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OnePigeon

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  1. OnePigeon
    Lucky Paris! Is this any indication that the likelihood of getting Onegin in London is now very much diminished, or does it have little bearing? I can’t give up the dream just yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to be left disappointed. Better get saving for a trip to Paris I guess.
  2. OnePigeon
    I’m so disappointed. I couldn’t get any tickets for Nunez in Swan Lake as they sold out so quickly and now I won’t be seeing her on Friday either - I hope she’s ok. I’m afraid to say don’t even know who Lubach is and I’ve never heard of her before.
  3. OnePigeon
    🤣 it was kindly meant, but I was particularly gutted to miss Mukhamedov in the Judas Tree and I never got the chance to see him in it. I only started going to the ballet around that time too and caught the very end of his career, but I’m so glad I was just in time to witness several great performances (including his final Mayerling, which has never been surpassed for me.) I bet Morera was wonderful in DC too.
  4. OnePigeon
    Yes she did, I have the cast list for one of their performances. Sadly, I was too ill to attend that night and gave the ticket to my sister, who bought me a programme 😭.
  5. OnePigeon
    I don’t find any of the 19th century era classics particularly involve me emotionally as they’re just too silly and fantastical to move me, unlike the 20th century classics like Romeo and Juliet, Onegin (I can weep buckets), Mayerling and of course Manon, which provide more human psychological depth for me.
  6. OnePigeon
    Well maybe some of the non principal dancers? I would be pretty miffed if I was made a principal and then almost every principal but me was given certain roles and then, to add insult to injury, lower ranked dancers were also given principal roles that really should have gone to me. I agree it’s good to be positive and celebratory about his career, but it’s also a little disingenuous to ignore the fact that he wasn’t cast as much as he could have been - and I say this as someone who wasn’t a particular fan of his (as in he wasn’t one of my preferred dancers, not that I didn’t like him.) Mukhamedov was treated appallingly when he departed and was rightly hurt and angry when he first left the RB - these things do happen, it’s not all roses and champagne behind the scenes.
  7. OnePigeon
    Having read about Forsythe’s Blake Works on here I presumed he was a big fan of William Blake and had choreographed pieces inspired by his art or poetry: it’s only now I’ve had the unfortunate introduction to James Blake that I’ve fallen in. Of all the glorious music created in the world over hundreds of years, in many genres, what on earth is so inspiring about this bland, self aware drivel? My mind boggles.
  8. OnePigeon
    This was a ballet of two halves for me - and boy do I wish I’d beaten a hasty retreat at the second interval! The Peck was fine, pleasant enough and well danced. It was wonderful to see Megan Fairchild and Roman Mejia in this piece and it had me wishing I could see more of Mejia. Duo Concertant was the piece I booked for and it lived up to my expectations: the music was beautiful, the dancing by Woodward and Stanley was lyrical, joyful and then poignant and very moving and the narrative had me shedding a tear at the end. I’ve finally seen Balanchine danced by NYCB and I’m happy to have experienced it. I could weep for the lost opportunity of what we could have seen though. If I could have left there on a high I would have had a much more positive afternoon because what followed depressed me. Gustave is just a big why? The costumes were hideous, the semaphore crossed with stomach cramp choreography was dull and uninspiring and I just wanted it to end. I had never heard of James Blake prior to this and let’s just say I wish I had remained ignorant because any enjoyment I may have found from the choreography (and I’m not sure I would have) was drowned out by the godawful racket coming out of the speakers - it was a loud, turgid horror show and the bass was vibrating uncomfortably at times. I don’t enjoy the blending of hip hop and ballet and this certainly hasn’t changed my mind. I can’t remember the last time I was so relieved for something to end.
  9. OnePigeon
    He stepped in at the last minute as the replacement Prince in the Nutcracker for Reece Clarke when I saw it and for someone else too the night before, I believe, so he’s being given opportunities across the spectrum of roles. He was a very attractive Gaoler in Manon, though that isn’t the reaction I should have had to such a despicable character! He does have a very commanding presence on stage and I always notice him with his height and incredible Nordic bone structure.
  10. OnePigeon
    My son is a similar age and has had no problem sitting through anything we’ve seen. He saw the ENB Nutcracker as his first ballet (also aged 9), but Sleeping Beauty a few months later was his first RB ballet and he loved it - so much so that he’s subsequently seen Cinderella, Don Q, Giselle, RB Nutcracker and suggested we go to see NYCB despite not fancying the program as it’s a great opportunity to see them! It’s bankrupting me. I would maybe opt for a matinee though as I find evening performances can be a bit of a struggle for him, though having said that, he loves Vadim and we could only get an evening Swan Lake this time. It sounds like your son will love Swan Lake and I think he’s old enough for the grown up version as long as the synopsis is explained beforehand.
  11. OnePigeon
    I have had to rush out for a booster seat on a few occasions when someone tall has sat in front of me and it is clear my view is going to be severely restricted. They aren’t very comfortable and I do feel like I’m going to slide off them, but I’m willing to forego some comfort in order to actually see what I’ve paid for. I definitely recommend them as an option. I would say, though, that the first few rows, whilst amazing for proximity to facial expressions (I could actually hear Vadim breathing when I saw Manon), aren’t as good as a few more rows back to get a proper sense of the stage and the patterns of the choreography - the Corps dancing and sense of scale loses some impact in my opinion.
  12. OnePigeon
    Yes indeed, I’m going to see this on my own as nobody else I know was interested. They’re not exactly my first choice Macmillan works either. The only advertising I see about it on Facebook is the red RB graphic which merely says Macmillan casting now announced, with no other info - not exactly enticing is it?
