Spreading the Word. Persuading the Public to Buy Tickets for the Unfamiliar

[Katharina]

Katharina sits glued to the tv watching the Bolshoi´s recent Sleeping Beauty.

Enter The Boyfriend.

 

B: What´s that?

 

K: A ballet from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow! Sit down!

 

B: [sits down]

 

K: It´s the Sleeping Beauty, based on Perrault´s fairy tale.

 

B.: Fairy tale? Aren´t we too old for that?

 

K.: But it´s not really aimed at children. The location is Versailles and here are the King and Queen and their courtiers ...

 

B. [taking in the insanely opulent décors]: Whoever made this was clearly a fan of the ancien régime. Isn´t it rather anachronistic?

 

K.: Well maybe they saw themselves as part of the old legitimist camp, but it´s not really about politics ... the plot and location provide the ambience for the choreography, which itself is rather abstract ...  [ watching the fairy variations] you see these dances each represent a virtue expressed through choreography.

 

B.: ... virtue?

 

K.: Yes. The classical vocabulary itself is linked to the idea that goodness can be expressed through the harmonical movement of the human body ... and in the end  the good Lilac Fairy triumphs over Carabosse, who is not given any harmonious classical steps, and the threat to their kingdom is averted ...

 

B.: ... and the status quo is maintained.

 

K..: It´s about form and structure! Not via psychological realism, or a political statement. Like the Brandenburg Concerti or a Haydn symphony!

 

[enter David Hallberg. On the screen, I mean.]

 

K.: You see? You see? Isn´t he beautiful?

 

B.: Beauty of form just for the sake of it?

 

K.: Yeeees ... why not? The Haydn symphonies do not point to anything beyond themselves either  ... you can appreciate The Sleeping Beauty without agreeing with the principles of the ancien régime ... 

 

B.: All art is political, even when it is not. The Haydn symphonies do not have characters pretending to be absolutist princes, but Haydn was employed by one and many of his works wouldn´t have existed without his prince Esterházy von Galantha.

 

K.: [gives up]

 

 

(Am now planning to drag him in front of some Wayne McGregor next. And Rite of Spring. And the POB´s Picasso and Dance dvd.)

[Ellie]

"Ellie, maybe I am moving in the wrong circles ..."

 

Katharina, I hope that I didn't come across as condescending. I was only referring to my own experience as a student - then dancer - and now teacher of dancers who see Germany and the Netherlands as countries which are considered to have an abundance of well subsidised vocational dance schools, opera houses and dance companies.

I don't live in the UK, but am pretty sure that classical dance is not on the national curriculum. 'Dance' is, (I think), but in most cases falls under the category of 'Physical Education' and from what I understand (and I may be wrong) is taught by teachers with a limited experience of the artform.

 

I found your post interesting, thank you ! (Good luck with your boyfriend / McGregor/Rite of Spring etc ! - I always think that Pina's version is a pretty good introduction to that particular ballet )

[Ellie]

FLOSS

 

"Do the people running the classes tell their students about them and encourage them to go? Do they even think about them? Perhaps the reason why children going to dancing classes don't go to the cinema to see performances has got more to do with accessibility, the cost of tickets and location of the cinemas showing the ballets.Two tickets ( I am assuming the presence of a parent or an older sibling) will cost somewhere in the region of twenty five plus pounds.I don't know if the cinemas involved give reductions for children. If they are anything like the reductions given for pensioners they are far from substantial.Not everyone has a cinema showing these performances on their doorstep and then there is the question about how much publicity is given to these performances. I know that you can find out which Royal Ballet performances are being streamed and where, but you need to know that they exist."

 

The only chance I get to see the RB is at the live cinema screenings. However the start time is not compatible with my work schedule and I always have to do my best Usain Bolt impression to get to the cinema and slip in, breathless, but inconspicuous as possible at least 20 minutes after the start time. I imagine that the 7.30pm start time is incompatible for younger children (screenings always seem to be on a Tuesday) and older ballet loving students are possibly still in class / doing homework etc at this time. The cinema screenings are also woefully under publicised, but I think that has more to do with the the individual distributors rather than the ROH.

 

I wonder if streaming a live matinee would work out better ?

