jmhopton

Unfortunately too late for next season with the new season being revealed so soon. However, if there is no triple to offset Cinderella may consider suggesting it for the following season (along with my plea for Vadim to have some matinées!) Not that I'm sure Kevin is interested in my opinions but it makes me think at least I've tried.

I used to love it when RB staged a Christmas triple to give a choice to ballet viewers who may not always want to see a family ballet at Christmas or who would be willing to pay for both (it is Christmas after all!) By Christmas triple I don't specifically mean Christmas or winter themed ballets but just an alternative to countless Nutcrackers or other similar ballets such as Coppelia or Cinderella. Of course these ballets are needed to draw in the crowds and introduce children to the wonder of ballet but another more diverse programme would be welcome. I seem to remember in 2018/19 there was one with Patineurs, Winter dreams and The Concert (I think) which I really enjoyed. Something on those lines this Christmas I'd really enjoy, especially Patineurs which is one of my favourite Ashton ballets and seems ages since it's been staged. Possibly that and The Concert with Enigma Variations or Symphony in C would be a lovely uplifting Christmas treat for me at least, though I'm sure other people have different ideas.

Yes, will especially miss James in the Ashton. He is a wonderful Ashton dancer and my favourite ever version of Rhapsody was him and Francesca which should definitely have been filmed. Wishing both James and Ryio a good recovery over the summer and hope to see them in action on the ROH stage next season.

Yes, I received mine and specified how important both casting and seat prices were to my decision as to which/how many performances I would attend.

Fingers crossed for pre-Christmas then (if it happens). I don't see why doing Romeo would preclude Onegin being performed, especially if they're spaced out. Yes, they are both dramatic ballets, but all MacMillan's ballets are dramatic and as they seem to be performed every year on a rolling programme, Onegin would have to be performed when one of them is being staged. The last time Onegin was staged in Jan 2020 was when Manon opened the season in 2019 so it would be great if Onegin was performed pre-Christmas and Romeo the following March. That would be my fantasy scheduling. Great to have it early in the season as well before injuries start taking their inevitable toll, playing havoc with casting (and the poor dancers), and hotel and train bookings.

I suppose Onegin could be before Christmas (they need something a bit 'meaty' and dramatic to offset Alice and Cinderella) or might possibly be just after Christmas. I'm hoping for before Christmas as I always worry about post Christmas performances not selling well, especially for a ballet not so well known. Also, coming from a distance, I always worry about public transport being affected by the weather (just one more excuse in the Avanti repertoire of excuses).

If you don't have any joy on the ROH ordinary website for returns there is always Friday Rush, or the Forum sales or returns. I'd recommend Vadim/Fumi but I am a touch biased!

Unfortunately Myrtle, I don't think any performances of Choe were filmed of her either in Rhapsody or Fille. I'm don't think she's been filmed in any major roles (certainly not these) since the cinema broadcast started and so far they seem to be the major source of ballet streaming materials. There may be earlier recordings I'm not aware of that may find their way onto the stream but I suspect it's a long shot as any non current casts would have to have a certain audience pulling power, such as Bussell, Fonteyn or Dowell and Sibley and I don't think Choe is widely known outside ballet loving circles. I hope I'm wrong for your sake. I suspect you're right about Fille. Even the few BRB performances at Sadlers Wells might deter Kevin so let's hope for better things in 2025/6. At least we know because of the Ashton celebrations, there will be some Ashton next year which is certainly not usually predictable.

Well I had my Ashton query reply from Kevin today. Very prompt. Only a week since I emailed. Apparently none of the Ashton is being streamed 'for various reasons'; the only explanation given. I'm not surprised as I thought it would have been announced by now if there were streaming plans and the seating plans would be marked for filming but still a bit of a blow that so many potential great programmes and performances aren't being recorded. We'll just have to hope for next season. I've my fingers crossed for Sylvia which hasn't been filmed since Darcey Bussell, as it unaccountably wasn't filmed at its last outing 2017?18? Vadim and Marianela were fabulous then so fingers crossed though I'm sure Fumi would be great too. Doesn't look like RB are staging Fille next season though I may be wrong. Kevin said 'I have always had plans to bring Fille back into the repertoire but meanwhile it will be nice to see BRB perform it next season'. To me, that reads like RB aren't doing it next season but sometime after that (hopefully following season). Actually, this possibly suits me as if the rumours are right about Onegin returning next season I don't think I can afford my 2 favourite ballets in one season and all the new casts I want to see. Obviously nothing set in stone until the announcement at the end of the month so we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, many thanks to Kevin for replying so promptly.

Yes, though I like Rhapsody we have seen rather a lot of it lately. If we have to have 2 ballets the same I would choose Les Patineurs which is one of my favourite short Ashton ballets and which hasn't been seen since pre-lockdown.

I thought you could just subscribe for a month for the streaming and didn't havevto take out an annual subscription. I'm sure I've done that in the past. Isn't it £7.99 for Friends and £9.99 for non-friends. Incidentally whenever I email Kevin (not very often, 2 or 3 times a year ar most as I don't want to be a nuisance, and only when I feel strongly about something), I always praise the work he's doing and the splendid company he runs as I don't want to be seen to be negative and only getting in touch to complain. The Ashton festival is a great initiative as was inviting Sarasota so I mention these things.

