TurningPointe

Absolutely Janet! Thank you. Just to be clear, I was asking out of concern rather than to speculate. Cesar is a young, super-talented dancer, and the last time I saw him dancing was at the Nureyev Gala (Sept. 2022) where he performed a beautiful Corsaire pas de deux with Yasmine Naghdi.

Thank you Peter, I think I may have originally opened that thread back in June. Unfortunately it does not contain any updates. I was happy to read that Cesar was scheduled to dance in DQ and The Nutcracker in the Autumn but….he has now been replaced again. Hence my asking. Thank you.

I am hoping that Cesar Corrales is OK, but he has been missing for most of the 2022/23 season and was scheduled to appear in Don Quixote and Nutcracker in the Autumn 2023. I note that he has now been replaced in the forthcoming Don Quixote by Matty Ball, and in The Nutcracker by Reece Clarke. Does anyone happen to know what’s happening with him? Thank you in advance.

I am sorry too to hear that Darrion Sellman is leaving the Royal Ballet after his year as a Prix apprentice. He announced that Nicholas LeRiche (formerly an Etoile with the Paris Opera Ballet) now Director of the Royal Swedish Ballet has given him the opportunity to join his company for the 23/24 Season.

Dear All, Does anyone know where Cesar Corrales is, or what is happening with him? He appears to be missing in action. I do not think that we have seen him dance with the Royal Ballet since earlier this year. Is he long-term injured? I am puzzled. I hope that he is OK though 🤔. Thank you so much!

What I am trying to understand is why a Principal such as Natasha Mair, particularly in light of Emma Hawes’ injury, was not cast as Cinderella but other dancers of lesser ranking in the Company were. If relatively ‘junior’ dancers (not really, but you know what I mean…) were going to be cast in the leading role, then why someone like Francesca Velicu was not cast? On a different point (earlier), I do not know who is making the casting decisions but both Christopher Wheeldon and Aaron Watkin were at the Albert Hall for the general rehearsal. Last but not least, different choreographic versions of the same ballet are always unique and subject to individual preferences. I find it hard to process the absence of a wicked Stepmother in Ashton’s Cinderella. The audience may feel passionately about Ashton rather than Wheeldon’s and viceversa. My preferences are James Kudelka’s (National Ballet of Canada) and also Nureyev’s version for the Paris Opera Ballet. Returning to Ashton’s Cinderella, the role of the Stepmother in the fairy tale is so central to Cinderella’s suffering, yet he seemed to have sacrificed the role to give the Stepsisters a higher profile. I say that respectfully, but someone has to say it. The critics seem very quiet about it. Incidentally, Ashton and Helpmann used to play the roles of Stepsisters in earlier stagings for the Royal Ballet.

Just wondering….anybody going? I’d love to go as I love her energy (and her dancing, of course!).

I was very saddened to hear about Michael Denard’s death. I was very lucky to him dancing when I was 12/13 years old. He danced with a fabulous dancer named Ghislaine Thesmar (an Etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet) Pierre Lacotte’s version of ‘La Sylphide’. Denard alternated the male lead role with another Paris Opera Ballet etoile of the time Jean-Pierre Franchetti. They were, simply, magnificent. I am so very sad to hear of Michael Denard’s death. I suppose that one has to contextualise things and clarify that, prior to the 2012s or thereabouts, sports science was not underpinning ballet training and companies. Therefore the athleticism, nutritional knowledge, fitness regimes, rehab, and recovery techniques that we see today were not something available before that time.

SheilaC: Thank you for your comment. I am very sorry, and surprised, to hear that you would be “mystified” by my using of the word “athletic” to refer to a dancer’s body that, while exceptionally expressive, did not conform to the perception of the idealised ballet body. Indeed I could have used different words but I chose carefully out of politeness and respect to the magnificent artist that she was.

Interesting question. Mmmm….I am not sure that we can reduce those casting choices to a certain ballerina’s build. I think that you need to take a careful look at partnerships, artistry, and temperament. Also, certain people are excellent dancers but just not ‘right’ (for a variety of reasons) for certain roles. If you look at the original cast (1978) for Mayerling, the role of Mary Vetsera was interpreted by Lynn Seymour. She was an amazing dancer/actress, an inspiration to Kenneth MacMillan. He originally created his 1960s Romeo and Juliet based on Lynn and Christopher (Gable) not on Fonteyn and Nureyev. Most would tend to agree that Lynn’s more athletic body build did not conform to the stereotypical perception of the classical ballerina but that did not preclude MacMillan from casting her in the role with David Wall partnering her as her Crown Prince Rudolf, or dancing with Nureyev in other ballets.