[FLOSS]

I wonder whether the powers that be at the Royal Ballet are aware that their streamed performances are not actually being accessed by a wide range of people that they presumably would like to reach. I know that it is blindingly obvious that you can't be in a cinema watching a live streamed performance and at dance class at the same time.But it's the blindingly obvious that so often gets overlooked by people in big organisations particularly if they are providing ancillary services and have had little or nothing to do with the organisation's core functions. It's quite possible that there are people in the organisation wh are congratulating themselves on being able to reach out to dance students when they are not contacting anywhere near the number that they believe they are. It is possible to find out which cinemas are doing repeat screenings by looking on the Opera House website but you have to be aware that the performances are being streamed in the first place. Do details of streamed performances get mentioned in the Dancing Times? I don't know.

[capybara]

Do details of performances get mentioned in the Dancing Times? I don't know.

 

If they are, I've not seen any mentions - nor in Dance Europe.

 

And accessing information about Sunday afternoon repeat showings isn't always easy.

[Mimi]

Certainly on our side of the pond, Royal Ballet screenings are promoted very badly.  In my neck of the woods, we get them at one of the local multiplexes, but there are no ads! All of Fathom's promotional material last year was for the Metropolitan Opera screenings.  I don't know if this is because of the area's culture--ballet companies never tour here at all, but classical music is a big deal--or a more general nationwide tendency.  It would be nice of the ROH to do something like a for-pay livestream, but that might be financially prohibitive on their end.  

[caseybeatrice]

Fascinating thread. I don't have any good ideas about "spreading the word" but as an early 20s newcomer to ballet-watching, I thought I might offer some insight into how this "young person" discovered ballet.

I read Clement Crisp's rave review about Edward Watson's Mayerling, bought an amphi ticket, and never looked back. Since then, I've bought tickets for one-third to a half of the shows for every RB season, sometimes for multiple casts (i.e. Manon). I sought out the big ballet forums (here and the American one), dance review websites, and ballet company resources (e.g. Hamburg Ballet/John Neumeier's website) and read every thread, feature, summary, or interview that seemed interesting. I devoured Apollo's Angels by Jennifer Homans in about four days. I had to leave the UK earlier this year and was devastated because there isn't very much ballet where I live. (Though I did make a trip to see Pacific Northwest Ballet and saw, in one day, both the matinee and evening show when Miami City Ballet came to visit.)

The few resources available for someone wanting to know more about ballet are not well-promoted. But exploring and reading leads to interest and ticket sales. The last show I saw in London was the Royal Danish Ballet's Bournonville programme and that was wonderful. Without the internet, I wouldn't have decided to read the Homans book, wouldn't have become interested in the Danish style, and in short wouldn't have known about this fantastic company. I wish there was so much more available online. I wish the Balanchine Trust allowed videos of all his works on their website or a streaming site. The ballets by neo-classical choreographers on YouTube which are uploaded in their entirety are a blessing. I'm so thankful they're there.

However, I'm aware that this is all self-motivated discovery. No one's made it easy for me to learn more about ballet, although in a way the dearth of material has made learning more manageable. I have grasped, since 2013, the biases of all the "important" UK and US dance critics. I doubt the fan base of any other "major" art form feels so like a small village.

The web series "city.ballet" by AOL and "Strictly Ballet" by Teen Vogue are excellent. But I don't know how many non-ballet fans watch them; or even if any non-ballet fans stumble onto them and keep watching. I'd love to know the ticket sales for Ashley Bouder's outreach project and if those small town audiences appreciate what she's doing (in terms of ballet and her going out of her way).

Lourdes Lopez held a pre-show talk when she brought MCB to Vancouver. A teenager asked why Balanchine was still relevant and she replied that seeing Balanchine danced would hopefully provide the answer. I think that's the key: people need to see ballet beyond Nutcracker. It's such a visceral, beautiful art form. I'm sad that anyone dismisses it before attending a performance of a show beyond the cash cows.

I'm moving to Japan later this year and I'm elated because the balletomane world there is so much more vibrant! Maybe they're doing much more in terms of outreach and marketing? I'll report back once settled in

P.S. As for Matthew Bourne and BalletBoyz attracting young people, I haven't seen either company perform and I assume I'd be their target audience. I'd rather buy for a programme such as ENB's Modern Masters than Car Man but I suppose I'm atypical in that respect. I mean, I got into ballet through reading a Crisp review…

Edited August 17, 2015 by caseybeatrice

[Jan McNulty]

Hello Caseybeatrice and welcome to the Forum!

 

You raise some very interesting points via your own experience.

