Ondine

“Valses,” “Façade” and “Varii Capricci”' from Sarasota and a few excerpts from ROH dancers? It's possible it's only planned to be small scale.  Who knows.

Volpe said the company has a small touring fund to cover some of the expenses associated with the travel, which include shipping sets and costumes to London, but “we’re going to need to raise another $250,000 to $350,000 and I feel confident that can be done.”

"I wish they were going to Sadlers Wells instead"

Well maybe in future? Small acorns etc.

It also doesn't say in which theatre the gala will be held does it? Facade needs scenery, It would be nothing without it.

Truth is the general public will never have heard of Sarasota ballet, not a huge company, or the Ashton ballets being shown, designed for small stages and small companies. The scenery won't simply transfer for a start.

I suspect the small theatre will be a sell out, the larger one is far too big a risk to take.

Sarasota isn't a big company used to huge stages / theatres and so the rep is cut according to the cloth (smaller scale Ashton designed for smaller spaces) and scenery is too?  I doubt that things could be just moved from the smaller theatre to the larger.

Mercury was tiny.

With dancers still on cut salaries, I think it would be very hard to justify spending hundreds of thousands on a new piece that may or may not sell.  As much of next season's programming shows, they need to ensure bums on seats for now.

Cinderella cannot have been cheap, even if it is a shared production.   Playing safe with Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Don Q to bring in the cash is a wise move really.

During the one-week residency, The Royal Ballet will perform some Ashton works on the mainstage of its home at the Covent Garden Opera House, while the Sarasota Ballet performs others in the smaller Lindbury Theater, which Webb said was similar in scale to the Sarasota Opera House.

Webb said he is planning two distinct triple-bill programs, but all performances will include Ashton’s “Valses nobles et sentimentales,” a piece that was considered lost until Sarasota Ballet revived it in 2012.

One program also will include “Dante Sonata” and “Sinfonietta,” while the other will include “Façade” and “Varri Capricci,” which The Sarasota Ballet first performed in 2019.

The two companies will join together for a gala performance in which Sarasota dancers will perform “Valses,” “Façade” and “Varri Capricci.”

After the residency, several Sarasota Ballet dancers will join The Royal Ballet for multiple performances of Ashton’s “The Walk to the Paradise Garden.”

I don't know if the scenery from Sarasota would be OK on the ROH stage? 

From another Mary Clarke review:  😉

Following the 1974 premiere, critic Mary Clarke summed up the ballet’s plot in the Guardian:

“Basically, Manon is a slut and Des Grieux is a fool and they move in the most unsavoury company.”

The Mary Clarke comment was a very long time ago. I think it was all the shock of the new at the time (i984)

Also Sarasota is on the main stage along with RB dancers in Walk to the Paradise Garden?? 

Peter Brinson's obit of William Chappell whose designs really also need reviving. The dots and stripes were appalling.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-william-chappell-1397796.html

(I'm hoping no-one ever decides it is time to redesign Osbert Lancaster's Fille either!)

Yes I think it's its bleakness is the problem...

 “It is not an easy ballet”, The Guardian’s critic Mary Clarke said of Different Drummer “but it should be seen especially by people who think ballet is just Swan Lake”.

"I anticipate that Forum Members will have something to say about the number of performances allocated to each ballet on the Main Stage"

Swan Lake, Nutcracker?

Money spinners.  I bet also cinema relays.

I recall BRB had Les Rendezvous in its rep? 

"To be honest, if I was director of the RB I'd be a bit embarrassed about this para."

Quite.

To be fair Sarasota does the smaller earlier works mainly,  one acters etc, but no reason why the RB shouldn't have kept many of those going. Still a joy and very good training in the appropriate ' Ashton style' (much of it Cecchetti classwork but that's another story, and history).

Ashton:  “If I had my way, I would always insist that all dancers should daily do the wonderful Cecchetti port de bras, especially beginners. It inculcates a wonderful feeling for line and correct positioning and the use of head movement and épaulement, which, if correctly absorbed, will be of incalculable use throughout a dancer’s career”.

https://www.istd.org/dance/dance-genres/cecchetti-classical-ballet/history-of-cecchetti/

BEND 😊

Also worth a quick read re Ashton and Cecchetti

https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdf/10.3366/drs.1998.16.1.74

And Patineurs needs reviving too.

I'm astonished and delighted that Sarasota will be doing these pieces in the UK.   They really have kept Ashton's earlier works alive. Facade was another I had hoped the RB itself would have revived. (And of course Wedding Bouquet as I said yesterday!) So many jewels from Ashton's early career which should not be consigned to a museum.

Capriol Suite would be lovely too... it's in the rep of New York Theatre Ballet. 

"...a guest performance by The Sarasota Ballet of The Walk to the Paradise Garden. The Sarasota Ballet will also demonstrate the genius of Ashton in the Linbury Theatre with a vibrant array of his creative output. The Royal Ballet and The Sarasota Ballet’s Ashton performances during the Season mark the opening of ASHTON WORLDWIDE, the Frederick Ashton Foundation’s five-year international festival conceived to celebrate the work and legacy of Frederick Ashton. Further information on the festival will be announced by the Foundation in due course."

Hopefully a William Chappell revival.

A little more Les Rendezvous, with Leticia Dias  coached by Merle Park. The Markova solo.

"I wasn't crazy about The Cellist but liked Anemoi very much so will give it another go."

Same. Thought The Cellist was curate's egg, Anemoi will give the younger dancers chances to shine hopefully, it was made on and for those. 

Nutcracker pulls 'em in at cinemas year on year. Christmas isn't Christmas without it. The year the RB did Alice instead was awful. In future it could be a Cinderella revival which would be OK.  I suspect many a small White Lodger looks forward to Nutcracker though.

Sarasota has Les Rendevous in its rep. It has certainly kept the 'early Ashton' flame alive.

Here's a clip to brighten the morning!

BEND BEND BEND 😊

I hope Les Rendezvous is one of the cinema broadcasts.  We could do with more early Ashton being revived.

So the RB is doing Les Rendezvous. That's good. It's fun and will give the younger members of the company some 'classic' Ashton to work on.

The ROH has tweeted.  Presumably FB etc also but not yet looked. 

Bums on seats. Presumably still trying to recoup pandemic losses?

Also big ballets required in order to give everyone a chance to actually dance?

More fairies:  The Dream

I suspect several Puck debuts.