Linnzi5

I agree. I have loved many of Hayward's performances and admire many aspects of her as a dancer. She was amazing in Rhapsody! I can only imagine how hard Odette/Odile are to perform and it may not be every dancer's forte. I still really loved her and Bracewell in Swan Lake though - I just have preferred other interpretations of Odette, particularly. I loved Cuthbertson's interpretation. It's different from others I have seen, yet I really appreciated it - she really impressed me. I do enjoy seeing different pairings, which is why I try to go to as many performances as I can. There are usually different things I like about each interpretation. However, one performance has to include William Bracewell! Incidentally, I have seen a few mishaps over the years and the only thing I feel is concern for the dancer it's happened to. It is part and parcel of live performance that things don't always go the way you would want them to. In the short video I saw at the live cinema relay, William Bracewell was talking about Act III, saying it was a chance to 'show off - if it all goes to plan!' I would think that dancers (and musicians) accept this - certainly, as a musician, I always have. Doesn't feel nice when things go wrong, but that's life! I must say I really enjoyed the orchestra when I saw the Friday, 13th performance at ROH - the cinema live relay last Thursday sounded great too, but not as wonderful as hearing them live, in person, at ROH. I felt the strings were particularly on top form and I liked the general pace of the music, too. I know there was the odd blip in the brass section, but those instruments are prone to that, in my experience, and I expect it.

It made me giggle! The Welsh dragon headline is a little ridiculous and I felt your one about the haggis was equally so as you were making a point.

Hi Rob. I hadn’t mentioned Reece Clarke before and have been rather effusive (slight understatement !!) about Bracewell’s dancing here. In fact, he is my favourite male principal (yay! Spelt it correctly!). I did also say ‘Reece Clarke as well’. But I take your point about other posters taking different things from the written words of others. As far as technical expertise, I have none in the ballet area, but am able to tell when something is glaringly not as it should be and do notice different steps (some dancers perform variations I have noticed). As far as whether steps/moves/ sequences are executed correctly - I am clueless! 🤣

Thanks. I have just tried and it does work on anything but my MacBook!

Thank you - this is why I can't see it, more than 30 minutes have expired. Never mind. I will have to live with my misspelling of principal!

I know this isn't correct place to ask, but I have searched for the answer to my problem and have been unable to find the answer. How do I edit my posts? I realised I have made several typos and would like to correct them here. I can't find an edit option? Sorry to derail thread. 😳

Hooray! About time, too! Huge congratulations to both - Clarke is most deserving and I simply adore Bracewell's dancing, so am thrilled for them. I don't subscribe to the Sunday Times, so am unable to read. I'm grateful for this being posted, thank you!

Really? That is excellent news. Reece Clarke is most deserving as well, I think. Thank you for posting this. I don't subscribe to The Sunday Times and am not able to read! Most frustrating!

As someone who is new to this forum, I like the honesty I see here. As someone who is not an expert on the technical aspects of ballet, I particularly have enjoyed reading about fouettés from people who do understand them (as well as other steps/moves). If you were not thrilled by a performance then I think it is appropriate to say so, as long as you are polite, surely? I have been a member of a forum before (not for ballet) and I understand all about necessary rules. However, I learnt a long time ago not to take things personally - if someone doesn't agree with my perspective, so what? I don't need someone else's approval to justify what I think or feel. As long as I am polite and respectful, then others should accept my opinion as being valid, as much as I would do the same to others - even if I wholeheartedly disagree with what is said. Then there would be healthy debate, I would hope. That is also freedom of speech and expression. I would not want a dislike button as it would be open to abuse and may cause bad feeling. The like button is saying, I think, 'good ideas/thoughts'. but not necessarily agreeing with all that is said? Finbarr, thanks for your thoughts and opinions - I appreciate what you say and found it all very interesting to read.

Ditto! Huge Bracewell fan here! For me, it is also the way he interprets the music - I suppose it's the lyricism in his dancing. It's something that some dancers do naturally and I think he does. Again, this is subjective. For me, I need to be moved and when watching him? I really am. I do like his Siegfried but I also liked Lauren Cuthbertson's Odette and Odile - I felt she was on top form and I liked her choices. Gary Avis is just amazing. He comes across as such a nice man and yet his VR is just plain evil. He is a true character actor! I've really enjoyed watching his coaching of principles/dancers too. The cinema close-ups were brilliant - I loved the emotions expressed and it made it seem more personal to me - more intimate. I'm not sure I would have focussed on some of the main screen shots chosen - but I think we know what I tend to focus on! I also want to say how much I enjoyed Nadia Mullova-Barley in the Spanish Dance - she really shone in this role, I thought. The cygnets were as wonderful as ever, too. I prefer Liam Scarlett's additional choreography to other productions and like his beginning and ending. I know these split opinion, but they work for me.

On my MacBook Air, I am unable to click on tickets to choose my seat to purchase. I go on the seat map and there are many seats available, but when I try to click on the seat I want, nothing happens. I've tried on various seats and different performances and nothing works. I did not have this issue with the old system. Anybody have any idea what could be wrong? Thanks.

None from me. I do feel I am a tad biased though! 😀 Interesting discussion on those who manage to secure their first contracts with the RB on graduation from the RBS. It must be so incredibly competitive securing a place as a graduate dancer at the RB. I think of all those young dancers from the RBS (as well as from many other excellent schools in the UK and around the world) and it must be incredibly stressful and soul-destroying if you are unsuccessful in securing a position in a professional ballet company. My heart goes out to them. I know it's the nature of any performance-based career, but I feel their pain. I don't see it as a problem joining later. I wonder which is more competitive though? Joining directly from ballet school or as a more experienced lower-ranked dancer?