 

I was comparatively young (early 20s) when I started watching contemporary dance - my friend and I went to see a performance because it was on and we were bored!  Ballet came a bit later for me, reading a biography about Nijinsky, going to see a mixed programme that featured some of the works he was associated with, reading a review of Onegin which had been performed at the start of that week, seeing Onegin on next trip to London and the rest is history.

 

I suppose I was lucky that as a ballet-watching newbie the BBC had two series about ballet in short succession - Dancer (hosted by Peter Schafuss) and Ballerina (hosted by Natalia Makarova).  I think it was probably Dancer that started my love of the Bournonville style that continues to this day.  I read a lot of books too.

 

These days, with the likes of Youtube and other internet facilities it is surely easier to get into watching ballet and dance but I suppose the hardest part is getting people hooked into ballet on the internet.  I think the Sergei Polunin video must surely have sparked some interest.

 

I believe a good initiative is the concept of ballets for very young children that a number of our companies are now producing.  Certainly the children at the performances I attended have been rapt and perhaps, hopefully, these will have sparked an interest in watching ballet that will grow and continue through their lives.

[Quintus]

My hunch is that to get large numbers of people watching a broader range of ballet, you need both a mass media channel (to 'play the stats' and actually find those who will react) and a somewhat tangential approach - otherwise you only pick up people who are already engaged.  The internet for once doesn't seem to be that effective - there's a wealth of material available but I'd say  it only gets accessed by people actively looking for it.  I do my bit on Facebook by liking and sharing ballet clips and pictures, but the friends who pick up on those are the ones who are already interested (plus a chorus of phwoars that doesn't go any further, for Semionova et al).  TV is more effective, perhaps becuase people idly browse channels and give things a go. Looking at ballroom dancing, the Strictly phenomenon had both the mass reach and the tangential approach - ie the celebrity angle; had they simply broadcast professional ballroom dancing, it would likely have tanked.  The  three part ENB fly on the wall series a few years ago called The Agony and the Ecstasy seemed very effective to me - it was one of the catalysts that made me go out and explore ballet (initially the big classics then rapidly further afield).  It's 'tangential' approach was to focus on personalities, situations and the complexities of daily life rather than simply present the works. Having said that, it didn't feature anything beyond mainstream work.  I'd love to see an update series now that Tamara is at the helm..

[toursenlair]

I believe the National Ballet of Canada did a study and discovered that the most important factor in someone being turned on to ballet was that they were taken to see the ballet by someone they admired (family member, friend, etc.)

So maybe, instead of always saying "what should THEY be doing to promote it?" we should start thinking, "what should WE be doing to promote it?" (of course cheaper ticket prices would make our job easier...)

(also, I think some ballet companies' promo material is just awful)

[Bruce Wall]

I believe the National Ballet of Canada did a study and discovered that the most important factor in someone being turned on to ballet was that they were taken to see the ballet by someone they admired (family member, friend, etc.)

So maybe, instead of always saying "what should THEY be doing to promote it?" we should start thinking, "what should WE be doing to promote it?" (of course cheaper ticket prices would make our job easier...)

(also, I think some ballet companies' promo material is just awful)

 

Totally agree, Katherine.  I always believe that ultimately it is the people who make the difference ... and finally seal memories through the creation of that surrounding sense of their own imaginative pilgrimage.    

Edited August 18, 2015 by Bruce Wall

[caseybeatrice]

Thank you for the welcome, Janet.
 

I believe the National Ballet of Canada did a study and discovered that the most important factor in someone being turned on to ballet was that they were taken to see the ballet by someone they admired (family member, friend, etc.)

So maybe, instead of always saying "what should THEY be doing to promote it?" we should start thinking, "what should WE be doing to promote it?" (of course cheaper ticket prices would make our job easier...)

(also, I think some ballet companies' promo material is just awful)

One time I tried to pull a friend (one I judged as comparatively open to new adventures) into attending the ballet with me. We were planning a fun evening for two and since it was a celebratory occasion we agreed we could spend a bit more.

'Let's go to the ballet.'
'The ballet?' Affronted scepticism.
'Yes!' I launch into a semi-prepared speech about the beauty of the venue, the excellence of the principals, the romance and vitality of the choreography (I'd proposed Onegin), the interest of seeing a dance interpretation of such a classic work, the fact we'd be getting good seats for not too much money because I had a Young Friends membership, etc., etc.
Pause.
'I don't know, I'm not really into men prancing about in tights. Let's catch something at the cinema and go to the pub after.'
I gave up.

