ellyb

I suppose that's what surprised me, if we're deep in Nutcracker season and I see soloists in the corps I wouldn't bat an eyelid but this was a pretty small corps in just one act on an evening with almost no other corps work. Of course the bulk of the company is likely extremely busy behind the scenes preparing for Nutcracker, and then straight into Sleeping Beauty and quite possibly learning Cinderella too - most would probably be unfamiliar with Diamonds as well so having to learn it on top of everything else would be quite a lot to ask! Makes perfect sense now I think about it!

I actually thought she was a First Soloist, I tend to associate her with principal/soloist roles like Lilac Fairy or Myrtha!

Today saw the matinee cinema performance and whilst not as bad as feared was definitely a mixed bag. Fille doesn’t really seem grand enough to open, and I missed the sets but danced well and nice to see Campbell. Manon maybe started a bit tame but I felt improved as they went on – it must be difficult to perform that as a gala piece. There were certainly some lovely touches and would be interested to see them both in the full ballet. Qualia didn’t do much for me, didn’t like the music and the endless contortions wore on. I think we all know by now that Melissa Hamilton is very bendy, she’s also a beautiful dancer so would personally prefer to see her do more of that! Very much liked For Four, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting; would book to watch that again. Then came Act II... I didn’t mind the music to See Us!! but that’s really all the positive I can find. For something called ‘See Us’ it was hard to see much of them at all in the gloom – was that the point? I found it quite funny in places which I’m not sure was the intention, they looked like stroppy teenagers trying to look ‘hard’ – why the twitching?! And that weird hand waving? And the inelegant thumping jumps? Obviously went right over my head, it looked to me like a GCSE dance project (and it probably wouldn’t score well as there was very little that could be described as dance!). It seems a ridiculous thing to be on the stage of the Royal Opera House full stop and anybody could do that ‘dance’, why on Earth use Royal Ballet dancers? It’s like hiring Pavarotti to sing ‘Three Blind Mice’! What an absolute waste of space, money and talent. However, (another positive!) it wasn’t to my mind as bad as the horror that came next. Whereas the See Us!! choreographer seems to have no knowledge of ballet, the Dispatch choreographer seems to have utter contempt for it. Was her entire mission just to make the dancers look silly? Poor William Bracewell. To my eye it lacked any aesthetic, artistic or intellectual merit. It was an absolute eyesore accompanied by a discordant din. Next was dull and unmemorable, but did quite like Osipova’s nightie. That’s pretty much all I recall. Don’t know why it was included. Prima, which looked lovely in rehearsal was a bit blah. As has been mentioned, costumes were absurd and unnecessary – plain dresses or even leotards would have been far more appropriate, surely the point was to showcase the beauty of female dance rather than advertise some fashion designer. Some of the choreography was nice, and some a little messy but whilst there were flashes of beauty I didn’t really notice any spark of ‘genius’. If they changed the costumes, I would be interested to see it again to see if it worked better. I’m not sure Zucchetti is quite ready for the main stage but will be following with interest to see how he develops. Honestly, if Act II really is a glimpse of the future of the Royal Ballet then it’s very depressing; 75% isn’t choreographed by a ballet choreographer and 25% can barely be called dance, let alone ballet. I suppose on the plus side I’ll save a lot of time and money not going to the Opera House! Finally, Diamonds and there’s not realty much to say... Marianela obviously sublime, Reece Clarke seems to be improving every time I see him – I noticed in the cinema showing of Mayerling that his technique seems to have ‘tightened’ considerably, and his leaps and spins were impressive today. And even though it has nothing at all to do with the Royal Ballet, it was a fitting way to end. But why was Gina Storm-Jensen dancing in the corps? Or was it someone who just looked very like her? Highlight for me definitely Manon, followed I think by For Four. All in all, probably glad I went to see it at the cinema but would have been annoyed if I’d forked out to go see it in town.

But at least you could exchange for credit, losing £4... I'd lose £44 as I'm escorting my mother. Such a shame, but it's sold out so presumably ROH is happy enough, and we may well see more of this sort of thing. The Zucchetti looks good though - other than the rolling about on the floor which seemed a bit out of place, but maybe that'll look better on the night. And never seen Takada so that'll be nice, though I really can't cope with any more Manons I am desperate to see - the next run is going to bankrupt me as is!

I’m sorry to say I am very disappointed; I didn’t book for the theatre as it seemed to be all contemporary (apart from Balanchine, who I have to confess I’m not super fond of - and I’m unsure of how much he has to do with the Royal Ballet?) but having heard rumours there would also be lots else including Macmillan and Ashton I decided to book for cinema matinee. I saw the rehearsals on WBD and the Zucchetti looks good but the others looked (to me) dreadful! The Pam one seems to be contemporary ballet with some very ugly movements, which isn’t to my taste but does seem at least to be some sort of ballet… the Toonga one though isn’t ballet at all, or even contemporary… unless that’s the only bit they showed rehearsing and the rest will be ballet? Not only does it seem a horrendous waste of some of the world’s best ballet dancers but I would’ve thought most people booking to see a ballet gala are expecting ballet surely? Just as if someone were booking for a ‘streetdance’ show they’d presumably be surprised and possibly irritated to find a load of ballerinas in tutus doing Swan Lake! I’ll have to grin and try to bear it I suppose as the cinema’s non refundable but it seems a very dismal celebration of 60 years of Royal Ballet.

