jmhopton

16 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree with all the plaudits above.  I still don't love the music, but can understand why others do, especially when it is played so beautifully.  Whereas the choreography is lovely (and I think Ashton got better and better as time went by), my one niggle about the ballet (not the production; the ballet) is that the narrative isn't clear enough.  Everything seems to happen in a rush.  It isn't clear how abused Cinderella really is.  It isn't clear that the sisters are excited to go to a ball at the palace where the prince is going to choose a bride (it would be great to see the invitation arrive and the reactions). They just sort of disappear off the stage.  There is almost no interaction between them and the prince; in their delusion each of them was convinced that the prince would choose her, but there is virtually no attempt to try and win him over (if any).  I am not sure why there is no stepmother in this version.  It is almost more disturbing that the father stays alive and allows his daughter to be treated in the way that she is.  Speaking of the father, his wig and glasses reminded me somewhat of the White Rabbit in Wheeldon's Alice.  

 

Aside from my own little niggles above, I love this production and look forward to the other casts I will be lucky enough to see.  

Yes, I agree with you Sim (apart from the music which I do enjoy). I was watching the Alina recording recently and I too was surprised that everyone just seemed to arrive at the ball without an invitation scene. Also think there is too much Ugly Sisters and am always surprised at the lack of a stepmother. Still, really looking forward to the Saturday matinee to see some Ashton  AT LAST. Seems far too long since the fabulous triple which we still have yet to see the livestream of. Emailed Kevin over 2 weeks ago but still haven't had a reply.

Fabulous news for Marianela but what was the performance/production like?

In yesterday's links (26/3/23) there was this splendid article about Sarasota Ballets new production of Johan Kobborg's La Sylphide. 

https://eu.heraldtribune.com/story/entertainment/dance/2023/03/16/sarasota-ballet-presents-its-first-production-of-worlds-oldest-ballet/70005354007/

It sounds wonderful. However, there was something in the article I found concerning and I wonder if I am misinterpreting it. I hope I am, perhaps others more knowledgeable could help.

It says, Sarasota purchased the RB La Sylphide sets and costumes for their new production. That would be bad enough as I love those sets and costumes as they were from an earlier Royal Danish production.  However, does this mean the RB won't be staging La Sylphide in the near future, possibly never again unless they purchase a new production, sets and costumes? Perhaps they belong to Johan as they're a part of his production. I think there may be potential problems with the RB staging Kobborg's Sylphide because of 'management tensions' when he and Alina left the RB. I'm not interested in this aspect but I did hope eventually things would be sorted and La Sylphide restored to the RB rep., not least because of all the potential Sylphides and James' that have emerged in the last few years. Does anyone have any ideas about the RB La Sylphide situation?

Yes it's a great loss. I have several on my bedroom walls and am looking at them now; Alina, looking very soulful in the second act of Giselle. Marianela and Carlos seemingly floating in a blue sky and white clouds in Fille, and Roberta Marquez in a beautiful arabesque, with Ivan Putrov as a handsome Prince in Cinderella.  Just by looking at the posters you knew exactly what sort of a ballet you were going to see, which is surely the job of good publicity.  Why such posters aren't now produced I can't understand.  The only recent poster I've seen that I'd really like (Vadim and Marianela in Scarletts Swan Lake) I was told wasn't available to purchase.  Surely the ROH missing a trick there as I'm sure a swan lake poster would be popular. However, judging by their email shop publicity, attractive posters seem to be making a bit of a comeback, with both a poster and a greetings card of the new floral Cinderella so perhaps there is hope yet.

Hope you have a fab time rosefairy and London lives up to your expectations (I'm sure it will). Would be great if you could manage a return visit too. Even with 2 visits you'll probably only have time to do about half of what has been suggested here! Just a word of warning though. It's great to prioritise things and have an itinerary (I usually do the same when I'm going anywhere new) but don't be afraid to deviate from it if you find some places are too absorbing to move on from as quickly as you thought. You could probably spend the best part of a day just in the V&A, for example and once you're there it takes time to get anywhere else unless you plan to see the Science or Natural History museums. London is very large and its surprising how long it can take  to get from one place to another. Do you take the bus and see more even though it's slower or the tube for speed? Both take direct debit cards if you have one to save you buying tickets. Or you could get an Oyster card. So try and plan a day in a certain area like South Kensington for the big museums and possibly Hyde Park and the Albert Hall; or Covent Garden for a walk,  the markets, the Courtauld gallery, Goodwins Court and Trafalgar square. Sky Gardens is wonderful and I spent a couple of hours there just admiring the unique view but it is a bit out on a limb so you'd have to think what to combine it with.

Unfortunately I won't be in London when you're there but have a great time and let us know how you got on and what you did.

SkyArts are showing Australian Sleeping Beauty on Wed 29th March at the usual insomniac friendly time of 6.40am-9am.

