Linnzi5

This is very sad news. I enjoyed her posts here very much, though I didn't know Linda in person. My condolences to her many friends here

I'm ok with the most of what is scheduled - would have liked Fille, Giselle or SB instead of some of the more contemporary numbers, personally. On to what's on: Alice - I will definitely see. Will be looking for a cast I like though. Cinderella - I absolutely loved it. Will depend on casting as to how many I see. Onegin - I'm looking forward to this but again, how many visits will depend on casting (and price!) Romeo and Juliet - one of my favourites, so I'm pleased about this. Yet again, how many visits depends on casting and cost. Balanchine triple - haven't seen any of the ballets live. So, I'll be going. Contemporary mixed bill - Will see about casting before making a decision. Wheeldon 'Broadway' bill - well, I love musicals, so maybe I'll love these? Will most likely give it a go. No Nutcracker - I know RB periodically doesn't do this, but I am sad. It's become a tradition to go. Cinderella instead this year.

I thought Sambè was a perfect Mercutio - cheeky and like a little whirlwind when he danced.

I agree with you. I thought they had lovely chemistry and was hoping to see them in The Dream together, as I think they'd be lovely in that. They were so gorgeous together in Dances at a Gathering as well, IMO.

I loved Matthew Ball's Tybalt. It was a very different characterisation to others I've seen and I loved what he did with it. I thought he was the perfect Tybalt, personally.

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed last night's performance. I was sadly, well not sadly as I was away with a friend enjoying a weekend of music, unable to attend last night - I would have liked to have gone to both Hayward/Bracewell performances and was disappointed not to be able to do so, but am going on 11th May. I loved Hayward's Odile last time I saw her and thought she was a complete firecracker. I'm so glad to hear she delivered the fouettés - bravo to her for her resilience, as I know they are not necessarily her forte. I have to admit that too much muttering is not an interpretation that I personally enjoy - I feel it makes Siegfried seem a bit petulant, as is too much eye-rolling. I'm not saying it's not valid, interpretations are obviously up to the performer, but it's just not what I like to see. Last run, I found Hayward's Odile more compelling too, but I am really looking forward to seeing what she does with both roles on the 11th.

Yes. I noticed this too and thought it a bit strange. I wonder, if I would have noticed if I was sitting in ROH though? I must mention that I thought Yasmine's Act II White Swan Coda was stunning. I forgot to mention that earlier. I absolutely love that part of Act II and I thought she was gorgeous - one of the best I've ever seen.

My companions and I thought there was a lot to enjoy about the cinema relay last night. The orchestra was on top form under the baton of Martin Georgiev. Magnus Johnston's playing was just divine and I much preferred his solos to the previous concert master's ones this run (being a violinist, I am picky, and this is just my personal preference of the interpretation of the solos). I preferred Georgiev's interpretation generally to the previous performances I've been to this run - and what a lovely man! The costumes looked absolutely stunning and were so visually pleasing. Standouts for me were Joonhyuk Jun as Benno. His dancing was excellent, so confident and light, but he was such a happy and joyful dancer that I found myself smiling alongside him. Leticia Dias shone as one of Siegfried's sisters, as did Annette Buvoli, though I found their height differences a bit jarring, especially when they were dancing in unison. Nadia Mullova-Barley shone again in the Spanish Dance and I thought Leo Dixon and Isabella Gasparini were adorable in the Neapolitan Dance - and the tambourines behaved! (I always get so nervous when they throw them!) Yasmine Naghdi was as technically brilliant as I expected. Her fouettés as Odile were showy, technically excellent, and, especially considering this was a cinema relay, were confident and dazzling - they certainly hit the spot for me when they needed to! Bravo to her as I can only imagine, not only how technically challenging hers were but how absolutely nerve-wracking it must have been to deliver those so perfectly! All of my party were blown away here! I found the Act II PDD to be technically excellent, but for me, would have liked to have seen more vulnerability in her Odette - just my personal taste. I did feel she came to her own in Act IV though, where she emoted brilliantly and I felt her despair and pain at Siegfried's betrayal. This I found very moving and I think I liked her best in this movement as I felt so much emotion myself here. Yasmine's Odile was playful, flirty and seductive but didn't quite have the malicious, evil/cold streak I like - again, I think that's personal taste on my part. Overall, I thought she was excellent and so confident - I never once felt unsure of her and she made the choreography look easy and technically, I feel she is one of the best dancers at RB. I can't deny I didn't feel Matthew Ball was at the top of his game last night - he is such an excellent dancer and I really like him. Though I thought parts of his dancing were as technically excellent as he usually is, something was missing for me at times. I also found his Siegfried a little expressionless sometimes, as did my companions, though we all felt that in Act IV, he came to his own. I wonder if nerves played a part? I certainly couldn't blame him if that was the case! His partnering was assured, supportive and excellent, I thought. I thought the Corps was excellent but do take on board some of the earlier comments about the Big Swans and Cygnets. I found them to be absolutely fine and I had nothing to complain about specifically, but didn't feel they were the best I've seen for some reason. The quality of the relay itself was sadly not the best. For the first act, for some reason, the picture on the screen was too high and the dancer's feet were cut off! I found that really frustrating. The sound was too low and we had some horrible distortion in the sound again - hearing it in Stravinsky is one thing, in Tchaikovsky, it's a crime. I also did not like some of the cut-in shots - I found some were random and the dancing I wanted to see was missed. I have preferred other Swan Lake relays in that respect, I'm afraid. However, overall, it was an enjoyable night that was definitely Yasmine Naghdi's - congratulations to her and to the whole cast.

