jmhopton

Couldn't see anything new on SkyArts next week after a quick look through the Radio Times. The only ballet I could see at all was a repeat of Anastasia on Friday 12th July at 7am

I have 'liked' all the other comments on this but felt I had to add my own as my first reaction to news of Brandon's promotion was 'Hooray!! (and about time too!)

I've just had an email from the Lowry about a visit by Carlos' Company 24 and 25 March next year. Booking is open. I'm sure they'll be appearing at other venues as well. International ballet superstar Carlos Acosta and his critically acclaimed Cuban company Acosta Danza perform a programme of new and existing works. Acosta makes a guest appearance in the iconic ‘Rooster’, choreographed by Christopher Bruce to music by the Rolling Stones. The company also perform new work, ‘Paysage, Soudain, la nuit’ by visionary Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg. Inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky’s ‘L’après midi d’un faune’, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui completes the bill with masterpiece ‘Faun’, set to Debussy’s original score with additional music from Nitin Sawhney.

Hi Chris G, welcome to a fellow Northerner! it's interesting what you said about Winter Dreams because I saw it twice in the same day (being a northerner if I've got to stay over I try and see a matinee as well). I definately wanted to see Vadim in the evening so I saw the matinee cast also and was very disappointed in it. it seemed overlong and rather boring. Then with Vadim in the evening it was like seeing a different ballet (as Bruce said also). it was totally entrancing and the time seemed to fly by. So I think casting is important in how you view a ballet and influences your opinion as to whether the ballet is a seasonal lowlight or highlight.

Lucky you Jenny. It sounds a really fabulous experience and thanks very much for sharing it with us. It's the next best thing to being there.

The Preston Odeon printed off cast list/plot synopsis for us. However, the 2 gentlemen sitting next to me left in the interval saying it was 'absolute rubbish'. The Cast list mentioned a website www.cinemalive.com who describe themselves as 'one of the world's leading producers and distributors of Premium Event Cinema'. They also list NB Dracula and other ballets by Australian Ballet including The Merry Widow and Spartacus as well as more pop based and also theatrical events.

Another new ballet on SkyArts. Sunday 30th June 11am Australian Ballet Coppelia. Seems to last two hours. Repeated Friday 5th July at 7am. 6am the same day they're showing a repeat of Force of Nature : Natalia Osipova.

Just back from seeing Victoria at the cinema and there was an advert for a dvd/Blu Ray (date unspecified) at the end of the recording.

Just come back from Northern ballet's Victoria at the cinema and not really sure what to make of it. Some very good choreography, excellently danced, but I would have liked not to spend so much time wondering who everyone was! For example in the first act I wasn't sure for a while if the young girl was the young Beatrice (turned out she was). Also who were all those people dressed in red skirts who were flitting about throughout the ballet? I was quite mystified. They seemed to be to do with the archives but (speaking as a librarian for 40 years) they didn't look like anyone I'd ever seen in a library! Also the men in the second act; as none of them had moustaches I wasn't sure which was Albert until she was getting married. I preferred the second act to the first as the choreography seemed more inventive; I suppose there was more scope for a young Victoria. The Victoria/Albert pas de deux was stunning in it's explicit and implicit sexuality even though Beatrice showed her disapproval by ripping several pages of the journal out after seeing it! Congratulations especially to Pippa Moore as Beatrice and Abigail Prudames as Victoria who were both excellent. One thing that really put me off at the start was the fact it seemed to be treated as a film rather than a live broadcast. Consequently, the 'trailers' just advertising the Company and sponsors were mega loud and made me remember why I'd stopped seeing films at the cinema. I only go and see the RB broadcasts, and speech, music and ROH trailers are at normal levels. I am mystified as to why cinema broadcasters assume their audience are deaf (if you're not when you go in you might be when you come out!) and watching in somewhere about the size of the Albert Hall, hence the need for massive sound amplification. The reality is most screens are very small these days compared to the large ones in the 50s and 60s and there is no need for massive amplification at all. Perhaps I need to see Victoria again. I see at the end there was an advert for a dvd/Blu Ray (date unspecified). I will go and see Dracula on 31st October (make a welcome respite from the doom and gloom of Brexit!) though I wish it was the Christopher Gable production.