I have also not seen an RB Siegfried do this - I have from other companies though. Then again, that's in my opinion. Others may well have disagreed with me, to be fair.

I am glad you asked my opinion! So, thank you. I have never counted fouettés - I knew there were supposed to be 32, but for me, as long as they complemented the score and end where the music lends them to, I have never really thought about the exact number performed. That being said, as someone with a musical background, I do find it a little jarring if a performer is not 'in tune' with the music - those fouettés from the black swan coda are iconic. Of course, unfortunately, mishaps occur as dancers are humans and errors happen and are a part of live performances. In fact, I saw my favourite female principle, Marianela Nunez, wobble quite badly - for her! - in the middle of her fouettés in the performance I saw just before lockdown. Of course, she recovered instantly and it did not detract from a breathtaking performance for me and I felt the audience cheered her even more enthusiastically than usual as she recovered so professionally. Exiting those fouettés too early is an entirely different prospect for me and it's how you recover from that that makes a difference, in my eyes. - I think that comes from experience? I was interested to see Francesca Hayward. She is a dancer I very much admire and is a wonderful actor, I think. She has many, many brilliant qualities and I really love her. I had read the reviews of her debut and hoped that when I saw her that I would not sense if she was (understandably) a little hesitant or nervous of those dreaded fouettés. I have to say, I enjoyed her performance very much and felt she had an excellent chemistry with Bracewell. I loved her confident and sizzling Odile (her Odette not quite as much) but when she came on stage for the fouettés I instantly felt nervous for her - her body language conveyed that to me. She did not look confident and did end her fouettés quite early and I felt really upset for her, not for me. Did it detract from her performance in my eyes? No. However, I totally understand if others felt differently, as this is the pinnacle of Odile showing her confidence and showmanship and I can see how it would break the spell she was weaving, if that makes sense? Cuthbertson's fouettés were excellent for both performances I saw and she oozed confidence, in my opinion. I have seen short videos of fouettés recently from Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri and Claire Calvert. Their fouettés are very different from the Nunez, Cuthbertson (more traditional?) ones. Forgive me for not knowing the technical name for the arms above the head move they all did, in various forms. Though these videos were clips of them rehearsing and not in the context of a performance, I was not a huge fan. They were executed well, though looked a little uncontrolled (with quite a bit of travelling, in some cases) but I would have to see them in a performance to judge if I felt they worked better. I would be interested to hear the opinions of those who saw these dancers perform them live.

Far better explained than my attempts!

Thanks, Mary. I agree with you - I have really enjoyed the more remote and regal interpretations of Siegfried too. As long as I can see that the dancer is showing me he has an understanding 'his Siegfried' and isn't just showing me the dance steps, I am usually happy and I really enjoy different characterisations (and comparing them).

Thank you!

Hi. I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I would like to say how much I have enjoyed all the discussions, photos and opinions (and knowledge!) posted here. Thank you. I am a huge RB fan, though, alas, not an expert on the technical side of ballet, (my area of moderate expertise is music) so I do enjoy reading the opinions of those who understand it far better than me. I have recently seen Swan Lake in March, with William Bracewell and Francesca Hayward, then again last Friday, with Lauren Cuthbertson and William Bracewell and then went to a screening of the live cinema relay on Thursday night. The last time before that, was literally just before lockdown, where I saw Nunez/Muntagirov (I have seen other pairings previous to that, including Osipova) and it's been wonderful to compare, appreciate and enjoy the characters they create. I have been a regular visitor to ROH over the years, but have never attended a cinema relay before (though I own many DVDs!)- my local cinema did a good job (Cineworld) with the screening and I have no complaints about it. I enjoyed the relay immensely, and though it obviously was not as enjoyable as being at the live performance itself, in person at ROH, (where I am not restricted by the angles/shots chosen by the director of the feed) I did enjoy the close-ups of the dancers' faces - at other times I felt a little frustrated that the focus of the camera wasn't on what I would have chosen, but that is a minor niggle and is subjective anyway. I really enjoyed both last Friday's and Thursday's performances. I have never seen Lauren Cuthbertson dance Odette/Odile before and enjoyed her interpretations of these roles. Having seen different principles dance Odette and Odile previously, I particularly liked some of the choices she made. Congratulations to Ms Cuthbertson on 20 years at the Royal Ballet - what an achievement! I loved William Bracewell - both with Francesca Hayward and Lauren Cuthbertson. He is the kind of dancer I enjoy, as he is fluid, graceful, expressive and a very good actor too, in my opinion. The role of Siegfried can be quite two-dimensional, I think, and Bracewell's interpretation has been my favourite so far; his Siegfried is troubled, vulnerable and human and sometimes I have found Siegfried to be quite bland - not so with his prince. So, another person to add to the Bracewell appreciation list! Seriously, why is he not a principal yet?! I particularly enjoyed the discussion around the fouettés further back in this thread- I have my own opinion on this topic, but wouldn't wish to derail the current direction of this thread by adding them now - I 'missed the boat' on that one as I was still trying to pluck up the courage to join the forum! I had better be quiet now, as this has been a very long post . . . sorry!