36 minutes ago, MJW said:

 

Its a pretty poor show frankly - the new website has been up and running for some while now and I find it hard to believe it can take that long to update the profiles of the non-principal dancers

It's not just the updating it's trying to find dancer's biographies and so much more. On the old website there was a very useful series of links at the bottom of the page so you could click on things like Dancers, cinema broadcasts etc and go straight there. It wasn't at all intrusive and if you didn't want the links you could just ignore them. Now, I've no idea how to find dancer's biographies and many other things so I just Google them. No big deal but so much easier when I could just click on a link.

Similar with the calendar that used to be produced annually after the announcement of the new season.  Every production was listed under season with a link and if you wanted to buy tickets or check casting you could do so easily without ploughing through pages of irrelevant entries. Of course this was so useful it was discontinued. I know there is a calendar of sorts there now but you need to know dates of what you're searching for and it doesn't give all the dates and information about a particular production all together. 

9 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

I am incandescent with rage.  It has been announced today that Avanti has been given another 6 month extension on its franchise.

 

How can the government justify this ludicrous decision???

I'm incandescent too Janet but it doesn't surprise me at all. The government don't give a stuff about the North of England ( as I said a few months ago in a cameo appearance on Granada Reports). All they're bothered about is getting re-elected, and a time consuming exercise like scrapping a rail franchise and putting it out to tender isn't on their agenda. They don't use it. When Rishi Sunak visited the North he hired a plane. It's just ordinary people like us who have to suffer for their selfishness.  I'm sure it's no coincidence that the announcement was made just a few hours before a petition signed by thousands, asking for Avanti to be stripped of their franchise, was being presented in Westminster. Their timetable has improved marginally in that you can already book for some weekends in April instead of only being able to book weekends a day or 2 in advance but the level of service is just so unreliable you have no confidence at all that your train will actually materialise. Not good if you're 200 miles away and want to attend a 1pm matinee. It was never like this with Virgin. Also, the Bank holiday weekend of the 29th April when Morera is giving her last full length performance, is still unavailable and I'm dreading more train strikes then. It looks like RMT have settled but I'm not sure if other unions and Companies are still considering the government's offer. The uncertainty continues. 

I was going to mention Sky Gardens as well as it's a great vantage point to look down on London and is also right opposite another iconic building, The Shard. Entry is free (unlike the Shard) but you are advised to book and may need to show id.

Goodwin's Court (Google it) is a hidden gem that should not be missed. It is rumoured to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley. It is off St Martins Lane on the right hand side  further on up from the Coliseum and is a lovely piece of 18th or 19th century England, including what look like genuine bow windows. Very close to Covent Garden. 

St Paul's Church (not cathedral), Covent Garden is The Actors Church and contains many plaques of well known actors and possibly dancers also. The garden is also a pleasant place to sit and watch the world go by.

Guided walks are a good way of finding about different areas and places. There are several companies that do different themed walks such as Sherlock Holmes,  Charles Dickens or even Jack the Ripper! There may be one round Covent Garden.  I just Googled London guided ballet walks and several entries down there was a map of one produced by the V&A to accompany their Diaghilev exhibition.  The exhibition has sadly finished but you could still do the walk which is based round Covent Garden and looks quite interesting. Unfortunately I can't manage to post the link on my phone. Further on down there is a self guided walk round Covent Garden and another round Kensington and Knighsbridge. Have fun!

Rather off topic but thinking of Cinderella starting at the end of March and continuing through April makes me think of the RB new season announcement which is usually made in March/April. Has anybody any idea when the announcement will be made this year?

I emailed the box office to ask about running times for Cinderella; also if there would be a Friday Rush for the opening Gala night. I was told there is no Friday Rush for the Gala, and the ballet is in 3 acts (therefore 2 intervals) and the running time 'will be under 3 hours'. They said they had only just begun technical rehearsals so couldn't be more exact.

Another couple of  Ashton Foundation rehearsals. haven't had chance to see them yet but they look fascinatng.

4 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

My TV says it’s Nunez/Osipova/Muntagirov. As usual, with Sky Arts, who knows?

You could be right, Scherezade as I've just remembered SkyArts have a bit of an Acosta fixation as they show his picture everytime they screen Giselle, even though its always Vadim and Marianela. It's just better to set the recorder and take what comes.

On 08/03/2023 at 23:43, alison said:

Doing this from memory, but:

Sky Arts next Thursday, 16th March, La Bayadère at some ungodly hour of the morning, 6.40 am, I think.  I'm assuming it's the Royal Ballet version.

It is RB and, according to my TV guide, (which isn't always accurate) it's Rojo/Acosta/Nunez. This may be right as I seem to remember that SkyArts filmed all the ROH cinema broadcasts for the year of this Bayadere. Unfortunately, I don't think they continued. Interesting Marianela is in both recordings; this one and the recent one with Vadim/Nunez/Osipova

I've just watched it on our TV via YouTube and a really interesting watch it was too. Would have liked to see more models of what the staging would be like and perhaps a couple of costumes but I suppose understandably they don't want to give too much away before the rehearsal and opening night. I thought Laura Morera was an absolutely outstanding coach. Very detailed but also really supportive. It made me nostalgic for what we have so nearly lost in such a wonderful, lyrical dancer/actress. My husband commented it really makes you appreciate what a wonderful choreographer Ashton was; and the speed of some of his choreography, such as Autumn. The rehearsals broke down very complex choreography and gave it meaning, whereas in a performance it's over before you have time to think about it, and the message it's supposed to be conveying. Really whetted my appetite for forthcoming performances. I want to go tomorrow!!!