No, Osipova would not be described as tall but she is not as small as (say) Francesca Hayward. Osipova is reported to be about 5.4-5.5ft but can’t be sure. In pre-Royal Ballet times she had a very successful partnership with Ivan Vasiliev and he is not considered tall (and she was smaller than him, even when on pointe).

This is an interesting comment. Osipova danced a lot with Steven McRae in her earlier years with the Royal Ballet. It is fair to say that people (and dancers are people) change over time: their bodies, technique, artistry, injuries, life events, etc. so I would say that both Steven McRae and Natalia Osipova have changed in recent years and they have naturally migrated towards other dancing partners. Both remain magnificent artists in their own well-earned right and they continue to deliver outstanding performances. I totally agree that roles develop with a dancer over time. Hirano’s initial Rudolf, a few years ago as an emergency replacement for Ed Watson, was nowhere near as powerful and emotive. Last Wednesday, he delivered an outstanding acting (and dancing/partnering) performance. Hirano also played troubled Crown Prince Rudolf with the Scottish Ballet earlier this year, where he danced their adapted version of Mayerling. Embodying such dark, dramatic, role (like Rudolf in Mayerling) will take time and experience to process, elaborate and finally make it their own. I must say that Francesca Hayward also delivered an amazing performance as the terrified Princess Stephanie. It was, without a doubt, a stellar cast in the opening night: Laura Morera (Countess Larisch), Itziar Mendizabal (Empress Elizabeth), Marianela Nuñez (Mitzi Caspar), Reece Clarke (as the leading Hungarian soldier), Gary Avis (Empress Elizabeth’s lover), Luca Acri (Rudolf’s coach driver) and Christopher Saunders (as the Emperor Franz Joseph). A very memorable evening!

Agree! Some dancers in their 40s can and have maintained the technique and look fresh as it was the case with Leanne Benjamin in her 40s.

Yes! Zenaida Yanowsky (she was a tall principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, now a principals’ coach) was given this role when she was 25. She made the comment at one of the rehearsals.

He was indeed. His ‘Corsaire’ absolutely stole the show. It was a huge responsibility and a very fitting tribute to Nureyev’s passion and technique. Vadim Muntagirov delivered a very elegant Prince in ‘Beauty’ grand pas de deux. He was solid technically and received a well-deserved large ovation (Monday eve).

Yes, I’ve received this ‘invite’ as part of a larger e-newsletter last Friday. Half way down the page, same here.

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! Many congratulations on their engagement!!!! Wishing them every happiness, good health, and lots of fun together 💐

WOW! Roberto Bolle is an amazing case, and indeed he holds ‘rock star’ status in Italy. Ballet dancers tend to live their ‘functional’ (not necessarily their calendar) age. Some may feel ‘old’ at 27 because of injuries, wear and tear, etc. Others at 40 may experience a second wind, particularly where they do not have to be on stage every night and have a say in the repertoire they dance. It varies so much. Of course, where dancers mature in the occupation, they have to work even harder than previously to maintain their fitness and allow enough time between shows to recover. Underpinning ballet training with sports science has helped, amongst others, to identify ballet dancers’ bodies weaknesses, design personalised strengthening programmes, and prevent some injuries. In some cases, like Roberto Bolle’s, the combination of genetics, his discipline to pursue individualised training interventions, and his passion for the art form are contributing factors in keeping him at the top of his craft. Mr Bolle is just incredible, and very much recognised and appreciated by everyone that dances with him.