Also, a lot of my friends by now have gathered that I really like ballet. I've gotten this reaction quite a bit: 'But, like, you've never danced ballet, have you?'

As if only those who've gone through lessons in childhood could love ballet…?

I remain doubtful that the Sergei Polunin dance video has converted legions of people who will rush out to support their local ballet troupes. That's what I rate as success, which is why I have a lot of respect for Misty Copeland and think the snark about her "undeserved" promotion is a bit harsh, considering what she's done in terms of promotion.

[Sunrise]

I think friends I've managed to encourage to the ballet enjoy it somewhat, would come again if offered to take them, but would never bother to book for tickets themselves. I think the lack of availability of reasonably priced tickets with a good view at the RB at short-ish notice makes is a considerable obstacle. I like how some theatres offer cheap (£10, £20) front row tickets every morning, though if the RB offered a similar scheme, they would be hoovered up regularly by fans .

[Balletfanp]

I've managed to hook in a couple of more open minded work colleagues just by sheer persistence and the lure of a couple of days in London! We're all coming to see the Nutcracker in January, but I doubt I could persuade them to any non-tradional ballets or triple bills. I'm pushing the cinema performances though, so maybe those will awaken their interest in ballets they have never heard of.

 

Another work colleague had always wanted to see a ballet but not sufficiently to buy tickets. She was offered a couple of free tickets recently to see the BRB performing Coppelia locally, went with a friend and was stunned and delighted by it! I will be working on her now that the seed has been sown....

[alison]

The internet for once doesn't seem to be that effective - there's a wealth of material available but I'd say  it only gets accessed by people actively looking for it. 

 

However, I'm aware that this is all self-motivated discovery. No one's made it easy for me to learn more about ballet, although in a way the dearth of material has made learning more manageable.

 

A belated welcome to the forum from me too, caseybeatrice.  And good luck with Japan - I hear ballet tickets are very expensive over there!  I think you and Quintus are both right: the information is all over the internet once you decide to look for it, but it's a question of getting as far as *wanting* to look at it.  I mean, the ROH website is a good resource now, although I'm still amazed at just how long it seems to have been for companies to really use the power of the internet to get information out there: I think it was when I was recovering from a knee op in 1998 that I was drawing up plans for how you could use websites to draw people in by linking to video and audio clips and the like.

 

I believe the National Ballet of Canada did a study and discovered that the most important factor in someone being turned on to ballet was that they were taken to see the ballet by someone they admired (family member, friend, etc.)

 

Oh my goodness: so we have to find someone who *admires* us?  Gulp ...

 

Pause.

'I don't know, I'm not really into men prancing about in tights. Let's catch something at the cinema and go to the pub after.'

I gave up.

 

Such a shame.  After all, there's not exactly any prancing about in tights in Onegin, and it's the sort of thing which can really inspire someone to get interested in ballet.  Isn't it, Janet?

 

I think friends I've managed to encourage to the ballet enjoy it somewhat, would come again if offered to take them, but would never bother to book for tickets themselves. 

 

I've found this too.  It's always me having to do the donkey-work.  And you have to book so far in advance at the ROH to get the cheaper seats.  By the time they might think about going, I've probably already had my tix for months.

[Timmie]

In my family we have me, a balletophile, once I had discovered ballet I was ready and willing to try almost anything. Then we have my wife, only really keen to see the big blockbusters or anything with Natalia Osipova. My daughter will attend very occasionally and that is only for the ROH experience – not for any love of ballet. And my son: “No!”.

 

So from my family’s experience converting a blockbuster attendee (my wife) to a wider range of ballet attendee is not really on (I've tried). What is needed is to get all new attendees (as I was) and let them discover ballet themselves and then branch out naturally.

 

More footfall to Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty would end up as more footfall to the Unfamiliar.

[FLOSS]

My experience over the years talking to people who only ever go to full length ballets is that they are rarely able to say why they are wedded to such a limited part of the repertory.They tend to express surprise that there are other ballets and find it difficult to believe that they might be worth seeing.Their choice of ballets seems to be based on name recognition,a well known title is preferred to one that they aren't familiar with, dancers occasionally influence the choice of performance but choreographers have next to no influence on their ticket purchasing decisions.Except for a few big well publicised names, dancers have little influence on the choices made by the occasional ballet goer because they have no way of knowing how very different the same ballet looks when danced by different casts. If the cast does influence the choice of performance the assumption will be that the bigger the name the better the performance will be.

