bangorballetboy

Should be the same castings as last Wednesday evening. IIRC, pd3 were Choe, Crawford & Campbell and big swans were Kobayashi & Mendizabal. Neapolitan was Morera & Cervera.

Have done my research now! During my lifetime it was called Thaïs pas de deux but when originally staged in the 1971 gala it was called Meditation from Thaïs!

I'm slightly disturbed that they've changed the name of the Thaïs pas de deux.

According to the ROH website, Cojocaru is dancing Swan Lake on 27 October in place of Cuthbertson (still with Bonelli).

I have corrected the posting. White writing on black background can often be difficult to read (especially on a tablet) - another reason why I don't like the casting details on the production page of AtH instead of in the calendar.

There's already a thread on this topic in the "news" section so I have locked this thread.

Seems rather odd that Friends were subject to a ticket limit for that mixed bill but not the general public. Ah well, Susan Fisher must know what she's doing...

Not a lot of point in being a top level friend then, given the ability to book for every performance was the only additional benefit.

Not on the ROH site, but here's the plan: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e284/monkeywonder/LinburyStudioSeatingPlan.gif

There's already a thread on this in the general discussion section so I have moved the original posting and locked this thread.

In his review of the first night, Clement Crisp suggested that Marianela Nuñez was to blame for the awful tempi of some parts of the performed score. I have now been to four Swan Lakes in this run and, barring the most recent which was slightly better in parts), the tempi were pretty similar throughout. Whilst I wasn't at the first Acostipova performance (which Clemmie reviewed), I was at the second and I found the tempi to be almost identical to the first night (and, where it wasn't, they were worse IMO). I notice that Clemmie did not mention the tempi in his Acostipova review and, to my mind, he does Nuñez a disservice - something which should be anathema to a critic of his long-standing.

And now we know he is.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Alice/Knave/White Rabbit/Queen of Hearts/Mad Hatter Cuthbertson/Bonelli/Watson/Yanowsky/McRae 15/03, 28/03, 13/04 Cuthbertson/Bonelli/Cervera/Yanowsky/McRae 21/03 Lamb/McRae/Cervera/Morera/Campbell 19/03, 23/03(m), 02/04 Lamb/McRae/Watson/Morera/Campbell 27/03 Stix-Brunell/Pennefather/Maloney/Mendizabal/TBC 25/03, 06/04(m), 11/04 La Bayadère Solor/Nikiya/Gamzatti Bonelli/Cojocaru/Nuñez 05/04, 20/04(m) Kish/Cuthbertson/Choe 09/04, 27/04(m) McRae/Marquez/Morera 12/04, 06/04(e) Soares/Lamb/Calvert 02/04, 06/04(m) Golding/Yanowsky/Mendizabal 01/05, 13/05 Acosta/Nuñez/Kobayashi 14/05, 22/05 Mayerling Crown Prince Rudolf/Baroness Mary Vetsera/Mitzi Caspar/Princess Stephanie/Empress Elizabeth Watson/Galeazzi/Lamb/Loots/Yanowsky 19/04 Watson/Galeazzi/Lamb/Loots/Arestis 01/06(e), 13/06 Kobborg/Cojocaru/Kobayashi/Maguire/McNally 25/04, 30/04, 05/06 Acosta/Benjamin/Morera/Hinkis/Yanowsky 30/05, 06/06, 15/06 Pennefather/Hamilton/Mendizabal/Harrod/Bhavnani 03/05(m), 10/06 Soares/Cuthbertson/Nuñez/Choe/Chapman 01/06(m), 12/06

Sounds like one for the Christmas list...

During a quick check of casting for a specific Nutcracker, I noticed that Loots is no longer listed as dancing Clara. She is replaced by: Hinkis: 13 Dec Maguire 31 Dec, 8 Jan

Sounds like the Welcome Performance was a joy! Hopefully it will encourage those who attended to come to more ballet performances, inlcuding some of the more moderm pieces (which are often cheaper!). The Odette/Odile was Roberta Marquez.

The RB's Swan Lake is heavily based on Nicholas Sergeyev's notation, the notable exceptions being Ashton's Neapolitan Dance, the absence of the pas de quatre and Odile's diagonal in the "black swan" pd2 coda (in place of echappés sautés, although some dancers (like Zen) do that "correct" choregography). Whilst that notation can't really be called the original Petipa/Ivanov, it is as close as we are likely to get.

Yes, but he gives everyone 7 - even the person whose dance he described as "the best waltz of the night". GET RID OF HIM!

Perhaps the critics would themselves care to fund the ballet companies. Thought not...

Too much stretching the tempi (a la Lang Lang); tempi too slow in places (particularly when it's not adage choreography); uninspiring overture. But that's just my opinion.

Posted on twitter earlier (so short-ish). My thoughts on last night's Swan Lake. Nela Nuñez steals the show – soft & vulnerable in act 2, lithe & Machiavellian in act 3, defiant & broken in act 4, all with great technique & aplomb. Soares is a strong partner & foil for her. Very pleasing pd3 from Choe, Crawford and Campbell – beautifully balanced. Kobayashi & Mendizabal made gorgeously silky big swans though not always together in act 2. Special mentions for Gartside's great legwork in the Czardas and Morera & Cervera's sprightly Neapolitan Dance. Corps-work excellent (barring one new joiner who over-danced in act 4 and stood out for all the wrong reasons), which suggests the correct decision was made in Sam Raine's appointment as ballet mistress. Only downer on the evening is the abysmal conducting which disturbs both audience & dancers. Otherwise, this Swan Lake was a very strong & enjoyable treat to start the season; long may it continue.

Definitely Len - he is the weakest judge by far.

The limit on Friends priority tickets for the RB Ashton mixed bill appears to have gone now we're into the period for buying additional tickets.

KO'H also made the point that there's a place at the Royal Ballet School for "anyone" with talent and that if the child couldn't afford it, they should be able to find a bursary for them. [paraphrased]

In case you missed Kevin on the telly box this morning, here's the iPlayer link (doesn't work on Apple products...): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zbd3r