  13. OnePigeon
    I have booked and just checked that I am signed up for offers, though I rarely get any. I have booked a stalls seat, so guess they wouldn’t offer it to me in this instance as I would return my ticket and re-book with the discount. I would put the saved money towards a stalls seat for each of the Ashtons though, so they wouldn’t really lose out. Fools! 😆
  14. OnePigeon
    It’s not good optics. It’s one thing for badly selling shows to be discounted nearer the time for everyone, but to only offer them to some patrons does indeed make one wonder if they should bother to book too far in advance, or indeed at all. However, if you want to see world class ballet they have you over a barrel really - most of us can’t hop on a plane and take our money elsewhere. I’m not sure they really care if their patrons are miffed though, after all, they’re mainly after new audiences and they know ballet lovers will continue to book because their dancers and (increasingly less) their repertoire are what bring us back.
  15. OnePigeon
    I completely agree and have been saying for a while that I miss a really powerful dancer like Mukhamadov and Acosta in some roles. I’ve only caught video clips of Potskhishvilli and he made a strong impression, so much so that I looked into how expensive a trip to Amsterdam would be. He is certainly top of my wish list.
  16. OnePigeon
    I was given a gift voucher for Xmas which I put towards the cost of a stalls seat as a special treat. I ended up having to swap performances when casting was announced and now wish I hadn’t bothered booking yet - though I never get discount emails, so it’s probably a moot point. It does rather stick in the craw to known I’ll be sitting with people who’ve paid nearly half the cost of my ticket though - it’s not like stalls seats are easy for me to afford. I wonder if it’s worth holding my nerve with the Ashton triples?
  17. OnePigeon
    I’m no apologist for the RB and it is very frustrating to not be given casting yet again, but I’m sure they would like to have casting sorted too and we’re just not privy to the reasons they aren’t ready to announce it yet. It could be incompetence and bad planning or it could be due to a perfect storm of unforeseen circumstances. Dancers are only human and have to deal with injuries, illnesses, pregnancies, break ups etc just like the rest of us and these things can have a big impact on what is eventually brought to us on stage. I can only imagine what a delicate balancing act it is to get the casting right, especially for triple bills and particularly when you might have rights holders wanting some input into casting choices too. I can understand why they might not wish to tell us that casting is delayed, if it’s a case of Dancer X has just announced her pregnancy and we’re not sure if she can dance the role we wanted her in, Dancer Y and Z have just split up and can’t be in the same room as each other, we’re not sure if Dancer S will be fit enough by June and Dancer C, who we thought would be good in a certain role, is really struggling. I’m not a friend, so the financial annoyance of paying a premium and not being able to take advantage of that must be galling and I do agree it would be good if they could waive the transaction fee in the event of your casting not being the one you prefer, but I would also say there is a cost to them to facilitating the ability to swap and cancel tickets, so I don’t think it’s a case of them making a nice bit of extra profit.
  18. OnePigeon
    I wouldn’t know who he was either, but I’ve had to watch a lot of Horrible Histories and Ghosts in the past few years - which is no hardship, to be honest. Glad to hear he was good in it.
  19. OnePigeon
    I’m so jealous of your NY visit and trip to Stratford. Matthew Baynton is a favourite in our household and I really wanted to take my son to see his Bottom, so to speak 😆. Was it a good production? I’m hoping for a London transfer, but know they don’t have any plans to transfer at the moment.
  20. OnePigeon
    He did indeed, which is exactly my point. This tunnel visioned focus on creating and commissioning contemporary works at the expense of almost anything firmly within the classical idiom means dancers of Vadim’s gifts have to just dance choreography created on another dancer’s body a long time ago and never have something tailor made for their particular skills and attributes, of which there are so many. If I was a dance taste maker I would be seeking out and encouraging different styles of ballet, including new works in the classical style. But I digress, back to Manon....
  21. OnePigeon
    You might be asking for your money back. I’ll have to watch Corybantic Games now for the Bracewell Ball partnership - I’ve never got past the hideous costumes to watch more than the first 5 minutes to be honest.
  22. OnePigeon
    I’m on it! The Festival of New Choreography 2025 will feature a debut piece by yours truly danced by Bracewell and hopefully Muntagirov. I hope they’re ok with my grade 4 limitations - it will be basic, undoubtedly derivative, but hopefully very moving.
  23. OnePigeon
    Well me, obviously. Everyone else is welcome to chip in with suggestions though 😆. Maybe we could set up a poll and put it to a vote and then email the results to Mr O’Hare - I’m sure he’d be so grateful for our input....
  24. OnePigeon
    🤣 I’d be one of those William fans too if my budget would only allow it! I’m more than half way there to be honest. The solution is a Bracewell/Muntagirov pairing - I don’t mind which ballet and I’m sure they have the talent to pull off anything - the big bonus being that they’d save me the money and FOMO on seeing (or not seeing) multiple casts.
  25. OnePigeon
    Could they not just let forum members do the casting? I think we could fix it pretty quickly and satisfactorily. I’m just hoping they sort it out before the pleb booking period opens as I came unstuck thinking I was being clever in guessing casting for the Macmillan triple - how wrong I was and I ended up having to swap my ticket because I’m becoming one of those Vadim fans. I’m beginning to think lots of dancers have argued and are refusing to work with one another, hence the delays and surprising casting that’s been occurring of late.....🧐😆.
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