I wouldn't lay any great claim to diplomacy which is probably why I don't always get a reply! Though in farness Kevin usually does reply... eventually. I know it's too late to do anything about the wig at this late stage. Perhaps as soon as it's announced next time may have greater effect, but I would love to see some of the performances streamed. I thought that's what the streaming service was all about. Not just for older established works but for new ventures that people would love to see again and probably won't be released as dvds. I feel especially strongly as 2 Macmillan works are being filmed for cinema but nothing for the launch of a 5 year Ashton celebration. I know there are problems with rights for Ashton works that you don't have with Macmillan because of the scattered ownership. However, during lockdown, Sarasota ballet streamed many Ashton works seemingly without any problems so why can't RB do the same?

Takada was certainly blond in the film with Steven. I have just emailed Kevin thanking him for his efforts in promoting Ashton with this splendid celebration but also asking for the blond wig to be ditched, and if any of the performances could be filmed for streaming as they're not being filmed for cinema. I've no great hope of getting a positive answer to either but thought at least I've asked.

Yes, I noticed that and very annoying it is as at the moment I'm not scheduled to see Vadim in Les Rendezvous as he's not doing it in any of the obvious dates like that weekend, and just hope I see him in the rehearsal.

Yes. I noticed Matthews absence too. Seems strange, especially as Mayara is dancing. Like Tebasile says, would loved to see his Oberon or Hamlet.

Nor James in Rhapsody. I saw him and Francesca do it years ago, 2015? and they were incandescent together. I'm also missing Alex already. Would loved to have seen his Oberon.

Gosh, fancy you remembering Emeralds. Yes I did manage my Sarasota tickets thanks, with a little help from my friends, and upgrading my membership to Friends+. Been dreaming of seeing Sarasota since seeing their lockdown streams and was determined not to miss seeing them if this proves to be their only visit. Fingers crossed as it's sold well and months ahead of the actual performance dates, they may return for the end of the Ashton celebrations (or even before). I too think it would have been a good idea to have at least staged the Gala on the main stage so people would be guaranteed at least one performance with a good range of seats. I know they're only doing small pieces but the RB post lockdown performances consisted of pas de deux and small pieces and no one said they were too small.

I started a thread on Jan 1st this year as I usually do, for a 2024/25 wish list.

Yes, Nutcracker working for me too. Looking good for Bayadere, and hopefully will be available for a while for those who can't make the broadcast on the 29th.

On Roberta's link here it goes to the ballet website and says it will be streamed with this link (theirs is shorter). https://iumusiclive.music.indiana.edu/ Do you have to subscribe? Is it geo blocked? Would be interesting to see it.

Yes, what is the overall PR strategy at the ROH? Are they solely dependent on social media? Some attractive posters outside/inside the building/bus stops/tubes may attract new viewers/tourists or perhaps re connect to previous ones who may not have been for a while. Perhaps a clip from the Macmillan Insight in the cafe area might help. It's a pity they don't seem to do many of the attractive posters they used to (too expensive?) I've got 3 lovely posters; of Alina in Giselle, Acosta/Nunez in Fille, and Putrov/Marquez in Cinderella. These are immediately attention grabbing and attractive and would encourage anyone to go and see these productions. Occasionally you do see posters in tube stations and they had a Cinderella London bus for the new production but today they seem mainly dependent on social media which is presumably where they think their 'new audience' will come from. A bit more attention to affordable ticket prices might make them retain more regulars who are being priced out of the art form they love.

I'm with you, OnePigeon. I was never that keen on Sleeping Beauty until Hayward/Campbell performances converted me in a big way. I've never really enjoyed Swan Lake (though I don't know if I've ever confessed this before!) For some reason the white acts have always bored me though I love them in Giselle and Bayadere. Despite the wonderful casts I've only booked for Vadim and Fumi and had to think about doing even that. It's frustrating Vadim hardly ever seems to have matinées.

Thanks Emeralds, apart from coughing a bit I'm much better now. Just as well as I'm starting jury service next week for the first time and am a bit apprehensive about the whole thing without the extra stress of not feeling well to add to it. At least I've got future performances booked to look forward to and keep me going if things get stressful. Thanks for altering my previous font, Alison. I knew it wasn't right but didn't know how to alter it.

I forgot to say previously (head still a bit woolly, or even woolier than usual!) that I thought Vadim and Fumi were terrific together, certainly the best partnership I've seen him in apart from Nuñez (apart from possibly Morera though sadly he didn'tget chance to develop that for very long). Hopefully he'll keep Nuñez for at least some of the classics but it would be great to see him with a more regular partner for other ballets as well as a possible one off partnership, for example Osipova, for other ballets. Would love for him to reprise the Onegin debut he never made with Osipova, for example. This isn't intended to denigrate the Fumi/Will partnership at all, they are wonderful together, but all dancers need some variety with partners as well as rep. to stop getting stale and to bring a challenge to a familiar role. Matthew Ball seems to be branching out a bit also instead of always dancing with Yasmine. Anyway, I thought Vadim and Fumi went really well together and had great chemistry and am looking forward to their swan lake and Winter's Tale to see where their new partnership takes them.