Much as I love many ballets; Onegin and virtually anything by Ashton springs to mind, I don't know if I'd want to see any ballet programmed every year. it would be like having Christmas every day; if it happens too often it loses it's magic and becomes the norm rather than a special treat to be savoured occasionally. Now having more frequent stagings of Onegin and a greater variety and frequency of Ashton is a different story! Also, regardless of what we might like, any regular staging would be the most popular ballets like the recent long run of annual Nutcrackers. I know many people love Nutcracker (as do I) but I'm looking forward to a break from it for one year and have all those endless Christmas slots taken up with a fresh ballet. if I want to enjoy my Christmas fix of Nutcracker I can go to the repeat cinema broadcast (which I think is an excellent idea and I wish could be repeated for other ballets) or watch one of the many excellent dvds available. If our favourites were programmed every year what would we have to discuss when the annual season is announced?!

I know this link has been posted before but I was having trouble getting it to work on my pc and then lost it altogether. I emailed the ROH website people and was sent it again and it worked so I just thought I'd share it with everyone as I find it invaluable for booking and just general checking of performances and I've no idea how to find it on the website itself. I was so relieved to get it as I made sure it had been discarded just because it was plain and useful and not trendy and attractive at all. http://www.roh.org.uk/seasons/2019-20

My Highlights (mainly Royal Ballet) Kevin O'Hares choice of mixed bills. To me these have improved immensely this season and seem to be continuing over to the next season also . Previously I thought the RB choice of mixed bills fairly lacklustre often with one ballet I really wanted to see, one ballet I wasn't too bothered about and the third I didn't want to see at all (the latter usually in the middle so I couldn't arrive late or leave early though at least once I sat it out on the terrace). However, this year most of the mixed bills from Patineurs, to 2 Pigeons and the final glorious Firebird all were truly excellent and inspired choices. The next season looks to be getting off to a great start too with the Concerto triple and an added bonus it is being filmed. Margot Fonteyn celebration. A fabulous evening that I'm so glad I attended. I have been very critical about Kevin O'hare about the seeming lack of planning for this great event but the actual event was very well planned and beautifully danced. it was wonderful to see all the Ashton performed, especially the rare pieces (though it highlighted the disappointing amount of Ashton available next year). A great choice of extracts and it would be wonderful to see more of these sort of evenings in the future; perhaps an annual event (?) It doesn't need to celebrate anything except how wonderful the RB is at the moment! The programme organised by Laura Morera last summer for one of the tours also looked really well planned as regards content and dancers. I would have loved to see that also. Individual ballets; anything by Ashton, so Les Patineurs and Two Pigeons were especially wonderful. La Bayadere; great to see it again after too long an absence (though I wish we had a different production. I don't like the Makharova version at all.) However the casting was to die for; Nunez, Osipova and Muntagirov though disappointed to miss the Osipova/Coralles performance. Apart from Asylnuratova I don't see how it could have been bettered and seeing it at the cinema was an added bonus. Hopefully a dvd will follow eventually (hint, hint!) Also seeing Brandon Lawrence in la Fille at the Lowry. He is a great Colas and an great asset to any company. Disappointed he isn't cast as Will Moffat in Hobson's Choice. Debut performances. Sambe/Naghdi and Campbell/Magri in Don Q were wonderful but possibly the stand out debut performances for me were Hayward/Coralles and O'Sullivan/Sambe in Romeo and Juliet. they were both amazing performances anyway but as debut performances they were just incredible. I don't even especially like Romeo and Juliet but like many other ballets I've not been especially bothered about over the last few years I'm now hooked because of all the mesmerising performances I've seen. Also Vadim in Winter Dreams. He gave such an emotional performance I was practically in tears at the end. Individual performances; where can I start?! Seeing Francesca Hayward as Juliet, Ondine, Symphony in C and Month in the Country made me realise what a very special talent we'd been missing for most of the season. Hopefully she'll be with us all next season and we'll see her develop her already considerable artistry even more. She is a true inheritor of Fonteyn's mantle as was seen