On 06/03/2023 at 22:40, Geoff said:

Just a quick report after tonight’s (excellent) Noises Off in the West End. House pretty much sold out, diverse audience, a wide variation in ages etc. 
 

Drinks and snacks allowed in the auditorium. No obvious messages about phones. The show as usual worked the crowd into a frenzy of loud joy (notably more than usual in Act 3, which has been tweaked).

 

Yet despite my best efforts, I could find no bad behaviour of any kind. No phones on, no slurping or talking etc. Concentration, waves of laughter and cheers at the end.

 

How well an audience can behave if…(fill in the space).

 

I was there a couple of weeks ago at the Saturday matinee and it was fine. Fabulous show and very well behaved audience. Theatre going as it should be.

I remember attending a performance at the ROH when  just having saved the PD from the lion our hero is chariotted offstage by this lovely black horse pulling the chariot.  Unfortunately in the time taken by him and the PD to mount the chariot the horse deposited a large pile of poo on the stage and there was no convenient young man with a basket and shovel following behind as in La Fille. Then the young man's friend comes racing across the stage, waving his arms in a 'wait for me' gesture,  looking ahead at the chariot not down at the stage. Right at the last second he saw it and did this soaring jete right over it and everyone clapped and cheered.

Isn't it a lion in Pharaohs Daughter? The hero saves the Egyptian Princess from this lion (which makes the Bayadere tiger look fierce and realistic, and always reminds me of the 1960s ventriloquist puppet, Lennie the Lion. I keep looking round for Terry Hall!)

In one of my comments in the current ROH survey I said it was a pity that some if the ROH most loyal supporters and Friends are being prevented from visiting as often as they would like because of substantial increase in ticket prices (my favourite seat prices have doubled since 2019).

I also said it would be good if we could be rewarded by discounts if we bought so many tickets (especially as the package discounts have been discontinued). This may also encourage more people to become Friends and benefit the ROH in the long term.

11 hours ago, Sim said:

The Skeaping Giselle is well worth the trip to London, I promise!

I'm sure it will be, Sim. Can't wait!

3 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

The Skeaping Giselle came to both Manchester and Liverpool 5 or 6 years ago and sadly did not sell well in either city whereas the Khan Giselle did.

 

I love Mary Skeaping's production of Giselle - it just seems so pure to me.

Thanks Janet. I must have missed it, and fair enough it not coming if it didn't sell. The Palace is a large theatre to fill though I much prefer it to the Lowry because I can get there easily by train. Weren't both version of Giselle shown in the same season before? It's a really good idea to show 2 contrasting versions of the same ballet if they think they can both sell, though they're not being staged at the same theatre. However, by showing the Skeaping in London it means easy access for people like me to get there (trains permitting!) So great planning by the new AD and his team and a great start to his tenure.

Disappointed Manchester is only getting the Akram Khan Giselle which we've already had. Would much have preferred the Mary Skeaping version which I don't think I've seen but have wanted to for ages. So I'll be coming to London and pleased it's at the Coliseum which I much prefer to Sadlers Wells as a venue. Might venture to Sadlers Wells for Carmen, though I would prefer a traditional version which a 'bold re -imagining' doesn't sound like so will try and investigate beforehand. Still, will be more than happy to see the Mary Skeaping Giselle and am pleased and relieved it's still being staged.  Somewhat pessimistically, I assumed that these days traditional staging took second place to 'bold re imagining ' when it comes to the classics and am really pleased to have been proved wrong. May have to go more than once  in case I don't get the chance again, and want to compare it to the Peter Wright version which is really the only one I know. 

With all this talk about Mendelssohn and Hayward/Sambe/Bracewell having performed 2 stunning Dream pas de deux recently I'm taking this as a definite omen that The Dream will be re-scheduled next season.

22 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

My husband records all golf (any on TV, on any station, all the time . . .you get the picture!) and I haven't noticed any ROH streaming commercials, though, to be fair, I don't watch and he winds through the adverts. I will ask him if he's seen any on the sports channels he watches.

 

Interesting marketing. I can honestly say, though my husband does join me at ROH sometimes (usually under protest, unless it's Nutcracker, of course), he would not be interested in the streaming service. I suppose they carry out market research and target their audience. I have noticed that we get targeted advertising on Sky, for example. The more that subscribe the better, though I am still waiting for a number of recent cinema relays to be shown on the service (pretty please, ROH!)

It was on during the Genesis Open last weekend. It seemed to be practically every advert break, especially during Friday and Saturday. No idea if golf is the only sport they targeted as never watch any other sport on tv.

I've been watching a US golf tournament this weekend. I always record it then I can fast forward through the adverts when I noticed an advert for the ROH streaming service popping up several times with the theme 'New worlds await'. No prices mentioned. They must obviously think there are a lot of golf and ballet enthusiasts out there!