back and that it coincides nicely with Fille coming back also- since we're told not likely to be 2024-25 season sp hopefully 2025-26? Thank you RobS, I totally forgot (!!) Symphonic Variations had been filmed - saw it on TV ages ago and she is great in it. Would recommend that recording to @myrtle as well: Myrtle, it is on the DVD of The Dream, Symphonic Variations, Marguerite and Armand (Yanowsky and Bolle).
  2. Emeralds
    Are you referring to the number of lead roles or the programming of the four ballets, @bridiem- that's what they're dancing on 24 April in Lincoln Center. I haven't seen Bourree Fantasque live before but the company info assures me that all three couples are principal couples; neither is less important. Symphony in C we know of course- even if the most senior role is generally regarded to be the second movement female's role, technically all four couples are principal roles which makes it 8. I've seen RB fielding principals (including Lesley Collier and Fiona Chadwick) in all four movements so it doesn't look like any ones are less important than others. The lead roles in Tzigane (now renamed Errante at NYCB) are also full lead roles (created for Farrell and Martins), even though the ballet is not long. Mind you, 16 lead roles in 1 night is fairly unusual. 😄
  3. Emeralds
    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 😀. He has done the Nutcracker ones (Clara's partner, Chinese, Spanish), Don Quixote etc - granted not as major as the Jester. But things do change all the time - we say "not many" now but we could turn around and find that he ends up doing a lot of soloist roles for the rest of the season if others get ill, injured or indisposed. Lovely expressive dancer who has a classical elegance in his dancing and a lovely stage manner and chemistry with his partners; would like to see him in more featured roles.
  4. Emeralds
    Yes, that's true that historically - from Suzanne Farrell and Darci Kistler days to now - NYCB has given opportunities to young dancers without making them "wait their turn"....but to be fair, NYCB's main repertoire doesn't have a lot of "spear carrier" roles, whereas RB could be 2 months of Manon/R&J/Don Q then 6 weeks of Nutcracker, then another full length like Swan Lake/Sleeping Beauty/Cinderella etc where there aren't a huge number of lead roles (2-3 per full length on average) you can "have a go" at. However if you had a mixed bill like NYCB's on the 24th: Bournemouth Fantasque, Steadfast Tin Soldier, Errante (Tzigane), Symphony in C, that's already at least 16 lead roles there so they could be shared out among principals, a few soloists and a handful of corps de ballet dancers who are exceptional and there would be enough leading parts to go round (mind you, this mixed bill does seem to be an exception!) But let's say at least 6 per evening (1 male and 1 female per ballet on average, 3 ballets in one evening), which is still more opportunities than a classical company whose main repertoire is full length classics eg Swan Lake, Giselle, Manon, etc (only 2-3 leads per show). By the way, the grouping of RB, NYCB, ABT and POB wasn't to say that NYCB doesn't offer opportunities but simply that these companies all have a lot of good dancers in every rank.
  5. Emeralds
    Possibly, @San Perregrino. Or maybe they only ever intended to do 5 days but were persuaded to stay longer since many people are away on holiday during that bank holiday week. The "due to demand" is their phrase and not mine. 🙂 I simply looked up the details and gave @alison the information she was missing, that's all. More crucially, I think they will have line up some big name guest stars who don't usually perform here to justify those high prices. I could tell in December that tickets in Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle would struggle to sell unless they had the equivalent of Nunez, Muntagirov and Osipova in the leads. Not sure who advised them- hope they weren't using ENB's Royal Albert Hall Swan Lake as a benchmark, because the Albert Hall has a different system and their own following, which Coliseum doesn't for dance. It is still early days and they haven't finalised casting but they would need to confirm guest artists soon, or risk performing to a two-thirds empty auditorium as people book trips away.
  6. Emeralds
    Yes, he's done at least 2 or 3. It's not just the costumes being vastly different but the RB version and his traditional production vary in other ways- eg the Peasant pas de deux is the traditional format, not the unconventional and more difficult pas de six in the RB version. The Act 2 choreography for Myrtha and the other wilis also have some differences. It's a beautiful production and while the current BRB & RB versions are nice, I do miss this one- it was outstanding and its only fault (if one can call it that) was that it had been danced for so many years.