 

I knew a woman who only went to see Darcey Bussell perform. She evaluated ballets according to whether she enjoyed Bussell's performance,if she did the ballet was good if she didn't then it was the ballet that was the problem not the performer.I believe that she gave up going to ballet when Bussell retired. I couldn't try this on her because I didn't know her well enough but I came up with a solution to the "only book for the big names that I know" routine. A friend wanted to see Mayerling and because she had heard of Acosta she wanted to see him in it. I said that I was more than happy to get tickets and go with her but that as the same ballet has a very different impact depending on who is dancing that we should go and see my choice of a second cast during the run. Needless to say she enjoyed the Acosta performance very much. A week or so later I took her to see Watson in it. She could not get over the vast difference in the two performances.After that she didn't want to see Acosta in everything and was prepared to try other casts. I think that because it is clear even to the uninitiated that ballet involves repeating movements that everyone dancing that role will perform it is difficult to understand, until you see it,how much the individual brings to a role.At that point it became clear to her that a big name based on superlative technique and the ability to perform a wide range of roles does not meant that the dancer concerned is going to give the best performance in every role because not all of the roles will suit them equally well.

 

Encouraging people to try something other than the full length ballets that they know is more difficult.Most people seem blissfully unaware that many of the greatest twentieth century ballets are one act works and that if they never go to see a mixed bill they are denying themselves the opportunity to see masterpieces by Ashton,Balanchine,Fokine,Macmillan, Nijinska and Robbins.Marketing department do not seem to feel the need to tell the potential audience about the major twentieth century works that are to be performed. I think that they expect the "Covent Garden experience" to sell the tickets.The best solution on an individual basis, it seems to me,is to take the person concerned to a couple of sure fire mixed bills and trust that the magic will work.It is a question of time and the company actually programming the right sort of works.

 

A couple of weeks ago I came across an excerpt from the Magic of the Dance in which Fonteyn ascribed the influx of young ballet goers in the 1960's to Nureyev.While I have no doubt that she was right about Nureyev's influence in creating a generation of ballet goers I think that the subsidy played a part as it guaranteed that a trip to the ballet wasn't going to be a costly experiment .It would be interesting to know how many of those converted to ballet by Nureyev stayed the course.Finally I think that the level of media coverage was a significant factor. It was not just newspaper stories about Nureyev.Ballet was taken seriously, it was shown on television it was written about and discussed,there were documentaries about it,it was treated as a serious art form rather than something which only gets a mention in the media when there is the hint of a row or it is relegated to show biz or celebrity stories.Then of course that new audience of the nineteen sixties did not appear from nowhere. Many of their parents had come into contact with it in the pioneering days of the 1930's or during the war.

 

It sometimes seems to me that part of the problem here is that having become part of the establishment the main company lost its way and forgot that you need to tell people at regular intervals what you are doing,why it is important and that it is interesting.But then of course you need the choreographers to make sure that it it is exciting and that is a totally different story.

Edited September 2, 2015 by FLOSS

[alison]

They tend to express surprise that there are other ballets and find it difficult to believe that they might be worth seeing.Their choice of ballets seems to be based on name recognition,a well known title is preferred to one that they aren't familiar with

 

A fact very effectively exploited by, e.g., Northern Ballet.

 

So, how to overcome the ignorance?  Especially given the lack of exposure to ballet in the average non-balletgoer's life?  And the knee-jerk reaction, even in the general media, that there's virtually nothing beyond Nutcracker, Swan Lake and R&J (and possibly Sleeping Beauty).  Think, for example, of the difficulty the ROH had in filling the house with SUN readers for Mayerling - although admittedly the fact that it isn't a child-friendly ballet won't have helped there.

 

I came up with a solution to the "only book for the big names that I know" routine. A friend wanted to see Mayerling and because she had heard of Acosta she wanted to see him in it. I said that I was more than happy to get tickets and go with her but that as the same ballet has a very different impact depending on who is dancing that we should go and see my choice of a second cast during the run. [...] She could not get over the vast difference in the two performances.After that she didn't want to see Acosta in everything and was prepared to try other casts. I think that because it is clear even to the uninitiated that ballet involves repeating movements that everyone dancing that role will perform it is difficult to understand, until you see it,how much the individual brings to a role.

