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Tonight, the Royal Ballet of Flanders opens a run of a new Romeo & Juliet, commissioned by Director Assis Carreiro from former RB Principal, Slava Samodurov, using the Prokofiev score. It opens in Gent then moves to Antwerp where, all being well, I hope to catch the final Matinee performance on 1 March. There is a link to the English-language version of the company website here: http://www.balletvlaanderen.be/?page_id=4144〈=en〈=en I see that there are to be 3 sets of Lead castings - one of them from the junior ranks of the company, and it is that which is likely to take me across the Channel. In terms of relative size, RBF sits between the large companies (eg: Bolshoi, RB, ENB) with large R&J productions and the very small-scale version made upon Bern:Ballett by Cathy Marston in 2009, so I'll be interested to se how Samodurov's version works out. I'm hoping that we might have some Forum members over the Channel who may see it and, if we do, I encourage them to offer an opinion here.

Johan Kobborg announced tonight on various social media that his production of Romeo and Juliet will be at the Royal Albert Hall on April 14th. The cast is not announced, but I think we can suppose at least Alina Cojocaru and Sergei Polunin will be confirmd. I am crossing my fingers for Nikolas Gaifullin as Thybalt.

Well, I'm afraid it wasn't a flawless broadcast of Raymonda today at the cinema I went to: in addition to numerous (and seemingly regular) gaps in the audio (and often video) of about one second, we had two long losses of picture and sound, one in each of the first two acts. One of them resulted in the screen becoming more horribly pixelated than anything I'd seen since the motherboard on my new laptop failed about a decade ago I hope others fared better. Technical issues apart, I'm afraid I found myself nodding off several times during Act I: not sure to what extent that was due to the very dark set. The third act is quite different in many respects from the Raymonda Act III which the Royal Ballet are currently performing, in particular due to the lack of solos for the supporting dancers - presumably these were given earlier in the ballet, perhaps in the bits I was unable to view. Certainly, the only additional solo was for either Clémence or Henriette, which I thought was a bit odd - I did entertain the thought that one of the dancers might have injured herself and so her solo was simply omitted without comment. It has to be said that it looks a lot more expansive on the Bolshoi's far more spacious stage.

With a month to go, I thought a topic for news/comments, pre-performance, might be useful. I am pleased to see from social media that on 20 February Steven McRae began rehearsals at the RB with Akane Takada, her debut as Juliet being set for 28 March.

Really liked the film, Hayward as glorious as expected (the camera clearly loves her) and the rest of the cast looked very good as well. Clever 'staging', though there was a bush that really needed pruning since it took centre view in a couple of scenes. The set and costumes are deliciously opulent. I was very happy to hear that Michael Nunn and William Trevitt are hoping to make more ballet films. I'd love to see Swan Lake filmed, though judging by the comments about mime and natural settings, that is unlikely to be a contender.

Just received a tweet announcing a new filmed version of the the above starring Francesca and Bracewell as the lovers, supported by dancers from the RB. Being shown by Curzon chain on December 16th , I guess to tie up with release of Cats. Looks great, hope for DVD eventually. If there was any doubt this will rocket Francesca’s career to greater heights.

In the last month, I've seen Macmillan's R&J with Karlsruhe Ballet, Cranko's R&J (twice!) with Stuttgart Ballet, and now QB's R&J. And I still love the ballet! Both versions! Mia Heathcote was Juliet, and Romeo was danced by Patricio Reve, who is so new to the company that he's not yet listed in the program. He is another Cuban dancer, and brought the dash and brio that all Cuban male dancers seem to have to the role. Mia Heathcote was a beautiful, strong, and determined Juliet. (Her father, Stephen Heathcote was Lord Capulet ... nothing like keeping things in the family!) Vito Berlesconi danced Tybalt with the usual glower. I could wish that just occasionally dancers could create a more likable Tybalt, something that could be done while preserving his role in provoking Romeo and killing Mercutio (Kohei Iwamoto) - and not from the rear! But Tybalt could be a much more interesting character than the bully he is generally portrayed as. But it was a great production, and showed the company to great advantage. The marketplace scenes, and the Capulet,s ball were wonderful. So I still love R&J!

If anyone has a spare ticket please DM me. thanks Peter

Please PM me if you have a spare ticket. Thanks

I am hoping (desperate!) to be able to get a ticket to see Osipova dance in Romeo and Juliet on Sat. June 1st 2019. I won't be in the UK for dates before then so it's the only one I can make of that ballet. I am willing to pay quite a bit extra!!

I will go on Friday (Feb 1st) to this performance and will write a little review afterwards. Since I missed a balletco member last time, although we both were at the same "Nutcracker" 😉 I would like to know if another forum member is coming on Friday as well? Would be nice to say Hello.