in her Ondine. Joseph Sissens has continued to impress in whatever he does and I'm hoping his prominent role in Symphony is C is a precursor to another well merited promotion. Teo Dubreill came to my notice as Benvolio in R and J and was my favourite Benvolio so I hope he is promoted too, also Francisco Serrano who was a wonderfully memorable beggar in Don Q. Ball and Naghdi continue to impress both with their partnership and individually. Matthew Ball's Tybalt was so memorable; probably the best Tybalt I've ever seen. Also Sambe was an amazing Mercutio and I hope he and Matthew will be filmed eventually, preferably with Hayward and Coralles. Gary Avis and Christopher Saunders in most roles they do. I love the RB idea of creating Principal Character Artists as they can help so much to 'flesh out' a ballet in a way many foreign companies don't seem to get. The fact they are both teachers as well is an incredible added bonus. Anna Rose O'Sullivan and Marcellino Sambe have developed so much over the past year both together and individually; they wowed New York with their Balanchine and then wowed us with their wonderful Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. it is wonderful to have such a wealth of talent emerging from many of the younger Royal Ballet dancers; there are really no weaknesses anywhere. Finally (leaving the best to last!) Vadim Muntagirov. In just about everything I've seen him in this year he has been amazing; his versatility and artistry are second to none. He practically reduced me to tears in 2 Pigeons, Winter Dreams and A Month in the Country (for me the latter two were the standout performances of the year). He can give Vasiliev a run for his money in virtuosity in Don Q and Corsaire, was beautifully romantic in Bayadere and Romeo and Juliet and sparkled in Symphony in C. As someone on the Forum very aptly put his is the gift that keeps on giving; just when you think he can't get any better he surpasses even your high expectations of his performance and always (when appropriate) with that megawatt smile; Vadream indeed! Lowlights There aren't very many of these mainly as the RB is so good and because I live a distance from London and evening performances involve a hotel stay I tend to be very selective and only book for performances and dancers I am fairly certain I will enjoy. The Medusa triple. saw this at the cinema and very glad I didn't go to London to see it as even Within the Golden Hour didn't really do much for me and I was frankly bored with the other two. Lighting in some Royal ballet productions, especially Romeo and Juliet. Do lighting engineers not realise that most people prefer to actually see what is going on onstage? it becomes an especial problem if that production is filmed as there doesn't seem to be any way to improve lighting for cameras which don't adjust to gloomy conditions as fast as most eyes can. ENB Manon. I saw this production in Manchester and hated it so much I couldn't even bear to go and see Alina in it and I'm sure she was incredible. St Petersburg Ballet Cinderella at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. Uncharacteristically a very disappointing production; more pantomime than ballet. In fact when the prince arrived in a classical costume I could almost have kissed him as there had been very little choreography until then.

SkyArts next week Tuesday 18th 10pm until 11pm Natalia:a force of nature. NEW 11pm-12.30 Osipova at sadlers Wells (repeat) Wednesday 19th 7am Australia Ballet Cinderella NEW (first showing this morning but I missed it.) Friday 21st 6am Natalia at Sadlers Wells 7pm Natalia: a force of nature. Repeat

I do agree with your last paragraph JMC. Despite attending and really enjoying four different R and J casts the ballet itself has never been a huge favourite. OK Macmillan might have created down to earth characters and situations that we can easily relate to today but he wasn't the first. Didn't Ninette de Valois choreograph The Rake's Progress? I've never seen it but I understand it was pretty shocking realism wise. Also like some others I think Macmillan concentrates a lot on the pas de deux (which admittedly are usually splendid) but possibly to the detriment of the ballet as a whole as often the corps de ballet don't seem to have nearly as much actual dancing to do as they would in an Ashton ballet. Think how hard the corps work in Sylvia or la Fille and compare the second act of Romeo and Juliet where the street people just seem to be chasing the harlots or the brothel scene in Manon where there isn't a lot of dancing until Lescault arrives. The fact that Ashton seems to think the corps are as important as the principles is just one reason he is my favourite choreographer. Another is he just choreograph great ballets without any agenda about being 'modern' or 'relevant' There are too many others to mention.