 

Very good point - and good idea.  Mind you, I struggle enough to persuade friends to go to a single performance.  Getting them to commit to coming back for a second viewing would, I think, be virtually impossible.

 

A couple of weeks ago I came across an excerpt from the Magic of the Dance in which Fonteyn ascribed the influx of young ballet goers in the 1960's to Nureyev.While I have no doubt that she was right about Nureyev's influence in creating a generation of ballet goers I think that the subsidy played a part as it guaranteed that a trip to the ballet wasn't going to be a costly experiment .It would be interesting to know how many of those converted to ballet by Nureyev stayed the course.Finally I think that the level of media coverage was a significant factor. It was not just newspaper stories about Nureyev.Ballet was taken seriously, it was shown on television it was written about and discussed,there were documentaries about it,it was treated as a serious art form rather than something which only gets a mention in the media when there is the hint of a row or it is relegated to show biz or celebrity stories.Then of course that new audience of the nineteen sixties did not appear from nowhere. Many of their parents had come into contact with it in the pioneering days of the 1930's or during the war.

 

It sometimes seems to me that part of the problem here is that having become part of the establishment the main company lost its way and forgot that you need to tell people at regular intervals what you are doing,why it is important and that it is interesting.

 

It sounds as though we need an assault on all fronts!  Even back then, though, how far "down" did this media coverage percolate?  Was it pretty much only in the broadsheets, or would you have found similar articles in e.g. the Daily Mirror?  And you mention subsidy.  Of course, ballet is still heavily subsidised, but was subsidy significantly different back then?  For example, was it concentrated on the lowest-price seats, or spread evenly over all tiers of the house?  Because now, of course, we have the problem that newspaper articles go on about seat prices in 3 figures, and forget to mention the 1-figure ones, so there is the perception that ballet is more expensive than it need be.  I appreciate that some people will always turn their noses up at anything less than best seats, but I'm sure others would be happy to pay a tenner or so for something less good.

[alison]

I also forgot to ask Timmie why his wife will go to virtually anything as long as it has Osipova in it.  Is it because she's the big name, therefore she must be good; because she knows that she *is* good, or ...?

[Pas de Quatre]

Perhaps one way to explain to people that individual dancers interpret a role differently is to liken ballets to Shakespeare.  There has been so much in the news recently about Cumberbatch's Hamlet, and various articles talking about different actors interpretation of the role over many years.  People seem to understand that actors and productions can be successful in a very different ways.

[FLOSS]

I'm not so sure that the uninitiated would understand the analogy.You have to be a theatre goer and while there may be more theatre goers than ballet goers there aren't that many of either in the general population. Most people that I know who are not avid theatre goers seem to think that once you've seen Hamlet you've seen it.That was certainly the response that I got when I was at work which has always struck me as odd since the same people would have seen nothing out of the ordinary in someone who was so addicted to a particular film, say the Sound of Music, that they had seen it a hundred times and went to sing along performances of it.No the problem I, think for them, was that I was prepared to pay my own money to go and see a Shakespeare play and not only that, to see a performance of a play that I had already seen without the excuse of a television actor to explain the strange behaviour.

 

I think that getting someone to try another performer only works if they have a bit of interest in ballet.If there is a ballet or a dancer that they want to see suggest that they really need to see two performances and for the second performance select the cast that you think will give the best performance of the run. If by some fluke they have hit upon the best cast suggest that they see the dancer that they really like in something that will show another side of them and make sure that the rest of the cast is interesting or if it is a mixed bill that the other work or works are likely to be well danced. but then what do I know? I am currently working on relatives expanding their balletic experience bit by bit but I have no idea how it will work out. They haven't objected so far and it has solved the problem of presents. But as to the future ...?

Edited September 2, 2015 by FLOSS

[Jan McNulty]

For many years I worked in a mainly male environment.  When they used to tease me about going to Bradford for a week to see ballet I used to ask them that if Liverpool and Everton played every night for a week would they go to that?

 

The answer was always, of course we would it would be a different match every night.  They just could not see that ballet is exactly the same!

[Timmie]

I also forgot to ask Timmie why his wife will go to virtually anything as long as it has Osipova in it.  Is it because she's the big name, therefore she must be good; because she knows that she *is* good, or ...?

