Mary

Well I would book for this rehearsal cast again..

Yes very interesting all round ...

Seems only yesterday I was noticing J Sissens in the back row. Good luck to him. 

Sasaki /Sissens in rehearsal...

Yes indeed.  Also looking forward to some Romantic idealism and  transcendence after Manon...

33 minutes ago, Blossom said:

In other news, any thoughts on who might be dancing in the General Rehearsal (Swan Lake) tomorrow?

It will be Matthew Ball, he always dances in rehearsals when I go.

Which is nice of him.

I do agree, and given the success of this run of Manon, they could have connected the triple bill with that, in a more informative and imaginative marketing campaign. They could even advertise the next production in the building, which did use to happen I think, rather than just having pictures of old productions, ballet shoes etc pretty as they are.

It would be nice if a bit more effort was made to educate and inspire the audience.

The question is, why is this not happening? It seems very strange.... and what do the RB themselves think about it? If they ran the marketing of themselves, what would they do, I wonder?

Sorry I see you noted the website Blossom-silly me

but it does tell you  a lot about the ballets.

There is a dedicated website - KennethMacmillan.com which has all the ballets alphabetically with quite a lot of information, which might be helpful.

I agree RB is not always very good at selling the less familiar repertoire - contrast ENB for example who really do try.

Remember the days when you filled in a form,-I often made a mess of that- as the rows were very narrow and boxes very small- and then posted it off and waited...and one day- an envelope would fall on the mat and you would tear it open with tremendous trepidation to pull out a fat wad of tickets- or not so fat - leaf through excitedly and see what you'd got!

In a way it was good fun and a lot less stress. I loved getting those beautiful tickets with raised gilt lettering.

But of course, very slow and inconvenient compared to today. But we pay for the speed, flexibility  and convenience with the booking procedure many of us find very stressful.

Sorry nothing to do with Manon! but I got one for 5th!

I have also got some of what I wanted, the most important things. The website worked much better after a slow start and I got my confirmation much more quickly.

That is much appreciated as it is was a tense business and an expensive business.  To see lots of Ashton I was willing to invest in upgrading my Friends' membership and in more tickets than usual but then I hardly saw a thing last year (as if I have to justify myself to the forum!🤣)

I hope it works when there are even more people logging on- that will be the test.

There are still Sarasota tickets .

1 hour ago, Nogoat said:

And I still can't understand why the end of those first two scenes in Act 3 are met with applause; it just seems so inappropriate. 

 

I have always thought the same, yes indeed.

They haven't yet put up details of 'planned engineering work' for late May so booking Winter's Tale is going to be  an even more nail-biting undertaking- oh well, I might be returning some seats. The May Bank Holiday seems an obvious weekend for extensive works of all kinds!

How wonderful to see Antoinette Sibley tonight! She brought the house down with her curtain call.

Put through the wringer tonight:  a ballet that still horrifies and shocks. The other-worldly beauty of Muntagirov and Kaneko in such disturbing material is quite hard to reconcile in my aged brain. 

I thought Joseph Sissens was excellent: a dancer I've had my eye on for a long time, like many of us -  who is really coming into his own now.  

Was it not asterisked on the cast list?

5 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

Or, in my case at least, I'm going simply because it's NYCB and more in spite of rather than because of the programme. 

Same here and I am sure we are not alone.

That's a relief, we want the photos.

I am disappointed too, but  as OnePigeon says, this is about people.

Also I am a Friend not just for the advantages, but  partly just to support ROH - a theatre where noone eats popcorn, a theatre I love -  and the Royal Ballet, a wonderful company - and ballet in general.

I do want the casting, but I imagine so do they - and  I can forgive them on occasion.

I booked many months in advance for ENB and didn't get any of the casts I booked for...

But perhaps ROH might think about staggering the dates for booking a bit more in future. I do find it tricky to have so much in this booking session - it is too much to manage, for me.

The stress of booking day is also caused by not knowing what to 'go for ' first, with so much to book,  but it is starting to look as if it might not be worth spending precious first moments fossicking about with the Linbury performances trying to find a seat with a view, while the seats I want in the main house are getting snapped up!

I shall schedule a mindful deep breathing session before booking ........

Jealous!

How especially nice to see both Dreams this year as well.

Why should it 'not being set in Spain' make me rush to see it ??

Completely agree, Dawnstar.

Looks like it.

it would be great to book my June holiday but the Ashton programme takes priority!

I just know if I arrange to go away for one end or other of the date range, I shall end up missing Muntagirov or something, and then no end of  holidays will make up.

It would be soooooooo helpful to know if casting is going to be in blocks, or dotted about, but- I can only assume they don't know.

But in a way Gary Avis has entirely  re-created the role of GM in recent runs, and especially in this one,  I think,  giving it a depth that never used to be there in anyone else's performances, turning a rather 2 nasty man into a fully 3D evil and twisted  real character. In particular the way he conveys the horrible idea of Manon as a thing, a possession, belonging to him, which he has paid for,  is very convincing and makes me shudder.

7 hours ago, li tai po said:

But what an amazing performance of the opening solo - no-one can deliver that challenging solo with such legato fluidity and stunning line.  It is so difficult, but he makes it appear simple and beautiful.

Absolutely  - and this is why Muntagirov's dancing moves me more than anything else, the sheer beauty of it:  this is my favourite moment in Manon, that innocent and sincere declaration of love, and the way it grows in intensity and difficulty as he tries to get Manon's attention and convince her  - it is acting through dancing rather than on top of dancing,- I can't express it but know what I mean - and noone does it like him.

Well she might fit in well at Andrea Chenier for example...

Or perhaps even Sleeping Beauty, but watch out for the consequences.....

I was told once by a doctor ( who was fitting a relative's hearing aid) that you should never, ever be in an environment where the noise hurts:  if it hurts get out. Even one occasion can cause damage to your ears that can't be fixed.

I merely pass this on- but really the venues have no business subjecting an audience to this risk.