I've done the same and rebooked for 13th and cancelled 7th May.

Me too! I don't necessarily agree with some, but I never mind as it's so interesting to read what other people think and how they interpret things. @Buru, please keep expressing your thoughts

Lovely insight. I particularly enjoyed Fumi and Vadim and always enjoy Ed Watson's coaching. I got a real sense of where they were taking their roles. I didn't enjoy the second rehearsal as much - as others have said, the dancers were stopped what felt like every two seconds and I found myself losing interest (I could see they were, perhaps, at a different stage of learning their roles though). It was an enjoyable experience overall though.

Happy birthday! 🎉

I received it on Friday too and filled it in. It was quite comprehensive and I was happy to give my perspective on a number of items - including how important it is to me knowing the cast in advance of booking . . .

Oh dear. That all sounds rather unfortunate! Sorry to hear Hirano was injured? If so, I hope he recovers quickly.

I actually like the end. I agree that Siegfried being supine isn't the best use of him (then again, does he really get to do that much anyway?) but I do like that Odette is the strong one and ends her life as she can't bear to continue as she is - all on her own terms. I also wonder if she sacrifices herself so Siegfried can live? I took it that Siegfried was killed by VR and the two swans revived him at the end - they certainly go over to him and wave their arms over him, which I just interpreted as them restoring his life? I do quite like the traditional ending of the two of them heading off on a swan boat together, united in death but also find it a little sickly sweet. The only ending I didn't like was the one where Siegfried is swimming under a sea of silk (mimicking waves) - I just laughed inside at that!

Me too.

Thank you for this. So, opening with Alice, Cinderella instead of Nutcracker (damn, I'll be spending more then!) and R &J in the Spring. I wonder when Onegin might be then?

I think he'll be brilliant!

I did recognise some from Danses Concertantes - but only because I'd memorised the cast list and worked it out by a process of elimination! The men looked so different with the head adornments on! I still don't know who half the supporting female dancers were in Requiem, as their hairstyles were so similar. I did recognise Meghan Grace Hinkis and Annette Buvoli though. To be fair, I'm pretty poor at recognising most dancers.

I cannot deny that when the first glitch happened that I thought, hmmm, I don't remember the Stravinsky being this dissonant and unattractive! I then realised, after the second one, that it was definitely a sound issue! I can't deny that I felt a bit embarrassed at myself for not initially realising it actually wasn't meant to sound like that! To be fair, I don't know the Stravinsky well 😂 I agree. I actually I agree with all of your review but I tend to waffle on, so cut the other bits out of my reply! I agree that Petroc does seem genuinely interested and so knowledgable and I am certain he is both.

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

I'm sorry to hear this. Could you go to an encore performance? I'm not sure how many cinemas do them though.

I got the impression, certainly from those within earshot of me during the intervals, that a lot of the cinema audience around me did not know anything about the ballets or the dancers - though all seemed to enjoy themselves. I don't know if this is typical of audiences though. I did find the Benesh notation segment quite interesting, but it was too short and didn't have enough detail in it for me, though I know I'm being fussy!

I agree with both of your points. Cranko was mentioned but not really what his importance was or any details about anything much really. Francesca Hayward was brilliant - I really was so drawn to her whenever she was on stage - she compelled me to look at her. When I saw her last week, I sat in row E of the stalls - so very near the front and I had an excellent view. However, on the relay, I felt I 'saw' so much more of her, directly into her soul, almost, and her performance was more intimate and meaningful to me. She was so amazing, I thought.

I wasn't as impressed with all of the video clips and discussions as I normally am. They were quite short and not always very informative, particularly so with Requiem and plot details for Different Drummer. I agree that it's important to discuss the different parts of the Requiem Mass - I know them very well (not because I am religious but because I've both studied and performed them) and for me, I think it's important to discuss and understand them in the context of the ballet to appreciate it fully - though that may not be the case for everyone, of course. I would imagine that somebody not knowing the plot details of Different Drummer might be very confused about it. In fact, several audience members around me, though they loved the dancing, said they couldn't quite understand what was going on. As for the cast list sheet - I was very surprised about the one I was handed. Matthew Ball was never cast for 9th, so I can't understand why we were given the cast list we were. Lauren Cuthbertson and James Hay not dancing, I'm presuming was a last-minute thing, so that is understandable. In the scheme of things, it didn't matter to me as I knew who was cast for everything, but audience members around me did not and talked about who would be dancing and obviously didn't know the cast sheet was incorrect. @bridiem On a shallow note, I did like what Darcey was wearing and thought she looked amazing - she certainly brings glamour to the relay. Petroc is just an amazing presenter, IMO. I keep saying it, but he not only has the gravitas and knowledge needed, he also is such a professional, with a lovely, calm manner, is very likeable and I always think he supports Darcey really well. I think he's a brilliant choice. I can't deny, as lovely and likeable as Darcey is, that she does make me nervous and I feel uncomfortable for her when she stumbles - I understand that she is dyslexic and reading the auto-cue must be incredibly challenging for her, so have great sympathy in that respect. @alison The sounds issues happened three times and were maybe 10 seconds each time? I wouldn't say they were really bad at my cinema but they certainly were a bit distracting. They were distortions and the music sounded scratchy and incomplete, which it clearly was. It was annoying but in the scheme of things, I thought it could have been far worse - I'd have been far more upset if I'd lost the video feed, for example. I'm sorry it ruined bits for you though On a selfish note, I was just relieved that it didn't happen during Requiem!