I watched the Dowell, Seymour recording on Tuesday before seeing last night's performance and my first reaction was this would be a great role for Vadim and in my opinion it was. I thought he was terrific, a beautifully nuanced performance and Laura Cuthbertson was splendid too as Natalie as was David Yudes as Kolia. However I think the main star of the show was Frederick Ashton. I am constantly in awe of how this man can take a complicated story and distill it into the most beautiful one act ballet that can be followed so easily without needing involved programme notes : sheer genius! After Month in the Country Symphony in C made the perfect finish to a wonderful evening. The casting and dancing were truly awesome. It's a while since I'd seen it and I forgot how much it fizzed along. Looking forward to seeing it all again tonight though am still very cross it wasn't filmed. Such fabulous performances should be captured for ever.

I thought that Juliet always thought Romeo was alive when she first saw him and it was only after she kissed him she realised he was dead. She touches her mouth to indicate she's detected the taste of the poison and I think last night Yasmine picked up the bottle. I was watching from Preston odeon last night and I thought the performance really terrific far better than when I saw it at the ROH. I think the close ups made all the difference and both main performers truly outstanding as were the entire cast. They are all an amazing advert for British artistic excellence and long may they continue to be so.

Definitely!!!!

I bought a last minute ticket for the the celebration and I'm so glad I did. Haven't been so impressed with a ballet celebration since the 50th anniversary of sleeping beauty in 1996 and that was just a straightforward performance albeit with very special touches to make it totally memorable even now. I thought this gala was very well planned with a great mixture of known and not so well known pieces. There were very few mistakes given the very crowded rehearsal time the dancers must have at the moment and at a time when they might be expected to be winding down a little. I thought the whole event showcased the entire company splendidly from the lead principles to the artists and apprentices. My main disappointment (like several other people) is that it wasn't filmed for others to enjoy but perhaps there might be hopes for one of the Japanese galas to be filmed. My other plea is for more unusual Ashton to be more regularly performed, even if it's in the Linbury rather than the main house. Once the likes of Christopher Carr, Monica Mason, Lesley Collier and Anthony Dowell are no longer teaching who will be able to restore these almost lost masterpieces? Anyway a fabulous evening. Everyone was so good it seems unfair to select individual performances but Francesca Haywards WAS Fonteyn in Ondine. She was incredible and made me want to go and watch the dvd immediately. Also Vadim Muntagirov was Nureyev. His first variation in particular was the most awesome I've ever seen and I've seen Ruzimatov in the nineties and Vasiliev from 2007 onwards. He leapt so high and so far twisting in the middle you got the same feeling of danger you must have got from seeing Nureyev. It seemed incredible he landed safely without injuring himself or crashing into the backdrop such was his commitment to his illustrious predecessor. To follow that with Apparitions seemed rather strange though it enabled many of the company to be onstage but when that was followed by the film of Salute D'Amour it made perfect sense and yet another example of Kevin O'Hares excellent planning and attention to detail. Bravo everyone for a perfect evening but please don't let us wait another hundred years for a similar celebration.

I was at the stage door last Saturday after the Naghdi Ball matinee and saw Yasmine, Marcellino and Zuccetti and they all seemed fine then. I hope it's nothing serious and they will be fit soon both from their point of view and my own as I'm attending three performances of the triple bill the second week.