 

Whilst I was possibly slightly exaggerating, , that is easy to answer, we saw Osipova in The Flames of Paris and it was one of the most thrilling things we have seen (not just ballet) and we both fell in love with her dancing.

[caseybeatrice]

A belated welcome to the forum from me too, caseybeatrice.  And good luck with Japan - I hear ballet tickets are very expensive over there!

 

Thank you for the welcome, alison. Tickets are about the same prices as London, actually. (I know because I've already booked to see Stuttgart Ballet in Tokyo in November. I have my priorities, haha.)

 

I came up with a solution to the "only book for the big names that I know" routine. A friend wanted to see Mayerling and because she had heard of Acosta she wanted to see him in it. I said that I was more than happy to get tickets and go with her but that as the same ballet has a very different impact depending on who is dancing that we should go and see my choice of a second cast during the run. Needless to say she enjoyed the Acosta performance very much. A week or so later I took her to see Watson in it. She could not get over the vast difference in the two performances.After that she didn't want to see Acosta in everything and was prepared to try other casts. I think that because it is clear even to the uninitiated that ballet involves repeating movements that everyone dancing that role will perform it is difficult to understand, until you see it,how much the individual brings to a role.

 

Very good point - and good idea.  Mind you, I struggle enough to persuade friends to go to a single performance.  Getting them to commit to coming back for a second viewing would, I think, be virtually impossible.

 

I agree, that would be a good idea except that I don't have friends who know even one big name! The price at that point would also be an issue. I believe the cheapest upper slips seats are terrible for ballet and on principle I won't book for them (what's the point if I can't see half the stage?! I think they're great for opera though), so if hypothetical friend and I wanted to go twice, that would add up to the price of, say, new shoes or a very nice dinner and the outings would need to be worked out months in advance.

 

The difficulty in getting people to watch ballet puzzles me and I've come to believe there's a sort of collective cultural prejudice around it.

 

What are they doing right in Cuba, Japan, and Russia?!

[Sandsfoot]

Melody

"It's a shame that Darcey Bussell's popularity hasn't translated more into popularity for ballet as a whole, but the Strictly Come Dancing fans aren't going to make the leap to going to see a ballet triple bill without more incentive than Darcey's personal fame. It is a bit of a shame that youngsters doing weekly ballet classes don't seem to be motivated to go to the cinema to see the Royal Ballet or the Bolshoi performing even their full-length classics. Not sure if that's because they're usually timed for late evening midweek during the school year or if it's just lack of interest.

 

I think given that Darcey Bussell is a judge on strictly they have hardly ever had a ballet piece in the "my new album is coming out this week" slot - I think that this would go a long way to promoting ballet especially if you chose some of the newer more contemporary pieces.

With regard to the cinema, I have taken my children to many of these both ballet and theatre but they are on a week night which is just not ideal for school although they do occasionally have encore screenings of the recordings at weekends. We are often the youngest there (I am also including myself) by a mile! I am also surprised that our local cinema do not market directly to dance schools in the area, perhaps offering discounted tickets for groups.

Interestingly our local theatre have the Moscow city ballet touring company which is quite popular but they are the traditional Russian ballets. I wish the RB would form a small touring company that would reach out to really small provincial theatres. 

[Two Pigeons]

I think it could be argued that BRB already do that with their small scale tours. They tend to offer a very attractive mix of works too.

 

I have a bit of a beef about Strictly. Here is a programme which is about 70% Latin dances. I know the contestants do a 50/50 mix of ballroom and latin but most of what the pros do is raunchy show numbers. If we had a bit more classic and elegant ballroom other forms of dancing might benefit. Mind you, the girls have to be fully clothed for ballroom and the BBC see are always trying to attract 'yoof' so I can't see it happening.

 

Meanwhile, back to ballet, a lot of us in major cities would like to see the RB tour, not least to see works like One in or La Sylphide which the other companies just don't have. Unfortunately it's just not going to happen as there is neither the will nor the funding to do it.

 

I am sorry but however much we may love the art it remains very much a minority attraction and as the population changes this will only get more acute. People will always stay with the tried and tested, especially when tickets are as expensive as they are.

 

When it comes to not experiencing triples it is their loss but you cannot force them to go.