Coming in rather late with my review of the second Vadim/Fumi Manon as I've been feeling a bit off colour with a lurgy that lead to me cancelling their first performance, something that's never happened before. I thought the performance was really splendid, though perhaps slightly more uneven castwise than the Osipova one where every main cast member was just so good. In the Osipova cast, Alex as Lescault and Magri as his mistress gave (I thought) definitive interpretations; Gary has got Mr GM down to a fine art and Lukas BB was a menacing debut gaoler. With Vadim, Joe Sissens was a debut Lescault who was really good for a beginner though he lacked something of Alex's charm and detail. One of the other Forum members pointed out something I noticed which was quite funny; one of Madame's elaborate bows came off her dress and landed on the floor quite close to Sissens who of course was 'drunk'. He looked at it and I was fascinated wondering what he'd do. Would he fall over trying to pick it up? He made a couple of grabs at it and managed to pick it up without falling over and looked at it in a rather bemused 'what do I do with it now' sort of way and tried to put it in his jacket buttonhole! When he failed he just threw it on the table. The whole thing just took about 10 seconds (less time than it takes to type it) but was fascinating. Letitia Dias was his mistress and I really like her as a dancer but she suffered a bit by comparison to Mayara. Mr GM was Christopher Saunders and there's been quite a bit of negative comment on the Forum about his previous performances being not nasty enough. I was surprised as until this run he was always my favourite GM and I loved Gary as the Gaoler but this time I found Christopher didn’t hold my attention. Someone said they kept forgetting he was there and I found that too; even though I was quite close to the stage I didn't really notice him that much. Gary was the gaoler, and what a performance as always! I just wish he could play Mr GM and the Gaoler every night! The only real overlap is that fantasy bit in the 3rd act and the gaoler isn't in it that much. I'm sure they could find a substitute. In the office scene he really encourages Manon to engage with him. He wants some 'sport'; he's not interested in a dull, lifeless girl, he wants a spark, a struggle. He forces her to look at him and gestures her to 'come on'. Really sickening and chilling. I'll have to see if there's a recording with him. Vadim and Fumi were incredible and, for the first time, I actually saw de Grieux make his entrance. Usually you look up and he's there as if by magic. Vadim can make even walking about the stage quite engrossing which is fortunate as there's a lot of that in Manon for De Grieux to do. His first solo was a thing of poignant beauty, just like a young man whose emotions have been touched for the first time and he's not sure what is happening to him. His subsequent pas de deux with Fumi saw the awakening of that burgeoning desire for both of them. When it ended it was as if neither could believe what is happening to them. I don't think Manon is that innocent. She's not being sent to a convent for nothing as she is very keen to latch on to the old man's money and run off with it. When she walks on she seems to be assessing people in the Inn yard scene in quite a calculating way. Someone on the Forum said it's de Grieux who is the real innocent here, ultimately led astray to cheat and murder for the woman he loves which certainly seemed to be how Vadim played it. In the next scene you don't get the impression Fumi is that keen on GM. She puts up with his needs and demands to save them both (her and her brother) from poverty but you don't get a sense of engagement with him. For her, it seems to be a business arrangement. When she leaves she seems to linger by the bed for longer than most thoughnid like it if some Manons followed that with a backward look when they leave with GM. Act 2 starts off with the harlots as usual. Lescault and de Grieux arrive and he does his drunken dance with his mistress which was very good and got laughs, though when he throws his glass to his mistress she didn't make a thing of it like Mayara did; gesturing to her dress now stained with wine in disgust. When Manon makes her entrance she sees De Grieux right away but ignores him but doesn't actually turn away from him like some Manons. At this point when Osipova went to greet Lescault she pulled a face an waved her hand in front of her face to highlight his drunken breath which I always think rather effective. Fumi is visibly affected when De Grieux picks her up in the dance where she's passed around. It's as if she really wants him and to be with him but daren't with GM there. Vadim's solo is hearbreaking; as if he's being tortured. The few seconds at the end when he just stares at her, pleading, would melt a heart of stone. As Balletfanp said 'I wish someone would look at me like that'! He is visibly distressed with having to cheat at cards but manages to go through with it and they exit after the fight. The next scene is her taunting him with her earrings and bracelet to say she's still got some of the trappings of wealth and Vadim getting angrier with her though I don't think Fumi actually touched the earrings like Morera did in the coaching. As someone said, her control of him is starting to slip and he's starting to see her for what she is. Then the murder of Lescault which is terrible as always. The final scene was really heartbreaking; Vadim trying to breathe life into her, almost by force and Manon getting weaker and weaker; the pas de deux is always heartbreaking but they seemed to bring it to a new level of anguish so you're left feeling drained and in tears as though it's actually happened. Vadim, desperately looking from side to side as if a doctor is going to materialise to save her. His final silent, tortured scream is something I'll never forget. A real tour de force and a fitting end to an amazing evening. The applause and cheering nearly brought the roof down.