The Bolshoi's season of live cinema transmissions started today with Le Corsaire. Please use this thread to discuss the performances. I have to say, I thought the production looked stunning on screen, and that the dancers were generally framed pretty well - no parts of bodies escaping the frame during the dancing. I was a little surprised to find two dancers being interviewed about the roles of Conrad and Medora and then two completely different dancers performing the roles, though! Oh, and I still covet those beautiful white tutus from the Jardin Anime scene, even more so having seen them up close

English National Ballet Song of the Earth & La Sylphide Romeo & Juliet / Akram Khan’s Giselle / Nutcracker National Tour Wednesday 11 October – Saturday 2 December 2017 Performance times and ticket prices vary www.ballet.org.uk Continuing its commitment to taking world-class ballet to audiences across the country, this autumn English National Ballet presents five productions on its national tour. Two works new to English National Ballet’s repertoire, Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s masterwork, Song of the Earth and August Bournonville’s La Sylphide recreated by Frank Andersen and Eva Kloborg, will be performed at the Manchester Palace Theatre (11-14 October) and Milton Keynes Theatre (17 – 21 October). First performed in 1965, MacMillan’s choreography for Song of the Earth was different from anything he had previously devised. Featuring three central figures, a Woman, a Man, and a Messenger, this powerful, moving exploration of life, death, and renewal is set to Mahler’s song cycle, Das Lied von der Erde, performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic. These performances of Song of the Earth coincide with the 25th anniversary of MacMillan’s death. Devised by one of the world´s leading producers of Bournonville ballets, Frank Andersen and Eva Kloborg’s faithful version of the 1830s Romantic ballet La Sylphide sees James wake from a dream on the morning of his wedding to Effy to encounter a mysterious sylphide before him, setting off a fateful sequence of events. Song of the Earth and La Sylphide will also be performed at the London Coliseum in January 2018. Winner of the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance, Akram Khan’s Giselle comes to Liverpool for the first time, with performances at the Liverpool Empire Theatre (25-28 October). Hailed as “a masterpiece of 21st century dance” (Mail on Sunday), Khan’s Giselle is one of a community of migrant workers cast out of their jobs in a condemned garment factory. Last season over 40,000 people saw Akram Khan’s reimagined Giselle performed on tour. The world’s greatest love story, Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet returns this autumn with performances at the Bristol Hippodrome (21-25 November). Featuring inventive and passionate choreography, and set to Prokofiev’s famous score, performed live by the English National Ballet Philharmonic, these performances mark the 40th anniversary of the production, which was originally created for English National Ballet in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. English National Ballet had its most successful Nutcracker run on record last season, when over 100,000 people came to see the production on tour or at the London Coliseum. This year sees Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker tour to the Mayflower Theatre Southampton (29 November – 2 December) before returning to the London Coliseum, continuing the Company’s tradition of presenting a Nutcracker production each year since 1950. Listings information: Song of the Earth / La Sylphide Manchester Palace Theatre Wednesday 11 October - Saturday14 October 2017 Press night: Wednesday 11 October 2017 For more information, see: www.ballet.org.uk/song-sylphide Song of the Earth / La Sylphide Milton Keynes Theatre Tuesday 17 October - Saturday 21 October 2017 Press night: Tuesday 17 October 2017 For more information, see: www.ballet.org.uk/song-sylphide Akram Khan’s Giselle Liverpool Empire Theatre Wednesday 25 October - Saturday 28 October 2017 Press night: Wednesday 25 October 2017 For more information, see: http://giselle.ballet.org.uk Romeo & Juliet Bristol Hippodrome Tuesday 21 November - Saturday 25th November 2017 Press night: Tuesday 21 November For more information, see: www.ballet.org.uk/romeoandjuliet Nutcracker Mayflower Theatre, Southampton Wednesday 29 November - Saturday 2 December 2017 Press night: Wednesday 29 November 2017 For more information, see: www.ballet.org.uk/nutcracker Booking fees may apply. About English National Ballet English National Ballet has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has played a major role in the growth and history of ballet in the UK. Today, English National Ballet is renowned for taking world-class ballet to the widest possible audience through its national and international tour programme, offsite performances at festivals including Glastonbury and Latitude, its distinguished orchestra English National Ballet Philharmonic, and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice and delivery, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s. Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo, English National Ballet has gained new acclaim as it introduces innovative new works to the Company’s repertoire while continuing to honour and reinvigorate traditional ballet.

Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the afternoon rehearsal with Daria Klimentová & Vadim Muntagirov cast. Here are a couple of photos to remind us of how glorious Daria is, for her retirement performances: Daria Klimentová as Juliet © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Daria Klimentová & Vadim Muntagirov © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: ENB - Romeo & Juliet (Daria Klimentová cast) Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

I wasn't able to be at the first night of R&J tonight, but expect a lot of you were, so please post your thoughts here.

The Royal Ballet's current run of MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet starts tonight, so please discuss here.