I Sunday 2nd June Sky Arts are showing Ivan the terrible at 6am 2pm Mata Hari. New showing for them. 12.30 am Nureyev repeat Tues 4th June 6am Mata Hari repeat.

I too really enjoyed the Hayward/Corrales performance last Saturday evening. I thought they were a great match and would like to see more of them. I knew Francesca would be fabulous and heartbreaking as the role seemed to be designed for her. Corrales I wasn't so sure about at the start (I haven't seen him before) but warmed to him a lot more as the evening wore on. I thought they formed a terrific partnership; he very young and hot-headed, she more mature (once in love) but very passionate. The moment when they first set eyes on each other in the ballroom was truly electric and then afterwards they just couldn't keep their eyes off each other even when dancing with other people. She got a good laugh when she did a beautiful 'I've got a headache gesture' when Paris asked her to go with him and then it was all systems blazing when Romeo reappeared. Sambe was an incredible Mercutio; possibly the best I've ever seen and with James Hay's Benvolio they made a very 'laddish' trio. it was good to see James in something different; he doesn't seem to have had many chances since being promoted to first soloist whereas Reece Clark who wasn't promoted, has had several major 3 act roles. However, I think my favourite Benvolio is Teo Dubreuil . I think he is a terrific and very personable young dancer and I hope he is promoted. To return to Saturday night, Coralles really let rip in the swordfight against Tybalt. I've never seen such fury and passion unleashed.I'm not surprised that on the first night he knocked the sword out of Matthew's hand! I don't know how Matthew managed to hold onto it on Saturday without damaging his wrist. Matthew was an absolutely incredible Tybalt; definately the best I've ever seen. his acting has come on so much. he played Tybalt not so much as an angry young man as a very entitled, arrogant 'public school' young man used to being obeyed and getting his own way. I thought a lot about the Bullingdon Club that David Cameron and Boris Johnson were members of at Oxford and thought that would have been just up this particular Tybalt's street. I hope he will be filmed in the role sometime in the future as to me his is the definitive performance. Someone described the entire performance as the Agony and the Ecstasy' and that's what it was. there were no half measures. At the wedding scene it was so emotional as neither could keep their eyes off the other and the moment of parting was heartbeaking with Coralles physically pulling and then snatching Francesca back to him for just one more kiss. The last act scene with Paris was heartbreaking too with Gary Avis (who's also obviously not used to being defied and by a slip of a girl at that) thinking he could get his own way by 'shouting' and getting angry (in fairness it's probably worked in the past!) Francesca was brilliant; totally distraught yet determined not to yield. When she does finally go to Paris she is so obviously hating it and Paris you wonder how anyone could be fooled by her 'agreement'. I was in tears by the time it got to her decision to take the poison though I always wonder why she took it so far from the bed and then had to practically to crawl there. The final scene was as heartrending as it usually is so all in all a very emotional night!

The Nureyev doc is on Tuesday evening from 10.15-12.25am so quite a long one. This striking and moving documentary from BAFTA nominated directors Jacqui and David Morris traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev. From his birth in the 5th class carriage of a trans-Siberian train, to his dramatic leap to freedom in the West at the height of the Cold War, and unprecedented adulation as the most famous dancer in the world. The film highlights Nureyev's unlikely yet legendary partnership with Margot Fonteyn and charts his meteoric rise to the status of global cultural phenomenon. Nureyev's life plays out like the sweeping plot of a classic Russian novel. His story is Russia's story. Blending never-before-seen footage, with an original score by award-winning composer Alex Baranowski and spellbinding newly choreographed dance tableaux directed by Royal Ballet alumnus, Russell Maliphant, Nureyev is a theatrical and cinematic experience like no other. This is a portrayal as unique as the man himself. There will never be another Nureyev. It follows another in the Akram Khan series at 9pm Why do we Dance, focusing on the tango. The Bolshoi Spartacus starring Carlos is repeated Thursday 30th May at the more usual SkyArts ballet time of 6.35am. Odyssey is definately right. SkyArts are showing a lot more ballet and opera than they used to. They've shown more in the last few weeks than they've shown in about the last 6 months.Long may it continue though it's a pity the BBC can't make more of a effort. I suppose it's too much to hope for that one of the reasons the Fonteyn programme is being kept secret is because it's being filmed? That's probably just wishful thinking but hers is the only ballerinas name (apart from Darcey Bussell) that most people not interested in ballet will know. It would at least partly compensate for the very lukewarm ROH 'celebrations' of our only prima ballerina assoluta.