I was so very pleased to hear that Xander and Nastya were able to find a new ballet company that they can call “home” (Xander’s words). Thank you Ingrid Lorentzen (AD Norwegian Ballet) for facilitating that 💕. Doing daily classes, of course, is an integral part of being a dancer, but a dancer needs to dance and be on stage regularly to keep up their technical and artistic fitness. Since Xander left Russia, please do correct me if I am wrong, I think that he only danced on stage in Denmark recently (with Steven MacRae and Team), and will be dancing in London as part of the Nureyev gala on five performances in September. On reflection, if I may, there is a part of me can’t avoid feeling extremely sad. At least on the face of things, Xander was not offered a contract with a large British ballet company, not even as a ‘guest principal’. I am saying a ‘large’ ballet company simply because during the past 12 years he trained at the Mariinsky to do the big classics on the stage where they were created and therefore his experience and style of dancing would be more suited to those of a larger ballet company that stages those ballets. Whilst I am also understanding that UK ballet companies should protect their ‘home grown’ talent, I also understand that Xander was initially also a ‘home grown’ dancer. He left London because, after a number of years still in the corps de ballet, he was deployed to hold spears and stand around on stage. Yuri Fateyev saw him in London in class and noticed his potential. Yuri encouraged Xander to come and work with him at the Mariinsky. Yuri was willing to invest, coach, and nurture Xander, and Xander was hungry to develop as a dancer and was very willing to put in the effort and the hard work. Just thinking how much learning, and experience, could have been gained by having Xander in a local ballet company…. I look forward to seeing Xander dancing with Iana Salenko on a British stage on 5th September at the Nureyev gala. Thank you Nehemiah and Team for inviting him to dance on a UK stage 🙏🏻. UK audiences would like to, and want to, see Xander dancing here too.

Thank you so much Jan!

This is a very interesting topic. I will, however, stick my head above the parapet here and will respectfully disagree but will support my argument as follows if I may. Ballet, the most physically demanding of the performing arts, has become more athletic than ever before. There is now an expectation about this level of physical athleticism and also for dancers to be able to perform simultaneously mixed repertoire (classical and contemporary) from choreographers, ballet management and, of course, also the audience. I am not entirely sure that many people are aware that in the course of one working day, dancers may be rehearsing ‘’Beauty’ followed by a McGregor piece (extreme contemporary style), and then have a rehearsal of (say) ‘Fille’ or another classical piece. Professional dancers work very long hours, many more weekly hours than a tube or a train driver, particularly when they also do matinees and evening performances. Whilst ballet companies in the UK have now the support of sports sciences and healthcare units to underpin their injury prevention and treatment, the evidence shows that injuries have not decreased. In fact, if you examine the most recent academic papers on the subject (e.g.: Bolling et al, 2021; Mattiussi et al, 2021; Shaw et al, 2021) issues surrounding how ‘injuries’ are defined (it depends who you ask….) and the perennial problem of pushing/dancing through pain, and injury reporting within companies and how workload and recovery periods are scheduled (or not) remains a challenge. This is all happening in the context of a hyper-competitive, short career, where opportunities to dance a certain role (or having a contract) may not be offered a second time. By the time dancers are offered a contract with a company, vocational ballet training had already set in and shaped their disposition and behaviours. Given what is already known (not just anecdotally but also from experience and also from more recent evidence-based studies) and that the body is central to the ballet dancer’s task, wouldn’t it be fitting for ballet companies to offer their employees (ballet dancers) a more fitting health and salary continuance plan to cover what it has become in recent decades a ‘high risk’ occupation. Make no mistake, there was always a risk, but this has now been enhanced. Of course, profiling each individual dancer at the beginning of the season, and knowing the repertoire for the season ahead, helps and will assist with strengthening bodily weaknesses that would have been overlooked in the past and prevent injuries that otherwise would have occurred without this knowledge and preparation. This is a very positive, welcomed, change. However, taking out adequate health and salary continuance cover should not be the individual dancers’ responsibility, but their employers. The employers are setting the standards and the workload schedules. These injuries, the evidence shows, are largely incurred in the process of rehearsing or performing for the employer. Professional ballet, rather than recreational dance, by its own nature goes against the human body’s design. It follows, therefore, that it may not be entirely appropriate to compare it with the health or salary continuance cover practices for largely cognitive occupations where employees are more likely to spend most of their time working behind a desk. Not everybody has the high profile, means, support, or the contacts that some principal dancers have to fund their treatment and rehabilitation. How many professional dancers’ careers (who are not principals, or well known) would have been affected and curtailed? Let’s not forget about their overall wellbeing (physical and mental health)? Should the provision of appropriate health and salary cover be the individual dancer’s responsibility, or their employers? As I’ve said at the beginning, this is a very interesting topic.

Yes, Chi has now achieved her target and, as ONCNP said above, she will start treatment very soon in Spain. I wonder why Spain and not the UK? Speculation could be cost and/or support from family/friends. Not sure. I just hope that she recovers and can get back to doing what she loves and identifies with (ballet).