  7. Emeralds
    Yes, Yuhui is absolutely regarded as an Ashton (and MacMillan) dancer. Also very versatile- she was incredible in McGregor's Infra. She was brilliant in the lead of Ashton's The Two Pigeons and as Lise in previous seasons, so I hope a revival of Fille will happen soon and she will be cast as Lise again. First Soloists are unlikely to be given the cinema relay performance (except as a substitute at short notice for illness/injury) so you might have to make the trip to London to see her in a lead role, @myrtle. 🙂
  8. Emeralds
    Marco Masciari, as Capybara said, would be an encouraging example to other competition winners - he was picked by McGregor to create a role in Dante Project at the end of his Prix de Lausanne apprentice year and another in Untitled 2023, has had featured roles as the Jester in Cinderella, Solo Echo, Nutcracker (Clara's partner, Drosselmeyer's assistant and Russian dance), Manon (Beggar Chief), and he's one of the two partners in orange in Danses Concertantes (the ballet has only 5 males so the role does stand out). He's already been promoted to First Artist amid a group of outstanding corps de ballet dancers Marco probably is a phenomenon and an exception- I reckon he'd have risen equally quickly in any company. I think the role is what they make of it: Akane Takada is one who went from PdL apprentice to principal dancer. Many dancers have said it's tough making the transition from student to corps de ballet member in terms of the exhaustion of dancing many times a week on top of rehearsals. I don't think it is meant to be a prize that guarantees you a meteoric rise even if you don't produce stellar performances, but RB's repertoire does offer chances to be cast in small roles to see if you are up to it. As jobs get tougher to obtain in this economic climate (being a PdL winner is no guarantee of a job), I think firstly a job is welcome news for any young dancer, but secondly, having RB in your cv and a chance to observe and work alongside big stars and eminent choreographers is a bonus even if you are only a spear carrier in the first year (but I have seen the apprentices dance in various roles so it's not just walk on parts). I think the only problem with accepting a job in a company like the Royal Ballet is that it's now a company with stars or rising stars in all ranks, so it's harder to stand out and get opportunities and promotions. But the same would be true in any renowned company like NYCB, Paris Opera, ABT etc.
  9. Emeralds
    I was really pleased that ENOO got this gig! They deserve the pay (hope they negotiated a favourable rate!) and SBG will have stunning playing from this incredible ensemble of musicians.
  10. Emeralds
    It was originally scheduled to end with the Sunday 1 September matinee but has now been extended by a week.
  11. Emeralds
    *typo: will be playing for the company in August and September. 🙂
  12. Emeralds
    I hope Sarasota audiences know how lucky they are.....they're getting not just Ashton's R&J but also Peter Wright's traditional Giselle (the one with the brown and yellow costumes for Act 1 and actual Romantic era tutus for Act 2)! I thought that Giselle had gone forever!
  13. Emeralds
    Wow- from serving wine to the Prince in Sleeping Beauty at RB in 2023 (as I recall seeing him in) to being the Prince in Swan Lake the following year! Well done Darrion! His Odette-Odile is Maya Schonbrun (a familiar name to those who followed dance pages on social media during Covid lockdowns) - that's wonderful that Nicolas le Riche is giving such fantastic opportunities to talented youngsters in the corps de ballet. Their Rothbart is principal dancer Calum Lowden, ENBS and RBS graduate from Oxton, Scotland. If I recall correctly this version (Nureyev's 1984 one), has quite a lot of dancing for Rothbart as well. Maya and Darrion obviously have a lot of support among the Stockholm audience- both their performances are sold out. Toi toi toi to both of them!
  14. Emeralds
    This month, Dance Europe magazine had a feature on the company taking their production of Swan Lake on a tour to Italy. The company had three ballerinas dancing Odette/Odile : Nino Samadashvili (who trained at the affiliated school), Laura Fernandez-Gromova (a Swiss born Vaganova Academy graduate of Spanish and Ukrainian heritage),and Maria Kochetkova (familiar to ENB, SFB and ABT regulars). Soloist Filippo Montanari was mentioned as Fernandez-Gromova's partner in the role of Siegfried on the Italy tour, but nobody else was mentioned. I know Xander Parish has danced with the company as a guest artist in the past but there's no mention of whether there will be guest artists dancing Siegfried or who their other Siegfrieds were. The production was described in the article as being quite traditional and the corps de ballet well rehearsed and well synchronised. It sounds like Fadeyechev and Ananiashvili are aiming for a traditional, pleasing, reliable Swan Lake that does what it says on the tin, with no radical concepts or unexpected reworking. The writer didn't say what sort of ending it had - I guess we'll find out in August! The company didn't have live music on the Italy tour, but glad to see that the versatile ENO Orchestra (who have recently been performing ballet scores magnificently- from Giselle to Tchaikovsky pas de deux to Don Quixote pdd to Le Corsaire pdd etc - despite being primarily an opera orchestra!) will be playing for the company in August.
  15. Emeralds
    I love that we can now just click and it is sorted out instantly! No need to wait ages for someone to answer the phone or to keep checking my inbox to see if the box office staff have replied to my email yet and the uncertainty of what they might say/not say. The £4 fee per ticket is worth it for the speed and elimination of hassle. Great system. More venues should do something like it- I think it would improve their box office income.
  16. Emeralds
    Casting on the website currently showing that Lauren Cuthbertson will dance in Requiem tomorrow. 😊 Really tempted to go again tomorrow. Such beautiful dancing.....
  17. Emeralds
    I don't have offspring looking for ballet/dance jobs but am very familiar with this scenario from friends who went through it. There are unfortunately a lot of dance schools, a lot of very good graduates and not enough jobs or dance companies in the UK and around the world, and that's always been the case. I'd advise parents and graduates to expect a lot of rejections when starting out, and not to pay much heed to the "too tall, too short, wrong whatever" feedback- if the feedback doesn't pinpoint anything to do with the actual dancing or technique, it usually means that she (or he) was very good but so were 30 (or more) other dancers and they only had the funds to hire one, so a lot of very good candidates will have to be rejected for no good reason unfortunately. One approach that some have said reduces the pressure at auditions was to go to them and use the auditions as an opportunity to perform for someone new (even if it was barre work only or even if just tendus) and not to care if you get the job or not. Somehow, being under less pressure made them stand out from the other equally good candidates, who looked too anxious or too eager to please, and led to a job being offered! That might work for some. Best of luck to all the DDs and DSs auditioning for jobs!
