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I subscribe to BRB (not a friend) and I received an email from them today with this ....... We're delighted to share with you some of the groundbreaking new technologies BRB is currently exploring to bring our audiences closer to the heart of our art form. With the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies' Digital Accelerator Programme for Arts and Culture we've been creating Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) content. Over the coming months you, alongside many new audiences, will be able to experience BRB from brand-new perspectives and immerse yourself in life backstage. Find out more about our Virtual Stage Black Sabbath – The Ballet Facebook Live rehearsal Join us next Wednesday (6 Sep) at 7pm BST for a Facebook Live event from their studios in Birmingham for a special one-off rehearsal of Black Sabbath - The Ballet. This is an exciting chance to discover and learn more about this highly anticipated heavy metal ballet experience. Visit our Facebook page for more

Marina Harss's new biography "The Boy from Kyiv:Alexei Ratmansky's Life in Ballet" Comes out in hardback and kindle on 3rd October.

Dance Europe have reported that Jacopo Tissi ex Bolshoi principal and at La Scala since 2022 is joining Dutch National Ballet. https://www.instagram.com/p/CwP1ODboWMS/?hl=en

I enjoyed listening to Aaron S. Watkin talking about the ballets in Our Voices and seeing the dancers in the rehearsal process - potentially some clues to casting here. Video posted by ENB on their YT channel. Afterthought - it would be amazing if ENB could stream insights on YT like the RB do now.

He has come to ENB from Dresden but before that he was with the Mariinsky for a few years. He is Ukranian and he left Russia when the Russians invaded Ukraine.

Intriguing and unexpected casting particularly in Mary Skeaping's Giselle ...... Katja Khaniukova and Aitor Arrieta Erina Takahashi and Fernando Carratala Coloma Emma Hawes and Vsevolod Maievskyi I can see I'll need a couple of Nutcracker tickets too.

It is now working for me.

I think maybe it's just a problem with the link in the email because it does say that daily casting can be viewed online via the link.

I've stayed in Amsterdam a few times for the ballet, but not yet found a hotel really close to the Opera House within my price range. However, trams and buses are pretty frequent and I've always felt safe. I always look on booking.com for my hotel. Personally, I found Amsterdam just a bit too big to happily walk everywhere but maybe when I was much younger it would have been fine. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum are a must as is wandering around the beautiful canal streets. Then you must go and buy some cookies from Van Stapele. Re seating. I've sat in the front row of the "Grand Tier" and in the aisle seats of the side block of the stalls - row 10. Both were very good views. The front row of the GT is obviously a more panoramic view, the side block of the stalls close; it depends whether you have a personal preference.

Disappointed/baffled on 3 counts: electrifying partnerships come along so rarely and the Kaneko/Bracewell partnership was THE ONE since Cojocaru/Kobborg, I'm very sad that is not to be repeated; a pity that some of the Lescaut/Mistress casting is doubling up rather than giving opportunities to a Soloist - why not give Leo Dixon or David Donnelly a chance to show what they can do ? Bolle has had a magnificent career but he is nearly 50, surely Des Grieux is a young man's role. Is there really no alternative to bringing in a guest star ?

I agree, do post your thoughts @capybara I see Louise Levene at the FT was less enthusiastic than other critics.

David Hallberg appeared before the performance started for a brief "thank you for the welcome etc" speech; one thing he said was - and I'm paraphrasing here - that the pieces selected for the gala represented Australian ballet now not what it was.

That's all true Geoff although you can get some idea of how well things have sold in the weeks before the performance, it was obvious for quite some time in the run up to the last outing for Frankenstein that it was selling really badly and that they would have to paper the house to avoid a total embarrassment.

Very happy to see that Gerald Dowler is back reviewing again at Classical Source !

Surely they need regulars to buy multiple tickets, are there really enough new audiences to pick up all the unsold tickets ? I guess we will see this Autumn, I suspect there will be plenty of empty seats, particularly in the Amphi, no one I know would pay those prices. I hear that a lot of West End shows are really struggling to sell seats at the moment. I am also wondering whether the price increases are partly that the RoH is just stuck between a rock and a hard place with the huge funding gap they have to fill ?

The casting for Cinderella was released a bit more than a month before the start of the run and although the new director was not full time then I assume he was involved.

Also, I have often been able to buy a standing on the RoH website in the week of the performance.

But did they all come to London ?

Was there a list of all the dancers somewhere ?

I definitely bought less than in the past. All SCS so for me probably less about price and more about not very interested in the rep. If I couldn't stand I would be buying very little. 3 Don Q 1 Dante 3 Nuts No Cellist/Anemoi In the Linbury 1 The Limit 1 Northern Ballet I was looking at a few of the main stage ballet performances yesterday evening so before public booking opened and I was shocked at how few Amphi tickets have sold for many performances. It appeared to me as though Friends had voted on the Amphi pricing structure although of course some of the performances are still months away.

I did enjoy it. I'm not familiar with R.B.M.E. other than to know that it was created by Cranko on his most important dancers, but I think on reflection that I'd have got much more out of it had I read this review beforehand: https://www.seeingdance.com/stuttgart-ballet-remember-me-230727/#:~:text=The dance nestles perfectly with,ballet of so many highlights. I know Requiem from the Royal Ballet (although I asked myself after why it has been more than 10 years since they performed it) the music is so beautiful one can't fail to be captivated and of course it was beautifully danced by the Stuttgart company. While I'm here I may as well add (although it's not the right thread) that as well as the Vogel /Badenas Onegin we also saw the performance on 21 July with Paixa/Aleman. I haven't seen this pair in Onegin before and I was really impressed. I half expected the performance to be a poor relation of the one the following night but it absolutely wasn't. A tribute to the company that they can field many fine casts. We particularly noted the young Gabriel Figueredo as Lensky - his pre-duel solo was a thing of astonishing beauty. I think David Mead nails it here with this review https://www.seeingdance.com/stuttgart-ballet-onegin-230730/ except I'd delete the ? at the end of the first sentence int he title ! Both reviews were in the links, I just reposted them here for convenience.

25 years ! He's an amazing artist, I hope he doesn't have plans to retire any time soon. I saw his performance as Gremin on 22nd July in the Onegin cast with Friedeman Vogel and Elisa Badenas (both of whom were completely MARVELLOUS of course) and his portrayal was full of the nuances and sensitivity that come from a lifetime of performing. I so wish I could have stayed for his performance in the title role but sadly it wasn't possible.

Apologies if you are aware of this already Susan, but, up to 24 hours before the performance, you can return your ticket to the box office for a credit note less a £4 fee. I think you have 2 years to use the credit note.

The Remember Me bill had quite a few performances already in the season just finished (I saw it earlier this month) so I would be surprised if you have a problem getting tickets even for a Saturday. I was too late to get our tickets via the pre-booking (they only accept a certain number) but I had no problem buying them on line when general booking opened. I've bought tickets for Stuttgart performances both via the pre booking and online when general booking opens and I've never not been able to get tickets. If you choose to sit in the stalls it's worth being aware that the seats in the very centre are offset so you are less likely to have a problem with your view being obstructed by someone tall in front of you. I would like to have seen Remember Me from the Front row of the 1st rang rather than the stalls. The box office are very helpful if you have any queries and they reply to emails quickly.

Ticket spoken for.