[Fonty]

A few rambly thoughts on various points made in this fascinating thread.  As a Londoner, I have taken many adult friends to see their first ballet.  I usually start them on something gentle and undemanding, such as The Nutcracker.  Most people can hum a bit of that (or recognise the sugar plum fairy tune when it comes on) the costumes and sets are normally lovely, and there is plenty of non dancing action to keep their attention.  I have never had one person say they did not like it.

 

Having taken that first step, I have then suggested other ballets to them.  And after going for a couple of years, they have all said the same thing after viewing several different types of ballet.  They vastly prefer those that tell a story, and they do not like "modern" i.e. non classical music, and they want classical, not contemporary dance.  They are pretty much prepared to see anything if there is a bit of drama to go with the classical dancing and the orchestra is playing a good tune.  Presumably other ballet fans who are not London based do the same thing, to coax first timers to the ballet.  And unless I have very unusual friends, I assume that the same thing applies.  Based on my experience, people who attend maybe once or twice a year prefer a full length, dramatic ballet. 

 

I am not really surprised the Le Corsaire was not successful the first time it was on tour.  It has lashings of drama, splendid costumes, and rousing music.  But it is not a well known story, and not one usually associated with ballet.  The only reason I went was because Tamara was dancing (yes, even I am guilty of being a bit cautions about new productions!).  Having said that, I loved it, and will be going to see it again this year.  It is always going to be a bit of a gamble, taking a new ballet anywhere.  Hopefully, the next time it tours the ticket sales will be a bit more robust in the rest of the country.  If it isn't, then it really has to be down to the marketing departments.
 

As far as educating the public via the BBC is concerned, I can't be the only person who thinks that ballet, and opera for that matter, does not come across well on television.  In my childhood, we had programmes where excerpts from both ballet and opera were performed.  An aria would be sung, introduced with a bit of explanation as to the context and content.  This would be followed by a pas de deux, introduced in the same way.  They covered quite a broad spectrum in easily digestible, 4 or 5 minute segments.  If someone has never seen a ballet before, it can be quite difficult to work out what the heck is going on, and a lot to ask new comers to sit through 45 minutes of arm waving and leg lifting until there is a break.  Is it really beyond the BBC to do a 30 minute slot, with a professional presenter talking about it? And I don't mean Darcey Bussell telling us yet again how, as a little girl she dreamed of dancing Swan Lake, or whatever the ballet happens to be, and wasn't she lucky to be able to do so.  No disrespect to Darcey, but I don't think presenting is her forte. 

 

Surely that would get a few more people interested in it?

Edited September 23, 2015 by Fonty

[Two Pigeons]

I am sure that this point has been made before but in the 80s we had three really good series. Fonteyn's The Magic of Dance, Peter Schaufuss' Dancer and Natalia Makarova's Ballerina. Regrettably the BBC appears to have neither the interest or the funding for such coverage again. If they did it would need to be fronted by a Deborah Bull or a Tamara Rojo to be really successful but I cannot see that happening either.

 

Everything is a bit superficial these days.

[MAB]

David Bintley is my favourite TV ballet presenter.

[Two Pigeons]

If you get the chance to see Dancer MAB it is rather amusing to see Schaufuss either wearing an ENB t-shirt or mentioning the company. As I fan of BRB I would love to see a series with David Bentley giving his company the same sort of publicity.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Two Pigeons

[Fonty]

It was David Bintley who presented Dancing in the Blitz, wasn't it?  He was excellent, I thought, and the whole programme was really enjoyable.

 

Talking of getting new people interested in ballet, I have been trying to remember a programme that featured young people from troubled backgrounds rehearsing and performing Romeo and Juliet, with the lead roles being taken by professional dancers.  It was terrific to see youngsters who had never really been subject to that sort of discipline suddenly having to work extremely hard, and rising to the challenge.

 

I can't remember which company they were working with, and I can't find any reference after a brief search on the web.  I know they put on a live performance, and I for one would have been interested to see it, but I think it was only available to friends and family.  Pity, they could probably have given several performances, and brought in a whole new audience!

[Pas de Quatre]

It was with BRB a few years ago.  I'll post if the title comes to me - can't think of it right now.  I can remember Marion Tait (coaching not dancing) in it vividly.

 

Found it - Ballet Hoo!

 

Edited for spelling & to add last line.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Pas de Quatre

[MAB]

If you get the chance to see Dancer MAB it is rather amusing to see Schaufuss either wearing an ENB t-shirt or mentioning the company.

 

I did see it and discovered we go to the same osteopath practice!