  18. Emeralds
    Thinking about whether to go as it's been very successful in the US (earned a second Tony Award for Christopher Wheeldon) but it's obviously very different to the first musical that Wheeldon won a Tony for- An American in Paris. Actually, what I would really like is a revival of An American in Paris, I think 😀 (with Leanne Cope and Robert Fairchild)!
  19. Emeralds
    The first night often moves about a bit - usually late September or early October. Last year, ie this season, the first night was 30 Sept 2023 (Don Quixote). For the previous season it was 5 Oct 2022 (Mayerling). I am waiting a bit to book Fille as it's easier for me to move ROH tickets if there is a clash with Sadler's Wells than to move Sadler's Wells if ROH programming/casting clashes with a Sadler's Wells booking. A big thank you to whoever/the people at ROH who thought of putting the advance ticket return option on the website and implemented it successfully! 👍 👏
  20. Emeralds
    My sympathies, @emmarose- what a horrible person to have to encounter at a lovely occasion like a ballet. If it's any consolation I have encountered a similarly unpleasant individual at ROH and it's definitely worth reporting the incident and individual to ROH Customer Services, if you have the time. Nowadays they have a record of the person buying the ticket as well-even if the ticket was given away or resold to a friend, they can warn the ticket buyer that this person is no longer welcome.
  21. Emeralds
    Without wanting to dictate to others whether they should refrain from ever giving standing ovations at ROH or indeed any other theatre, nor to dismiss those who can't easily stand up/move during a standing ovation to get a better view (wheelchair bound, child, etc), I would say it's a tad churlish to tell people (especially with a forceful poke!) that they're not allowed to give one. If one can stand to walk in and out of a building, one can stand up for a standing ovation to get a better view. I have been with elderly or shorter companions who couldn't or preferred not to stand up for a standing ovation- that's their choice and they weren't offended that other people stood up. I've also been in standing places in the past and had my view blocked in a full house (standing places full as well) if there's a standing ovation- because the seats in front of us in Stalls Circle are elevated. A few of us just chuckled and shuffled along somewhere else to get a more unimpeded view (obviously being mindful you mustn't block an exit route in any emergency). I also do take curtain call photos and yes, standing ovations can temporarily block my shot until I stand/move to get a clear view- but it's not a great disaster to move. (Front row of course avoids that problem.) But hey, the performers have worked hard, often in pain with an existing injury, audiences want to show their appreciation - let them have their standing ovation (including brief ones).
  22. Emeralds
    There won't be any additional recent recordings of Fille and Rhapsody aside from the recent ones of Natalia Osipova with Steven McRae as those two ballets are generally not big sellers on the DVD market (it is likely that Osipova's performances were chosen as her international fame would help improve sales of both cinema relay seats as well as DVDs). Yuhui Choe and Valentino Zucchetti's performances in Fille were not filmed. As far as I can recall, Choe wasn't cast in the Rhapsody lead. Many of Choe's other performances were filmed-she can be seen in the Swan Lake DVD with Osipova and Matthew Golding in the lead roles (she dances in the Act 1 pas de trois) and the Concerto,/Judas Tree/Elite Syncopations DVD where she dances the 1st movement female lead with McRae. She's also one of the four visiting Princesses in Act 3 of the Nunez/Muntagirov Swan Lake DVD, but that's a small role compared to the ones on the other two DVDs. With regards to Fille scheduling, oversaturation with visiting or other UK companies is not generally an issue for RB, eg RB is performing Swan Lake over 4 months while 2 other companies will be performing it at the same time (ENB in June) and in August (State Ballet of Georgia). But they don't generally perform the same classics (eg Don Quixote, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, etc) as BRB in the same season. I suspect this is a) out of courtesy to a sister Royal Ballet Companies organisation, b) on a practical level they can have communication with BRB about repertoire but no day to day obligation to communicate with several other domestic companies or multiple international companies, who could have programming or visits to London altered with no obligation to RB either. This pattern doesn't apply to Nutcracker, as audiences have consistently shown they are more than happy to support and sell out two or even three major national companies performing Nutcracker at the same time in the capital.
  23. Emeralds
    If anyone is able to go today (matinee or evening or both), do report back! Whether it's just a few lines, or a few paragraphs!
  24. Emeralds
    Really looking forward to this in late May after reading all these reviews. 😀
  25. Emeralds
    Had I known in advance, would have booked to go and see him with Emily Suzuki et al last week before the rail strikes began (even though I don't like the production at all). Had ENB announced it earlier, it would have boosted ticket sales as well (as Laura Morera's farewell did for a sluggish-selling triple bill). I found his social media posts- very sweet photos and messages of thanks to his colleagues. He will be greatly missed by fans.
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