I booked for it a couple of years ago but it was cancelled by Covid, decided against booking again this season as it was on at the ROH but very interested to see how it's going. The perfect theatre for such a lavish show!

Is there any reason the score has never been recorded? Presumably it is felt there wouldn't be enough of an audience but I personally adore it, and the Manon ballet music is available so I don't know why Mayerling is not... The original piano pieces are wonderful in their own right but definitely not the same!

I didn't book the debut as I thought it best to allow everyone to 'settle' a bit - debuting a ballet like Mayerling must surely make the most experienced a little bit nervous! But you gamble on maybe missing out on some of the electricity of a first night, these early reviews are making me a bit sick I decided to be cautious... Hopefully they'll recreate it in a couple of weeks, I'm even more excited now - I need a new Rudolf after losing Soares (although I did see the cinema showing and was impressed with Hirano, definitely one to watch). Vadim's photos do look amazing, and I adore him as a dancer so fingers crossed for the 11th!

So excited for this cast, even more so now we have Yasmine Naghdi - booked for 11th so eagerly awaiting reports!

Thank you, that's interesting... I wonder how much say the dancers' get in whether to dance a role or not, I imagine Nunez has a lot of control over her casting - and I suspect Darcey Bussell would have had too! Though of course I don't know, if they were determined to try a role that their director was certain was wrong for them, would he have refused? And if they were dead set against dancing a role would he make them... Can only speculate, and what may be true of Nunez, Bussell etc may of course not apply to all other dancers, even of the same rank.

In relation to casting, historically have most/all principals danced Rudolph or has it always been limited to men considered 'right for the part'? Similarly, do the women all dance Mary Vetsera at some point - I've never seen Marianela Nunez cast, has she been?

It's not a particularly exciting offering at present but I've signed up as hopefully if this is seen to be working it'll be extended to not only new productions but - fingers crossed - to previous non-released productions. I am a bit confused at what's been chosen though, many of the ballets are regularly shown on Sky Arts and 'The Art of Vadim Muntagirov' has only recently been released so why give those away for free? Would've thought that throwing a few oldies and/or non-dvd favourites that people are begging to see again would have made a lot more sense, I would guess that much of their intended audience will either have these shows or not want them.

Did he not do rather well in Onegin though? I would think that might indicate suitability... I did book to see him but unfortunately he didn't turn up and I had to suffer through Roberto Bolle instead! 🙄🤩 (who I believe was considered not likely to be a good Onegin, and who I personally found wonderful). I'm pretty particular about Rudolf's, I want a lost and flawed human I feel sympathy for rather than an obnoxious madman who I am happy to see blow his brains out... I think caring about the characters is key to Mayerling, and maybe a reason so many can't understand its appeal?

Another vote for disappointing unfortunately. Sleeping Beauty seems to have only just been on, I’ll no doubt book a couple of shows but probably only in Amphi. I’ve never been particularly taken by Cinderella but will give it a go, and I’ll likely stick to friend rehearsal for Nutcracker. So main one for me will be Mayerling, most of which I’ll unfortunately miss as I’m away for most of the run. I’m not sure I’m particularly excited by any potential Rudolphs… I think we have several men who could be outstanding in a few years, but to me most seem a bit young for such a complex role; I feel a bit of life experience helps develop the character beyond mad druggie psycho, and without a bit more depth it’s difficult to care what happens to him. Reading through this forum most of the Rudolphs people want to see aren’t even principals yet! On the other hand we have a vast array of women that I’m desperate to see as Manon, and who are more than ready. I maybe expected Fille as it does feel like it’s been ages since it was on, and seems to be very popular. Also seems a while since Alice though not sure how that sells? Would’ve liked to see the whole Anastasia, the triple bill seems a bit bizarre. I’m not personally a fan of contemporary so won’t be going, and does seem odd that’s the only triple. I would’ve thought that if KOH is desperate for people to watch contemporary dance he would be better off packaging them in bills with popular established one acts, not sure many people who don’t love contemporary will go just because they’re desperate to see Anastasia Act 3. I also wonder at the determination to keep staging very modern works when they don’t seem to sell well and seem a bit of a waste of some the best classical dancers in the world. Even though I’m sure they are more than capable, there are contemporary companies who would surely be as good or better at contemporary pieces. I don’t really understand why these shows would attract new audiences, not only because on the main stage they’ll be so expensive likely few people would risk it if they weren't already sure they’d like it, but if someone loves the modern stuff why would that mean they'd want to watch ballet? If the opera side started staging pop concerts would that encourage people to give Wagner a go, simply because it’s in the same building?! I assume most of us were young once and managed to develop a love for classical ballet, why is this generation any different? Or did most people start off watching the stuff that was newly created when they were young and migrate to the older stuff? I started off loving Swan Lake, then fell in love with MacMillan when I grew up, there's not that much been created in my lifetime (40 years) that I particularly enjoy. Whilst it is of course important to commission new works, I would personally prefer they primarily or even exclusively be ballet as I don’t see how endless contemporary works can possibly advance the artform. First post, and unfortunately a bit of a grumble!