I'm sure it's been posted elsewhere but I just thought I'd post this link to the ROH 2019/20 cinema offerings. https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/all?event-type=cinema-broadcasts,bp-big-screens The RB cinema broadcasts are:- Concerto, Enigma Variations/Raymonda Act 3 5th November Coppelia 10th December Sleeping Beauty 16th January New Marston/New Scarlett 25th February Swan Lake 1st April The Dante Project 28th May Additionally, not mentioned here, during last weeks triple cinema broadcast Kevin O'Hare said there would be a Christmas cinema screening of the 2016 Nutcracker. This prompted me to wonder why more past broadcasts weren't screened as the Bolshoi do. It would make sense if people hadn't seen them for a while. Also I wonder if we can get an inkling of screen casting as a photo of Naghdi/Ball was used for the Sleeping Beauty and Takada in Swan Lake. or is that just coincidence?

Thanks Dave. I thought it must be but in that case why have it in autumn on the seasons calendar? Another website glitch I expect.

I saw this triple bill at the cinema and it would be tempting (though rather frivolous) to say that the bit I enjoyed most was seeing Vadim warm up behind the curtain before the performance. He seemed to be doing a very energetic series of turns and possibly leaps though it was difficult to see as Ore and Darcey kept getting in the way! Personally I would be quite happy to see an entire night of Vadim doing anything like this (he even makes standing still interesting, and possibly even 'relevant'). Perhaps Liam Scarlett could devise a suitable programme. After that the official programme was slightly anti-climactic and panned out much as I thought it would. I quite enjoyed Within the Golden Hour, which, as expected, was my favourite of the three. I agree with Dawnstar that I found it similar to Asphodel Meadows and while it was very pleasant it didn't personally engage me. Perhaps I need to see it again. However, the dancing was wonderful and an unexpected treat to have my first glimpse of Hayward before the Romeo and Juliet performance I've booked next Saturday. Medusa, well.... Found it rather tedious and pretentious and kept wondering when it was going to end. No doubting the commitment of the dancers, especially Osipova who was terrific; just a pity they hadn't something more worthy to commit to. Flight Pattern didn't do much for me either. The best bits were seeing Joseph Sissens; even in a small role he shone through as did Kristen McNally. Good to see her in a recognisable rather than character role. Great to meet up with Jamesrhblack in the little Rye Kino cinema which was about half full. Like many others I find the high rate of injuries very concerning both from an audience but more importantly the dancers point of view. I increasingly wonder about the decision to front load the next season with so many full length ballets, especially with so many performances. However, the problem might be more to do with the constant switching from classical to modern this season so perhaps next seasons decision to separate them more and have a classical first half of the season and a more modern spring and autumn might be better. Autumn is all classical, Winter; the only 'modern' ballets are the Marston/Scarlett double bill and they tend to be classically oriented choreographers anyway. The main modern programmes are in spring and summer with only the Tombeaux triple classical in the summer and the Heritage Linbury programme in May. Time will tell whether this works better from an injury point of view. Incidentally, I've saved the 2019-20 seasons calendar http://www.roh.org.uk/seasons/2019-20 on my toolbar as an invaluable booking and information aid and cannot understand why Onegin (and La Traviata) are part of both the autumn and winter season. How can they be both and how do you manage for booking? As Onegin doesn't start until January how can it be part of the autumn season? The autumn season is going to be expensive enough without adding Onegin to it!